Our Day at Miletus

Write fast
Well I must hurry because of the set up here! There is wireless in one part of the hbotel but plug-ins in the other so you can't have both at the same time! We went to Miletus today which is where Paul farewelled the leaders of the church at Ephesus. At the site we had prayer and songs. God was powerful. It's not a popular tourist site for whatever reason and so we were looking out at where the ancient harbor would have been. Technically it's a temple for the Greek god of the sea but we had church! Everyone sort of spontaneous shared thoughts or songs as the Spirit moved. For a long time afterward we all remained in reverential silence. It was holy ground. Our guide was quite moved and really wanted to know what we were all about. He kept saying that he had never seen Christians worship in a manner so similar to the Moslem fashion. That was truly the highlight of the day.

After the holy silence
We continued to the theater where there is actually a Greek phrase carved into some seats reserving it for Jews and God-fearers. Then we all went for ice cream. We have become quite the connoseurs of Turkish ice cream bars!

Other highlights
I listened to part of Verdi's Otello on an ipod and it was phenomenal. I also was overcome by driving and listening to the prelude to St. Matthew's Passion where the chorus keeps repeating "Where is He?" as the soloist continues with "Behold the Lamb of God!" I just kept thinking how this country is crying out "Where is He?" and we must be there to say "Behold the Lamb of God!" I've come to the conclusion that music is amazingly powerful. All of this musical discussion lead us to attempt to create the Historical Paul Operetta on the bus. It was great fun. We had a requiem for Paul's dead wife, farewell from Ephesians, and a Antioch confrontation. We were just working out the act with Philemon when we arrived at ourt gorgeous hotel on the Aegean! God really outdid Himself when He poured out the Aegean by the way!

Attempt to upload photos
Still not working! Sorry!! I really wish it would!

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Wish you were here!

Learning
We are having a great time! Seeing these sites is amazing. How gorgeous the cities must have been covered as they were in marble. We have been to all but 2 of the 7 churches in Revelation so far. Each place gives tremendous insight into the contents of John's writing. Example: The church at Pergamus is accused of having issues with Nicolatian teaching. This teaching elevates one social class against another. The city is geographically set up in such a way that one readily understands how such teaching gets started and perpetuated. The acropolis and home of the king are way up high on the mountainside overlooking the town below. It's a constant visual reminder that the townsfolk are lower. There's just no real way to talk about things without pictures.
Uploading!
All right! I've tried uploading photos about 800 times and it's not working! But looking at the photos reminds me that we have an awesome archaeologist traveling with us that we call Dr. Jane but our guide insists on calling Linda. She has been able to open up so much of the sites and what you would look for to determine dating or how you would draw conclusions about certain buildings. Example: We went to the temple of Asclepos today which was a center for healing in biblical times. This was also in Pergamus. There was a room underground that you could pay to sleep in and they would release snakes to crawl around while you slept. The cure would be if the snake happened to lick your ear! You couldn't get me out of that room fast enough.
Tourist
Being a tourist has advantages and disadvantages. Advantage is being picked up and transported everywhere we go and staying in four star hotels (although the last two days have received this rating questionably). Disadvantage is being ripped a new one for common items. Example: We have paid between 2 and 4 lira for a 1.5 liter bottle of water. Last night I discovered a grocery store a block from our hotel that sold 5 liter bottles for 1.5 lira! Hmmmmm. It is great that so many Germans tour here that I can find all kinds of German candy from childhood! Yum!! Hey fam, don't worry-I'm bringing some home...at least that's the intention at this time!
God bless. I will try to get pictures up here at some point!!!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

I LOVE THIS!!!

Where to start?
Do you want historical, cultural, personal? Everything is powerfully impacted! I've had so many revelations and thoughts. One of which is the fact that Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Esther, and Daniel (to name a few) were all foreigners who all radically impacted foreign lands where they found themsleves. Our tour guide has an on-going political commentary to correct our possible misconceptions ranging from women to the war in Iraq to the regular habits of daily life. The folks on this trip are phenomenal. For the historical piece I am attaching a write-up my friend Everett did for his family and friends! This also saves me time on this pay as you go, use a Turkish keyboard plan.

