The Beginning.....of Sitting Around on Airplanes!

Hello Everyone,
 
Welcome to the travel blog of my journey through the Bible lands and beyond this summer. If you are receiving this, then your name and email has been added to a mailing list either by request or because I thought you would find this journey interesting to follow. If anyone does not desire to receive notifications when I post something, feel free to unsubscribe at any time.  :)
 
This pilgrimage began this morning at the Dayton International Airport at 9am, but actually its true beginnings extend much farther back. The inception of the trip came about some 6 months ago and slowly snowballed into a full-scale trip to 4 different countries on 3 different continents. Specifically, my itinerary focuses on archaeological sites that bear a direct or indirect relevance to the writings of the Bible. I will be traveling to Israel, Turkey, Greece (incl. Crete and Cyprus), and Italy (incl. Sicily and Malta). Over the past number of months countless hours have gone into identifying specific locations, schedules for buses, trains, and boats, airline flights, car/motorcycle rentals, housing/food arrangements, etc. But in light of all that work, so many details are still left unfinished.  :/

 It was sad to leave my family and miss out on the fun throughout the remainder of the summer, but I know that other exciting adventures await me in foreign lands. I believe the Lord will bless and guide this trip and help make it the expedition of a lifetime. I plan to keep a journal of the places I travel and the things I learn. I hope to be able to share a portion of that knowledge and those experiences through this blog. I am open to any questions anyone might have about the sites I visit or the information I share, but I cannot promise that I will be able to respond and address them very promptly. I will be traveling to different locations nearly every other day and will be more busy that I would like to be. This will not be a leisurely adventure. But that is what comes from accepting a free-floating, backpacking type of schedule...LOL.
For all my family, friends, fellow-saints, and other acquaintances, I want you to know that you will be in my heart and prayers as I travel abroad and grow in my understanding of ancient biblical culture, society, and context.

From my trip to the Bible lands last year, I realized that I have a lot to learn about the environment, setting, and circumstances that surround the writings contained in the Bible. This is especially true for the letters of Paul. I have long been fascinated by the Pauline writings in the New Testament and have wanted to get a clearer understanding of the churches, people, and areas to whom he wrote some of the most important sections of Scripture. As all of Paul's writings were occasional in nature, being immersed in the archaeological remains and historical information cataloged in museums sheds vital interpretive light on the meaning and purpose for his writings. Thus, a majority of the locations I will visit and study bear a strong significance to interpreting and understanding Paul's writings. However, some of the locations will be just places that he traveled and/or spent time with other Christians during the growth of the early church in the first-century.
I view myself as a pilgrim venturing to reach back into a bygone time to connect more closely with the places and people who shaped and affected the environment during the writing of the New Testament.

Thanks for all your prayers and support during this journey. My love and appreciation goes out to you all.  :D 
 
Grace and peace,
Jerry