Greece: An Unexpected Journey

It is a strange thing to fly by yourself across the globe. It takes a bit of courage and faith to go where God is calling you, even if it means going at it alone. For the longest time, it was my dream to visit Israel, and so last year in August 2023 (a month before the start of the Israel and Gaza war), I went alone and found the place I had been looking for my entire life, home (You can read my post about "A Placed Called Home,"here). With the end of my Israel trip, my world-traveling ambitions had come to an end. However, God had other plans. In May 2024, my program director, Dr. Fuhr, posted an announcement regarding a Greece trip for PhD Bible Exposition students—the first of its kind. With only one week left for registration, I talked with my husband and I got the green light to go.

For months, I waited, but not with the same giddy excitement I had for Israel. The idea of visiting Greece was a new concept for me and I wasn't sure what to expect beyond the itinerary. Even so, the opportunity to meet my fellow classmates and professors was something I wasn't willing to miss. And before I knew it, May passed into October, and I was stuffing my suitcase with clothes the night before my flight.

Greece was an unexpected journey. That unexpectancy, in turn, marked the entire course of my trip.

I became friends with a Pentecostal charismatic female pastor on the mountain slopes of Delphi. For breakfast, I ate Greek yogurt with honey dripping from my spoon. I saw the ruins of Paul's prison cell in Philippi. Heck, I even became familiar with their pharmacies and recorded myself opening their tilted windows that cracked open from the top! Everything in Greece was a new experience, including catching Covid and locking myself in the airport bathroom. It was certainly an adventure filled with happiness, disappointment, and unusual surprises. Nonetheless, this trip changed me for the better. This blog post is a reflection of that. Below is a map of Greece, and the red pins show the places my classmates and I visited.

***Image courtesy of Robert Solberg.***

The Land of Greece

Oftentimes, when we read the New Testament and follow Jesus and the apostles through the pages of Scripture, whether we know it or not, we start to build our concept of the biblical world by using our own geography and the images we see on Google or other textbooks to piece together this puzzle of the ancient world. The land of Greece was no exception to my misconceptions. Only when I visited the actual sites did those maps and illustrations come to life in an exciting and new way that I experienced Scripture in real time.

In my tour of Greece, I was surprised that the land was, for the most part, mountainous with varying plant life such as pine and olive trees with low-lying shrubs scattered throughout the countryside. The weather reminded me of my home state, California, with its sunny blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, though its landscape was greener and nicer to look at on the hour-long drives. I was amazed to see that the countryside was underdeveloped and had retained its natural state as though time had never touched it. The only signs of life were seen in the valleys where there was minimal farming, but even then, there were many deserted homes and an elderly populous. The scarcity of people made me wonder where all the people had gone. I wasn't the only one asking that question in our tour group.

When we drove by the Mediterranean Sea, I was mesmerized by its glistening sapphire waters, which reminded me of Greece's duality—that it was a nation of land and sea. And just beyond my line of sight, I knew there were thousands of islands scattered like stars across the ancient sea. Greece exceeded my expectations and revealed the depth of my ignorance regarding the New Testament.

Often, when I gazed through the tour bus window, I envisioned the apostle Paul hiking up and down the mountain slopes, taking the Gospel from town to town, or, as one student remarked, "Paul was a true backpacker." I was inspired by his resilience and gained a new appreciation not only for him but for every Christian who dared to traverse these lands in a time lacking modern infrastructure and the assurance of safe travel.

The History of Greece

The legacy of Greece does not lie in its might, although that's not to say that there were not a mighty people (e.g. Alexander the Great, King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans) but it is their accomplishments in art, philosophy, politics, and science that make them unlike any ancient civilization the world has ever seen. 

It is from Greece that democracy was born and thus provided the basis of Western governance. The works of their philosophers, like Plato and Socrates, are still admired today. Even our English language was influenced by the Greeks. In walking through the ruins of her cities like Philippi to admiring the delicate gold leaves of King Phillip's crowns, they bear witness to a time of Greece's wealth, power, and beauty. In contrast to modern Greece that at times made me feel sad.

Cities like Thessaloniki and Athens are overpopulated. The air quality in Thessaloniki was unbreathable with its smell of cigarettes and gasoline! The disparity between rich and poor was as plain as night and day. Sadly, Greece is a country in a state of decline with falling birth rates and an economy slowly recovering from its financial crisis of 2009. Gone are the days of her mighty armies and legendary kings.

Further implicating this matter is the effects of the schism of 1054, whereby the East and Western churches split over authorial disputes between the pope and ecumenical council. Thus leaving the Greek churches in a state of unchanging traditions, liturgy, and a plethora of painted icons. Outwardly, the Greek Orthodox churches exhibit a sense of reverence and stillness that Western churches lack, but as an evangelical, I noticed their beliefs are heavily influenced by traditions and at times, superstition.[1]

For those who, by God's grace, find their way to the truth of God's word, they are essentially outcasted by their families because to leave Greek Orthodox is to leave their identity and culture.[2] While those of us in the America do not experience this, for evangelical Christians living in Greece, this is their present reality. The need for missionaries in Greece is real.

Personal Reflections

Initially, I came to Greece with the desire to learn about it through a purely academic lens. I wasn't prepared for how this trip would affect me spiritually and emotionally. Greece shifted my worldview. I have to admit, I'm not the same person who left California on October 10. I have been irrevocably changed.

Being around people who were different from me and hearing their thoughts and ideas expanded my horizons on what I could do and become as a person. They inspired me to be better and work harder. By the providence of God, they unknowingly revealed to me that my world was grey, that I had been caught up in the mundane and petty things of life, and that I had almost missed the color that God had been trying to show me. In other words, God showed me that in leaving my community, I could finally see and answer my calling that He had been leading me towards my entire life.

A deeper reflection on this made me realize our world, here on earth, is grey because of sin. It is only through God that He shows us the colors—the possibilities of what we can actually do and who we are called to be. Sin diminishes our potential. If we are willing to die to ourselves and follow Jesus, only then can we find our true purpose and fulfillment in our lives (Matthew 16:24–25). It is in this act of complete surrender to God, that we become the renewed image bears of God.

Unfortunately, for the Hmong Christian community, there is a lack of interest in learning about their biblical roots with many opting for Asian countries as their preferred place of cultural and historical enrichment. This lack of interest, I believe, is due to biblical history being a foreign concept to the Hmong people and misplacing their identity more in our cultural roots rather than in their new family in Christ. I hope that through this article, it may awaken in you a desire to rediscover your biblical heritage. Greece and the New Testament are remarkable treasures. We should cherish their legacy as it sheds light to our future.

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Footnotes:

[1] My statement is based solely on my observations as I was instructed from a Greek Orthodox view of Christianity while touring in Greece. I honestly was fascinated by their belief system.

[2] This statement is also based on the testimony of a former Greek Orthodox turned evangelical. Thank you to Ursula and Angel for providing this bit of information.

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Bao Vang is a wife and mom of two amazing daughters. When Bao's not serving her local church, she likes to write and spend time with her family. Bao received her MA in Theological Studies from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and she is currently working on a PhD in Bible Exposition at John W. Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University. Bao is also a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature. You can find her research at https://liberty.academia.edu/baobvang.