Jordanian officials are cashing in once again on tourist attractions related to Christian historical sites. By December 2000, visitors should be able to access the site believed to be where John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ on the Jordan River.

The Jordan Valley Authority has awarded a series of contracts to build infrastructure and service facilities, such as a road that will link the main highway from the Jordanian capital city of Amman to the Dead Sea, where a newly discovered baptism site known as “Bethany beyond the Jordan” has been found. The site is mentioned in John 1:28.

“This road will allow travelers to reach Jesus’ baptism site at Bethany beyond the Jordan in about half an hour from Amman, or in 10 minutes from the Amman-Jerusalem Road,” said Tourism and Antiquities Minister Akel Biltaji.

Recent excavations and surveys have uncovered more than 20 different ancient sites in Jordan that were used in the time of Jesus and John the Baptist, or that commemorated John’s baptism of Jesus in the later Byzantine period.

The new infrastructure will include a visitors’ center and entrance area, a traditional market place, a chapel for multifaith worship, a memorial to John the Baptist, pathways and roads for visitors’ access to the large site, and a complex water system that will allow visitors to touch the same natural spring water that John the Baptist used during his ministry for a baptism of repentance.

For additional information, e-mail seejordan@ or call (202) 244-1451.

Company Wants To Put Jesus Back Into Easter

The $100 million in Easter baskets sold in the United States each year provide everything from chocolate bunnies to plastic Easter eggs filled with goodies–but not one word about the real reason for Easter.

Randy and Virginia Jordan, who own and operate Cornerstone Novelties Christian novelties manufacturer based in Thorsby, come up with a way to provide children with a basket and still teach them about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His victory over death.

The answer? The Easter Tomb basket!

It’s a basket-like product with a plastic base that’s shaped like Jesus’ tomb. It can be stocked with candies or other goodies, or folks can order them with a bag of candy, a stuffed animal, a smiley-faced bendable toy man who has “God loves you” written on him, and a key chain.

And most important, the basket includes a small tract that explains in children’s terms Jesus’ Easter mission.

Randy Jordan, president of Cornerstone Novelties, said he got a vision from God for this product about three years ago. “God came to me and said, ‘I’m not in Easter.’ He showed me how children share the bunnies and the eggs on Easter, but don’t know anything about Jesus.”

Jordan said his firm is not large enough to mass-produce the baskets for larger retail outlets like Wal-Mart. You can order toll free by calling (888) 770-1277 to have them mailed in time for Easter.