AMMAN, JORDAN (FBW)-With only about 3,000 members in 20 congregations in a nation of six million people roughly the size of the Indiana, Baptists in the nation of Jordan are a tiny Christian remnant living in an Islamic state occupying a strategic location in the heart of the Middle East-neighboring Israel to the west, Saudi Arabi to the south and east, Iraq to the east and Syria to the north.

And, God is at work in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

That's the message Nabeeh Abbassi, president of the Jordan Baptist Convention, sought to communicate during several visits with a delegation of Baptist newspaper editors who toured the nation at the invitation of the Jordan Tourism Board in late September.

Recalling Jesus' words, Abbassi told Florida Baptist Witness, "The harvest is plenty, but workers are still few. ... The challenges are tremendous-cultural, financial, and spiritual warfare."

Although Jordan is officially an Islamic state, Christians are permitted to meet for worship and practice their faith-so long as their activity does not attract too much attention from authorities. It is formally unlawful for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.

Compared to other Islamic states, Christians in Jordan enjoy relative freedom to worship and practice their faith, but there are enormous social, cultural and governmental pressures against conversion to Christianity.

A woman worships at Husn Baptist Church near Irbid in northern Jordan. Baptists number about 3,000 in 20 congregations in the nation of six million. Photo by James A. Smith Sr.

"The Jordanian government tries to be outside" such conflict, unless "complaints come to their attention," according to Abbassi. "Their main goal is keeping peace in the country; the difficulty rises with the family structure which rejects any kind of conversion from Christianity to Islam, or from Islam to Christianity. Either conversion is not welcomed" bringing "shame to the family honor."

At birth, all Jordanians are officially registered by the government with their family's religion-about 95 percent being Muslim. This means that many Jordanian Christians are only ostensibly so.

"The word 'Christian' in Jordan does not mean a personal relationship with Christ," Abbassi explained to the Witness. "It only describes a person who belongs to a nominal Christian family. He might not be a believer and still in his birth certificate, he is a Christian. The evangelical community [in Jordan] uses the word 'believer' to distinguish if from the general term 'Christian."

Abbassi said it's "hard to determine the level of receptivity" to the Gospel among Jordanians because "most people are satisfied with their beliefs and the culture is very protective of the religious identity."

Still, "God is working in the lives of people all the time," he added.

In spite of the challenges, Abbassi and other leaders of the JBC are sharing the love of Christ through various ministries-some originally begun by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board-including two schools, a conference center, bookstore and a radio ministry that touches the lives of women throughout the Arab world.

The schools, located in Amman, the nation's capital, and the northern city of Ajloun, are operated by a board of directors appointed by the Jordan Baptist Convention, although the curriculum is the same as Jordan's government schools, with the exception of the additions of Christian education and foreign subjects, including English and French, Abbassi noted. The Amman school-whose academic excellence caused the late king to enroll his children there-has about 1,200 students, preschool through high school. Unlike the more financially sound Amman school, the Ajloun school with nearly 300 students kindergarten through 9th grade has experienced financial difficulties operating in a more strongly Islamic area of the country

Children leave class at the Ajloun Baptist School in northern Jordan. The school, one of two operated by the Jordan Baptist Convention, educates about 300 students, K-9th grade. Photo by James A. Smith Sr.

"Both schools function under the ministry of education of the Jordanian government ... . The Baptist schools enjoy a special environment to serve the community. We show the right image of Christianity to the community and build a healthy environment for Muslim and Christian kids to grow in love and accept one another," he said.

Reaching far beyond the borders of their own country, the Jordan Baptist Convention also operates Arab Woman Today, a ministry to reach women throughout the 22 Arab nations of the Middle East and North Africa.

Begun in 1999 as a 30 minute radio program, today Arab Woman Today is broadcast weekly through Trans World Radio, mostly on secular radio stations throughout the Arab world, twice weekly in† North Africa and twice weekly in the Middle East.

Directed by Ruba Abbassi, the wife of Nabeeh, AWT is "reaching a huge audience" in the Arab world, Ruba told the Baptist editors who visited her office in Amman.

The radio program often deals with thorny legal and social problems Arab women face, offering guidance, including legal advice.

With the slogan, "On the Air, Online and On the ground," the radio program has expanded to Arab Woman Today Ministries to include an Internet Web site (Arabic: www.ArabWomanToday.com; English: www.AWTMinistries.com), permitting the ministry to reach literate women who have access to the Internet, while the radio program can reach illiterate women.

"We believe there are many women who have accepted Christ through our program but are not able to write to us because of illiteracy ... or because of the risk" of acknowledging conversion, Ruba said.

Meanwhile, AWT hears from many women throughout the Arab world asking questions about Christianity, as well as social and cultural issues.

Additionally, AWT Ministries, which includes leadership from all five evangelical denominations in Jordan on its Administrative Board, offers an annual conference for women leaders on various issues of concern to Arab women.

The logo of AWT Ministries is a water cistern with the profile face of a woman, emphasizing the role of Arab women for centuries of retrieving from the wells water for their families.

"We can fill them with the living water," Ruba said, as Jesus promised the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

Even though Jordanian Baptists are a small minority in their nation, Nabeeh Abbassi has great hopes and dreams for what can be accomplished in the future through church planting and new schools.

Nabeeh told the Witness, "Please pray for our work in Jordan. ... We covet your prayers, partnership and support."