Vox Lucens

Yesterday I went through all of the trip’s pictures, and was again mind-boggled by thinking back on Petra. So I have a bunch more shots that I just can’t resist sharing…

[As always, click the pic for a fullsize version.]

Natural Beauty

Petra was not just about the incredible ancient facades - it was also set in one of the most ruggedly gorgeous locations in the world (which is one reason it was such a valuable city location - only one way in and out was easy to defend!).

Treasury Detail Shots

A Sense of Scale

Scale can be hard to see in pictures, but the sheer massiveness of Petra’s monuments was the most breathtaking thing about it. Hopefully this series of shots will help communicate that.

This is me by one of the small facades.

Here are the porticoes under the tallest facade (which I mentioned in my previous post).

The porticoes in context.

The upper portion of the facade.

The whole thing.

The large facade, on the right, in the context of the entire cliff and temple complex.

I must admit, one of my least favorite parts about missions trips is trying to summarize them for others. There is so much emotion, so much passion, so many stories in each one that words just don’t cut it.

So when I take the time to really try to get some of the passion out in words, it may bear repeating…

From today’s Weekly Reminder:

***
Anyone who has done an international trip knows what I’m talking about when I say that flying for dozens of hours at a stretch can be brutally painful. And yet, in looking back on a missions trip, it never ceases to amaze me that all of those hours can be made worth it by just a single moment of ministry.

We had many of those moments over the last week and a half in Jordan. Now, back in the States, I have time to look back on them and marvel. There were the moments spent in fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, the moments watching our doctors at work and seeing the joy and relief in the eyes of those they served, and the moments of watching God-ordained doors open.

But the moment that keeps sticking out to me was one that was completely unexpected. The Iraqi church service was coming to an end, but just before dismissal, the pastor said that there was a man in the church that was sick, and had asked for prayers from the elders. As the elders gathered at the front, the pastor motioned to me and the Remember doctors to join them in laying hands and praying. Our team had considered James 5:14-15 in our team prayer times, and the chance to follow this command was a joy:

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

We joined them, and as we bowed our heads to join in Scriptural supplication, the pastor turned and asked me to lead in the prayer. I don’t know that I have ever felt more inadequate, surrounded by men and women who are forced to live brutally real faith on a daily basis, but pray I did, and when my English prayer was done an elder prayed in Arabic. As we agreed together in intercession – agreeing in spirit while our ears could not understand the words – it was impossible to miss the presence of the Spirit of God.

I prayed without knowing what condition I was praying for, and found out only afterwards that the young man had a couple of psychological disorders – afflictions that require a miracle to heal. Good thing that we serve the Great Physician, the God of miracles!

If that time around the altar in a small Iraqi church would have been the only “moment” on this trip, it would have been worth all of the hours of travel, excruciating though they were. And really, what a picture of prayer that is! Prayer is not easy; it is long hours of sometimes excruciating pain – but oh, how worth it. Even if just one request out of a hundred is miraculously answered, how worth it those hours would be

And we don’t serve a God who answers one prayer out of a hundred. Our God answers ever single one.

I wish you could have been with us, prayer warrior, on this trip, around that young man, in the presence of the Spirit. But even if you cannot see the answers to your prayers, know that they are so very real.

Ever since knowing that we would be heading for a full trip to Jordan, I hoped that we could take the trek to Petra, one of the new wonders of the world - and rightfully so. Anyone who has seen Indiana Jones knows of this ancient city, and let me tell you, seeing it in person was far more amazing than I had even guessed.

Petra has been a city since around 300 B.C., if you can imagine that, and remained prominent for hundreds of years. The Nabateans founded the city, conquering it from the Edomites, and it survived, and indeed thrived, through the Greek, Roman, Christian, and Islamic periods. It is filled with Nabatean, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine influences, combining incredible history with unique and fascinating beauty on an incredible scale.

If you’re interested in a full history, check out this site from Brown University, which is actively involved in excavating the ruins. But enough words - let’s try pictures. I only wish they could do the ruins justice.

The most famous facade in Petra, known as the Treasury.

Anyone else singing the theme song?

The team in front of the “poor people’s tombs” that catacombed the cliff walls just past the Treasury.

The tallest facade at Petra.

The view from inside the tallest facade.

History was everywhere.

For instance, this facade dating back almost seven decades before Christ.

I could show so many more pictures - these have been weeded out from the 400 or so that I took during this day alone. But you should just go yourself, sometime, and be blown away as I was…

It looks like my full Petra post is going to have to wait until I get back to the states.

Until then you get this…

Gratuitous rhyming aside, I have lots of both shots and thoughts from this trip.

Pictures and thoughts are at Remember Ambassadors.

A powerful story in the Weekly Reminder.

And a few of my favorites…

Last night I couldn’t help but sit and wonder at the Lord’s amazing power, as I sat with a brother in Christ on his porch overlooking a huge portion of Amman. He spoke limited English, but our conversation was rich and deep – it was true fellowship with broken communication.

Did you know that Uriah was killed only a few miles from where I am today?

Did you know that when the angel of the Lord commanded, “Unto the church of the angel in Philadelphia write…” the letter went to modern-day Amman?

I didn’t. But this brother was from Jerusalem, and his wife was from Nazareth, and her family was from Bethlehem, so he was well acquainted with the history that surrounds us. It makes Scripture come alive to see these places, up close or even at a distance. But it is perhaps even more profound to see the Body of Christ come alive by seeing it at work. We’ve worshiped with them, talked to them, ministered to them, and yes, been ministered to by them. And we share a very common bond.

It’s beyond amazing to fellowship with each one – my conversation with this brother was just one example that I could give. He is 40 years older than I, with a vastly different life experience than any I can anticipate. His language, his culture, his home are so different than mine, but we share a Savior. And we share a common eternity.

Some shots from the last two busy days…

The olive grove that is supporting the hospital we visited today - from the orphanage that this ministry is building.