Jordan

Hello again from the road! We have had a very productive few days, and our exhausted minds and bodies are vouching for it. Our final morning in the United Arab Emirates ended with some distinctive Middle Eastern hospitality—and a television interview, too. We had breakfast with an RZIM board member and his family, and shortly thereafter we began filming with the crew from Power Vision, a network that can be viewed throughout the Middle East and Asia.

From the UAE we then traveled to Jordan where we were met by our host, a woman who courageously came to faith many years ago, firing questions at a man named Ravi Zacharias along the way. Muna formerly worked in the palace as secretary to Queen Noor. In between meetings with various organizations, Muna has showed us more of Jordan than we thought possible in so few days.

It is always a privilege to see the good work of so many hands across the world and the few organizations we visited in Jordan were no exception. The Jordanian Evangelical Committee for Relief and Development is an organization that started in 1990 during the last Gulf War as a result of a felt need for combined relief efforts. They represent many evangelical churches and parachurch organizations within Jordan, with a united vision to meet relief and development needs within the region. Their projects have included providing food for refugees, meeting shelter needs of hundreds of individuals, and initiating more than 148 small businesses. They are currently working to provide assistance to meet the educational needs of Iraqi refuges in the already overcrowded and under-funded Jordanian school system. Five hundred dollars a year will support 1 Iraqi child in a local school, which is including the costs for books and uniforms. JECRAD are hoping to be able to support 100 children this year.

They are also working to provide toys for these children at home. Due to overcrowding, many of these refugees are unable to go to school. They have little to do, no toys at all, and nothing to encourage creativity and learning. This organization believes that even this slight attempt to improve conditions for these children is well worth the investment. The latest estimate is that there are nearly 1 million refugees in Jordan, which is 1/5 of the country's entire population.

In the midst of this alarming statistic, another organization at work in Jordan is called Loving Ministry. This small but passionate group of women is working to provide philanthropic outreach amongst needy families in Jordan and Syria. They are currently raising funds to cover the costs of food, tuition, and medical support for these families.

To this our first long day of meetings and sharing, we concluded appropriately with a leisurely, traditional Arabic meal. And then we crashed.

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Sunday was quickly filled with more sights and stories. We began at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Amman. The service was beautiful, filled with incredible Middle Eastern singing. After the service we meet with the pastor to discuss the church's current efforts. They have started a clinic for refugees, which is staffed with 3 volunteer doctors and 3 volunteer nurses. All care and medicines are free of charge. The church has also started a food coupon program for 300 Iraqi families. As refugees are not permitted to work in Jordan, there is no income for these families, and since there are no refugee camps, they must completely fend for themselves. The food coupon gives each family a 30 dollar gift certificate to a local supermarket, which must last them for two months.

After this meeting, we drove with Muna to Jerash to see a complete Roman city that has been excavated. Archaeologists began uncovering the ruins in the 1960's and discovered an entire city. The view was stunning. It was also incredibly hot—over 100 degrees—and the stones seemed to absorb the heat and reflect it back on you.

We left Jerash and drove to Muna's farm, which is an olive orchard in the mountains. It was lovely with a beautiful breeze. Her husband had prepared mensef for us, a traditional Jordanian dish that is eaten with your hands. All in all, it was quite a day.

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The following day began early for Naomi with a meeting with the director of Global Hope Network-Jordan. The organization is headquartered in the US and is a humanitarian offshoot of Campus Crusade. They proposed to us a project that would distribute 50 sewing machines to widows in Iraq. The machines would provide them with a source of income, and their work would then provide shoes for children all over Middle East.

The day then progressed with an eventful meeting at the palace of Queen Rania. We met with her assistant, the Education Specialist in the Initiatives Department. This meeting went very well. Queen Rania tried to be there but was unfortunately delayed. We spent about an hour discussing several potential options for Wellspring to come alongside the ongoing efforts of the Jordanian Initiatives Department. At the conclusion of the meeting, all agreed to continue planning and to make arrangements for Naomi to meet with the Queen on her next visit to Jordan, where plans can be discussed in further detail.

As a fitting conclusion to a day of meetings, we spent the late afternoon taking in the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo, the place from which Moses saw the Promised Land. The experience was incredible; the views surreal.

From these incredible sights we departed for a big Arabic dinner with a local family, and a meeting with a woman who currently directing a prison ministry to 10 different prisons, 7000 prisoners in Jordan. This organization seeks to build relationships, provide basic needs, and to facilitate the freedom process for many. A great number of women have been brought in from other countries to provide household help to local families. Many are mistreated, and run away. But without papers, they are then arrested. Due to the language barrier, many cannot even defend themselves and court becomes only an obstacle to freedom. Prisons will let these women go home if they can be deported immediately, but often the girls don't have the money to do so. This organization provides the plane tickets home so that they can be released. This year alone, this ministry has helped 60 prisoners find freedom and a means to travel home.

As you can imagine, we are exhausted but full. We have met with so many important hands and minds extending themselves for their neighbors and for those who have become their neighbors in hardship and unrest.

Today we will be meeting with Prince Ra'ad, who is the head of Jordanian humanitarian issues for the King. We will be visiting a community center for Iraqi refugee children, and then we will be boarding another plane and heading to another country.