After deadly attack, Jordanian Christians need prayer

Driving through Jordan’s desert landscape feels quiet and still. Villages pepper the region. In these communities—places where neighbors know one another and families have shared their lives for centuries—there is often a deep belief that when trouble comes, people will stand together.

This is the case of Hamoud, a village in Jordan’s Karak Governorate, located in the center of the country.

Yet, on Friday, October 23, that sense of safety was shattered. Gunmen opened fire outside St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church as people gathered for a funeral. By the end of the attack, nine people had been killed and around 50 injured. Three suspects were arrested the following on Monday as the investigation continued.

Today, the church stands as a painful reminder of what happened. Shattered glass and bullet marks remain. Police officers guard the area, and the olive trees that stood for generations surrounding the church offer little comfort.

And for those who were there, the attack did not end when the shooting stopped.

‘No one expected this to happen at a church’

Open Doors has had long relationships of prayer with believers in this part of Jordan. Some of our team was able to pay their respects and offer condolences to the survivors and hear their stories.

One of the survivors described how an ordinary funeral turned into a scene of terror. In their community, men traditionally gather outside during funerals while women enter the church. He was outside when he heard the gunshots. His first reaction was to drop down to the floor.

The gunman continued firing, pausing to reload before shooting again. Witnesses described the attacker firing repeatedly at some of the same victims to ensure they were dead.

“No one expected this to happen at a church,” he said.

The gunfire began near the church’s main entrance. According to one of the survivors, an injured person managed to close the church doors, helping protect the approximately 100 people gathered inside. The gunmen then fired at the church windows.

The survivor believes that if the attackers had managed to enter the building, the consequences could have been far worse. It would have been a massacre.

Yet even as the community counts the lives lost and the injured, the impact of the attack is also being measured in sleepless nights and a sense of fear.

“I still can’t sleep properly since the shooting took place because of the horrors I saw,” he said. Jordanian authorities have pointed to radicals as the likely culprits—Jordan’s King Abdullah II referred to the attackers as “terrorists” and “outlaws of Islam” and said that extremists would not be allowed to act in Jordan. But the attack raises the question if Christians in Jordan are still able to gather, pray or even mourn in safety.

The attack was particularly shocking because Christians and Muslims in Karak have lived together peacefully for generations. “What happened is surprising. We have always lived with our Muslim brothers peacefully in Karak,” he said. He struggled to understand how anyone could carry out such an act. “Those who committed these atrocities have no religion ... no ethics.”

Although Jordan has experienced terrorist attacks before, including Islamist extremist violence in Karak in 2016, an attack on people gathered for a church funeral was unexpected. Jordan is known throughout the region as largely allowing many Christians to worship freely, particularly those who belong to historic churches like the Orthodox Church.

A response that brought reassurance, but not an end to fear

For Jordan’s Christian community, the response from the country’s leadership has been an important source of reassurance.

Another Christian Jordanian described the government’s response as prompt and said the King’s visit to affected families on the day of the attack carried particular significance. King Abdullah II referred to those killed as “our Jordanian martyrs” and promised that those responsible would face justice.

On October 26, authorities announced that three suspects had been arrested. The response demonstrated to the victims and their families that they were not being treated as a community standing alone. Rather, they were Jordanians whose lives mattered to the country as a whole.

But the investigation continues and no group has claimed responsibility. The arrest of suspects cannot, by itself, restore the sense of lost security.

The attack has left people considering very different paths forward. Some may think about acquiring weapons to protect themselves (especially in the villages). Others may consider leaving Jordan and seeking safety elsewhere. For others, the violence has strengthened their determination to stay, remain rooted in their country and continue living alongside their Muslim neighbors.

When asked what gives Christians security in Jordan today, another Christian Jordanian answered from the heart of his faith: “Jesus is the only source of security. I’m not afraid of death.”

For him, the deeper concern is the extremist ideology that can lead someone to commit such violence.

‘They were all loved’

For those who survived the shooting, the pain extends to the families who lost loved ones, the injured who continue to recover, and the wider community trying to understand what has happened—and why.

Asked how others could pray for her, one survivor’s answer was bigger than herself: “Pray that God brings comfort to the families of the people who lost their lives. I can feel their pain; they were all loved ... pray for me and all those who were at the church ... for things to calm down.”

Her words carry the weight of collective mourning. She knows that the people who died were more than names in a news report. They were loved ones, members of families and friends whose absence will be felt long after the church doors reopen.

Trauma healing will be essential in the months ahead. There may also be a need for practical assistance for families who have lost their sole income provider. Such support cannot undo what happened. But it can help families face the future without carrying every burden alone.

In the meantime, the gunfire has stopped, but the pain and questions remain. The government has spoken about justice, unity and the need to confront extremism. Will these statements translate into meaningful reforms, helping to challenge fanaticism and prevent such violence from happening again?

The best way you can help right now is to pray. It’s always the first thing people ask for in these situations. Prayer isn’t inaction—it’s a crucial lifeline to remind Christians they aren’t alone, no matter what happens.

Here are some specific ways you can lift up this hurting community:

• Pray for the survivors of the attack, that they would find healing and hope as they recover and mourn.
• Pray for those who lost family and friends in the attack, that God’s peace would comfort them.
• Pray for the Christian community in Jordan, that they would be strengthened and know that God and the global Church is with them.
• Pray for the authorities in Jordan, that God would bless them and that they would be able to pursue justice and peace.