Full Life NGO - Happy to be able to Serve in one of Armenia's Resources for People With Disabilities.

Full Life NGO - Happy to be able to Serve in one of Armenia's Resources for People With Disabilities.

After serving 2 Years in the Peace Corps in Armenia I am grateful to have been able to serve with such a good Armenian NGO Full Life NGO. The people in this picture are the ones who have made Full Life NGO not only successful in Stepanavan but have also enabled Full Life to expand their services to Tashir and through the leadership of our Director Suren and their new office in Yerevan to be able to become a Model Program for all of Armenia.   

When I started with this NGO our After-School Program had to shut down at Christmas Break because of a lack of funds and it didn't open up until we had received a Grant from UCom (Orange Telephone Co.) in April.  We started out with only one working Russian XP Computer and some laptops not connected to the Internet and got a grant that has allowed us to have 8 computers in the Computer Lab with Office Software connected to the Internet.   This has allowed not only our After-School Program Children to learn to type and explore the Internet.  But it has allowed us to create a Computer Lab to teach older children and adults to use computers to improve their Vocational Skills.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Through a USAID SPA Grant we were not only able to renovate one of our unused Camp Cabins into a fully functioning Handicapped Accessible Model Home to teach Independent Living Skills to Adults but we were able to use it to teach cooking and independent Living Skills to our camp children, make room for Handicapped Adults to be able to stay to become counselors, teachers, and role models during our Summer Camp Program.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

We were not only able to create a Physical Therapy Program for people within our Independent Living Program but we were also able to introduce our children in our camp program to being able to exercise and become physically fit to be able to overcome any physical disabilities that they may experience growing up. 

Not only have we made many physical improvements to the program in the last two years but Full Life NGO is preparing to make further improvements to their program in the future.  As I was preparing to leave we had another German Volunteer Group come to prepare another addition to our Camp Program by preparing the beginning of a Recreational Activity Building that would allow not only space for our traditional Bachi Ball tournaments but also space big enough for indoor Volleyball, football, and Basketball.  Of course even with good local and volunteer labor all of these projects have to wait on additional funding to finish the projects into they type of facilities that can improve our camping program and allow our camp program to function in all kinds of weather.                                                                                                                                   

The next step of the camp improvement program is to refurbish our last unused building into a cabin to be used to add room for up to 24 more children to attend camp to increase our camp capacity to 75 children a week.  This would allow us to not only serve the same amount of children more efficiently with less weeks of camp but also allow us to serve more children and adults during more weeks of camp.  This building could also include room to move our Exercise Therapy Equipment to while providing room for Wood Carving, Clay Molding, and Craft Classes to take place on their front porch rather than to be out in the open air where they could not take place when there was rain.                                                                                                                             

Now the Full Life has expanded their After School.Program to Tashir using the Psychologist, Speech Therapist and staff from Stepanavan for support.

But they also have through Governmental Support duplicated their program in Yerevan including a Social Worker, Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, and Speech Therapist to improve their program.

Full Life NGO has move beyond the stage where they need a Peace Corps Volunteer to make sure that their program expands and grows.  In ways the Staff of Full Life are able to do much more than I can do because of my language limitations but that doesn't mean that I have not been able to play a part in it's Program Improvements or that they cannot benefit from having a Peace Corps Volunteer.  Besides my involvement in making improvements within their program through creating a Computer Lab to use with the After School Program and the Independent Living Program.  Because of my experience in promoting Independent Living Skills for People With Disabilities we created a SPA Grant to do cabin renovation to create a Independent Living Training Program to promote teaching Physical Therapy, Vocational, and Independent Living Skills to Adults with Disabilities and our Children within our camp program.  I can be grateful for all the relationships I have been able to develop with the Children through the After School Program and Summer Camp.                                                                                                                                            

That is really the purpose of the Peace Corps.  We not only bring our experience and expertise to our organizations but we also create friendships and relationships with the Children and Adults that we work with.  It is those relationships that we take with us and what leaves their lasting mark on the people we have spent the last two years working with.  I do hope that Full Life NGO will request and receive another Peace Corps Volunteer in the future.  I can see many more things that a Peace Corps Volunteer can add to their Program to help it to grow and become better even though they may be very capable of maintaining their present programs on their own.  If nothing else a Peace Corps Volunteer brings new ideas and materials to their programs.  Instead of doing the same program year after year it is always good to have a new Peace Corps Volunteer to teach them to sing new songs, dance new dances, learn to cook new foods, and throw an American Football.  Exposing Children and Adults to new ideas and new people from outside of Armenia is the purpose of the Peace Corps.                                                                                                              

