Turkey: Missing in Action

I know, I know – where've I been??

 

So, here's the thing: I desperately want to give you a detailed account of everything that I am seeing and doing here in Turkey, however, the task up to this point has simply been too daunting!  Our days here are filled to the absolute maximum capacity.  Each day begins with a 5:30 wake-up call, 6am breakfast and 7am departure time (I know that sounds simply dreadful, but when your body already has no idea what time it is or what it ought to be doing, it's actually not so bad). From there we ride the bus from anywhere for 60 minutes to 4 hours to our destination for the day (usually with one pit stop to use the WC, buy a snack, and rub elbows with the locals). 

 

Then, once we arrive at the site, we either tour around for a bit or head directly to wherever Pastor Mark is set up to teach. Usually our bus is the last one to arrive, so we often head straight to the site (and let me clarify – all the sites are ancient ruins. Some are actual amphitheatres, while others are the rubbled remains of churches.  All of them are super cool and outside in the direct sunlight of the boiling hot 90-something degree day). 

 

As you may know, the whole point of this trip (er, at least most of the point of the trip – because let's be honest: traveling is just neat in its own right) is to visit the seven churches of Revelation in Asia Minor (PS – did you know Turkey is in Asia*?!  I'M IN ASIA!!  I still can't quite get over this.)

 

*Okay fine, smarty pants: 97% of Turkey is in Asia.  A very small portion (including part of Istanbul) is in Europe.  But still.  ASIA!!  This bottles my mind.  My mind is bottled.

 

What the heck are the seven churches?  I'm so glad you asked! In something like 70AD (don't quote me on the date, I am guesstimating from memory here people) the apostle John was the only remaining apostle (all the others had been martyred by then) and living on a small island called Patmos (just off the coast of Turkey) when he received a revelation from Christ (which he later wrote down…hence the title of the book).  As part of that revelation, he received seven letters to seven churches of the early church in Asia Minor.  Each letter follows a similar pattern: greeting, descriptions of Jesus, praise, criticism, warning, exhortation, and promise. Neat, eh?

 

So as you may have guessed by this point, we are traveling to each of the remains of the seven churches to see exactly who Jesus was talking to as well as to learn from their past successes and failures.  Part of the awesomeness is that Pastor Mark is reading the letters to the church as we sit in that very location and teaching on the letter.  It's a pretty cool way to learn biblical history and spiritual wisdom (I highly recommend it).

 

After the 45-minute sermon and a Q&A period, we get the chance to check out the site (if we haven't already). From there we usually head out for lunch (some place not too far away) and escape the heat.  After lunch we get back on the bus and travel to a second site for the day.  This is usually at least another hour away. On the way our guide teaches us more about Turkey and/or we nap.  We tour the second site, take our pics, and pile back onto the bus.  Usually there is a substantial bus ride ahead of us before we get back to the hotel for a late dinner and a shower before we crash into bed and do it all over again the next day.  Whew!  (PS – can you say, jetlag!?!)

 

So can you see why I'm having trouble? There is so much to tell – and I haven't even mentioned the food or the people yet, ack!!  It's all too overwhelming!

 

Okay, okay – I don't want you to think that I'm complaining because, com'mon, I'm in Turkey.  So let's just say I haven't quite had the free time (not to mention the energy) to keep you abreast of my journey as I might have liked. However, what I'm realizing is that this doesn't necessarily have to be a day-to-day account.  Now that you've got an idea of the landscape of my days, perhaps from this point on I'll just fill you in on the details and not necessarily the chronology.  Sound like a plan?

 

Great, I'll get right on that for tomorrow.  Right now it's sneaking up on 2am in Turkey and that wake-up call is looming closer and closer….