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Dear friends and supporters,

Greetings from all at Armenian Ministries. The humanitarian side of the work of AM continues to be vitally important to many in the community around our charity building. We have had several families who have asked for emergency help in the last few months. The charity already has a list of very needy families that are regularly visited and helped with clothes, food, fuel and other essentials. The visits are vitally important for encouragement, but also to spot any sudden emergencies that have risen that they are too embarrassed to ask for help about – for example, help with a child’s school equipment, medical treatment that is needed but cannot be afforded.

There are many desperate cases which I cannot tell you about for lack of space so I chose two families to represent the others. Help for these families comes from AM’s humanitarian aid containers, and money that is given for our “People in Need” appeal.

“A few weeks ago, Mrs Z. came to visit Sona and I with her two daughters, eleven and twelve years of age, and wept for ten minutes before I could begin to ask her what we could do for her.  We have subsequently got to know the family, and now know that she was in desperate need of help, but was too ashamed to ask for it.  However, their dire need had finally driven her to come for help.

Mrs Z. was living with her two daughters, her son, and her mentally ill husband, in her mother’s single room flat.  In fact some of them were sleeping in the “kitchen.”  She insisted that she only needed to borrow some money, with which to buy a stock of vegetables and some fruit, in order to start selling these on the pavement.  This is a hazardous thing to do, as the police can be very hard on pavement peddlers. As they sat talking to me, I could not help thinking that her two girls looked less than well fed.  They reluctantly told me that they had not eaten for the last two days, and that on this day, they had had a single cheese bread each. I sent for a large quantity of Armenian Pizza and made them eat!  Subsequently, Perouz has sent a large bottle of complete vitamin and mineral pills, in order to build up their immunity and stamina. The charity has been enabled to help this family for which we are so thankful to the Lord. We have moved them into proper accommodation; that costs £85 monthly.  We have paid for her husband to be fully treated and looked after in a psychiatric hospital.  This had to be done, because the man needs constant attention, and if the woman is to work for her living, and the children to go to school, it was necessary to arrange for the man to be looked after professionally.  We have supplied them with clothes from the container which came from England recently.  We further helped them to rent a small shop that is not much to talk about, but it does give shelter, both from the weather as well as the police.  Last of all we gave her a sum of money to buy a stock of vegetables and fruit.  The very first thing she did on starting her shop was to bring us a big bunch of bananas and a lot of vegetables.  I was moved to tears! At the moment, Mrs Z., her son and two girls are keeping the venture going together.  They work from 7:00am to 11:00pm, they go home to bed, and at 3:00am the mother and son go to the wholesale market to buy their day’s stock.  To catch up with sleep they have put a bed at the back of the shop, and they take turns having naps while the others serve the customers. So much more could be done for this family, but I am afraid that there are too many families tugging at our resources.  Please pray for this family, not only that the Lord will give them success in earning their basic living, but also to help us to pray and work for their salvation.  The girls are already attending one of Ruth’s Bible clubs.  They are so bright and gifted; we would love to help them to get a good education.  Please pray for this family.”

Summer is upon us, which for many workers of AM, means pack up the suitcases, book the bus, nine weeks of children’s Bible Camps are about to begin!

Already a month of preparation has transformed our little campsite into an organized hive, or should I say palace. Pictures of beloved cartoon characters and Disney castles all help support the theme of the camp; “The world of miracles. – How Great is your God?” The message of the Great Miracle-Maker will resound again in the children’s ears: “That ye may know, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins”. The power of God to forgive the sinner, to heal the broken hearted, to guide the lost and feed the hungry is available to all who live by faith in obedience to His will. “If you can believe,” Christ told the father of the demon possessed boy, waiting in desperation to see a miracle, “everything is possible to someone who believes”.

This lesson of faith is one that is learnt in the hard school of experience and need before passed on to the children! Let me share some exciting victories of faith that has made the summer camps of 2009 possible.

1. Help! More Children

In 2008, AM ran nine weeks of children’s camps, by the end of which, the workers ‘requested’ that the number of camps the following year be reduced. Three months (the entirety of the summer holiday in Armenia) was too much to ask of any individual! By 2009, the number of children regularly attending one particular weekly Bible Club run by AM has increased by approximately 30%! “Praise the Lord!” is on the lips of each children’s worker. Camp attendance is refused to any child who has more than seven absences in the register or three ‘bad behaviour’ marks during the year. Nevertheless, we still have 500 children eagerly awaiting summer camps. We cannot increase the number of weeks of camps without running into term time. Our small facilities were overcrowded last year with approximately 100 children less than this year’s roll.
Normal Human Reaction cries, “Stop! Cancel! Turn some children away!” Christ says, “Believe. Everything is possible to someone who believes.”

