Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 30

Here’s a run down of our time since the 1st.

2nd – Early wake up to nearby explosion, no one seems to be concerned on the street so I chalk it up to maybe some nearby mining like it often is in Cyprus. Later we find out 1 or 2 missiles had fallen in Aqaba, the nearest one 500 meters up the road injuring 5, one later being fatal.  It’s friendly fire from a neighbour. We left for Amman as planned and arrived without a hitch.

3rd – We completed our re-entry training and started on personal debriefs.  In devotions Marianne leads us on the last chapter of Acts.

4th – This ends up being quite a full day, after a late start we go for a afternoon visit with Randa and her girls, then from there to the English bookshops in Jabal Amman, there are a few purchases there.  Then to a coffee visit with one of the Arabic helpers at her home before heading for our team break up dinner with a few other friends at a lovely Arabic restaurant called Reem Al Bawadi. There we take our first team only photo which is attached for you here.

We are L to R: Jacob, Lyric, Me, Destiny, Marianne and Dan.

5th – This is a cleaning day, and also our last day together.  So we start with t Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 26

Another early day, the bus collects us at 7.30am to take us through to Aqaba. It’s one and a half hours away. As we travelled through Wadi Musa, I am taken by how many shepherds with flocks we saw … it really helps me to picture what it may have been like in the days, when King David from the bible was a boy.  Along the way we also saw Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 25

Yesterday was a light day, we slept in and had a late breakfast before doing Part I of of our Re-entry training, then went out for dinner – Chinese. It was great!

Today we start our wind down. We had a early start and were collected at 6am to go to the bus terminal to catch our bus to Petra, it’s a 3 hour drive so we are grateful for the air conditioning – today was forecasted for 43 degrees (or over 100 F, I think?). But God was gracious, and there was cloud cover over Petra – even tho it was hot hot in Amman.  We arrived and Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 23

This is our last ministry day, we have been invited to do a day program for a church in West Amman. The program will include: Assembly (Singing English songs), Games, English Lesson, Skit, Face Painting, Lunch, Bible Lesson then craft. The organiser had expected 55 children but Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 22

This morning we had ministry in Mahatta, a very poor area in Amman with a church which ministers to Iraqi Refugees.  Our role was to run the games for the morning’s program and then another helper will run the chapel segment.

The adventure started with us taking two taxis to a place I was not so familiar with – the last time I was there was 5 years ago – so I was working on memory…my taxi took a wrong turn and Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 21

Today was designated to cleaning our own houses. For Jacob and me, it was a fairly easy task- considering we don’t spend much time in our house at all. After this it was time for lunch, so the boys went round the town for a very particular lunch. We first got some chicken wraps, then across the town for some pastries and to the corner shop for some ice creams.

The hotdog style pastries I was asked to get turned out to be cheese pastries (oops) but that’s what happens when you try and order in Arabic! The rest of the day was fairly relaxed, and in the evening we went to a friend of Reti’s for dinner Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 18

Today all the teachers and helpers gathered together to clean the church.  It was the most enjoyable time of work I’ve ever experienced.  A hearty meal and games followed and went on late into the afternoon:

Soap suds and standing water soaked sneakers. Every pew, plastic chair, corner Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 16

This is the day that I wrote the letter for the children in my class, it was to encourage them that Jesus loves each and every one of them (and us), also to remind them that they can call on Him at any time in life. I also thanked them for making this experience very special for me, it was an honour to come and serve them. I wrote the letter in English and had Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 15

Today I taught the different members in a family to my children. This turned out to be simple for them in English, as they are used to learning different words for cousins depending on if they are on the paternal or maternal side of the family.

We taught the parable of the prodigal son, and I got the whole class to join in by holding up different family members corresponding to the story. After the Bible lesson it was our turn for games! For my children- the youngest in the summer school- they couldn’t Read the rest of this entry »

Encounter Team, Jordan 2010 – Day 14

Todays’ teaching went well for me. My class responded really well to the English lesson that was based on Family, and even learnt new words to my delight. It is always great when the children enjoy themselves whilst learning.

The Bible lesson also went smoothly as I had a great story board for the children to cut up and place the pictures in chronological order. The class then had crafts and my class received a round Read the rest of this entry »