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  Harding University in Greece

HUG spring 2015

Turkey, Day 2- Ephesus

2/28/2015

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The leather factory was our first stop of the day.  We learned that the Turkish lamb leather is the softest, most flexible, and lightest leather. We watched a fashion show in which Wyatt, Wil, and A-C were asked to participate as models! The shop owner served us hot apple tea, which was delicious and sweet.

Eucalyptus, mulberry, a pine variety, olive, and a very few cypress trees shade the landscape during our drive to ancient Ephesus. Only 20% of the ancient city is uncovered, which is amazing because it is the most beautiful of the ruins that we have seen. The white marble streets are still almost level, most of the columns still stand, the Great Theatre built into the side of the hill still is used and can seat 24,000, and the tall multi-story front of the Library of Celsus is still intact. One's imagination doesn't have to run as wild as we've been stretched so far this semester. Ephesus is majestic - my favorite of the ruin sites we've visited so far. This was where Paul left Aquila and Priscilla who met with Apollo whom they taught the ways of the God more adequately. We discussed Paul's questioning of the baptism the people there received and their acceptance of the Holy Spirit. We walked through the shop area where the scene would have happened where It was stated that man-made gods are no gods at all. Paul wanted to speak to the people. It was down this path that Paul's traveling companions were shuffled and pushed as the crowds shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" And he was kept safe on a hillside that we saw in the distance. It was a moving morning.

The Ephesus Ceramic production center welcomed our group after our journey through ancient times. We watched a master sculptor and painter demonstrate their arts in their workshops. After being served pomegranate juice, we had the opportunity to shop among the ceramics. The building was filled with handmade beauties that were incredibly tempting. It was scary to turn if one carried a purse or bag on her back! Many students bought souvenirs that were carefully wrapped for packing. The workshop owners were so kind and appreciative; I took careful notes to ponder for future purchases for our new home here and am already looking forward to returning!

Our lunch was special today. We went to a restaurant nestled into nature. Surrounded by olive and peach and citrus trees among the hills, we were a bit out from the city. The buffet was three or four dishes deep and eight to ten dishes long with traditional Turkish foods. The restaurant was owned by the chef, and she was a gracious lady. Her cookbook came out a couple of years ago. I can't wait to share these recipes with my Aunt Petrecia, who we say is the best cook east of the Mississippi River.

St. John's Basilica was only a few minutes away. John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He spent time in this area and finished writing his gospel account here in Ephesus. After a tour at the Basilica, we made a quick stop at another wonder of the ancient world - the Temple of Artemis. The background there was picturesque, and we had some reflection time. It's been a full day.
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Turkey, Day 1

2/27/2015

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Turkey Tour
Day 1 - We flew into the Izmir airport, close to the Agean Sea. After a bumpy flight, we went through passport control and headed immediately to lunch. Thankful to be on the ground, we tried a lot of different Turkish foods at Koniali Resturant - Turkish salad, rice, Turkish pizzas, and traditional kabobs. We also had two Turkish desserts - I'm unsure of the name, but it was a cooked cheese with nuts and something else on top, sitting in a sweet syrup. The taste and texture reminded me of sweetened shredded wheat. It was yummy. The other desert was a light chocolate cake with light icing between the layers - a celebratory birthday cake for Fotini, our travel partner on this trip! So much food!

Izmir, ancient Smyrna, is a city of 4 million people, and the buildings and houses are right next to each other, sharing walls, as do many buildings in big cities. During 4th century BC, Alexander the Great came here and ruled. Afterwards Rome rose to power, and a large number of Jewish people and Christians suffered here. Much later, more than half of the city became Greek Christians. Then in WW1, 70% of the city was burned. People perished, people moved to Athens, and others rebuilt.

