Blog by Rich

Archeologists believe this is where Jesus was baptized, based on a first century Byzantine church that was discovered in 1998. We performed the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, not far from here. I played John the Baptist and then stayed in the river to help Kim, our other tour leader, and my b...

It's near the scaffolding, and we're 25m from the Baptismal site of Jesus.

We had an amazing final meal in Amman, but we're already talking about a return.

These are the very stones of Pilate's fortress, where he offered Jesus to the people, and they chose to execute Him.

I (very quietly) performed that section from my play Journey to the Garden ( http://RichDrama.com/JourneyToTheGarden). Instead of chanting, our group whispered, "Crucify him!...

We're standing in the only school music complex in the Kingdom of Jordan.
Our host just had a teaching moment with a disrespectful student. This is apparently quite rare, but our host said that youth exposure to media and internet has been eroding their respect.

We've had an AMAZING time working with students here in Amman, Jordan. Today is our last day with them (sniffles). We're going to coach them on some scenes. Then we're off to do a bibliodrama of Moses entering the Promised Land atop Mt. Nebo (pray the air has totally cleared from the dust storm), ...

Jordan has remained quite peaceful in the face of their neighbors' squabbles, and this campaign, which indicates that Jordanians, Palestinians and Iraqis are all one here, has been a part of keeping the peace.

The remaining members of our team are working their way through customs. Our classes and performances start tomorrow.

On the way to the airport I was going over how much I can share about Jesus with the Muslim students. Our host said, "More than you can in a public school in America."

I ...

I'd never been interested in Petra because it's not a biblical site, but when this trip came up it seemed to make sense to add it to our itinerary. I'm so glad we did! The work of man here, while impressive, pales in comparison to the Lord's handiwork.

We hiked by moon and candle light through Petra. I'll be posting more of both soon.

While floating on the Dead Sea we chatted with some Germans who had driven all the way here! It was a rally to raise money for a charity here. They bought old cars, drove them almost 3,000 miles, not counting ferries they had to take because Syria and Egypt wouldn't let them cross.

That means beautiful country, and I mean more than the landscape! Everyone we've met has been lovely! One of our first points of contact was named Isa (Arabic for Jesus), and he was wearing a crucifix on his necklace.

One of our drivers told us how glad he was that Americans assassinated Osama bin ...

I had dinner with some dear friends the other night. They have a collection of artifacts, including this cup, which was worn on the belt of a Roman centurion 2,000 years ago. Our pastors have a replica of a suit of Roman armor. Next time we use it we'll know of a little detail we can add...a repli...