Everett's report
I'm finally at a keyboard where I can type. It's 8:30 p.m. and Ihaven't eaten supper yet, so I may not be here long. Plus, the guywhose computer I'm using is at dinner. I hope I don't miss all thefood, but I really haven't had much of a chance to type very much.Oh... while I'm thinking of it, here's a link for you of the trip.Please pass on the links to anyone who you think would like it.
http://udel.edu/~bencohen/061706.shtml
http://udel.edu/~bencohen/061806.shtml
http://copland.udel.edu/~bencohen/
I think you can check his site each day and he will be updating itwith a play by play of each day on his home page.Today we went to the ruins at Aphrodisias. There we saw the "bestpreserved theater" known to exist from the ancient world.We spent a little more time there and it took four hours to drivethere, so we didn't make it to Hierapolis today. That will make for anextremely long day tomorrow, with Hierapolis, Laodicea, Philadelphiaand Sardis on the agenda. There's not much to see at the ancient siteof Philadelphia, but the ruins at the other three sites are supposedto be quite extensive.My roommate (Jeff Brickle) asked me the other night what my favorite part of the trip had been so far. I actually got kind of choked up andcouldn't respond right away. It has been incredible to see the remains of all of these buildings that are so old.I think the site we saw our first day was my favorite so far. Perge...Ancient Greek tower remains dating back to the 5th or 6th century b.c.and then the rest of the ancient Roman city. An ancient streetstretching for blocks with remains of the columns that lined thestreet... Remains of Roman baths where they had separate rooms for hotand for cold water baths. Remains of the public meeting area (calledthe agora) where they could have town meetings (or the ancientequivalent). After a while, I think this would not be everyone's ideaof a vacation... "Oh look, more ruins" -- but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Finally
I too got very choked up from time to time. It's so amazing. IN three years another trip will be going to Rome. I seriously suggest you start making plans now! Love to all!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Marhaba

The Latter Days
Theses are the ones I'm in right now and they kick the former one's tushie! You'll be hearing more about these in the future. Turkey is awesome! We are in Anatolya which is right on the coast of the Mediterranean. We have done a lot of walking around. It's gorgeous. Today we went to Perge (where Paul and John Mark had their issue). It was phenomenal. We walked through the remnants of the city and it is so well preserved, you can still see the chariot tracks down the main drag. We also went to a theater that has continually been in use since the 2nd century. They still perform operas there today! I climbed to the top and you could hear someone from the stage with absolute clarity. All this and it seats 12, 000!! I have heard a lot about Roman architecture and technology, but there's nothing like seeing it firsthand! I will have to attach pictures at some point, but I'm being charged by the second I think.

The Former Days
Travel was brutal. We left JFK and went to Frankfort in the smallest aircraft known to man which was completely full. I must say the food was awesome, but we were all cramped, especially after the extra time spent cruising the tarmac at JFK (about 40 minutes). During which time I desperately had to go to the bathroom (this was due to an aggressive hydration plan meant to combat jet lag which apparently has worked). From now on when I gotta go, I just call it "memories of JFK." Of course, we were very rushed at Frankfort since we only had an hour to transfer in the first place. That plane was very roomy and I sat to a nice couple who were on a different tour. It took us to Istanbul where we discovered our luggage had not been quite as quick as we were (one poor man on our tour has yet to receive his).

Layover in Istanbul
It began to sink in that we were in a different world and out of our minds. We tried to get ice cream which is a simple enough task, but we were clearly doing something that was bringing the waiter great consternation. The more we worked to figure it out, the more we seemed to upset him. It was back to the sights and smells of the airport (pretty much sweat and cigarettes). Another small comment--there was no customs. Ironically, they seem much freer than do we in our airports, hmmmm.

Final Leg
On the final leg to Anatolya I sat next to a young man and woman who had a toddler. They were not traveling together, but he took the baby and played the whole flight (only about 1 hour 15 min). He also handed the baby off to me! It was so pleasant and lovely. I thought that it was quite wonderful. Everyone looks out for the children everywhere. There is a real sense of community in terms of that. After landing (keep in mind that few have slept for 24 hours including yours truly) we went to the hotel and had a fabulous dinner on the balcony while being seranaded from below by a Turkish guitarist. We went to bed exhausted, dirty, and completely sated. Fantastic! Wish you were here!! More coming on adventures in the city--there's just too much to say!!!!!!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!