I have recently returned from half way around the world after teaching a women’s conference at the only evangelical church in Aqaba, Jordan. This conference was in partnership with Arab Woman Today. The women who make up the AWT team are all wonderful Christian women and good friends. It is a always a special joy and privilege to serve alongside these warriors for Christ! This region of Jordan has few Christians and there is a real need for encouragement for the women who live there. My heart went out to these women who struggle, living in a Muslim world. A few comments from the twenty-five+ who attended:

“This is the first time I understand how God relates to me”
“I never have known before how the Trinity relates to me”
“There is no good teaching here for women”
“This teaching was very rich, very deep. It touched my heart”.

Dedication of the Baptism Center

On our recent voyage to Jordan, Fred and I had the opportunity to attend the Jordan Baptism Center Dedication. For a report of the event and pictures, see below.

"Christian Telegraph reports, "An estimated 1,700 persons attended the dedication and opening ceremony and more than 120 people were baptized in the Jordan River at a new Baptism Center on Friday, March 20, by pastors from the Jordan Baptist Convention, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.
The baptism was the culmination of an afternoon of celebration in which the Baptism Center at Bethany beyond Jordan was dedicated for use by Baptists and other evangelical Christians.
Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Secretary Neville Callam, who gave the main address, said, "Today, as we assemble by the Jordan… we unite to mark the opening and dedication of this Baptism Center – a place where people from all parts of the world may assemble for a journey and an experience."

Associated Press, "One of several new churches being built along the Jordan River where Christian pilgrims have long believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the centre is intended to cater to Christian traditions that practice believers' baptism by immersion.
BWA General Secretary Neville Callam, in the day's major address, called the centre "a place where people from all parts of the world may assemble for a journey and an experience." He expressed the hope that "the waters of the Jordan extinguish the crippling fires of hopelessness that burn in the hearts of those who have no knowledge of God."
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, sent a congratulatory letter saying he could not attend the dedication ceremony but plans to make a pilgrimage there when he next visits the Middle East in 2010.
Also participating in the event were Imad Maayah, a Baptist and former member of the Jordanian Parliament; Toma Magda and Tony Peck, President and General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation and Nabeeh Abbassi, former president of the Jordan Baptist Convention and chief organizer of the dedication and opening.
Jordan is about 92 percent Muslim, but relations between Muslims and a Christian minority, estimated at 6 percent, are generally good. While Islam is the state religion and proselytization of Muslims and conversions from Islam are prohibited, the Jordanian Constitution promises religious freedom as long as rites do not violate public order or morality and recognize several Christian denominations."




Prince Ghazi

Tony Blair

The Orchestra

Before the Ceremony

Ruba, one of our ministry partners with AWT