Archives for October 21, 2021

We left Patmos early afternoon, October 13, to sail to the touristy, beautiful Greek island of Mykonos, arriving at dusk. Captain Mike unfurled the sails on this sunny, calm afternoon (photo #1).

The port is shallow, so we were transported ashore by a tender boat. Andy, our tour guide, led us to the 16th century windmills (photo #2) through the narrow walkways between the white painted buildings with blue or red doors and window trim (photo #3).

Marilyn DeMeester, Mary, and I enjoyed a gelato by the waterfront (photo #4).

We left Turkey, sailing overnight to wake up on Wednesday morning, October 13, docked at the beautiful Greek Island of Patmos where John wrote the book of Revelation while in exile. We visited the Grotto of the Apocalypse, the cave where John is believed to have received his vision and recorded his message to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor (photo #1). (No pictures were allowed inside the Grotto.)

Kevin Ash and I had the privilege of delivering short lectures to the tour group just outside of this special place on John and the Grotto (photo #2).

After exploring this serene island a bit, some of us walked to a site where John, on the shore of Patmos, baptized converts who frequently came to him for baptism (photo #3). Across the street from this baptism site is a beautiful, small church dedicated to the apostle John (photo #4). The whole morning at Patmos was memorable, humbling, and beautiful; in fact, it was hard to leave!

We ended a very full Tuesday last week with a quick visit to Thyatira, in Turkey, where the archeological remains are limited because they are surrounded by the modern-day city of Akhisar (picture #1). Thyatira was admonished by Jesus for being an overly-tolerant church, and was also known for being the hometown of Jezebel and Lydia. In the midst of rush-hour traffic surrounding the archeological site, some gypsies in a horse-drawn cart stopped and waved at us (picture #2).

When we arrived back at the boat a seafood feast awaited us (picture #3).