By Sam Jordan, Missionary to Jordan

Serving Christ is a very beautiful task. It is an enjoyable adventure and filled with challenges that raise in the heart a desire to continue despite the fears it sometimes has and the failures at other times. With each one we experience that the grace of God is sufficient, and it gives the “power made perfect in our weakness.”

My family and I came to Jordan ten years ago in 2013 as missionaries. God has blessed our ministry in great ways, and we have been able to share the love of God in practical ways. Here is what God is doing in our ministry.

Life Changing Ministries

“Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

This is our motive to serve thousands of people who are in need of help spiritually, emotionally and physically. Our goal is to glorify our Father and share the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We continue helping people with medical treatment and medicines at Mercy Medical Clinic, and we still reach around 2,500 patients each month. 

Two-thirds of those patients are refugees, mostly women and children. We’re seeing different types of illnesses. Many suffer from severe trauma as a result of eleven years of civil war in Syria. We’re helping some people with critical conditions, and many were referred to hospitals as “lifesaving cases.” Hundreds of food boxes are distributed every month to help the needy, especially those who have no chance to eat.

The Non-formal Education Program now is helping around 200 Syrians. We teach them life skills, offer schooling and classes, and explain Christian values. It fills our hearts with joy seeing kids expressing their appreciation because they have ambitions for their future. We believe that one day they will testify how they were impacted by the church.

Life Center for Women: Focusing first on women’s lives and hearts, the center offers post-trauma healing for those women affected by the conflict in Syria. In addition there is vocational training such as sewing, cooking, and handicrafts to help them generate some income to survive. Empowering women is an essential and crucial need in our region because they were abused and suffered for a long time. I believe that our team is doing an amazing job.

The other women’s ministry is concerned about women, especially widows and the elderly. My wife Sue and three other ladies started a Blessings Center where women can find safe haven and a place to be encouraged and taken care of. Widows especially are facing the hardship of life. At the center they offer Bible study three times a week and train women to share their testimonies with others. The center also offers food and different kinds of help in the name of Christ. Many of the women who never attended church have become regular attendees.

Theology Training: This is God’s calling for the church. Luke 10:2 says, “And he said unto them, the harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.” I took that as a personal calling; therefore, we started a theology program, and right now I am teaching a preaching class to students and this is my fifth course.

Helping Churches and Pastors: The church in Jordan went through a tough time due to the Covid virus pandemic, and it suffered as everyone else did. Some churches lost members and even some sponsors. As a result of the curfew, the church used social media to continue its pastoral work and care for its members, and meetings shifted from in-person to virtual churches. Perhaps curfew helped families to spend more time together, and the church went on to carry out field service to help its members. However, the pandemic weakened the church because it dispersed its members, and when returning to the church to meet in person, half of the members didn’t show up. We had an obligation to share with other churches, help them, and support them spiritually by encouraging their pastors and praying with them. 

The “Come and See” ministry focuses on holding revival meetings and training churches how to use the discipleship materials we have. Our team recently visited Anjara Baptist Church in Anjara, Jordan. That church is led by Pastor Mousa Tadrous. The church was heavily impacted because people are moving from that city to other big cities searching for better job opportunities. In addition, the church suffered from the effects of the pandemic. During the meetings, our worship team led the worship time and everyone enjoyed it. I shared an encouraging message for the believers, shared the gospel, and many accepted the Lord as their Savior.

Life Café: The church opened a café last year that is a safe haven, especially for young people and families. Open six days a week, it became a center of discipleship and provides a community gathering space. During the World Cup, we used the café to be a ministry outreach center. It was an amazing tool to gather young and old people together. It connected the church members to become one family.Fruits to Celebrate: As a result of our discipleship effort, recently nineteen people decided to follow the Lord through baptism. It’s a great joy to celebrate the fruits of our labor. We give glory to God for his grace because it is sufficient to use a weak vessel like us.