MA26 – August 21
We started our day with a visit to the school where we have been donating Bibles for the past year. This opportunity in itself is a miracle and a fairly long story we have already told. If you haven’t heard it and would like to, please let us know and we will send you the full background. To sum it up, the pastor noted that, after 15 visits, we were finally welcomed into our first official government institution.
We met with the principal and two of the three vice-principals. This school was founded in 1964 by the principal’s father-in-law. There are 260 enrolled students ranging from 6 to 15 years old. The principal presented the pastor with a certificate of appreciation for the previous gifts of Bibles and we were able to clarify the need for future donations.
From the school, we went directly to the Bible Society to secure the next order and make a downpayment. An interesting side note: The Bibles we have been donating can be accepted in the school since the Bible Society is on the government’s approved supplier list.
We went back to the hotel to eat and rest for a bit, then joined the daily devotional call with our Temple family via Zoom; we had an earlier start this morning and couldn’t meet after breakfast as usual, so it was nice to connect with our home group.
Around 6 p.m., Emmi and our team were picked up by the Iranian contact we had met at the Bible League, to attend a Bible Study with a small group of Iranian refugees/recent immigrants. We weren’t sure what to expect since none of us speaks Persian, but as we mentioned yesterday, who are we to refuse an invitation?
The first surprise upon arrival was that this church is directly across the street from Takhoui’s house! What are the chances? More on this later…
The next surprise was the number of church members who spoke English. This made the evening very interesting, warm, and friendly; definitely easier for the non-Armenians in the group to participate.
We started the meeting with a message from Pastor Joseph, basically introducing himself and his testimony as well as a bit of our church’s history. The Iranian pastor then opened the meeting for questions, and there were several from the members. Afterward, Ann-Margret, Jonathan, and Shubroto were asked to share as well, which led to more discussions and a time of getting acquainted. By the end, we felt truly at home, as if we had just met extended family. When you think about it, we did! This was the first opportunity we had to distribute a large quantity of the Persian translation of Does Your Life Have Meaning? devotional. The book was accepted gladly by everyone present, and several of the recipients asked us to sign their books as a souvenir of our visit with them. It is amazing to think that all of these people had until recently been Muslim. This is not an easy religion to walk away from, and some of the members shared what becoming a Christian has cost them. They do not regret their decision, but they still live with the pain of being cut off from family and friends who have rejected them as a result. Shubroto’s testimony was particularly relevant for them, as he had a similar experience when he left Hinduism for Christianity.
The third surprise of the evening came in the form of a special request: One of the women was a Muslim who has not yet decided to become a Christian but is willing to join in with this community of believers. She came to the pastor and asked him if he would say a prayer of blessing over her newborn son. He, of course, agreed and was thus able to share the gospel specifically with this woman through his prayer.
As we were leaving, Pastor Joseph asked the Iranian pastor if he wouldn’t mind looking in on Takhoui from time to time. He already knows her as they are neighbours so he promised he would. This is a great relief since Takhoui is alone in Armenia.
By the way, this morning we had to bid farewell to our new friends, the Russian family, who promised to pray for us and give our greetings to their church, just as we will do for them. Ann-Margret gave one of her devotional colouring books to the mother, and the daughter was so excited that she grabbed it and immediately read the first page, stumbling over the English but determined. This deepened the connection between our groups.
Also, while we were waiting in the lobby this morning for Arayik to arrive, a couple sitting nearby heard someone in our group mention the word “baptism” and started a conversation with Shubroto. It turns out they are also Iranian Christians, missionaries living in Turkey, and visiting Armenia for vacation. The conversation with them had to be cut short because we needed to leave, but we hope to connect more meaningfully with them at some point during the rest of our stay.
What can we say except that God is good? We came to Armenia to minister to the Armenian people, but it has been such an unexpected blessing to meet with these believers from other countries as well.
English