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Turkey / Greece Study Tour with Hope Fellowship
May 3-14, 2025
Led by Launa Vaughn
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Trip Blog Posts
Day 09 - Olive Oil Farm, Corinth
posted on Tuesday May 13 2025 at 3:00 pm UTC
Today is the last day of our adventure through Turkey and Greece. The time has flown by! What a blessing to see and explore to explore the early churches and the challenges they faced. Our first stop this morning was an olive oil manufacturing facility of totally organic olive oil products. We sampled...
Day 08 - Mars Hill, Acropolis, Acropolis Museum
posted on Monday May 12 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Kalimera from Greece! Today was our first full day in the city of Athens. We learned that here is where 4.5 million of the 10 million Greeks in the country live. Marla kicked off the morning with our daily devotional before we headed out to visit the Acropolis, or top...
Day 07 - Travel Day to Athens
posted on Sunday May 11 2025 at 8:00 pm UTC
Hello from Day 7! Saying goodbye to Turkey was bittersweet, I think, for all of us. We are all personally mourning our departure in our own way, but collectively encouraged that the birth and history of Christianity is still so alive and present there. What early Christians had to overcome...
Day 06 - Priene, Didyma, & Miletus
posted on Sunday May 11 2025 at 12:00 am UTC
Günaydın! Starting off our morning with a devotional led by Mike, we were encouraged to make ourselves ready for His return. If we knew the day of His coming, would we be any different? Would we commit to spending more time with Him in anticipation instead of being drawn away by distractions? With...
Day 05 - Ephesus
posted on Friday May 09 2025 at 8:00 pm UTC
The thing about blogs is that it comes from one persons perspective. What touched my heart and mind is only just a touch of what was covered. I encourage you to ask your friend, family or loved one who participated in this trip their takeaway! Ephesus, so much history, so much to see! Looking through...
Day 04 - St. John's Basilica, Turkish Rug Center, Temple of Artemis
posted on Thursday May 08 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Today, we started with a sweet devotion from Deborah, encouraging us to be salt & light in this world, and to do this by giving ourselves permission to simply be the image-bearer God created, and allowing Jesus to work through our weaknesses. A beautiful thing! We visited...
Day 03 - Hot Air Balloon Ride, Laodicea, Aphrodisias
posted on Wednesday May 07 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Today was the day we've been anticipating - the hot air balloon ride! A majority of us went on this excursion which had a 4:30am wake up time... but the views were worth it! A peaceful ride, from sky high viewpoints we overlooked the sites we visited yesterday, including a perfect view of Hierapolis....
Day 02 - A Journey Through Time: Exploring Sardis, Colossae, and Hierapolis
posted on Tuesday May 06 2025 at 10:00 pm UTC
Our day began with a sense of anticipation as we set out to explore some of the most historically rich sites in Turkey. Sardis: The Capital of Ancient Lydia Our first stop was Sardis, once the thriving capital of the Lydian Empire. This city was a hub of wealth and...
Day 01 - Smyrna, Pergamum
posted on Monday May 05 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Gunaydin from Türkiye! After what seemed like 40 hours of travel, we landed in the warm and welcoming country of Türkiye. Four hours of sleep and a delicious breakfast buffet later, we began the first day of our journey… Day One brought us to the city of Izmir, or as...
Preparing for Turkey, Greece
posted on Tuesday January 21 2025 at 8:20 pm UTC
Our trip will be here before you know it! Once we're on the ground we'll post periodic updates and photos. Check back often or get update notifications using the subscribe options on this page. We'll be sharing our travel experiences online with you, our friends and family, to not only bring you along...