Bordering on Defeat

Stuck between two countries with nowhere to go. It sounds like something that could only happen to Lucille Ball on her European vacation. But unlike the comedy sitcom, there is little humor to be found when you come face to face with the impenetrable Border Patrol.

Wendy and I found ourselves in just such a predicament in 1995 as we attempted to return to our apartment in Jordan from a vacation to Israel. The whole problem stemmed from the lack of communication skills between two “peaceful” countries as we discovered that it is virtually impossible for two countries to communicate between different time zones.

Unlike in the Americas where most countries change time for Daylight Savings at the same time for most states and provinces, the Middle Eastern countries must assert their independence over even this part of culture. Israel ended daylight savings on the first Sunday of September, but Jordan did not do so until the third Wednesday of September…seventeen days later. So our entire vacation took place in a different time zone.

This would not have been a problem if we were traveling from Magdalena, Mexico, to Tucson, Arizona, during Daylight Savings Time (DST), even though Arizona does not recognize DST. We may have become slightly disoriented at times, or the residents of Arizona may have forgotten that Mexico is in a different time zone for part of the year, but it does not bring a complete halt to tourism. And this certainly would not be a problem if you traveled from Texas to Arizona. The United States does not have guards who check and stamp your passport as you travel from one state to another. In fact, if it were not for the road signs stating that you are “Now Leaving the Great State of Texas” and another a few hundred yards later telling you that you are “Now Entering the Natural Beauty of New Mexico,” you would rarely know you have changed states.

Our problems leaving Israel started as we approached the final security checkpoint before reaching the border between Israel and Jordan along the Jordan River. It was 11:10 am local Israeli time. The guard stopped our car and told the driver that the border was closed. He said it closed ten minutes ago. As experienced travelers, we knew that the border was supposed to remain open until 2:00 am, except on Fridays when the border closed at noon. This just happened to be a Friday. Israel, without any notification, decided to close their borders at 11:00 am since they were currently one hour behind the Jordanian time.

We did not know what to do. We had just enough cash left to pay our driver, pay the exit fees for Israel, pay the entrance fees for Jordan, and get a ride back to Amman, Jordan. The guard told us we would have to turn around and head back. Our driver was more than willing to take us back for double the agreed price. I told him we did not have enough for the return trip and that we would not have enough to spend an extra two nights in Israel since the Israeli borders are closed on Saturdays for the Sabbath.

Fortunately we were not the only people stuck at the border. It just so happened that there were some members of the Middle East Peace delegation who arrived shortly after us. They argued furiously with the guards. One Israeli gentleman, possibly an Ambassador to Jordan, called the Jordan Border and discovered that they were still open. When he informed the Israeli guard, he was told, “No. They are closed. We are closed.” This further infuriated the Ambassador who then shouted in English using a perfect Brooklyn-Jewish accent, “What? You don’t want peace with Jordan? You want there should be a war with Jordan? And it will be all your fault.”

Finally, after an hour and a half of arguing, the guard decided to just leave. One man yelled to him, “If I just walk across, are you going to shoot me in the back?” A young guard standing nearby responded, “No, I will not shoot anybody.” All this time I kept going back to the cab to share with Wendy what was happening.

Finally I decided to bring out my very obviously pregnant wife to see if that would gain us any sympathy from the guards. It was well over 100 degrees outside. I told the guard that we would have to camp at the border for two nights if we could not pass. Now, even though this was alongside the Jordan River, it was not a nice camping location. The immediate surroundings were desert and we had no camping gear whatsoever. Wendy in desperation used the best weapon from her arsenal: she started to cry. The Israeli soldiers, hardened and toughened by a lifetime of wars, looked embarrassed and walked away. One lady asked them what she had to do to get deported from Israel, but they ignored her.

One of the guards finally made an executive decision and decided to let us all pass the checkpoint. When we reached the Israeli side of the border, a Border Patrolman took everyone’s passports and announced, “The bank is closed. No change. Seventy nine shekels per person.” After paying the taxi driver, we only had sixty shekels left. I offered him that plus the equivalent of one hundred shekels in Jordanian dinars. He said, “The bank is closed. I don’t know if this is enough. How do I know?” He obviously wanted me to give him more money. One woman offered to exchange money for me so I could pay him.

We finally crossed the bridge into Jordan wondering if the Israelites had as much trouble getting into the Promised Land as we had getting out of it. With dirt still on the knees of my pants from where I knelt to pray for God’s guidance, I again prayed to thank God for helping us to leave Israel.

After we returned to our apartment in Jerash, we read our daily devotional from Open Windows. The devotional passage for that day was, “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.” (Revelations 21:25, KJV) We both laughed out loud. What a wonderful blessing I thought. Heaven’s gates will never be closed. There will be no need, for we will finally have true peace. There will be nothing to fear. You can come and go as you please with no need of passports or visas. What a wonderful message we can share with the billions of lost people in this world who will forever be locked up in the place of their own reward…unless they turn to Jesus.