Pray for Armenia on Sunday, May 19, 2013

Pray for Armenia on Sunday, May 19, 2013

Lectionary Selection: Acts 2:1-21

Prayers for Armenia:
Dear God, pour out your spirit on us.  Fill us up with your holy language; let your words and the glory of your name be foremost on our tongues.  For when we are truly filled up with you, we cannot utter a bad word against our neighbor.  Today, we say a special prayer for our brothers and sisters in Armenia who suffer from poor relations with their neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan.  We ask that you help these countries to build positive relationships, ease border tensions and protect their young men from war.  We pray that Armenia’s president and leaders will be touched by your holy spirit and end their greed and corruption and finally work to help the Armenian people and improve the country.  We pray for the economy to improve and new jobs to be created so that young graduates won’t have to move away to different countries in order to simply provide for their families.  We pray that our partner’s staff and pastors in Armenia will be sincere and filled with the power of the holy spirit as they carry out their mission in Armenia, that they will be able to continue to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with social and material support to poor Armenian children, the elderly and people with special mental and physical needs and to encourage all Armenian people by showing them the love and kindness of Jesus Christ.  Amen

Mission Stewardship Moment from Armenia:
In Armenia, I don’t want to speak about one stewardship moment but I would rather speak about the word “grateful”.  In the Armenian language, there are two common ways to say “thank you”.  The first is a very long word, “Shnorhakalutiun”, which literally means “thanks”.  The other common way to thank someone is to say, “shnorhakal em”, which literally means “I am grateful”.  This is how the Armenian people have shown me the face of Jesus Christ; through their humility and thankfulness.  One of the most important projects that I worked on since beginning my service in Armenia was a film for AMAA’s Child Sponsorship Program which is supported by Global Ministries.  AMAA has opened 2 new centers for children from poor families where they can go after school to eat a hot meal, participate in extracurricular activities and receive support for educational and social problems.  A few of the children from the center were chosen.  We visited and filmed their homes and families and learned their stories.  Then I wrote a script and narrated the film that will be used to raise money for the program.  Witnessing the poverty of our beneficiaries and, at the same time, their strength and gratefulness, humbles me and gives me a deeper understanding of the fruits of the spirit.

(Prayer and Mission Moment by Gabrielle Worley)

Mission Partners in Armenia:

More information on Armenia:
http://globalministries.org/mee/countries/armenia/

Global Ministries Missionary in Armenia:
Gabrielle Worley is a member of First United Church, Oak Park, Illinois, and St. John Syrian Orthodox Church, Villa Park, Illinois.  She serves as a Global Mission Intern with the Armenian Protestant community, Yerevan, Armenia. She teaches English to Protestant pastors, middle school students of the Avedissian School and young adults at the Jinishian Leadership Center. She also assists in writing articles, reports and other forms of communication.