I have passed the torch on to my new Peace Corps site mate English Teacher Chibuzor Ejiaga to be our American Peace Corps representative to Stepanavan and Full Life NGO.  Although he has his own responsibilities as a Peace Corps English Teacher in Stepanavan hopefully He will be able to have some impact on the Children of Stepanavan and those who attend Full Life Camp.  Hopefully Tashir will eventually receive a Peace Corps Volunteer and one of these Summers Full Life will have a new PCV to help to leave their mark on the Children and Adults within the Full Life Program.  My time in Stepanavan has come and gone.  Now I must go on to new Ministries and challenges within my life.  Although I will return to Stepanavan to pick up some things that I have left behind I will always feel a part of the Stepanavan Community and take a lot of the relationships and experiences I have had there with me where ever I go.  I now move on from representing my Country in Armenia through the Peace Corps to going into Missions Training with Youth With A Mission to being able to be a representative of God in any new community I have the opportunity to work within. I will always be grateful to the Peace Corps to have the opportunity to get to know the Armenian people through my two years in Stepanavan.  Armenia has become a home and family to me and I will always look back at the friendships and relationships there with gratefulness.  I will continue to want to be a part of Armenia and take Armenia with me where ever I go.   

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                  

Creating a Model Independent Living Training Program for Armenia

When I came to Full Life we had only one working Russian XP Desk Top Computer, one password locked Lenova Desk top, three lap top computers and a pile of non-working desk top computers in a corner.  We got a Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Grant to repaire two of the non-working computers got two donated Lenovo computers, got a new desktop, four flat screen monitors, and MS Windows and Office software to create six working computers in our Computer lab.  Even though some people felt that this was an adequate accomplishment for my Peace Corps Service I felt it was just a tool that I wanted to be able to use to do more within Full Life NGO than to just teach Computer skills to children.  The concept of an Independent Living Training Program came about while my Counterpart and I were taking a Grant Training Program and considered what we could do to teach people with Disabilities to be able to live more independently.  At first we considered how we could find a home that we could make Handicapped Accessible where we could teach Independent Living Skills to people with Disabilities.  When we presented this concept to my director he suggested that it would be better to put money into a home that Full Life owned than to spend money to rent a home to use for this program.

That gave us the idea that this would be a great project to put into our last building at camp that was needing restoration.  Since it was at our camp it also expanded the program beyond just thinking about working with Adults with Disabilities to where we would use it to promote the concept of being able to live independently to the Children of our Inclusive Summer camp.

Within a concept of creating an Independent Living Training Program there developed three parts to the program.  The first part was to have a residential program where people with disabilities could have a handicapped accessible home that they could use improve their skills in learning to live Independently.  This meant creating a kitchen designed to be accessible to people in wheel chairs with modern conveniences like a dishwasher and microwave to assist people with disabilities to learn to be more independent.  We had a clothes washing and drying machine within our Handicapped accessible bathroom and shower room to help teach clothing maintenance.

The second part of the Independent Living Program home was to have exercise equipment to be able to promote Physical Therapy and exercise for people with Disabilities to help them physically strengthen their muscles to adapt to any Physical Disabilities.  This we felt would be a helpful addition for not only working with adults with Disabilities within our community but it also could be useful for children with disabilities to promote exercise and physical therapy programs that could start while they were young to strengthen their bodies to overcome any physical disabilities.

 The third part of the program would be to promote vocational skills with people with disabilities through our computer lab at the Full Life Office so that they could improve their skills and opportunities to find employment to assist them in being able to afford to live more independently.  Within our Computer Lab we added Microsoft Office Software as well as typing, photo, video, and Power Point Presentation Software so that a person could work on improving their computer vocational skills.  This would allow people who are learning Independent Living Skills within the home to come to the Full Life Office during the day and work on developing the vocational skills needed to find employment to prepare them to afford to live independently.

