Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Arrived in Jordan

BWA General Secretary Neville Callam and I arrived in Amman close to 8:30 p.m. Jordanian time, after more than 12 hours of flying from Washington, DC, with a stopover at Heathrow Airport in London.

Other BWA leaders in Amman are BWA President David Coffey, European Baptist Federation President Toma Magda, and General Secretary Tony Peck.

We are of course here in the Kingdom of Jordan to participate in the dedication of the Baptism Center in Bethany beyond Jordan, closely approximate to the place where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. The dedication takes place on Friday, March 20.

Callam and I were told on arrival that the Jordan Times reported that some 100 people who have committed their lives to Christ are to be baptized in the Jordan River as part of the dedication service. Several pastors are to share in the baptismal service.

It is the first time that Baptists in Jordan had received such prominent coverage in any of Jordan’s major media companies.

We detect a high level of excitement among Jordanian Baptists. The hope is that the dedication of the Baptism Center, and the presence of BWA leaders, will help in speeding the official recognition of Baptists in this Muslim-majority but mostly moderate country.