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The
terrain is mostly mountainous and volcanic, with fast flowing rivers
and few forests. The climate is highland continental, which means that
the country is subjected to hot summers and cold winters. The land
rises to 4090 metres (13,420 ft) above sea-level.
Mount
Ararat, which was historically part of Armenia, is the highest mountain
in the region. Now located in Turkey, but clearly visible in Armenia,
it is regarded by the Armenians as a symbol of their land. Because of
this, the mountain is present on the Armenian national emblem today.
Noah's Ark once came to rest upon Mount Ararat.
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Armenia has a population of 3,215,800.
The
predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. The roots of the
Armenian Church go back to the first century. According to tradition,
the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles --
Thaddaeus and Bartholomew -- who preached Christianity in Armenia
between AD 40-60. Because of these two founding apostles, the official
name of the Armenian Church is Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenia was
the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event
traditionally dated to AD 301.
Over 93% of Armenian Christians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
On
26 March 1998 , the Congress of the Baptist churches decided to request
the registration of the Baptist Union in Armenia . The registration was
successful and Yuri Avanesyan was selected President and Asatur
Nahapetyan was elected General Secretary. From that period the Board of
the Union began to work actively with a vision of church planting and
providing education for pastors.
Today, in the Union of
Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches of Armenia there are more than
125 churches and mission points, with about 4000 baptized believers.
(Information from Wikipedia and http://www.armbaplife.am)
During
the time we, as EBWU leaders met in Armenia for our annual Committee
Meetings we had the wonderful opportunity of sharing with the women of
Armenia as they came together for a Day Conference. This was held
in Central Baptist Church, Yerevan on Friday 1st April and it surely
was a day to remember.
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The
church was crammed full of women of all ages (and even one or two
children). Women from the eleven regions of Armenia had been
invited but not every area was able to send representatives. The
Conference began just after 10.00am and continued through the day until
5.30pm.
Rev. Asatur Nahpetyan, General Secretary of the Armenian
Baptist Union and Pastor of Central Baptist Church opened the
Conference by welcoming us and then introducing Livija who in turn
introduced the other six members of the Committee. The President
of the Armenian Baptist Union then addressed us using Scripture to
outline the role of women. Then it was over to the ladies, and
Alla who led the Conference.
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As
there were seven of us in the Committee each of us were allocated a
topic to speak on so that we could all participate in the day’s
proceedings. Our theme was ‘Women in Ministry’ and we had the
topics as follows:
Livija – Women in Service
Margun – Caring for Children & Young People
Elisabeth – Caring for the Elderly & Visiting the Sick
Margaret – Financial Responsibility in the Family & Church
Susie – Women in Trouble (Prostitution, Trafficking & Violence)
Wies – Influencing our Neighbourhood & Workplace
Aniko – Looking after our Environment (our Homes & Church).
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Each
of us brought a short message on our allocated topic, using Scripture
to affirm what we were saying, and some gave personal examples and
testimony from their own lives and experiences. I must pay
tribute to Nelly Hakobyan who interpreted for us during the day.
She tirelessly translated our words into Armenian so the women could
understand our message.
We had hoped to bring a Power Point
presentation of the work of EBWU but I’m afraid technology let us down
as, in spite of assistance from one of the men, the computer failed to
connect with the projector. However Livija filled in the time.
Towards the close of the Conference questions were invited and we received one or two which were answered.
Interspersed
throughout the day we sang praise to the Lord and had several times of
open prayer. We also had two short breaks, one in the morning and
one in the afternoon, as well as a longer break for lunch. As it
was a lovely day and the church had quite a good sized courtyard we
went outside to enjoy the beauty of the sunshine and to speak, when we
could, with the women. A very substantial lunch had been prepared
for us and we were very well looked after. The hospitality was
just amazing and the love shared was almost tangible. |
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At
the close of the Conference many of the women came forward to talk with
us and quite a few asked for prayer for various family members and
concerns they had, so we stood in small groups talking and
praying. It was such a privilege to stand with groups of two or
three and pray with and for our Armenian sisters. During the day
there was a real sense of the Lord’s presence and each of us gave
thanks for the honour of being used by God to bless our sisters and for
them to bless us. It was a two-way thing. We were so
blessed by just being there. It was a marvellous
experience. Praise the Lord.
The Armenian women of Central
Baptist Church have a lot to teach us; their great concern is to make
disciples and for there to be true spiritual commitment. They
have a great concern for and are very earnest about prayer. Every
Tuesday about eleven women gather to pray from 12 noon – 5.00 pm and on
the first Tuesday of the month they have a night of prayer and
fasting.
They also meet for prayer prior to worship
services. Approximately ninety-six people, men as well as women,
are involved in a twenty-four hour prayer chain ministry, each praying
for fifteen minutes per day at allotted times – some pray four times
per day. A calendar and items for prayer are drawn up for their
use.
The women have three groups who regularly visit; one group
visit the very poor of the church, another group visit those who don’t
come to church and those who have stopped coming, while the third group
visit new converts, just baptised and also those with spiritual
problems. Three older sisters visit newly married couples and
offer advice and are also willing to help if necessary when a family
starts to arrive.
So our Armenian sisters are active and
faithful in the work the Lord has called them to do and we praise God
for them and pray for His continued blessing and guidance on them and
the work they are involved in..
Margaret Brown.
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| The EBWU committee in Armenia with Armenian sisters, preparing the conference:
Second line: Wies Dijkstra, Margun Warem, Susana Mefford, Margaret Brown, Nelly Hakobyan, Elisabeth Vekas.
First line: Aniko Ujvari, Livija Lame, Anahit Davtyan and Alla Tsarukyan.
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