A third side of the middle east

What do you do when you have 10 hours between flights in a humongous airport? Stretch your legs, look at the shops, have something to eat, write up your blog and look at the size of it all …

playground

monorail

That fills about half the time, so thank goodness Qatar airways offers a free city tour of Doha. What a city! Qatar is a tiny nation 160km across and 90km wide created by the European powers in the nineteenth century. Things were pretty quiet with agricultural and pearl diving being the main industries, until oil was discovered in the 1940s. It now has a per capita income of about $US 160 000 p.a. – the world’s highest. At least that’s for the 200 000 Qatari natives. They make up just 13% of the total population. Everyone else is an expat worker, mostly from developing countries come to find work. Our driver and guide were both from Nepal and were a delight, carefully and honestly answering our questions. 

The highlights of the tour?

1. The unbelievable buildings:

art museum

women's eyes (in a Muslim headress) at the top of the art museum

?

mosque

There seems to be a council regulation that whatever you build, it has to look weird.

Perhaps the most extravagant is the airport terminal reserved just for the King.

2. The delightful and newly re-built souq.

How am I feeling to be heading home? Sad but so very thankful to God for such an extraordinary trip – to have enjoyed planning it, and to have seen and experienced and learnt so many wonderful things, and to have had the privilege to do it with my son.

So very thankful to be returning to our wonderful country.

And so very looking forward to seeing my family.

Glimpses of ministry in Jordan

Something special today. 

Malcolm and Charissa took us to the Anglican Jofeh Rehabilitation Centre in the Jordan Valley. Started in 1994 in an area where there are no known Christians this centre provides schooling, speech pathology, physiotherapy and sheltered workshops for children and young people with a whole variety of disabilities. We met the centre’s director, a Dutch Anglican monk named Brother Andrew. That morning he’d been showing the Archbishop of Canterbury the plans for a new Anglican church at the Baptism site on the Jordan river; he was of course keen for the Archbishop’s support, and was only too happy to show us the plans as well over tea. We enjoyed joking around, especially about the plan to include an Isaac chapel in the design. 

Eventually Brother Andrew was finished and the manager Yousef showed us around the centre. The rooms and equipment were basic, but the work they are doing is amazing. Many of the children with disabilities were previously shunned by their families and their communities, being shut up in separate huts, and the local schools didn’t cater for their needs at all. Now the children are educated in the centre’s classrooms, and the centre has even encouraged and practically supported the integration of children into the local state schools. Plus the centre provides work opportunities in recycling paper, sewing, needlework and woodwork, enabling them to support themselves and their families. 

recycling paper for gift cards

sewing cross-stitch for gift cards

Some of the children who were first helped by the centre now work as teachers there. Malcolm and Charissa’s church have an appeal once a year to purchase a new piece of equipment for the centre, and Charissa and a couple of other women teach English to some of the older women once a week.

Two other highlights of our visit – an abundant Jordanian brunch, and the ingenious water cooling system.

the pyramid-shaped roof panels from which the water sprinkles down

Water sprinkles down onto the centre courtyard of the building, and the air flows across through the windows and is cooled down by the water. The water is then pumped up to the roof and the process begins again. It’s more complicated than that – I just can’t remember it all, but I can say that it sure works. The Jordan valley is very hot, and yet it was beautifully cool in every room. And the only electricity used is to pump the water. I told Brother Andrew that the architect in my congregation is planning some passive cooling and heating systems for our new building and would be positively buzzing to see this system in action; he immediately suggested that my architect might be able to help with his building project at the Baptism site and gave me his card. I said that I wanted him for our own building project first, and then he could have him.   

Isaac and I loved the visit and enjoyed chatting through things afterwards with Malcolm and Charissa.

On the way back we did some shopping in one of the top-end shopping malls. Here is another side of Jordan. We felt more at home than at the local chaotic souq, especially in the supermarket, but almost all the shops were way above my fashion sense and price level. On the top floor was the small roller coaster. 

Almost all the customers were Arab, but all of the advertising pictures were of glamourous westerners. And though they said welcome as we walked in, the metal detector and touch down by the security guard tended to weaken that welcome a little.  


We enjoyed a sumptuous Arabic dinner together ...

... then I had a second glimpse of the Forrests' ministry here in Amman - Malcolm's bible study group. It was much like my group back home - we read Psalms 42 and 43, talked about what the original writers were saying, how its fulfilled in Jesus and what it means for us, then we prayed together and ate supper. 

But there were three differences: 
i) the supper was certainly better - fancy chocolates, marzipan sweets and pastries, 
ii) the people were from all over the world: a dutch man working for an aid organisation, two Americans born in Lebanon but studying Arabic here, an Indian man who grew up in the America but is teaching French here at an International school, and a woman whose mixed background I can't remember but who grew up in the Sudan, and
iii) we paused half way through the bible study as the Muslim call to prayer dominated the neighbourhood; this doesn't happen during my bible study group in Kurrajong, but here it happens  every week (or rather 5 times a day). No one else in the group was in the least bothered by it, they just paused and waited for it to pass before continuing on. Realising that was a novice at such things, they asked me whether I knew what was being sung. Of course I didn't, so they explained - 'God is great, I bear witness that there is no God except the one God, I bear witness that Muhammed is the prophet of God, Hurry to prayer.' (3/4 of which is terrific)

What a wonderful opportunity it has been to get some experience of the joys and challenges of the Forrests' ministry here - 
i)  the sometimes chaotic and frustrating way things work (or don't work)
ii) the dominant Muslim enviroment, where it is illegal to tell Muslims the gospel and for Muslims to become Christians; 
and 
iii) the expat community, where people are here to do a job for a short time and then move on, making it hard to keep on investing in relationships, to train leaders and to build bridges to share the Gospel. 

