The U.S. YMCA's experiences in Nationalist Turkey showed how some missionaries could accept the Turks and support the new government's nation-building efforts, but ultimately failed to overcome lingering racism at home and resistance on the ground. In the wake of Turkish Nationalists’ victories over the Allies in 1921 and 1922, the American YMCA staff in Turkey faced a stark choice. Their Association in Smyrna was a smoking ruin and many of their Christian members had fled or been killed. Now the Y staff could attempt to work with the new government or leave the country. Trusting the Turks after years of violence did not come easily. Some Y staffers also struggled to come to terms with turning to a Muslim base and stepping back from proselytizing. Ultimately, however, the YMCA staff declared their willingness to stay on. Their newsletters and publicity materials soon began touting the reforms and progress made by the new Turkish government. Two controversial proposals show how the U.S. YMCA navigated their new relationships with Turks and the Nationalist government. First, Asa Jennings, the hero of Smyrna, proposed a collaborative venture with the Turkish Ojak (Hearth) association. He argued that the YMCA should help fund and staff new Ojak sites that would carry out many similar programs for education, character training, and cultural enrichment as standard YMCA Associations. This proposal garnered reluctant support from YMCA leaders, but the Turkish government ultimately seized control of the project. The second plan came from D.A. Davis, the head of the Istanbul Association, and provoked a hearty debate among leaders of Associations across the United States. Davis reported that local members faced considerable social and political pressures against working with American Christians. He had to work closely with American diplomats to fend off rounds of attacks from local newspapers and navigate new Turkish laws regulating foreign organizations. For some American missionaries, the prospect of trusting Turks to run their own Association and develop their own version of character training remained outlandish and uncomfortable. In the end, however, a new 1939 law against foreign organizations forced their hand. The American YMCA in Turkey became a Turkish one shortly thereafter. The struggles YMCA staff members went through during the preceding years, however, are important to show how missionaries perceived their new Muslim audience and understood the new politics of nationalism.