Paul in Cenchrea and Nicoplis - 35 photos

This canal links the Aegean Sea with the city of Corinth

An amazing story emerges from a remote place...the port city of Cenchrea. Paul's visit to Nicopolis was also historic, another little known part of his travels.

Cenchrea is rarely visited, but it was important in the scriptures. Paul mentions Phoebe in Romans 16:1, the first person's name in that long list of "fellow servants". 

Phoebe was a remarkable woman, serving the Lord through hospitality in amazing ways.

Reading about Phoebe reminds me of some of our Turkish students and their trip through Greece. One memorable comment sticks in my mind: "I was brought up by my grandmother to hate the Greek people. Everything about them was despicable. However, we went to Greece on a tour, following the footsteps of Paul. In every place, for two weeks, we stayed with Christians. They washed our clothes, gave us meals, gave up their beds so we could sleep well and even provided tour guides in the historical locations like Philippi. I came back home completely rebuked. I had been taught to hate, but their hospitality taught me to love. I came back with love in my heart for the Greek people."

That, dear friends, is how early Christians overcame the "unstoppable opposition from the Greco-Roman world" in the First Century. Love, warm hospitality and kind gestures - this isn't a program, or something fake. Phoebe was that kind of person in Cenchrea.
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