MICHAEL BRYANT
We arrived at Petra early Friday morning and had the place mostly to ourselves. Tourism, one of Jordan’s primary sources of income, has been almost non-existent since the US and Israel began bombing Iran. The Bedouin merchants and guides at Petra, as well as everyone else we have met selling anything in Jordan, asked us to tell you that Jordan is very safe and very open for business. They invite you all to come as soon as possible. We concur. It is a wonderful place to visit. Even with a war on in the neighborhood.
After our half- visit to Petra, we traveled to Wadi Rum to spend the night in the desert about 15 miles from Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia. I have never seen more rock and sand in my life. We did a little climbing and exploring before reaching our compound where we were hosted by a Bedouin family for dinner and hunkered down for the cold night in tents.
This morning, we went a little farther south to dip our toes in the Red Sea and to sneak a peek at Israel and Egypt before heading back to Amman. The many tinted blue waters were surrounded all around by bare rock mountains of red, brown, black, and gray. While regularly reaching summer temperatures well above 100 degrees (F), this mid-May morning we enjoyed a perfect 72 with a slight breeze coming off the water.
Our long ride back to Amman was rewarded by arriving at Grace Church just in time to greet the kids and leaders who had gathered there for children’s ministry and, afterwards, a fantastic Egyptian meal in the home of Grace’s pastoring family, Wasim and Lilian. We debriefed and rejoiced together in the memory of blessings from the week just passed and prayed for one another before saying our farewells and see you laters.
Just now, we are all packing and weighing our stuff. We fly out of Amman in the morning and arrive at Dulles around 6:30 PM. Please pray for us, for our partners, and for good fruit from our project.
Michael Bryant2026-05-17T02:44:14-04:00