On Our Way Rejoicing

I did not have the opportunity to provide an update yesterday. Forgive me if you were anxious to hear from us.

Yesterday and today were spent exploring western Jordan. This country has such an interesting history and some significant challenges. Our group was joined by a tourist policeman who was assigned to us and has traveled with us these two days. Tourism is very important to the area and the government takes our safety very seriously. I am not sure that we needed any kind of extra protection...it's just the way things are done here. There are many tourists here, but not many Americans. Jordan's tourism is connected to Israel's in that American tourists don't generally make a trip just to see Jordan. With fewer Americans in Israel right now, there are even less in Jordan. We have encountered many Europeans here, notably from Germany and Italy. We met some folks from Portugal too.

The weather has been almost summery. We took a driving tour of Amman yesterday morning. This is a big and bustling city. We went to the Citadel and viewed the ruins there. We also toured the Archaeological Museum on the grounds. We traveled to the south and stood atop Mt. Nebo and viewed the Promised Land much as Moses did before he died. Breathtaking is the best word I can use to describe the experience. We also went to Madaba, the city of mosaics. A few from our group even bought mosaic souvenirs. The ancient mosaic map of the Holy Land in St. George's Church was incredible. We drove down the King's Highway, the oldest highway in continuous use in the world. After our bus trip through the desert, we ended the day at our hotel in Wadi Musa, just a few miles from Petra.

Today we toured Petra, a city forgotten for 1,000 years. Between us, our group experienced walking, horseback riding, camel riding and a horse drawn carriage. This afternoon we viewed the ruins of a Crusader fortress at Shobak. After a long, dusty and fairly warm day we have returned to Amman for the night. I must have missed my nose with the sunscreen because it is looking a bit red tonight. Petra was the reason for the Jordan extension to this tour and all agreed that it was well worth the trip.

We celebrated the birthday of one of our travelers (from Fargo) this evening with a beautiful cake provided by her parents. We have had our evening devotions and our final group meeting for this trip. It will be sad to bid farewell to friends old and new. We have shared an incredible experience. We have a flight out of Amman shortly after noon tomorrow. Flying to the west and gaining back those eight hours that we lost, we will arrive at O'Hare late tomorrow afternoon. We'll have a 32 hour day instead of just 24 hours.

Thanks for all of your prayers. We ask you to pray for safe travel as we head home. Once we're home, I will upload a few pictures and offer some reflections on our trip. Now I have to go pack my suitcase! Peace be with you.