Turkish Delight
So I totally didn't know what Turkish Delight was until I tried it yesterday. I didn't like it all that much, though. Way to sweet for my taste. Other than that, the food in Turkey is DELICIOUS! And healthy! There is so many creative ways of preparing vegetables. And whole wheat bread is more popular than white bread. There is almost no fatty, creamy dishes. And the only popular cheese is feta, which is said to be healthier than American cheeses. I'm reminded of my grandma's Egypian cooking. Mmmm!
When we arrived in Turkey, my first impression was to be nervous about the drastic change in culture. I had never seen so many women dressed from head to toe in garments! I was especially nervous because 99 percent of the people are Muslim. There are Masques EVERYWHERE. I've probably seen a thousand already. One night, I woke up to the prayer call. Muslims are supposed to kneel to pray, facing Mecca, 5 times a day. How exhausting to wake up in the middle of the night to pray! Almost all Christian churches have been turned into museums. Although, there is one SdA church that we will be attending this Sabbath. I decided to be extremely careful to not show too much skin, and even try to wear a head scarf. Also, girls are told to always go out into the Bazaar only if a male is with us.
As I soon found out, the Turkish people are one of the nicest groups of people I have met. I hate to say this, but even nicer than Greeks, and Americans. Tourists are everywhere and the Turks are used to them. Therefore, conservative dress is not needed, except for the in the masques and for the fun of melting into the culture. haha. In the past, I have associated being a Muslim with so many negative things, but truly, they are not much different from Christians in the way that they treat others, and even in the main points of their religion. Muslims are not supporters of terrorism! America needs to get that idea out of our heads!
Yesterday, our first day in Turkey, we went to Ephesus and Laodicea. Ephesus is by far the most incredible ruins I've seen yet. The amphitheater in the city seats 30,000 people...and is still a site for current productions! Imagine going to see a play in a theater that people went to 2000 years ago! What history! That's more than the Staples center! Also, there is a gymnasium, Roman temple, and Roman Baths. The infostructure and complexity of the city is incredible! The Ephesians even had central heating and a complex water system where all sewage flowed in underground pipes to the harbor which is very close to the city. Our tour guide told us that the Ephesian Christian church wasn't an actually structure, along with ALL 7 churches. The Christians went from home to home. Persecution by Romans wouldn't have allowed an actual church. What we are seeing while visiting the 7 churches is visiting the 7 cities in which the Christians lived.
Laodicea, on the other hand, was pretty much a field with weeds and a few pillars and marble rocks. Despite this, I learned something AMAZING about Laodicea and how John's letters to the churches related so well to the experience of the church. For example, there is a city just outside Laodicea called Hierapolis. Hierapolis was a "hot spot" to travelers because of it's natural hot springs. It was a considered a spa. The hot mineral water of Hierapolis flows to Laodicea, along with the cool waters of other cities, creating a LUKEWARM mineral water. We actually got to visit Hierapolis today and the spa still exists, and is a huge tourist attraction. Muslim women would go in fully clothed--head scarf and all. How uncomfortable! Our tour guide had us drink the water. It is DISGUSTING! Hence, "I will spit it out of my mouth." I seriously just could not swallow it! I spit it out into the dirt. Isn't that amazing how real the Bible is! I love it! This has inspired me to want to visit the Holy land someday. :)
It is fascinating studying about what incredible influence the Roman culture had on Christianity and how it infiltrated Christian worship. This led to several thought provoking conversations with Dr Haloviak and the group. For example, in one of the Jewish temples where Jews, and later (probably) Christians would meet, there are prominent Roman empire symbols, even on the altar. One of the members of the group, the Bible teacher at Redlands (Somer), was appalled by this and how weak the Christians were and worthy of reprimanding by John. However, Dr. Haloviak challenged her by pointing out how many Adventist churches display an American flag on the podium. I was confused on why there was anything wrong with that. I asked Dr. Haloviak and she told me that has only started in the last twenty years, and why should the church be glorifying "America" when the emphasis should be on Adventism as a world church, completely separate from patriotism? hmm.... I still see a big difference though---Roman culture at the time was rooted in paganism, while America was founded on Christianity and religious freedom. I see a difference. This also makes me think about why Rome was portrayed as the "great beast" in Revelation. It was everything evil in the time of John (persecution, paganism, polytheistic, violent, immoral, etc...). This is just a thought, and I have not done any research--but I can't help but think that maybe Rome isn't what it was in the time of John, and maybe it won't play the role that Adventists think it will in the end times. yikes! That was quite a thought! It's healthy to doubt, though. It might be reaffirmed later. I need to study more than the 7 churches now! lol.
