Day 4 - Izmir/Smyrna, Sunday Worship, St. Polycarp's

Rev 2:8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again."

Today will be a flexible day for us and will focus around the city of Izmir, ancient Smyrna. First, little history.

Smyrna was a prosperous city with a good port in Roman times. It quickly became a center for the growing Christian community. A man named Polycarp from Smyrna learned the Gospel from John the Apostle himself (probably at Ephesus, a short distance away) and in the second century became one of the first great church fathers and also a martyr for his faith.

Smyrna was also the only church who was written to in the Book of Revelations who did not receive any condemnation, only a warning of difficult times ahead. In Byzantine times, Smyrna continued to be a successful and very Christian city. Even after the Turkish conquest, Christians in Smyrna were allowed to practice their faith in relative freedom and for centuries, Smyrna was knows as the most “Christian” town in Turkey.

Sadly, in the confusing years after World War 1, a war between Turks and Greeks began over western Turkey. Many Turkish Christians fought on the Greek side with Smyrna as their headquarters. When the Greek army was routed, Smyrna was destroyed. In the aftermath of that war, many Christian left Turkey and many Turks left what was now the nation of Greece. The old Smyrna was gone and a new Izmir had begun.
Ancient Symrna Agoura www.bibleplaces.com

But, there are still Christian communities in Izmir and great opportunity to serve God.

Today, we will visit with local Christians and join them for Sunday worship at St. John’s Anglican church in Izmir. Time allowing, we’ll also see the Greek orthodox church of St. Polycarp in Izmir and stop by the remains of the Agoura (marketplace) of ancient Smyrna.
After lunch, we will head for the busy port of Kusadasi (koo-SHAH-dah-suh ..it means "Bird Island”). From there we will board our charter boat and make a four hour crossing of the Aegean sea to the island of Patmos.

We will spend the night on this beautiful island.