On November 30th, we arrived in Amman, Jordan, which is considered the safest Arab country in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Israel border Jordan. Jordan is roughly the size of Indiana and geographically serves as a crossroads between Europe, Africa, and Asia. The US and UK maintain close relationships with Jordan through participation in the enforcement of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq. Jordan is ruled by King Abdulla II and the government system utilized is a Unitary Parliament Constitutional Monarchy. He has extensive influence, holding executive and legislative powers. Jordan has been welcoming refugees since 1948 and is currently a refuge for Syrians. The predominant religion is Sunni Islam with 92% of the population identifying as Muslim; however, Indigenous Christian minorities co-exist within Jordanian culture. Jordan stands out to me because it’s the first country where I regularly hear the Muslim call to prayer alongside Christian orthodox church bells.
This month, we are living in Amman, the capital city. Amman is a very modern city with an abundance of Western amenities. Just a mile from our apartment is a state of the art shopping centre filled with popular Western stores such as ZARA, H&M, Victoria Secret, and Starbucks. Jordanians are very fashionable and place a high importance on outward appearance. Men typically wear nice jackets, sweaters, and dress shoes while the women often sport trendy boots, scarves, and leggings with oversized sweaters (outside of Amman women dress much more conservatively). The women also appreciate good-looking eyebrows. ??
We are privileged to learn first-hand what it looks like to be a part of a Christian community in Jordan. The church’s heart is to establish social services (educational and medical) to meet the needs of the people, and build relationships and trust with the community to create opportunities to share the love of Jesus.
The church has schools in two villages, however one school has been recently closed, if you’d like to know more about the closure, I’m happy to send an email with more of the backstory. The school primarily serves children that are refugees from Syria. We visit the school often and play with the students during recess or after school. In the afternoons we visit students in their home. This allows for the parents to meet the school’s founders/pastors and provide feedback/ask questions. Often times, the families express gratitude for the school and opportunity for good education. Sometimes, we share scripture and pray with the family, and other times we just listen to their story over tea. At the end of each visit we provide the family with food parcels, and other basic need items. It is an honor and privilege to be here in Jordan. While the realities for refugees are heavy, their kindness and generosity is overwhelming.
Thank you to everyone who donated through the give platform in order to make it possible to provide care packages to refugee families.
Merry Christmas!
