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AMAA's February ReportŠ
Briefly About AMAA In Armenia
The
Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA)
continues to significantly contribute to the process
of reaching out to the post-Soviet Armenia with the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank God for the privilege
of shining his light in the post-Atheistic society
that is now seeking to rediscover its historical faith
of 1700 years.
The AMAA work in Armenia is led by AMAA¹s Armenia
Representative, Rev. Rene Leonian of Paris, France,
and his deputy, Mr. Harout Nercessian of Montreal,
Canada, who are assisted by:
- Ms. Tamar Vasoian (Syria), Christian Education
- Mr. Mike Balabanian (Canada), Constructor Projects
Coordinator
- Mrs. Eleanor Margaryan (Armenia), Office Manager
- Mr. Guevork Guevorkian (Armenia), Responsible for
the Academic Affairs of the Evangelical Theological
Seminary of Armenia (ETSA), and Assistant Pastor
- Ms. Gayaneh Hovhannissian, Director of the AMAA
Medical Center in Yerevan.
- Mrs. Sylvie Leonian (France) Pharmacist - Sister
Hanna Christen (Germany), Social Worker
The managers of the AMAA offices in twenty-one cities
in Armenia and Karabagh.
AMAA Armenia also provides ministries in Karabagh,
Russia and Georgia.
Currently, AMAA has offices in the following twenty-one
cities: Armavir, Artic, Yerevan, Gumri, Vanadzor,
Spitak, Ijevan, Stepanavan, Goris, Hrazdan, Talin,
Tashir, Maralik, Alaverdi, Dilijan, Stepanakert (Karabagh),
Noyemberian, Berd, Aragatsavan, Ardeni, Artashat.
AMAA Child Sponsorship Program
In 1992 the AMAA started its Child Sponsorship Program.
The work began with a search for needy, vulnerable
families in October, 1990.
At first there were children from 43 families from
Yerevan and 60 families from Gumri involved in the
program. They were mainly orphans and sufferers from
the earthquake, children of Karabagh war martyrs,
families with many children and those living in extreme
need and poverty.
As time went on the program developed and grew.
Gradually families from Vanadzor, Stepanavan and Spitak
were added to the list. Today children from about
20 cities and towns in Armenia and Karabagh are involved
in the Sponsorship Program, a total number of about
2340 children (as of February 1, 2001).
The AMAA Yerevan office receives the names and addresses
of the children to be sponsored from Regional Government
Offices, quarters of Social Provision ministries and
other aid organizations. Then, based on the facts
at hand, the AMAA social workers visit the families
at those addresses and check the validity of the information
received.
The AMAA Sponsorship Program is made possible through
the generous support of concerned and caring individuals
and also through the partnership of Service d¹Entraide
et de Liaison and Hope for Armenia of France and Dorcas
Aid International of the Netherlands. They make it
possible for the local relief workers to pay regular
visits to the sponsored children and their families,
and to supply them with necessary provisions such
as food, clothing, personal hygiene items, school
supplies and, sometimes, financial aid once every
3 months. The sponsored children have the opportunity
to attend the AMAA Christian Education activities,
which makes it possible for the AMAA workers to provide
them with necessary spiritual nurturing as well. They
are involved in Christmas and New Year celebrations,
summer camps or Daily Vacation Bible Schools. The
children and their families are also supplied with
important Christian literature.
The
sponsored children are in regular contact with their
sponsors through letters.
Another important fact is that all sponsored children
undergo a medical check-up at the AMAA medical clinic.
Prayer Requests
We¹d like to ask you to pray for the following:
- The sponsored children and their families. Pray
that they might grow healthy, both physically and
spiritually.
- The AMAA staff working in the Sponsorship field.
Pray that they might be able to show love and compassion
to all the families they are working with. q We are
in need of new sponsors. Please, pray that we might
be able to find them.
- The AMAA "Young Virtuosos" ensemble of 6 young talented
children aged 9-14 is going to perform in Australia,
March 1-19. Please pray for God¹s guidance and blessing
to be upon them during this trip.