The first major part of creating this program was to create a design for the cabin we had at our camp to turn it into a handicapped accessible training home.  This developed through different stages of the design where we decided how to remove some of the existing walls to open up a space for a kitchen and large living room area, create one handicapped accessible bathroom out of two small ones, create a hallway connecting the two halves of the building into a self-contained home with two entrances, and creating a large room to use for exercise and physical therapy.

  This has allowed this cabin to be able to be a handicapped accessible self-contained Home that could not only be used to support our Independent Living Program, our Summer Camp program, but also for smaller groups of individuals with disabilities to use while having special training as well as to house volunteer work crews who come to work within our camp.  

Video Made By Independent Living Program Residents about what they learned to cook during their Program

We were able to set up a first of its kind Model Independent Living Training Program in Armenia as well as to promote exercise therapy and Independent Living Skills within our Inclusive Handicapped Accessible Summer Camp Program.  We are applying and hoping to have funding to expand and continue this Independent Living Program next year.  But the program will be able to be continued as a part of our Summer Camp Program while allowing our camp to be used for more than just a month during the summer for Children’s Camps.  This program is meant to be a model to promote People with Disabilities to be able to learn to Live Independently together.  This could become a model that could be used in any city where people with Disabilities may have to move away from their homes to go to School or seek employment.  No longer do People with Disabilities have to be limited to spend their lives living with their families.  But they also can learn to go to school, get jobs, and to live on their own or together independently.

Armenian Slide Show Introduction To Independent Living Program

Full Life Camp - One of Stepanavan's Hidden Resources

Full Life Camp - One of Stepanavan's Hidden Resources

One of the things I was looking for in coming to Armenia was an Organization where I could help people with disabilities to live a Full and Independently integrated life within Armenia.  I was able to find that type of program in coming to Full Life NGO.  Not only are they involved in supporting Children with disabilities to feel accepted and included within their communities and the educational system while growing up.  But they also advocate for Adults with Disabilities to be be included within the workforce and to be able live a fully integrated life within their communities.

One of the hidden resources of Full Life and the Stepanavan Community is Full Life's Camp.  Most people in Stepanavan don't know that it exists except for a few Taxi Drivers who have learned about it because we have paid them to take us up the rough and rocky road to the camp.  But to the children and adults who have been there it is an Oasis of fun, fellowship, and support that they can not find all over Armenia.  Part of that is that there are very few places like it that are fully accessible to people with disabilities.  The other part is it is a place where people are accepted for who they are and they are included in a network of friends and supporters with and without disabilities who care about them. Full Life Camp became the center of attention in Stepanavan this summer when the potential future leader of Armenia, the Prime Minister drove through Stepanavan just to visit Full Life Camp.  Although I was two shy to ask for a picture with the Prime Minister I didn't mind sneaking into the background of a picture of him with one of my Peace Corps Friends.

One of my favorite times working with Full Life is any time we are working at Full Life Camp.  This year we were able to have 4 weeks of inclusive camp for younger and older Children from all over Armenia.  It was a time of fun where everyone was included no matter what type of abilities or disabilities you might have.  One of my favorite times at camp is whenever we had singing and dancing.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3kTDgc0QuceMjh3TDZxUEI0UHc

 Everyone loves music and dancing. Just like this time when we were singing "If You're Happy And You Know It"  in Armenian.  

Camp was not just a great place for Children.  It was a place for Adults as well where we had Boccie Ball   Tournaments,  Legal Advocacy Camp, and it was the perfect place to set up my SPA Grant Project of and Independent Living Training Program For People With Disabilities.                                                            

 http://fulllifeam.weebly.com/

This program will be ready to start in April of 2016 and will last till the end of October.  We took a cabin that was in need of restoration and made fully functional Handicapped Accessible Home where people with Disabilities can learn to live independently, learn to cook, do their laundry, and have equipment to learn to exercise and do physical Therapy. 

