Saturday, October 31
Today was an action packed day. In the morning we visited Saviour Episcopal School in Zarqa, Jordan. It is private school associated with the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. SES, as it is known is run by an energetic supremely capable woman, Duaa Bisharat, who happens to be married to an Anglican priest, Faeq Haddad. Although it is an Anglican school, 60 percent of the students are Muslim. It was founded in 1955, on a shoestring and has since grown to 450 students K-12. The school's mission is to foster "permanent learning, ability to solve problems,abroad vision, belief in God, and strike a balance between a spiritual and social life." The kids are exposed to science, English lit, history, and at least this year, IT; in other words, a modern relevant education. Even conservative Muslim parents value this and are willing to send their kids to a Christian school to obtain it. BTW, we spoke with some of the kids; they are great, and are like any other kids that you may know. Tuition is about $2,000 a year, but like any private school, that doesn't cover costs. So Duaa also functions as her own development officer. If anyone is interested in supporting the school, I can let you know how.
After a delicious lunch at the school, we headed for Jerash, one of the most spectacular Graeco-Roman archeological sites anywhere outside of Athens or Rome.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Trip to Jordan and Jerusalem is ON!
A few months ago, The Rev. Bill Sachs, Director of the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation here in Richmond, told me he was planning a fact finding/pilgrimage trip to Jordan and Jerusalem.
I was excited and immediately signed up to go, because in 2007 I went on a similar, eye-opening trip that he led.
Today Bill confirmed that arrangements are substantially complete for this new trip.
Besides myself, three other members of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church will be going along with Bill, our fearless trip leader.
We'll be spending five full days in Jordan, and five days in Jerusalem. Broadly speaking, our focus will be to learn more about the significant efforts of the Anglican Church there in both educating young people and coping with the refugee situation that has developed because of the turmoil in the region. We also hope to meet with officials of the Jordanian government to learn about their efforts to deal with the refugee issue, and their approach to the volatile foreign policy issues that confront them.
Of course, we'll be visiting some key sites of enormous importance in the Christian tradition; in Jordan, Mount Nebo (where Moses viewed the Promised Land), and the Baptism site of Jesus. In Israel, we will visit those places in Jerusalem considered holy by three major religions, plus a visit to the Sea of Galilee.
Also on the itinerary while in Jordan, a dip in the Dead Sea, guaranteed to produce some hilarious photo ops.
My intent is to make updates to this blog, daily if possible.
Inshallah (God Willing), we will depart Richmond on October 29 and return November 9.
Stay tuned.
The link to the blog is http://tonyonthemove.blogspot.com
I was excited and immediately signed up to go, because in 2007 I went on a similar, eye-opening trip that he led.
Today Bill confirmed that arrangements are substantially complete for this new trip.
Besides myself, three other members of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church will be going along with Bill, our fearless trip leader.
We'll be spending five full days in Jordan, and five days in Jerusalem. Broadly speaking, our focus will be to learn more about the significant efforts of the Anglican Church there in both educating young people and coping with the refugee situation that has developed because of the turmoil in the region. We also hope to meet with officials of the Jordanian government to learn about their efforts to deal with the refugee issue, and their approach to the volatile foreign policy issues that confront them.
Of course, we'll be visiting some key sites of enormous importance in the Christian tradition; in Jordan, Mount Nebo (where Moses viewed the Promised Land), and the Baptism site of Jesus. In Israel, we will visit those places in Jerusalem considered holy by three major religions, plus a visit to the Sea of Galilee.
Also on the itinerary while in Jordan, a dip in the Dead Sea, guaranteed to produce some hilarious photo ops.
My intent is to make updates to this blog, daily if possible.
Inshallah (God Willing), we will depart Richmond on October 29 and return November 9.
Stay tuned.
The link to the blog is http://tonyonthemove.blogspot.com
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