On April 18 2007, three Christians were brutally murdered in an office block in Malatya, Turkey. One of those killed was German missionary, Tilmann Geske. His widow, Susanne, has now co-operated with a book, Married to a Martyr, in which she tells the story not only of that dreadful day but of her life of faith and their marriage.
Born in Germany, Susanne was converted as a young woman, and soon found herself at Bible college. Work for a small church followed, and there she met a man who initially did not impress her at all — Tilmann Geske. As she wrote in her journal, ‘This guy is embarassing. He just mumbles all the time. I can’t understand what he is saying, and his haircut is awful.’
Embarrassment gave way to friendship, however, and friendship gave way to love. Tilmann fulfilled the three criteria Susanne had for a potential husband — he had to be a believer, to have been a believer for longer than she had, and to be set on reaching Muslims with the gospel. This had become her desire at Bible college — and she discovered that Tilmann met every one of her criteria. They were married and, after further training and preparation, went out to Turkey to spread the good news.
