Apparently, the White House referred to Christmas Trees as Holiday Trees for the first time this year, which prompted CBS presenter, Ben Stein, to present this piece which I would like to share with you...

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

 

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a nativity scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

 

In light of recent events... terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Christmas in Armenia

Why do Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6?

Armenians do not celebrate Christmas on December 25^th with the rest of the world.  The exact date of Christ’s birth is not recorded in the Gospels and has not been established by any other source.  However, all Christian churches celebrated Christ’s birth on January 6^th until the fourth century when the date was changed to December 25 by the Roman Empire.  Historically, December 25^th was a pagan festival which celebrated the birth of the sun.  At that time, many Christians continued to celebrate pagan holidays and in order to undermine the pagan practice, the church hierarchy designated December 25^th as the official date of Christ’s birth and January 6^th as the feast of the epiphany.  However, Armenia was not influenced by this change and has continued to celebrate Christmas on January 6^th like our oldest Christian ancestors.

The lasting effects of the Soviet Union on Christmas in Armenia…

Armenians lived under the rule of the atheist Soviet Union for 69 years.  Under Soviet rule, almost all churches in Armenia were closed, left to deteriorate or used as schools or other non-religious buildings.  Armenia, the first country in the world to declare itself a Christian state in the fourth century, was forbidden from observing the birth of Christ.  During the Soviet era, the communist government discouraged the telling of the Christmas story and instituted a tradition of Grandfather Frost bringing gifts on New Year's Eve. Armenians began to celebrate Christmas and New Year together on New Year’s Eve. 

After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenians slowly began to reopen the churches and publicly celebrate their religious holidays.  While Armenians are now free to celebrate their holidays, the 69 years of Soviet rule had a strong influence on the society.  Until now, in most homes, Christmas and New Year are mixed into one holiday to some extent.  The New Year receives the biggest celebration and emphasis with a big feast and the exchange of gifts.  Starting the week before New Year’s Day, the women begin working into the morning hours to prepare two weeks’ worth of traditional New Year’s dishes.  It is the Armenian tradition that from January 1-7, all of your friends and family members must pay a visit to your home and with each visit you must heat up the food and spread out the same feast for your guests. 

On Christmas Eve, January 5, some families go to visit the church where they are given a small candle lamp which they carry home, symbolizing that the “Good news” is coming into the world.  Christmas day, on January 6, is celebrated more solemnly than the New Year with a traditional meal of fish, rice with raisins, wine and special Armenian sweet bread and some families attend a worship service at the church on Christmas morning.

On Christmas, Armenians greet each other with the words, “Christos tsnvets yev hytnetsav” which means, “Christ was born and appeared”.  They answer by saying, “Dzez yev mez mets avedis” which means, “It is great news for you and for us!”

Turkey’s Kurds Seek Forgiveness for Part in Genocide

BY AMBERIN ZAMAN

From Al-Monitor

“The Armenian population is melting.”

This bleak assessment was pronounced by Sahak Mashalian, an Armenian Orthodox priest, during a recent Sunday mass at the Asdvadzadzin church in Istanbul. Reeling off the statistics: 482 funerals, 236 baptisms and 191 weddings, the black-robed cleric solemnly intoned, “These figures point to a community … that is dying.”

Little over a century ago, the Armenian Patriarchate put Anatolia’s Armenian population at more than two million. In 1915, tragedy struck. Estimated figures vary, but between 800,000 and 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by Ottoman forces and their Kurdish allies in what many respected historians call the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey vehemently denies any genocidal intent. The official line is that most of the Armenians died from hunger and disease, as they were forcibly deported to the deserts of Syria amid the upheaval of the collapsing empire.

The ruling Islamic Justice and Development Party has done more than any of its pro-secular predecessors to improve the lot of Christian minorities and to encourage freer debate of the horrors that befell them. Yet it has also showered millions of dollars on international lobbying firms in a vain effort to peddle the official version of events. A steady trickle of nations continue to recognize the events of 1915 as genocide. Turkey’s biggest worry is that on the centenary in 2015, the United States will risk wrecking relations and follow suit.

In Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakir (Dikranagerd), global diplomacy does not figure in the calculations of Abdullah Demirbas, the mayor of the city’s ancient Sur district. A maze of narrow cobbled streets lined with decrepit stone houses, Sur used to be known as the “neighborhood of the infidels” because of the large number of Armenians, Syrian Orthodox Christians and Jews who once lived there. Since being twice elected to office on the ticket of Turkey’s largest pro-Kurdish party, Peace and Democracy (BDP), Demirbas, a stocky former schoolteacher with an easy smile, has thrown himself wholeheartedly into making amends for the past.

“As Kurds, we also bear responsibility for the suffering of the Armenians,” he told Al-Monitor over glasses of ruby-red tea. “We are sorry, and we need to prove it.” As a first step, Demirbas launched free Armenian-language classes two years ago at the municipality offices. “They were an instant hit,” Demirbas said. Many of those who enrolled were thought to be “hidden Armenians” or the descendants of those who converted to Islam to survive.

One such “hidden Armenian,” a gnarled octogenarian called Ismail, confided to Al-Monitor that his father’s real name was Leon.

“They wiped out his entire family, out in the fields,” he said as he awaited an audience with Demirbas. The old man’s voice cracked with emotion. “My father was rescued by a Turkish officer and became a Muslim. But though, praise God, I am a good Muslim too, praying five times a day, I know I am not accepted,” he added. “In their minds, I am always the son of the unbeliever.”

The Kurds’ role in the killings has been well documented, increasingly now by the Kurds themselves.

Egged on by their Ottoman rulers, Kurdish tribal chieftains raped, murdered and pillaged their way through the southeast provinces where for centuries they had co-existed, if uneasily, with the Armenians and other non-Muslims. Henry Morgenthau, who served as US ambassador in Constantinople at the height of the bloodshed, described the Kurds’ complicity in his chilling 1918 memoir “Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story” thusly:

“The Kurds would sweep down from their mountain homes. Rushing up to the young girls, they would lift their veils and carry the pretty ones off to the hills. They would steal such children as pleased their fancy and mercilessly rob all the rest of the throng. … While they were committing these depredations, the Kurds would freely massacre, and the screams of women and old men would add to the general horror.”

Osman Koker, a Turkish historian who has chronicled Armenian life through a rich collection of postcards and photographs predating 1915, reckons more than half of Diyarbakir’s population was non-Muslim before the violence began.

“Most of them were Armenians, now there are none,” Koker told Al-Monitor in an interview. Hashim Hashimi, a former member of parliament and a Sunni Muslim spiritual leader with a robust following, told Al-Monitor, “Sadly, many imams were convincing people that if they killed an infidel they would find their place in heaven and be rewarded with beautiful girls.” This meant that thousands of Syrian Orthodox and other Christians were not spared, either.

In 2009 Demirbas and Osman Baydemir, a fellow BDP politician and the mayor of Greater Diyarbakir, decided to help with the restoration of an Armenian Orthodox church that had lay in ruins for decades in Sur. Baydemir donated a third of the costs of restoring Surp Giragos to its former magnificence. In 2011 the church, said to be the largest Armenian church in the Middle East, opened its doors as a fully functioning house of worship.

Ergun Ayik, an Armenian entrepreneur and philanthropist who runs the Surp Giragos Foundation, told Al-Monitor that the BDP mayors “went out of their way to help us,” even providing the church with free utilities and security guards. A new museum of Armenian culture that is due to open by the end of 2013 within the Surp Giragos complex under the sponsorship of the Greater Diyarbakir municipality should also help draw tourists, not to mention thousands of “hidden Armenians” thought to be scattered across the southeast.

Silva Ozyerli, an Armenian activist from Diyarbakir who left for Istanbul in the 1970s, has agreed to donate some family treasures, including a silk nightshirt, several finely embroidered tablecloths and a pair of engraved copper bowls to the museum. Ozyerli voiced her enthusiasm for the project in an interview with Al-Monitor.

“You know why it is dear to me?” she asked, a tinge of defiance creeping into her voice. “It is because everything in that museum will show people that not too long ago, Diyarbakir was every bit as Armenian as it was Kurdish, if not more so.”

Ad Campaign by Amnesty Inernational

It's not happening here but it is happening now...

http://simplepimple.com/2013/10/its-not-happening-here-but-it-is-happening-now-brilliant-ad-campaign-by-amnesty-international-10-pictures/

An interesting article about an Armenian monastery which has been restored by an Arab Sheikh

Haghartsin Monastery (Armenia) (AFP) - Standing next to a newly refurbished bell tower, priest Aristakes Aivazyan says it needed divine intervention to save Armenia's medieval Haghartsin monastery.

