We're Joseph Hovsepian Ministries

Sharing the love of Jesus Christ one person at a time.

WELCOME

We at Joseph Hovsepian Ministries are excited to share with you about our Montreal-based ministry, which encompasses over six decades of involvement at Temple Baptist Church as well as personal outreach projects both within our own community and in other parts of the world.

The main goal behind all that we do is to share the love of Jesus Christ with as many people as we can, in whatever ways are within our means, and to help and support others who share this vision, working alongside them whenever we can. You can view our statement of faith here. We also invite you to connect with us on Facebook.

WHAT’S NEW

Joseph Hovsepian Ministries is returning to Armenia this summer! Arriving in Yerevan on August 7 and returning to Montreal on the 27th, Pastor Joseph will be doing this mission trip with his younger daughter Ann-Margret and two members of his church, Temple Baptist: Jonathan Butcher and Shubroto Shikdar. Please pray about this mission—for Pastor Joseph and the team, and for those they will meet with and reach out to. We will post updates and photos as often as we can. Thank you!

OUR SUPPORTERS

Joseph Hovsepian Ministries is supported by individuals whose vision is the spreading of the Good News of Jesus Christ to as many people as we are led to by the Holy Spirit. This ministry is not supported by any organizations or other ministries but solely by family and friends.

Books and other materials are available for a free-will donation (to help cover printing expenses) or freely to those unable to make financial contributions. Click here to learn more.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

"I tell you the truth, WHOEVER hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. "

John 5:24

From the Blog

MA26 – August 19 & 20

August 20, 2026

Yesterday wasn’t too busy but we were glad to visit Nelli and Arayik’s daughter-in-law’s parents. They are also believers but going through a difficult time as the wife had a stroke a few months ago and is still struggling in her recovery and the husband is dealing with a painful hernia. It is difficult to see people suffering when we are helpless to change their situation. We prayed with them and for them, which they appreciated, and we trust the time of fellowship let them know, at least, that they are not alone.

This morning, when we met for breakfast and then devotions, we weren’t quite sure what the day had in store for us. Every day we pray that the Lord will go before us and lead us to those we are supposed to meet; to open the doors we are supposed to go through and close the ones we should not; that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and willing to go where He leads. The Pastor had even prayed this morning that, somehow, today someone would be saved. However, how would that happen when our one activity for the day had been cancelled and our schedule was empty? We anticipated that would change but could not imagine how.

While we waited for direction, three of us decided to visit a local market. After about an hour, the Pastor called to say that Arayik was on his way to the hotel. Without knowing what the plan was, we returned to the hotel, and Arayik picked up our team for a visitation.

During the long drive to the village of Nalbandyan, quite near the Turkish border, we learned we were going to meet with a family Arayik has known and has been witnessing to for some time. Our host’s wife, sister-in-law, and close neighbour are all believers, but he and his son are not…or, rather, were not.

This group was close-knit, sincerely hospitable, and warm. We all quickly felt at ease. The conversation quickly moved into spiritual matters. Levon, the father, was clearly open and had a lot of questions. He knew the Bible well, but had received some confusing and incorrect teaching, which the Pastor (and Arayik) carefully clarified, referring to Bible verses to guide him. They advised him that, when in doubt, he should search the Scriptures; if what he heard wasn’t there, then it wasn’t true. Levon agreed.

Meanwhile, his 21-year-old son was sitting quietly on a sofa near the table where the rest of us were seated. We weren’t sure whether he was listening or even interested in the discussion. At one point, Pastor asked Arayik to read the “sinner’s prayer” at the back of the tract “What Are You Searching For?” We talked about the importance of being born again: taking the step from simple belief in the existence of Jesus to repentance and surrendering one’s life to Him.

The son then took the tract, pointed to prayer, and said, “This prayer was for me.” Moments later, the Pastor asked them both if they were ready to pray that prayer for themselves and accept the Lord. Without hesitation, they both said yes. The Pastor led them through a prayer of commitment and, while they repeated his words, the women quietly wept with joy.