Long bus rides, now that I've tried to stop sleeping through all of them, have led to incredible and deep conversations. For example, Somer, Amy, Heather, Dr. H and I got into a conversation about mission work. Somer brought up the point that much of mission work is flawed, particularly short term missions. She said it is designed to help American youth have good feelings about themselves and is completely selfish. In reality, when American youth go out to build a church, etc, they are taking away from those poor builders who would willingly build a church for just a miniscule amount of money. Could we be hurting, rather than helping them? Also, she brought up the point that many mission trips include gathering up all of our old clothes and shipping it off to another country. In the process, we are putting that poor seamstress out of work and hurting the economy rather than helping it. WOW. She suggests that is better to spend the money supporting a well known, successful foundation like the American red cross, etc.. In defense of these mission trips, I chimed in to the conversation saying that many Adventists couldn't afford anything--including a builder for a church. If they don't have our help, than they might not ever have a church. Also, when mission workers go out into the field, they are not only building a church, but bringing others to Christ. There are so many baptisms that are a result of mission work! My conclusion: Mission trips are an excellent way to reach out, however, we still should be careful that we are performing activitites that are helpful to the community we are going to. In the process, we need to do our research about what is truly needed in the community.
Today, we visited Hierapolis which I already talked about, Philadelphia, the temple of Artemis, and Sardis, Ismer and a Turkish Bazaar! Philadelphia was pretty much nothing, but for the sake of seeing all the churches, we did. There was a big turtle amidst the ruins, though! haha. The temple of Artemis was in the middle of a plain in which there was no shade and ridiculously hot (a common theme?). It pretty much looks the same as all of the others. Oh well! Sardis, on the other hand, was quite intriguing. It is a city on a hill. There is a large Roman gymnasium, and a Jewish temple within the SAME courtyard! Although the Christians most likely went house to house, it is also likely that the temple was filled with Christians as well who accepted Jesus. It was another incredible example of how the Roman cults infliltrated the Jewish temples and the Christian church that John writes to. What I found especially cool about Sardis has to do with how the city is on top of a hill. In the Bible, John writes to them telling them to "Stay awake"! In Sardis, our tour guide told us that there would be guards at the bottom of the hill who protect the city from invasion. If the guards were alert and awake, because of the location it would be almost impossible for invaders to enter and conquer the city. However, if they were to fall asleep, the city could fall into the hands of the enemy. Cool. Did John even go to all of these churches? I need to find that out. That could make a huge differenc in my understanding.
As we headed back to the hotel in Ismer, (one of the largest Turkish cities) Nina and I got to talking. She was a missionary in Pohnpei for a year and had an incredible experience there. (Hmm...I use the word incredible a lot. lol) She told me many of her experiences. I also got to thinking about how amazing (that word, too) it is to learn about culture and languages. The world is so huge, and so diverse!
When we got back to the hotel, we unpacked our luggage and headed for the Turkish Bazaar. It is only a half mile walk through the city. We broke off into groups of 4 and went shopping! Wonderful! haha. I bought a white and an aqua head scarf. On the way back, our group got lost. We wandered through the Bazaar for a half an hour, just trying to get out! So many people do not speak English. It was quite the experience...but we made it and were only a little bit late for dinner.
