What's Going On? BEMA Turkey 6

This will probably be the last time I write in Turkey. We are in Cappadocia and will be tomorrow as well. Friday we begin our journey home. 

This area is full of caves and massive underground complexes where Christians hid during times of persecution.  Later other people also hid here and sometimes because Christians were persecuting them.  The reason there are underground places is because there have been many volcanic eruptions in the area and the result is hills and mountains of rock that is both strong like concrete and easy to carve.  So people discovered that they could dig a dwelling into the side of a hill with nothing more than a piece of wood as a tool. Mysterious but true. We went down into one complex that at one time was 8 city blocks square and twelve stories deep. It was complicated enough with light, but they lived there in the dark and in silence and with minimal food whenever the Roman persecutors were in town. Amazing to see this kind of dwelling (and we are staying in one as our hotel room is dig into a cliff) but horrifying to think people had to do this to keep the message alive that still brings us life. 

So many learnings and experiences here. The next two days we will seek to bring some closure but we also know this will continue to shape us for years. 

ES