Day 03 - West Central Turkey: Hierapolis, Colossae, Laodicea

This has been the absolute best day yet! First, what a morning! We met in the lobby at 6:30 and took a short drive to a field of hot air balloons being filled.

We split the group between two balloons that held 18 people each and within a few minutes were soaring over the travertine cliffs, the Hierapolis, and the two valleys that housed the seven churches of Revelation. It was absolutely breathtaking. We floated through the air for about 45 minutes and just marveled at the peacefulness as we saw the sun rise over the mountains.

Pastor Ralph and Melinda kept a close eye on Riley because she has a strong desire to fly so they were worried she might jump out! But everyone stayed safe, even with some nail-biting landings in cotton fields!  At the end we celebrated with a toast of sparkling juice.

From there we went to breakfast, already feeling like we accomplished a lot for the day. Another fabulous meal with lots of Turkish options to try. We are really loving the cappuccino machines at all the hotels - with all this activity it’s a must to stay well-caffeinated.

Our morning devotion was when we entered Hierapolis. Pastor Ralph told us we were shifting our focus from Paul to Revelation. He reminded us that Jesus’ letters to the churches through John were personal and He also knows us personally and is walking with us today. How incredible that the God of the universe wants to have a personal relationship with each of us!

Funny of the day… Pastor Ralph asked: What letter of the New Testament references Hierapolis? And Melinda answered “H?”

When you first enter Hierapolis there is a necropolis, which literally means “city of the dead.” The graveyard held 1200+ graves at ground level. It was staggering to see row after row of sarcophagi and mausoleums.

From there we walked to the pilgrimage road, which brought us to where Philip the Apostle was martyred.

The pilgrimage road started innocently enough but then it was a straight climb up the side of a mountain and then up high and steep stairs to the very top where the ruins were. The group worked together as a team to help each other to the top. The last few were met with cheers and everyone had a feeling of accomplishment.

Ralph gave a talk and we were happy to sit after our hike. We learned we were sitting right at the spot where Philip was crucified upside down for preaching the gospel.

Pastor Ralph reminded us that there are two truths in the gospel, death and resurrection. Nobody wants to be sick and nobody wants to die and the people came here to Hierapolis to be healed in the waters, yet the streets are lined with tombs. Everyone dies. But we have to understand the bad before we can appreciate the good. What the people came here looking for, we have found in Jesus. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the real Hierapolis. It is amazing to think that the people who came here to find healing killed the very person who brought the true healing of Christ to this place.

Pastor Ralph reminded us we are imperfect jars of clay but God is in us and helps us do beautiful things.

We joined in song on the mountain top praising the name of the Lord.

Josh said our very existence is an affront to God because of our sinful nature but it’s so beautiful to see the goodness of God in comparison to the badness of the world - how He loves us is just so unfathomable. Steve added, through Christ we are redeemed from all our sin.

After this special time together, alone on the mountain, it was time to climb back down to the crowds at the pagan theater and thermal spring.

Climbing down was also difficult but again we teamed up and everyone helped each other. We have such an incredible group where friendships have formed through the entire group and we love to support and cheer for each other!

We next walked to the top of the theater. The scope of what we saw was amazing but obviously less emotional and impactful than what we had seen where Phillip was martyred.

Next we walked to the thermal spring, which was believed to have healing properties. Many people were swimming in the water but we opted to just touch the water through a pump. We have our own thermal pool at our resort that comes from the same springs that are special to this area and filled with a variety of elements that give it healing properties.

Finally we went to the travertine cliffs, which look like snowy mountains but are actually covered in salt! We had the opportunity to take our very dusty shoes and socks off and wade into the pools on the mountainside. Afterwards, we spent a few minutes taking pictures of this incredible sight!

By this time it was nearly 2:00 so we headed to lunch after taking nearly 13,000 steps in the morning.

Lunch was an incredible experience. We were dining at long tables next to waterfalls with ducks! We had fresh persimmons grown on the property and pitas with butter (which we had been missing the first few days). We had a choice of chicken, meatball, or trout. The food was amazing but the setting made it even more special.

After lunch we headed to Colossae, which means rich and prosperous.  The site has not been excavated yet so it’s just a tel, which is a mound of land over a civilization that has not been uncovered. It required another hike up the side of a mountain. We are getting pretty good at this!

Steve gave a talk on Colossae as we stood at the location. Unlike the crowds of the Hierapolis, we were the only ones on the mountain top! Paul did not come here but he wrote to the Colossians from prison. So it was 1200 miles from Rome to deliver the letter!  Steve tied the Scripture and the lesson of Onesimus and Philemon to our own circumstances and urged us to resolve any hurts that may preventing us from engaging in Kingdom work.

We all made it down the mountain and then were safely directed across a very busy street to feel a cold stream but not told why… stay tuned towards the end of the blog for the reason!

We arrived at Laodicea, another large, semi-recently excavated, and in some areas, still being excavated, Roman city.

A tour guide from another group was giving misinformation about a carving but when they left, Gokhan promptly taught us the correct lesson and spoke of the importance of speaking truth.

Gokhan did a great job keeping us focused as we were getting a little punchy after a long day! He pointed to a Roman road and asked what it was and Caleb said “the East-West Expressway?” Lol, we have been on the road for nearly 12 hours and we were getting tired:)

We went to what is called Temple A where an emperor was worshipped. It was especially cool because you walked on a glass floor with the ruins way down below! It was a little scary to walk on and look down without fear of falling in!

We made it into the church right before it closed! It too had a glass floor but the ruins were right beneath it. We saw the altar and a baptistry from the 3rd century.

Our final stop was a 1st-century house church discovered in the ruins of Laodicea. We sat in the spot where the earliest Christians met right next to where the emperor was being worshipped. It was likely kept in secret to prevent the people and their families being killed by the Romans.

Pastor Ralph said if Jesus had written a letter to the church in Orlando, it might have said that we live in a kingdom of magic where we are being chased by a little rodent. Meaning, we may not understand everything we read in Revelation because while it was written for us, it was not written to us. It was written to the early churches and they would have been able to understand exactly what was written to them. Being here we understand better why things were said the way they were! The letter to Laodicea said they were lukewarm. Today we saw hot water in Hieropolis, cold water in Colossae (which is why we risked our lives crossing the street to feel the stream) and when we got here we saw how awful the pipes were and how the water was poor and would have literally been lukewarm. So Jesus described them in a way that they would have understood based on their circumstances.

All 7 letters in Revelation read the same, the people who lived there understood what was being said but we have to dig a little bit deeper to discover it. We can’t speed read through Scripture, we need to look more deeply into what is written.

We finished our time in the Laodicean home church singing "I Love You Lord" as they closed the site for the night. It was a long but incredible day.

Being in the places we have been, just like for those who have been to Israel, we will never be able to read the Bible the same way because now we have seen the very places we are reading about.

We returned to our resort a little after 6. Many had to rush to massages and spa treatments because the day went longer than planned. Some of us enjoyed the thermal pool, which had an added bonus of a cool acoustic effect of being able to talk in a normal voice on one side of the dome and have people hear it perfectly on the opposite side!

Today is supposed to be one of the busiest of the trip but every moment was worth it!

We are so thankful for your prayers. Please be in prayer for some injuries. As I mentioned, Melinda fell the first day and her ankle is still bruised and swollen. Francis and Yvonne both had falls today - they are ok but Francis hurt his wrist and knee coming down the first very steep walk. Please be in prayer that no one else gets hurt and for quick healing of any injuries!