Hi Friends,
THURSDAY
Thursday the main events were a tour of old Amman, and worshipping with the Second Circle Alliance church.
A Jordanian, Akif, has become a friend of our team. Thursday afternoon he gave us a tour of the Roman ruins in the old part of Amman. We took a local bus down to the center of town. Riding the bus was a good cultural experience. We heard in our cultural briefings that the Arab culture honors women, especially if they are "covered" and older people. (By covered they mean with any kind of head scarf. We see some women with most of their faces covered, but most just cover their hair.) At one stop two women in head scarfs and long dresses got on. The "boy" who collects fares pointed at a grey-hired man (not me!) to get up so the women could have the seat. He got up and the women sat down. The chain reaction continued when a younger man got up and gave his seat the the older man. This is a very typical occurance.
The Roman ampitheater is an amazing bowl rising up the side of a hill. The seats and steps are all marble, slick in some places, replaced in others. When we were there they were preparing for a concert that eveneing, so lights, sound equipment, orchestra chairs, and a grand piano were all arranged throughout the ampitheater. How many 2000 year old venues do know of in the United States that are still being used?
We taxied up to the top of the hill where some columns are standing on top of a massive limestone wall. Later we were told that people believe that this wall was the site of Uriah dying in battle when King David wanted to take Bathsheba as his wife.
In the museum at the top there were artifacts from the stone age to the Ottomans. The highlight for us was seeing close up fragments of the Dead Sea scrolls!
In the eveing we attended the main service of the Second Circle Alliance church. They were sending off an Iraqi family that had been members of the church for 8 years. They were emigrating to the US - Virginia. After the service, we talked with church members before heading out for pizza and home.
FRIDAY
Yesterday the big event was an afternoon picnic in the hills east of Amman and hearing the story of a precious brother who has suffered for his faith. It was very moving and made me realize how easy things are for us in the US.
Earlier we went shopping at the City Mall. Since it was Friday, the holy day for the people here, all of the shops were closed except for the giant French store Carrefore. It was a great experience.
TODAY
Today we need to spend time getting ready for teaching. We will split up our team among the four classes andgo over lesson plans. Please pray specifically that those of us who haven't before will be prepared and confident as we face our students tomorrow.
Grace and peace,
Michael
