Yardenit Baptismal Site, on the Jordan River.
"It's nice to see a Christian reading their bible".
A voice behind startled me, as I read in trance-like tranquility. I turned to see a smiling lady stood next to the bench. She was a middle aged brunette, donning a bright pink poncho.
This was to be a memorable encounter.
It was a miserable rainy morning at the Yardenit Baptismal Site, situated on the Jordan River. It is widely accepted that this isn't in fact the place Jesus was baptized, but the recognised location was considered too dangerous to develop tourism in the 70s, as it was straddling territory contested by Jordan and Israel since the Six-Day War. So everyone agreed, this will do for now.
Considering usual levels of tourism, it was pretty serene on this day, the emerald river Jordan flowing abundantly, hosting the occasional coach-full of Americans who had ventured here to this iconic spot to be re-baptized. I sat and watched them, my inner cynic quickly won over by the sincerity and beautiful simplicity of the ceremonies taking place here. When they were done and dried, I sat a little longer, reading my the gospel of John. This is when I was interrupted by Liz.
A straight-talking New Yorker, she had also been travelling around the Holy Land, and was flying back out to the States that night.
We got chatting, shared our stories and our journeys of faith. It got deep and real pretty quickly. She lit up, and explained she was so encouraged so have encountered our spirits. The feeling was mutual.
We prayed together, under a flimsy two-shekel umbrella and her faithful poncho. I gave her a sketch and Bible verse I'd been prompted to draw a few days before, but had been waiting for the right person to give to. It was very moving to have met this fellow soul traveler, here in this lush, verdant oasis which has seen thousands, if not millions, come and go to affirm their faith.
Our eyes welled up as we parted ways. Her last words to us were: "My pastor says, 'Christians don't say 'goodbye', we say 'see you later!'"
I promptly replied, "see you later then Liz, I'll look out for that pink poncho in heaven!"
Left: I could not resist the typical tourist shot.
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