It’s the Islamic prayer
time. While the Muslim call to prayer is being broadcasted from minarets all
over Jordan’s capital, Hannah* speaks in a determined voice about an even
stronger call: the call of God to follow
Him. In this country where Muslims make up 98% of the population, this is
not an obvious choice, even when you are born into a Catholic Christian family
like Hannah was. “I grew up in a
traditional Christian family,” she shares. “Though I knew who Jesus Christ was, I didn’t know Him personally. When
I visited a Christian youth camp when I was 17, and we talked about our Christian
identities, I was shocked. I realized that I was only a Christian on my birth
certificate and ID card. It meant very little for my everyday life.”
Sadly enough, this is not
uncommon for youth growing up in the small Christian community in Jordan. About
170,000 Christians remaining in Jordan, and their numbers are gradually
declining mainly due to migration. Christianity in Jordan has strong historical
roots, dating back all the way back to the first Christians of Pentecost.
However, not all Jordanians belonging to one of the Christian tribes are
actively committed to God and His church. In Hannah’s case, her parents
sometimes went to church, but faith was not talked about. Her parents did,
however, send her to a Catholic school. But when the preacher at the Church
youth camp started talking about God’s love, this was a different and new
message for her and things began to change. “I immediately experienced a showering of God’s love. After I prayed for
salvation, my whole world turned upside-down. Before that, as a teenager, I had
been struggling with a lack of self-worth; I thought I was untalented, not
worth anything and that my life was useless.”
Her experience at the
Christian youth gathering marked the end of this downward spiral that Hannah
was in. “Suddenly, I knew, there is a
reason why I live on this planet. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to God’s
reality. He has a plan for me and wants me to grow and reach out to others.”
She felt spiritually hungry. “I wanted to eat more of God’s Word and feel
more of Him every day.” She started to attend biweekly Bible study
meetings and volunteered in her church as a children’s worker. “I felt I was being used by God.”
When attending the church
services, suddenly things started to make sense to her. “Before, I was often bored in the church, I didn’t care about the
liturgy at all. But after this experience, I listened to the sermons better and
I grew to appreciate them. The thing is, now, when the priest starts sharing, I
know what he is talking about!” One thing that was immediately clear for
Hannah is that she wanted to stay a member of the church. “This is the church God called me to be in. I have people here I trust
and Christians I can pray with. This is my community and I’m not leaving it.
But I will try to open more eyes here to the real character of God.”
Not everybody was excited
about Hannah’s newfound love for God and the Bible. Hannah puts it like this: “To serve people can be a huge experiment.”
At first, the priest in her church was reluctant to the weekly Bible study
meetings Hannah attended. “But now he
sees the fruits of it, he is asking me more and more about it.” Her family
was an even bigger obstacle. Wary of the impact of the Bible study groups and
youth camps on their daughter’s life, Hannah’s parents made her stop attending
them at first. “That was a very hard
time. I prayed a lot. I don’t know how, but after a while, things became
easier. They saw the change in my life and started accepting it. They now let
me attend these meetings and my relationship with them has improved.”
Hannah is now part of the
team of volunteers organizing weekly Bible study meetings for young people in a
number of Jordan’s traditional churches. Many of the attendants are from poor
families. Their parents can’t afford to send them to Christian schools, so they
receive a public education based on Koranic teachings. Without the church Bible
groups, these Christian youth would hardly ever read the Bible. Hannah even
knows examples of Christian girls getting into relationships with Muslim boys
and converting to Islam. “Not knowing
enough about the Bible can really be dangerous.”
“There is a huge need in Jordan, and the youth are so hungry,” she
says. “Many young people are so lost.
They think that God is not there, or that He is very far away. But I know that
once they learn who this great God really is, their lives will change.”
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
[Edited from https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories]
