As we arrived in Amman after a three hour flight from Dubai, Air Force One sat on the tarmac ready to whisk President Obama out of the Middle East. The newly rebuilt and refurbished Queen Alia Airport was chaotic. Having opened just two days before the arrival processes were in need of, shall we say, fine tuning. The 'patience training' we receive by living in Jakarta comes in handy when having to wait more than two hours to exit the terminal. It was worth the wait! The drive from the airport took us through the plains of Moab. This was Ruth's region. It isn't hard to imagine Ruth lying at the feet of Boaz at harvest time. Wide roads dissected the early green spring pastures of wheat, olive trees, mustard plant and flocks of sheep and goats guided by bedouin shepherds. The 1200BC Iron Age city of Madaba (Medeba in the Bible) opened up before us as we came over the rise of a hill. Madaba (land of water and fruit) is an ironic name since Jordan is the world's fourth poorest "water country". We turned on to the King's Highway, the ancient highway paved by the Roman Empereor Trajan that connected China to Rome for travel and trade. A ute with a cold, wind swept donkey (Balaam's?) standing in the tray drove ahead of us until we arrived at the Junaien Restaurant. Mediteranean cuisine is delicious. With a current population of 150 000, the residents are reluctant to renovate their homes or dig up their gardens as they live on top of antiquity. Any new discovery could mean their home will be claimed by the Ministry of Culture. After lunch we climbed Mount Nebo from where Moses looked at the Promised Land and on where he was buried by God. Here Joshua was commissioned to take God's people into Canaan (Numbers 27). Did Moses ever go in? He did! 'Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.' (Mark 9:2-4) Moses came in, but only through Jesus. Only Jesus can bring us in and keep us in God's covenant promises. Our final stop for the day was St. George's Church which contains the Madaba Map - a 2 million piece mosaic finished in 542AD used by pilgrims to plan their journey to religious sites in the Holy Land. In the church carpark a youg boy was playing soccer with a very flat and irreparable ball. Nathan Berry and I joined him for a game of "Barca" passing and our best trick shots. We made his day with a gift of 5 Dinars so he could buy a new ball. He ran shouting excitedly to his mother (peering from a second floor window) holding high the money. A forty minute drive brought us into Amman and to our hotel - The Geneva. At 7pm the lobby erupted in an explosion of music and merriment as a bride and groom arrived for their wedding reception. The mothers of the bride and groom (and another who I assume was grandma) danced deliriuosly in a circle around the couple. The father of the bride was suitably serious. Jordanians know how to celebrate. Day One is done!