The Goonetillekes

December 26 - We have had three, very slow weeks.  But that has all changed with the arrival of Nigel and Linda.  We share something very special with these folks: Ayla, our granddaughter.  Oh yea, I almost forgot:  first our son David had to marry their daughter Jeanelle for this little miracle to happen.  Smile.  And as some of you know, there is a second little miracle in the oven.  It is rising every day, getting a little browner, and should be ready for delivery sometime in February.  

Our elder and his wife are on vacation, so we had the meeting this morning in our living room.  Nigel and I drove over to Pythagorio and picked up the younger Helen.  Seven of us gathered around the emblems and shared a little from the heart.

Our "Christmas" lunch on the 26th

The Sunday meeting

We couldn't keep Nigel from the waterfall, even if it was late December

Two crazy old coots: grandpa Nigel and grandpa Karl

Linda seems to be taking to Greek Orthodoxy in a big way ........

Paphos, Cyprus

November 29 - We went to Special Meetings in Limassol.  They do things slightly different in Cyprus; perhaps a bit more personal.  They start out with a Friday night gathering at a mountain cabin, complete with dinner and singing.  Saturday's itinerary includes lunch at noon and then the first meeting starts at 2:30.  On Sunday, there is a normal fellowship meeting in the morning and a Gospel meeting in the afternoon, although one would be wise to be prepared for the second meeting.  Smile.  

There were six workers, an equal amount of friends from other countries, and all of the Cypriot friends.  It is quite remarkable that this small group, many of whom had never met, could sit down together in heavenly places and enjoy the sweetest fellowship on earth.  It is the greatest of miracles.

Eric mentioned having seen the sword of Alexander the Great in a museum.  The iron blade was so badly corroded that "it could not even slice apple pie," but the gold in the handle still gleamed as brightly as it did 2,300 years ago.  That is a picture of the reality we all face.  Like iron, everything we accomplish in life will end at the grave and go to corruption.  And, after just a couple of generations, no one will even know or remember we had ever been born.  But, by just doing the simple things that Jesus taught, we can lay up treasure "where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt."  "The gold of the kingdom will never decay," as our hymn has it.

On Monday morning, we picked up two of the friends who were lodging near us, and drove to Paphos at the western end of the island.  It just so happened that Tim and Dany McLernon were going to the same place we were on the same day, so we gave them a ride.  On the way we took the old highway that follows the coastline, and took a few pictures of Aphrodites' Rocks.  This was the birthplace of the Greek goddess of love, who was one and the same as the Ashtoreth of the Old Testament (Judges 2:13; 1 Sam. 7:1, 2; 12:10; 31:8).  She was a constant temptation to the men of Israel, not because they cared about the doctrine of the Zidonian goddess, but because part of her "worship" involved sex with temple priestesses.  Even Solomon, in his old age, "went after Ashtoreth," 1 Kings 11:5. 

In Corinth, there was a large temple dedicated to Aphrodite.  We learn this from the geographer Strabo:  "The temple of Aphrodite was once so rich that it had acquired more than a thousand prostitutes, donated by both men and women to the service of the goddess.  And because of them, the city used to be jam-packed and became wealthy.  The ship-captains would spend fortunes there, and so the proverb says: "The voyage to Corinth isn’t for just any man."  It's no wonder the Corinthian church had trouble with immorality.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was born of these rocks

Dany McLernon, our traveling partner 

They tethered animals to the holes in the rocks, three of which can be seen, and drank water from the trough behind

One of the floor mosaics in the House of Dionysis. Note the optical illusion.

On the second day, we went to see the Tomb of the Kings.  This was a great necropolis for the rich and famous of Paphos' society two to three centuries before Christ.  They carved these burial chambers directly into the rock, so they have been well preserved.  It is quite a beautiful setting, right on the Mediterranean coastline.  

Tomb No. 3, built under a villa and connected to the rest of the house

The steps leading to a burial chamber

The two niches in the back wall depict pagan alters, complete with the same "horns" at the four corners for binding the sacrifice as in the Jewish temple.

Limassol, Cyprus

Acts 13:4  "So ........ they sailed to Cyprus.  And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.  And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:  Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.  But Elymas the sorcerer withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.  Then Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.  And said, 'O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?  And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.'  And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.  Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.  Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia ......"

October 25 - We flew to Larnaka, Cyprus, and followed in the footsteps of Paul across the southern side of the island.  Sort of.  He started at Salamis, a bit further east, which is now across the border in Turkish Cyprus.

