PRAYING BY STREET ADDRESS

TURKEY TOUR

Each day of our tour we had a Bible study or time of fellowship together, led either by the organizer of the tour, Dr. Fritz Lippert, or by Pastor Horst Fischer. Our Turkish tour guide, Ismael, did an excellent job of explaining what we saw and he also gave detailed and informative insights into Turkish history, culture, religion and politics. The tour included breakfast and supper in hotels. We generally ate noon meals as a group in restaurants, buffet style. The price for a delicious meal never exceeded $5 including drinks. The German “Tour mit Schanz” (www.tour-mit-schanz.de) and Turkish “Oktagon” worked out the accommodations, provided a tour guide and ground transportation.

We left home at 5:10 AM on April 20, arriving at the Vienna Airport by 8:30 AM. The flight with Turkish Air was good but I suffered from sinus aches due to a bad cold. Our group of 26 persons arrived in Istanbul and we immediately took a bus tour through this unusual historic city located on two continents (Asia and Europe). We spent an hour at the "Egyptian Market", where you can purchase artistically arranged spices, all kinds of livestock and pets, flowers, food, clothing, jewelry and nearly anything else you want or need. To cure physical ailments, there were live leaches in large pickle jars. We stayed overnight in a hotel in Istanbul.

We boarded the bus at 8:00 AM on the 21st and visited more famous sites in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). We first visited a park with ancient columns, obelisks and the remains of a chariot race track. We then visited the famous Blue Mosque (only foreigners use that term; the true name is “Sultan-Ahmet Mosque”). We had to take off our shoes before entering. The size of many mosques is overwhelming, but there were very few worshippers inside during our visit. Just a short walk from there is the Haggia Sophia. This impressive building was once a Christian Basilica, then a Mosque and it's now a museum. Although nearly all Turks are Muslim, the country has taken great pains to restore the remnants of its Christian past. Tourism is big business and many of the tourists come to see the birthplaces of Christianity. Reliefs and mosaics which had been painted or plastered over for centuries can be viewed once again.

Our next stop was the Topkapi or Sultan’s Palace. Here one can see elaborate rooms once reserved for the eyes of the Sultan and his special guests. One can visit the harem and several museums in this expansive complex and park which overlooks the Golden Horn and Bosphorus Strait. Elaborate porcelain, armor and weaponry of the past, the famous 86 carat Kasikcy Diamond and even a hair from Mohammed’s beard are on display. After supper in our hotel, we met with the Pastor of Istanbul’s Christian Church for a time of fellowship.  He said that there are about 4,500 Christians in 51 churches (both Catholic and Protestant) in Turkey which has 45 million population.

Our alarm clock woke us at 4:30 April 22 and we took an early flight to the capital city of Ankara (angora wool was named after this city). After a ride through the city we toured the excellent Museum of Anatolian Civilization. We were impressed with the extensive collection from the Hittite era. Because the following day was a Turkish national holiday (similar to July 4^th in America), there were flags and banners depicting the modern nation’s founder, Attaturk, everywhere we looked. Then our bus took us about 250 miles to Cappadocia, a region famous for its fascinating rock formations with homes carved into the rock. We stopped at a large salt lake comparable to the Dead Sea and Great Salt Lake of Utah. We spent two nights in the next hotel, which had excellent food but poor room service. Broken glass and dirt from former residents littered the floor and there was no toilet paper. When we still had no toilet paper after the beds had been made the following day, I complained at the information desk. They just laughed and suggested we use a towel! That was the only exception to the generally excellent service during our trip.

April 23 was the big holiday and we saw children in the streets who had marched in parades and were still dressed up. We spent the day admiring and touring fascinating rock formations. Early Christians of the pre-Constantine period and even later, were persecuted in this region. Many of the rocks were hollowed out for human occupation and we also visited carved out meeting places in the rocks of Goreme. The heavily guarded Prime Minister of Australia and his wife visited these sites while we were there. It was interesting to watch the entourage, but as normal tourists, we were able to see much more with a lot less hassle! I even took a picture of Verna riding a camel! In the evening we watched a holiday presentation of the "Whirling Dervishes” in an ancient restored Caravanei.  

