Bible Society of Jordan is 50 years old and full of life

Sharing the Bible in Jordan is difficult, but with your support the team sees hundreds come to Christ each year

Pressure on Jordan’s Christians has increased in recent years, and the dedicated Bible mission team there, celebrating its 50^th anniversary, really appreciates your support.

Jordan is at the centre of the Middle East, surrounded by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. The current Kingdom of Jordan, which became independent of Britain in 1946, covers territory that was occupied in biblical times by Israel’s neighbours Edom, Moab and Ammon.

Christians in Jordan belong to various denominations and work together to share the gospel through the Bible Society of Jordan. A hundred years ago they were one of the most significant Christian minorities in the Muslim-dominated region, representing almost 20 per cent of the country’s population. Since then, Muslim immigration and Christian emigration has reduced them to just two per cent of Jordan’s 10 million people. They thrive in certain areas, particularly Christian neighbourhoods in the capital, Amman, but find life very difficult in others.

The Bible in their own language

Even though Christianity is recognised and Christmas is a national holiday, this is still an officially Islamic country where the activities of other faiths are restricted and attitudes to Christians can be very negative. The team always expect trouble when they share the Bible at book fairs. They’re not deterred, though. Key to their aim of making the Bible more available and more accepted is to break the taboo around Christianity. So maintaining an open presence at public events like book fairs is a big part of what they’re doing.

At book fairs the team can interact with people from all backgrounds as Bible Society. It’s a particular delight for them to surprise people by presenting the Bible in Arabic, Jordan’s dominant language. People interact for the first time with a book they’d only been vaguely aware of and assumed was foreign, available only in Greek or English. To see and hold the Bible, and to read Arabic words on its pages, is powerful evidence for Jordanian people that the Bible is theirs as well.

The team is working towards the acceptance of the Bible as a natural part of life in Jordan. Since 2016 they’ve been presenting Bible verses in public, which is a breakthrough. As part of their work building relationships with the community around them, they’ve started to reach out with love to their Muslim neighbours. During Ramadan, Muslims traditionally break their fast each evening with dates and water, so Bible Society provided packages of dates and water that also included Bible verses.

Reaching out in new ways

During lockdown, the team was very active making deliveries with special permission. With your help they were able to distribute Bibles and food. They also took the opportunity to increase their use of social media, which is great for making connections across the country. Social media is crucial for promoting various outreach programmes including support for mothers and trauma healing, which has been so successful it’s currently oversubscribed.

Bible Society of Jordan has 115 volunteers who are energising Jordan’s Christian community. They’re not deterred by opposition and in fact find their minority status motivating. Challenges force them to depend on God. And God is moving in Jordan.

Get involved

Will you pray for the life-changing outreach work of this amazing team?

Your support changes lives in Jordan.