Der Vog-hornia

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Warning to Parents: Some contents are PG-13.

I thought you might enjoy some more pics from Armenia. Armenia formally became a Christian nation in 301 A.D., and the uniqueness of the Armenian language (with its 38 letters and sounds, some of which I absolutely cannot pronounce correctly, despite repeated attempts) allowed copies of the Scriptures to fall into the hands of the Armenian people very early in church history.

One of the most fascinating dimensions of ministry here is the awareness of Islam at every border. Armenia is surrounded by Muslim nations, and has struggled to survive numerous foreign invasions over the centuries. I titled this blog post the Armenian equivalent of: “Lord, have mercy on us!” I stole the line from a book on the Armenian genocide which began in 1915.

You’ll see in one of my conference photos that I am standing in the dining room. That breakfast table was a gathering of Syrians. These particular refugees are descendants of Armenians (grandchildren to be precise) who were dragged by the Turks into the desert to die during the genocide. Some of those grandparents survived being thrown into wells and having sand poured down their throats, while most if not all of their family members perished. Horrors in those days included women being raped and impaled on stakes, and other crimes against children too grotesque for me to include here. This is the spirit driving ISIS today. Make no mistake about it.

But the true Church is alive and well in the Middle East! The Christ-followers whom I’ve been privileged to meet here are passionate about our Lord Jesus, and hungry to know how to interpret and apply the Scriptures. One young woman just explained to me how she does her Greek word studies so that she can be a better teacher. Despite limited resources among the people, the Holy Spirit is deploying His unlimited resources to accomplish amazing things for Christ’s kingdom. (We must never forget that Jesus was a refugee.)

To quote the great theologian Julie Farmer: “Wowie! Wow! Wow!” By the way, Julie, I taught the Armenians to say, “Wow!” They love the word, and have adopted it, albeit unofficially.

 

Pastor Charles

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8 comments on “Der Vog-hornia
  1. Deanna says:

    Incredible

  2. Alva house says:

    Thank God for these dedicated people.
    Awesome

  3. Julie Farmer says:

    Haha! 🙂 Not the deepest theological thought, but sometimes a situation is so amazing, it’s all you can say. “Wow!” This is definitely one of those times!
    Praying, Julie

  4. Lee Rust says:

    I pray the Lord is inhaling the sweet aroma of HISHOLYWORD from the Armenians today!! What a wonderful testament to the POWER of GOD. He met you there and supplied the reading material and teachers!!! Just Like HIM!! Praise the LORD!!

  5. Dale & Cathy says:

    Julie is our Theologian without question. However, it sometimes sounds better in ancient Aramaic……”wowsers!”

  6. Sarah Atkinson says:

    Thank you, Pastor Charles. Thank you.

  7. Roxie says:

    What dedicated people!! Safe traveling back home!! God bless everyone!!

  8. PRAISE GOD AS HE WORKS, OFTEN IN A HIDDEN, QUIET WAY, AROUND THE WORLD.

    OUR NATIONAL AND WORLD WIDE MEDIA ARE MOSTLY BLIND, DEAF AND DUMB TO THE

    AMAZING THINGS GOD IS DOING.

    WE MUST CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE WORLD-WIDE BODY OF CHRIST, ESPECIALLY THOSE

    THAT ARE PERSECUTED AND SUFFERING.

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