Hey everyone! Are you still here?! Oh hi! Thanks for sticking around ;D! I FINALLY have gotten into a routine with my new job, new community, new house, new housemates, new ministry, new church, NEWNESS in general—and just reached out TODAY to all of the churches who partnered with me to schedule a time to come visit—that means YOU Soldier Christian Church, Sterling Methodist Church, Circleville Methodist Church, Holton United Methodist Church, Holton First Baptist Church, Camp Creek Church, Lancaster Methodist Church, and Netawaka Lutheran Church! I’m coming to embrace you in a big bear hug & share some stories! … as in sometime this month or next month… I’ll send you the dates in an email/or next post!
As promised, while I was abroad I neglected to write about Jordan & Turkey. Partly that was because we were being extra cautious there, but also partly because in the moment… we were mostly “planting seeds of the Gospel” and I didn’t feel like I had much to share about. Looking back—I had SO MUCH to offer to you guys so here are a couple “journal-form” snippets from our month (Dec. 19, ‘21– Jan. 15 ‘22) in Jordan.
Day 2
Moving from Eastern Europe to the Middle East, there were more than a few points of cultural etiquette to get used to. It was winter so I didn’t have to worry about my ankles and arms being covered—it was already a no brainer. I put up my long hair before I went outside to prevent attracting negative attention. The day before, I had gotten momentarily lost while looking for food, and asked a shop owner for directions. He agreed to walk me there. He shut the gate to his shop, tossed his keys to the owner of the shop beside him, and walked me around the corner to the store.
People on the street were very friendly, always calling out, “Welcome to Jordan! Welcome to Jordan!” The bustle. The colors. The smells of food from vendors. The spices. The perfumes. The music that the Arabic language sounded like to me: “As-aalaam alaikum! Inshallah! Shukran! Marhaba!” It would have been easy to just sit on a bench and watch their world carry on.
The owner of our hostel enjoyed our group’s presence, and agreed to set up a tour to Mt. Nebo, Bethany, Jesus’ acclaimed baptism site, Jordan River, and the Dead Sea for us. So we went! The day trip felt surreal—I constantly felt speechless being in awe OR the weight of the significance of what happened in that space caused my eyes to fill with tears. My two big moments, was standing on top of Mt. Nebo at Moses’ Memorial, looking out at the promised land where Moses would have… all those years ago. I had a flashback of when I was a kid, looking at the maps in the back of my Bible by the light of a lamp at bedtime, and thinking that land was so far away—“I’ll never see it,” I thought. But I blinked, and there I was. My second big moment, was wading out into the Dead Sea and finding the water truly carried my body! There was no need to swim—we were all floating! The laughter that burst from my mouth even took me by surprise! I was delighted by this “magical”, salt-overloaded water… I felt like a child again. I could write a whole post about that day trip, but why not experience it with me? I made this vlog of the day for you : ). Between this day trip and going to Wadi Rum, my team did evangelism in a local mall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMgiuNEnIs&t=15s
Day 5
I was laying on my bed sobbing for the first time since beginning the Race. I had just gotten our lodging budget and had 36 hours to find a place for my new team to stay before we left for Wadi Rum desert (team changes would be announced as a surprise at our Christmas retreat). None of my new teammates knew I was their new team leader, every hostel and AirBnb was twice as much as our budget, and I was running out of time. What were we going to do? We couldn’t return from the desert with no booked lodging. I imagined the worst. Slowly shaking my head, I thought, “No, I’ll just have to ask everyone to use some of their personal money so we can cover the cost.”
Thankfully my friend Renee happened to come in the room, see my tear-stained face, and asked, “Why don’t you just ask Victor (the owner of the hostel)? Tell him your circumstance and see if he’d be willing to bargain.” I wiped away my tears, prayed, and resolutely left the room.
I walked up to the front desk, “Marhaba!” I explained we couldn’t afford to stay at his hostel, but that we were volunteers and we were here to serve and care for the people of Amman. Victor thought for a moment then said, “You look just like my niece. You remind me of her, and I can’t abandon you to the streets looking like that. Sure, I’ll drop the price for you gals, but don’t tell any of the other residents.” I heaved a huge sigh of relief, and assured him we looked forward to returning to his hostel after Christmas. Thanks God for providing for us!
Day 6
All 30 of us got on a bus, and headed to Wadi Rum for a couple days to celebrate Christmas. I was sitting by my bus buddy, Chris—as is our tradition—as I soaked in the scenery outside my window. I noticed how all the buildings were the same color and shape. I watched shepherds herding their flocks of sheep.
When we arrived at the edge of a village trailing off into open desert, all of our big packs were thrown onto the back of two beat up trucks, and we were escorted towards a group of camels and their owners. “We’re going to ride camels to our camp!” I thought, “How unreal and amazing this is!” My camel stood up while I was ¼ of the way on it, so without thinking I jumped off. His owner pulled down the rope tied around his nose/mouth to get him to sit, but instead the camel took a step back and hissed/roared at him, showing its stained crooked teeth. And boy, did that camel have teeth! I stared back and forth between the man and the camel thinking, “Wow, who knew camels could look so ferocious!” Finally the camel sat down, and I quickly climbed on. What followed next is one of my most fun memories: When the camel stood. It’s legs were so long, that sitting on its hump, you feel like you are being shot up into the sky! No seatbelt, no safety bar—you lean far forward then far backward—and suddenly you’re 7 feet high in the sky! The moment delighted me so much!