It is easy sometimes to question why things happen the way they do; to wonder if the time, money, and effort of making a trip to Armenia is necessary; to be tempted to take a day off, turn down an invitation, or not drive the distance. But we never know beforehand how God is going to work, or where he is going to lead, or whom we are going to meet. Our duty is simply to say yes. When we look at how empty our day started, and how full it ended, we can say that it was definitely worth it all. If the salvation of two men is the only good thing to come out of this trip, it will definitely have been worth it all!

MA26 – August 18

August 18, 2026

Today was one of our non-stop days.

At breakfast, we met the Russian pastor and his family that we mentioned in yesterday’s report and we learned more about their situation and the challenges and scares they face because of the Ukraine-Russia war. But they were quick to share a lot of their blessings, too. We will be praying for them and would ask you to do so also. (Because of their circumstances, we are not sharing names or specific details)

After our morning devotions, we met with a woman whose mother-in-law we have been supporting for several years. She travelled for over an hour to our hotel because she really wanted to see Pastor Joseph again (it had been several years since their last meeting). We had a short but pleasant visit with her.

We headed out immediately afterward to visit a family our team connects with most years we are in Armenia (the mother was baptized last year). Interestingly, it was the daughter who initiated the meeting at her parents’ home. It was amazing to see how much she has changed and grown spiritually over the past few years. One of the outcomes of our discussion today was the decision to start a new Bible study in their home. This will be the third new study group started in the last year. God is good!

Our next stop was to Pastor Stepan’s church for their Tuesday Bible Study, which we had attended last week. This afternoon, there were a few more people present and a lot more discussion, some of it quite animated. It was encouraging to see believers of different spiritual maturity levels discover and discuss the Word together.

We then returned to the hotel, tired but blessed, and decided to head to a nearby restaurant for dinner. While waiting for each other in the lobby, we talked for a while with another family we had seen and chatted with a few times. They are Armenians from Toronto, so it was nice to connect with other Canadians! We discovered that the mother was born in Iran, so we offered her a Persian copy of Does Your Life Have Meaning? and gave an English copy of God’s Workshop to the family as well. Both books were accepted gladly. They will be here for a few more days, so we hope to have more opportunities to talk to them.

As we are just over halfway through our trip, we realize how tiring visitation can be. It would be easy to imagine that going to someone’s house, eating watermelon, and drinking a coffee is a relatively easy exercise. But there is an invisible expenditure of emotional and spiritual energy which can be quite draining, and we all seem to be feeling it at the moment. So please pray for our ongoing energy and strength, specifically that we will be able to offer the hope and encouragement that we came here to share.

MA26 – August 17

August 17, 2026

What. A. DAY! But it “happens”. . .

We started as usual with breakfast and devotions. Especially for those of us who usually attend the daily 8:30 a.m. Zoom call in Montreal, we have really appreciated these moments of Scripture reading, discussion, and prayer.

Shortly afterwards, Emmi and Arayik came to the hotel and we headed out for our first visit. It was a heartbreaking experience.

Upon our arrival, Armen, a boy of about 11, led us through a small crumbling tunnel we later learned had once been a mule barn. We took the first left into a dimly lit apartment where we were met by an elderly woman who had two other children with her: a year-and-a-half-old girl named Victoria and an angelic six-year-old boy named Sarkis. He was the main reason for our visit, and this was the heartbreaking part. Sarkis has a condition which currently prevents him from walking, due to damage to his spine caused by a brain hemorrhage. His condition is treatable, but improbable due to the costs involved. In spite of his limitations, he has the sweetest disposition and had many smiles for all of us. He was especially delighted to receive a children’s Bible story book and said that he loves to read.

The grandmother did not ask for anything except to be connected with a good church, and as the Lord would have it, she “happens” to live fairly close to Pastor Stepan’s church. He has already agreed to follow up with her and help however possible.