On day 1, we rented a car and drove to Limassol.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  In Cyprus, they drive on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car.  Do not attempt this on your own.  It must be done by an expert.  Smile.

On the way we stopped at the two Neolithic villages of Choirokitia and Tenta.  They take us back to the dawn of civilization when man was transitioning from hunting and gathering to planting and sowing.  Our ancestors lived in crude round dwellings like tipis or grass huts, and when they settled down in permanent villages, they continued to build in the round, only now they used stone and plaster.  That is what we saw at both villages.  They domesticated sheep, goats, and pigs, but also hunted wild deer.  And while they planted wheat, barley, peas, and lentils, they also gathered wild fruit.  These people did not even know the use of clay and pottery, but used stone and bone implements.  The radiocarbon dates indicate the site was occupied from BC 6000 to BC 4000, but who really knows what that means in calendrical years. 

One of their peculiar customs was to bury their dead in pits under the house, which were then plastered over.  We find the same burial practice at the contemporaneous Anatolian village of Catal Huyuk, and sometimes in the slightly earlier Natufian peoples of Israel.  In Biblical times, the Canaanites practiced foundation sacrifice in which a child was entombed in the foundation, as did their posterity, the Phoenicians.  "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Segub ....." ( I Kings 16:34).

They reconstructed several of the huts below the ruins, which lie on the hillside behind

They did not have much elbow room.  Most of the structures were 8' in diameter; some a bit larger.

Peering inside, this picture shows a floor burial in the foreground and how the short interior walls were used to make a platform for sleeping.

The site of Tenta was covered to preserve the ruins, which are in an amazing state of preservation.  This settlement was thought to contain about 150 people.  

A family might have two or three of these huts, each of which served a different purpose

The next day we drove to Kourion, about 5 miles west of Limassol.  It was a Roman city situated on a high bluff overlooking a spectacular coastline.  The ruins are extensive, with a restored theater still used for concerts, a marketplace (agora), houses with well-preserved mosaic floors, a church, public baths, gladiators, etc.  

Kourion has a spectacular location

The remains of a Catholic basilica

This was the water heating system of a Roman public bath.  The water circulated below the floor between the columns of bricks, and the floor was built above that.  

Gregg Fleming

October 17 -  Last Friday Gregg Fleming flew in from Portland, and this morning, Monday, we took him to the airport.  Yes, we got to have the legendary world traveler, raconteur and all-around good guy with us for a couple days!  It was a whirlwind visit and we didn't get to do much, but we did manage to get a couple hours of hard labor beating olives out of him ..........

Our two sisters flew out with Gregg on the flight to Athens.  They will be there for Special Meeting, and then stick around a couple weeks for some doctoring.  We don't really know if Anna is coming back.  But she is so easy and so pleasant to be around, we are hopeful.  With her incredible spirit, she is a reminder that, although the outer man is perishing, the inner man is renewed day by day. 

Next stop - Special Meeting in Limossal, Cyprus.

The house empties out ....

Give to Him that Asks

November 17 - One of the most remarkable incidents from our time here in Greece happened about a month ago.  We took Cindy Maricle and her two daughters to Potami Falls for the day.  There is a really cool restaurant there, just above the falls, which is accessed by 200 rickety steps up a steep hillside.

When we parked at the trailhead, I locked my wallet in the car.  I did not think the restaurant was open this late in the season, and there were no other cars around.   When we got to the falls, the girls went on ahead, and we didn't hear from them for an hour.  So, to check on them, we went up the stairs as it provides a way around the falls.  On the way up, I got to talking with a very nice German couple.  They had just been to the restaurant, so I told them our predicament.  Without a moments hesitation, this gentleman opened his wallet and offered us 50 Euro.  We were flabergasted, to say the least!  We said we couldn't, but under the 50 was a fiver and a ten, so we took them. 

This leads to my question.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:  "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow turn not thou away? (Matt 5:42).  I have never understood how to apply this teaching.  It seems on the surface that he is telling us to open our wallet to anyone who asks.  Or maybe he is articulating the principle that, if someone asks for our help or needs our help, we  should be available.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the traveling Samaritan saw the man who had been beaten up by thieves, and "had compassion" on him.  Without even being asked, he dressed the man's wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his lodging.  See Luke 10:30-37.  

On the other hand, Paul seems to place some limitations on helping a fellow believer.  1 Timothy 3:10.  "For even when we were with you, this we commanded, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Paul did not think it was wise to help someone live a selfish life.  Today we would probably call that "enabling.

