Istanbul, Plovdiv, Sofia

We had a day and a half free, so Bubu and I traveled to Istanbul. We were amazed by the sights of this old city of splendor -- especially Hagia Sophia. It was once the greatest church building in Christendom, later used as a mosque, and since 1935 has been a museum.



















Today (Wednesday), Bubu and Wladek and I met up with Niki Valchev and several local pastors and other Christians in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. We also got to see the Roman ruins there. Plovdiv formerly belonged to Alexander the Great's father, Philip of Macedon, and was known as Philippopolis. Later it was an important city of the Roman Empire, and the early Christian leader Hermas was bishop of the local believers.













In the evening we drove to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and had dinner with a few local church leaders, including Pastor Metodi. I will be preaching tomorrow at an evening worship service at Metodi's Presbyterian church made up of Gypsies.