The guide was also praising King Abdullah II, (and the previous beloved King Hussein) who does much good for the people in Jordan in education, health and employment. Even the children of the Bedouins have access to public education. As far as we could see everything looked more prosperous and better organized than in Egypt.
Next we headed to the town of Madaba, about 30 kilometers south of Amman. In a Greek Orthodox church there is an mosaic from the 6th century, it pictures the earliest map of Jerusalem and the area on both sides of the river Jordan. In Israel they referred quite a few times to this mosaic. We were also entertained by some people singing a chant in this church.
While we looked around the church our busdriver found some friends and spent his time smoking a water pipe. One person of our group joined them.
Our next destination was Mt.Nebo, the mountain where Moses died after God had shown him the Promised Land. The day was quite hazy but we could still see the river Jordan and the surrounding land. We read the Bible passage of Moses in Deut. 34.
Our day would not be complete without being dropped off at a souvenirs store. This store was quite interesting. It was a place where they make and sell mosaics and they gave us a demonstration of the art. It was nice to see that handicapped people in wheelchairs were working on the mosaics. They told us that in Jordan they try to find employment for everyone. The mosaics were beautiful and available for a good price even shipped to our homes! Also ostrich eggs decorated with pictures made of coloured sand were there. What a work!
In the middle of the day, when it was very hot, we walked for half an hour down to the river Jordan to the place where it is believed John the Baptist baptized the people who came to listen to him.We had expected a bigger river than this 'creek' with greenish water. We reflected, made some pictures and a few people dipped their feet or hat in the water. On the Israeli side people were baptized in the water.
This is the John the Baptist chapel. We noticed that everywhere a biblical event happened churches or shrines were build. It was interesting that some white doves were walking around the building, reminding us of the baptism of the Lord Jesus.
Then on to the Allenby bridge where we were planning to cross the border into Israel. We saw some plantations.
At the border one person in our group discovered that his passport was not with him, it was safely in the safe in the hotel. After an hour waiting while the passport was brought with a taxi this problem was solved again, (but not forgotten, he was teased for the rest of the trip). It gave us a chance to look around and use the bathrooms, including a squat bathroom.The bus drove us across no-man's land and to the Israeli customs. There we were checked, searched, scanned and a few people body searched. Our pastor was the last one through after a thorough check! Around 4:30 pm we were in our new bus and met our new guide, Sam, and driver, Muhammad. Sam welcomed us to Israel. He is a Palestinian christian and he promised that our trip would be unforgettable and that our lives would be changed by having been in the land where the Lord Jesus lived.
We drove across the country, first north along the river and then west toward Nethanya, which is situated on the Mediterranean Sea. We came through the West Bank territory and had our first experience of the security and check points in Israel. The guide and driver had to be checked, belts off, empty pockets, scanners. We stayed in the bus but had to show passports and they opened the luggage area of the bus.
It was late when we arrived at the hotel. We could hear and smell the Sea which was right behind our hotel. After supper we went for a little walk in the dark.
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