It's the end of day four and really the first day that I have had the time to stop and reflect upon the past few days.
Why am I writing this blog?
Really, for my own recording of the events of this trip. Some would be aware that Heather and I are taking a study tour of New Testament sites particularly some of those relevant to Paul and also the seven Churches that John writes to in the book of Revelation. The tour goes for twenty-one days and at the conclusion of the tour, Heather and I will have a few days off and also catch-up with family in Italy before returning to Melbourne.
It took about 32 hours from the time my dad picked us up from our home in Highett to the time we arrived at our hotel in Istanbul, an exhausting but fun trip with six-hour stoppover in Dubai. However, the first few days we have really felt the fatigue of adjusting to our new jobs this year and of juggling all the balls as we try to do ministry, life, study, post-ordination-training, socialising, etc. ... basically this holiday was very welcome!
Our tour is led by Tim Foster (presently Acting Principal of Ridley), together with Lindsay Wilson (Old Testament Lecturer and general veteran of Ridley), we have about forty people on the tour. Tim has done a great job researching and packaging this tour and it seems that he has packed in as much learning, fine dining and immersion experiences as humanly possible. That said, the first few days spent in Istanbul have not had a great deal of specific biblical content. Upon arriving on Friday evening, we immediately visited the famous "Blue Mosque." It became quickly apparent on the walk across to this Mosque that Turkey is covered in Mosques. Our cool Tour Guide, Cem (pronounced Gem), tells us that there are around 3,000 mosques in Istanbul (and only 157 Churches by comparison). While, as a Christian, I find it difficult to get enthused about mosques, The grandeur of the buildings juxtaposed by the simplicity of the worship spaces are both very beuatiful in appearance to behold. We also visited the Sultanahmet Mosque the following day, which was very similar in architechture and was surrounded by beautiful gardens and situated right on the waterfront with picturesque views that can be seen in our photos.
Day 2 was our Istanbul immersion experience which involved visiting the Grand Bazaar, a huge marketplace in Istanbul where you can buy just about anything. We spent about an hour there and people bought various things. The people of Istanbul are very friendly and ever-willing to help with directions in (sometimes) broken English, however they are also quite forward with inviting you to buy their various wares. Upon arriving, a young boy who couldn't have been more than 14 years old said "Hello Friend. .." (a typical opening line) and then proceeded to encourage me to come and buy something from his shop, while trying to determine what country I came from. We later went to the Spice Market (Heather's personal favourite), where a vendor came up behind her and said, "I think you dropped something. ..." Heather, replied "where, where?" to which the vendor led her into his shop to encourage her to buy something. Heather soon realied that she was the butt of a joke. When the vendors all round began to laugh and tell her that nobody falls for that! Later that day we caught a ferry up the Bosphorous where we visited the smal but trendy town of Orchotoy and later to Maxim Square. Absolutely fatigued by the walking and public transport, we eventually made our way back to our hotel and later that evening enjoyed a quiet meal wikth a couple of members of our group, Yousef and Joel.
On Day 3 we were back with our guide, Cem, who took us up to the Topkapi Palace which for many years was the residence of the Sultan. The most significant aspect of this visit, in terms of Christian history, was that it is the original site of the Council of Constantinople (May-June 381). What we know today as the Nicene Creed had initially been devised in Nicea in 325, but at Constantinople, the Council again gathered and added to the creed to form the version we have today. At the conclusion of Tim's brief lecture on the lawn outside the original site (St Irene which is no longer there), we professed our faith in the words of the creed and prayed together.
Following a thorough visit of the beautiful grounds and chambers of the Topkapi Palace and a visit to a nearby archeaological museum that boasted some sites of biblical significance (see photos for these), we had a beatiful five course meal at the Askitanne restaurant and later visited the Chora Church (now a museum) next door to the restaurant. Later that afternoon we went to Holy Sophia, also now a museum. This was a highlight for me. Constantine had built two Churches Holy Sophia and Holy Irene (Wisdom and Peace). Holy (also St) Sophia was to be the new centre of Christendom and is a "vatican-like" Church with beautiful mosaics and an enormous space for believers to gather for christian worship. When the Ottomans invaded Constantinople, they converted Holy Sophia into a Mosque (in three days) by plastering over the mosaiques, moving the central worship space to face Mecca instead of Jerusalem and by erecting Islamic icons. They had no need of a second church, so St Irene became a storage space for artillery and therefore minurettes were never added to this Church. Sadly St Sophia is now a museum and there remains remnants of both Christian and Muslim worship in the building.
Day 4 involved leaving Istanbul and taking the long journey to Canakkale by coach and ferry, on the way Cem gave us a lot of information about Turkey and even taught us some Turkish words and Tim gave us a lecture on the ANZACS as we were to pass through Galipoli on our way to Canakkale. There are lots of photos included with this post that show the beautiful coast-line and stunning memorials to all the fallen ANZACS. I found myself a little overwhelmed as I considered how defining this event has been in our Australian story. Tim did a great job of helping us relate as he read from the diaries of various servicemen who were at ANZAC cove in 1915. Particularly stunning are the words of Attaturk in 1934 which are also found at ANZAC Cove (photographed here): "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
We concluded our visit to Galipoli with a prayer for peace.
Later, that evening, we enjoyed a stunning sunset, a nice meal, a couple of drinks and the company of friends at our hotel in Canakkale. Tomorrow begins our actual study of New Testament sites. We are very blessed to be here. Praise God.
25 June 2012
