Ephesus

For the first two weeks of November we were in Turkey. We were excited about this opportunity to see a new country! After doing lots of research, we knew we must include some time in Ephesus. We've been planning this trip for some months and we were so excited about this part!!

Archeologists worked very hard to dig up this ancient city of Ephesus. It was so cool to imagine what life was like there 2,000 years ago!! It was once inhabited by 400,000 people, but earthquakes destroyed this city. No one lives there now.

We flew into a city called Izmir, which was once known as Smyrna. We stayed in a quaint little town called Selcuk, close to Ephesus. The people there were so kind to us! We also had dinner Kusadasi, a port town about a 30 minute drive from Ephesus. 

It was an amazing experience to walk the streets where Paul preached. We read Acts 19 and the book of Ephesus to set the scene. What a challenge Paul had to help these people understand God's grace! The society was very focused on idol worship...specifically the goddess Artemis. 

The temple of Artemis is a few minutes from Ephesus. It's one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world because it was the size of a football stadium. Amazing how much value they gave to her. 

Here's a slideshow of our time there: