Christmas in Jordan

Children listen to part of the program at one of several Christmas events in Jordan.

Several Christmas events were held in Jordan. Sadly, I was unable to attend two events that I really wanted to go to because our flight from Erbil to Amman was cancelled due to heavy fog. There are a limited number of flights to Amman from Erbil. Some days there are no flights scheduled at all.

In all, several thousand children attended Christmas for Refugees events in Jordan. None of the children were Jordanian. All were Christian refugees from either Iraq or Syria.

Often my favorite part of the Christmas events is a skit that we put on in which the story of the birth of our Lord is told with major mistakes such as Mary learning that she was with child on Facebook. The mistakes bring shouts and hollers from the children who correct the puppets or actors making the mistakes. In the end the children themselves have told the story of the coming of the Lord correctly.

            The situations the children live in as refugees are just as bad as the worst inner-city slums we have in Detroit or Baltimore. At the same time, just as in our big cities, there is a flagrant display of wealth in opulent malls, restaurants and social gathering places. There is a three-story Starbucks across the street from the Taj Mall in Amman. The city is full of gleaming modern office buildings fifty stories or more high and many five-star hotels.

William and Nancy Murray near one of three atriums in the five story Taj Mall in Amman, Jordan.

            This kind of opulence is nowhere to be seen in the Christian villages.

Nancy and I sometimes visit the malls in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to get some exercise walking, as we are often stuck in cars for many hours each day reaching various events.

In December, the malls in Jordan and Lebanon are full of Christmas decorations, with Christian hymns playing as background music. It is surreal to be there, considering the constant threat against Christians throughout the Middle East.

Often the shoppers in those malls are Americans and Europeans on visits from jobs in other Middle Eastern nations where such displays are against the law.

Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Middle East, particularly the children we bring aid to in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the West Bank. Let us put into practice Galatians 6:10 when thinking about the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Middle East.

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