Madaba Tree of Life

Madaba is a medium-sized city about 20 miles southwest of Amman and approximately a 3-hour drive from Husn where we live.  It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament and usually is associated with the land of Moab.  Some have speculated that it might be the home of Ruth but there is no ancient evidence of this.  A great battle was fought at Madaba between David's army and the Ammonites.  After the allocation of the conquered land to the 12 tribes, Madaba was in the area assigned to Rueben.

Today, Madaba is known for its beautiful ancient mosaics, among which is a depiction of a tree of life with fruit hanging on its branches.

On Sunday we went to Madaba with the Strongs to meet with the community health leaders and get their support for the next diabetic retinopathy campaign which will be held there.  The people we met with were very enthusiastic and gave us good recommendations for the testing sites.  It's always interesting to sit in a meeting where everyone is speaking Arabic and still be able to basically understand what everyone is talking about by their body language and facial expressions. 

Later in the day we returned to Amman and had a meeting with the student leaders of the medical student association that will be providing testing volunteers for the campaign.  We enjoy the enthusiasm and helpfulness of these young people.  We are always looking for ways to make the campaign process simple, efficient and effective.  

These outstanding young men will provide 20-22 volunteers every day for three weeks.  The volunteers will be trained before they come to Madaba, which will be a big time-saver for us.