Today the town is mainly involved in the leather industry making shoes and other goods. The cost of living in Izmir is much cheaper than Istanbul. Izmir is a university town. On our drive through town I noticed very narrow side streets, many pedestrians, and numerous shops. Izmir is a city where churches, temples, and mosques happily share space literally and figuratively; people here continue to pray for peace, unlike the way their neighbors to the east live. Every two years, Izmir hosts an international fair for businesses to show their products. The outside of the grounds show palm trees beside the waterfront. It's a forward-thinking city at present. Turkey is the bridging country between Europe and the Middle East - in thought and in geography. But our guide said today that the political climate is changing. The primary crops here are olives, sesame seeds, cotton, bananas, citrus fruits, sunflowers, sugar, beets, barleys, wheat, pistachios, livestock. We are in an interesting country - one that is sure to expand our thoughts as we experience it together.
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Peloponnese Day 2 & 3- Mycenae, Nafplion, Olympia and Skiing

2/21/2015

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Peloponnese Tour - Day 2 and 3
The Lion Gate at Mycenae greeted us upon arrival. We were able to view some of the finds from this site - death masks, jewelry, household items such as golden cups and other kitchen items - at the National Archeological Museum of Athens earlier this semester. After exploring the ancient city, surrounded by the mountains and taking in the hilltop views, we drove to the nearby Beehive Tomb. The shape of the tomb made us sound like angels when we sang, and our group doesn't claim to be fabulous singers! The shape was such that one can stand on one side of the tomb, whisper, and someone else can hear it on the opposite side of the structure.

We stopped at a ceramics works store that is an an active workshop making pottery pieces. It sold items like jewelry, olive oil soap, and ceramics. Then we approached the beautiful town of Nafplion. We climbed to the high fort and the Palamidi Castle to explore. Afterwards, we drove back down the mountain to the sea town of Nafplion to have free time. But before we were allowed to roam, we heard the history and explanation between gelato and sorbet and ice cream. And even gelato, if it's the real thing, is seasonal - watermelon flavor in summer, fig in winter, etc. if it's not seasonal, you know it's not fresh. There is a difference between gelato and the others, and there is a history. All the students are willing to be taste testers! I can't describe the charm of Nafplion. Words won't do it justice. The shops, the restaurants, the buildings and pathways, the vines overhanging (oh, imagine the summer color!) from building to building across the street, the friendly shopkeepers, the tame loose dogs, the turquoise of the sea, the castle at the top of the mountain in the distance... Goodness. This town will require multiple visits to explore every lovely square inch.

We continued our journey. The top olive oil producers in the world are Spain, Italy, Greece, but for extra virgin olive oil, Greece is by far the number one producer. We then heard the historical background of Olympia - the Greek god myths and the historical facts. This particular land has seen famine, plagues, war, the reinstitution of the Olympian games, which lasted for 1,111 years, and the madness of the Greeks for the sports and athletes. We arrived at the beautiful hotel and ate a delicious supper, ending a very good day.

The next morning, an early start was on the agenda. We were at Olympia before the sun had time to warm the earth, although it wasn't warm at all - even by lunchtime. We're taking the cold air with us on our journey. After touring the ancient site, we toured the museum which houses the artifacts found there. Next our "learning caps" came off and our "adventure caps" got put on. Well, I shouldn't say that; we had several who haven't skied before, so they are still in learning mode. The group was excited about skiing!  We got our second wind!

...A few hours have passed since the above...as we head down the mountain, we're a bus full of people with different emotions. We've done a lot physically and emotionally today. We raced in ancient Olympia today and celebrated the winners of the slightly under 200 meter run. And we skied in the Peloponnese mountains above the town of Kalavryta. Since our group had many first-time skiers, we got some good laughs. Most had a fun time learning and caught the hang of it with a bit of practice. Others said, "Thanks but no thanks; it's not for me, but I'm glad I tried; I think I'll go ride the lift and enjoy the scenery and then hang out in the ski lodge!" So on a 1-10 scale, we're split. There's not exactly a medium. Either you like the physical activity of the day or you didn't. However, even if physical exertion isn't someone's thing, we still, learned a lot from our tour and had plenty of time to bond with each other. We grow and learn to give and take, to appreciate the differences in each other, to celebrate the diversity. That's a big part of developing relationships. We've been living and eating and leading together for five weeks now, and I see relationships among the students growing and maturing as they show interest in each other. It's beautiful to witness, and I'm thankful for it. Home again, home again...
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Peloponnese Day 1- Corinth and Epidaurus

2/18/2015

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Peloponnese Tour
Day 1 - We began the day by hearing the history of Corinth - the politics, the wars, the sides taken, the rulers, the uniting of troops and common enemies between city states, the morale state, and Paul's letters to the church there.

