1. I made it!
NEW in the News
Another update for everyone. I have not done a good job of updates, so I am making up for it now!
Firstly as i showed in one of my twitter updates we were recently visited by Ray Beahm from Convoy of Hope. He was here to see projects, ideas, and regions where we are working and dream about the possibilities to reach more with real Hope. One of the regions we visited was Nagorno-Karabakh. This is the current war zone in between Armenia and Azerbijan. In 1988 the region being 76% Armenian and 23% Azerbijan some say, with Azerbijan being mostly muslim country began to move Armenians out.
Since then there has been different countries in control, with Armenia currently being in control, and a technical ceasefire between the countries. But despite the ceasefire, actions from both countries have been anything but that.
We visited Pastor Arthur who lives there with his family. We were able to stay at his house, be in his church, and talk about possibilities to further help this region. He currently has been able to help feed a orphanage with money from us, and looks to furthering the impact on this war torn region. Helping independently displaced people, refugees, disabled military servicemen, and other disabled. We are very excited about the future in Nagorno!
This last weekend we attended one of our new church plants service in the village of Spitak. Here in December 7, 1988 at 11:41am a massive earthquake that struck Armenia on was epicentered in Spitak, taking at least 25,000 lives. 500,000 people whose homes, built in apparent violation of seismic safety standards, were destroyed by two powerful tremors that rocked much of Armenia’s territory 20 years ago
– Measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale, the many poorly constructed Soviet buildings across the region sustained heavy damage or collapsed.
The small city of Spitak was destroyed, while the nearby cities of Leninakan (later renamed to Gyumri) and Kirovakan (later renamed to Vanadzor) sustained a lot of damage as well. The tremor also caused damage to many surrounding villages.
Since most of the hospitals in the area were destroyed, and due to freezing winter temperatures, officials at all levels were not ready for a disaster of this scale and the relief effort was therefore insufficient. The Soviet Union allowed in foreign aid workers to help with the recovery in the earthquake’s aftermath, and this was one of the first cases when rescue and relief workers from other countries were allowed to take part in relief works in the Soviet Union.
We attended this service, and unknown to us, they had planned on taking up an offering for response to the earthquake in Haiti. This small, year old church meeting in a living room of a members home with about 50 in the congregation prayed for the people of Haiti, and gave their widows mite. Many in the village living on less than 3 dollars a day. They gave sacrificially with an offering of $180.00. They have asked us to get it to COH.
This is an incredible answer to prayer for our team as we have been praying that God would open the door for Armenians to open their hearts to the needs both in country and beyond, and get past the Soviet mindset of taking care of yourself. This was a huge step in the right direction for Armenia.
I will put up some pictures, but it is exciting to see whats happening here! The possibilities are endless, and the needy are looking for the Hope! Pray that our container clears customs quickly, as it has been in clearing for almost 4 weeks. With over 30,000 pounds of food and other items, and $150,00.00 worth coming from Convoy of Hope we are ready to reach many unreached villages here!
Blessings
chad
Updates Updates Updates
Well I am a bit overdue for an update on whats happening here in Armenia. Our team here has been very very busy with alot of projects going on all around the country. We are excited to see our bible school which is giving pastors and future church planters relevant information from American professors. They are being taught, and then sent to reach their communities, with a greater understanding of the Gospel and new ways at expanding the kingdom.
We are also working on strengthening our church plants in a number of ways. One is in the are of worship. Teaching them practical means to open the door for powerful worship.
We also have been traveling around the country touching base with may of our church plants, and pastor networks as to what the needs are in their regions, and how we can effectively reach out to people in need, delivering them out of poverty, and opening their hearts to the message of hope. Working in mountainous regions, kurdish villages, and most recently in Nagorno-Karabakh, the war zone region where Azerbijan and Armenia have been in constant conflict since 1991. Technically with a cease fire in place, but a war torn country with constant unresolved issues.
