Wow. Today was only our second full day of our class trip to Turkey and I am already so blown away by what we have been learning. We started our day by eating breakfast at our hotel in Antalya. Then we headed over to Perga at 8:00am to explore ruins of the city. Some of the ruins were Helanistic and the rest of the ruins were Roman built. Our first stop was a huge arena used for racing chariots. You could see where those living in Perga would have entered the arena and much of the stadium had been excavated where they would have been seated. There was a smaller ring within the arena with archaeological evidence of human beings being fed to wild animals!
Next, we enjoyed a devotional together shared by Leilah. She reminded us that God is over all things and He is with us in the highs and lows. He wants us to trust Him in both. As we continued walking we entered the entrance to the city. The gate had two huge tours on either side. We used our imaginations to envision what it would have looked like during that time, but it wasn’t hard because of the surprising amount of building that was still there. Within the city there were giant bath houses which we learned were heated from underneath with large amounts of wood. Business and political conversation would take place in these bath houses very often. The rest of the city was equally beautiful. We enjoyed walking down long roads, some lined with columns, and much of the roads included aqueducts down the middle. In many of the large rocks that paved the road you could still see where ruts were formed from chariots traveling down over and over again. Some of the roads would have also been paved with mosaics and all of the different structures would have included beautiful marble slabs and painted portions. At the far end of the city we saw an exit. This exit would have been where Paul and Barnabas left to continue spreading the gospel.
At around 12:00 pm we headed to lunch and enjoyed some delicious chicken or beef with lentil soup and vegetables. (I might have eaten a very spicy pepper on accident. Ouch hahaha.) Directly after lunch we went to a theatre. Our jaws dropped as we entered the massive structure through an arch way. Sound carried beautifully throughout the theatre. It may have been built during the Roman Empire, but its purpose of entertainment was certainly continued today. Our guide Ozan asked a Joshua student, Beth Hayes, to sing for us. As she began singing, everyone in the theatre went silent. She first sang Doxology and as she sang it a second time all of the Joshua students joined in from different seats all over the theatre. She also sang “When will my life begin” from Tangled and “Ave Maria” along with a few other songs. Many of us got chills and some of us even teared up as we experienced what it might have been like to hear singing in a building from what could have been built as early as the late 1st century BC. After taking some photos we continued onto our last stop of the day. The Romans used giant aqueducts to provide water for everything. Some of the structures to make this possible are huge! We got to see part of what would have carried the water, and it was complete with arches that towered high and connected to each other for a large distance.
To end the day we rode through the mountains on our busses for around 2 hours to reach Isparta. The views on the way were incredible as we saw mountains, huge rock faces, and bodies of water that were dark turquoise. And of course, like always, the fellowship was wonderful. To be in JWI is to be in Christ-centered community. Praise the Lord for a group of friends that are also brothers and sisters in Christ.
-Caylyn (Current Student)