52 disciples, family and friends from South Africa, Hong Kong, mainland China and various cities in the USA traveled to Athens, Mykonos and Rhodes, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; Ephesus, Turkey; Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt; and Naples, Italy. All agreed this trip changed our lives.
What an incredible journey! Those of us who converged at Rome on April 26, 2008 for the 12 day Steps of the Apostles Tour will never be the same! Seeing the Bible come alive, fellowship with our international brothers and sisters and visiting churches in Athens and Cyprus was a dream come true!
“Thank you so much for hosting and arranging this trip! Our fire was stirred by the disciples’ love and the places we have seen. The trip exceeded my expectations and has helped me to understand God’s love and the Kingdom in a “4-D” (4 dimensional) way. I could feel the long history of the places (length), the love from disciples from different countries (width), God’s love from His persistence in loving people from ancient times until now (depth), and the great excitement to see biblical places with the fellowship of brothers and sisters (height).”
…may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…Ephesians 4:18 --May Lo (Hong Kong)
Roger Lamb of sponsoring Disciples Today, led the Steps of the Apostles Tour. His classes at sea helped us understand the spread of the gospel throughout the Western world and put the books of the New Testament in perspective and context. His multimedia presentations brought to life the lives of the early Christians and the apostles' travels which prepared us for the ancient sites we were about to see. Roger also helped us to relive Paul’s speech to a meeting of the Areopagus as he read Acts 17 to us as we gathered on Mars Hill in the shadow of the Ancient Acropolis in Athens. In addition, he led devotionals for the wonderful singles on our tour who made up about half of our group.
Our trip to Ephesus was amazing as we walked on the same stone streets and pictured the market place, houses and library as they would have looked when the Apostles were there. Alexandria (home of Apollos), Cairo and the pyramids were sites where we truly felt we had stepped back in time. The Nile River presented a special treat as we ate lunch on a special sailing boat and imagined all the biblical history that happened there.
“Thank you for planning and conducting such an awesome, adventuresome, fun and meaningful trip to the Mediterranean! I can’t think of enough words to describe how I feel, but I want to thank you for this special time that will always be a treasure in my heart. Thank you, Roger, for the historical and spiritual classes you gave us on the ship before each port. It was helpful and informative in making sense of the events that took place both historically and Biblically.” --Debi Kemp – Los Gatos, California
The fellowship on our journey was just as God would have it! Disciples from different races, cultures and countries came together with incredible love in one Spirit! In addition to our times on the ship, we had one very special excursion on Cyprus, the site of the first church planting in Acts 13. The entire church of nine disciples came out along with their beautiful children to meet us and spend the day with us on an excursion they completely planned, organized by Dylan Mathias. We visited Paphos, the city where Elymas (Bar-Jesus) the sorcerer was blinded by Paul and Sergius Paulus, the governor, was converted.
After viewing the ruins, we formed a circle in what was probably the exact place where these events happened, and sang hymns in English, Spanish, Cantonese, and an African language. After visiting a synagogue where Paul probably preached, the church prepared a wonderful love feast lunch for us on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. In that beautiful, biblical setting, we heard a passionate message from the Word by Jordan McLeod, the self-supported leader of the Limassol Church who previously led the Jerusalem Church for a number of years. Jordan shared very openly about his own spiritual struggles through the last few years and the church's decision to get back to the Father's business. Then he introduced our new brother who was recently baptized! We tearfully said “good-bye” and headed back to the ship. Everyone agreed that this was the highlight of our trip!
“I think that God gave me an example of the lives of seasoned disciples that love, give, share their faith and have one another relationships. I have prayed to imitate and apply it here in my singles ministry. I enjoyed the beauty of the Mediterranean, but the beauty of the disciples' hearts stands out the most. It was such a blessing and I am grateful to God!”
--Carlynn Flanagan – San Diego
Athens gave us another opportunity to see Christ’s love in action! Sue Brogdon, a very special sister in our group, had an accident and needed to be hospitalized in Athens. The rest of us needed to sail to the next port with the ship and leave Sue in the hospital in a country where she did not know the language. The disciples in Athens were amazing! They came to the hospital and stayed with her every step of the way until she could go home. They helped her to translate and even brought her Greek food! (Watch DisciplesToday.org for a coming story about the Athens Church.)
“I love cruising, but with the disciples it was different. It was like instant relationships. I felt loved and cared for especially after my accident. Even though I didn’t get to finish the cruise, I saw God’s beautiful sunrise over the mountains of Athens, Greece from my hospital bed. The disciples in Athens called, visited and ran errands for me. Now, I have close relationships with them and am more connected to the church worldwide! It’s wonderful!” --Sue Brogdon – Dallas, Texas
“What a wonderful trip! I am so grateful for the time we had. I know that it has changed my life in many ways. As I look at my pictures and page through some books Ken and I bought, I remember how amazing it was to actually touch things in Ephesus, Rome and Athens that may have been touched by disciples 2,000 years ago! But what really TOUCHED ME was all of you! Each one of you encouraged me and enriched my life. YOU ALL were the best part of the trip! --Cece Springer – Chicago, Illinois
Being on a ship for 12 days on the Steps Tour, gave us all great opportunities to share our faith! It was exciting to see disciples sharing their faith at all hours of the day and night! Several of these friends joined us for the Steps classes, but even more exciting were our two Sunday morning services. Bill Hooper, an elder for the Dallas – Ft. Worth Church, and Mitch Mitchell, evangelist for the Triangle Church in North Carolina, delivered the messages and the second Sunday we had 30 friends join us! Some of those friends are committed to finding the church in their cities. And, many of the disciples have already shared about our trip not only in their home churches, but also in their workplaces, opening many doors for God to work!
“We would like to share this GOOD NEWS with all of you! David and his wife who came to services on the ship with us have already gotten in touch with us here in Hong Kong. When he saw us hugging each other in the services, he imitated us at once and gave hugs to other disciples. We plan to invite them to join us for our presentation of the trip at the Sunday service here in Hong Kong. We also have several other e-mail addresses on the ship and can’t wait to see what God will do in their lives!”
--Kevin and May Lo – Hong Kong
“I am very grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to get to know disciples from around the world. This was my first spiritual vacation I have ever had. Yesterday, I had my Bible Talk and I shared in detail with the scriptures and my pictures that I took. Everyone was amazed! I also shared with my people at work and two of them want to go with me for the next trip.” --Ana Liaolo – New York City, New York
“One of my co-workers, who is Jewish and has not been receptive to me in the past, was so impressed by the trip, my example and friendships I have built that she said ‘I want to go with you on this trip next year’.
--Stephanie Williams – San Francisco, California
Note: Lord willing, in April 2010, Disciples Today will sponsor another Steps of the Apostles Tour including following the Steps of Jesus in Jerusalem. Please make your plans to join us on another amazing journey!