Special ACP Membership Benefit

An exceptional benefit of ACP membership for the past three years is the opportunity to apply for a press trip to Jordan. To date, seven ACP member publications—The Mennonite, Sojourners, Christian Century, The Lookout, Lutheran Woman Today, Disciples World, and Quaker Life—have participated in this press tour. Here is Deb Wagner's report from last year's trip.
 

Can a guest be a journalist?
 

A first-hand experience of observing Christians living the Gospel in a Muslim country is a rare opportunity for those of us with tight travel budgets. As journalists from small publications, news services or websites, we find ourselves without the financial resources to report on such places as the Middle East.  Yet there are organizations and tourism organizations interested in taking us into such countries as their guests. The question is: can we honestly report if we are there on their money?
 

The Jordanians found themselves in the opposite position.  Their desire to increase the number of Christian pilgrims depends on reaching their target audience in a convincing manner.  Can a Western Christian take a free trip from the Jordanian Tourism Bureau, which seeks it own ends? Can a Western Christian journalist with a limited budget turn down the opportunity to open their reader’s eyes to the developing pilgrimage site in a Muslim country?

No where is this dilemma more apparent than in the Jordanian claim to have discovered and opened to visitors the “authentic” site of Jesus’ baptism near Bethany Beyond the Jordan.   The Baptism Site, which received in first visitors in 2000, was developed by the Jordanian government in the vicinity where John the Baptist preached and baptized.  It is also where the Jordanians archaeologists say that they have discovered the actual place of Jesus’ Baptism.

Israel, just a stone’s throw away, also claims a site for Jesus baptism on their side of the Jordan. John the Baptist’s ministry straddled both countries.  Considering the violent recent history of the area—mines were only removed following the 1997 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel—the fight for pilgrims is almost a relief.

“We are not in competition with Israel,” said Engineer Dia Al-Madani, Director of the Baptism Site Commission.  “We offer the academic community, pilgrims, and Christian leaders the opportunity to examine the facts and the sites themselves.”

It is an effort to get the word out about the Baptism Site. Mainstream media news from the mid-east is not especially tourist or Christian pilgrim friendly these days .To further this cause in the international community, the Baptism Site Commission is in the process of creating a documentary.  During our visit, ACP member Jason Byasee, Assistant Editor of the Christian Century was interviewed by the filmmakers about the different theologies of baptism.  It seemed “odd” that they waited for our group to find such expertise.

The Jordanians emphasis on “scientific fact,” makes it easy to come to the conclusion that they have indeed discovered a 5^th Century Byzantine Church on the now-dried banks of the ancient course of the Jordan River.  Over the centuries the Jordan River has shifted its course through the wilderness. That 5^th Century Byzantine Church is the last of five churches whose remains have been found at the site.   Despite floods and earthquakes, the Church was always rebuilt.  

According to Site officials, the Orthodox Church has “always” owned land in this area and in 2003 opened the first Christian Church at the Baptism Site making a worship site available to Christian pilgrims. 

This Byzantine Church architecturally connects itself to the Jordan River.  Archaeologists found a marble staircase leading down to where the Jordan River once flowed, from the church’s apse. At the base of the stairs there are numerous crosses etched in the stone. The scientists working at the Baptismal site are convinced that these and other unique features indicate that the Byzantines believed this to be the actual Site of Jesus’ Baptism.

Yet is this convincing enough to make it the actual site?
 

Commission Director Al-Madani explained a number of Christian leaders from Pope Paul II to the Archbishop of Canterbury have visited the site and attested to its authenticity as a holy place. If these leaders attest to this as “the actual site of Jesus Baptism, then we give them permission to build a place to worship on the site.  We even hope to have an active community of monks here soon,” he said.

Tension between truth and marketing, versus truth in marketing is visible.  Until these churches are built such tension certainly detracts from experiencing the Baptism Site as a holy place.
 

As visitors leave the site of the Byzantine Church and travel the path to today’s Jordan River, there are trees on one side and a fenced stretch of land on the other side.  This is the space for the new churches and the foundations for a Roman Catholic Church are already visible.

It seemed anti-climatic to leave the banks of the “Jesus’ Jordan River” and head for the Jordan as it exists today. The Jordanians have certainly gone out of their way to make the platform at the Jordan River conducive to baptism.  Further upstream, the Jordanians have removed the water for purification before sending it back into the River at the Baptism platform and its nearby pools.  Any visitor can be baptized in the Jordan or in its nearby baptismal pools or fonts with a day’s notice.

