Jordan and faith

Three teenagers and two youth leaders from Strath and Sleat Church in Skye report on a trip to Jordan to attend in youth conference last autumn.

WELL, it was a few years in the planning but we finally made our trip to Jordan a reality! Here’s a little insight into what was a remarkable time together, only made possible by the kind donations of local community and the Church of Scotland.

Leaving the UK on October 11, we were aware that war was inevitable in the Middle East. We’d been assured that Jordan was safe, however, and we’d had many messages of prayers as we were leaving Skye. Once we’d boarded our flight, the pilot explained that we would be diverted through Egypt and up through the south of Jordan, to avoid flying over Israel. It meant an extra hour and a half but we were glad to be avoiding any danger.

We arrived in Amman in the early hours and were soon met by the friendly smile of the Rev George al-Kopti, pastor of St Paul’s Church, Amman and our host for the week.

The church is based in Ashrafieh, one of the poorer districts in the east of the capital. It provides a care home for up to 10 Christian women in addition to the Olive Tree Centre, which provides Arabic and English classes, art and music lessons and additional life skills to Christian refugees and local Jordanians alike.

The conference was in another multi-use space on the campus, and we were met by around 20 youngsters, aged between 13-17. There was a combination of locals and teen refugees from Iraq, Egypt and Syria. We spent the next day and half with them, alongside George and his wife Mary, and enjoyed a variety of sessions, sharing cultures, food and dancing.

“ On the last day we visited Aqaba, the administrative capital of Jordan. We stood on the shore of the Red Sea, looking across to Egypt, up to Israel, with Saudi Arabia a mere 30km south of where we stood."

On day three we set off to visit Biblical sites, beginning with the Baptismal site of Jesus. The River Jordan, at this point at least, is very narrow – insignificant to look at in some ways and very murky, and yet it forms the highly significant boundary between Jordan and the West Bank. George invited us around the baptismal font, praying in Arabic and English, before sprinkling each of us, and we finished with a time of prayer in our own Gaelic. This was a particularly poignant part of our trip. It was difficult to marry up the peace in which we were stood, taking it all in, and the onset of war that was taking place across the river.

The next day we attended St Paul’s in the morning and later St Luke’s in Marka, a district further north in Amman, which has come under George’s remit since the new year. We sang Psalm 23 in Gaelic and Ùrnaigh – a Gaelic prayer about peace, written by a local Skye lady, Amy Cruickshank. We had always planned to sing it, as it is a favourite, but given the situation that was unfolding, it seemed more poignant than ever. We provided a rough translation on the screen and a few folk thanked us afterwards, visibly moved by the words and all that was going on.

The next three days were spent in the south, visiting Petra, Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. All these buildings carved into the sandstone, and the place was bustling with people, camels, donkeys and little markets all along the route.

Day two took us along the King’s Highway, stopping off for a photo opp on the train from Lawrence of Arabia, and then arriving at Wadi Rum, the desert, where we would spend the night in a Bedouin camp. Our sandy adventure started with a half hour camel ride, and then a three hour jeep tour across the vastness of red and beige sands, up sand dunes, climbing unusual rock formations and stopping for some Bedouin hospitality along the way. When we eventually arrived at our camp, we were surprised to find our tents had proper iron beds, a light, USB ports and full wifi!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner, where the meat was dug out from the sand, having been slowcooked by the heat during the day, in the traditional Bedouin manner, and sat watching the sun going down on the desert.

On the last day we visited Aqaba, the administrative capital of Jordan. We stood on the shore of the Red Sea, looking across to Egypt, up to Israel, with Saudi Arabia a mere 30km south of where we stood. Heading back on the road we passed Lot’s Cave (a recent discovery), and the statue to his wife, as we drove through Sodom and Gomorrah, before arriving at the Dead Sea. There we spent the most incredible hour floating on the water, lathering ourselves in mud, and then going back in to rinse it off!

Our trip was memorable in so many ways. George and Mary were so kind and generous of their time, despite their own concerns rising at all that was happening to those across the border.

The work of St Paul’s is a whole-lifeministry and intergenerational set up. It was clear that all the teenagers had real relationships with the team; they were all at ease, involved in all aspects of each others lives and families. It was really lovely to witness.

We each learned a lot from this trip. We learned about other cultures. We learned things we didn’t all know from the Bible. We were encouraged by the other teens being so open about their faith. We learned from seeing how others do things.

We learned that loving Jesus does not stop wars. But we reminded ourselves too, that it was in Jesus that we were all united. We pray for all those people, young and old, whom we met, that some of them might visit us here, that their faith is strengthened and that whatever shape their lives take, that they might have taken some encouragement from our time together too, as we did from them. We pray for the whole region too, that peace will return. And we are incredibly thankful for our safe journeys.

We give thanks to each person who contributed to this trip, including the Faith Share Team and the Gaelic Committee at the Church of Scotland.

Shukran. Mòran taing. Thank you.