On guard!

We recently visited Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, although it was on this side of the Jordan for us - see John 1:28 - it was where John the Baptist was baptizing. We were invited to go to the annual diocese service at Bethany, which was attended by about 500 adults, teenagers and children. I didn't understand a word of the service but just being there was enough. We sat in simple wood terraced seats, which meant that everybody had a clear view of the Bishop and Priests as they led the communion service. They had their backs to the River Jordan (the brown background in the photo), which was just a yard behind them. The communion was distributed with Jordanian soldiers guarding the River Jordan, which is the Israel/Jordan border. I don't know what the soldier thought about the priests dipping olive branches in the river and flicking the water at everybody - is there a theological term for this apart from getting 'soaked'? P