After a week travelling through the tantalizing world that is Turkey, our journey brought us to Ephesus (modern Selcuk). The excavated ruins of this ancient city contain the largest collection of Roman ruins east of Italy. Here Paul, Timothy, John and Priscilla and Aquila all labored for the Lord Jesus to establish an Aegean Sea base for the Gospel. The travel and trade routes of the Meander River Valley served as conduits for the Christian message of redemption ...

Trekking across Turkey has taken us from the Soganli Valley through the Lycus and Meander Valleys to Ephesus. Along the way we have passed through rich farming land that produces cotton, tobacco and myriad Mediterranean fruits. The Lycus Valley in western Turkey is where three communities of first century Christians lived - in Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis (Colossians 2:1; 4:13). Paul's colleague Epaphras planted these churches, laying a foundation for a brig...

Central Anatolia is a land of colorful contrasts. We travelled through the dusty, pastal colored cave pinnacles of Goreme and Urgup down into the beautiful 'land before time' Soganli Valley. Trekking along the valley's slopes we entered many fifth and sixth century monasteries, places of sanctuary and for Christian service, hewn out of the high cliffs by early Christians. The cave walls are lined with murals depicting Biblical scenes. For early Christians leanin...

Cappadocia, the land of beautiful horses in central Turkey, might be better described as the land of magic carpets and monastic caves. The artistry of Turkey's central Anatolian craftswomen is unsurpassed. We were welcomed into a Turkish home in the town of Uchisar to watch an expert thread wool onto an expensive wooden loom, her eyes focused and her fingers rapidly forming the intricate patterns of the rug. No shortcuts or machine substitutes are permitted in ...

The greatest building of the Byzantine world was the Hagia Sophia - the Church of Holy Wisdom. Designed by the architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, construction of the third church was begun in A.D. 532, under the supervision of Emperor Justinian. The previous two churches had been burned down, the first in A.D. 404 by the angry supporters of the city's favorite preacher, John Chrysostom, after he was exiled by the Empress Eudoxia; the second ...