Man I'm tired. Each day is packed with information, walking, and heat! I'm tired both physically and mentally. I need to process all the information I've gotten! I guess that is what a tour is, though. Writing these livejournals help as well.
Well that's enough for the night. More to come. :) 5 more days till I get on that plane headed for home!
When we arrived in Turkey, my first impression was to be nervous about the drastic change in culture. I had never seen so many women dressed from head to toe in garments! I was especially nervous because 99 percent of the people are Muslim. There are Masques EVERYWHERE. I've probably seen a thousand already. One night, I woke up to the prayer call. Muslims are supposed to kneel to pray, facing Mecca, 5 times a day. How exhausting to wake up in the middle of the night to pray! Almost all Christian churches have been turned into museums. Although, there is one SdA church that we will be attending this Sabbath. I decided to be extremely careful to not show too much skin, and even try to wear a head scarf. Also, girls are told to always go out into the Bazaar only if a male is with us.
As I soon found out, the Turkish people are one of the nicest groups of people I have met. I hate to say this, but even nicer than Greeks, and Americans. Tourists are everywhere and the Turks are used to them. Therefore, conservative dress is not needed, except for the in the masques and for the fun of melting into the culture. haha. In the past, I have associated being a Muslim with so many negative things, but truly, they are not much different from Christians in the way that they treat others, and even in the main points of their religion. Muslims are not supporters of terrorism! America needs to get that idea out of our heads!
Yesterday, our first day in Turkey, we went to Ephesus and Laodicea. Ephesus is by far the most incredible ruins I've seen yet. The amphitheater in the city seats 30,000 people...and is still a site for current productions! Imagine going to see a play in a theater that people went to 2000 years ago! What history! That's more than the Staples center! Also, there is a gymnasium, Roman temple, and Roman Baths. The infostructure and complexity of the city is incredible! The Ephesians even had central heating and a complex water system where all sewage flowed in underground pipes to the harbor which is very close to the city. Our tour guide told us that the Ephesian Christian church wasn't an actually structure, along with ALL 7 churches. The Christians went from home to home. Persecution by Romans wouldn't have allowed an actual church. What we are seeing while visiting the 7 churches is visiting the 7 cities in which the Christians lived.
Laodicea, on the other hand, was pretty much a field with weeds and a few pillars and marble rocks. Despite this, I learned something AMAZING about Laodicea and how John's letters to the churches related so well to the experience of the church. For example, there is a city just outside Laodicea called Hierapolis. Hierapolis was a "hot spot" to travelers because of it's natural hot springs. It was a considered a spa. The hot mineral water of Hierapolis flows to Laodicea, along with the cool waters of other cities, creating a LUKEWARM mineral water. We actually got to visit Hierapolis today and the spa still exists, and is a huge tourist attraction. Muslim women would go in fully clothed--head scarf and all. How uncomfortable! Our tour guide had us drink the water. It is DISGUSTING! Hence, "I will spit it out of my mouth." I seriously just could not swallow it! I spit it out into the dirt. Isn't that amazing how real the Bible is! I love it! This has inspired me to want to visit the Holy land someday. :)
It is fascinating studying about what incredible influence the Roman culture had on Christianity and how it infiltrated Christian worship. This led to several thought provoking conversations with Dr Haloviak and the group. For example, in one of the Jewish temples where Jews, and later (probably) Christians would meet, there are prominent Roman empire symbols, even on the altar. One of the members of the group, the Bible teacher at Redlands (Somer), was appalled by this and how weak the Christians were and worthy of reprimanding by John. However, Dr. Haloviak challenged her by pointing out how many Adventist churches display an American flag on the podium. I was confused on why there was anything wrong with that. I asked Dr. Haloviak and she told me that has only started in the last twenty years, and why should the church be glorifying "America" when the emphasis should be on Adventism as a world church, completely separate from patriotism? hmm.... I still see a big difference though---Roman culture at the time was rooted in paganism, while America was founded on Christianity and religious freedom. I see a difference. This also makes me think about why Rome was portrayed as the "great beast" in Revelation. It was everything evil in the time of John (persecution, paganism, polytheistic, violent, immoral, etc...). This is just a thought, and I have not done any research--but I can't help but think that maybe Rome isn't what it was in the time of John, and maybe it won't play the role that Adventists think it will in the end times. yikes! That was quite a thought! It's healthy to doubt, though. It might be reaffirmed later. I need to study more than the 7 churches now! lol.
