LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED

"Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. . ." (John 14:1).

It wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of going to the Holy Land. Flying is not one of my favorite things to do. I knew no one else on the tour, and then there is also the question of safety while on the tour. But I had a purpose for wanting to go and resolved to see it through regardless of my anxieties. Once I started on my way to Sioux Falls Regional Airport, I was okay. I experienced anxiety only twice during the trip. Old city Jerusalem is a maze of narrow, crowed streets. I didn't think I would ever get out if I was lost in there, though I think I could handle it now after being in there a couple of times. The other time was when we were taking off on the flight home. The 747 was covered with snow even after a deicing. Even the little Jordanian stewardess, who apparently was a Christian, crossed herself on that very slow lift off. Even in those times, my anxiety was not a problem as I trusted being in God's hands, what ever His purpose may be. What ever a person may do, he cannot escape risk, our times are in God's hands.

We left Sioux Falls at 1:00p.m. on the 12th and arrived in Amman, Jordan at 4:20 on the 13th. We lost 8 hours, crossing 8 time zones. It is almost 6,000 miles from JFK in New York to Amman--not stop. We flew Royal Jordanian Airlines. While on the plane, they served us very well. We couldn't have asked for better service.

It was about a 45 min. drive from the airport to Regency Palace Hotel. The accommodations were excellent and the food is excellent too. There is something for every taste, though it is a thoroughly Mediterranean/Mideast diet. It is good, but after a couple of weeks and American Burger and fries will be a banquet.

Amman is a modern busy city. The four-lane highways are clogged with traffic. The culture is very contemporary. They have about every major American chain from McDonald's, Toys R Us, to a Cadillac-Hummer dealership. Their equivalent to MTV is decidedly Arabic in flavor.

I had talked to Verizon about enabling my phone so that I could use it in Israel. They set me up for that. I had assumed that I would be able to use it in Jordan too--I was wrong. I'll tell you more about that later.

We had to be up at 6:00 a.m. for the 3 1/2 hr. drive to Petra, so I didn't stay up late. We put in long days on this tour! We were not slackers.

Grace&Peace,
Tom