And currently we have been processing a container full of relief supplies that we are strategically sending to poor and impoverished villages. Through local pastors and church leaders we are going to be delivering families with vital food staples that they need. Soup mixes packed with fortified proteins, pastas, and shoes. We have been working on clearing this container since christmas, but with the government here, charitable organizations have been abused as fronts for bringing goods into the country without taxation. Under that, we have had severe problems getting the container cleared through customs. And could be as much as a month until we get the ok to clear it. We also have many obstacles with who can receive relief goods depending on their welfare status.
PLEASE pray that God would open the door with custom officials to let us clear the container. And that we wont have to pay taxes on humanitarian goods. Please pray that the people on the governments welfare lists are in fact the ones who need the food, and that through this the Gospel would be shared through physical means. Currently open evangelization through a charitable organization is not allowed in Armenia. Pray that the message will be heard!
Blessings from the Great Country of Armenia
Chad
Launch to Armenia (Video)!
Launch to Armenia
This video is a snapshot of the dream inside me to reach Armenia (and now I am in Armenia!).
IMPORTANT Armenia Departure Update
Really pursuing the timing God has given me, I am heading to Armenia on October 5th. I just wanted to make you aware of this date that is fast approaching! I am still close to $200 A MONTH short of my monthly budget needs set by the people I will be working with. If you have been considering partnering with me to be an agent of change in Armenia, NOW IS THE TIME!
Exciting Update
I am officially back in Washington. I have exciting news: God has opened doors for me to move to new things. I was offered the opportunity to head the humanitarian relief and development projects in Armenia. The missionary couple in Armenia are excited to launch new programs partnering church planting with the humanitarian relief as an outreach to reach the needs of the Armenian people.
I will be moving to Yerevan, the capitol, and work on developing programs for 2 years. I am now raising support to be able to reach the people of Armenia with humanitarian relief and church planting.
More to come on what all is going on in Armenia, and whats next for me. I just wanted to update you where things are at and ask you to pray as I step out in this new adventure that God has opened for me…
Until next time
Chad
New Pictures from Armenia
Bagging Groceries In Sarata Galbena
We bagged over 500 bags of groceries for families in this community in need. We then did a big Convoy of Hope Outreach with games, kids activities, testimonies, and prayer with the message of the Gospel. Great day all-together. This is a video of the Convoy team bagging the groceries.
More Pictures from Moldova
Blessings in Moldova
we have had the great opportunity to work in a town this past week named Strasen. we stayed in homes of people in the church. during the day we were able to rebuild a concrete wall that was old and cracked on the sanctuary building. it would have cost the church over 500 dollars in just labor for our work – not counting the cost for materials. all week we worked on that wall during the day. then, a group would go to the orphanage that had about 100 kids in it. we had a service for them with fun versions of Bible stories, songs, and games. great ministry! we were also able to be a part of a feeding program the church in Strasen has for elderly people every day for lunch. saturday we had a service for visually impared people. we gave out 200 bags with groceries and slippers. the service was in the community center, and most were non Christians. we sang songs for them, gave testimonies of God in our own personal lives, and presented the gospel to them talking about the salvation that Jesus offers us all. it was an amazing time to meet their needs physically, give them some entertainment, and let them know that they are not forgotten. they really needed to know that people do care about them that and Christ has a plan and purpose for them. elderly people in Moldova are often forgotten and left alone. with physical disabilities it can be even lonelier for them. the church in Strasen is doing an amazing job of reaching out to their community with physical help as well as spiritual help. they really “get” what it is all about – going into all the world whether it is your neighbor or someone at the store and show them Christ’s love and compassion and share the message of His saving grace to all.
i made some great friends. on our way out of town, the father of my host family, peter, who i worked with all week, was waiting for a bus across the street. i ran over to say goodbye and he gave me a huge hug. even though we don’t speak the same language we became great friends. its all about relationships here.
today we worked at the “home of hope”, the house for trafficked women to help them recover. they officially open next week and we were finishing up making cabinets and odds and ends so it will be ready for the girls when they come in. we prayed for each room and the girls who will be there and that they would have peace and feel the comfort of jesus.
great times. delayed till Saturday to head out to Armenia.
till next time
your friend
chad