BETHANY BEYOND JORDAN (ANS) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now the Special Mid-east Representative for the Quartet of nations, says it "took courage" for the Muslim Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to build a Christian baptism center at Bethany beyond Jordan.

Former British Prime Minister and current Mideast Quartet Representative Tony Blair (Photo via The Tony Blair Faith Foundation website).

Mr. Blair, who continues working for peace and reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians, was yesterday on hand at the dedication of the new Baptism Center at the Baptism Site in Jordan.

Blair served as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from May 1997 to June 2007. He was also the leader of Britain's Labour Party (1994 to 2007) and the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, England (1983 to 2007).

According to his foundation website, http://tonyblairfaithfoundation.org  Blair continues to be active in public life. He has many interests, not least his current role in the Middle East. He is working for the USA, UN, Russia and EU as the Quartet Representative, helping the Palestinians to prepare for statehood as part of the international community's effort to secure peace. In addition he will continue to be an advocate on the issues he cares about such as Africa and climate change.

During his ten years as Prime Minister, Mr Blair transformed Britain's public services through a program of investment and reform in schools and hospitals, resulting in more children achieving better school results and more people receiving faster access to health care, with improved survival rates for cancer and coronary heart disease.

Mr Blair has always been a strong advocate of a values-based, activist and multi-lateralist foreign policy -- an agenda that combined tackling terrorism and intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, with action on issues like climate change, global poverty, Africa and the Middle East Peace Process.

Tony Blair is also widely credited for his contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace Process by helping jointly to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement and deliver a power-sharing government.

Yesterday (March 20), alongside members of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), HRH Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad, and others, Blair was present at the dedication of the new Baptism Center at the Baptism Site in Jordan. The Center will be available particularly for use by all Christian traditions that practice believers' baptism by immersion.

In his remarks, Mr. Blair said: "This is a deeply historic place, where it is traditionally believed Jesus Christ was baptized by John. But this site is not only momentous to the Christian world, it also symbolizes hope for peaceful co-existence in the Middle East. It recognizes the fact that this region has for centuries been the home to sites holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. It has been a place where interfaith relations have been lived out day by day- on the ground, in the market place, on the street, in the daily interchange of neighborly relations."

Mr. Blair said it took "courage and leadership" for Jordan, a predominantly Muslim country, to facilitate creating the baptism site.

"But it took more. It took the same spirit that animated John and Jesus, and the Prophet Mohammed and all the Prophets of old. Each took the world as it was, alienated from God, and tried to make it how it should be -- reconciled to God Justice, mercy, compassion, the 'us'' not the 'me', pure unselfish love. This is what they stood for."

Mr. Blair said that, "Back then, their world was small. But their message was not. And in the larger world we inhabit today, where we travel through continents and time zones, their message is the same message today, centuries later.

"Don't look inwards, but look outwards. Don't exclude, embrace," Mr. Blair said.

He encouraged people not to argue about differences, "but understand what is shared and fulfill a common purpose blessed by God."

Mr. Blair said it was also "deeply encouraging" that the Baptist World Alliance's President Reverend Dr David Coffey, who is also a member of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation's Global Advisory Council, just delivered the Alliance's response to what is known as "the Common Word letter."

HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, a principal initiator of this letter signed by 138 Muslim scholars and leaders, has warmly received the Baptist response. The letter calls on Christian leaders to enter into dialogue with Muslims and focus on commonalities between the faiths.

"My Foundation is very supportive of the Common Word initiative as a whole," said Mr. Blair.

"So this site in Jordan is not simply a place of archaeology. It is a place that now, as in John's time, is a place for renewal.

"The dedication of the center is an opportunity for us all to reflect on the need to renew. Renew our faith in our God, in our Lord, and in his message: that true love is not measured in the receiving but the giving; and the giving, not limited by human prejudice but enlarged by the infinite possibility of the love of God."

In his speech at the official opening of the New Baptist Center in Jordan Mr. Blair commented: "So this is where John the Baptist, in his garment of camel's hair, fed on locusts and wild honey, preached and worked and baptized Our Lord.

"John, who called the people to repentance, called them to change their ways, called them above all to return and be true to God, not to worship by words but by deeds; not to offer sacrifice by burnt offerings, but by relinquishing selfish desires and seeking the common good.

"This Baptism happened on these banks nearly 2000 years ago. A moment in time with a consequence in eternity," said Mr. Blair.

He asked what was it that John in his ministry, and Our Lord Jesus Christ in his, represented to the world?

"First, that doctrine may be a support but can never be a substitute for the essence of faith which is: the demonstration of God's love; of its power; of its mercy; of its plea to us to break free of the narrow confines of daily living and to discover the meaning of life.

"Second, the honesty of it, the witness to truth even, though truth meant death; John because he refused to countenance the behavior of Herod; Our Lord because he refused to deny his nature or his mission, preferring to lose his life when so easily he could have yielded to Pilate, and kept it. But he chose not to save himself from pain, but to save us for redemption.

"Thirdly, what was this Baptism that John gave to those masses by the River Jordan? It was a baptism of renewal, and renewal open to all who would submit to God.

"And as for Our Lord, examine what he did. He returns to the synagogue of his home town of Nazareth in Galilee and reminds them that Elisha was sent not to the lepers of Israel but to Naa'man the Syrian."

Mr. Blair said that Jesus, "gives healing not only to his fellow Jews, but to the Canaanite woman from Tyre and Sidon. And in one of the most famous parables, he extols the virtue of the Good Samaritan, the stranger, over those who were supposedly devout believers.

"Jesus said: 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' His Ministry was not bounded by race, or tribe; but boundless, a ministry of universal appeal and affection.

"His love reached out. It was not hoarded. It was freely given," Mr. Blair said.

He continued: "So here we are, 2000 years later, in this same spot. Except today, we are in a Muslim land. And a short distance from here lies Jerusalem and sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

"It took courage and leadership for Jordan to allow us this site of baptism, here by this ancient river. But it took more. It took the same spirit that animated John and Jesus, and the Prophet Mohammed and all the Prophets of old. Each took the world as it was -- alienated from God -- and tried to make it how it should be -- reconciled to God Justice, mercy, compassion, the 'us'' not the 'me', pure unselfish love. This is what they stood for.

Back then, their world was small, but their message was not, he said. "And in the larger world we inhabit today, where we travel through continents and time zones, their message is the same message today, centuries later."

Mr. Blair encouraged his hearers: "Don't look inwards, but look outwards. Don't exclude; embrace. Don't argue about your differences, but understand what you share and fulfill a common purpose blessed by God."

He said the Baptism site "is not a place of archaeology -- it is a place that now, as in John's time, is a place for renewal.

"When Moses shattered the golden calf and called on the people to worship the one true God, he renewed the idea of faith, removing it from the realm of superstition to the realm of belief.

"When Jesus opened our eyes to the true will of God, he renewed the idea of faith not as legalistic ritual, but as love, love of God and love of our neighbor as ourselves.

"When the Prophet Mohammed took the stone of Ka'aba and made it the place of Hadj, he transformed it from a place of pagan idolatry and transformed it into a testament of submission to God's will."

Concluding, Mr. Blair said: "So, in dedicating this site, let us too renew. Renew our faith in our God, in our Lord, and in his message: that true love is not measured in the receiving but the giving; and the giving, not limited by human prejudice but enlarged by the infinite possibility of the love of God."

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International.