By Daoud Kuttab
AMMAN, Jordan (RNS) — Jordan has launched a $100 million master plan aimed at attracting 1 million Christian pilgrims to celebrations of the second millennium of the baptism of Jesus in 2030.
The ambitious plan was unveiled by a foundation created by the Jordanian government to develop the “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” area, on the east bank of the Jordan River, long venerated as the place of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Archaeological discoveries of an ancient monastery at Al-Maghtas, Jordan, became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015.
Samir Murad, chair of the new foundation, said his group plans to provide Christians access to visit and worship at the site while respecting its integrity.
“We wanted to provide pilgrims a chance to be able to spend quality time at the location of the baptism while respecting its spirituality and the UNESCO World Heritage site conditions,” said Murad, a businessman and former minister of labor.
Murad’s team rejected proposals for five-star hotels and fine dining and instead opted for “glamping”-style lodging for more down-to-earth accommodations.
“We decided on a biblical village theme that attempts to re-create a 2,000-year-old experience,” he said.
Visitors will have a choice of eateries serving local organic food, “centered on the wilderness and plants mentioned in the Bible,” Murad said. Electricity and Wi-Fi lines will be placed underground so as not to clutter the aboveground experience.
Murad said the initial phase of the project will cost about $15 million. A second phase, which will include a three-star hotel, restaurants, shopping area, museum, wellness center, nature sanctuary and “opportunities for pilgrims to have special quiet spiritual time,” will cost as much as $85 million. It was unclear, he said, how the project in its entirety will be funded.
“Our initial goal is to raise the needs for the first phase so that people can see and feel what we plan to do,” Murad said.
Nine faith organizations have been officially granted the opportunity to build a place to welcome pilgrims to the baptism site.
One of the nine is the Baptist World Alliance, a network of Baptist churches around the globe, which is partnering with the Jordanian Baptist Convention on constructing the Baptist outpost in Bethany Beyond the Jordan.
The Rev. Elijah Brown, secretary general of the BWA, was among 250 guests at a dinner marking the launch of the project, attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, his two sons and his prime minister. Brown later told Jordanian Baptists gathered at Amman Baptist Church that the deadline for both phases “is set for 2029, to be ready for the 2,000-year anniversary of the baptism of Jesus at the River Jordan.”
Brown implored the Jordanian Baptist leaders to work closely with the Baptist World Alliance.
“We want to do this in total partnership with your convention,” Brown told local Baptists. “We want to plan together, fundraise together and have custodianship together.”
Brown’s wife, Amy, told the assembled Baptists that her great-uncle, August Lovegren, spent 36 years as a general surgeon in Jordan. She spoke warmly of Jordan’s royal family, recalling that Lovegren had a special relationship with the late King Hussein.
“Our family, and the Baptist family, have a great appreciation and respect for Jordan,” Amy Brown said. She added that they look forward “to continuing the legacy of Jordan in general and the personal legacy of our family and our larger family of faith by being part of the development to the site that Jesus was baptized in.”
First published Dec. 15, 2022
