Country: Amman, Jordan
Dates: 4/23/2023-5/20/2023
Team Name: TnT
Local Currency: Dinar
Local Languages: Arabic
Ministry Partner Name: The Markez
Favorite Memory: Our time in Jordan was short, but that is what made it so much sweeter. We dived deep in relationships because we knew that there wasn’t a lot of time. My favorite memory in Jordan has to be our henna party that another squadmate, Sarah, and I were able to organize. We invited Sudanese women for a henna party to come here a Bible story and relate it back to a cultural hobby of theirs, doing henna. Sarah shared the Bible story and the henna design that the women could do to show the story. It is like a visual representation on your hand to share different Bible stories. We also wanted this time for these women to grow in community and bring back their culture. They are all refugees in Jordan and after speaking to them in house visits, the thing they miss the most is their sense of community. So, we invited them to come to our Beauty for Ashes event and it was the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed. The women were having so much fun and we got to dress up in traditional Sudanese dresses. Definitely was pinching myself several times throughout this event.
A High Moment (something really good): We got to visit the Jordan House of Prayer and it was so beautiful. A room filled of different people with different languages, but with one desire, worshipping the Lord. The Lord’s presence was so heavily annointed in that room. What really made it beautiful was we were in a Muslim country, where often Christians had to be careful with sharing the Gospel, and we were singing our praises to the Lord. Our praises and songs being lifted up to God in a country that will soon know Him.
A Low Moment (time I felt low): Like some countries we have been to, there will be pushback from the enemy and attacks that will occur. In Jordan, I struggled a lot with rest and lack of motivation. I would try to get a good nights sleep, but yet I was waking up four or five times throughout the night, sometimes with bad dreams. I would go out for house visits and could not keep my eyes open. As soon as it was time for us to share Bible stories, my eyes would just get so heavy and my brain felt so foggy. After eac house visit, I just wanted to be doing absolutely nothing. This was tough for me because coming out of Turkey I was so pumped to go and meet people and just share the Gospel. This allowed me though to rest with the Lord and to seek His help whenever sleepiness or lack of motivation came in.
What God Taught Me: God taught me a lot in how to share the Gospel. Our ministry used an understandable method of how to share the Gospel to our Muslim brothers and sisters. This included sharing stories of the major prophets mentioned both in the Quran and the Bible. When I had done house visits, it was always just a check in, but I was never able to share the Gospel in those previous visits. But, in Jordan our house vists would last two to three hours and the goal was to share a story with those we were visiting. God taught me how important and special house visits are. It is something I want to explore more once I get home. It is a sweet time of genuine intimacy, but also emphasizing the Gospel. I learned a lot from the method of sharing the Gospel and also how important house visit ministry is.
A Spiritual Growth: Something that I am constantly growing in is prayer. I want to be quick to turn to God. I know the power that prayer has and I want to use it as a weapon for the Kingdom of God. In Jordan, the Lord grew me in intercessory prayer. It was something that I was growing in Turkey but Jordan allowed for intentional space to lift our prayers up to God. Whenever we had a canceled house visit, we would use that time to pray. Not only has the Lord been growing me being bold in sharing the Gospel, but also being bold in my prayers to Him.
Favorite Squad Memory (thus far): We did not get to spend much time in Jordan as a whole squad, but we did have the opportunity to live and do ministry with another team, Yehaw for Yahweh. Our first day in Jordan, we woke up at 4am to visit some fun sites in Jordan. Our host had arranged this for us so we hopped on a bus with an Alumni World Race Squad and what would be our interpretators and their families. It felt like a fever dream coming from a long travel day to then driving for hours the next two days. But, we got to see Petra, the Red Sea, and spent the night in Wadi Rum. It was fun to explore and have those first memories of Jordan.
With all of that being said…
Jordan, you showed how to dive deep into things quickly. You showed the sense of urgency of sharing the Truth. You brought new friendships and memories. You allowed for intimate moments with the Lord and realization of how God made His creation so differently, but with one purpose. You brought light and hope.
Blessings,
Joana Quintana