1 John 3:17. "But whoso hath this worlds goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." 

I would really like to hear from those who are older and wiser, or even from those who are younger and wiser. 

The stairway "to heaven"

The restaurant

  

Pressing the Olives

November 12 - Vassili took us to an oil press today.  We loaded up 10 bags of olives, each weighing about 60 lbs., into the back of his truck, and off we went.  He told me that, on average, each tree yields about five gallons of oil, but I read the yield can go as high as 20 gallons.  It is, as the Psalmist noted, "oil out of the flinty rock."

According to Exodus 27:20, they were to provide "beaten oil" for the lamps in the temple.  “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always."  The olives are ground and mashed, put into baskets, and the first oil which drips from the bottom is known as "beaten oil."  It is superior in quality, containing less particulate matter, and consequently it burns cleaner.  The earliest stratum of the Talmud, the Mishnah, tells us about two grades of oil in Bible times.  “The first crop is when the fully ripe olives are picked from the top of the tree; they are brought into the olive-press, are ground in a mill and put into baskets. The oil which oozes out is the first kind [of oil].  They are then pressed with the beam, and the oil which oozes out is the second kind”. (Menachot 86a).

Update:  Vassili said we got 25 gallons of oil, and he was quite happy!  It turns out that the oil is split 50/50 between the farmer and the press operator.  He gave us two large plastic water bottles of fresh oil.  And since I put olive on almost everything, we were also thrilled!  The Greeks like to put salt, lemon, and sometimes a little oregano with their oil.

The olives are washed in water

The clean olives are conveyored up, sliced and reduced to a pulp

This machine mashes the pits and the flesh of the fruit into a paste.

Looking inside the masher at the slowly moving blades

This machine separates the paste into water and oil.  The yellow oil is dripping into the far pan; brown water is gushing into the near pan.

The fresh oil is split between the farmer and the press owner

The Olive Harvest

November 8 - The olive harvest has begun.  It happens after the fall rains plump the fruit that has been slowly growing all summer.  About a month ago, I noticed that the olives on the trees were getting purplish, but they were still pretty small and wrinkled.  The Lord of the Harvest sends the latter rain to these parched lands just when it is needed.

Olives are the perfect fruit for a dry and arid climate.  They require little water, and thrive with almost no care. They are planted everywhere on what we would call marginal lands; steep hillsides, rocky soil, etc.  Olive trees only bear fruit every other year, but on the other hand, they can live for many centuries; one source said up to 1,000 years.  I was surprised to learn that, in Bible times, olives were not processed and eaten like today, but they were pressed into oil for table consumption, to illuminate lamps, and for soap.  

The folks who host the meeting on Samos are olive farmers.  Today Denita, Anna, and I dropped over to help out a bit.  We learned that olives are not picked; instead, they are shaken, beaten, sifted, and separated.  Maybe I would have known this if I had spent more time in the Old Testament!  Isaiah 24:13: "When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done."  Deut. 24:20.  "When you beat your olive, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow."

Here are the steps involved with harvesting olives:

1)  They spread a net around the bottom of several adjoining trees,

2)  They cut off the interior branches and drop them onto the net, 

3)  They beat or strip the olives off the severed branches with a stick,

4)  They use a whirligig on a long pole to knock the olives off the tree, 

5)  They lift the net, gathering all of the berries and debris into a pile,

6)  The small branches, twigs, and most of the leaves are removed.

Vassili is using the whirling plastic comb to knock off the olives

Beating the cut branches, and putting them into the burn pile.

Gathering the unsifted fruit into a pile.

The ladies removing the limbs, twigs and leaves, with a little help from Rocky. 

The joy of the harvest!

John Micheletos' 1933 Trial

Central P.O. Box 80
Athens Greece
May 15, 1934

Our dear Brother and Sister,

I am sending you a few lines today to pass on the good news of our freedom and hoping these will find you both well in every way, also the dear children.

I hope you received my last letter to you written on Nov. 13, 1933 in which I mentioned how just now we were having some trouble with the authorities who had received complaints from the bishop of the Orthodox Church. We were called to the court to give an answer for our doings as grievous complaints had been sent in against us for proselytism.

The day of the trial came (Nov. 30) and we were sentenced to a years imprisonment each, also two saints in whose homes we were having meetings. By the help of God, and the saints, after a few days in prison we all got bailed out and John made an appeal to the Court of Appeal in the said city, and the day set for the trial was the 9th of December. 