We stopped at the Corinth Canal and marveled at the technology that was used at the time to cut through the stone. The canal has been used since 1893. It is the best place for bungee jumping in Greece. I encouraged the students to spare their parents' feelings about this issue if they are making the trip back to Corinth to participate in that later in the semester. We explored a bit on the canal bridge and then we read from Acts 18 as we crossed the Corinthian canal over into the Peloponnese.

Our next stop was the ancient city of Corinth - the port city through which every trade route was  steered because ships were not mechanical; they needed to be somewhat close to the shore line to use the land as a guide. Thus, Corinth was a very busy and populated city, which also explains its loose morals, as compared to a city not used as a port. Think about our American cities with which we are familiar - the ones on the coast, generally speaking are more traveled through (bringing outsiders) and are more populated and have looser morals than any inland city, even today. Since ancient times, coastal cities have been this way. It's an interesting comparison on which to ponder. As we roamed the streets, we had another case of the stones crying out. Today we saw another major non-Biblical inscription that helps date Acts on a street funded by Erastus, a friend and associate of Paul whom Paul mentions in Romans. As our guide continues to state, even if people fail, the stones cry out to Jesus' existence and Deity, giving the Bible credibility.

We read from Acts 18 as we crossed the Corinthian canal over into the Peloponnese. Our journey to Epidaurus gives me time to appreciate the land. The Aegean Sea is like a sunken mountain range with pointy mountain tops appearing as islands in the blue water. The blue of the water is indescribable. Posting a picture here on the blog is a good effort, but the camera will not capture its glisten or depth. The turquoise turns to royal blue, then sapphire, then almost violet at the deepest I can see. Fish farms in the various bays are surrounded on three sides by land, and Greece claims to export the most fish of anywhere in the world. There are scattered almond trees blooming white little flowers, and Greek children learn that when they see the white bloom of the almond tree that spring is on the way. I also finally saw some trees that remind me of the southern United States. The Mediterranean pine tree was the first tall tree besides the pointy cypress which is also in my view, and the pine reminds me of Arkansas and Mississippi. It is fuller than our southern pines, and our guide told me that until modern times these pines covered most of Greece. They have more of a yellow-green leaf than do our pines or the dark forrest green of the cypress that dot the landscape no matter which way one faces. There are also more orange and lemon trees in fields than we saw in northern Greece, which makes sense - it's warmer down here and there are more citrus fruits produced down south. Then there's the oleander tree, having a long, slender kelly green leaf - longer than my finger but shorter than my hand; they'll bloom pink or white very soon, and the summer will show more color than the steadfast evergreens. There is also what might look like a weed to some, but it's a yellow blooming low flower that dances along the road. Reminds me of our lantana, which we love in the southern United States, while northerners might consider it a weed. And there is along the roadside what appears to be a blooming Rosemary bush every now and then - very full - might be a variety of some sort of Rosemary. And I can't discuss the Greek land without mentioning the olive tree. Today the sun is bright, so instead of a dull brushed nickel, the olive leaves glisten in the sunlight. It's as if they're glittering silver. They're shorter than the others, so from the high mountain roads, they look like sparkling bushes. The ground is either green with grass, white with rock, brown with soil, or black with solar panels, adding a modern touch to this ancient, well-traveled land. I'm growing to love this Mediterranean landscape. If blue is God's favorite color, perhaps green is a close second. Today, my eyes are full.

At Epidaurus we saw the best preserved ancient theater (holds 12,000). You can stand in the center of the stage and hear your voice echo. The students scaled the steps to the top, and could even hear a coin drop at the center of the stage down below. I was the last person remaining at the site, and I spoke from the center. It was as if I was speaking into a microphone. So before our modern theaters with fancy sound systems were thought of, the ancients built theaters for which they didn't even need the modern technology to hear a theatrical play or a town meeting speech or a song. Amazing.