April 24, we visited one of a hundred underground cities in Turkey, most of which are closed for safety reasons. Afterwards, the tour bus took us over several hundred miles of the Caravan Highway to Konya. Many of the old Caravanei (built like forts or castles) still exist and we stopped to see a couple of them. I called them “camtels” since camel caravans which traveled about 25 miles per day stayed overnight in these places. The region is largely agricultural. Turkey is about twice the size of Germany (West and East!) and has an abundant supply of water. We saw many young forests which are the result of an ambitious reforestation project. Konya is known in the Bible as Iconium (mentioned in Acts 13-16 and II Tim. 3:11). Before going to the hotel, we visited a Monastery made famous by the Whirling Dervishes. I ate too much at the evening buffet and had stomach cramps all night.

The following day, we visited the ruins of Antioch in Pisidia, one of at least three cities by that name. While there, I managed to completely discharge the contents of my stomach and bowels. The former was donated to ruins of the old city and the latter cost me half a million Turkish Lire. That is what you normally pay for using a Turkish toilet, a hole that you have to squat over and no paper. There is usually a bucket of water or hose for cleaning up. By the way, if you want to be a millionaire, go to Turkey. One Dollar is worth 1.3 million Lire. We made each of our five grandchildren millionaires! We visited the ruins of St. Paul’s Basilica, built in the third century. On the road again, we traveled 300 miles to Pamukkale. This is where the famous limestone terraces, thermal baths and ruins of Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13) are located. Our hotel for two nights was a dream come true, with excellent food and room service. In addition to the large standard swimming pool, there was a thermal bath fed by hot springs.

We toured the impressive ruins of Hierapolis with its extensive cemetery of elaborate sarcophagi on the 26th of April. Afterwards we visited the limestone terraces and thermal baths. Although there is only a large grass covered hill where Collossae once stood, we drove out of the way to visit the place. A sign riddled by gunshot points visitors to the site and shepherds with herds of sheep graze over the place made famous by Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Farmers frequently plow up remnants of the city but no one has ever bothered to excavated it. Somehow, this was a highlight for me. I was reminded of the verse in Matthew 24:35, which promises, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall never pass away.”

A visit to a carpet factory is a must for every tourist. We watched women weaving oriental carpets, for which Turkey is famous. One worker showed how they raise silk worms, capture the silk thread and weave it into carpets. One girl had spent nine months to weave about three square feet of silk carpet! No wonder they are so expensive! Of course they tried hard to sell us one, but we managed to escape, but I purchased a silk shirt and matching tie.

April 27th marked the beginning of our second week. We visited the ruins of Laodicea, which boasts two theatres, a stadium and complicated water distribution system from the hot springs of Hierapolis, which also feed the baths. The wealth of the city at the time of John’s writing was mind-boggling and his references to being lukewarm and of nakedness also took on new meaning. The viaduct terminated at a distribution tower where water was diverted through tile pipes to different parts of the city. Many of the tile pipes were totally clogged by calcium deposits, but others were laid to replace them.

After Laodicea we visited what remains of Philadelphia, now called Alasehir. All that is left of the ancient “City of Brotherly Love” is the ruins of an early Christian church, built around 600 AD.

The ruins of Sardis were next. These have been excavated and partly restored by Americans and include a large Apollo Temple, a synagogue, gymnasium, theatre, swimming pool and much more.