Then we will have them come into the Full Life Office where we created a functional Computer Lab where

they can learn to work with computers and learn to be a part of an Office Staff.  Full Life Camp will then become an important tool in making People With Disabilities feel that they can be able to live Independently as well as learn work skills to be able to afford to live on their own to become included as a part of the world around them.  During the summer this program will enable people with Disabilities to be able to become role models for our children by showing them how a person can be able to live Independently no matter what their Disabilities are.  We will then add to our Camp Program teaching Personal Hygiene, Cooking, as well as a Exercise and Physical Therapy Program. With the addition of a new Swimming pool we hope to add Swimming and Aqua Therapy as well.                                                                             

Full Life camp is an important Resource for People With Disabilities in Armenia.  Not only is the camp one of the few Handicapped Accessible Camp Facilities in Armenia.  But with Boccie Ball Tournaments, Legal Advocacy Camp, four weeks this year of Children's camp, and now with 7 months of Independent Living Training Program our camp will be able to be used to enable Children and Adults with Disabilities to learn to be live as independent a life as possible while being included with their peers and preparing to find work for themselves in the working world.  Since all of these camps and programs are provided free to those children and adults needing the services of our camp the only limits to the Camp's use is what type of funding we can receive to enable people to benefit from the potential services our Camp has to offer.  This summer we would hope to find funding support to at least have 4 weeks of Inclusive Camp for Children with Disabilities and Disadvantaged Children to enjoy camp together while learning that skills that will help them to live as independent and inclusive a life as possible with their peers.  Hopefully we can not only have another Boccie Ball Tournament but also include other sports along with it.  With the Independent Living Program I would love to be able to have a camp that would have Adults with Disabilities be able to come together to work on gaining Independent Living Skills while having programs to share Legal Advocacy, teach career assessment as well as promote Vocational Training and job search skills.  Then I would love to have a camp for older children and adults with disabilities where they can learn to live as independent a life as possible while learning  to be active and included in the world around them. 

 I only have less than a year to a little less than a year and a half left if I extend my Peace Corps Service.  We have the potential of accomplishing a lot of things during that time but it may all depend on continued funding supports for all of these programs.  There are many things left to do through the Full Life Program within Stepanavan.  I am hoping that by the time that I will have to leave in 2017 that there will be another Peace Corps Volunteer able to take my place in not only sustaining the Programs we hope to start at Full Life.  But to use their own creativity to help Full Life NGO help meet the needs of People With Disabilities all over Armenia.  Full Life would like to expand their partnership with a program for Youth in Tashir as well as to expand their program to provide services and support for People With Disabilities in Yerevan and around Armenia.  There are many needs for People With Disabilities but Full Life NGO in Stepanavan is one of Stepanavan and Armenia's Hidden Resources that can help to meet those needs.  I am thankful for the Peace Corps and Full Life NGO for the opportunity to work with them to help to meet those needs.

Full Life's Computer Lab Rebuilding Project

When I came to Full Life NGO we had one working XP Desk Top, three working Lenovo Laptops, and one Lenovo Desk Top that was Administratively Locked up and no one knew the password. The XP computer was being used to teach on Adult to use Excel by a Volunteer Teacher but otherwise the computers were not being used.  I worked at getting the Laptop computers working and logged into the Full Life WIFI.  I then began offering our After School Program Children the opportunity to get on our Laptop computers and an I Pad I had brought with me and soon found that it was such a popular part of the After School Program that we soon had half the class working on computers while the other half did Art Therapy.  I soon realized that with 15 After School Children in a class that I had to have more computers operational and find more software for them to use to keep the Children satisfied.  I had to reload the Millennium software on the Lenovo Computer to unlock it.  I found two potential repairable computers in a stack in the corner and discovered that one would work after reloading a unregistered copy of Millennium and another one needed a new hard drive.  That is when I started talking with my NGO about what it would take to make our Computer Lab Functional.   

I was aware that the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association had fund raisers for Grants for Peace Corps NGO's that had a deadline soon for applying for.  Since the limit to our grant request was $1000 I looked into with my NGO what improvements we could make in our Computer Lab for $1,000.  My Director knew of two Lenovo Desk top Computers that could be donated to Full Life but they would need Keyboards, Mice and Monitors.  We only had one flat screen monitor and three old Tub monitors.  I set our goal at getting one new Desktop computer set that could do everything we wanted to do, get registered Windows and Office Software on all our computers, repair Laptop with a Fan Error and replace our bad Hard Drive.  I would have settled for a low cost computer set and less software to keep the cost below the $1,000 Grant that we were grateful that the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association awarded us in May.  Then found that the Peace Corps preferred that we put that Grant through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which would mean a lot more work to complete the application and to complete a required transfer of knowledge program for the computer lab.  In the process, we were encouraged by our SPA Grant Committee to consider upgrading our Computer equipment and software requests and fund-raise the difference.  We ended up submitting a PCPP Grant for a i3 rather than a Dual processor computer, and adding three flat screen monitors along with the Windows and MS Office Software.