Through our mountain road journey, we saw a shepherd tending his sheep. I can draw upon so many metaphors. The most obvious being God as our shepherd, but there are others He puts in our lives to use to communicate to us the right path to follow. I'm thinking of my parents who have guided my growing up years and whose marriage we admire so openly; they still guide us, even though our marriage isn't technically young, in their actions toward each other. I also think of the eldership at one's home congregation, leading the people in their thoughts and actions and spiritual growth. I think of teachers whose job encompasses SO much more than academics; many of the teachers I know are Jesus' hands and feet - leading, loving, and molding - all beautifully and purposefully. I think of city leaders who publicly stand for what they know is moral. I think of physicians who pray to the Healer to work through them to help people. There are simply so many seed-waterers, so many workers in the vineyard, so many shepherds being used by The Shepherd. My prayer is that our eyes are continually opened to His guidance.
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Greek Orthodox Church, Greek Coffee and the Zoo!

2/17/2015

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Upon our return from the Northern Greece trip, we got busy!  Saturday, students from Greater Atlanta Christian came to visit us on our campus.  Truly they are here to minister to the people in this community, but they were in town for Valentine's Day, so we had a party!  There were about twenty of us and forty of them, so we had a BIG group!  Our students were very outgoing and welcoming, so we were very proud of their spirits.  Our students organized basketball, volleyball, and dart tournaments and introduced the GAC students to Greek dancing (we had lessons the night before here on campus).  It was a fun night for all.

On Sunday morning, we attended a Greek Orthodox church service.  It was a very different experience from our traditional services.  There was incense; there was much motion - standing and bowing; the entire service was in song by the same three men; there were words that everyone needed to say together; there was very modest dress.  We came back to campus and processed the event together.  Later that evening, we attended our worship service in English and ate out together - Greek salad, potatoes, fried zucchini, garlic bread, and either kalamaki or gyros.  

Monday consisted of classes, and then we heard Vicky's sharing of how to make the Greek coffee that infiltrates this culture.  We've noticed the coffee houses on our trips into Athens, and the people here are very particular about their coffee, which Vicky says is not as strong as Italian espresso.  Everybody got to sample, and some people even got to make it, with Vicky's guidance, of course.  We then heard Vicky's story of meeting Christ, which was incredibly meaningful and inspiring.  It makes us feel bold, grateful, and connected to Vicky in a more special way.  Her name in Greek means "of the king," and she knows that she is His daughter, a princess.  We love our Vicky!

Today we went to the Attiki Zoo. Despite the chill in the air, we all had a good time together.  We even got to see a dolphin show!  It's a funny schedule today - we had time to rest this afternoon and catch up on some schoolwork, although I witnessed a couple of naps on the couches, some puzzle working, and some reading by the fire going on... I also want to tell you about today's dessert - kiwi, strawberries, pineapples, pear, and three cheeses - Brie, parmesan, and gruyere.  Absolutely delicious.  It was almost too beautiful to eat - yeah, right!  Seriously, the presentation was to lovely - on solid white platters with the pineapple top on display.  It made lunch at event in my mind!  Natasa, Vicky, and I decided that we'd be more than willing to take a field trip to pick up some French cheeses if the need arose... We had chapel this evening before supper; the students are in their Bible class right now, and I will teach my humanities class in just a few minutes.  So I'll sign off.  Parents, when you have time, and you likely already have, be sure to check out some of your kiddos' (not really kids anymore!) zoo pics on Facebook or Twitter.  We were able to get pretty close to some crazy animals!  It's been a fun few days on campus together.  We're learning new and interesting things about each other and about our world daily.  
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Philippi and Dion and Thermopylae...Oh MY!

2/13/2015

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On our journey to Philippi, we learned of the history of this Roman colony in the first (of the four) sections of Macedonia and specifically of Lydia, the seller of purple. We learned of the color purple - the origins of the dye sources (oak or seashells), the quantity of dye needed to color something, how to process and even the smell of the dye, the costs associated, the different shades of "purple," the sunning process, and the association of the color with wealth. 

