Dear friends,

23 years ago, a devastating earthquake struck the city of Gyumri, reducing the second largest city in Armenia to rubble and killing 25,000 people, or 1% of the population.  23 years later, the city of Gyumri has not been completely rebuilt and quite a few survivors and their families still live in the shipping containers that were then used as temporary housing. 

This information may seem old or trivial in view of more recent earthquakes and tsunamis, or we may feel a bit hardened in an age of such quick media coverage which routinely exposes to so much tragedy and misery in the world. But for those of us working to spread the Gospel in Armenia, the people whose lives were affected by this tragedy are very real. They still endure bitterly cold winters, harsh economic realities, such as surviving as a family on $50/month (which does not go far in Armenia), and are plagued by a sense of despair. 

The outlook for Armenia is bleak. Politically, economically, as well as internationally. In 2002, a gas pipeline originally meant to run from Azerbaijan through Armenia to Turkey was instead grossly re-routed north through Georgia, despite extra cost and length, because of the long-standing issues between Armenia and Turkey and notably the unresolved war with Azerbaijan regarding the Nagorno-Karabah territory. Such a project could have done much to revive Armenia economically and given the Armenian people a sense of future, but Armenia continues to be isolated by the nations that have for centuries sought to exterminate it. 

It is in such a climate that CFA’s translation of Rev. Eric Kayayan’s book on the nature of Christian hope will shortly be published. For what else is there in such desperate circumstances but this hope? As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, the words of of Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders. And he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” When all is seemingly lost, we are given this great, great gift! 

 Some while ago, a reader of one of Rev. Aaron’s books wrote to us the following regarding hope:

“To live means to hope, i.e. to live with faith. To hope means to live in God, with Him. The Bible, which is a store of faith, hope and kind-heartedness awakens hope in our hearts and souls. Hope is always with us, it follows us everywhere, gives us strength, power and courage. It never leaves us in despair and stays with us till the end.

Hope, as anticipation of good, is closely connected with confidence. As long as there is life, there is also hope. To hope means to have future. To hope means to be always in action, to strive for realization of one’s dream, it means to have promise for life and salvation, i.e. to have a gift that will be good one in spite of the present ordeals.”

Please partner with us and help us spread the gift of eternal hope to Armenia. Let us be, in North America, not a Christian people suffering from “mission malaise” as some have stated, but a Christian people who follow God’s call to partner with Him! Dear friends, God has humbled Himself to become one of us, has suffered as one of us, for us, and now invites us to glorify Him as we spread this News to the ends of the earth. Let us do so joyfully and gratefully.

In His service,

The committee for Christians for Armenia