Today Brooks led morning devotion time at breakfast, Romans chapter 5.
We set off for Sevan with heavy hearts for our last full day of VBS.
VBS
There were about 140-150 children and some mothers today! We had a little talent show which included some ingenius playing of the Doodoo instrument (traditional Armenian music). Garen, the son of the director of the center) also danced a traditional Armenian dance. Two little girls gave a solo! One young man took the stage to recite a memory verse. The children were remarkable! Everyone sang with gusto today, insisting that we sing several songs, 3 -4 times!
Many of the children brought flowers, little gifts, notes. They wanted our telephone numbers and email addresses. It was too much! Just very heart warming. The Armenians are such a warm, warm people. Where else can you meet someone for the first time and be invited home to visit?
Our week of teaching about the life of Jesus culminated with the Cross today. Brooks taught on the death and resurrection of Christ. He gave a gospel presentation and Arman led a prayer of repentance to accept Jesus. Several people prayed... including a mother I met a couple days ago - Nayre! Afterwards she went up to our wonderful translator friend Lucine, and said that she prayed to accept Christ. Garen, the Director's son also prayed to accept Christ and spoke with John and Jamie afterwards. There were others. Those who accepted Christ and wanted to know more were asked to fill out follow-up cards with their names and contact information for Tetevic and Arman to visit.
After VBS
We received several invitations to visit homes today and next Monday.
For today we broke up into three teams:
1. Charley and Arman went to get their hair cut in town and developed a relationship with the barber and his family.
2. Jamie, Emily, Leila, John, Rose, Lucine and Albert - visited with Reema, Christina and Daniel's family. Their parents go to the pentacostal church in town. Their time together was very edifying. They got to share their testimonies with each other, and they sang hymns together as Reema's mother played the piano.
3. Susan, Brooks, John Paul, Hamille, Lilia and Tetevic - visited 2 homes. The first was the home of one of JP's best little friends - Arshak. We visited with Arshak, his mother Nara, his father, Hyke, his 2 cousins, his grandmother, and his neighbor. They go to the pentacostal church in town. They were very hospitable. We prayed together and enjoyed their food and hospitality. Brother Hyke wanted to know if we had been "baptized in the Holy Spirit." So we talked a lot about tongues and such things. It was a very good conversation. It culminated in sharing some scripture from 1 Cor 14. (Praise God jp found it in time) - If we have the gift of tongues, we may speak only 1 or 2 at a time, and only if there is an interpretor, else a man must sit in silence - all this because our God is a God of order (verse 33). The father was shocked. Our translator said he read the verses 3 times aloud. He said that he had been a believer for 6 months and had not encountered those verses. I said that I had not encountered those verses for many years myself. Then he shared an experience he had wherein he heard several believers outside the church speaking badly about those in it because of their tongues. And he said that it greived him. Amazing. This man was so humble. He was earnest with us. He had to leave shortly thereafter for a service (he is a leader in the pentacostal church and said he was made a leader the day he was baptized), but we stayed and continued to enjoy with the rest of his family. Brooks and Susan showed them pictures of Jillian!!! Praise the Lord!
The second house we visited was with the family who invited us to the beach the very first day! (Mother Lucine, Grandma Loretta, Siranouj, Reuben, Marie, Loretta, Grandpa Rubic, 1 great grandmother and 1 great aunt). Their home was absolutely lovely. And the dessert they served has been the best food (according to Susan - with whom we AMEN!) that we have had our entire trip. It was lovely to have some relationship building time with them. They have agreed to come to the service on Sunday. Praise the Lord. Grandma Loretta showed us some old relics from the church their relative built. Please pray for them.
Celebration Dinner
After our home visits, we bought some local food and took it to a picnic area. We had dinner with our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been co-labourers with us in Sevan. It was a great time of fellowship. Emily took out the small gifts we had brought for them and distributed them. We found out there that Tetevic and Arman are also artists. He had designed some pictures of Armenia - and she had meticulously woven some beautiful rugs. In a very touching gesture, she gave us the largest and most beautiful one of Mount Ararat. She said: "It's for your church. So when you see it, you will remember us and to pray for Armenia and our church in Sevan." How wonderful!! It was very touching. Start thinking about where we can place this in College Church? =)
Prayer Requests
*For Nayre, the mother who prayed to accept Christ
*For Garen, who accepted Christ
*For the others who prayed to accept Christ in their hearts
*For the pentacostal family of Reema, Christina and Daniel - for solid grounding in the word of God
*For Arshak and his family Hyke (father), Nara (mother), Arsen (friend), grandmother, 2 cousins - that God would ground them in truth! That God would accomplish His purpose in powerfully revealing that passage to father Hyke about orderly worship that soo struck him, since it is contrary to the practice in their church. Maybe they will come to the church in Sevan? Maybe he will confront his own church leadership and God will work good from the inside out?
*For others to accept Christ
*For God to establish His church in Sevan
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