Day Talate (3 in arabic) of Turkey!

Turkey Day 3: 10/9/13

Today was the longest bus riding day yet, and it killed. We had roughly 6 hours on the bus and I knew I'd get sick if I didn't sleep so I pretty much slept the day away. Thank goodness I had a late night girl talk with Lauren Law and Kinsey Ferrell, we are such good friends! We first drove to Assos (watch how you pronounce that one!) which is on the coast of the Aegean Sea on the Asia side of Turkey. Here is where we saw our first white huge pillar temple, this one being temple of Athena.  (and by pillars I mean, using technical "Brother Whitchurch" terms: Doric Columns. This temple dates back to the 5th century B.C. The temple was built on the crest of the hill overlooking the Aegean Sea and you can see the Island of Lesbos, part of Greece. That would be so cool to go to Greece! That is one of the places on my bucket list for sure! (if I ever get out of the country again...) Here we talked about the Apostle Paul and his missionary work. We were very close to Troas in which Paul gave a sermon before making his walk from Troas to Assos. We also talked about how he sent his disciples by boat but he walked alone, signaling a time of personal preparation with the Lord.



We also went to the Pergamum Acropolis, one of my absolute favorites! (at least this far) Its located on a steep hill so we road a tram, thank goodness. Earliest remains date to the 8th century B.C. God refers to Pergamum (Bergama) in Revelations 2:13 as "where Satan dwelleth." WE also introduced Pauls 7 letters to the Church's of Asia Minor. Each letter starts off by saying what the people were doing right, recognizing their need to repent, and then a promise of eternal life with imagery of the temple if they obey God's council. All the letters are located in Revelations chapters 2-3. Pergamum is one of the 7 cities Paul writes to. We sang "High on a Mountain Top" in the theatre, very fitting I thought as we looked out over the land. It was cool to see where Paul went and where his letters were written to.