We also discussed Paul and Silas' mistreatment - the beatings, the public humiliation, and the asking of him to leave secretly. Roman citizens would have felt like having a public outcry. Paul knew this and wanted to make clear to the people at Philippi that he had committed no crime. Afterwards, at Lydia's house, Paul and Silas encouraged their friends. We stopped by the water where Lydia was baptized and reflected on her reaction to Paul's message. We also spent a bit of time inside the church there, which is dedicated to Lydia. The church is in the shape of an octagon and made of marble. Following the ceiling imagines from left to right, paintings and mosaics tell the story of Jesus and of Paul's giving that news to the world. In the middle of the church was a baptistery, which looked like a birdbath compared to our full-immersion baptistry. We discussed the changing of the location of this procedure from streams and rivers to church buildings and the logistics thereof, and we spoke of the change in the age of the person being baptized and the reasons that infant baptism began centuries ago. We stepped into the baptistery floor level, just down a couple steps, with the hope of singing. The echo really was beautiful, and we sang together, even though we know that we honestly won't get first prize in a singing contest! We lifted our voices in song, and I know that God must have been pleased with our praises to Him. 

Ancient Philippi was interesting. We saw the ancient churches there that were built at various times and earth levels, including a floor mosaic with a date designed that gives credit to the time of the early church visit and dedication to the good news brought by Paul. We noted the octagon shape of the church, indicating equally of people worshipping, an idea that the Greek people still carry today, unlike the class system ingrained in the people of other European countries. We also saw the alter steps, where the scriptures were read aloud, centered in the aisle of the church; in later churches, the alter shifts to the side instead of the center; does this indicate the shift of the importance of the scriptures in the church as centuries passed? 

During or before his beatings, we don't know exactly why Paul didn't say, "I'm a Roman citizen," which would have stopped the beatings immediately. But we do know that people believed afterwards (Philippians 3:20). Maybe God gave Paul a vision. Maybe not. But it seems that Paul had a reason for not saying anything. Regardless, we have the result of the church here and the letter to the Philippians, the happiest church of them all. Paul humbled himself so that the message would advance. He got the beating so that the church wouldn't get it later; certainly years later, church people remembered the unlawful beatings and town leaders left the people in peace. Even though Paul was treated incredibly poorly and likely was low in spirits, he kept the faith. He had an impact on people from this land and all over this area, and through him, the gospel was spread. So one lesson from the example of Paul is that in the face of challenge, trouble, and even fear, we must put our faith not in ourselves but in God, knowing that we are being used by the Lord for His purpose in ways that we may never witness, if that is our prayer - and sometimes even if it isn't. His will certainly is not limited by our prayers and intentions, but that's another thought for another time.

After a rest for the night, we packed up and journeyed on the bus, passing through the area of the largest kiwi producers of Greece. The kiwi vines look like a larger version of the grape vine--without their leaves--taller with a stronger trunk, actually. 

The ancient city of Dion, named for Zeus, was a community set up to honor the gods. My favorite part of his city was the ancient trophy cabinet - not really a cabinet, just a display wall. The stone shields and armor indicated that there was leather and bronze decorations, taken from Dion's conquests. The word trophy comes from the idea of a turning point. In battles, there is a turning point when one begins to defeat his enemies, so after a win occurs, you gather the spoils from your enemies at the geographic location of the turning point to say, "this is where we became stronger," and display them; thus, the concept of a physical trophy remains with us today. In the background from the middle of this ancient city, one can see Mount Olympus with its snowy peaks. It's a bulky mountain, with a wide girth - something that I'm fighting as we're served all of this tasty and fresh Greek food and sweets! Ha! On the bus again, we face away from Mount Olympus and head to Thermopylae, where the mountains turn brown, gray, and green, and the silver green color of the olive trees looks like dulled nickel, contrasting with the yellow-green brush of the mottled ground. The cypress trees jut into the air, and we pass villages made up of square, white houses with terra cotta roofs. Throughout Greece, we see the colors of the sky, the trees, the rocky mountains, the houses, and the roofs. Blue, green, brown, white/cream, and rusty orange are becoming our most familiar colors. 