But it also took a lot of money from a very unlikely benefactor —- the Muslim ruler of the resource-rich Arab emirate of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi.

"I cannot recall anything similar to this happening in our history that some Arab sheikh, a Muslim, helped to restore and rescue an Armenian Christian church," Aivazyan told AFP.

"Without doubt it was God who brought the sheikh to Haghartsin," the priest, dressed in long black robes, said.

Perched spectacularly amid thickly forested mountains about 100 kilometres northeast of Yerevan, Haghartsin monastery is a masterpiece of medieval Armenian ecclesiastical architecture.

Founded in the tenth century, the monastery -- which includes three churches and once housed some 250 monks -- survived attacks from Arab and Ottoman invaders and anti-religious campaigns under Soviet rule during its turbulent history.

But after weathering those storms, decades of neglect in recent years meant the complex looked headed for collapse as plants twisted through walls and cracks threatened to send buildings tumbling.

"The monastery was in need of serious reconstruction but the repairs were always delayed by the lack of finances," father Aivazyan said.

That was until a fortuitous visit from al-Qasimi, who had been invited to Armenia by former president Robert Kocharian on a trip set up by the Armenian business community in the emirate.

"In 2005 his royal highness visited Armenia and generously offered to renovate the complex during a tour of various Armenian regions," says Varouj Nerguizian, a Sharjah-based Armenian businessman who has advised the sheikh.

Nerguizian refused to say how much the sheikh had given for the refurbishment but local media reported that it could be around $1.7 million.

Now, after years of building work including a new road up to the monastery to help boost visitor numbers, the refurbished structure was finally opened last month.

"It falls within the natural context of his royal highness' philanthrophy as well respect for other religions," Nerguizian.

Perched on the Persian Gulf, after Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sharjah is the third largest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE.

Al-Qasimi, 74, -- who came to power in 1972 after his brother, then king, was killed in a failed coup -- has sought to boost the emirate as a tourist and cultural hub in the region.

Despite a thriving community of Armenian businessmen that now boasts its own church in the emirate of some 900,000 inhabitants that now boasts its own church -- there have been few links between Yerevan and Sharjah.

For those working at the monastery, the surprise of seeing an Arab leader visiting the holy Christian site remains a vivid memory.

"He came with his entourage of about 10 people and looked around for quite a while at all the churches and stone crosses before asking to go into the main Church of Our Lady," recalled Artak Sahakyan, who sells candles to visiting worshippers.

"When he came out he said that he believed that the word of God was really heard here," Sahakyan said.

Armenia is considered to be the oldest Christian country in the world and its Apostolic Church belongs to the ancient Oriental Orthodox branch.

The church is hugely influential in Armenia and two monasteries and its main cathedral are already listed on UNESCO's list of world heritage site.

After a history of conflict between Armenia and its Muslim neighbours of Turkey and Azerbaijan, those working at the Harghartsin monastery say they hope the support they have received from a Muslim ruler shows that the two faiths can get along.

"The sheikh is a deeply religious man so seeing a monastery is such a bad state it is not surprising that he felt touched," says father Aivazyan.

"It is as if the with this generous gesture the sheikh is saying that we need to be tolerant of other religions as in the end we all serve one God," Aivazyan said.

Syrian Refugee Children By the Tragic Numbers

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/20708-syrian-refugee-children-by-the-tragic-numbers

A parish priest: "The exodus of civil Christians from Qara, invaded by foreign jihadists"

http://www.fides.org/en/news/.UqB5IMQW0XK

For Christmas this year, consider the gift of heat to a Syrian family. E-mail me if you are interested in making a donation...

Dear friends and partners in the ministry of Christ,

Personally and on behalf of the National Evangelical  Synod of Syria and Lebanon I greet you in the precious name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Thank you for  your  faithfulness, praying with us, and supporting our ministry among the Syrian displaced and refugees.

I also hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving..

 

As today the NESSL crises committee had its regular meeting the following information was shared:

 

The committee received a letter from the pastor in Aleppo expressing a great need to help families be able to purchase heating oil as the weather is becoming cold and many are unable to

buy the needed heating oil. Then other  members voiced concern that this is a great need for all, especially that people have rented places in areas considered summer areas where the cold is already severe and will get more severe by the day. In Homs, for example, the temperature currently is 8cg. After discussion, the committee made the following decision:

 

Indeed the winter cold is threatening all people who lack the warmth of their own homes in particular, but also even those who remain in villages and towns or cities where to buy heating oil,  when available,  has become unaffordable.