Since this involved a lot more planning to decide what type of Knowledge transfer we could do within a short period so that we could move on to submitting a SPA Grant request for a program that would make use of the Computer Lab,  it was decided to develop some computer training for our After School program.  The challenge was to create some computer training in Armenian and how would we evaluate the results of our Computer Training.  We started with an initial survey of our After School Program kids to see what type of computer and internet access our children had at home and in school.  Then I developed a pre-test and afterwards a post-test to see what they learned from the lessons.  The Tuesday group got both the pre-test, the computer lesson, and Post-test.  The Thursday group because they missed a few classes at the end of the school year got the Computer Lesson and the post-test.  We also have developed a Computer interest Survey for the After School program, Potential Computer Clubs, and Vocational Training Program, which we have completed with the After School program and will become an ongoing Survey for the Computer Clubs and Vocational Programs.

Now we have Three Lenovo Desk Tops with Windows Millennium and MS Office, one with a tube monitor, the rest with Flat Screen monitors.  We have replace two Desk Top hard drives with 500 gig hard drives, they now have Windows 7 and Office 2007.  By the end of July we plan to put a free upgrade to Windows 10 on three of our Windows 7 laptop computers and our three desktop computers with Windows 7.  This will give us a total of six desktop  computers in our computer lab and four laptops. Everything will have registered Windows and MS Office Software on it.  This computer lab that is now completely connected to the internet and not only become very popular with the After School Program but we will be planning to start at least 2 Computer Clubs and use it for a Vocational Training Program. 

Our After School Program has been happy to be able to have six Desk Tops and three Laptops functioning and online.  We had one day when we had 18 After School Program kids here for a Orange Phone Company Grant Presentation that is supporting our After School Program and we were able to have 9 computers running and online.  The Children have been learning to find their favorite games and online web pages. We now have Typing  Instructor, Resume Maker  Software,  some Financial Software, and by fall with free educational Apps within Windows  10 I hope to have Computer lessons and educational software set up and organized to make the Computer Lab a more functional educational tool.  I already have Video and Photo Processing Software on our computers, we are collecting surveys of potential Computer Club members, and will be preparing the software to support Computer Training Classes or Special Interest Computer Groups.  After developing our SPA Grant we plan to be able to develop a Vocational Training Program using our Computer Lab and office.  Not only are the Children more excited with a After School program that is more than just Art Therapy.  But there are some older youth from the community who have become interested in the Full Life Computer Club Program and we have the potential of developing a Vocational Training Program using our Computer Lab to be able to improve the Employ-ability of our Adults with Disabilities.  This computer lab will not only be a important tool to teach individuals with disabilities to be able do develop computer and vocational skills.  It will also become a inclusive program that will not only work with Armenian, English, and Russian computer skills.  But it will include individuals with a variety of computer knowledge and interests together to help everyone improve their computer knowledge and abilities.  

We are grateful for the support of the Minnesota Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association for their Grant to make this Computer Lab Rebuilding Project possible.  We look forward to this computer lab being able to improve our educational program of our After School Program, create Inclusive Computer Clubs to improve everyone's computer knowledge, and to have this Computer Lab become an important tool to create a Vocational Training Program within our Full Life NGO. 

