We and three others living in East Jerusalem had the opportunity from Nov. 25 to 27 to join a group of nine from Michigan on the part of their tour that took them to Amman and Petra. The group consisted of Lutheran pastors, wives, and lay people who were here on a study tour to learn as much as possible about the situation here and to visit the Lutheran ELCJHL churches.
We left on Sunday around noon after church, taking a minibus to the border crossing at the Allenby Bridge, named the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan, a trip from Jerusalem of about 45 minutes.
Having never crossed a border by land here before, we weren’t prepared for the security that we experienced! After we were finally cleared by both the Israeli and Jordanian military, we finally boarded another minibus to take us to Amman after being assigned an armed Tourist policeman who accompanied us most of the time while we were in Jordan.
We finally arrived at the Jerusalem International Hotel in Amman around 3:45 p.m. After settling in, we were met by Pastor Samer Avar, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Shepherd Church who gave us a tour of Amman; unfortunately it was already dark by 5:00 but we had some excellent night views of the city.
We arrived at the Good Shepherd Church for the service at 6:30 p.m. Because Jordan is mainly a Muslim city, stores are open on Sundays and so the Lutheran church holds its Sunday service in the evening to accommodate those members who have to work. Pastor Samer translated parts of the service and the sermon which was delivered by Pastor Fred Harms from Michigan. The Michigan church and the Amman church are twinned and the pastors have exchanged visits before. After the service and coffee hour, we were treated to a delicious traditional Middle Eastern meal hosted by the Good Shepherd church.
The next morning, we left at 6:30 a.m. for the 2 ½ hour drive to Petra, the Rose-Red City which was discovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt on his way from Damascus to Egypt. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, a people made wealthy by the caravan trade around 312 B.C. However, its independence ended when it was annexed in AD 106 by Rome and the Nabataeans fell into oblivion.
Our group hired a guide for a 4-hour tour of the main parts of Petra—he told us that one needed 5 days to see the whole city properly. We walked through the canyons, marvelling at the beauty of the cliffs with their amazing coloured stratification and shapes hewn by raging floods and natural erosion. The homes, stairs, tombs, and temples that had been carved by the Nabataeans were breathtaking. We followed the Siq, a natural narrow gorge among the rocks, 120 metres long, with the rocks reaching 100 metres high, opening out into the highlight of the tour, the Treasury or royal tomb of Al-Khazneh, probably built during the first century B.C. Who can forget the awe felt as we watched Indiana Jones ride through the opening in the narrow passage to view the Treasury towering before him! It was even more awe-inspiring in real life.
After our amazing day, we had dinner and spent the night at the Grand View Hotel in Petra, very aptly named, and proceeded back to Jerusalem the next day. It was certainly a trip not to be missed!
We left on Sunday around noon after church, taking a minibus to the border crossing at the Allenby Bridge, named the King Hussein Bridge in Jordan, a trip from Jerusalem of about 45 minutes.
Having never crossed a border by land here before, we weren’t prepared for the security that we experienced! After we were finally cleared by both the Israeli and Jordanian military, we finally boarded another minibus to take us to Amman after being assigned an armed Tourist policeman who accompanied us most of the time while we were in Jordan.
We finally arrived at the Jerusalem International Hotel in Amman around 3:45 p.m. After settling in, we were met by Pastor Samer Avar, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Shepherd Church who gave us a tour of Amman; unfortunately it was already dark by 5:00 but we had some excellent night views of the city.
We arrived at the Good Shepherd Church for the service at 6:30 p.m. Because Jordan is mainly a Muslim city, stores are open on Sundays and so the Lutheran church holds its Sunday service in the evening to accommodate those members who have to work. Pastor Samer translated parts of the service and the sermon which was delivered by Pastor Fred Harms from Michigan. The Michigan church and the Amman church are twinned and the pastors have exchanged visits before. After the service and coffee hour, we were treated to a delicious traditional Middle Eastern meal hosted by the Good Shepherd church.
The next morning, we left at 6:30 a.m. for the 2 ½ hour drive to Petra, the Rose-Red City which was discovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt on his way from Damascus to Egypt. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom, a people made wealthy by the caravan trade around 312 B.C. However, its independence ended when it was annexed in AD 106 by Rome and the Nabataeans fell into oblivion.
Our group hired a guide for a 4-hour tour of the main parts of Petra—he told us that one needed 5 days to see the whole city properly. We walked through the canyons, marvelling at the beauty of the cliffs with their amazing coloured stratification and shapes hewn by raging floods and natural erosion. The homes, stairs, tombs, and temples that had been carved by the Nabataeans were breathtaking. We followed the Siq, a natural narrow gorge among the rocks, 120 metres long, with the rocks reaching 100 metres high, opening out into the highlight of the tour, the Treasury or royal tomb of Al-Khazneh, probably built during the first century B.C. Who can forget the awe felt as we watched Indiana Jones ride through the opening in the narrow passage to view the Treasury towering before him! It was even more awe-inspiring in real life.
After our amazing day, we had dinner and spent the night at the Grand View Hotel in Petra, very aptly named, and proceeded back to Jerusalem the next day. It was certainly a trip not to be missed!
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