We need to respond to this need. Cold is surely threatening children and old people in particular, and heating oil is as needed as food. Thus we need to provide for at least  (1000) families in different  parts in Syria.

 

Those will be helped to buy  ( 200) liters by  mid December or  as soon as funds  are available.   In Aleppo the price of one liter is between 100-150 Syrian pound. Other places vary  from 65-80 Syrian pounds. Thus, NESSL will provide the amount of $100 for each of the one thousand as one payment.  The  local pastors with local relief committees  will make the needed  plans.

 

Concerns were voiced as this is a large amount, taking into consideration the fact that our budget for our relief program is $ 1,300.000. for one year. So we need to appeal to our partners to help in providing warmth in a cold winter to one thousand families.

 

However, we have to trust God who cares for  the needy. To Him we turn in all our needs. God will provide!

 

In his report, the director of the relief program has also stressed the fact that so many families have been appealing for help with the rent. Thus, the committee requested more information before making any decisions, taking into consideration that already more than 488 families have been helped with rent for almost two years.

 

It is a fact that all the collections on Thanksgiving in the Presbyterian churches both in Syria and Lebanon have been assigned this year for the families that have lost homes and are unable to rebuild in the circumstances.

 

We in all our churches have launched a winter project which we call: " A sweater and a scarf !" In the hope that we can help those in refugee camps face the cold.

SO OUR GOOD FRIENDS!  WE appeal to your compassionate spirit to help us in this very needed ministry.  Be people who provide loving warmth in a hating cold! Indeed the project to help providing $100 for one thousand families is a big amount, and surely we are in great need of your help.  Maybe we could assign one Sunday when each one coming to church would pay $1-5. This could make like a blanket coming from heaven and providing the needed warmth in this cruel winter. WOULD IT NOT BE A MIRACLE!

 

We appeal to all our friends and partners to stretch a helping hand to the NESSL as soon as possible to be able to provide the heating oil.

Our God who is a God of miracles may guide you all and move your hearts to do His will. To Him all the glory now and for ever.

**, On behalf of the NESSL 

Update from a friend in Syria

Although we're getting hopeful news internationally and good news about the army's control on some dangerous areas, and having more safe roads and places. Today the situation was very bad, several mortar shells and bomb blasts caused damage in many houses in <<Azizieh>> which is a Christian area with many schools and churches. In addition to this we still didn't get back the electricity nor water.

But the most painful news is the targeting of the Armenian Orthodox church and school in Damascus with mortar shells (which is in the same yard of our office), this caused the death of six elementary students. I managed to call [our Damascus staff], they told me how they witnessed everything and did their best to help the children and the parents. They were in a very bad mood, I tried as much as I can to calm them down with few nice words.

We're praying and sure that God will give us enough patience and courage to bare all these things.

I'm feeling bad that I'm always giving you sad news.... The happy side is that JMP is there to assist these people.

Best Regards,

**

A determined woman leads Tripoli church

November 13, 2013 12:20 AM

By Brooke Anderson

The Daily Star

Rola Sleiman, pastor at the Tripoli Evangelical Church gives a Sunday sermon. (Photo courtesy of Rola Sleiman)

