wfn.org | ACNS3336 Jordan Youth Ministry

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3336     |     MIDDLE EAST     |	  7 MARCH 2003

Jordan Youth Ministry

[Development Office, Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem] At the beginning of the
most recent uprising in Israel and Palestine the Revd George Kopti,
assistant priest at the Redeemer Anglican Church in Amman, said he talked to
the youth at his church about martyrdom and suicide bombers while addressing
questions from students about Christian Zionists and their reasons for
supporting Israel.

Other discussion topics within Fr Kopti's youth group have included
globalisation and its effects, as Western styles and attitudes have played
an increasing role in Jordan's pop culture. Fr Kopti said that he tells the
youth to be open to other cultures, yet to be critical and not accept all
the beliefs and attitudes that the West offers.

"All the time, I try to motivate them to have the good thing - to think
about what they watch and listen to," he said. "If they start to think, they
are safe."

The Revd Fa'eq Haddad, pastor of The Saviour Episcopal Church in Zarqa and a
Christian educator at the Saviour School, also said he tries to get the
youth to think about contemporary issues. Recently, he has led discussions
with Saviour School students about euthanasia and honour killings. The
latter topic, which describes the act of someone killing a person who has
disgraced his family, often in matters of sexual relations, is still
supported by most Jordanians, Fr Haddad said.

The Revd Hanna Dalleh, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in
Ashrafiyyah - which is a suburb of Amman - and the priest in charge of the
Youth Ministries Program in Jordan, said discussion topics in his group have
included courtship and choosing a marriage partner. Courtship is quite an
important topic in Jordanian society, he said. Jordanians often have
separate schools for boys and girls, making it difficult for young men and
women to intermix. In fact, Fr Dalleh said the youth program provides a
great service by allowing people of different genders to interact in a
healthy environment.

Such interaction was quite evident during a university group meeting at The
Redeemer Church on Friday. College students from throughout Jordan played
games, sang Arabic worship songs, listened to Bible teaching, and prayed as
a group.

"We pray for each other's needs and get very close to each other,"
university group member, Tamara Nuqul, said of the college group. "We are a
real family."

"We're like brothers and sisters," group member Hanadi Elias said.

In addition to hanging out on Friday nights, several members of the
university group have leadership roles in other ministries. Some of them
serve as Sunday school teachers, play in worship bands and even participate
in a Christian puppet show for the younger children.

Fr Dalleh said he hopes to do more leadership training with such students.
After all, they may be taking his job someday, he said. "Inshallah
(God-willing), maybe they will be our future priests."

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