Jordan Recap!

Month 5 Country: Jordan

Dates: December 15th- January 13th

Currency: Jordanian Dinar (JD)

Language: Arabic

City: Amman

Ministry: ATL (Ask the Lord) and worked with a local church who works with refugees from Iraq and Syria

The word or words the Lord gave me for this country: Redeemed and Refined

This month I was reflecting on the Lord as our Redeemer and our Refiner. I read Malachi in the Old Testament for the first time in a long while and it is such a beautiful book to read. In Malachi Chapter 1, it describes the greatness and holiness of the Lord. 

“For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:11)

In Chapter 3, it describes the Lord as a Refiner. 

“For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord” (Malachi 3: 2b-3).

This was the case for the tribe of Levi who were set apart as the priests in the Old Testament. Today, the Lord still is our refiner and as we submit to Him, He refines our hearts and makes us more like Him. 

I was praying for the country of Jordan quite a bit from Psalm 95 and 96. Would you join me in praying these truths over Jordan?  Here are some verses from these chapters… 

Psalm 95:1-7 “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand”.

Psalm 96: 1-6; 10-12 “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary…Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.’ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!”

What made me feel alive this month? / Positives

• Having more time to spend with the Lord and reading books like Malachi, 1 Peter,  and Matthew, and a lot of Psalms. 

• Getting to see some Biblical sites (Mt. Nebo, Dead Sea, Bethany/ Jordan River)

• Praying for Saudi Arabia and looking at it from the borders of now two sides (Jordan and Kuwait in the Summer of 2019) 

• Praying for specific people and the country of Jordan (Psalm 95-96)

• I loved being back in Arab culture! It reminded me of such sweet memories of being in the Middle East in 2019

• Celebrating Christmas in the desert with my Squad!

• Meeting local women and spending time with them

What was difficult about this month? Why was it difficult? What broke my heart this month? 

• I got the stomach flu again. Less than two weeks after having it in Ukraine I was sick for about 4 days with another round of the stomach flu. 

• We moved around more this month than I think any other month so far. I slept in 6 different beds/ locations in the span of a few weeks. 

• Team changes were good, but a transition after spending the previous 4.5 months with my first team. It was good, but also an adjustment not being around the 4 others who I was close with on my first team. 

What am I thankful for?

• The opportunity to see so many Biblical sites, my squadmates, new team, opportunity to work with the church just outside of Amman, the opportunity to help in a classroom, celebrating Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year in Jordan, people who I met, hearing people’s stories, staying at a hostel and meeting people from all over the world, our house on Unnamed Rd. and the ways our team got closer during that time, my storage team while working with the church, Pastors at the church…etc. 

What things do I want to make sure to remember (funny stories, big moments, small memories)

• Adventure to the Roman Citadel! On our last adventure day in Jordan, one of my teammates and I, met two engineers who heard we hadn’t had Mansaf and treated us to this traditional Jordanian food so that we could try it before we left. 

• All of the adventures that we got to do as a squad (the ability to see places and cities that are mentioned in the Bible for myself)

• Dead Sea and getting to float in the sea

• Jordan River- had a lot more trees than I imagined and is now much dirtier too

• Bethany

• Mt. Nebo

• Wadi Rum (spending Christmas together in Wadi Rum) 

• Our house on Unnamed Road- The ways we had to conserve water, making food together, and spending time with the other team we were living with.

• Meeting local friends! We met some local women our first night in Amman and I loved getting to meet up with them twice and learn about them and hear their stories. 

• On one of our adventure days, my teammate Renee and I decided to walk into Amman from the town we were staying which is just outside of Amman. Our walk was about 1.5 hours,  but it was a beautiful day. As we were walking, one of the taxi drivers tried to get us to take a ride in his taxi and when we repeatedly told him no, he reached into his passenger seat and said “I have pita” in an attempt to see if that would make us change our minds 🙂

• Seeing all of the ways my name gets spelled at coffee shops 🙂 

• Storage team and having dinner with the guy who was leading our storage team. He is from Iraq and his family made us traditional Iraqi food. 

What have I been reading?– Beating the Devil with His Own Stick (A great book on inner healing and deliverance) 

Song on repeat this month?– Fully in Love by Jon Thurlow and Laid Down Lover by Jonathan Ogden

Some of my favorite foods I have tried in Jordan? 

• Hummus, 

• Shawarma, 

• Falafel, 

• Fatteh, 

• Traditional Iraqi food (stuffed zucchini and grape leaves, couscous, chicken, lamb, )

• Falafel sandwiches

• Mansaf- (Traditional Food of Jordan)

• Bedouin tea

• Kunafa (Dessert made with cheese)

(Some of the best falafel and hummus)

Here are some of my favorite memories from our time in Jordan, the challenges from this month, and what I was learning while in this country. Today, we are headed to the mountains just outside of Batumi where my squad will be focusing on prayer and worship and seeking the Lord for a week! I am so excited 🙂 From there we will be headed to the country of Armenia! After Armenia, we will most likely be heading back to Romania to help Ukrainian refugees. It will be such a full circle moment to end our time in the very city we started in. I am looking forward to all that He is going to do during our Burn week, Armenia, and Romania. 

-Elizabeth