We have been in Armenia for just a week and are already having such a great time meeting people and ministering here. Armenia is a small country that borders Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Azerbaijan. It was the first country to declare Christianity as an official religion and even today 93% of Armenia people claim to be part of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The country has been through a number of hardships including the Armenian Genocide also called the Armenian Holocaust when 1.5 million Armenians were massacred. We visited the Genocide memorial at the start of the week and prayed for this nation, for peace, hope and freedom. We have both felt really touched as we have walked around the capital to see such peaceful, caring people always willing to help (Prayer points at the bottom of this post)
Our first ministry to visit this week was an elderly home in Yerevan. We got to visit a number of residents including one lady, Asia who was struggling with pain in one eye. Amy began to pray and Asia said she felt the pain go and got very excited. Then the team joined and we all prayed again for her sight and Jesus healed it! We were just going along our usual way of visiting people and showing the love of God, but this time we were extra blessed to experience the power of Jesus’ healing this lady!
We spent an afternoon with a group of disabled orphan children and we had such a fun time playing with them, making balloon animals and walking with them through the town.
At the end of the first week our team went to visit underprivileged families and refugees in their homes. The homes are assessed to see how local ministries can help and support them. We got to spend time sharing why we are here in Armenia, and prayed with the families. All of the families we have visited have been really touched and we as a team have been very touched ourselves. One family had a fear and reverence of God and called themselves Christians but didn’t really have a relationship with Jesus. They would never speak to him directly, but rather would pray to different saints as intermediaries between them and God. During our visit they decided to give their lives to Jesus and it was so special!
Another family we visited shared with us how this was a special day that we had visited them. Because 18 years ago on that same date, the man had wanted to commit suicide, but as he went out that night he saw a light and Jesus changed his life completely. This was an amazing confirmation for us that we were in the right place at the right time and also a huge encouragement for him as a reminder that God has not forgotten him even in his struggles.
Video featuring some of the families we visited…. Prayer points below
Prayer Points
- Pray for Armenia, for this nation that has been through much suffering. Pray for peace and freedom of fear among the people
- Pray that forgiveness between Armenia and Turkey will be achieved as well as finding a solution with Azerbaijan that will allow both sides of the conflict to find peace and reconciliation through the grace of Christ (see Armenian history and news for more details)
- Pray for those in Karabah, for safety and for peace at the border
- Pray for the refugee families, for comfort, supporters and provision for their needs
- Please pray for our YWAM dts team. We are in our final 5 weeks now and want to receive everything God wants to do in us and through us during this season.
- Pray for our health, for strength and energy
- Pray for our finances- we still have a bit of a way to go with finalising fees within the next few weeks
- Pray for wisdom, that we can minister effectively to the Armenian people and leave a long lasting impact on the church and ministries here
We have been very touched so far by what we have seen here in this nation. A people who are very gentle, kind and humble. A people who have been broken in the past and persecuted, and yet they still seem to remain peaceful amongst themselves and we can see God’s hand on this nation and His heart for these people.