Athens!

Our Journeys of Paul trip officially began on June 27th in Athens, Greece. Here are few pictures from the day and half we spent there before boarding our amazing ship, The Star Clipper!

The original Olympic Stadium used for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896...it was use for various events in the 1996 Olympics as well.

I have a thing for cool doors...

Shopping in Athen's historic Plaka...

Olive trees were everywhere....we ate our fair share of them too! They were delicious!

The majestic Parthenon (Temple of the Greek Goddess, Athena) on top of the Acropolis...

Mars Hill...Paul came to Athens on his second missionary journey and preached to the philosophers at the Areopagus, also know as Mars Hill (Acts 17:15-34).

Standing on Mars Hill with the Acropolis in the background...one of my favorite pictures from our trip! It was an incredible feeling to stand where Paul preached so many years ago!

Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
Acts 17: 22-25

Another amazing view of the Acropolis from Mars Hill...

Jill, Jimmy, Josh and I on Mars Hill overlooking the city of Athens...

Ruins from the original Theater of Dionysius...

The newer version that is still used today...

Standing at the very top of the Acropolis....you could see for miles!

The sun was a little bright...

The backside of the Parthenon...

Family...

What remains of the Temple of Zeus...

After touring Athens, we boarded our ship, The Star Clipper! This is actually a picture I took of the ship in Ephesus....I couldn't get a great shot of the ship from the port we left out of in Athens. But, this will give you an idea of what the ship looked like. I'll post more pictures of the ship soon.

Sailing away from the port in Athens to our next stop, Corinth!

While in Athens, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to see how the new church there was doing since the had been forced to leave early. Before Timothy could return with news from Thessalonica, Paul left Athens for Corinth (Acts 18:1, Thess. 3:1-6).

Pictures from Corinth coming soon!