The Jordanians did not build this baptismal complex to lure Muslim tourists. Jordan is a Muslim country and it is illegal for a Muslim to convert.  The majority of women cover their heads in public -- from Amman to the rural countryside.  It becomes painfully clear that the Christians and Muslims we met could not even imagine a group of Muslims being baptized at the Jordan.
 

A presentation at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies provided an opportunity for specific questions concerning Muslim-Christian relations.  Baker M. al-Hiyari, Deputy Director, described Jordanian policies towards their Christian minorities that include Maronite, Coptic, Latin Rite, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Arab Latin, Anglican, and Lutherans. The Institute also documents the presence of Arab Christians.

“We realize that our Christian population is dwindling,” said al-Hiyari. “One of the Institute’s goals is to preserve Christianity in our culture.  We want to re-introduce Christianity as part of the Jordanian identity.  Our objective is to preserve the diversity of this country. Arab Christians are important.”

Christians were worshipping in Jordan before the time of the Prophet Mohammed.  The ancient Orthodox Churches as well as the relative newcomers like the Anglican Church are well known—and respected—by the Muslim majority.  Christianity is part of a Jordanian’s cultural identity—a person’s last name indicates whether they are Christian or Muslim.

Muslims and Christians may be part of the Jordanian identity, but what about the Jews who were once part of Jordan’s society?  There are no Jews living in Jordan according to the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies.  You would almost expect to find some at Mt. Nebo located in Jordan, the mountaintop where Moses viewed the Promised Land.  Moses died in the vicinity of Mt. Nebo and never set foot in the Promised Land. Today, visitors can also see the rooftops of Bethlehem and Jerusalem in addition to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.

It is clear that the Jordanians do not want their Christian minority to leave.  It is also evident that the recognized Christian minorities should remain in their historical well-defined role in Jordan’s society.

“Our friendly indigenous churches provide many good services,” he continued.  “From schools to hospitals, Christians help all people.  Unlike some international aid, Christian development and charity no strings attached. No harm is intended and no conversion is required. Many Muslims benefit from Christian charity.”
 

And that is the key.

Christians can be charitable but the public religion belongs to Islam.  Every morning at the break of dawn one wakes to the amplified sounds of a male tenor singing “Allah Akbar” (God is great), starting the call to prayer.  The call is heard throughout the country five more times a day.  

One Sunday morning, during our trip, Amman’s Christians seemed to counter the call to prayer with the peel of a church bell. As the bell rang out over the hills of Old Amman, today’s Christians announced their holy day even though it is celebrated on what is, to other Jordanians, a regular workday.  The weekend in Jordan is Friday and Saturday. Most Christian services are in the evening after work. 

Worshipping with Arab Christians was the first unscheduled event for the tour.  Deb Bogaert arranged for our group to worship in Arabic at that evening at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.   The tour van dropped us off at the church but parishioners drove us back to the hotel. 

Our Jordanian guides helped us to set up destinations for the scheduled “free” morning to make denominational visits.  The appointment that I pre-arranged from New York City was with the Anglican Church of the Redeemer in Amman.

The Rev. Canon Victor Diab, Rector of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer, met me at my hotel wearing his collar. As Rector for over 20 years, he is comfortable and secure in his role in this Muslim society.

Diab was among the thousands of Palestinian refugees in 1948 entering Jordan following the establishment of Israel.  The Anglican Church welcomed the Christian Palestinian refuges and Christian church membership surged.  He is a living symbol of how the Arab-Israeli conflict impacts Christians.

“I cannot go into Jerusalem.  Unlike me, my children who were born here in Jordan can visit Bethlehem.  The Israelis will not allow me to visit Palestine even though I am a Christian,” he explained.

The Church of the Redeemer has remained at 1500 members since Canon Diab first arrived in 1974. The influx of Christians moving to Amman for economic reasons over the years has counterbalanced emigration and a low birth rate among Christian families.
 

The church has three services in Arabic every Sunday.  Sunday School takes place on Friday from 11 am until 1 pm because the children are off from school.  Over 100 college and older youth gather together on Friday evening for Christian fellowship.

The Rev. Malcolm White, Minister of the English speaking congregation, officiates at services on Saturday evening.  There are currently about 60 members from eight different countries.
 

“We work alongside the Arab community to provide a Christian witness in a Muslimsociety,” said White. It takes a while for Christians from the west to understand the distinction that not all Arabs are Muslim.  Some are Christian and their families may have been so for centuries.

