|  Pastors
in Armenia Form Prayer Groups
Around the Unreached
AIMS
News: Posted 2/1/2005
Several
years ago, during a time of intense prayer, a woman
in the United States saw a vision of fire spreading
to the nations through a little country in the Middle
East called Armenia. Having never heard of Armenia,
she called a pastor she knew to ask him about it. That
night, the pastor was hosting a guest ñ another
pastor from a growing church network in Armenia named
"Pastor Deron."
As
Pastor Deron listened to the woman describe her vision,
he thought about the many prophecies given over his
home country of Armenia. He believed the visions, but
decided to wait on God's timing. Several months later,
he received a package in the mail from the woman he
had spoken with in America -- a banner illustrating
a fire consuming the earth -- to remind him of the vision.
In
2004, Pastor Deron decided that the time was right for
action. He invited a team from AIMS to lead the very
first missions conference for the forty churches within
his network -- the Armenian Renewal Movement of churches.
In November 2004, "Philip" and a team of AIMS
Associates traveled to Armenia to train pastors in the
first ever Armenian Equipping for the Harvest
conference. During the conference, Pastor Deron brought
out the banner and shared the vision of a "great
fire" with the 110 Armenian pastors who attended.
|
"Before
this conference, these pastors were just like
everyone else; they were interested in reaching
only their neighborhoods. Now, they have a desire
to see the nations reached." |
A
Nation Rich in Christian Tradition
In
the fourth century, an evangelist named Gregory the
Illuminator was imprisoned for sharing his faith in
Armenia. During his sentence, the king became ill and
asked Gregory to pray for his healing. The king was
miraculously healed! He released Gregory and gave him
freedom to evangelize throughout the country. Soon after,
Armenia adopted Christianity as its national religion.
Today,
most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church,
the Orthodox Church of Armenia. According to Operation
World, only 8% of the total population is considered
evangelistic.(1)
Eight
years ago, Pastor Deron attended a Bible School begun
by an AIMS Associate in Ukraine. During that time, he
attended a Harvest Connection seminar lead by Dr. Foltz.
The training touched his heart, and he began to think
about how Armenia could become more focused on missions.Pastor
Deron formed The Armenian Renewal Movement out of a
small Pentecostal movement within the country.
From
Armenia to the Nations
In
November 2004, Pastor Deron's vision began to transform
into a reality. During the conference, the 110 Armenian
pastors in the network took the first step and committed
to pray for various unreached people groups in their
area.
"Before
this conference, these pastors were just like everyone
else; they were interested in reaching only their neighborhoods,"
said Pastor Deron. "Now, they have a desire to
see all the nations reached."
AIMS
plans to follow up with the pastors of the Armenian
Renewal Movement and encourage them to hold Harvest
Connection seminars in each of their churches to
encourage their congregations to become more actively
involved in reaching the world's least reached people
groups.
(1)
Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World:
When We Pray, God Works, 21st Century Edition (Waynesboro,
GA: Paternoster USA) 2001, p.80).
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