EQUIP Leadership Training, Volume II, Notebook 6 - TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH

October-2010: For the third consecutive year, the International EQUIP training took place in the beautiful town of Harissa. The participants came from Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, and they all completed this last leadership training and received their diplomas.
Mr. Tom Atema, the speaker presented most of the lessons, and assisting him was Rev. Khalil, from Jordan, who presented some of the lessons.

The title of the Chapters:
1- Become a Talent-Plus Person
2- Talent Plus Initiative and Focus
3- Talent Plus Preparation and Practice
4- Talent Plus Perseverance and Courage
5- Talent Plus Teachability, Character and Responsibility
6- Talent Plus Relationships and Teamwork

Participating from Lebanon:
Ms. Shake Geocherian (Emmanuel Church),
Mr. Serop Ohanian (Emmanuel Church),
Mr. Mano Chilingirian (Emmanuel Church),
Mr. Raffi Chilingirian (Emmanuel Church),
Ms. Silva Chilingirian (Marash Church)

Participating from Syria:
Pastor Datev Basmajian (Damascus Church),
Mrs. Sirag Karagoezian-Basmajian (Damascus Church).




(L to R): Silva Chilingirian, Serop Ohanian, Shake Geocherian, Raffi Chilingirian, Sirag Karagoezian, Mano Chilingirian, and Badveli Datev Basmajian at the back.








The worship leaders

The participants received Tom's newly published book: Leadership in Blue Jeans

Who is the Fisherman?

Luke 5:1-11

I don’t know anything about fishing. Once I tried it with a friend in Beirut and I realized it was not my gift. You have to sit calm for hours in order to possibly get a small fish. They say it is relaxing. For me it was frustrating and time wasting!

That was not the case with Peter. He loved fishing and spent most of the time fishing. Jesus knew that fishing had a special place in Peter’s life so he approached Peter from a fisherman’s perspective.

Jesus got into Pater’s boat. Jesus will use whatever you have. Each of us has something, a craft, a talent, a gift, a job, a family, anything. God will use anything you have.
“He (Jesus) got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat” (3). Teaching was usually done in the Temple or at the synagogue. On that day, Jesus used the boat as his pulpit. Jesus used such an unusual setting for his teaching.

Offer whatever you have to be used for God’s Kingdom. Use whatever you have to spread the Good News.

One thinks that the climax of the story is the miracle that Jesus performed. Yes, Jesus took the boat to an unusual place for fishing. Everyone who fishes knows that one cannot find fish in deep waters, yet Jesus said: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” (4)
“They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break,” says Luke. It is like, “We made it. We hit the jackpot!” Some see the climax in this event but I see it in the events following this one.

What was Peter’s response? He said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”(8) “I cannot handle this, Lord. I am a sinful person face to face with God. Fish don’t matter to me anymore.”
This was a very important turning point in Peter’s life. Peter went fishing, instead he was caught! He met the Lord and became a fisher of men.

The invitation of Jesus is always there. It could be your “boat”, which means your heart, your talent, your passion, everything. The problem is that we are frightened when we face the “sea” or the world. God is ready to use anything that you have. The young boy had two fish and five loaves of bread. Anything you have can be used.

Have you offered your boat to Jesus?

Rev. Nerses Balabanian,
Calvary Armenian Congregational Church, San Francisco

Հայուն Գոյապայքարի Ճանապարհը (The Armenian's Path Of Struggle For Existence, By Hrayr Jebejian)

The book is an anthology of articles written by the author over 30 years, from 1979 to 2010. These articles appeared in Armenian newspapers and magazines published in Lebanon and Diaspora. As the title suggests, the articles highlight the national, cultural, political, social, and economic challenges of the Armenians in Lebanon, Armenia, and the Diaspora. The articles are compiled under the following main headings:
- National Thinking
- A Diasporic Perspective
- Christian Identity
- Lebanese Belongingness
- A Denominational Understanding



Evidently, these captions underscore the author's thoughts, concerns and outlook on some of the issues, beliefs, opinions, and perspectives Armenian communities in Beirut, the Gulf, England and the United States of America hold and struggle with each in its own context. His genuine interest and subsequent writings about the challenges and aspirations of the Armenian communities in these countries and many others demonstrate the author's awareness and understanding of the significance of these communities and their struggle for the preservation of the Armenian culture, identity and faith in a globalized world.

The bulk of the articles, though, deal mainly with the Armenian community in Lebanon where he was born, educated and lived until 2005. Presently, Hrayr Jebejian is the General Secretary of the Bible Society in the Gulf whose headquarters are in Nicosia, Cyprus. He is married to Dr. Arda Boyneria Jebejian. They have two children, Vahe 17, and Alik 16.

A Visiting Church from Norway

On Sunday, 17 October 2010, a group of Christians from Norway, with Tom Hoglind, participated in the worship service at the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church. Rev. J. Meland shared about his previous visits to Lebanon and about the church in Norway, after which they presented a famous Norwegian worship song.