Stewart the Puppet

When my family came for Christmas, they brought along Stewart the Puppet. We've been living overseas for over four years now, but I guess puppet shows are 'all the rage' at churches in America. stuffchristianslike even has a post about it. So there are a group of puppets at my parents' church that act out stories and 'sing' to semi-religious songs as entertainment during the service. The puppet show for advent season involved the puppets singing 'Mary's Baby' to the tune of 'Sherry Baby' by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Before you roll your eyes, you have to remember, 'it's for the kids'. Right. Well, the week before my family came to visit Stewart announced at church that he was going on a trip. All the other puppets were jealous, and now my father is busy preparing a power point to show the congregation this month. I'm going to withhold my thoughts on the use of puppets during a church service, and just let you all enjoy the pictures we took. In any event, this is an interesting way to teach ordinary Americans a little bit about life in the Middle East. Here's to hoping that along with the cute pictures the congregation hears and understands a little more about our Arab friends and grows in compassion towards people they know very little about.

Stewart on a camel. Yes, we do have camels here, though (gasp) most people drive cars.

Stewart at Petra. The rose red rocks are beautiful.

Stewart near the Dead Sea, and just a kilometer away from the site of Christ's baptism.

Stewart at the lowest point on earth!
It was cold and windy that day, but some of my family swam anyway.

At the downtown Roman Amphitheater that is 2000 years old.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, . . . . . .

At Mount Nebo. Even in December we managed to get there on nice, clear, day.

Some local boys thought Stewart was pretty cool, too.

A view of Amman from Jabal al-qali3 or the Citadel.

Mary and the Christ-child at the Church of the Map in Madaba.

~ Um Tulip