A good example of this misunderstood and underreported witness in the mainstream media was a scheduled part of our tour arranged by the Jordanians.  Our itinerary included a visit to the Anglican Church’s Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in the old capital of Salt. Opened in 1964, the Institute boards 30 boys and 30 girls and serves 150 deaf and deaf/blind students each year.

Its Dutch-born Director, Brother Andrew L. de Carpentier, a 57-year-old ordained priest of the Anglican Church, has served there for over 20 years.  He is also a Brother of St. Luke, a Benedictine Order.
 

In a constant state of expansion across Jordan, the Institute offers vocational training, school, and health services. According to Brother Andrew, the Institute supports 500 deaf Jordanian children in regular classrooms and addresses disabilities in the communities thereby reaching 250,000 children.  In 2006, they trained close to 200 teachers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

The Institute is supported by donors in the Anglican and Episcopal Church and Jordanian royalty. Brother Andrew is resident in The Diocese of Jerusalem of the Arab Evangelical Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East (Anglican) which consists of 31 service institutions and 27 clergy members.  

“You need to give yourself credibility. I’m proud to be the priest with the apron.  I live and preach the message of the Gospel,” said Brother Andrew.
 

Speaking of the Gospel, the press tour included a visit to a City mentioned in Scripture.  Perhaps a chance to really walk where our Lord walked?

So we traveled to the modern City of Un Qays, the place of the “Miracle of The Gerasenes Demoniac.”

“They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.  And when he came out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wretched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”  For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is legion; for we are many.” And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country.  Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him, “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.”  So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country.  And people came to see what it was that had happened.  And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. And they begged Jesus to depart from their neighborhood.  And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.  But he refused, and said to him, “Go home and tell your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.”  Mark 5: 1-20 (RSV)

 

As you look at the following pictures, you can see that The Sea of Galilee is easily 20 miles away!  How could the townspeople have heard so quickly about the miracle? It is hard to imagine herdsmen being able to rush over hills and rocky terrain to the town in a timely fashion.  It must have taken hours for the first townspeople to reach Jesus who was still near the water’s edge.  

As our group walked the Roman road toward the cliff, our modern perception of time and space made the actual logistics appear insurmountable.  Yet this was the reality for those who lived with Jesus and many in the region knew this place and accepted this miracle.  Besides having a place in Mark, it can be found in Matthew and Luke as well.

Visits to these sacred places for Christians were combined with destinations meant to give a cultural and historic appreciation for Jordan’s entire history—from the Crusades to its ancient civilizations.  There was no clear connection between these visits and the state of Christian worship and inter-faith relations.  It was time for the Jordanian agenda to take hold.

However even visits to such seemingly secular sites as the rose-red city of Petra, has meaning for Christians. The city, once a stronghold of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who thrived in South Jordan in the time of Christ, is also the site of what is believed to be Aaron’s tomb and a Byzantine monastery.

Jordanian tourism geared to Christians draw heavily from the Byzantine Christians.  If a Byzantine Church sanctioned authenticity in a place, then the Jordanians feel that it still resonates with today’s Christians—from mainline tradition to evangelicals.

The 1,400 year-old mosaic map of the Holy Land at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba has been an important key for Biblical scholars and historians.  Created in 542 AD, the map depicts the topography of the Middle East and includes Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.  
 

Knowing that we wanted to speak with Christians, the tour guide found a Christian shopkeeper who invited us for tea. According to Yussef Sawalha—shop owner and member of St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have come to a unique agreement concerning holidays to facilitate recognized public holidays. Instead of arguing about the when to celebrate they compromised with the public demands of living as a minority in a Muslim land. This allowed them to present a united front to the government. The Madaba Christians celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25 and Easter follows the Orthodox calendar.
 

As you can see, the line between guest, tourist, pilgrim and journalist could easily be blurred. Our Jordanian tour guides were aware of this ethical dilemma. They emphasized our freedom to ask any questions and allowed us to periodically leave the tour to report on a specific story. Writers were free to set up appointments to visit churches or denominational missions throughout the country.  

For example, instead of a taking a Red Sea tour, ACP Member Deb Bogaert (Women of the ELCA) and I (Editor, The Lookout of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York & New Jersey) spent the morning ship visiting and touring the port of Aqaba with port chaplains from the Anglican Church’s Mission to Seafarers.  

We left the scheduled tour in Aqaba to meet with the Anglican Church’s Mission to Seafarers Port Chaplain, the Rev. Ray Trudgett for a tour of the Aqaba Container Terminal and ship visiting.  