THREE TURKISH MIRACLES

Our Turkish tour guide was a Muslim, but he read from a Gideon’s Bible whenever we stopped at sites mentioned in the Bible. I noticed that he had even memorized many passages. When we had our own Bible studies, he was always present and often took notes. One evening, our Austrian group leader announced that we would be meeting after supper as usual, but this time we would have a testimony time instead of the Bible study.
Our guide showed up and listened intently as one after another, we shared experiences that we had with the Lord, told of answered prayer and in some cases, stories of conversion. When it was time to retire, the Austrian leader asked our guide if he had any announcements to make regarding the following day’s activities. Instead, he said that he too would like to give a testimony. We all wondered what a Muslim would have to say but no one could have anticipated what we were about to hear.
Our guide said that he had started his career as a tour guide 15 years earlier when the tourist industry was in its infancy. Tour busses were not air conditioned and there were no cell phones. He was taking a group of German tourists to the usual places, mainly the seven places named in Revelation 2 and 3. It was a blazing hot day and everyone wanted to sit by the windows to keep cool. Suddenly there was a strange noise and the bus came to a halt. The driver soon discovered that a water hose had burst and leaked all the water out onto the road.
"We were in a desert-like area, with not so much as a tree in sight," our guide told us. "While the driver and I inspected the damage and discussed possible options, the group of tourists got out, formed a circle on the shady side of the bus and had a prayer meeting."
Our guide had to pause to clear his throat. He then said that he had never shared this experience with anyone other than his wife, and she had warned him not to tell anyone else.  Then he continued a story that none of us will soon forget.
"While the group was still praying, an old dilapidated car pulled up behind the bus. I can even remember the make, model and year. A Turk got out and in perfect Turkish dialect asked, 'What is your problem? Jesus sent me to help.' "
Our guide said he was dumbfounded, for he had never heard any Turk mention Jesus in a respectful manner. They showed the stranger their problem and he told the driver to get into his car. There were no seats in the vehicle and the driver was using a three-legged stool to sit on. The bus driver got a blanket, laid it on the floor and after climbing inside, the car drove around the bus and off out of sight.
Half an hour later, the man returned. According to the bus driver, they drove to the stranger’s house, where he found a sledge hammer that had a piece of galvanized pipe for a handle. He cut a piece off with his hacksaw and clamped sections of the broken hose onto each end of the pipe. He then filled a canister with water and returned to the bus. Within minutes the problem was resolved and the bus was ready to go.
The tour guide was not quite finished with his story. He said that three miracles happened that day which cannot be explained.
The first miracle was a Turk showing up just as the tourists were praying and saying that he was sent by Jesus.
The second miracle was that he had driven up to the bus from behind when he first arrived and also when he returned with the pipe, but he departed both times, driving around the bus in the same direction he came. Our tour guide said that he had traveled that same road hundreds of times since then and asked many local people where there was a connecting road. No road was shown on the map and the locals insisted that none existed.
The third miracle occurred when they tried to give the stranger money for his helpfulness. Our tour guide said that no Turk ever refuses money, and if you offer a Turk money for anything, he will always try to get more. Yet this Turk refused money, saying he did it for Jesus!
Before we took the tour of Turkey, we had asked God to show us if our mission organization should consider Turkey as a prospective field of service. Over 99% of the Turks are Muslims and Christian churches are almost non-existent. Should we be recruiting for Turkey?
The experience our tour guide related was an answer to that prayer. We shared our experiences with mission leaders upon our return to America, and Turkey was named as one of Avant’s future missionfields.

On April 28, we visited the ruins of Pergamos and Thyratira (now called Akhisr). We had our Sunday worship service in the ruins of St. John’s Basilica and before returning to the hotel, we walked on the seaside promenade in Izmir (Smyrna). There are two and a half million olive trees in this area!

Monday, April 29 was reserved for Ephesus. Once a seaport with 250,000 population plus 50,000 slaves, the ruins of Ephesus are now five miles from the Aegean Sea. We were impressed by the beautiful library. The ruins of a brothel for sailors in port was located just across the street! The theatre seating 24,000 is where silversmiths caused a tumult against the Apostle Paul. Also near the library, was an elaborate bath and the largest public toilet we have ever seen. Judging by the number of holes in the stone benches, the seating capacity would have been about 35 persons. According to our tour guide, such public toilets were only for men, who often spent hours in there, discussing politics, religion or current events. He didn't know where the women went!

In recent years, many private homes of nobility have been excavated and preserved by the Austrian Archeological Society. Many homes have well preserved mosaic floors with under-floor heating. The Austrians built a huge roof over the excavated area for protection from the elements.

Jesus asked the Apostle John to care for his mother while still nailed to the cross. Extra-biblical sources say that John brought Mary to Ephesus. We had our Bible lesson in the ruins of a basilica dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. There was a plaque on the wall stating that the Pope had visited and blessed this place, but there was also a large baptismal pool for adults in the church that dated back to the first millenium!

Following Ephesus, our bus took us up a mountain covered with olive trees, around treacherous curves with no guardrails and sudden drops of several hundred feet. We finally reached the quaint mountain village of Sirince. There is an old Christian Church here dedicated to John the Baptist. Verna found a leather shop and bought a nice purse.

On our eleventh day, April 30, we visited the ruins of Miletus, which has a theatre seating 25,000. Miletus was a major seaport in New Testament times, but today it lies six miles from the coast. After Miletus, we visited a gigantic Apollo Temple in Didyma, built of huge marble blocks. One of them measures 30 feet in length!

