Minnesota's Governing Body

This is Ibrahim. Unbeknownst to him, he was wearing a sweatshirt yesterday with the words "Our Governor Can Beat-Up Your Governor: Minnesota's Governing Body." It was an obvious reference to the former governor of our proud state. So, I had to take a picture with him. He was humored by my translation of his shirt, and pleased when I told him that he and the former governor had similar builds, and that it was appropriate that he was wearing it.

Scandinavian Forest

In 1989 the late King Hussein donated some land in the rolling, semi-forested hills about 45 minutes to the north from Amman in honor of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who had visited the area.  Now called the Scandinavian Forest, periodic tree plants are made there, in the hopes of adding to the tree cover in the nation. We thank both kings, as we had a wonderful picnic in part of the approximately 1200 acre forest over the weekend, enjoying Jordan's greenest season--the few weeks of the year after the winter rains when flowers are blooming and patches of green shoot surprisingly though the rocky soil, before almost everything, eventually, turns to dust.

I am a Palestinian Christian

I am a Palestinian Christian! from Christ at the Checkpoint on Vimeo.

Last year when we were home we often spoke to people who were surprised to learn there were Christians in this part of the world. We also had more than one conversation about Palestinians being invented, or not a real people group. This video provides evidence for both.

Water is Big News Here

In a previous post, we wrote about Jordan being the fourth poorest water nation in the world, and about how that affects our lives, and the lives of everyone who lives here.  If you want to, you can read about it here.  Water is scarce here, and because it is scarce, its importance is felt more than it is at home.  Water is something people talk about, like how Minnesotans talk about the weather in the winter.  When our neighborhood was experiencing major water shortages a few summers ago, it was the main topic of conversation whenever I met someone on our street.  We would talk about how full--or empty--our tanks were, and we would complain together about the hardships brought on by a lack of water.  Just over the past few weeks I've had two separate conversations about a new water system being built to desalinate and pipe in water to Amman all the way from the Red Sea at the southern tip of the country.  Often when it does rain, people will bemoan the wet and cold weather, but they will usually follow-up their unhappiness with a sincere thanks to God for the provision.

The importance of water was highlighted again for me today, when I came across this short article in the Jordan Times about the amount of water currently stored in Jordan's major dams.  Then, after a quick search I realized that water updates were a regular feature of the newspaper, with at least three other short articles appearing over the past six weeks regarding the country's water situation.  This article discusses the improving situation of water levels due to recent heavy rains, this article discusses the impact of the heavy snowfall we posted about two weeks ago and this article includes a great picture of a dam in the desert, which I think I visited and skipped rocks into under the cover of night with some friends a few years back.  The stories all include figures detailing the amount of rainfall in various places around the country, the amount of water stored at various dams, the total water stored at all the dams in Jordan and the percentage of capacity that these amounts represent.  It's an important issue, and people want to know.

Christ at the Checkpoint

Last week, over 600 Christians from around the world and region gathered at a conference organized by Bethlehem Bible College--located just across the river from us here in Jordan--called "Christ at the Checkpoint: Hope in the Midst of Conflict." According to the college, the aim of the conference was to "create an ongoing forum for Christian peacemaking within the context of the Israeli Palestinian conflict," and as part of this organizers specifically and biblically addressed the issue of Christian Zionism, and the broad, uncritical Evangelical support for Israel, at the expense and marginalization of Palestinians. Daily themes centered around an introduction to the Palestinian Church, engaging with Christian Zionism, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and biblical peacemaking and justice. Speakers included Arab Christian leaders from the region and Messianic Jewish leaders from Israel, as well as several well-known international Evangelicals, such as Tony Campolo, Lynne Hybels, Shane Claiborne, Ron Sider and Stephen Sizer. I didn't go--my broken leg held me back--but several people I know here did. Below I have posted the "Christ at the Checkpoint Manifesto," which the conference organizers presented to the participants on the final day. You can click here to read the full press release.

As someone who lives across a tiny river from that historic, hotly contested land, I've been told by many convinced Christians that I'm going to have a front row seat to a rapidly advancing armageddon.  However, I believe it is important--as the conference organizers called on all Evangelicals to do--"to cease looking at the Middle East through the lens of 'end times' prophecy and instead" follow "Jesus in the prophetic pursuance of justice, peace and reconciliation."