15 minutes passed as our caravan slowly shuffled through the red sand—no buildings in sight, just large rock formations, sand blowing in the wind, and an occasional truck speeding through looking like a small dust storm. “How peaceful. How serene,” I thought. Just the sound of sand drifting, the camels soft footsteps, and the men mumbling in Arabic to each other as they walked holding the rope guiding several camels.
As the sun was setting, a group of tents began to come into view. “Man, I hope we’re sleeping there,” I thought! And it was true—it was our camp hosted by Muslim Bedouins, Salem and his wonderful family. Dismounting the camel was simple, and each of us took our bag to our tent. Not long after that, we were all summoned to the “big tent” for supper. There were cushions surrounding the walls of the red and black patterned tent to sit on, and an open stove for burning wood and heating hot water was in the center. That evening they shared their food and music/dance traditions with us. They invited us to play some of our music, so John got out his guitar, and we sang some worship songs. “What is the meaning of the last song? Is it about prayer, or?”, Salem asked. “Yes, we are singing that Jesus is the king of our heart,” John said. “We feel something in our heart,” he replied.
Celebrating Christmas in the desert with my squad felt like a dream. Just to be in the presence of what felt like a big family, with joy that seemed to have no end and yet 6 months of possibility left, it was a special place to be. Transport with us to the desert in this video! : )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDc2b2KGiA0
Day 11+: Victor’s hostel; midway through the Race; new team
First we set team norms: two of them being worshipping for an hour together each day and hugs in the morning. We partnered with Ezwitti Initiative—a restaurant that runs on kindness. Local Muslim volunteers sign up for shifts to cook lunch, and with each meal that is bought (the person leaves a note on the “board of kindness”), the next person takes the note off the board and can eat for free. But they only needed 2 of us like 4 times a week… so we prayed and brainstormed how else we could serve.
Fortunately, many people from around the world stayed at the hostel. By hanging out in the common area, we met so many people, and joined them for sight-seeing adventures around Amman. While at a Roman amphitheater, we met a group of Americans from Kansas City who had partnered with a local church to serve refugees. In our free time, we joined them to organize bags of clothing, shoes, and winter apparel for families.
In my free time, I adventured off to meet new people. I met a Sociology Professor from Kyrgyzstan at a Starbucks, and we had intense conversation about media and authenticity. I also saw a family speaking in sign language, and joined in (thanks to the semester in college I learned ASL—despite Mark thinking I was crazy XD). They were really overjoyed, even though I didn’t know much, and we continued the conversation through Google Translate. I regularly stopped by Ahmed’s fresh fruit smoothie shop. Met his family, and learned about how they fled Syria and made a new life in Jordan. I made a friend named Youssef, while stopping in to try some Knafeh dessert! We also sometimes hung out with the people we volunteered with at the restaurant—if they were available. The last week we got to meet our host Rawan and her friend Jamileh. We got coffee with them and walked around town.
But most importantly, we got to know Victor and his family. One day he brought his two daughters to the hostel, and we ended up playing games and dancing to songs with them. They raved about it so much, that he brought them back a couple more times. Him and his wife ended up making a feast and brought it to the hostel to celebrate New Year’s Eve with us. Other residents wandered out, and joined us—that table boasted about 5 different nationalities—suddenly, solo travelers didn’t have to spend the holiday alone! Later on, his daughter’s birthday was approaching, and rather than throw a party with her friends, she told her father she wanted to celebrate with us. So we brainstormed with her mother, and threw her a party at the hostel! I’m so eternally thankful for Victor’s care and generosity towards us. Please pray that the Lord would continue to draw him and his family towards knowledge of His true character and perfect will for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChC9rN_bHY&t=2s
***
Jordan, our fifth month abroad, was my third time getting invited to team lead again. It was that month that I learned how to delegate tasks better. It was also the first month that I started taking a Sabbath. Taking a Sabbath (the 4th commandment), is just setting aside a day to focus completely on God, and once I started setting that day aside to spend extended uninterrupted time in prayer and worship and journaling and just talking with God… I came away feeling so refreshed and in step with Holy Spirit, that my spirit would long for Sabbath each week to receive rest and love from God in order to pour it out during the week serving others. I’m thankful for all of those memories with God on my Sabbaths, and that He invites us into rest before anything else.
Also, Jordan brought out a child-like wonder in me that I thought had been lost forever. From that moment when the camel stood up, to the magic of floating effortlessly in the Dead Sea, to the peace that swept over my mind in the desert without wifi and only the landscape and company to focus on. It compels me to be amazed by God and the wonder of His creation. It reminds me, there’s always more to this life when you’re walking with God. I’m so thankful He restored my child-like wonder.
Author’s note: I view my writing as a conversation. It means a lot to me to hear from each of you! Respond in the comments below! : )
Loved watching all the videos, it feels like I was there with you. So many neat stories and experiences. Benaiah’s sick today so we’re on a binge of watching your videos. ??