Day 04 - Hierapolis, Colossae, Laodicea

Today’s journey got off to an incredible start as many of us were able to witness an amazing sunrise from the air over the Lycus River Valley in a hot air balloon where we were able to see two of the cities we would be in later that day. There are times where the beauty of God’s creation are on full display and this morning surely captured that.

After heading back to the hotel for breakfast the group headed out to the historic city of
Heropolis. As we entered the city we walked through a huge necropolis filled with over 1200 tombs. There we reflected on how, in the face of death, Jesus offers us new life.
We hiked out of the necropolis, through the Domitian triple gate and up to the Martyrium of the apostle Phillip. Sitting near the tomb of Phillip who was martyred in Heropolis, we reflected on how deeply the disciples and Phillip valued the gospel message of Jesus and the fullness offered in a life well-lived. We were all challenged to reflect on how we value our faith and what we were willing to do to cultivate and grow it as we seek to find our way back to God.

Leaving the Martyrium we hiked to the theater in Heropolis where we could see Plutonium,
which was said to house one of the “gates of hades” in the ancient world (the other being in Caesarea Philippi in Israel).

We then left Hieropolis to recharge our batteries with a delicious lunch on the way to the tel of Colossae. The city of Colossae has yet to be excavated but we took that time to read the two letters in the New Testament written to the city. We read the Letter to the Colossians and Philemon out loud reflecting on the fact that in each Paul emphasizes the importance of seeing PEOPLE over ISSUES to be solved.

Finally we ended our day in Laodicea, one of the most actively excavated sites in
all of Turkey. We were blown away by the ruins of a wall of painted fresco, an amazing theater, and a beautiful Byzantine church. We taught on the history of Laodicea and how it relates to the letter we find written to it in the book of Revelation.

Each day the group is growing closer together as we continue to experience some of the first places the Gospel took root. We all look forward to even more amazing things in the upcoming days.