PRESS RELEASE -- February 21, 2007

What Did You Do this January? We Traced the Footsteps of Paul!

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Friday, January 5th, 2007, twenty-two students, professors and interested adults left to track St. Paul's travels in Turkey and Greece.

Hosted by Biblical Literature professors, Dr. Jeanne Serrão and Dr. Alex Varughese, this intrepid group flew to Istanbul and then on down to Adana to begin the ancient road trip which traced the missionary journeys of Paul.

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After drinking from St. Paul's well in Tarsus and spending the night in ancient Syrian Antioch, the eager group got on the modern tour bus to cross the Taurus Mountains through the Cilician Gates up into the high plateau of central Turkey (Asia Minor), then on to the Mediterranean coast and up the western coastline of modern Turkey.

The highlight of the Turkey trip was Ephesus which has been under excavation for 100 years and yet only one third of it has been dug up. Here we shared in a communion service in the Ephesus theatre where once the silversmiths were rioting against Paul because his evangelism of the city has cut into their idol-making trade.

From Turkey we crossed over to Greece and saw the ruins of Philippi in Macedonia and came south to Delphi, the most important pagan religious center in the first centuries, as well as Athens and Corinth.

The photos which accompany this article are a sample of what we saw and experienced in Europe and Asia during these two weeks. For more information on upcoming trips or classes in the Theology and Philosophy School, please contact Dr. Jeanne Serrao, Dean.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, four-year, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students and working adults. U.S. News & World Report ranks MVNU as a Best in the Midwest (Bachelor’s) institution for the third year in a row. With a 401-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and nine satellite Adult and Graduate Studies campuses throughout the state, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education to more than 2,600 students from 23 states and five countries/U.S. territories.