Some things just happen so wonderfully we know that only God could orchestrate it. Coming into Armenia, it felt like a mixture of Jordan/Georgia, nothing new, but after meeting the people this country has come alive!
Our second day in Armenia I had an hour to spare before dinner and decided to walk over to the Cascade to catch the sunset. The Cascade was just a few streets down from where we are staying and is a giant staircase of limestone and is an open air museum. It is relaxing and calm and a great place to see the sunset. As I stood there, listening to “Only Jesus” by Brian Johnson, someone grabbed my attention: “Can you take a picture of me?”, He asked. “Sure!”, I said, taking off my headphones. We engaged in conversation and Reuben (the guy) and I talked for some time. He asked why I was here and I shared that I’m here to share Jesus’s love with people and we talked about God and church and religion, about Armenia and about Kim Kardashian a little bit (she’s from Armenia). Reuben mentioned that he used to be interested in God but he was “weak” now and was looking into other religions. I told him about how we can read a lot of books and the Bible and that helps some but that we can pray directly to God and he loves him. I shared the story of the prodigal son with him and how the Father heart of God longs for us to return to him. Eventually I had to leave for dinner but I challenged him to think about what we had talked about and to pray to God directly. It’s amazing how God brought someone who was open to hear about Him directly to me even when I was just going to catch the sunset before dinner.
A few days later, we went to church, our first Sunday in Armenia. A few of us went to an Armenian church while some others went to an international church and the Armenia church was amazing! We walked in not sure how much we’d be able to understand, but the first worship song we heard was “Open the eyes of my heart” in Armenian but we sang it in English. Then there was a special guest speaker from Russia that Sunday and funny enough there was an Armenian translator for him and we had an English translation available too. But aside from being able to understand church, it was amazing because of the people we met.
After service we got plugged in with some people and attended two more nights of their special conference. We attended a young adult prayer meeting and we got to share words we received and pray them and Elaine got to lead worship on her guitar!
Meghan and I got to lead a cell group meeting. One of the girls we met has been hosting the group for a few years and we got to share stories of the race, how to step out of our comfort zone and be bold and share. It was a sweet time.
The girls that went to the other church got connected with a woman who has a ministry in a village two hours from Yerevan (where we are) and 4 of us were able to go last Saturday to the little town. I can’t share pictures, but we worked with disabled children and put on Sunday school for them and sang songs and told them the story of David and Goliath. There were two groups and the second group we also shared the armor of God and had a craft about making our own shield. That was such a heartwarming day, these children are children of former/current prostitutes and to see them on the fringes of society and to be able to love on them was so beautiful. Afterwards we had tea and fruit with one of the ladies at her house and then had dinner with the woman who heads the ministry and her children and her friend, who had driven us all day. It was so beautiful and there is so much need. She currently rents the place out for $55 a month and wanted to expand. The houses are like giant rectangles, like trailer homes and it was very cold there. Our scraps leftover from the crafts got thrown in the furnace for more heat.
We have about a week and a half left here and I know God will work more. We have been in a discipleship conference the last few days and will continue with that for one more day and have one more trip planned with the town with the children.
While we’ve been busy and our schedule is packed I’ve also been hungering for more of God, to know him more deeply and to pursue more of him. I will leave you with this quote:
“It is the continuous pursuit that changes the pursuer. All true study is driven by hunger. If you do not have the questions you won’t recognize the answers” – Bill Johnson, book: The Essential Guide to Healing, Equipping all Christians to Pray for the Sick
