Day 06 - Priene, Didyma, & Miletus

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 hearts refocused, Gokhan brought us to our first stop of the day: Priene. An ancient city built to honor the goddess Athena, while not mentioned in the Bible, is a beautiful representation that even in the midst of false gods and pagan temples, the good news of the Gospel still infiltrated the hearts of those who accepted the Truth, as evidenced by many engraved crosses, a Church and even a Jewish synagogue! 

Much of the land we hiked was once covered by the Aegean Sea, and now boasts lush green land where present day Turks farm cotton and sunflower fields… another reminder that He indeed makes all things new! 

A Priene inscription discovered heralded the “good news” of the birth of Augustus and that he - the “savior” - would alone bring the people salvation from destruction.  The one question Launa asked us to challenge ourselves every day is: what is God trying to teach us today? Standing in the ruins of the temple of Athena, walking through the rubbles of ancient altars, we were reminded that Jesus alone is our Savior, and taught us that we are here to serve one another in love, not to be served. People here were recipients of Good News, our mandate to go and share Christ to the ends of the earth. 

Our second stop took us to Didyma, where the temple to Apollo once reigned and provided the Sacred Way to Miletus. Here, people traveled from all over to visit one of the 4 Oracles (Delphi, Cumae, Didyma/ Didymaion, Claros) with their questions and offered sacrifices to Apollo in hopes of receiving an answer, which often came in the form of senseless and vague hexametric rhymes from the visions of female virgins speaking the tongues of the gods. Again, we see that even then people sought purpose and direction for their lives; unfortunately from lifeless idols made of stone. Because these answers/ rhymes were written in tablets, King Kroisos had them catalogued into text in 600BC - one asked: Who is Jesus? The response of the oracles: The one who came to earth as man and became God. And even better news? In 400AD, the temple of Apollo was transformed into a Church.

Our final destination was the ancient city of Miletus, from where Paul sent his final farewell to the people of Ephesus in Acts 20. Miletus was a city of Greek philosophers who came over with General Miletos and the place where people came to in search of life’s purpose. It was also where the people of God gathered and where Paul prayed: repent and have faith in our Lord Jesus; finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given {you} - the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. 

Which brings us back to Mike’s question from this morning: what would you do if you only had one day left? One week? Are we seeking His will for our lives? We learned that Paul walked over 600km to share the good news of Jesus, knowing full well he would encounter hardships along the way - but that never deterred him from preaching and encouraging the people to turn back to God. As we sat at the steps of the Miletus theatre, we each took time to self-reflect on what our Turkey experience meant to us. Fullness of gratitude. Awe and wonder. Perspective and relatability and eye-opening and overwhelming in the most extraordinary way. May we, too, be ready to be used by God like Paul, to go to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Good News of Jesus. 

And carved in the stone of one of the steps of the Miletus theatre? 

** A place for the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles **

Our prayer as we leave this beautiful country:

“… do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live…." Deuteronomy 4:9

And to our special friend, Gokhan, for an unforgettable experience: Teşekkürler for your extravagant hospitality 💛…

tekrar buluşana kadar
elveda türkiye!
 

- Rebeca & Deborah