SJ17 - Ancient Corinth with Alex and Eleni

Today we disembarked from our cruise ship for the last time.  The past four days have been an amazing journey with a hectic schedule and far too much really good food!  It was a wonderful experience. It has been a rich blessing to share this with Tom, Tami's Dad.  

After leaving the ship we were picked up by Alex and Eleni Melirrytos.  Tami and Tom both new Alex and Eleni, and I had heard my good friends Andy Wall and Mark Manassee speak highly of them, but I had never met them.  It didn't take long for me to see why people I admire , admire Alex and Eleni.  From the port, they took us straight to ancient Corinth.  Alex is a retired ship's captain and now preaches for The Omonia Church of Christ in Athens.  He is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic!  It was a real joy to go through ancient Corinth with these two.

While I am thinking about people who are a blessing...

I need to take a bit of an aside here and give credit where credit is due.  We not only met Alex and Eleni, but we also had lunch with Dino Russos, minister for the Glyfada Church of Christ.  During our time with these tireless workers for the Gospel, two names kept popping up in the conversation - Phil and Lois Wall.  The Walls were only in Greece for about 7 years ( and that over 30 years ago)  but their impact was tremendous.  Their influence is still felt by current church leaders all around Athens. Dino, Alex and Eleni each spoke very highly of their humility, grace-filled spirits, and love.  I felt so honored to hear these unsolicited stories about how God had moved through the Wall family and how their ministry so long ago is still bearing fruit.  Eleni shared a story with us that I think helps explain the lasting impact of the Walls.  While we were talking about the abundance of olive trees in Greece, she shared that her mother once told her to look to the olive branch as an example.  The branch that is full of fruit bends down low, while the branch with no fruit stands tall and sticks out.  She said, so it is with humble people.  God blesses the humble with much fruit, but the proud who fight to stand tall on their own rarely bear lasting fruit. I have paraphrased her words here, but they are a fitting tribute to Phil and Lois.  So before I go on, I think it fitting to say "Thank you!" to Phil and Lois Wall.  I have always sensed a humble spirit of grace and love around you.  It was wonderful to see it confirmed by those in Greece who know the Lord because of you.  They are carrying on the ministry of the Gospel because of your faithful example and service. You are truly a blessing to more people than you know or can count!

Now, back to today...

The Corinth Canal

On the way to ancient Corinth, we stopped to see an engineering wonder.   The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland.  As a former ship's Captain, Alex is very animated about the canal and it submersible bridge at the Gulf of Corinth end.  His enthusiasm is understandable, because this canal is impressive. It is only  about 4 miles long, but it saves the ships which pass through it about a 200 mile trip around the isthmus. The narrow channel is about  only 70 feet wide at its base, but the cliffs flanking either side of the canal reach a maximum height of over 200 feet.  Impressive!
Ancient Corinth
I absolutely loved walking through Ancient Corinth with Alex ad Eleni!  Alex's knowledge and enthusiasm for the Gospel and his native lad are evident.  the photos belwo tel the story of what we saw here.

This is an ancient natural spring outside of Ancient Corinth. This specific spring is said to have been in use during the time of Paul.

This ancient symbol his called the "Chi-Rho." It has the Greek letters chi and rho put together as an icon, standing for Christ as savior. this particular symbol also has the letters Alpha and Omega - referring to Jesus as the first and te last. this was on the arch of the ancient fountain in te photo above.  we saw these symbols in several ancient places throughout Greece.

The museum at Ancient Corinth is filled with so many well preserved scuplutres and artifacts form the first century.  I will post a few here, but the majority will go into an album on Facebook.

Julius Caesar

Typical Roman Soldier Uniform

Nero - Alex said you could tell he wasn't very smart by just looking at him! HAHA!

This inscription from 1 Corinthians is e in the place where Paul likely stood before the seat of judgment in Acts 18.

The main road leading form te ancient port in to Corinth

Tami and Elani standing in front of the Bema seat in Corinth - the place of judgment.