[Library of Celsus, via]

Sunday is a big day, obviously. But Sunday is also the day that sign-ups for the Turkey expedition this July will officially close. The trip, led by Pastor Mark, will be unlike anything we've done before as a church: the group will visit the seven churches of Revelation, and also serve as the base material for Pastor Mark's future sermon series, book, and teaching curriculum on the book of Ephesians. Here's an account from a U-District member, Ryan, about why he and his wife are signed up and ready to go tour the ancient church with Christians from around the world. My wife and I debated whether to go to Turkey this July with Mars Hill for months. We both love to travel and had a hard time deciding on a traditional European vacation or to go with Pastor Mark on a guided tour. She’s traveled the world and wasn’t sure if a guided tour was going to cramp our adventurous spirit. Finally, I told her I would be happy anywhere, I’d put the ball in her court since it was a harder decision for her. When Christmas morning came and I opened up a Turkish phrase book for my first present I was thrilled. We’re going to Turkey! There are five things about the trip I'm most excited about.

1. I look forward to learning from someone else’s studying and work.

I love to research places we travel in advance. I geek out on travel books, blogs, and videos months before we visit. But in this case, I can appreciate the work Pastor Mark and his crew have done with the biblical sites near Izmir as well historical places in Istanbul. I look forward to learning a great deal about the places we travel without doing all the research.

[Pamukkale, via]

2. I get to see Pastor Mark preach live in places the early church met.

My wife and I have gone to Mars Hill for over ten years between the two of us. We love how Pastor Mark brings Jesus and the Word alive in a way that few Bible teachers can. He’s been to Turkey twice and done a great deal of studying to prepare for this trip. I know the teaching is going to be amazing. The videos [from Israel] from the Luke series look like such an amazing experience and I’m psyched to be a part of something similar.

3. I trust that visiting sites of the early church will increase my understanding of the Word.

We’ll be visiting the seven churches that John talks about in the book of Revelation. We’ll sit in the same amphitheater where Paul preached in Ephesians. It’s crazy for me to think I will stand in the same place Paul stood roughly two thousand years ago.  Everywhere we travel we’ll be in the midst of the early church.

4. I get to meet Christians from Mars Hill and all over the world.

From what I've heard, half the people currently signed up are from other churches outside Mars Hill. We’ll be traveling in buses with the same people throughout the trip. I hope it’s a great time to make new friends with people from Seattle and meet Christians from other countries.

[Istanbul, via]

5. It’s Turkey!

Why would you not want to go to Turkey?  It’s a cultural melting pot of east meets west split between two continents. There’s amazing food, tea, and of course Turkish coffee. There are multiple markets hundreds of years old. We’ll be visiting Roman baths, ancient temples, swim in the Aegean Sea, and have a party in Ephesus, which I’ve been told Mars Hill rented for a night. While in Istanbul we’ll visit the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and take a ride up the Bosphorus, the strip of water separating Europe from Asia. When we debated about where in the world we wanted to travel this summer, the place that beat them all was Turkey with Mars Hill. For more about the sites, read our blog series on the seven churches, or the trip signup page for more itinerary details. Ryan Dorn is a member of the U-District campus, where he also serves on their communications team.