Christianity is Alive and Well in Armenia

Christianity is Alive and Well in Armenia

From Christmas through Summer Youth Programs has given me an opportunity to be able to share and fellowship with Christians throughout my community in Armenia to find that there is a diversity of expression of Christian Faith and Worship within Armenia.  The strong feelings of many here in Armenia that there is only one True Christian Faith here in Armenia and that everyone else is a part of a Sect.  I was reminded that this was actually written into their laws that there is one official Church in Armenia and everyone else is considered to be a Religious Organization. I have found though that despite Armenia being a small Country where most of the people share the same Ethnic Heritage there is still a lot of Diversity of Christian Faith here in Armenia.  To cover that up it is natural for the Traditional Armenian Apostolic Church to say that they being the Earliest Christian Nation and one of the oldest Christian Churches that any other Church is a Sect of Christianity (Meaning they are not really sure it is Christian).  In America we also have similar feelings about Sects but for us Sects tend to be limited to many of the groups that we feel have distorted main Christian Beliefs through other Writings and Interpretations of Scriptures so we may think of  sects as only of  Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses as well as some denominations we have strong theological differences with.  I have discovered that there are definitely Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses, which I might consider a Sect, here in Armenia.  But that there are a lot of  Christian groups here that a lot of us in America would say that is just another Denomination of Christians that just believes or worships a little different than I do.   

Although I haven't said it much to my Apostolic Christian Friends, my other Christian Armenian Friends like it when I say since their Church is a minority in America that many people may consider their Church a Christian Sect.  This is especially true since they have so many old traditions that are different than ours and they don't even Celebrate Christmas when we do.  But I find that almost all the Christian Churches in Armenia Celebrate Christmas different than we do.  In America it may be hard to understand why a Church hangs on to so many Church Traditions, Worship Ceremonies, and even their original language when Churches of immigrants to America changed their Worship Services and Language a long time ago.  

I would like to share with you that there is something to appreciate about a Christian Church that doesn't change with the society around them and doesn't move from one Contemporary Worship Style to another.  Although I do like Contemporary Worship Styles, whether in America or Armenia, you will find  those that want to hang on the the old traditions and worship styles.  Watch this video to see how a little country at this point like Armenia has had such a big part of the Christian Worship within the Holy Land since the 3rd Century.   

From Ararat To Zion - Armenian Apostolic Church 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwC8McwG9bw

I consider myself very lucky to be able  to have the local Apostolic Priest Monk Vram Ghazaryan as a friend and although he accepts that I am an Evangelical Christian, he does welcome me to fellowship in his Church.  I am very impressed with his messages since unlike me he can stand up in front of the Congregation without notes and talk with them from his heart sharing a message from the scriptures or an admonition about their faith.  He can even share with me the next day in English some of what he shared in his Sunday messages. He is a very intelligent person who has even written a book that he shared with me on  Armenian Apostolic Church in Middle Asia in  511 AD Centuries.  I would not be able to out argue him in the Scriptures in Armenian since I have seen him in action while speaking to World Vision Staff.  And he doesn't feel comfortable discussing Theological Issues in English so he just shares with me many Armenian Apostolic Church Traditions in English.   Here is a picture of the Surb Sargis Apostolic Church in Stepanavan.

Monk Vram Ghazaryan does remind me a lot of an Apostolic Priest I became friends with in St. Paul, Minnesota before joining the Peace Corps.  He shared in this Video how Armenian Culture and Armenian Faith is tied together I believe within all the the churches within Armenia.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXrmvaAJao

No matter what Church you are a part of in Armenia considers Armenia a Christian Nation.  That is especially true when they remind you of the Armenian Genocide or the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the break-away Republic of  Nagorno - Karabakh.  Having had to remember the attempt to wipe out the Armenian people by Turkey for the last 100 years there is a definite reminder that no matter what church you are in that they are a Christian Country surrounded by Muslim Countries. There is a feeling that there is no sense of religious freedom, harmony, and security with any of their surrounding countries.  That is why they had the war over the break-away Republic of  Nagorno - Karabakh.  When the Soviet Union broke up and left major groups of Armenians living within the neighboring Muslim Country of Azerbaijan the only sense of security when radical Muslims come in by night and kill Christian Families is to want to separate yourself from your neighboring Muslim neighbors and become a part of your Christian Heritage of the country of Armenia.  Even now I was reminded that there is only one Mosque in Armenia and it is more of a Museum than a Muslim Worship Center.  In neighboring countries like Turkey Christian Leaders have been threatened, it is not legal to come in as  a Missionary, and your life would be in danger if they thought that you were trying to convert people to Christianity.  For many Centuries Armenian Christians have been spread throughout the Middle East seeking to co-exist with their Muslim neighbors but when governments become unstable like in Syria then you can have radical Muslims like ISIS come in who what to forcibly convert, drive out, or kill all all Christians in their land.  It is no wonder that the way Israel has tried to create a religious homeland in the Middle East that the Armenians have tried to hang on to their homeland in the mountains of Armenia as a safe Christian Homeland for Armenians.