We praise God for the way He undertook for us so that we all four were set free. We believe this will lead to more liberty than before and we prove that all was worked out for the furtherance of the Gospel. One of the first clerks of the first court, heard us for the first time as we gave our testimonies before judges, lawyers, police and many others (who were mostly against us and kept calling out to the judges to shut us up.) This clerk began to attend meetings and he was one of the witnesses on our side in the second trial. We would not have been without this trying experience, as it has enriched our knowledge of God and His mighty power to deliver when things outwardly looked almost hopeless and our faith and love for Him is increased as we feel doubly indebted to Him to give Him our best service to the end of the journey. 

The two lawyers on our side testified of how they knew John from boyhood and watched his life (the last trial was held in John’s home city, the capital of Crete) and were assured that he preached only the truth of the Gospel and lived according to the pattern of Jesus and sought to teach others to follow Christ. One of them, an old rich and honoured man, said before the judges and with much feeling “I wish I was Mr. Micheletos.” The other testified that if it were possible for a man on earth to live a spotless life, John was that man as he was incapable of doing harm to any. He said that if all the people were like us, there would be no need for courts and prisons nor for police and soldiers as none would think of harming the other. 

The president said at last (after the priests and false witnesses said what they could against us) that it was not all false that the people were saying against us as there was clear proof that those who believed our teaching had no more use for the Church of the State and its priests and ordinances. The Attorney said that if this teaching was allowed, the Bolsheviks would come and take their country. (Thought of what they said of Jesus that the Romans would come and take their nation if they let Him alone.) The judges went into their consulting room and seemed determined to punish us. One of them said (who was for us) if you punish these people, then you are going back to the ignorance and darkness of 120 years ago. 

John said in his speech that if what he was doing was worthy of condemnation, he was willing to suffer, but if it were allowed he was willing to bear all the punishment, and the rest of us go free. So the judges decided to punish John and Panagates, one of the saints, and set us two sisters free, the sister saint and myself. They then pronounced this punishment in the court, but the old lawyer went up to the president at once, and begged him to set us all free, which he did at once, under the conditions that if within three years either of them were taken to court for anything, then the six months would be added. 

During the five months from the first trial, we ceased not to preach and teach as God helped us to obey Him rather than man. The priest mentioned this in his speech against us. He said, “I don’t know what kind of people these are, for from the time they were condemned to a years imprisonment they have not ceased to preach, and lately the noise they were making singing could be heard outside in the street.” 

One of the lawyers took him up on this and asked him in a quiet way if he thought it was wrong to sing praise to God. “Oh no,” he said, “I do not think that is wrong.” He said that John was a troublemaker. So the lawyer asked him if he knew John and if he was a bad man? “Yes, I know him and he is a good and quiet man.” Both he and other false witnesses contradicted themselves as they were so nervous. 

At last one of the lawyers said to one of them, you have told so many lies that if these people were like you, they would have put you in prison for false oaths. It is wonderful how the Lord undertook and set us free. The 103rd Psalm and other such like is the language of our hearts as we realize God has done great things for us which may lead to us having a wide open door that no man can shut. 

We hear from Fred Quick and Willie Phyn, who are plodding on in hope of a harvest some day in the Isle of Cyprus. Theo and John Bakeses have gone to Berea seeking to get in touch with a few there. The two sister workers Amelea and Katina are labouring some miles out of Athens and see some interest and one has decided. A few got baptized round these parts lately. 

Shall close with loving greetings to you all from us all here.

Yours in Christ,
(Mrs.) Annie Micheletos

Sardis

October 30 - We spent the night between Aliaga and Bergama, along what Paul called "the upper coasts" of western Turkey.  We then drove down to Izmir and easterly up the Hermus River Valley to the village of Sart. (These rivers, by the way, are little more than creeks by our standards.)

Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia from roughly 800 BC to 550 BC.  This kingdom, which encompassed the entire western half of Anatolia, was a world power.  Sardis to my eye is one of the greener and prettier parts of Turkey, with craggy peaks, lush farmland, and abundant water.  The Pactolus River which runs through the city was, in antiquity, rich with flakes and nuggets of electrum, a gold/silver mixture.  The Lydians were the first to separate electrum into pure gold and silver, and to coin money of a uniform weight.  Prior to this, money had been just a weight of precious metal whose content was always in doubt.  Around BC 550, the Persians swept in from the east, besieged the city, and that was the end of the Lydians.

