Jordan 2010: A Day in Jordan

On route to Iraq I stopped in Amman, Jordan, for the day. It proved to be a great opportunity to visit with pastors & leaders that were serving both in Jordan and Gaza. Jordan is home to more than one million Palestinians, most of which have now obtained Jordanian citizenship. There are also several thousand Iraqi refugees that fled to Jordan for asylum during the Iraq war. It was quite a change after being in a huge city like Cairo, where poverty was visible all around. Jordan is less than a tenth of the population of Egypt and has a literacy rate or 90% compared with Egypt, which stands at a striking 50%! As we drove from the airport into Amman you could also sense that there was much greater affluence here too; with beautiful homes and BMW’s everywhere. I have to admit however, in my opinion; the Egyptians are much better drivers. Despite what felt like many near death experiences in Cairo, they were much better at weaving their way through traffic & negotiating the round-a-bout with greater efficiency.  I say all that because just 100 yards from our destination our car clipped the mirror of an on-coming car… it was quite a thud, and let’s say both cars needed new mirrors.  Of course, it was the other drivers fault!

Now, our first order of the day upon arriving was lunch…! Let me tell you, the food in this part of the world is absolutely delicious, especially when it is home cooked. We enjoyed a traditional Jordanian feast of rice, chicken, salad and yogurt. Of course I can’t forget the after meal coffee, similar to an espresso but with the ground coffee beans still remaining at the bottom of the cup. It was quite potent, though they assured me it was a mild brew, none-the-less it did the job of waking me up for the series of meetings that awaited me.

There is much I would love to say about the precious time that I had meeting with the pastors and leaders here in Jordan but I can’t… I’m sure you will understand. It was truly a humbling and moving experience to hear the stories and share with those who are to this day, risking their lives to share the Gospel with those who don’t have the freedom to discover & experience the Christian faith.

After another incredible meal, this time Lebanese, we made our way to the airport to catch the 1am flight to Erbil, Iraq. I can’t begin to tell you how exhausted I felt from all the travel! I was asleep in no time once we got on the plane, but the 2 hour flight was just a tease… all I could think about was a bed. We landed in Erbil and sailed through immigration, believe it or not being a Westerner, especially American, works well in your favor up here in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Once they saw that I had a Green Card they just waved me through. My companion from Egypt, however, needed to go to another desk to get a visa stamped in his passport… go figure!??!

We were picked up by an Iraqi born British man, who I would later hear has become a hero of the faith here in Iraq. He took us straight to a lovely guest house and after of brief chat together I collapsed on my bed… the only problem was that it was 4am and I needed to be awake again at 8am. But it didn’t matter; I was just excited to be here in Iraq and couldn’t wait to find out what the next few days would hold.

Tim

The Middle East 2010: 42 Hours

I’m not too sure how much blogging I’ll be able to get done the rest of my trip. I’ve had a ridiculously long couple days with little sleep, beginning Friday 1am with a 4hour drive from Pune to Mumbai Airport and then two consecutive flights; first to Bahrain and then to Cairo. After checking into the Madi Hotel which oversees the Nile & the Pyramids (fancy that), I was picked up by a friend of TSC to visit the local Church. Most churches have Friday & Saturday services as that’s the weekend here. From church we went out for a bite to eat & then back to the Hotel for some much needed rest! If my memory serves me correct, I think I was awake for 42hours straight!   

Tim