Mission: Armenia 2019 – Thursday, August 29, 2019
Did you know there’s a neighborhood called Bangladesh in Armenia? That’s where our team went on Tuesday for one of their visits. At one point, as we got closer to where the family lives, our car couldn’t handle the bumpy dirt road so we got out and walked the rest of the way (about 15 minutes). A 29-year-old woman and her two beautiful children met us halfway and then led us to their home. You can see some of that path in the photos.
What we saw when we arrived was nothing we could have expected. Although the property seems quite large, it is barren and filled with scraps of wood and metal, with a few crumbling sheds and a ramshackle little two-room house situated immediately next to one of three electrical towers – which we could hear buzzing overhead. When we asked the young woman about her husband, she explained that he tends 500 sheep for the people who own the land they live on. He spends six months away from home working as a shepherd while she takes care of the property and a few other sheep. The worst of it is that he has no salary. He works only to earn the food they eat and for their boarding.
We were able to offer some help to this family, to share God’s love and to pray for them. The children were so joyful despite their difficult circumstances that we felt humbled, recognizing how much we take for granted.
The second family we visited lives in Yerevan and we have been to their home during past mission trips. The 13-year-old daughter was just a couple of months old when a treatment in the hospital went wrong and she was left partially disabled. We were delighted to see an improvement in her mobility this year and a smile on her face as she interacted with us. Praise God! It was encouraging to see how this family is trusting in the Lord.
Please pray for these families! Pray that they will experience God’s grace in their lives and find strength and hope in Him. Thank you.
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