Written By: Luci Fischer
Northwestern’s Theology Department had the amazing opportunity to take a trip over to Greece and Turkey to visit biblical sights. The group of students that went along took a class leading up to it that focused on the New Testament and the passages that took place at the sights they visited. This group started in Greece. They enjoyed getting to know the Greek culture, which is very hospitable, much like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In Athens, Greece they saw the Areopagus and Mars Hill where they read Paul’s speech that took place there, which can be found in Acts 17. Throughout the trip, they continued the trend of connecting specific bits of scripture to places they visited. Other places they visited were Delphi, Corinth, Pergamum, Ephesus, Sardis, Hierapolis, and Istanbul.
Inscription at Mars Hill
In Ephesus, they saw the Library of Ephesus and the theater where Paul caused a riot.
According to Ava Jaenchen (Graphic Design, ‘25), “It was interesting thinking about the Paul walking around and seeing the same things he would have seen and being able to visualize the scripture that was written in these places.”
Revelation 3:14 is written to the church of Laodicea and references the people’s lukewarm faith. Because of where the city was located, their water supply would have all been lukewarm, which ties into the scripture.
Library of Ephesus
One of the highlights of the trip for Ava was going to Istanbul, which is a predominantly Islam country and seeing all of the representations of Christ. The group visited the Hagia Sophia, which is a Christian Byzantine cathedral that was converted into a masque in 1453. When the Hagia Sophia was built in 537 AD, it held beautiful mosaics depicting Jesus that were covered up when the cathedral was converted. In the 1930s, the mosaics were rediscovered and are required to remain uncovered because of their historical significance. Ava said that it was so cool seeing Jesus in the midst of everything in the midst of such an Islamic place. The people worshiping and praying to Allah were doing so surrounded by Christ and the Word of God.
Mosaic at the Hagia Sophia
There are many opportunities through the University of Northwestern – St. Paul to study all over the world from Greece to Guatemala to Tokyo. There are opportunities to go on shorter week-long trips, which you can get up to 4 credits from. Or, spend a whole semester in another country and take a full course load. There are a few requirements to study abroad through Northwestern: you must be a traditional undergraduate and at least 18 years old, minimum GPA of 2.25, and you had to have completed at least one semester at Northwestern. If you are interested in studying abroad, contact your advisor! Studying abroad, no matter where you go, gives you incredible experience with other cultures and context for historical events. Even though this trip to Turkey and Greece was only a week, the students on the trip got experiences that they will remember for a lifetime.