And the results of faith? Well, the very workers who insisted they couldn’t run nine weeks of camps have now volunteered to move the meetings into the open air to sleep children in the meeting room, to put an extra camp bed or two in the kitchen for the kitchen staff... “We’ll do something! We can’t have the children disappointed” was their firm reply. What brought about that change of heart? Everything is possible to him that believes!
(Sadly, we are unable to sleep children or leaders out of doors or in tents because of the risk from poisonous spiders and snakes that exist in our campsite.)

2. And Yes, Less Workers!

Our little team had already been reduced as Nariné, a full time, dedicated and CEF trained children’s worker, has sadly undergone a very serious operation in the past few weeks. She may be able to help in some of the camps, but we want to give her every opportunity for a safe and speedy recovery!

In 2008, extra help for camp came from England. Michael and Perouz and family were responsible for crafts and games, as well as helping in many other departments. Of course, this year’s camps relied on their continued presence. Their names were written into the program, (this year Michael was also one of four teachers of the Bible story), suitcases were already prepared, necessary shopping already completed, flights were booked, and exactly one week before they were due to fly, Talitha (their youngest daughter) had an accident and broke her left leg. After three days of uncertainty, the doctors informed the family they could not fly for another four weeks.
Natural Human Reaction cries “That is the last straw! Now we have to abort!” Christ says, “Believe. Everything is possible...” Disappointment and doubt are inevitable from our weak natures. We do not always understand God’s reasons until a much later date, sometimes never at all. Our minds ask “Why?” but faith says, “God is in control. Everything He does is perfect. I will accept the path of His Will even though it cuts directly across the path of my desire.” And such has been the attitude of each worker in Armenia and England, despite inevitable disappointment. Such an attitude is impossible to demand of our human nature. God’s greatest miracle in our lives is the imparting of a heart that quietly determines “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”. How Great is our God!

3. Pay Time!

Last year AM paid £15 per child per week, which covers their food, craft supplies, prizes, and transport. The children pay nothing. We look entirely to the Lord to cover the cost, and we look only to Him to meet the need.
As preparations began for camp in 2009, funds were not yet available. However, preparations continued, and prayer was raised continually for the needs, especially from the director, Ivan! In May, application forms were sent out to all eligible children. At the time, even if every penny were channelled from the other projects and put into the camp, there were still insufficient funds to pay for the camps. Again, we prayed.
Natural Human Reaction cries “Cancel! Abort! Cut down, cut back!” Christ says, “Believe! Everything is possible to someone who believes.” Approximately three weeks before camps were due to start, AM was promised funds that have allowed us to begin the work of the camps.

We often ask, “Why does God allow this to happen? Why does God test our faith? Why does He rattle our nerves? He can surely give us enough and to spare, with a little reserve to make us feel secure?” The camps have begun and the different camp leaders will look at row upon row of children and have the opportunity to impart God’s message to their hearts. How can they do this if it is not first deeply imprinted in their own? Each answer to prayer, each example of Divine intervention teaches us to look up expectantly to our Heavenly Father, on whose power and might we utterly depend. Only then can we stand confidently before the children and teach them from our hearts: “Believe. Everything is possible to someone who believes.”

In the last newsletter Ruth wrote in detail about the plight of a very desperate family. I have asked Gevork, our local charity director in Armenia, to give an update on this family’s condition. Gevork explains, “It would be quite incorrect to refer to their accommodation as anything but a ruin.  It is disturbing to note the heaps of earth on the earthen floor, the ruined condition of the doors, windows, ceiling and walls. It is also very worrying that the family has given up making much of an effort to do anything about their situation, even to level out the floor and trample it down.  They are so completely demoralized by their situation that they do not see that any effort made by them would make any difference to the reality of their desperate need.”  Under these circumstances, Gevork suggested that along with a massive effort to improve their material situation, there needs to be a big effort at visiting, counseling, and encouraging.  As Ruth wrote in the last newsletter, none of the children have had any education at all, as a result of which their morale and self reliance are almost non-existent. Gevork continues “It is almost a certainty that sooner rather than later, this family will have to evacuate that place, and a suitable, albeit humble accommodation will have to be rented for them.  I would think a very modest rent would be in the region of £60-£100 per month.  I am certain that they will be unable to pay anything toward such a rent.”

The need in Armenia seems to be so great. Every e-mail and phone call seems to convey more news of desperate need, unemployment, hunger and uncared for sickness. The need on the one hand and the credit crunch on the other hand. The human mind can only despair and give up. However, whilst thinking about the two families mentioned in this newsletter, along with many others that I know we visit and help regularly, I cannot help but be cheered by the verses of this poem adapted from L Eiseley’s “The Star Thrower”.

Yours by Grace alone,

Perouz Harrison

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