How much the Forrests need our prayers and encouragement in such a context.

We've certainly been encouraged by their faithfulness. Hopefully they too have been encouraged by our visit and as we prayed together. They certainly seemed to appreciate the card signed by members of our church.   

Exploring Amman and a church service with a difference

A great start to the day – i) muesli and fried eggs for breakfast, and ii) we dropped off the hire car for the last time – no more driving for me.

A 20 minute taxi ride into the city for 2 Dinars ($4) and we were at the Citadel – site of ancient Ramath-Ammon before it was a Roman, Byzantine and then Muslim fortress. It was in attacking this fortress that Joab was told by King David to pull back the rest of the troops so that Bathsheba’s husband Uriah the Hittite would be killed in battle (2 Sam 11). Thankfully the only aggression being shown there today was through car horns.

Compared to the other ruins we have seen there wasn’t much left, except for the two giant pillars of the temple of Hercules.

Making our way down the hill and crossing the road (for which needed all our skill and courage), we came to the theatre. Built into the side of a hill for 6000 spectators, it has all three tiers intact/restored.

waiting for the show to begin

The show begins ...

Just next door is the more intimate Odeon used for musical performances for crowds of around 500, and still occasionally used today.

Then it was souq time – the Arabic word for market. First the fruit and vegetable souq:

Then the hardware souq:

lowest prices are just the beginning - because one day the Bunnings empire will reach here too

Then Al-Afghani – a shop jam packed with souvenirs. Don't worry family members - we didn’t buy any of the things you can see in this photo.

Lunch as Hashem’s – the best falafel in Amman – or so the lonely Planet guide says – and Bethany, you would have loved them. No menus, but the waiter knew just what to do with foreigners – a mix of hummus, fallels, dip and vegetables. Including two drinks – 4.5 dinars ($9).

A taxi ride back to the Forrests, guiding the driver with some directions from Malcolm and from google maps. He had one question for us – ‘what problem do all you westerners have with the door?’ I found this a little confusing but as he drove along in the middle of the traffic he demonstrated by opening his door and slamming it hard. I gently apologised on behalf of all westerners (thinking that maybe we all feel stressed by the traffic and take it out on the door as we get out of his taxi – but I didn’t say this). As Isaac got out and shut the door, the driver yelled ‘See!’, so I apologised again and very, very gently closed the door.

Perhaps related to this tirade, the Jordanians are a very patriotic people. Flags are everywhere, including this huge one flapping over Amman. 

There are photos of the king everywhere, and not just the one standard look, on one poster there were at least 10 different scenes of the king in action. And not just the current king, sometimes all the kings since the country was established in 1921, plus the next in line. Clearly the king wants to reinforce his reign by putting his image in every government office, on arches built over the road and on billboards. But people choose to put him up in their shops as well. Australians don't seem to want to do this with the Queen and Prince Charles.

Tonight, something unusual which wasn't on the itinerary. One of the reasons for this trip was to stay with our friends the Forrests and to understand their ministry better; so in our planning we tried hard to arrange to be with them over the weekend, as their services are on Friday and Saturday. We couldn't manage that, but tomorrow we will go with them to a rehabilitation centre Charissa is involved with, and join in with a Bible Study Group in the evening. 

But on top of that when we arrived last night Malcolm invited us to something extra. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, happened to be in town and would be speaking at a special service at their church tomorrow night. Would we like to come? Of course, if I could borrow something appropriate to wear.

Who was there? A few from Malcolm and Charissa's expat congregation, at least 300 from the local Arabic speaking congregation, the British ambassador and his entourage, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, lots of clergy, and the Archbishop of Canterbury and those traveling with him. 

It was quite an experience! We arrived early so Malcolm could help get things ready, but soon the church was full, including 2 TV news cameras and several photographers. 

The service was in both Arabic and English. Being completely outnumbered it wasn't easy for us English speakers when we were speaking and singing together at the same time, but knowing the tunes helped. Despite the language difference (or perhaps because of it) joining in saying 'I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God', and singing 'Up from the grave he arose' and 'What a friend we have in Jesus' was quite moving. The Archbishop spoke clearly and warmly from the bible passages, pointing us to our hope and comfort in Jesus in the face of difficulty, referring to the refugees he had met with that day both in a camp near the Syrian border and in Amman.  

After the service there was a fancy reception in the Diocesan Grammar school next door, and apparently even one of the Jordanian princesses was present. 

A Jordanian band played background music and sang 'How Great thou Art' in Arabic. 

The speeches were long and fairly dull, except for the Archbishop who was short and to the point. The finger food was sumptuous, including falafel burgers! 

Most importantly we got to see a part of Malcolm and Charissa's ministry to the expat and consular community, and meet some members of their congregation. We also got to meet the minister of the Arabic speaking church with whom they work alongside. He said it was a shame I wasn't staying until Sunday - otherwise he could have asked me to preach. I quickly said my flight was already booked.