Turkey

     In 2016 we were able to travel to the land of Turkey on a tour specifically looking at places related to the New Testament.  In some ways it made a deeper impression on me than a trip we had taken to the Holy Land.  We traveled with GTI Tours from Holland, Michigan.  They are a fantastic organization.  Once you pay your fees with them, they take care of EVERYTHING else, even bottles of water.  You do not pay another thing.  All meals, hotels, tips are taken care of.

     We left from Chicago on Turkish Airlines - a comfortable and professional airline.  

There is so much I could say about each city and place where we stopped.  I will give my email dispatches from Turkey that I sent to our closest friends and family while away.

Monday, Feb. 22, 2016
For those who have expressed concern for our safety, thank you.  We know it means you love us.  But for the record, statistically, the most dangerous part of the trip is from our house to the airport.  Also, we are glad we did not to the Cracker Barrel in Kalamazoo where there was a shooting last weekend.  There are crazy people with guns everywhere.
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016
Guess who spent the night throwing up on the airplane?  That would be me.  I have been able to eat some crackers and keep down some coke since we arrived.  We have a 4 hour layover and will get to our hotel on the coast around midnight.  Then up and out early to start our touring.  Hope to let you know better news tomorrow night.
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016
I was grateful that if I had to be sick with a stomach thing it was upper rather than lower.  You can throw up in a plane while it is landing and not make much of a commotion.  If you had the other side working, you would just have to make a loud commotion or mess.  I did not know they lock the bathroom doors for the landing.  We got to our hotel around midnight and had to be up at 6, breakfast at 6:30, and on the bus by 6:55.  It was a busy and fun day.  I ate toast and yogurt for breakfast and kept it down and my headache went away.  Unfortunately, in this tour we are passing modern Turkey by for the ancient.  The ancient sites are awesome, imagining how it all looked then and the people involved.  Putting some geography and understanding to the names and places we often skip over in reading the New Testament. 
Now we are both healthy and having fun.  We are staying at Colosse tonight.  Mineral spring baths tomorrow night!
We feel very safe in a modern country.
My ambien has kicked in.  Gotta go.

First day in Turkey, with tour leader explaining where Paul
came to Turkey (Asia Minor) after leaving Cyprus.

We visited this harbor where Paul landed on his way to Perga. 
 John Mark would have left from here when he deserted
Paul and Barnabas.

Beautiful harbor surrounded by snow capped mountains.

Feb. 25, 2016

Wonderful day today!  We visited the triangle of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hieropolis.  We saw the cool, refreshing water flowing into the Colossae region from the snow capped mountain, the hot springs at Hieropolis, and the lukewarm water in Laodicea that makes people vomit! 

We feel totally safe here.  I do feel sorry for the tourist industry.  The restaurants and tour sites that are usually full are empty because Putin is not letting Russians travel to Turkey right now and the distress on the border (hundreds of miles from us) has kept other tourists away.  Russia was their biggest tourist group till recently.

I am totally over being sick.  We swam in a pool of hot spring water tonight. 

Last year on this tour the average temperature was 49 degrees and rainy.  Today it was around 70 and sunny.  More of the same is expected for the next few days!  Highly unusual for this time of year.  (Must be global warming!)

Anyway, all is good here.

Love you all

Colossae today is only a tell - a high spot
that indicates former town was there, sometimes
several layers of former communities.

The hot springs at Hieropolis.  Paul
mentions Hieropolis in the letter
to the Colossians.

The hot springs located in Hierapolis saw many people
come in the past and even today for healing of many
infirmities.  The minerals released from the evaporating
water form the white you see.

From Laodicea you can see the white on the mountain
across the way that is Hierapolis.

Laodicea, the city of lukewarm water.  From Laodicea you
can see across to the hot waters of Hierapolis, and the mountain
of Colossae with its cool, refreshing mountain water.

Feb. 27, 2016

We are super tired, but love, love, love Turkey.  The country is beautiful, the people are friendly and the food i s very good.