But although Armenian Apostolic Christians like to hang on to the idea that theirs is the only true Church in Armenia they tend to become a little more Ecumenical when it comes to dealing with the other Christian Churches around the world.  They find it easier to accept Orthodox and even Catholic Christians as Christians even though they feel their Theology and Church Traditions are better and more true to Christianity.  I have found that there is a strong Catholic Ministry in Armenia since the Earthquake through the Armenian Sisters.

http://armeniansisters.org/

 But they don't seem to know what to do with the Protestant, Evangelical, and Charismatic Christian movements within their Armenian Christian tradition.  Even though the Evangelical Revivals started in the 1800's among Armenians and many of the Charismatic Churches are influenced by Armenian Christians in Russia or America.  Through the history of Religious oppression during the Soviet times they tend to have been insulated from the Christian Revival Movements that took place in the last 100 years.  Their experience with it in the last 25 years since they have been exposed to the Christianity of the outside world has not given them any cultural acceptance of the differences in Christian Theology and Worship.   That may come in time as they learn to accept that in many ways Christian Revivals have brought more personal spiritual commitment  to the ministry of the Church.  They have had some spiritual renewal within the Church due to the support of outside Christian Groups like World Vision who have helped them to develop material sharing the history and theology of their Apostolic Church which is taught within the school system and now developed as a part of a Christian Education program within the Church.  But they do not recognize that much of the social and spiritual support that they receive from programs like World Vision  or other clothing and Medical Missions supports comes from Protestant and Evangelical Churches from around the world and not just from Armenian Apostolic Christians.

I have found that despite the feelings that the Apostolic Faith is the original and only truly Armenian Church that Christianity is alive and well within Armenia.  Within my small town of Stepanavan I am finding that there are a variety of Christian Churches.  Here is the Evangelical Church of Stepanavan that I have found a strong tradition of Christian Ministry within the Community.

In some ways I find it not much different than the Evangelical Churches that I grew up with in America.  Their worship and ministries are very similar to the many Evangelical Churches Churches I attended in America with similar worship styles and traditions.

I have also found Charismatic Churches  like the Word Of Life Church. 

Or even more Pentecostal Churches coming from Russia like the New Generation Church.

Within Armenia there are many Growing Christian Ministries leading to a revival of Christianity within all of the Churches within Armenia.  

The Armenian Evangelical Church

Young Life

Youth With A Mission Armenia

Although I have been reminded by some of my Peace Corps Volunteers that we are not here to change peoples Religious Faith I find that they are more afraid of people seeking to change their Religious beliefs and lifestyles.  I would prefer to encourage people to grow in their Spiritual Faith and Commitment to God in whatever faith they are brought up in even among my Jewish friends in the Peace Corps.  I do find in Armenia a strong religious heritage and a strong sense of a Christian  culture where I can find Christian Fellowship no matter what Church I have attended.  Sure it helps that I can't speak Armenian so we don't have to disagree over our Theological differences.  And there are some churches that I feel more comfortable worshiping in than others.   But Christianity is alive and well in Armenia.  In some ways being a Christian nation surrounded by non-Christian nations has given them a long history of being identified as a Christian nation.  Recently I have been in discussion with some people as to which is a more Christian nation Armenia or America.  That is a subject that would take too long to discuss in this blog.  But ever since I began pre-service Training here I have had a desire to share with Armenians one of my favorite Christian Patriotic Songs.  Since they have borrowed a lot of our other Christian Music I don't think it would be unpatriotic or unchristian to share this song with them

God Bless Armenia
Land That I Love
Stand Beside Her
And Guide Her
With A Light That Is Bright From Above
From The Mountains To The Valleys
From Lake Sevan To Yerevan
God Bless Armenia My Home Sweet Home
God Bless Armenia My Home Sweet Home