Long bus rides, now that I've tried to stop sleeping through all of them, have led to incredible and deep conversations. For example, Somer, Amy, Heather, Dr. H and I got into a conversation about mission work. Somer brought up the point that much of mission work is flawed, particularly short term missions. She said it is designed to help American youth have good feelings about themselves and is completely selfish. In reality, when American youth go out to build a church, etc, they are taking away from those poor builders who would willingly build a church for just a miniscule amount of money. Could we be hurting, rather than helping them? Also, she brought up the point that many mission trips include gathering up all of our old clothes and shipping it off to another country. In the process, we are putting that poor seamstress out of work and hurting the economy rather than helping it. WOW. She suggests that is better to spend the money supporting a well known, successful foundation like the American red cross, etc.. In defense of these mission trips, I chimed in to the conversation saying that many Adventists couldn't afford anything--including a builder for a church. If they don't have our help, than they might not ever have a church. Also, when mission workers go out into the field, they are not only building a church, but bringing others to Christ. There are so many baptisms that are a result of mission work! My conclusion: Mission trips are an excellent way to reach out, however, we still should be careful that we are performing activitites that are helpful to the community we are going to. In the process, we need to do our research about what is truly needed in the community.
Today, we visited Hierapolis which I already talked about, Philadelphia, the temple of Artemis, and Sardis, Ismer and a Turkish Bazaar! Philadelphia was pretty much nothing, but for the sake of seeing all the churches, we did. There was a big turtle amidst the ruins, though! haha. The temple of Artemis was in the middle of a plain in which there was no shade and ridiculously hot (a common theme?). It pretty much looks the same as all of the others. Oh well! Sardis, on the other hand, was quite intriguing. It is a city on a hill. There is a large Roman gymnasium, and a Jewish temple within the SAME courtyard! Although the Christians most likely went house to house, it is also likely that the temple was filled with Christians as well who accepted Jesus. It was another incredible example of how the Roman cults infliltrated the Jewish temples and the Christian church that John writes to. What I found especially cool about Sardis has to do with how the city is on top of a hill. In the Bible, John writes to them telling them to "Stay awake"! In Sardis, our tour guide told us that there would be guards at the bottom of the hill who protect the city from invasion. If the guards were alert and awake, because of the location it would be almost impossible for invaders to enter and conquer the city. However, if they were to fall asleep, the city could fall into the hands of the enemy. Cool. Did John even go to all of these churches? I need to find that out. That could make a huge differenc in my understanding.
As we headed back to the hotel in Ismer, (one of the largest Turkish cities) Nina and I got to talking. She was a missionary in Pohnpei for a year and had an incredible experience there. (Hmm...I use the word incredible a lot. lol) She told me many of her experiences. I also got to thinking about how amazing (that word, too) it is to learn about culture and languages. The world is so huge, and so diverse!
When we got back to the hotel, we unpacked our luggage and headed for the Turkish Bazaar. It is only a half mile walk through the city. We broke off into groups of 4 and went shopping! Wonderful! haha. I bought a white and an aqua head scarf. On the way back, our group got lost. We wandered through the Bazaar for a half an hour, just trying to get out! So many people do not speak English. It was quite the experience...but we made it and were only a little bit late for dinner.
Man I'm tired. Each day is packed with information, walking, and heat! I'm tired both physically and mentally. I need to process all the information I've gotten! I guess that is what a tour is, though. Writing these livejournals help as well.
Well that's enough for the night. More to come. :) 5 more days till I get on that plane headed for home!