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With the camp ending Saturday evening, followed by a great time of coffee with the students that lasted several hours, it was time to start thinking about heading back to Lancaster. With our flight scheduled to fly out very early Tuesday morning with a 3:10AM pickup at the hotel, we had some time to be tourists on Sunday and Monday.
We drove to Greece where we visited the site where Lydia was baptized by Paul. We had some time to reflect on the steps of a small but beautiful chapel. The acoustics inside were amazing and we had a wonderful time of singing some of our favorite inspirational songs.
From there we visited the ruins of Philippi. Standing near the marketplace where Paul spoke and looking into the prison area where Paul would have been imprisoned and then miraculously released by an earthquake, left a lasting impression. This once remarkable Roman town had been completely covered over… so covered, that until a few years ago, a local bus stop, on a highway stood on top of this historic site. Now, it is a UNESCO historic site with more and more of the town being uncovered.
Waking up the next morning, we left for Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. What a contrast to the ruins we just left. This bustling city was filled with people, sounds and commerce. This city has been continually inhabited since 315BC… talk about a sense of history! As we walked around the city, we visited several small areas of ruins, that have been uncovered. These ruins date back to the time when Paul and Silas visited the city. As we stood near the marketplace where Paul spoke, we could feel what it would have been like to hear the threats and feel the tension that his teaching created.
Overall, being in these three areas where Paul had been, left a lasting impression. Not just the historical reality but the realization of the passion he felt for the people of the areas. All of us felt that same passion, even if our visit was only a short ten days. We can only hope that perhaps our time in this area would create a legacy similar to Paul's.
For Him,
Tim
With the camp ending Saturday evening, followed by a great time of coffee with the students that lasted several hours, it was time to start thinking about heading back to Lancaster. With our flight scheduled to fly out very early Tuesday morning with a 3:10AM pickup at the hotel, we had some time to be tourists on Sunday and Monday.
We drove to Greece where we visited the site where Lydia was baptized by Paul. We had some time to reflect on the steps of a small but beautiful chapel. The acoustics inside were amazing and we had a wonderful time of singing some of our favorite inspirational songs.
From there we visited the ruins of Philippi. Standing near the marketplace where Paul spoke and looking into the prison area where Paul would have been imprisoned and then miraculously released by an earthquake, left a lasting impression. This once remarkable Roman town had been completely covered over… so covered, that until a few years ago, a local bus stop, on a highway stood on top of this historic site. Now, it is a UNESCO historic site with more and more of the town being uncovered.
Waking up the next morning, we left for Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. What a contrast to the ruins we just left. This bustling city was filled with people, sounds and commerce. This city has been continually inhabited since 315BC… talk about a sense of history! As we walked around the city, we visited several small areas of ruins, that have been uncovered. These ruins date back to the time when Paul and Silas visited the city. As we stood near the marketplace where Paul spoke, we could feel what it would have been like to hear the threats and feel the tension that his teaching created.
Overall, being in these three areas where Paul had been, left a lasting impression. Not just the historical reality but the realization of the passion he felt for the people of the areas. All of us felt that same passion, even if our visit was only a short ten days. We can only hope that perhaps our time in this area would create a legacy similar to Paul's.
For Him,
Tim