There were a few hundred
people on the ship, many Americans and Greeks and some British. Our
party numbered about 30 and had been organised by Crimson Holidays,
a Christian travel agency started by Bob Fleming to introduce ‘ordinary
people, including those with no particular faith, to the gospel and
to the lands of the Bible’.
On the first day we were able to see the city of Athens by coach and
then walked up to Mars Hill where St. Paul had preached ‘to
the giants of philosophy, logic and learning’ while awaiting
the arrival of Silas and Timothy. Then we left for the harbour and
joined the ship, finding our way to our cabin - all fresh experience
for us! Dinner was at 6.30pm. By this time we had begun to meet our
party. We marvelled at the standards in the dining rooms in feeding
so many. Next morning we were up early to join the excursion by coach
to see other parts of Athens and also to climb up to the magnificent
Acropolis, high above the city. Joining the coach again we left for
Corinth, a major trading city where Paul had stayed. We visited the
ruins of the city and crossed the narrow nine-mile long canal.
The travel pattern had begun to emerge. We would sail at night and
arrive in the next port of call in the morning. And so we found ourselves
at Thessaloniki, the second city of Greece, founded in 316 BC, and
in Paul’s day on a bustling trade route. Here we saw the ancient
city walls, a wonderful Byzantine orthodox church and a more modern
memorial to Paul where, to our amazement, Paul appeared and spoke
- a clever, inspired actor! We also visited Vergina, ancient site
of Aigai and the first capital of Macedonia, where there are extensive
ruins and a museum of excavated, golden treasures.
Next day we arrived in Kavala. It was built on the ancient city of
Neopoli where Paul, Timothy and Silas landed after a two-day journey
from Troas. A most memorable experience was to walk on the Egnatia,
the Roman road where Paul had walked. We saw the ruins of Philippi,
then moved to the river Gangites, the probable site where Lydia, the
woman who sold purple cloth, got baptised and changed. We read from
Acts 16, including the moving story of how Paul and friends were thrown
into prison, miraculously released and went to Lydia’s home.
This is a wonderful story of the early Church. A beautiful, fairly
modern Orthodox church has been erected close to the river where anyone
can bring their baby to be christened. The church has modern stained
glass windows depicting Paul and Lydia. For us the visit to the river
was one of the highlights of the trip. Then we sailed for Istanbul,
former capital of the Byzantine empire and still the centre of the
Greek Orthodox Church even though since 1453 the city has been in
Moslem hands - truly East meets West. There were wonderful buildings
to see - a feast of history. We visited the Blue Mosque with its six
minarets. We saw St. Sophia, built around 537 AD and which for a thousand
years was the largest church in Christendom. Then it became a mosque
and is now the Museum of Byzantine Art! Then on to Topkapi Palace,
once home to royal Sultans. There was a magnificent treasury of jewels
and jewelled objects. After that the Grand Bazaar where we got a sense
of the hustle and bustle of this most interesting city - and bought
Turkish delight. Still in Turkey, our ship sailed into Dikili visiting
Pergamum where the gospel had been preached at an early stage.
The following day we arrived at Kusadasi, a fine port from which we
could visit the magnificent ruins of Ephesus. Only 40 per cent of
Ephesus has been excavated and there is a steady programme of work
to be carried out. The amphitheatre can hold 24,000 people. It had
been a major excursion from the ship and some one thousand of us took
part in a late Easter communion service there, led by an Episcopalian
bishop from America and assisted by pastors and clergy from different
denominations. It was a sunny if cool day and a great experience to
remember that Paul had often preached there. We took to the bus again
and, after a most delicious lunch in a Turkish restaurant, we stopped
at Mount Koressos. Situated in a small valley, here we went to visit
a humble chapel on the site of the little house where Mary resided
after the crucifixion, looked after by John. It is believed she spent
her last days there. It is cared for by a small order of nuns. What
struck us was the peace of the area, the absolute stillness. Despite
controversies, the Christian world still favours this belief that
Mary lived there and the site has been officially sanctioned by the
Vatican. The present and previous Popes have visited it. Outside Ephesus
there are impressive ruins of the Basilica of St. John. Just to keep
us in touch with realities of 21st Century living, we visited a carpet
showroom offering the best Turkish carpets. A delightful girl demonstrated
how the carpets are made - always a double knot is used!
As you can imagine, all these sights and experiences caused much discussion
and we enjoyed conversations with the rest of the party at dinner
back on the ship, invariably quite wide-ranging too. Bob Fleming travelled
with us. Each evening he gave an introductory talk to all the parties
giving information about what we would see and experience the following
day. There was also a Baptist pastor and his wife in our group who
gave leadership and much care. They were widely experienced - he from
Edinburgh and she from Northern Ireland. There was an opportunity
most days before dinner for the group to meet - or those who wished
to - to attend a bible study given by the pastor as well as time for
informal prayer.
The final full day of our holiday had arrived and we were visiting
the island of Patmos. It was a gloriously sunny day and we enjoyed
the steep climb up to the monastery, founded in 1088 in honour of
St. John the Divine and it has been a place of scholarship and religious
enlightenment ever since. We saw the museum full of treasures - books,
manuscripts, mosaics, icons, medieval textiles and vestments. Here
it is said St. John dictated the book of Revelations in AD95. Close
by the monastery was the Grotto of the Apocalypse. We walked down
44 steps to visit the cave and saw the niches in the wall that mark
the pillow and ledge used as a desk. The cave was a lovely chapel.
We noted the three-fold crack made ‘by the Voice of God emphasising
the honour of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit’. Next
day we disembarked and returned to Athens for the flight home.
You will have to search elsewhere
to study St. Paul himself. We just had a glimmer often from comfort
of what the journeys must have been like - long distances and great
hardship with many difficult people and situations to face. At the
same time much joy when people like Lydia were moved to follow Jesus.
We are now taking more time to read the Acts which are really the
story of the foundation of the Early Church. We are so grateful to
have experienced this journey.
Source: Betty Rainbow, The Spire Magazine
- 2008 June
