Artsakh Pastoral Couples Conference
Armenia, March 12 – 17
Bitterness or Blessing
In Armenia, we witnessed a tremendous spirit of oneness amongst a special group of exiles from Artsakh (a region of Armenia recently taken over by Azerbaijan). One might expect that a group of people who were starved for 9 months during a complete blockade and then fearing certain death, were forced to leave their farms, churches, homes and all of their possessions, would be a people burdened with grief. Bitterness would be the kingdom of this world’s response, but these believers walking in the Kingdom of faithful obedience to God choose to be a blessing instead.
One couple described how before they left their home, the wife cleaned the house from top to bottom, arranged the furniture and left a note of encouragement, a book of special monuments in town and some flowers.
They gave thanks for the years God had given them there and prayed for the strangers who would soon take possession of what had been their home for so many years. They truly blessed their enemies!
This Easter we are also reminded of the contrast between the kingdom of the death (the grave) and the Kingdom of the eternal life (the resurrection). All praise and glory go to our loving Father who “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Jesus, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
Ways you can pray!
- May the Lord continue to direct and lead us through the new relationships formed and the decisions made these past couple of weeks!
- We will leave with our teaching team for our next training conferences in Bolivia (April 4-13) and Colombia (April 14-21). Please pray for us and our partners as we continue our preparations. Pray for the pastoral couples who will be attending and for God’s presence to anoint our time together.
- We are also working on preparations for team training and a pastoral couples conference in Uzbekistan (May 16-30) and a Family conference in Ukraine (June 1-10). May we hold fast to the Lord for His strength, provision and leading!
These have been amazing weeks that we trust will impact the Kingdom of God for years to come.
Thank you for your faithful prayer and support that makes this possible.
All praise and glory to our loving Father!