On our way to Thermopylae, we heard the history of the Spartans. Their shields were given to the boys when they were young. They were told, in it or on it, meaning, you come home with a victory with your spoils or dead on your shield; there is no cowardice accepted. They trained together, beginning at the age of seven, to be warriors for life. The men ate and slept in the barracks together until the age of thirty, even though they were allowed to marry at the age of twenty; they simply couldn't live with their wives yet. Because of this time and bond formed, there was no army with better teamwork. You fought beside your father, brothers, grandfather, uncles. You won or you fought to the death. And these were the laws of the city. Every man lived by the same code. Thus, the Spartans were the conquerors of the age. We heard of the Persian power rising and of the battle of the 300 Spartans. We then discussed that Persian king Xerxes and of his marrying of Esther. Then in 479 B.C. we have another war with the Persians. We stopped at the memorial to the Spartans and the Thespians and stood on the battleground for a group photo. 

For the remainder of the drive, we told riddles, laughed together, and reflected on our adventures in northern Greece. What a wonderful group of young people this is at HUG!
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Heading Up North

2/10/2015

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Our first stop on our first overnight trip of the semester was at Delphi, the center of the ancient world. This city honored Apollo--handsome, god of light and the hunt, god of plague because he can be angry, related to wisdom, prophesying, protector of the oracles, story of Apollo chasing Daphne, story of the priests interpreting the prophesies of questions of war or even personal matters--all Greek myths from 500 B.C.

Further north on our journey, we drove through the flattest part of Greece; in fact, we were told that we were in the plains of Greece, although we could see the mountains surrounding us, albeit much further away than so far in our journey this semester. This area is unlike southern Greece which grows olives and vineyards. Here is grown wheat, corn, barley, cotton, and in the past, tobacco.

We arrived to our hotel and ate supper there and then wandered the streets of Meteora. There are six out of the original twenty monasteries remaining in Meteora, sitting atop the brown mountain-cliffs, jutting straight into the air. The unusual snow made the view quite beautiful for our group photo.  If you are a James Bond fan, you may remember some scenes from "For Your Eyes Only" that were filmed here.

On day two of our northern Greece tour, we headed toward Macedonia, the northern most Greek kingdom. The rest of the people who were outside of Greece were considered barbarians. The language that wasn't Greek was heard as, "Bar, bar, bar;" hence the word barbarians. The thought is the in-group versus the out-group. You are either Greek or non-Greek. You are either an Israelite or a Gentile. You are either a believer, or you are not. The thought of either/or has always been. At this point, we heard the story of Philip II rising to power in Macedonia, which was a weak Greek state without power that became the greatest power in southeast Europe under his rule. Philip would have been the greatest Greek ruler (359-336 B.C.)  had he not been in he shadow of his son, Alexander the Great.

Socrates was so influential in the history of human thought that time is divided between before Socrates and after Socrates. Plato was Socrates' student. Plato's most famous student was Aristotle. Aristotle's student was Alexander, Philip's son. Alexander was a good student who developed his mind and turned out to be the greatest military genius in history; his whose name means a protector of men, who did love the battle and the kingdom and had great victories. In fact, his military strategies are still studied today.

Our guide pointed out the prophesy in Daniel chapter 11, which is the prophesy of Alexander the Great, who was the very last person in his family line who ruled Macedonia and is not buried with his ancestors. His empire was divided into four and ruled by others. I oftentimes think of our Creator as the God of art, math, music, creativity, science, but our God is also the Father of history; every word in the Bible is inspired. Even three hundred years before the coming of Christ, God is preparing the hearts of the Gentile Greeks to hear of Him and to spread the truth throughout the world in His timing.

As I listened to the accounts of history, the views were of fruit trees for as far as my eyes could see until the mountains took over in the distance. In fact, 40% of the world's peaches come from this region. The trees without leaves look like a hand reaching up as fingers are gnarled from the wrist - five or so tree limbs curling up not too high as compared to America's tall trees. These fruit trees are ready to produce peaches, apricots, cherries, even kiwi vines...spring is on its way, just around the corner.