The Christ at the Checkpoint Manifesto

1. The Kingdom of God has come. Evangelicals must reclaim the prophetic role in bringing peace, justice and reconciliation in Palestine and Israel.
2. Reconciliation recognizes God’s image in one another.
3. Racial ethnicity alone does not guarantee the benefits of the Abrahamic Covenant.
4. The Church in the land of the Holy One, has born witness to Christ since the days of Pentecost. It must be empowered to continue to be light and salt in the region, if there is to be hope in the midst of conflict.
5. Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of Scripture.
6. All forms of violence must be refuted unequivocally.  
7. Palestinian Christians must not lose the capacity to self-criticism if they wish to remain prophetic.
8. There are real injustices taking place in the Palestinian territories and the suffering of the Palestinian people can no longer be ignored. Any solution must respect the equity and rights of Israel and Palestinian communities.
9. For Palestinian Christians, the occupation is the core issue of the conflict.
10. Any challenge of the injustices taking place in the Holy Land must be done in Christian love. Criticism of Israel and the occupation cannot be confused with anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel.
11. Respectful dialogue between Palestinian and Messianic believers must continue. Though we may disagree on secondary matters of theology, the Gospel of Jesus and his ethical teaching take precedence.
12. Christians must understand the global context for the rise of extremist Islam. We challenge stereotyping of all faith forms that betray God’s commandment to love our neighbors and enemies.

 The Statement and Manifesto were presented to the conference participants on the last day but were only agreed on and endorsed by the Conference Organizers.

Conference Organizers: John Angle, Alex Awad, Bishara Awad, Sami Awad, Steve Haas, Munther Isaac, Yohanna Katanacho, Manfred Kohl, Salim Munayer, Jack Sara, Stephen Sizer

The Boiler

This is our boiler. This charred machine with pipes held together by tape, located in a rusty, oil slicked closet on our back porch, is in charge of heating our water, and occasionally heating our home. Diesel fuel travels to it from a tank on our rooftop through a snake-like system of pipes, and heats our water in the tin can at the top right.  The water then makes its way out from the tin can through a similarly snaky system to our sinks and wall heating units, which often leak. Looking at our boiler does not engender a lot of confidence.

In fact, our boiler wasn't working when we returned to Jordan almost a month ago now. In the midst of an unusually cold, rainy and snowy stretch of time, it took two different men six separate visits over a period of two weeks to fix it. So now we have a new water pump, new fuel pump and a new burner--and a lot less money. The lack of confidence, though, remains.

An Inevitable Occurrence

Gas is extremely important in Jordan. Nearly everyone cooks with gas--we've never seen an electric stove here--and the great majority of people heat their homes with gas. Many people are also starting to heat their water with gas. This gas is not piped into each individual home, though, like water or electricity. Instead, each stove, heater or water heater is fueled by a gas cylinder that costs about 7 Dinars ($10), which is brought to your home by men who drive around all day in trucks filled with gas cylinders, looking out of their windows for people who need gas, while playing in constant loop a song that sounds strangely like the song of an ice cream truck back in the States. If we need gas, we run to the window, shout at them as they drive by, and they bring it up. These trucks come through our neighborhood several times every day, and all look basically like the one on the right.

I have often wondered, though, what would happen if one of these trucks were involved in an accident. What would happen if they were hit from behind? What would happen if they rolled over? Well, today we found out.

I guess it's what we expected would happen. This is not our video, but it did take place not too far from where we live. According to news reports, no one was injured, but a building nearby did catch fire, and vehicles nearby were damaged too. I would guess the poor gas truck was one of them.

Home at Last

At long last we've returned to Jordan, and have come back to some unseasonably cold winter weather. It's not Minnesota, but overnight temperatures have been hovering at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit/4-5 degrees Celsius. It's cold, and it's a cold you can't escape from, as the buildings aren't designed for cold weather and often don't even have heat. I visited a neighbor a few days ago and could see my breath in his house, a thick cloud escaping from my mouth as I exhaled. Below are some pictures of Amman covered in snow.

Finally, many cars--including the one we were riding in--were the target of random acts of snowball fun.