On Sunday, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement/Judgement Day every year) was beginning at Sunset. The whole country closes down for religious services so there would have been no transportation for us. So the team planned a two day trip to Jordan during this time. After a quick stop at the Jordan River, we crossed the Sheik Hussan bridge into Jordan in the morning. Jordan is the country where about 70% of the Old Testament happened. Our destination was Mt Nebo. To the mountain we came to pray and see the promised land the way God showed Moses.
I'm grateful that Jordan's now a friend of Israel, so we can easily cross the border to pray through the rest of the Holy land. After we passed through border control, we saw than Jordan was much different from Israel. Garbage was everywhere along the edge of roads and in empty yards. Many structures were older and made of concrete (with metal roofs) instead of the beautiful limestone masonry you see in the older cities in Israel. It was more impoverished and the people looked unhappy. There were many school-aged children waving at our bus as we drove by in the early afternoon. I wondered why they weren't in school. We drove around Amman, called Amon in the Bible, the “fortified city” of the Ammonites. We didn't have time to drive through the city.
We ascended the mountains of Gilead to the Moab plateau. In Moab, we came to Madaba. As we entered the town I could feel lightness and joy again. We stopped at the Madaba Handcraft Center. It was a warehouse full of artists making mosaics with a shop next to it. The area is famous for mosaics that are still made like those of the Byzantine churches.
Jordan used to be Christian from the late part of the 1st century to the 12-13th century, when the Ottoman Turks drove Christians out and the land became Muslim. Now, Jordan is only 3% Christian. We heard that recently 124 evangelical Christian families were forcefully deported from Jordan. Where was Amnesty International on that one? Now the King of Jordan has promoted religious tolerance and says to respect Christians because they were there before the Arab Muslims showed up, However, that's not what's happening to Christians who come to Jordan to plant churches. As we prayed along the way, we got this Word for the Christians in Jordan: Isaac, who remained in the land, sowed in the time of drought and reaped 100 fold.
I prayed at the top of Mt. Nebo with our tour leader Sue. Here's a picture my friend took on Nebo with Amman behind me in the distance. We drove to Petra and arrived past nightfall at Tabet Zaman. This is an 18th Century Bedouin Village with an Ottoman Turk design. People bought the old village years ago and restored it to make it into accommodations for people coming to visit Petra. This was by far the most interesting 'hotel' we stayed at. As we walked to our dwellings, we wandered through ancient squares, now decorated with raised flower beds, down winding stone streets and stairs, softly lit by lanterns. In the middle east, everyone eats breakfast and dinner at their hotel, so we had the joy of experiencing Jordanian Arab life in a more traditional setting.
We ascended the mountains of Gilead to the Moab plateau. In Moab, we came to Madaba. As we entered the town I could feel lightness and joy again. We stopped at the Madaba Handcraft Center. It was a warehouse full of artists making mosaics with a shop next to it. The area is famous for mosaics that are still made like those of the Byzantine churches.
Jordan used to be Christian from the late part of the 1st century to the 12-13th century, when the Ottoman Turks drove Christians out and the land became Muslim. Now, Jordan is only 3% Christian. We heard that recently 124 evangelical Christian families were forcefully deported from Jordan. Where was Amnesty International on that one? Now the King of Jordan has promoted religious tolerance and says to respect Christians because they were there before the Arab Muslims showed up, However, that's not what's happening to Christians who come to Jordan to plant churches. As we prayed along the way, we got this Word for the Christians in Jordan: Isaac, who remained in the land, sowed in the time of drought and reaped 100 fold.
I prayed at the top of Mt. Nebo with our tour leader Sue. Here's a picture my friend took on Nebo with Amman behind me in the distance. We drove to Petra and arrived past nightfall at Tabet Zaman. This is an 18th Century Bedouin Village with an Ottoman Turk design. People bought the old village years ago and restored it to make it into accommodations for people coming to visit Petra. This was by far the most interesting 'hotel' we stayed at. As we walked to our dwellings, we wandered through ancient squares, now decorated with raised flower beds, down winding stone streets and stairs, softly lit by lanterns. In the middle east, everyone eats breakfast and dinner at their hotel, so we had the joy of experiencing Jordanian Arab life in a more traditional setting.
That night, I got together with 6 American ladies. Funny, in Judeo-Christian belief, the number 7 represents perfection. We interceded for an hour and a half. At first we prayed for Jordan and for Israel to be set free and to know Jesus. As time passed, we began to repent for our own sins, and for the sins of the Church in America, for judging our government leaders instead of praying for them, and for our apathy regarding reaching the lost and going to the Lord in prayer. I believe it was significant that 1. We were doing this in the Holy Land and 2. It was Yom Kippur, the Day God set aside for taking an account of one's life and for repentance.
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