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Rola Sleiman never planned on running a church. But when the opportunity came along five years ago, she embraced the chance to serve a small Presbyterian congregation in Lebanon’s second city. “It’s a huge responsibility. As the first woman, I either succeed or it won’t be discussed for years,” Sleiman says at her office, whose door still reads “pastor” (rai) without the feminine ending, shortly before starting her Sunday sermon at the sanctuary next door at the Tripoli Evangelical Church. “As the first female, you need to be successful to pave the way for others.” Growing up in Tripoli – born to a Presbyterian father from Syria and a Syriac Catholic mother from Lebanon – and attending school with mainly Muslim classmates and friends in the relatively conservative northern city, Sleiman says she knew early on that she wanted to serve God. After high school, she enrolled at the Near East Theology School in Beirut and shortly after graduation began teaching at three churches and two schools in the Zahle area of the Bekaa Valley. From there, she spent two years serving at a church in the village of Minyara in Akkar. Then in 2008, she was asked to serve as a substitute to the pastor of her church, who had left to the United States for what at first was temporary move. When it became clear that he wasn’t returning – and with the encouragement of Rev. Hadi Ghantous from the Minyara church who was presiding over the Tripoli church at the time of an absent pastor – she applied for the position that she was already working hard at by then. Since that time, she has continued with the sermons and lessons she had already been doing, but perhaps with more passion and determination. Every Sunday, the 38-year-old pastor arrives at the simple beige church in Tripoli’s Rahbat neighborhood and warmly greets the neighbors and parishioners, who typically number between 20 and 30 and up to 80 on holidays. After shaking the hands of everyone in the pews, she begins her sermon, interlaced with hymns and prayers. On this day, the theme is “thankfulness.” “It is important to be thankful and think of others’ happiness,” she says as she begins her sermon. “Happiness is a state of mind, to see the good in others.” Referring to the city’s poverty and sporadic political violence, she says, “If you ask people in Tripoli, they will likely say they’re unhappy.” But she believes that helping others and giving thanks can help bring about happiness – even in hard times. Pointing out that winter has almost arrived, she then announces a campaign to gather clothes for Syrian children living in makeshift refugee camps in Lebanon, organized in collaboration with several other churches in the area. As the service wraps up, the members – around 15 on this Sunday – eagerly greet their pastor as they go downstairs for a quick snack and coffee. While the membership of the church is small at around 33 families, many of whom have emigrated, and as Sleiman notes are a minority within Tripoli’s already small Christian minority, their dedication appears to run deep. The church’s elders, all five of them men, are among the most enthusiastic to greet Sleiman before and after the service. The pastor says no one has ever questioned her qualifications based on her gender, and in fact the elders often praise her sermons, which she says she puts much work into every week. “I’m always prepared,” she says, explaining an equally important key to her success: “love and having a good relationship with everyone.” She stresses, “I don’t want anyone to judge me for my gender. It’s what God made me. Maybe it would be easier to be a man.” She notes that she has developed a good relationship with neighbors and makes it a point to patronize local vendors. “When people feel love and respect, they give it back.” She says, “The reputation of Tripoli is much worse than the reality. I lived and went to school here, where most of my friends were Muslim.” During the week, she teaches ethics to local elementary school students at her alma mater, the Tripoli Evangelical School, founded by American Presbyterian missionaries in 1887. The nearby Tripoli Evangelical Church was built much later in the 1940s. While she’s adamant in her belief that love is the best way to build bridges, Sleiman acknowledges that it can be difficult to live and work in a city where there are frequent outbreaks of violence. Some clashes have taken place near the church and school. And evening Bible study classes are usually done at the homes of church members so as to avoid the city center after dark. She credits the faithful parishioners for keeping the church alive during good and difficult times. “I think the church has challenges since we’re in Tripoli and we’re a minority. It would probably be easier in Europe or the United States to serve where Christians are a majority,” Sleiman says. “Here we have a mission to say to Muslims that we’re their sisters and brothers and no one is better than the other.” “We need to love everybody and we need to forgive everybody.”

Letter from a friend about recent developments in Syria...

Dear Friends, 

We are very happy to inform you that the Syrian Army went into the besieged area of the Western part of Saddad and was able to liberate the area from the militant groups who had previously besieged 2,500 persons in that quarter of the city. The army went in after negotiations with the militants failed as they have requested to take 80 persons (40 adults and 40 children) with them into the Kalamoun mountains.

Last night the army, with special troops, were able to launch a surprise attack against the rebels. After heavy fighting the armed rebels left the village, fleeing towards the mountains. Up to this moment, we are not sure of the number of casualties of this battle. The army is still securing the area. At the time of sending you this report, they have a special unit that has reached the border of Haffar, chasing the fleeing rebels. They also have another special unit entering homes to ensure the rebels have left the village.

They have already found a car bomb in Saddad, which was diffused. They are warning the residents not to go back to their homes, which may be booby-trapped. 

So far, we know that thirteen persons have been martyred as a result of this past week’s conflict. Those who have fled Saddad and Haffar are as follows:

 

475 families are in Fairouze

 

107 families are in Zaidel

 

98 families are in Fhaile

 

Around 240 families went to Damascus 

 

Around 200 families went to Homs

 

During the early stages of the crisis we helped people to get out of Saddad and Haffar, and now we are making arrangements to help people return to their homes. Humanitarian aid was and is offered to all of those affected by this present situation.

