Day 7 - Denizli, Laodecia, Paumkkale/Hierapolis

From Ephesus, Christianity spread inland to towns of the Meander and Lycus valleys. In his letter to one of those church, Colossi, Paul writes about one of the Christians who had spread the word:

Col 4:12-13 "Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis."

Today, we follow in Epaphras’ footsteps and visit Laodicea and Hierapolis (with Colossi the following day) as we drive east through the beautiful Meander River valley.

Before we reach our first ancient site, we stop at the modern city of Denizli. Denizli is anything but a tourist town and is normally only seen by non-Turks as their tour busses past through its crowded streets on the way to Pamukkale. While this area was once the center of thriving Christian communities, there is now almost no Christian presence in an area that once Paul wrote to with such enthusiasm.

To help bridge the gap of understanding between Christians and the Turkish Moslems of Denizli, and American family has moved into Denizli to become a part of their community. They are now being prayfully supported by the PCUSA as fraternal workers in their project to build bridges between Turks and Americans.

To meet people at the grass roots level, they have opened a business and simply hope to a “salt and light” to the people they will meet.
We will stop in Denizli and see their new storefront and hear about how God is using them to be his witness in this valley of ancient churches.
Only a few miles to the northwest, is Laodicea. In Roman times, it was a huge and wealthy town. It was even administered for a while by the famous Roman orator, Cicero, for a while around 50BC. Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC), had transported 2000 Jewish families to this area and thus, many of Laodicea's inhabitants were Jews. This made it fertile ground for Christianity.

But, all was not well. By the time the Book of Revelation was written, John was worried about the faith of the Laodicea Christians. He warned them:

Rev 3:14-16 ""To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
In the last five years, Italian teams was done major excavations at Laodicea and uncovered the main hilltop cardo. We’ll visit this area, a Byzantine church, and an impressive theater, and here reflect on John’s warnings and promises.
From Laodicea, you can see Hierapolis, know also by its Turkish name, Pamukkale (cotton castle). Here we will see the ruins of this important town, the city’s vast necropolis (city of the dead), the travertine pools created by the calcium laden hot springs that pour from the hillside, and explore the ruins of a church built on the spot that early sources tell us the disciple Phillip was executed at.

Plan to roll up your pants and wade in the warm waters. We’ll spend the night in a hotel at Pamukkale.