The map shows Cyprus as a tiny island tucked into the eastern Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by powerful countries and cultures. As you might have guessed, Cyprus has been ruled by such great nations as Egypt, Assyria, Rome, England, France, and the Ottoman Empire, among others. Each left their mark. Even now, Turkey rules over North Cyprus since the invasion in 1974.
This beautiful mosque is just over the Turkish border in Nikosia. Turks are Moslems. Greek Cypriots are Orthodox Christianity. They speak Turkish, a very different language from Cypriot Greek. The whole place feels very different.
In Turkish Cyprus we saw the castle at Kyrenia. Guy Lusignon, a French nobleman and crusader, ruled Jerusalem from 1186-1192 AD. Ousted by Saladin in 1192, he found himself without a kingdom so he bought Cyprus from his cousin, King John of England, and founded the Lusignon Dynasty that ruled Cyprus for 300 years!
We roamed around the Lusignon castle in Kyrenia.
Closer to us but further away in time – are the Kourion Archeological site just outside of Lemossol. These ruins are from about 300 AD. The mosaics are beautiful and whet my appetite to learn more about the history of Cyprus.
Cut to our day. Over the last few decades many saints were baptized in the sea. As Church History missionaries we are documenting the historical sites important to members. These two beaches saw many member baptisms.
President Nelson, our mission president, encourages us to use portable baptismal fonts instead of beach baptisms. This Saturday we are having a baptism so we went to Paphos to collect the font we share with them. It took a type of jenga to get all the font pieces to fit in our car, but we did it!
Along with the young missionaries, we are setting goals to increase our membership in our branch. We hope this baptism on Saturday is a harbinger of more wonderful baptisms to come!
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