Despite its presence in a Muslim country, the Christian seafarers’ mission works cooperatively with government and port agencies.  One new joint venture is the Aqaba Seafarers’ Internet & Telephone Center, which is just a few steps from a berthed ship.  The Mission to Seafarers will staff the site which was provided by the Aqaba Container Terminal and supplied with pre-paid telephone service from the Jordanian Telecom Center.

The Seafarers’ Center also provides space for audiology tests for area deaf children coordinated by the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf. 

“We Anglican clergy in Jordan support each other’s ministry. Brother Andrew is hoping to build in Aqaba and we will help in any way that we can,” said Trudgett.  
 

Roz Trudgett (Pastor Trudgett’s wife) unexpectedly offered to take us to the Aqaba Women’s Center, which is part of the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation.  Roz volunteers at the Center and promotes its crafts which help support the local economy.  Unemployed poor women receive small business development training and attend craft workshops.  It was another opportunity to get out the “tourist” track and talk with ordinary Jordanians about economic and religious issues affecting their daily lives.

While at the Holy Land Institute in Salt, Brother Andrew asked me to visit the work being done at a recently opened Christian rehabilitation center near the Dead Sea.  An unexpected and unscheduled request.  To fulfill it would require a least some inconvenience to my hosts and fellow journalists. There was no discernable hesitation on the part of the tour guides. Their only apparent concern was that I felt comfortable with my hosts and my ability to re-join the group at the hotel. While the rest of the tour group was at the Dead Sea, I was dropped off at the Rehabilitation Center in the village of Jofeh.

This Center serves 13 villages near the vicinity of the Dead Sea resorts.  The villagers are 100% Muslim and there is a 50% unemployment rate.  At first wary of Yousef Rizik, the Center’s Christian volunteer Manager, they are now willingly sending handicapped and deaf children for vocational training to make crafts to be sold at the resorts and education.  There are 12 trained volunteer teachers and plans to provide vocational training for Dead Sea resort jobs.
 

The school for deaf children serves 150 children from 13 surrounding villages.  Services include physical therapy and home visits for all types of handicaps including children who are developmentally disabled, hearing impaired, visually impaired, and mentally handicapped.  Every child is transported to and from the school each day at no charge in a van belonging to the Center.
 

A new staff member at the Center is Mary Hammond, a Peace Corp volunteer and member of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in El Paso TX.  She is spending the next two years as a teacher and a home visitor.  A trained social worker, she currently travels to the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt twice a week for Arabic lessons.

“Families are very protective of their severely disabled girls. You can see the tension literally drain from a mother’s face when we arrive—someone else to share the burden,” said Hammond.  “These villagers are poor people who struggle with very little water and unhealthy living conditions.  Animals and their feces are present in the family compound.  It is heartbreaking to see the persistent and ever-present flies gather on a child’s eyes and mouth.”
 

The Center offers a clean place for both boys and girls to learn, practice good hygiene like brushing their teeth, and receive training in weaving, woodworking, sewing, and paper recycling workshop. An integrated school and a staff of volunteer teachers are unusual in this Muslim land.

“The boys don’t mind learning with girls,” said Rizik.  “Their only chance is here.  The teachers accept a volunteer status in the beginning to receive training.  But the volunteer teachers and students stay because we teach love and respect for each other in a society where corporal punishment in schools is the norm.”

These unscheduled visits made the tour less predictable.  Yet this type of freedom can lead to difficult situations.  A Christian from a small village told us that “Christianity in Jordan will not exist in 50 years because it is surrounded by a militant form of Islam.” I am withholding the identity of that source in fear of possible reprisals. The tensions between the U.S.A. specifically, and Christians generally and Muslim nations in the Mid East have risen dramatically over the past few years.

In this day of the internet communication is not only faster and freer but subject to more misunderstanding and sometimes for deliberate misinterpretation. Today a single individual with his or her own agenda can create havoc for others and sometimes for entire nations.

Do we as journalist have the right to keep silent about such an opportunity just to save ourselves from wrestling with tough ethical issues?  The choices are difficult but the “story” transcends.

Despite constraints, the ability to report and witness on Christians in a Muslim country is worthwhile for the writer and reader. Properly reported, it can open eyes to the diversity in the Arab and Muslim world. It calls us both to experience a war-torn region with eyes that understand our Christian publications.  Jordan as a pilgrimage destination also offers insight into the Muslim psyche—an opportunity for knowledge that may help diffuse tension and allow us more room to pursue peace in the land where our Savior walked.

If you have any questions or comments about this press tour, please contact me at dwagner@seamenschurch.org or call 212-349-9090 Ext 249. This story and photos may be reprinted with permission.