 

On behalf of the people of Haffar and Saddad, I would like to thank all of those who have helped through their humanitarian assistance and their advocacy on behalf of the people of Haffar and Saddad. I would like to especially thank, Barnabas Fund , Mennonite Central Committee, Danmission, and the United Church of Christ. 

 

Your prayers, efforts, and solidarity have made a difference! We shall keep you informed of new developments. The attached pictures are of people fleeing the violence in Saddad.

 

**

Fall Colors in Armenia

This weekend my husband and I had the unique opportunity to get away from work and spend the weekend together in a beautiful place.  Though I have been to Armenia three times before, I had never been in Armenia in the Fall.  Fall is my favorite season and I was really looking forward to seeing the colors change in this beautiful country.  Finally, I got my wish when my husband announced that we would go away for the weekend to celebrate both of our birthdays.  We went to a touristic town in the mountains called "Jermuk" which is famous because it is the source of hot mineral water which is sold all over Armenia.  The town is full of health spas and people go there for vacations or to heal after health problems and operations.  The water is supposed to be very healing but the taste was very strange for me so I drank very little.  The town was full of old Russian Soviet style sanatoriums.  There were lakes and forests and the air had a very good fresh smell.  One day we took a day trip to a beautiful monastery which I had dreamed of visiting for a long time.  It is called "Tatev Monastery". 

This is some info about the monastery from Wikipedia:

The Tatev Monastery (Armenian: Տաթևի վանք) is a 9th-century monastery located on a large basalt plateau near the Tatev village in Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. The monastic ensemble stands on the edge of a deep gorge of the Vorotan River. Tatev is known as the bishopric seat of Syunik and played a significant role in the history of the region as a center of economic, political, spiritual and cultural activity.

In the 14th and 15th centuries Tatev Monastery hosted one of the most important Armenian medieval universities, the University of Tatev, which contributed to the advancement of science, religion and philosophy, reproduction of books and development of miniature painting. Scholars of the Tatev University contributed to the preservation of Armenian culture and creed during one of its most turbulent periods in its history.

The monastery is the "best-known site" in Syunik.^[1] Wings of Tatev, a cableway from Tatev to Halidzor village was opened in October 2010.^[2][3] It was included in the Guinness World Records as world's "longest non-stop double track cable car."

^{Here are some pictures from the weekend...}

Chicago centenarian honored as one of Armenian mass-slaughter's last survivors

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-armenian-genocide-20131020,0,940598.story

Letter from a Syrian friend about recent developments...

Subject: Armed Groups in Saddad

Dear Friends,

I write today with a heavy heart and news from Syria.

Since the beginning of the conflict, the small towns of Saddad and Haffar village have been a place of refuge for 4,500 families, most of whom are internally displaced persons (IDPs). Historically Christian villages, both communities have lived in peace with their Muslim neighbors for decades.

Early in the conflict the permanent residents of Saddad and Haffar engaged in the organization and provision of assistance to families who were forced to flee their homes in other areas of Syria. Since the arrival of the displaced, the populations, Muslim and Christian, have lived in harmony as they together face the strain and stress of the conflict surrounding them.

On the morning of the 21^st of October 2013 the situation took a dramatic turn for the worse.

Beginning around 6 a.m., roughly sixty armed vehicles began to enter Saddad. As the vehicles and armed personnel made their way through the streets, the shouting of “Allah Akbar” and the touting of the Quran made it clear to both permanent and displaced that their time of relative tranquility was quickly coming to an end. As the armed groups began to set up sniper posts and a campaign of shelling, the day moved from bad to worse.

From what we can tell, the militias who have taken up positions in Haffar and Saddad are mostly members of the Nursa Front (the Al-Qaeda affiliate). It is suspected that they are using Haffar and Saddad as a launching point for strikes against a nearby army base and arsenal.

Up to now, we know a few of our partners have been killed as a result of the sniper activity and shelling. My brother, who is in Haffar with his family, told me this morning that several mortar shells have fallen as a result of the conflict. However, due to the sniper activity, it is impossible to reach the destroyed sites to search for those killed and/or wounded.

