“God Moments”

Our next stop was the country of Jordan.  We traveled all day long to get there.  We walked out of our B&B in Rome at 6:15 am, on October 6th.   After a wait at the airport, flying back through Paris, (literally flew over Rome twice) and a 4 hour flight, we arrived at Amman, Jordan, at 7:00 that evening.  The sun had already set. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I travel, I like to arrive well before sunset.  There is something about going to a strange city in the dark.

There were approximately 20 people standing in line to enter the country.  We were herded through a line to have our passports checked and stamped.  For the first time we had to look in a camera and have the iris of our eyes photographed before we could enter a country.  But, we got through, picked up our luggage and quickly scurried through the series of gates, and hallways.  They must put customs people through special training on intimidation.

Thankfully, we found our “Pilgrim Tour” driver, and off we went for a 40 minute drive to Amman to our hotel.  Our driver was a friendly Jordanian.  Thankfully.

I wasn't sure I would be able to enjoy this archaeological country, full of artifacts and history.  But, the next day would prove differently.

 Another driver named Samur met us at the front of the hotel the next morning.  We didn't know until late the night before that we would have a driver take us to archaeological sights…..alone.  The rest of the tour would start with another couple and our tour guide on the following day.  Then another group would join us on Tuesday October 8^th.

Our driver was quiet, and spoke a fair amount of English.  We could communicate with him pretty well.  We drove for 4 hours to reach the small town of Um Qays.  If you look on a map of Jordan, you will find that it is near the Syrian Border.  There are English subtitles on the road signs so we knew it was near Syria..  However not until we received our maps the next day, did we realize we were near an area of conflict with the Syrian Refugees.  Again, God protected us.

We walked around the ruins of a small town called Gadara.  This is where Jesus performed the miracle of the Gadarene swine.  The Romans had been there as well, for it was another city in the Decapolis. This is where we first saw the Sea of Galilee, and it literally took my breath away. 

Then our driver took us to Jerash which is one of the best preserved and most complete provincial Roman cities in Jordan.  It is called the Pompei of JordanIt also was one of the cities of the Decapolis, which was a confederation of 10 Graeco-Roman cities dating from the 1^st Century BC.  The Decapolis was situated in Jordan, Syria, and Israel.  If you check the map of Jordan again, it is just a little south of Um Qays.  A very large area of ruins, with columns, piazzas, all with Roman influence.

We arrived back at our hotel, rested, had dinner, then showered for an evening with the director of our tour group in Jordan.  He had invited us to his church for Sunday evening services. 

I had decided to stay back at the hotel to write our next blog entry, and organize our suitcases. But, then I decided to walk down to the lobby with Keith to meet “Fadi”.  When I met him I quickly changed my mind.  He was 30ish man with a great smile.  He told me that communion would be served, and I would have the chance to worship with Jordanian Christians!  It was something I may never have the opportunity to do again!  It had been far too long since I had taken communion because of our travels, and I was missing corporate worship. 

On the way there we found out this church was Evangelical Free.  Their service would be very similar to ours at home.  I was so excited I could barely contain myself.

The service was more than I had hoped for.  We sang “How Great Thou Art”, and "Amazing Grace".  They sang in Arabic, we sang in English. The sermon was translated from a lady sitting in the sound booth speaking to us in headphones.  We met congregation members after the service, and one fellow had attended college in Birmingham, Alabama.  He had visited the town my parents lived in!   

Tears streamed down my face.  It would remind me of what Jesus came for, and someday we would ALL be singing, worshiping, laughing, and fellowshiping together, no matter where we were born.

A friend and congregation member wrote a detailed journal with questions for me to keep each day while we were gone.  It would challenge me daily to look for a “God Moment”. It wasn’t hard to find the God moment that day.

 My cup was overflowing, and my tired bones were renewed……

Delaine