Evangelistic Rallies in Beirut

Rev. Berdj Djambazian and the Real Life Team (Christian music band) had a three day (May 7-9, 2010) Evangelistic Worship services in the Hasesian hall of the Armenian Evangelical Church, Nor Marash, Lebanon.
Beside Rev. B. Jambazian, who preached during the worship services, the team was composed of :
Salpi Keleshian - renowned Armenian Pop soloist born in Lebanon, has been serving the Lord through her music ministry for over 20 years.


We Praise the Lord for these worship services during which many renewed their faith and others committed their lives to Christ our Lord and Savior!



UAECNE

Armenian Evangelical College Banquet in Beirut

The Armenian Evangelical College’s Annual Banquet took place at the Pheonicia Hotel’s Ballroom on May 22, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. under the auspices of the Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri, who was represented by Minister of State Jean Oghassapian.

In attendance were many dignitaries and notables of the Armenian Community. After the National Anthem, the Principal of the College, Dr. Zaven Messerlian welcomed those present. He was followed by the Pastor of the First Armenian Evangelical Church of Beirut, Rev. Hagop Sarkissian, who gave the Prayer. The evening enjoyed the music of Hratch Isahakian and his band, as well as the noted Armenian singer Vicken Tarpinian, accompanied by Patrique Peryeras on the piano, who had especially come from Paris for the event.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of special awards. The First Armenian Evangelical Church honored with plaques of recognition Dr. Arda Ekmekji and Mrs. Roubina Artinian, respectively former and current chairpersons of the School Board of the Armenian Evangelical College, for their 25 years of dedicated service, as Board members.

Next came a surprise, when Mrs. Roubina Artinian announced that the President of the Republic, Gen. Michel Sleiman, had awarded Dr. Zaven Messerlian, Principal of the College, with the distinguished Medal of Education for his 50 years of service as an educator, 43 years of which as the Principal of the Armenian Evangelical College. Dr. Messerlian is also a historian and the author of five published books and over 100 articles. Minister of State Jean Oghassapian read the Presidential Decree, and bestowed upon Dr. Messerlian the Medal, to the enthusiastic applause of the banquet attendees.

A good number of donations were made by generous donors, to benefit the school’s scholarship fund.

An Interview with Garbis Deyirmenjian about the Recent Kchag Renovations

The Armenian Evangelical Christian Endeavour Summer Center (Kchag) went through a lot of renovations this Summer. It is headed to restore back its vitality among the Armenian Evangelical churches and youth; and on this occassion, we had an interview with Garbis Deyirmenjian, who is leading the renovations. Mr. Deyirmenjian is an elected member of the Christian Endeavor Executive Board in Lebanon (Kordsatir Marmin), which manages and takes care of Kchag.

(Interview by Raffi)

Raffi - Kchag went through essential renovations, and even the youth and junior youth joined their hands (see here) to make Kchag a better place. Who was leading the renovations and who participated in helping kchag to get back to its feet?
Garbis - We have just finished the renovation of Bezjian and office buildings. These 2 buildings are part of the ones that will be kept in the master plan (they don’t need to be demolished). Bezdgian is planned to accommodate groups in winter also, since it has all the facilities in one building (meeting rooms, kitchen, bedrooms). The office building can also accommodate people in winter, but it doesn’t have meeting rooms and kitchen in its premises. By renovating these 2 buildings we can accommodate nearly 50 people in summer and 30 people in winter. By finishing these 2 buildings we can tell that Phase 0 & 1 of the Kchag master plan prepared by EMI (http://www.emiusa.org/projects/projectprofile_5410.php and http://www.chanitz.org/2007/06/emi-group-oh-yes.html) have been accomplished. Also our renovation plan for this summer includes the playground, where the basketball boards are renovated and people can also use it for football games with the high fence to make the playground safe. We cannot renovate the playground completely since in the EMI plan there will be a major change there. For these projects we have hired a contractor to do the construction works. The Kchag committee members did the volunteer works like replacing the basketball boards, cleaning works, electrical connections, cleaning of the basketball court ground, cutting some damaged trees and the grass with the help of our youth and junior groups. Also the Kchag committee does the follow-up works with the contractor by checking the quality of the work, follow up the schedule and supervise the work.

Raffi - AMAA interns were to arrive in Lebanon, but the plan went through change. Any reasons why?
Garbis - The reasons are not related to us.

Raffi - Summer time is a period when families come to kchag. This time you had another plan instead of Kchage Café, can you tell us more about this change?
Garbis - This year the activities were different in Kchag, we had our first youth camp there! YES, OUR FIRST YOUTH CAMP IN KCHAG SINCE 1986! After 24 years years. I know that it didn’t have all the facilities ready, but most of them were installed. I hope this will be the start of our camps in Kchag. This year we didn’t have Kchag Café, sorry for this but we thought that Kchag Café is being very routine, although many of our church members were enjoying it a lot. The Kchag Café must be stopped for a certain time. We are planning to have different programs in order to enjoy our fellowship there in summer.

Raffi - What plans do you have in the far future?
Garbis - The short plans are: To renovate the church in order to be presentable, to install Solar energy water heating system, on the Office building and Bezjian. As for the long term plan, we are working on the fundraising plan to find donors all over the world to participate in this beautiful plan of renovation and restoration of Kchag. The master plan with its details have been published in Chanaser.

Raffi - What would you like to say to the youth, the churches, and those who love Kchag?
Garbis - Kchag is coming back, and our youth will have the chance to go there to concentrate on God’s word and spend time with Him to seek His will and live a life that honors God. But it’s not easy, everybody must participate with the gifts that God has given to us.











Photos provided by Garbis Deyirmenjian

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