Jet Lag, anyone?

Hasmik, sister-in-law Anik, son Suran, daugther Arax (going to a Christian camp), daughter Aroos, grandmother Asia, Brooks and Susan. (Children are Hasmik's) Please pray for our Armenian sisters and brother in Christ! I will try to post a picture of Lucine, our translator, who took this picture at Hasmik's house. Hasmik is apparently the Armenian version of "Jasmine."

So we are back in America! Brooks and I are still getting used to the time difference, and we are surprised at how long it is taking. I think I am also encountering some of the reversal of the intestinal difficulties I had in Armenia, so my stomach seems to be hurting more often than usual. I am enjoying the mac and cheese that Lins made for me before we returned, so much that it is gone. :) It seems like all food, if it has any resemblence of Armenian food, makes me nauseous. I literally have to smell it first, recognize that it is not Armenian food, and then my appetite returns. I am enjoying being around Jillian again, although I feel as though I have been a little more moody (due to stomach pain and jet lag) so I feel bad for her since she doesn't really understand.

As I told my in laws on the phone today, the most memorable part of the trip was being a part of the team (Brooks, Lucine the translator, and myself) that led a family to repent and be born again in Christ! They are such sweet people, especially "Grannie" (as Lucine called her), please pray for them. Hopefully they will also share this Good News with the rest of the family, especially the spouses of Hasmik and Anik. Brooks was finally able to download the picture we took with his phone, so I have posted it at the top with their names. Please keep praying for these new believers, and their faith would take good, deep roots in the Bible and in trust in Jesus!

Thank you for all of your prayers for us and our team and these wonderful people in Armenia! I will miss the people dearly, they are so humble and encouraging and devoted to the Lord, even if I do not ever miss the food! ;) Praise the Lord for this family and for being back home!

Final Day / Travel Day

We are about to leave very soon for the Armenian airport.

Please pray for us, for safety in travel, for good reflection in the Spirit of what God has done here and has taught us.

Personal Request:

JP and I will be talking to British Airways in London. Please pray for us.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT. GOD WORKED THROUGH THEM. Arman tells us that another team from America had a similar VBS in another town- which was apparently, chaos, - and with no where near the same response in faith. So please pray for their encouragement. And we are just so thankful that God has worked the way He has in our midst. Praise the Lord!

We are coming home now. =)

Day 12 8/1/2007

A Fun Day for the Team to see Mount Ararat, and then the center of the Armenian apostolic church.

We also had a final team meeting: Debriefing, discussion of our time here, and our presentation when we return to Chicago and College Church.

We had dinner at a wondrous restaurant in a river valley where they had animals in cages, including 3 bears! It was a good time of fellowship with our translators and Asatur.

Day 11 Tues 7/31/2007

Today, Arman arranged more home visits for us!!

Many teams had so many good conversations!!!! Susan, Brooks and Lucine visited a home where 6 people prayed to accept the Lord right then and there!!! Hallelujah!!!!!! Oh, it's so wonderful. Praise God!!

Please pray for all the homes we visited.

Personal Remark

The first home we visited (JP, me and Arman) was a charismatic household. God has rescued this family many times from so much turmoil and danger. This conversation was so intense... they asked so we showed them many scriptures on tongues and orderly worship, and they wanted to know why women are not pastors in our churches... so we had a huge conversation on headship!!! Please pray for them: Grandmother Rosanna, daughter Herena and her husband Artak, daughter Rosanna and a little boy.

The second family we visited was a very wealthy family - a dentist, his wife Sylva and their daughter Romela and her brother - they were very good friends from VBS. It was amazing to hear what has happened to this family also. We shared a little, they are very cautious - especially the father because of his life experiences. But they said, we are certainly welcome back and they noticed their daughter has such a joy and amazement that she is so full of, that she cannot articulate it. So praise God and please pray the Arman would be able to speak some more with this community's dentist.

I'm sorry the posts have been shorter. We have been so tired. (at least some of us!)

Prayer Requests:

*Please pray for the families every one talked to!! That Arman and Tetevic would be welcome to follow-up, that these precious people would attend the first church service despite all obstacles and family pressures
*Please pray for protection from them from the enemy
*Please pray for Tetevic and Arman to find somewhere to hold their new church services at- ASAP. He has a deadline and it is fast approaching.
*The Armenian Baptist Union is holding a conference soon - 150 people, most of which do NOT know the Lord. It is a 3 week conference. Please pray that many would take in the Word of God, believe and put their trust in Christ.

Day 10 Mon 7/30/2007

Today, since VBS has concluded, we traveled to Sevan to exclusively do home visits.

We broke up into 4 teams and had many many good home visits and conversations. Praise the Lord!

Personal Remark

Today JP and I, with Tetevic and Lilia, visited 3 precious girls who accepted Christ! - 2 with their mothers. One of them wept during the Jesus film. They were so precious and when asked, they said they would help the new church. It was wonderful to meet their mothers too. They asked us to sing, and they asked JP to play the piano, and Lilia played too and then they took turns playing for us. God bless them! Please pray for them:

Arpine, Marine and her mother Balasan, Durik and her mother Susanna and their father.

The second family consisted of the young boy who blew us away with his doodook skills (a flute-like instrument)... this time we went with Susan, Brooks and Arman. This young boy's father died 2 years ago, leaving a widom (Aravik) a son (Artur) and 3 daughters: Lilette, Mariam and Shoshanna. They have no means of living. Praise the Lord for all their bible questions. A whole wonderful range of topics: how to know to trust the bible, the practice of animal sacrifice, tonques, the differences between the churches, why believers cannot marry unbelievers and the fact that they believe their house is demonically possessed. In all things, we showed them scripture, shared the gospel and exhorted faith in Christ and His work of redemption. Praise the Lord! This is family is so open. Arman is welcome back and the mother I believe, is very interested in coming to the new church. Praise the Lord!

Please pray for all the families that all the teams visited and spoke to! Thank you.

Final Day

STAMP Armenia team (with our Canadian missionary friend, Owen)

with Mt. Ararat in the background. Picture taken from St. Astvatsatsin church in Khor Virap.

The Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin

On Wednesday we got to relax and do some sightseeing. Above are pictures of the two locations we visited. This evening we will do some debriefing and have dinner with our host, Asatur. Tomorrow we arrive home in Chicago on British Airways flight #299, scheduled to arrive at 6:35pm at O'Hare. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and checking out our blog. I'm sure that Susan or Hamille will have at least one more update soon.

Briefest update yet

The Cliff's Notes version of our activities the past few days:

We spent both Monday and Tuesday visiting homes in Sevan. Tuesday was especially encouraging since Arman had 10-12 visits lined up for us - this level of preparation has not always been the case over the course of our time here. Many of us had wonderful visits, many of which others may share on the blog.

Today, our last day in Armenia, we are resting and beginning debriefing. We spent the morning at Mount Ararat (or at least as close as we can get since the mountain itself is in Turkey) and at the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This evening we will eat with Asatur (General Secretary of the Armenian Baptists and in charge of the seminary here) at a nice restaurant in Ashtarak to discuss our time here.

We fly home tomorrow morning at 11:30 and should arrive in Chicago at 5:30 PM Thursday.

Thank you for all of your prayers. It's been exciting to witness what God is doing here in Armenia and how he has used our team. I think the general team consensus is that although many things did not go as we expected, God gave us the opportunity to participate in a lot of good things that he is doing in Sevan.