Trade Zone and business with Iraq will end "a dramatic drop" in the number of Christians living in Jordan. Priest Samih Basilious Al-Marji told BosNewsLife in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba that Christians now represent around 3.5 percent of the population in this mainly Muslim nation, down from 15 percent two decades earlier.
"The problem is that many Christians left because they were seeking better lives in other countries across the globe," he said on the eve of his mass Sunday, August 10. "Many left because of the conflicts in this region, which have continued after the 1967 war against Israel."
Only about 250 Christian families live in Aqaba, a thriving port city of 85,000 people. However he said the Free Trade Zone established in Aqaba about three years ago will change that trend. "I expect that number also to increase because of the related Open Sky Agreement that came into force last month."
One of those returning with his wife and three children was 39-year old Meichail Eseed, who works as an engineer at a local glass factory. Eseed, a Greek Orthodox Christian, said it was important that Christian families stay together. He also expected more Christians in Aqaba, as The duty free climate has boosted economic ties with post war Iraq.
Every month an estimated 60,000 old cars are shipped from Europe and elsewhere as Iraqis are now free to spend their live savings on these tax freed products. In addition Greek Orthodox food supplies and other articles are shipped to needy people in Iraq, priest Al-Marji said.
TOURISM INDUSTRY
Church leaders hope these developments will also improve Jordan’s tourism industry which suffered because of conflicts in neighboring Israel and Iraq. Tourist hot spots include Biblical places, such as the recently opened Baptism Site at the Jordan river, where scholars believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
Jordanian tourist agents have told BosNewsLife that as part of the overall trade effort, King Abdullah is paying for weekly charter flights packed with Hungarian tourists, who arrive from Budapest in Aqaba and stay at hotels for sharply discounted prices.
Priest Al-Marji suggested these developments would lead to an increased demand for Christian professionals, who are involved in trading related businesses throughout the Middle East. Yet he stressed that surviving as a Christian community in Jordan is often difficult.
"FIRST ARABS"
"While the authorities allow us to have church, we receive only plots of land outside the city centre. I don’t think that is fair. Christians were the first Arabs," he said. The masses in his church are often over shouted by the calls to prayers coming from the many mosques nearby.
However church leaders like Al-Marji, who has a close relationship with free evangelical Christians, hope to keep the small Christian community strong. However the priest said it was important that believers share the compassion of Christ with Muslims.
Every second day of Ramadan, the Muslim religious holiday, he invites Muslim leaders from the region for a very early breakfast. "They already know that the second day is for the priest," he explained with a smile.
The priest has also spoken about the situation of Christians in Jordan with the royal family, including late King Hussein, "for whom we prayed very much," before he died of cancer. "We also have a good relationship with the king (Abdullah)," he said. Al Marji, is not your traditional Orthodox priest: The 53-year old, now married with three children, decided to change denominations after he fled the Catholic seminary Bethlehem during the 1967 war in neighboring Israel.
LONG PROCESS
"It was a long process. After the seminary, I became a marketing manager at a British bank. Than I was involved in commercial marketing, now I am doing religious marketing." He said he decided to leave his bank career in 1992, and become an Orthodox priest. "I think that was a calling from the Holy Spirit," he explained. "I learned that it is important that we as Christians are salt on earth," the priest added.
It is a message he wants to share with his 100-strong congregation, which has also opened its doors for Christians from other churches. "Unlike in Europe, we are united in our faith in Christ. For instance, the Catholic and Orthodox churches celebrate Easter at the same time. We are in a Muslim country and at least we (Christians) must be one."
While not everyone in Aqaba is a born again Christian yet, Priest Al-Marji said several Protestant missions and outreach ministries have been increasingly active in Aqaba. He said the Mission to Seafarers and Episcopal Church " is just one example."
"But there is also the Free Evangelical Church here in Aqaba. We work all together and are basically located together at the same street." He suggested that although Christians are small in numbers, their faith keeps them strong.
