The PCUSA Pilgrim Pastor

Berea

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

I mean, you know it’s going to be a great day when you wake up to this.

We couldn’t see the Neapolis (Kavala) port very well last night so I took a picture this morning. This is the port Paul sailed into after leaving Troas and on his way to Philippi.

But let’s stop touring with Paul a minute to share a few other aspects of our trip. For example, food. We ate breakfast everyday at our hotels. A typical breakfast looked like this…

Here’s what my plate often looked like.

Lunch was on our own and sometimes we had no idea what we ordered. But everything was delicious.

Dinner was usually a buffet at the hotel.

And yes, we were known to indulge in a few happy hour drinks on occasion.

We also met some furry friends. Lots of cats

And many dogs also along the way.

Back to Paul. Our city today is Berea, or today they call it Veria.

We sat down by the river to hear a little about the history of Veria.

We once again walked in Paul’s footsteps walking down the road to the synagogue.

Paul and Silas fled from Thessalonica to Berea as recorded in Acts 17:10-15 somewhere around the year 50. It’s about a three day walk but it only took us a little while to drive it. As was his custom, the first place Paul went to was the synagogue. Our tour guide gives us some information as we approach the synagogue.

This is the Veria synagogue built on top of the ancient one. So while it’s not the same building, it is most likely the same site Paul visited.

A nice plaque outside the synagogue explains that Paul probably visited this area and that this synagogue was constructed in 1850.

Greek, Hebrew, and English were all used on signs.

Inside was spacious and well kept.

While the synagogue is set up for worship, no service has been held here since May 1943.

When the Nazis came for the Jews in Veria in May 1943, the Jewish people were either put on trains that went to concentration camps or were lucky enough to get out before hand. Reminders of this atrocity were shown in the synagogue. This is a school desk with a book the way it was left before 150 children were murdered from this town by the Nazi regime.

The pulpit area was carefully set up with all the prayer books that are commonly used in worship.

The old Temple in Jerusalem.

This is most likely where the scrolls containing the Torah were kept.

You probably can guess what’s on these tablets.

As was our custom, we had a prayer and then read the Acts 17 scripture, reminding ourselves that Paul was on or near this location to preach the good news and that Berea was very receptive of the gospel message.

Next we drove to the Apostle Paul’s alter.

Which apparently is on the Footsteps of Paul Cultural route.

In this small semicircle monument we found a statue of Paul on the right

A mosaic of Paul on the left holding the sword (by which he died) and the scriptures (which he preached)

And in the center there was a structure with several mosaics on it.

On the left is Paul’s vision of a man from Macedonia that led him to this land.

On the right is Paul preaching to men and women

And in the middle is Paul himself with a Bible in his hand.

It was the perfect place for a group picture

The Church of the Resurrection is also in Veroia which is just an example of the continuing legacy Paul established bringing Christianity to this town.

We were so important that Thanos was our driver. But he didn’t have his rings with him (an inside joke for all you Marvel fans). We did feel pretty protected though and he was a good sport.