Heritage and culture

After a traditional breakfast at our hotel, we started our journey to Goreme National Park Museum. While some of our group wore hiking gear expecting a Yosemite-like adventure, and some others wore loafers anticipating a quaint indoor museum, what we found on arrival was unprecedented preservation. Pulling out of the hotel, the morning greeted us with colorful hot air balloons filling the sunrising sky. The magical feeling transformed to awe as we approached the churches and homes hidden in the aging cliffs. Like an unorganized swarm of worker ants, we eagerly pressed to see inside of these holes in the mounds. Many of the cavities contained kitchens, pantries, tombs, dining rooms, showing the practical and connecting everyday lifestyle of humans used generation after generation. But the breathtaking stillness came upon seeing the churches. The paintings on the ceilings and the walls exhibited familiar biblical characters we study, know, and love today. Even in persecution, our brothers and sisters displayed their love for their Savior. These ancient, dark, hiding places shown with the light of the Gospel. 

Shortly after, we drove to a pottery museum and creation exhibit. The owner himself toured us around his state-of-the-art museum with pottery pieces he has collected from BC until modern times. We watched artists at work in their shop painstakingly hand-painting the intricate designs from their skilled imagination. The owner then brought us into his workshop and demonstrated the process of taking a football-sized chunk of red clay, beating it, wetting it, slamming it, and molding it on a foot-controlled spinning wheel to create a masterful teapot. He then asked a volunteer tourist to come give the process a try. While the master frequently entered in to help guide the process of the creation, the clueless tourist clearly exhibited the principal: an artwork is only as safe as the skill of its artist. How thankful are we that our Potter is all-powerful, all-skilled, and trustworthy. 

After having time to purchase the hand-made Turkish pottery, the group packed up to head to lunch in a cave. Beef stew carefully baked for hours in clay pots was the crowning course, followed by temptingly sticky baklava.

The afternoon held scenic stops for pictures and lectures about the upcoming city on our drive towards Konya, the modern name for the biblical city Iconium. Acts 14 and Galatians set the scene for us as we realized that these seemingly dark, overpowering, and confusing times with religions in the world is nothing new to this area. Paul was facing the same chaos, and yet was committed to bringing the clarity of the Word to both Jews and Gentiles. His forefront purpose was multiplication: creating disciplines even of these nations who worshiped, ridiculed, and stoned him. 

Our day ended with a relaxing dinner at the hotel, and a special surprise of Whirling Dervishes afterwards. The hour-long performance gave us a peak into the Turk’s deep conviction for historical heritage and honor of their culture. 

Emily Hayden – Santa Monica, CA