Sardis had an ancient and very large Jewish community.  It was probably established when Antiochus the Great relocated 2,000 Jewish families from Mesopotamia and Babylon to central Anatolia around BC 200.   The historian Josephus wrote of a decree concerning Sardis from Lucius Antonius, the Roman procurator 49 BC: "Those Jews, who are fellow citizens of Rome, came to me, and showed that they had an assembly of their own, according to their ancestral laws. [They had this assembly] from the beginning, as also a place of their own, wherein they determined their suits and controversies with one another. Therefore, upon their petition to me, so that these might be lawful for them, I ordered that their privileges be preserved, and they be permitted to do accordingly."  (Antiquities of the Jews 14:10, 17).  Josephus also noted that Caius Flaccus, a Roman proconsul circa 70 BC, upheld the right of Sardis Jews to practice their religion, and to send the annual Temple tax to Jerusalem (Antiquities 16.6).  

Sardis had the largest ancient synagogue that has ever been found.  It was located on prime real estate right next to the gymnasium, and richly decorated with marble and mosaics.  Although this synagogue has been dated to the second century AD, it does point to the presence of a large Jewish community earlier.  According to John's account in Revelation, they did not seem to effect the Christians in any material way.

Revelation 3:1. "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars. I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive. But you are dead. Now wake up!  Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far  from right in the sight of God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come upon you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief...."

No heresy, no false teachings, just complacency.  Perhaps they were just weighted down by the cares of life, something we can all relate to.  But He held out the promise that if they would just strengthen the faith they had, fruit would yet abound.  The Talmud made much the same complaint about the Jews of the region:  "The wines and baths of Phrygia have separated the ten tribes from their brethren."

This was the gymnasium/bath house complex.

This was the pool where the upper crust gathered every morning to trade tips on stocks, etc.

The synagogue was located adjacent to the above gymnasium.  This picture shows the open air entrance, with the main meeting hall just beyond the doors.

This picture shows the main assembly room of the synagogue, with the entrance behind the back wall.

This picture shows the raised rows of seats at the far end of the synagogue.

About half a mile away, up the hill and next to the Pactolus River, stood the Temple of Artemis

 The Corinthian-style capitals on top of the columns were truly massive.

Pergamum

October 29 - This is the last week the daily ferry runs to Turkey.  So we decided to visit the mainland one last time.  We have seen three of the seven churches of Asia Minor, and maybe it is time to see a couple more.  We started with Pergamum, modern Bergama, which is about a three hour drive north of the port of Kusadasi.

Pergamum was built on the top and sides of a very steep hill which Alexander the Great described as "an eagle's nest."  Indeed, there is a cable car leading from a lower parking lot to the summit.  You can barely make it out in the first picture, but the temple of Trajan was on the summit and the amphitheater can be seen spilling down the hillside just beneath.  The two large trees near the right side stood where the Great Alter of Zeus used to be.  The site was first excavated by German Archaologists and then, by an odd coincidence, the Great Alter ended up in the Berlin Museum.  Perhaps they were trying to demonstrate Christian values to the locals?

Revelation 2:12.  "And to the angel of the church at Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel ..."  

The Great Alter of Zeus was enclosed within three high walls decorated with a continuous strip of carvings that wrapped around each side in the middle.  The frieze depicts a mythological battle between the gods of Olympus and the giants that ruled the subterranean world.  It was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  However, to John, this famous monument to Zeus, the god of gods, was merely "the place where Satan dwells."  I wondered how it was that Antipas, the martyr of Pergamum, came to be in a pagan temple.  Then I noticed that the agora, or marketplace, was directly below the Temple to Zeus.  Perhaps those hostile to the faith found Antipas in the market, dragged him up to the idols, and slew him there.

The Temple of Trajan and the amphitheater can be seen at the top of the hill.  

Pergamum had the dubious honor of the steepest amphitheater in the Greek world.  No, it was not ADA compliant ......

Hadrian built this temple on the summit of the hill around AD 120.  It was not there when John penned the Book of Revelation.

This picture shows where the Great Alter of Zeus was sited

This is a model of "the place where Satan dwells."  The original is in the Berlin Museum.

The Zeus temple complex was on the light colored rock below the trees. The upper Agora, or marketplace, lie immediately below, represented by the orderly rocks in the foreground.  The ancient road from the market to the temple is visible on the right, perhaps the one Antipas took to his death.

Marcus Aurelian Hadrianus