Jordan

Jordan sits at the geographical heart of Scripture. The ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon occupied its territory. John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Paul traveled its roads. The Nabataean city of Petra was already ancient when Rome absorbed it. Early Christianity thrived here — the ruins of hundreds of Byzantine churches still dot the landscape, and the mosaic map at Madaba is one of the oldest depictions of the Holy Land in existence. The Arab conquest brought Islam in the 7th century. Centuries of Ottoman rule gave way to British mandate, and in 1946 the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan was born — a monarchy that has navigated one of the most volatile neighborhoods on earth with remarkable tenacity.

11,521,000

People live in Jordan today in one of the region's few islands of relative stability — but stability under enormous strain. Jordan hosts more refugees per capita than almost any country on earth: over two million Palestinians and more than a million Syrians, many living in cities and towns rather than camps, competing for housing, work, and dignity. The small Christian minority — about two percent — lives openly and without the severe persecution common in neighboring countries, though conversion from Islam carries serious social consequences. Quietly, a growing evangelical movement is making disciples among both Jordanians and the vast refugee population, finding people whose suffering has made them unusually open to the gospel.