Jordan: Young nation. Ancient land.
Surrounded by the Arab and Jewish powerhouses of Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, Jordan itself is a landlocked ally of the United States that only gained its independence from Britain in 1946. Now it’s known as perhaps the most politically liberal of all members of the Arab League.
Famous names thread all through Jordan’s history: King Nebuchadnezzar and the biblical kingdoms of Moab, Gilead, and Edom; Alexander the Great, Pompey the Great, and the Ottoman Empire.
Jordan and Palestine?
In more recent history, Jordan annexed the neighboring West Bank in 1950. Israel then took back control in 1967 during the Six Day Way, and the two nations signed a peace treaty.
Now, the Jordanian Air Force has pushed back against Israel by facilitating the airdrop of aid into war-torn Gaza from multiple nations. Jordan’s king Abdullah II even met with President Biden in February to discuss cease-fire efforts. After all, approximately 20 percent of Jordan’s population acknowledges a Palestinian heritage (including the Queen) — many having fled to Jordan during the Six Day War. Even so, established Palestinians still experience economic discrimination.
Jordan is also home to some 2 million newer Palestinian refugees and has seen an influx of some 1.4 million Syrian refugees since the start of that country’s civil war. All of this in a country with a population of a little over 11 million.
Is Jordan religiously tolerant?
Open Doors ministry reports that Jordan is noticeably more tolerant of Christianity than other nearby countries — such that Christians can worship freely. Yet believers still face discrimination in the workplace and if knowingly involved in evangelism of Muslims.
Less tolerance is extended to Muslims who openly convert to Christianity: They face threats of beatings and killings. “If their conversion becomes known,” Open Doors reports, “all official documents including marriage certificates, mortgages, etc. they have signed will automatically become invalid.”
While the government monitors the messages delivered in “approved” Christian churches, it does the same for messages in its mosques, recognizing the danger of Muslim extremism.
"I found the answers I was searching for"
Please pray for this country of contrasts — that its desire for stability in the region would bring about more spiritual openness, such that the gospel might gain a foothold.
One Jordanian man named Awad found our programs several years ago and began asking probing questions about the Islam he’d been taught to follow. He eventually told us: “I started to search for the truth about the Qur’an and Mohammed until I found the answers I was searching for in ‘Let’s Be Clear’ and ‘Daring Questions.’ Please direct me to a church to visit and fellowship and start my new journey in the religion of love and peace, not the religion of hate.”
Pray that more Jordanians would find our programs and feel the freedom to reach out.
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Sources: “Jordan country profile,” bbcnews.com, April 19, 2023; “On a Jordanian aid airdrop over Gaza City” by Nils Adler, aljazeera.com, March 21, 2024; “How Jordan is rallying Western countries for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” NBC News on YouTube, Feb. 13, 2024; “We Will Never Forget Palestine” by Nicholas Casey, The New York Times Magazine, Dec. 20, 2023; “Jordan,” opendoorsus.org.