Greetings fellow travelers to Turkey!
You are in for one of the most significant experiences of your life! Turkey is an awesome country. As our brochure advertises, it's really the "other holy land" because so many places are connected with New Testament passages. And you will share this opportunity with a wonderful group of people.
I want to whet your appetite with a brief preview of a very important site on our tour schedule, the ancient city of Ephesus. Of all the ancient sites we visit, this one is the best preserved and recalls more episodes from the New Testament than any other.
Of the many specific locations we visit at Ephesus, probably pride of place goes to the magnificent theater. This 25,000 seat theater allows you to gaze westward along the Arcadian Way and imagine you see the Apostle Paul with his traveling companions making their way from the first century harbor to the city center. Of course, the most memorable mental image this theater evokes will probably be a moment of high drama, recalling the end of Paul's remarkable two year ministry in Ephesus. As Dr. Luke records in the book of Acts, Paul's ministry resulted in many coming to faith in Christ and renouncing the sorcery that bound them in its dark grip (Acts 19:11-19). Because Ephesus was a magnet to the larger Mediterranean world as a pilgrimage site with its renowned Temple of Artemis and many other pagan and imperial temples, this generated a sizable income for priestly functionaries, wardens, trinket and souvenir makers, innkeepers and shop owners. When a large number of Ephesians embraced Christ as Savior and Lord, the result was a significant drop in revenue. According to Luke, a certain silver shrine maker by the name of Demetrius strongly reacted against Paul's ministry and led a riot to protest his preaching and presence. After an impassioned tirade against Paul, we read, "Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed together into the theater. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater" (Acts 19:29-31). We may be thankful Paul heeded their advice. Paul's prison epistles and pastoral epistles would otherwise probably not have been written!
Here is a picture of the theater at Ephesus and the Arcadian Way. (Courtesy of Todd Bolen's Bible Places).
Many more amazing sites await those who make the journey with us.
Hope to see you there!