I am a convert to the squatty potty.  First experience was 15 ladies standing in line at a gas station to use a 2 seater bathroom, but a family group of Muslim women were holding the door shut on us while they washed their feet in the sink. ( I have no  idea why).  I was second in line when we got in.  One seater toilet, one squatty (hole in the floor with a place for your feet).  It quickly became apparent that the first one in line ahead of me was struck with a Mexican disease (Montezuma's revenge).  So I went for other option.  Advantages:  no dirty seat to worry about and nothing to have to touch and get in head of line with our group of ladies.  I think I am about to lose my place as some others may be considering converting.  Another advantage is working those leg muscles to help with the next climb.  Turkey has lots of mountains!

I  think I have not gotten all my emails or facebook updates as internet was slow at last night's hotel and tonight's.  So if you sent me something, hope to catch it tomorrow night.  No internet during the day.  It  appears we missed a good snow storm in Holland.  Our weather here has been spectacular.  Pleasantly cool in shade, warm in sun.  We had a little rain this morning, but it was finished before we arrived at our first site.  Our Bible study leader is excellent!  A great scholar of how the land, culture and geography of this area affects our understanding of the Biblical texts.

All is well with us.

Love,

Deanna

Reply on same day to niece who emailed, glad about our trip:

Thanks Lydia!  Our "rabbi" is well versed in ancient history and bible history.  You know, my dad was sure we would be killed.  Well, we aren't out of the woods yet.  But I thought the other day how much I would hate to miss this experience because of fear.

Feb. 29, 2016

Today we spent the day at Ephesus.  As many times as I have read the story in Acts 19, it was never like today.  We were sitting in the theater that holds 24,000 people where the riot moved that  broke out to protect Artemis`s reputation from that fellow Paul.  We had come through the marketplace after seeing the administrative center, the great library, the brothels, the homes of the wealthy, the places of worship.  Small details that we quickly read over in the text are alive and meaningful when seen in context.

We learned that in this city and culture a newborn was presented to the father.  There was a book that explained the characteristics in a newborn that would make the child worth raising.  If the father turned his back on the newborn babe, the child would be taken to the hills and left exposed.  This was also the #1 slave trading center.  Slave traders would walk the hills looking for these babies.  Some were left to die, some were taken and raised to become slaves.  The parents never knew what happened to their child.  In this context then we read the words of Paul to the believers in this city that He chose them, in love he predestined them for adoption in accordance with his pleasure, that the riches of his grace are lavished on them.  (Ephesians 1 paraphrased)  In context, the words of Scripture go from black and white to HD color.

So it was a great day today.  We have 2 more full days, then a long trip back.

So glad we came.

Love,

Deanna

The great Celsus Library in ancient Ephesus.

The theater in Ephesus where people shouted,
"Great is Diana of Ephesus" for hours.  It hold 24,000 people.

Tourist traps, but at least honest advertising. 

March 1, 2016

Wow, we are super  tired, but had a great day.  The columns of the Apollo temple in Didyma were incredibly tall.  So hard to imagine how people who  lived before  the time  of Christ were able to do some of the engineering feats they did.  Such massive stones.

We began our time  here at the harbor where Paul  first  put ashore in Asia Minor (Turkey) and today finished at the harbor at Miletus where  Paul had the Ephesian elders come to meet him as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem before Pentecost.

Many modern day commentators will use the parallels between the Greek/Roman gods and emperor worship as a reason to  discount Christianity.  The parallels were very purposeful to point to the real and  true God, not the men elevated to the  status of  a God.  Lots of great things were have heard  this  week.

There are cats everywhere!  Even in the lobby and restaurant of this very nice hotel/resort!  Several times we have been escourted by dogs also.  But none of these animals look ferrel and wild.  There are a couple of people  who are  scared of cats and Joel had to shoo them away one  night at dinner.

Tomorrow we fly back  to Istanbul.  Spend the day touring there, dinner and overnight, then fly back  to states on Thursday.  We will be leaving here before you even get up.  We aren`t scheduled to get back to Holland until around 11 Thursday night.

Don`t know  if I will be able  to  write tomorrow.  But soon we will be back in the same hemisphere as most of you.

Love,

Deanna

ps, if you haven`t already, check out our pictures on facebook and check to see the remarkable  resemblance between Christopher and Zeus.  I always  thought Chris was Roman looking.  Now  I  know  he is Greek!