Hey you!
Wow! What a quick few weeks it has been.
Currently, I am on a 9+ hour train ride, traveling through the beautiful northern part of Spain. This update is my effort to re-cap & catch you up on what we have been up to the past week or so.
So, from leaving Turkey-we ended up in Athens, Greece! A few of my favorite highlights of Athens was learning about the intellectual hub it was back in the day, as well as the Biblical history. My friends & I explored the city all over & discovered a place called “Mars Hill”. It was a giant ROCK, but not any kind of rock.
Mars Hill is a place where some of the most scholarly philosophers at the time in Athens would come to do intellectual debates, make big decisions, & hear the latest philosophy’s from significant people around the world.
Paul the apostle, was one of those people who was invited onto Mars Hill-& preached the latest news, the news about Jesus Christ.
Friend, this isn’t me making these things up. This is history-just like the history we learned about through education growing up. Crazy. Wild. Amazing. What the what?!
Check out my “Mars Hill Blog” for more detail on that history piece, as well as the scripture from Acts 17-in which it talks about Paul coming to Athens. Or, just click HERE for the literal scripture from the online bible!
My mind was officially BLOWN AWAY. But wait, it get’s better…
We decided to walk around the old Market ruins & pray & worship God as Paul probably once did too! (which really just looks like some old rock outlines of housing, stores, and walls, LOL!) But, that was most likely the old market place where where Paul was sharing the latest news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ dying for us & resurrecting to life again!
This place, was FILLED with a dense, sense of peace.
We worshiped on the hillside with a guitar and yukelele & also prayed for the same zeal Paul had to share this news of Jesus Christ to the people he interacted with.
A bold prayer, yes, but worth it? Totally.
In the time we were simply singing our hearts out on the rocky hill side, enjoying the day, and praying for the city-we noticed that a younger man listening to us play. After we finished he started to ask us some questions which lead into a wonderful conversation about faith, spirituality, life stories, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What a good day that was.
In that same day we also got to have an incredible discussion with a new friend from Greece, where we discussed quite a bit on faith & spirituality-giving each others view points. This was so cool because though we had differing views at that time, we were able to pray over this new friend & ask for God to reveal more and more of His great love for him. We hugged & it was a hard goodbye, never less, grateful for that opportunity.
On top of those two great interactions with new friends, we also had the opportunity to pray over a few of the stores we went into. We offered to pray a blessing over the stores we went into, and also praying for the family of the owners. One man in particular seemed a bit surprised, maybe a little teary eyed, but truly grateful.
Walking away from these encounters with people-I realized that my friend & I engaged in quite a few intelligent but also loving conversations with people.
This made it even a bit more special being in the “intellectual hub” of Athens-where history shows it was one of the greatest places to go for schooling, philosophy, & enlightenment to truth claims in the western world.
In that very place, still full of incredible intellect, we were doing our very best to bring the love of Jesus Christ to the people around. It was a memory that will last forever. & it was so much fun.
Speaking of intelligent conversations, I am starting to realize the importance of being prepared to have an intellectual reason/evidence for the Hope that is within me (with gentleness, honor, and respect, of course!!!).
I am learning to base my faith not just off of experience but of historical evidence too. Evidence that actually offers good reasoning to believe that Jesus in fact did die on the cross & resurrect-that He is who he said He is. It’s quite fascinating the more you dig into history on this! I recently learned that the Bible is one of the most researched historical texts in the World so far & that Archealogists continue to dig up more and more evidence on the accuracy of it too. Woah!
I hope to continue these studies even more upon return to the states.
One more plug: I also think loving God with all our mind, soul, strength (Luke 10:27) can include the research of Biblical History-because really-we are getting to know our creator more through that experience too!
Sure, I am really at my beginning stages of this, looking into the history and all. But, I am convinced that we all owe it to ourselves whether you’re a seeker of the faith, a born again believer, or one simply seeking truth.
If Jesus really is who he says he is, that is a BOLD statement & means something very important to humanity. We owe it to ourselves to do the diligent, unbiased research of the Bible’s historical evidence & context, & then to really consider how it applies to our life.
Whew-what a speal! I know that was a lot to read. & potentially heavy to digest for some of you. If you have any questions or thoughts or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Looking forward, we just arrived in Spain & tomorrow morning we are heading out on a 2 week hike on the famous “Camino”. I will keep you posted on the latest adventure.
In the meantime, please do check out the vlog above. It will give you a bit more of a glimpse of this time!
Luke 10:27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
1st Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hopethat you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
With lots of love,
Kailey
P.S. Prayer warriors, please lmy new friends from Greece & Spain in your prayers (there was someone I didn’t mention in the blog that we met). Thank you!
Hi Kailey,
Great blogs and so cool to see you getting pumped up about the authenticity of the Bible. I read a book a long time ago documenting the number of authentic transcripts of the Bible and how they out number all others by a landslide. Nothing else compares. Now there is lots of good information available on the subject. Some of the facts can be a bit boring and yet inspiring also. Anyone who studies the facts can’t refute the fact that the Bible is the most reliable history book on the planet. Praying for the team everyday. Be bold and safe on the Camino. Love the Gammelgaard’s
Hey Kailey
Such good stuff, I thought I wasn’t going to church here in Gainesville Georgia on this Sun morning right before training camp begins but after reading your blog I realize, “I just had church.“ 🙂
Acts 17, first Peter three, and more divine appointments of stranger evangelism along your pilgrims journey- Yes and Amen !! Right on Kayli, we do have a credible, reasonable, and informative faith. We are believers because it’s actually true! I loved your connection of loving God with all your mind and all the God-given critical thinking skills he’s given you.
You of all people I know will continue to be like young Timothy, to“study to show yourself approved by God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Hi Kailey,
Loved your blog! I too agree it is so important to study apologetics. We have to be able to defend our faith. In the process as we study, our faith is strengthened too.
Hi Kaylie, You and your team are doing such amazing work! While in Spain, will you be going to see the Sagrada Família? It is amazing! We saw it when we were in Spain last summer. Praying for you!
Hi Mrs. Smith!
Awe thank you so much 🙂 We are currently on the camino! Where is the Sagrada Familia? I will look into it & see if we can 🙂
Right on Aunt K! Thank you so much 🙂
Wow thanks so much Matt! Means alot. It has been so much fun studying more. I have been listening alot to RAVI ZACHARIAS! I would like to meet Ravi someday. God has really given him a gift for teaching, just like you too Matt!
Can’t wait to see you & Kathy soon!! 🙂
Wow! So amazing right? Thank you for sharing that 🙂 You are right-it really is such a reliable history book! The more research I do, the more I am amazed!