Our noon meal was in a fish restaurant on the beach. The contrasts in what we saw along the highway were amazing. In addition to numerous busses filled with tourists, there were donkeys and ponys pulling carts, tractors, cotton fields, fig, orange, lemon and pepper trees, stork nests and the occasional ruins of some ancient place not interesting enough for tourism, yet a thousand years older than the USA! Our bus even passed by one of the seven world wunders of antiquity! Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city famous for the tomb of Mausolus. The word mausoleum has its origin here.

We stayed in a lovely hotel on the beach at Mugla, with a pool that we didn't have time to use, a pretty pond and stream with turtles, ducks and large fish.

The 12th day of our tour was also May Day. I feared that I would never get over my bad cold, but as we turned southward toward Antalia, the weather became quite pleasant, and my cold vanished within 24 hours. We found it a real treat to swim for an hour in a sheltered cove of Oludenz National Park on the Mediterranean sea. We then visited the impressive ruins of Xhanthos with its large theatre where they had bull fights and other events. There is a tall tower there covered with hieroglyphics which have never been completely deciphered. Patara was next with more fascinating diggings, magnificent city gates and another theatre.

In 1980, there were only two hotels in the Patara region, but by 2002, there were 1,550 with more under construction! The 40 miles of sandy beaches attract many tourists from Western Europe, but no hotels may be built along one long stretch of beach because sea turtles lay their eggs here.

After a good night in Patara, we took a boat ride on the Mediterranean and viewed the sunken city of Kekova from above. Although the water was crystal clear and the boat had glass windows on the bottom, we could see nothing because the glass was dirty. Still, we could view parts of the city along the shore and an occasional sarcophagus protruding out of the water. We then visited Myra with its gigantic theatre and cliff graves. Demra, where St. Nicholas was born was next. We toured the St. Nicholas Basilica, built in the first half of the 4th century, and ate in a nearby restaurant crowded with tourists. Most of us think of Christmas when we hear the name St Nicholas, but for centuries, he was simply the patron saint of the fishermen. The bus ride along the coast to Antalia was breathtaking in more ways than one. It was difficult to enjoy the scenery when looking out the bus window. There was no guardrail, but just a steep drop into the sea!

On our final two nights, we stayed in a nice hotel “right on the beach”, but it was a hundred feet straight down to reach the water! The good news: there was a nice swimming pool; the bad news: no time to enjoy it!

On our last day, we visited the expansive ruins of Perge, which boasts a large theatre and stadium for chariot races, a well preserved agora (market place) and unique water system. Water from a spring not only provided drinking water, but also flowed through the main thoroughfare providing cool baths on hot days and water for cleaning the streets. The Apostle Paul arrived here by ship from Cyprus, but today, this ancient seaport is miles from from deep water. In addition to the ruins of an Artemis Temple and others, there are ruins of two Christian churches dating back to the fourth and fifth century. We also visited Aspendos (means “Horse Place”), which has the best preserved theatre seating 20,000 that is still used today. It is so well designed, that all 20,000 guests can be evacuated within 15 minutes. Our noon meal was delicious, eaten on a terrace overlooking a river. Verna said that it was the best meal of our trip and I tend to agree. I only enjoyed one meal more, but got very sick afterwards!

In the afternoon, we visited a large bazaar in Antalia and finally, the “Cultural Club of St Paul”. This is the legal name of the Christian church in Antalia. Although Turkey claims to have freedom of religion and earns much money from Christians who follow the missionary journeys of the Apostle, missions is virtually impossible today. Christian Churches are few, small and far between. Just prior to our visit, the Cultural Club of St. Paul received permission to purchase and restore the ruins of an old Orthodox church. If permission is granted to use it for regular worship, this would be the only true Church building used by Christians for worship, but not all the necessary permits for this had been granted. The Pastor of the church, a Presbyterian from America, told us that several were to be baptized the following Sunday, but many who attend the fellowship are foreigners.

Our alarm woke us up at 6:00 to catch the bus for the airport at 7:45. We asked the tour guide how far we had traveled by bus. According to the computer discs we had driven 2,060 miles. If we add the 2,260 miles by air and our trip to and from Austria, we covered around 5,000 miles in two weeks. We arrived home at 9:30 PM and a family of five from Slovakia had been waiting two hours for us (we didn’t expect them to arrive before ten)! The husband had even mowed our lawn while waiting!

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