In Which Conditions Are the Armenians from Armenia Living in Turkey?

Many of us do not know about the whereabouts of the Armenians in Turkey, and the conditions under which they are living. Very few, following the news, may know that today, in Istanbul, Armenians from Armenia have migrated to Turkey, looking for work. Many have taken their families with them, which creates difficult conditions, where the parents will have to work and the children will have to go to school.
The Armenian citizens of Turkey, and the Armenian schools do their best to help the Armenian children learn the Armenian language, despite the restrictions in Turkey.


Below are few of the photos that we received from Mr. G. Orunöz. They are the photos of Armenian children, who are being reared as Armenian, learning the language, the history and the culture.















A Thriving Armenian Community in the Hellenic Europe

Athens, June 2010: The words on the memorial dedicated to Rev. Krikor Demirjian’s 55 years of service in the Armenian Evangelical Church in Kokkinia, Greece, caught my attention as soon as I set foot in the premises. The inscription described the dedicated life of the visually impaired Rev. Demirjian as the clergy who “lived and worked with Christ’s love, the spirit of St. Mesrob’s Armenian alphabet, and the legacy of the victims of the Armenian genocide”.




Indeed, the Armenian Evangelical Church in Kokkinia, established in 1924, is a demonstration of the achievements of an Armenian community that had just survived the first genocide perpetrated in the 20th century. Unrelenting faith, vision, and perseverance in the face of countless calamities also served to found the Armenian Evangelical School in 1928 on the same premises. The School still renders its educational, social, and religious services to the Armenian community in Greece. Presently, the School has 38 students at the Kindergarten level.
As I preached during the service on Sunday, June 13, 2010, I could see the legacy of the forefathers’ dreams and aspirations on the faces of the congregation.
The ministry has multiplied and intensified under the leadership of its pastor, Rev. Vicken Cholakian, a devoted, inspiring servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has made the Armenian
Evangelical Church, the Armenian Evangelical community, and the Armenian Evangelical School living testimonies of the unremitting continuation of the Armenian heritage through the
celebration of its culture, Christian identity, national pride, and dedicated service.
After the 1920s, the Armenians in Greece counted 70,000 to 80,000 survivors who had fled from
Cilicia, Smyrna, Constantinople and other regions of Asia Minor. Today, immigration to North
America has diminished the Armenian population of Greece. The number now counts roughly 10,000. According to unofficial records, there are also around 25,000 or more from Armenia. Around 2000 Armenians from the Middle East may be added to the total number.
As I visited with the religious leaders, Ambassador of Armenia to Greece and Cyprus, and editors of the daily Azad Or and the weekly Nor Ashkhar I was convinced that it was the same powerful,
undefeated, and unbeatable Armenian spirit that operated in each and every leader and institution. The Armenian community is alive and kicking through the preservation of its language, Christian faith, and unique culture.


At the same time, though, the Armenian diaspora in Greece, like other diaspora communities worldwide, faces the ever-increasing challenges of globalization, mounting number of mixed marriages, and growing pressures of integration. Fortunately, the latter are met head-on by enthusiastic, committed, and visionary religious leaders, political parties, and cultural organizations that are adamant in transmitting faith and pride in everything Armenian.
The Armenian community in the Hellenic land is a vivid example of the struggles and aspirations of the Armenian community in Europe. Indeed, it is the same struggle for all Armenians in the diaspora. What really matters, though, is to maintain, foster, and transmit positive attitudes towards the Armenian faith, language, culture, identity, belongingness, and homeland to future generations of Armenians in Greece and worldwide.



Hrayr Jebejian

The Soccer Team of the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church Wins 2nd Place

The soccer team of the Armenian Evangelical Church participated in the AIA (Athletes in Action) Soccer Tournament, for a period of three months, at the Beirut Municipality playground.
Around 10 Christian church teams participated and much to our surprise it was great news to know that the top 2 winners of the championship were Armenian teams.
The idea of the AIA is to reach out to the youth through soccer tournaments. Before every match, the competing teams would circle around and pray together.
The Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church team handed the trophy to the pastor, during a celebration gathering after the Sunday Church service.











Mission according to Youth

Below is another article by a young Christian from South Africa. She was one of the fortunate few young men and women who participated at the Edinburgh 2010 World Mission Conference. She exemplifies the voice of the youth who live in developing countries.

By Fofo Lerefolo

The youth delegation would like to give ‘a thumbs up’ to Edinburgh 2010 for recognizing them as part of the Conference. Youth tends to be marginal in most proceedings and that makes their voice be silent. It is high time we move forward as the world and identify youth as the mission practitioners of today. This is the historic moment for young people who came to represent their churches and countries in witnessing to Christ today and to discuss about mission in the 21st century.

Discussions have been very fruitful but coming from different cultures and contexts, young people feel that their voice is not heard enough in the conference. Old and conservative approaches do not apply, for we know the virtues of young people and we see the fruits of the Spirit in them too. Sometimes they are much better than the average Christian. Without the voice for those who are young, we fear some of the trends for the future will not be perceived soon enough for the Church to act in light of the Gospel.
In this globalization era today, world mission is entering into a new era too. People can communicate with each other easily via the internet and can travel among different cultural contexts easily due to modern transportation. Modern people are becoming more hybrid and mobile during the fast information exchanging process. As young people, a more flexible and more open-minded attitude is needed today for the way world missions works. Many new types of missionary tools and methods have been developed according to the new situations and new generations we are dealing with all around the world.

In this mission-transforming era, the missionary fields are changing from the old era. The former mission-receiving countries today may become the mission-sending countries. Young people should be aware of this change, and should deliberately transport themselves to new mission fields. So actively getting involved in inter-organizational and inter-cultural co-operation is very much needed.

As young people, we are more able to adapt to different cultural contexts and most of the time we are more welcomed by indigenous people, We should use wisely our advantages to devote ourselves to indigenous social activities, for example: short-term mission in language courses, long-term support of local charity projects, working with schools and youth organizations etc, which will, at the same time, spread the good news in action.

We have to notice that today’s world is in a trend of migration; people are moving frequently. We can all find our own opportunity to share the gospel in our surrounding areas, for example, we have foreign students and foreigners living in our community. It is a very good chance for us to reach them in our familiar culture and society, especially for migrant young people - we can help them more than others in a foreign land to get used to the new environment they are facing. But also at the same time, we need to be more aware of our position and our strategies. Our aim is to share the good news and God’s love rather than push a particular culture and ideology. No matter where we are and what we are doing, in serving the Lord to reach those who have not heard of the gospel or helping our own brothers and sisters, as young people, a more dynamic, open and love-filled heart is necessary.

All in all, in this new fast-changing world, youth mission is highly involved in this globalized missionary project. We should make ourselves available when God wants to move us for mission or make ourselves available all the time in our daily life to spread the divine love in schools, community groups or social charity projects, everywhere and in any context, with a respectful attitude and firm faith in the pluralizedl world today.

Fofo Lerefolo, originally from South Africa, is a proud Methodist and active member of youth organizations in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. She is currently working as an intern with the World Council of Churches in the Mission and Evangelism programme.