- The AMAA young ladies¹ "Song of Songs" choir (7
members) will be giving evangelistic concerts in nine
different cities in France, March 8-25. Pray for the
ladies and that those concerts might be a blessing
to the audience.
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| Worship
updated
February 21, 2001 |
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Are We Tithing?
By
Fred Mickaelian, Jr.
There¹s good news and there¹s bad news for churches, according
to a study reviewed recently in the Los Angeles Times. The good
news is that church members are giving more than at any time
in history. In fact, from 1968 to 1998, per-member giving increased
55 percent. The bad news is that per capital disposable income
increased 91 percent during that period, so per-member giving
as a percentage of income declined 19 percent‹from 3.1 percent
to 2.52 percent.
What
I found interesting is that the percentage of giving for 10
"mainline" Protestant denominations was lower in 1998 than in
1933, during the depths of the Depression. The report said money
being raised by churches is being spent on "salaries, in-house
programs and building maintenance." This seems reasonable to
me. However, it reports that money spent on "the outside," such
as evangelism and missions, is declining each year.
According to this report, if church members actually tithed
(i.e., gave 10 percent), churches would have received $131 billion
more than the $17.2 billion received in 1998. The additional
money certainly would enable churches to budget more for missions
and outreach. As a congregation, I think we can take some solace
in the fact that our church budget for missions and outreach
has been increasing. Additionally, as individual members, I¹m
sure substantial humanitarian contributions are made to organizations
outside our church.
Tithing and giving is mentioned often in the Bible, starting
in Genesis when Abraham gave "a tithe of all." In Malachi, the
last book of the Old Testament, God admonishes the people for
the way they were living and robbing Him "in tithes and offerings."
And, of course, we know the story of the poor widow that gave
"two mites," while the rich were giving much. Jesus responded
that "this poor widow has put in more than all."
Certainly
giving is a personal matter between the individual and God and
the ability to give varies from one person to another. We, as
a church, have a wide and diverse economic base. Unscientific
estimates have placed the total annual income of our congregation
at anywhere from $30 to $40 million. If we take 2.52 percent
of the lower figure for pledges, it would total $756,000 annually,
which is more than our current budget. If, on the other hand,
we gave 10 percent, our church could do so much more for the
glory of God.
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AMAA Appoints Rev. Jirair Sogomian Executive Director
Andrew
Torigian, President, of the Armenian Missionary Association
of America (AMAA) announced the appointment of the Rev. Jirair
M. Sogomian as its new Executive Director. At present the Pastor
of the Armenian Martyrs¹ Congregational Church of Havertown,
Pennsylvania, the Rev. Sogomian will assume his new post by
April 1, 2001. However, a transitional period of engagement
will commence immediately to help assure a smooth assumption
of duties.
The position of AMAA Executive Director had been vacant since
the untimely, premature death of the Rev. Dr. Movses B. Janbazian
on September 25, 2000. During his directorship of thirteen years,
the AMAA experienced significant increases in worldwide missions-outreach
and financial strength.
Jirair Sogomian has been Pastor of the Armenian Martyrs¹ Congregational
Church since August, 1990. Previous ministries within the Armenian
Evangelical Union include the congregational churches of Troy,
New York (where he was ordained); Southfield, Michigan; and
Downey, California. He was also Pastor of two non-Armenian parishes
of the United Church of Christ in South Windsor, Connecticut,
and Sirni Valley, California.
During 1975, and beyond the outbreak of the civil war in Beirut,
Lebanon, the Rev Sogomian was Chaplain and Professor of Religion
at Haigazian College. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in August 1937,
Jirair Sogomian studied at Haigazian and transferred to the
American University of Beirut and, simultaneously, the Near
East School of Theology. Receiving his B.A. at Milligan College,
Tennessee, in 1963, he continued his theological studies at
Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, from which he received his M.
Div. in 1965.
Multi-lingual and known for his exceptional ability to preach
and teach the Gospel of Christ, the Rev. Jirair Sogomian is
equally recognized for goal-oriented administrative skills and
organizational leadership.
He and his wife Lorraine (nee Shamlian) have five children and
three grandchildren.
Evangelical
Links
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Records
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