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Trip to Ephesos

March 4th, 2010 by

  

I am leaving for Turkey today. As many of you know I’m working towards a master’s degree at Boston University. As part of that program, a class is being offered where I am able to travel to ancient Ephesos (near modern Selçuk in Turkey) to study ancient Roman culture. One of the major benefits of studying these ancient ruins is to become acquainted with the kind of world that was present when Paul first preached the gospel there. Furthermore, since Epehesos was a major metropolis, the capital of the Roman province of Asia, it is representative of other imperial cities.

We will be spending ten days in Turkey, and our time will be spent primarily among the ancient ruins of Ephesos, but we will also make short day trips to other locations (including Miletus, cf. Acts 20).

Please pray for me, especially for safety while traveling.

7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Trip to Ephesos”

  1. on 05 Mar 2010 at 1:45 am1 jwar

    Will do, brother!

    That would be awesome to go to Turkey and see all of those places! And one of the most fascinating things about the Scriptures are that we can actually go to many of the places recorded in it, unlike other supposed “inspired” and “holy” books like the Book of Mormon and various Buddhist texts.

    Take some pictures!

    Grace and peace,

    Joshua

  2. on 05 Mar 2010 at 8:05 am2 Angela

    We will pray for you! Wow! That is cool! ENJOY & SAFE travels!! 🙂

  3. on 06 Mar 2010 at 2:50 am3 Sean

    Thank you. I have arrived safely. I’m staying in a nice traditional Turkish lodging/hotel in Selcuk and later today we will be touring ancient Ephesos.

  4. on 06 Mar 2010 at 10:02 am4 JohnE

    Hi Sean,

    hope everything’s going well over there. I thought I should point out that Congress just passed a resolution describing as genocide the killings of Armenians (Christians) by Turks (Muslims) in World War I.

    Turkey is of course angry right now. Please be cautious, and not only because of that, but because it is not a very safe country for Christians. In the International Religious Freedom Report 2005 for 2005, Gov’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor had this to say:

    The Government’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) initiated a public campaign against Christian missionary activity in the country. High-level government officials made statements depicting missionaries as a threat. There was also an increase in anti-Christian media coverage. Threats and vandalism against Christians and church facilities increased.

    Christianity Today also has this article saying (2007):

    Turkey Christian Missionaries Horrifically Tortured Before Killings

    http://www.christiantoday.com/article/turkey.christian.missionaries.horrifically.tortured.before.killings/10523.htm

    Please be careful, stay safe.

  5. on 06 Mar 2010 at 1:13 pm5 Sean

    JohnE,

    Thank you for your words of caution. We have been carefully instructed on what to say and what not to say to the locals so as to avoid trouble. Since we are here studying a Roman archeological site (Ephesus) and not early Christianity per se we are in considerably less danger than a missionary group.

  6. on 06 Mar 2010 at 2:53 pm6 Doubting Thomas

    Until my friend Tim pointed it out to me I was unaware of how widespread the persecution of Christians around the world was or how long it has been going on for. For some reason the western media doesn’t cover the persecution of Christians and I think as a result most people are completely ignorant of this fact.

  7. on 09 Mar 2010 at 2:29 pm7 Ron S.

    Sean,

    I hope your travels/studies in Turkey are going well and everyone in your party stays safe. That sounds like a fascinating opportunity. I’ve always wanted to travel over and visit the land of our Messiah and the Apostles & Paul. Maybe one day.

    Be careful and I too will pray the Almighty to put a “hedge of protection” around you & your party to return safely home.

    God speed & God bless!

  

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