As I was talking with my brother, I could hear children crying in fear of the situation. I could hear the faint sounds of the barrage of mortars and intense fighting raging outside. As I sat on the phone, I could not but cry with them. Why is it that children have to be the victims of such a dirty war!

All we can do now is pray for the safety of the people there, and that they do not become IDPs for the second or third time. The lives of everyone is our concern and we pray for God’s protection to all his people.

As the situation continues to develop, I continue to be in contact with our partners and community leaders in Haffar, Saddad, and the Kalamoun region. Yet another example of the brutality and insanity of the Syrian crisis, I hope and pray to God the militants withdraw quickly from the area. Their use of innocent civilians as cover for their military campaigns continues to make our hearts ache.

As new developments come to me, I will pass along the news.

Please continue to have the people of Haffar and Saddad, as well as the people of Syria, in your thoughts and prayers. Let us continue to work for an end to violence and wars and the creation of a lasting peace and security.

Blessings,

**** *******

A very good article if you would like to learn about Armenia's relations with its neighbors...

http://worldaffairsjournal.org/article/dispatch-armenia-not-so-frozen-war?utm_source=World+Affairs+Newsletter&utm_campaign=bfb92ce524-September_30_2013_WAJ_Cengel&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f83b38c5c7-bfb92ce524-294618137

If someone gave you the option to renounce your Christian faith or die, what would you do?

Martyrdom vs. Flabby Christianity

by Kenneth E. Hines on September 28, 2013

Rasha called her fiance Atef on his cell phone. A rebel answered and told her that they captured Atef and had given him the option of converting to Islam. He refused. So they slit his throat.

Atef was engaged to be married to Rasha. They are Christians and they lived in the ancient Christian village of Maaloula in Syria where the residents still speak Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Earlier this month the village was attacked by rebels of the Free Syrian Army made up of Jihadist factions from all over the Middle East including members of Al-Qaeda.

Kirsten Powers wrote yesterday in the Daily Beast of the slaughter of Christians now taking place around the world:

“As Egypt’s Copts have battled the worst attacks on the Christian minority since the 14th century, the bad news for Christians in the region keeps coming. On Sunday, Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 85 worshippers at All Saints’ church, which has stood since 1883 in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. Christians were also the target of Islamic fanatics in the attack on a shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, this week that killed more than 70 people. The Associated Press reported that the Somali Islamic militant group al-Shabab “confirmed witness accounts that gunmen separated Muslims from other people and let the Muslims go free.” The captives were asked questions about Islam. If they couldn’t answer, they were shot.

In Syria, Christians are under attack by Islamist rebels and fear extinction if Bashar al-Assad falls. This month, rebels overran the historic Christian town of Maalula, where many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The AFP reported that a resident of Maalula called her fiancé’s cell and was told by member of the Free Syrian Army that they gave him a chance to convert to Islam and he refused. So they slit his throat.

Nina Shea, an international human-rights lawyer and expert on religious persecution, testified in 2011 before Congress regarding the fate of Iraqi Christians, two-thirds of whom have vanished from the country. They have either been murdered or fled in fear for their lives. Said Shea: ‘[I]n August 2004 … five churches were bombed in Baghdad and Mosul. On a single day in July 2009, seven churches were bombed in Baghdad … The archbishop of Mosul, was kidnapped and killed in early 2008. A bus convoy of Christian students were violently assaulted. Christians … have been raped, tortured, kidnapped, beheaded, and evicted from their homes …’”

When I was a young Christian in high school I read the book, “Fox’s Book of Martyrs” which details the persecutions of Jesus’ followers beginning in the first centuries of the Christian Church. I remember thinking about how hard it must have been to be a Christian in those days.  It seemed so far away, so unreal. I feel the same way when I think of the Holocaust. It is beyond my comprehension to think of such cruelty against fellow humans just because of one’s religion or ethnicity.

But it is happening today. This time, instead of being separated by decades or millennia, we’re separated by thousands of miles. And that makes it seem just as unreal. The difference is that we have instant communication with real-time images and videos. We are watching the horror right before our eyes.

And yet, we are still unaffected.

Here in America we are insulated, comfortable, and indifferent. In her article Powers questions how such terror can be happening and yet so many Christian believers and churches can be so silent.

“American Christians are quite able to organize around issues that concern them. Yet religious persecution appears not to have grabbed their attention, despite worldwide media coverage of the atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.”

I have two reactions to this. I’m angry at myself and my fellow Christians for being indifferent, and I’m ashamed of how flabby my own faith is.

