Pray with Armenia/Middle East, April 19, 2026
Lectionary Selection: Luke 24:13-35
Prayers for Armenia/Middle East
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, although our eyes are blinded by our sorrows and sins, and our hearts are burdened with the crises of these days, particularly for the Middle East and the surrounding region, you accompany us on our journey, you listen to our hopes and disappointments, you ask probing questions, and you allow us to express our unformed conclusions. O blessed Teacher, you gladly turn aside to join us at the table, and you shock us as you reveal the brokenness that makes us whole. Once more, show us your body and blood given for our wayward yet beloved world. Guide us to express our questions, even if they are directed at you. Help us not to fear when we don’t have answers. Open our eyes to your presence at our side. Supplant our defeatedness with the joy that comes from knowing that you have overcome the evil and hatred all around. O Holy One, Prince of Peace, be with us, even now on this journey, and bestow your Spirit upon us to make us your witnesses. Amen.
Mission Moment from Armenia/Middle East
On the third day of the current war on Iran and the resumed Israeli war on Lebanon, Global Ministries staff instructed us to depart the country as expeditiously as possible, along with Global Ministries’ Intern Margaret Kofron (serving with Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue, a partner of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ). Among the many roundabout itineraries we examined, one stood out as our clear choice: a flight to Yerevan, Armenia. Noah’s story came to mind: after the flood, “the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat” (Gen. 8.4).
It is more than ironic that Mount Ararat, the biblical term referencing Armenia, would be our pathway out of the war that is now engulfing the Middle East. Not only is it the symbol of Noah’s deliverance from the flood; it is the symbol, though outside Armenia’s borders, that unites the hearts of nearly all Armenians across the globe. Ironic, because in recent months the Republic of Armenia has erased this image from its official seals, hoping to placate its genocidal neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. The former continues to escape accountability for its crimes a century ago against Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks, while the latter escapes accountability for its ongoing genocidal erasure of Armenians and Armenian heritage from their territory “for strategic reasons”.
War and displacement in the Middle East continue unabated, much of it happening out of sight; old crises are left behind for the newer, more “newsworthy” ones. As we write these lines from Armenia, the place where our “ark” came to rest, we are doing what we are able to assist partners both in Armenia (Armenian Missionary Assn. of America and the Evangelical Church of Armenia) as well as the Middle East (Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East, and Haigazian University) to sustain their active witness amidst war and its crushing aftermath. Certainly, this year’s commemoration of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 will stir up a mixture of the traumas of today and yesterday; yet we hold fast to the gospel testimony that Christ is walking with us now in our somber sojourn, and will transform it into a breathless race in the other direction, to share the good news that there is a future and a hope!
Written by Rev. Nishan and Maria Bakalian
Regional Partners in the Middle East