MA26 – August 24
Today was a full day of visitation but the format was a little different: We didn’t have to leave the hotel because they all came to us!
Our first visitor was Susanna from Vanadzor. She wanted to come to Horom on the Sunday we were there but was unable to arrange transportation so she travelled about two hours by bus to see us at the hotel and spend time in fellowship and prayer. For the past several years, Susanna has faithfully posted a chapter from the God’s Workshop devotional on Facebook every day. Although she arrived on her own, a friend of hers later joined us. We were surprised to learn he lives in Montreal! The pastor was able to have good conversations with both of them.
Before that meeting had even finished, Emmi arrived with Sarkis’ mother, Tatevik, and older brother Armen. Sarkis is the little boy we met last week who is unable to walk. We found out that his condition is spina bifida, a disease we sadly also know of in Canada, for which there is treatment but no cure. The good news in this situation is that Sarkis is being followed by a team of doctors; the bad news is that some treatments are free because of his age but others are not, so his progress happens in starts and stops.
We learned of other tragedies affecting this family and promised to pray for them and do what we can to help, although our resources are limited.
During this meeting, the pastor asked Tatevik a few questions about her spiritual wellbeing. She said she believes in God and knows that He is watching out for her and her family and helping them. However, she did not know what it meant to be born again, so the pastor explained this to her. Once again, the prayer on the back of the tract was very helpful. While she did not pray it for herself today, she did accept for the pastor to pray with her. We reminded her about Pastor Stepan’s church nearby and she said she was looking forward to being in touch with them.
Just as this meeting was ending, Anahit, the pastor’s cousin, called to say she was on her way to see us as this was the last time we would be able to see each other on this trip. We spent about an hour with her before we all needed to go our separate ways.
Our last visit of the day was the only one we didn’t have at the hotel. Sanadroug and Mariam had invited us for dinner to help them celebrate their wedding anniversary and we had a nice time of fellowship at their home in Kosh.
We have one update to add from yesterday: After we finished and sent our report, a bit earlier than usual, we walked to Republic Square as we sometimes do to spend some time by the Singing Fountains. While we were sitting there and talking, Jonathan noted that we had not seen “our Iranian couple” over the last day or two. About 10 minutes before the end of the nightly presentation, we decided to head back to the hotel, mostly to avoid the inevitable mass exodus of the gathered crowd. Along the way, “our Iranian couple” exited a building right beside us. We continued walking all together and then spent another half hour or so talking with them and learning about their ministry in Turkey and Iran. They had worked with OM (Operation Mobilisation) but are now working with an organisation called Elam. It was fascinating to hear how they navigate the sometimes perilous waters of evangelism in two countries that officially oppose or are closed to Christianity.
We also found it interesting how our paths had crossed again: If we had not finished our report early; if we had not gone to Republic Square; if we had not left early; if they had not needed to go to the building they exited just as we were passing by…
Like “our Russian family,” we do not believe that we met this Iranian couple by chance. We now have their contact information and they shared some information that could be beneficial to the Iranian refugee community that we met here.
We continue to praise God for his leading!
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