After a lunch in the village of Vergina, we toured the royal tomb of Philip II. In 1984, the tomb was discovered - relatively, an incredibly recent find. We entered the actual site of the tomb as we strolled down beneath the earth on a walkway, leading to the discovery. The weaponry, silver dishes, gold funerary wreaths (crowns), purple and gold clothing, and the underground tomb itself were all very well-preserved. It's of note to contemplate that when I was approaching ten years of age, a team of people was finding items dated from the time more than 300 years before Christ walked the earth. At the risk of sounding about twelve years old, I'll admit that I REALLY wanted to try on the golden crowns - and I wasn't the only girl with stars in my eyes!

Next we bused to the city that once was Berea (modern day Veroia). This is ancient Berea from Paul's time, where he found the noble people who received the word with readiness/alertness and searched the scriptures to find out if what Paul was saying was so--they didn't know Paul like we do, so they studied to see if his words were accurate. They loved Paul here. Some Berean citizens paid a lot of money and sacrificed a lot of job/family time to take Paul hundreds of miles to Athens when he left their city, maybe a month or so worth of travel. After Paul's beatings and mistreatment in other towns, I'm sure it was very difficult for Paul to leave these people with their feeling of love for him. During our walk through the Jewish ghetto of Berea, I reflected on the gift of encouragement that Paul received from these people at a time when he very likely needed it.

Back on our bus, we read from the book of Acts 17 the happenings when Paul traveled to Thessaloniki, the modern music and food capital of Greece. Once, the place of the largest Jewish population in Europe, now, after WWII in Greece's recent history, it has only about 1,000 Jewish citizens. We had time to reflect on the German occupation of Greece and other parts of Europe, which was just about a chapter or so ago in our world's history, relatively speaking. The modern city of Thessaloniki's average age is quite young, with very many university students. We stopped at a Roman Forum in the middle of the city and then went into the Church of St. Demetri. Passing through the city, we saw the old Roman walls, built as protection. Our bus tour continued, showing us the port city's walkways, town squares, and different architecture built on top of itself. Old European cities are a treasure chest of discovery and stories.

It's been a full day. Our brains are swimming with new info, most of which we'll build upon tomorrow in our journey throughout the ancient world. Parents, what a blessing this time is for your student! Thank you for the sacrifice you've made for each of them. Our minds and hearts are learning and stretching.
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International Worship

2/3/2015

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Sunday was such a meaningful day. We worshipped in Greek and English with people from Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Iran, Afghanistan, and America. All were worshipping the one Lord. We felt truly special and honored to be able to take part in such a service. God must feel so honored and praised (exactly how we want Him to feel) each week when the family of believers worships Him from across the planet, all unified. After my first international worship experience, I've never quite looked at our corporate assemblies in the same way - my view is much more alive now, as I see that our true family stretches across the globe, and rarely does a Lord's Supper go by when I don't think of people with whom I've worshipped from many countries. It's much more personal and much less about only me at the same time; God is beautiful like that. Families separated by war, poverty, fear, religion... I've never experienced half of what these people with whim I worshipped Sunday must experience on a daily basis. It's a bigger concept than I can express that Americans are incredibly blessed not to face FEAR when worshipping WHO and HOW and WHEN we want to...very unlike the rest of the planet. Thank to the good Lord that Greece is 97% Christian. We're next door though to a different world, which believes in a totally different deity type from ours. Suffering because of this is commonplace. 

All of us ate lunch at the church afterwards with the members there.  A group of our students went early to help prepare the food--chicken, potatoes, peas, corn. Then they took it to the bakery to have the bakers use their ovens so that the food would be ready at lunchtime. This is a common practice here--this food preparation and then having someone else cook it in their ovens so that you go pick it up when it's ready to share with friends and family. 

Carrying the theme, today at chapel, Knight read from Psalm 86:9, which talks about all the nations praising God together. He guided our thoughts from the seven nationalities worshipping this past weekend to the numerous nations worshipping together in Heaven one day and the importance of living daily as if it were the last day we have on earth; our actions count - toward each other and toward our God (one in the same, really - you know - the greatest command). 

I don't have all the words for Sunday in addition to today's chapel yet available for expression. Still processing...heavy but so very fulfilling and thought provoking... Very thankful to share worship time with this special group of students. We're maturing in our faith together, and it is lovely to grow in Him.
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    Written by Loren Beason, students, and special guests

    The Adventures of HUG Spring 2015!

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