Indifferent Christians

I was pleased to see the groundswell of protest to the suggestion of US intervention into Syria last month. There are indeed a myriad of atrocities that are taking place there – on both sides. But we are fooling ourselves if we think we can resolve the conflict without causing more devastating consequences for those in Syria, the region, and our own national interests. So I am glad so many are standing against American strikes against Syria.

But why does the protest stop there? Why isn’t there equal outrage over the torture and killing of Christians throughout the Middle East?

The answer to that is surely complex but one simple and obvious answer is the foolishness of “political correctness.” From government to media to churches people are so afraid to speak out for fear they will offend Moslems. I say people are not stupid. They know the difference between peace-loving and law-abiding Moslems and the Islamic radicals who are waging war over centuries-old rivalries and fundamentalist jihadist ideologies. Middle Eastern Christians are caught in the middle of these Islamic tribal wars. We can’t resolve the ancient rivalries but we can speak out and influence world opinion on the persecution against Christians and other minorities.

Flabby Christians

The horror my fellow Christians are facing causes me to question the depth of my own commitment to Christ. It’s not a matter of comparing my faith to theirs and asking if I am willing to die for my faith. I’m not sure anyone can answer that question when we aren’t really being faced with it. But it does make me think about how flabby my faith is over so much less.

For example, compare being a Christian like Atef who is faced with the choice of renouncing Christ and becoming a Moslem or having his throat slit and the kind of choices we face in America: making it to church on Sundays or sleeping in; watching TV or reading our Bibles; going to the gym or praying; buying ourselves another outfit or giving money to feed the poor; on and on the list goes.

I know the answer to those questions – most of the time and for most of us. Let’s face it. We’re flabby. The sacrifices our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are making today put us to shame. They are being tested. But so are we.

This is a time for us to take a serious look at our faith. Do we call ourselves Christians out of convenience? Just because it’s part of our family? Maybe we call ourselves Christian just because we’ve never questioned it and so we take the easiest form of it possible. Are we just “cultural” Christians where our faith doesn’t cost us anything and just makes us feel good about ourselves because we think it’s the right way to go? Maybe we think of ourselves as “spiritual but not religious” Christians. We think we can go it on our own and no one, no church or tradition, is going to tell us how to live. We want a faith but we don’t want it to cost us anything. We’d rather make up our own idea of who Christ – because that makes Him easy – rather than Who He really is which is really, really hard.

Consider some of His words (which our suffering brothers and sisters know quite well):

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:32-39)

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13,14)

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58)

“I know your works, that you are neither cold or hot, I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Rev. 3:15,16)

Spiritual Discipline

Compared to our suffering brothers and sisters we are lazy, flabby Christians. We need to return the Grace-filled, self-denying faith of the Church. We need to recover the spiritual gymnasium of the saints where we can exercise our flabby spiritual muscles through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, worship, sacraments, Scripture reading, and almsgiving.

They’re called spiritual disciplines because they’re not easy. They require effort and hard work. Most of us don’t want a faith like this. That’s why we’re flabby. Or, maybe, we really don’t have true faith at all and it’s just a game for us.

Well, we can be sure. It’s not a game for the Christians in the Middle East right now.

A beautiful story to read in the morning with your coffee...

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same
hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an
hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from
his lungs....

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on
his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their
homes, their jobs, their involvement in the
military service, where they had been on
vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the
window could sit up, he would pass the time by
describing to his roommate all the things he could
see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those
one hour periods where his world would be
broadened and enlivened by all the activity and
colour of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while
children sailed their model boats. Young lovers
walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour
and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen
in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in
exquisite details, the man on the other side of
the room would close his eyes and imagine this
picturesque scene.

 

One warm afternoon, the man by the window
described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band -
he could see it in his mind's eye as the
gentleman by the window portrayed it with
descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring
water for their baths only to find the lifeless body
of the man by the window, who had died
peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital
attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man
asked if he could be moved next to the window.
The nurse was happy to make the switch, and
after making sure he was comfortable, she left
him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one
elbow to take his first look at the real world
outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window
besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have
compelled his deceased roommate who had
described such wonderful things outside this
window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and
could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage
you.'

Epilogue:
There is tremendous happiness in making others
happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness
when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things
you have that money can't buy.
'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The
Present .'