Here is a quick update to my last post. Compass Direct, which broke the story about the ongoing deportations of Christians in Jordan, ran a follow-up today that I personally found extremely heart-wrenching. Here is a highlight from the article:
While it was unclear what the government considered false in the report, the fact of deportations of Christians was further verified as authorities on February 10 expelled an Egyptian pastor with the Assemblies of God church in Madaba – one of five evangelical denominations registered with the government.
Married to a Jordanian citizen and the father of two children, Sadeq Abdel Nour was handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to the port city of Aqaba. There he was placed on a ferry to Egypt. The previous week an Egyptian pastor from a Baptist church in Zarqa was arrested, held for three days and also returned to Egypt by ship from the port city of Aqaba. The pastor, 43, is married to a Jordanian woman and the father of three children.
If these pastors were working for legally registered churches why would you deport them in such a humiliating manner? The response of Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to the initial Compass Direct article was: "The authorities have deported a number of people who entered the country under the pretext of performing voluntary work but were spotted carrying out missionary activities."
Was this really the case in the issue of Sadeq Abdel Nour? I wonder.
Frankly, I find these to be dark times for Christians in Jordan. There are obviously discrepancies between what the Jordanian government is saying and what’s actually happening on the ground. The government needs to be more transparent. Handcuffing, blindfolding and deporting a pastor with no explanation should not happen in Jordan or any country that claims to respect basic human rights. I’m angry and disappointed.
@xxx
rumours are different than actual cases, harassed perhaps but so are a lot of others so its not exclusive to shiites
@hamzeh N
yes there is a law against conversion, so missionary activities are limited to within the Christian community. so although i don’t know of any specific case but i bet the jordanian christian community would be outraged.
@thom
the foreign christian community might be shrinking, but thats foreign so saying that it is shrinking is baseless … crap
@Markus
look no further than this comment for the reason, and who worked to get them deported 😀 <-- it was the reason i commented
evangilists are zionists i hope they are all deported and never return, as a Christian Jordanian I support the government with these actions and I consider them Great days for true Christians in Jordan, may Jesus bless our King.
Markus, pretty much all Christians are called upon to spread the word. If the only Christians who are accepted in Jordan are the ones who don’t, then it isn’t the “true” Christians that are accepted there, is it? Just something to think about.
Brother Sadeq, like most evangelical pastors I know, is too busy preparing sermons, settling inter-church conflicts, visiting the sick and opening his home to his flock to be participating in ‘missionary activity’.
He was deported in his PAJAMAS, btw.
Onzlo, hey, you are usually a pretty even-keeled guy. What gives with the edge? You think Natasha is making this up?
Hamzeh, when a church has invited foreigners to serve, I think their aqaameh says “qasiis”.
evangilists are zionists i hope they are all deported and never return, as a Christian Jordanian I support the government with these actions and I consider them Great days for true Christians in Jordan, may Jesus bless our King.
I’m sure she has friends and likely family there as well affected by all this. And perhaps the fact that she’s ‘not’ living there bears some mention as well, as the number of Christians in Jordan continues to shrink and the reasons become more and more explicit.
Onzlo,
Here is the answer to your question: Three years ago. What does this have to do with deporting Christian pastors?
This begs the question: has there ever been a case where someone was granted a visa to Jordan or a permit to stay in Jordan with a stated purpose of carrying out missionary activities? Also, is there a law against carrying out such activities in Jordan?
Oh give me a break.. and when was the last time you actually lived in Jordan?
Hi XXX,
I never heard of the Shia deportation in Jordan. Can you provide me with some info if that’s possible. A link to a news article, maybe.
When Shiites were being deported and harassed, no one spoke out. How come?