Our next stop was to visit the shepherd family who was baptized last year. Unfortunately, the father and son, who had planned to be home today for our visit, were delayed and so we did not get to see them. However, we had a nice visit with the mother and two daughters. Before we left, a niece “happened” to drop in to share the good news of her acceptance into the police academy, and it turns out that she is also a believer, attending an evangelical church about 200 kilometres away. Her church is also working with the Iranian community so she agreed to take some of our Does Your Life Have Meaning? devotionals with her, both Armenian and Persian. So, due to no credit of our own, the Good News is going to be shared further afield than we could have planned or even thought of.

We next dropped in on Takhoui, a friend of the Hovsepians who has become like family over many decades. As we stood in her doorway, she shielded her eyes from the sun and looked around at the members of our group. When she spotted Jonathan, she called him out by name, telling him that she prays for him a lot. We thought this was impressive since they only met once before.

For the rest of the late afternoon, we walked quite a bit in the city centre and spent some time at the “vernissage” (the open-air artisanal flea market), then went to a “western armenian” restaurant for supper.

On our way to the restaurant, there “happened” to be an old woman sitting outside of the hotel begging. We have seen her before and a couple of times gave her a little money. Jonathan met her once on his own and, with his broken Armenian, offered her the “What Are You Searching For?” tract with a few dollars. This evening, we introduced Pastor Joseph as the author of that tract and had a more fluent conversation with her. She said she had read the tract and affirmed that she is a believer. She is on the street begging because her daughter has a medical condition and they need to find money to treat her.

Walking a bit further, Shubroto “happened” to spot two young men from Bangladesh, giving us the opportunity to chat with them briefly and offer the same tract, this time in English.

After dinner, when we returned to the hotel and were beginning to prepare this report, a family of five we thought had checked out of the hotel two days earlier “happened” to return. We had seen them several times in the breakfast room over the last week, speculated that they might be Russian, and perhaps Christians, and assumed they didn’t speak English. We were wrong about the English part.

When they saw us sitting at the outdoor cafe tonight, the oldest child, a boy, came to say “hello again” to us. Then he asked: “Do you also believe in Jesus?” When we said yes, he said “We thought we heard you praying before eating breakfast.”

When his sisters and parents caught up with him, we learned that the father is a volunteer evangelical pastor. We had a nice visit for about half an hour, during which Pastor Joseph, who was not with us, “happened” to call Ann-Margret over Messenger from his room. These two volunteer pastors were connected over video and are looking forward to meeting in person tomorrow. We can’t help but regret that we did not speak to this family earlier.

We have been saying all along regarding this trip, as we said last year and as Pastor Joseph has said about his previous visits, that we really want to be led by the Holy Spirit to the people that we are supposed to meet. So even though certain things “happened to happen,” we do not believe that any of them happened by chance. It is a blessing to see how these situations come to be, and we ask you to join us in praying that God will turn these “happenings” into greater things than we could ever hope or imagine, for His glory.

MA26 – August 16

August 16, 2026

This morning, we attended Pastor Suren Shahumyan’s church in Charentsavan. It was nice to see this congregation again and enjoy some fellowship with them in singing and worship. After the service, which included short messages from Pastor Suren, Pastor Joseph, Shubroto, and Jonathan (the latter two translated by Samvel), we were treated to lunch, which allowed time for more fellowship and discussion.

On a side note, our friends Mariam and Sanadroug popped by after the service so we had a nice visit with them before heading back inside for lunch. We look forward to having more time to catch up with them again soon.

Later in the afternoon, we were able to visit the Pastor’s extended family at the home of one of his cousins and enjoy some rest and recreation with them. The cousin who was hosting offered a very touching toast at the beginning of the meal, highlighting the impact Pastor Joseph has had on the family and their appreciation of him.

We had a rainy ride back to the hotel where we then had a quick review of this coming week’s activities. Thanks for staying tuned; we will continue sharing God’s goodness in our next updates!

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy today’s photos, which includes some extra scenery shots.