An Interview with Badveli Datev Basmajian, Youth and Youth Ministry

The life and the needs of the youth today have caught the attention of the community in large and are regarded as a priority among the various organizations, the church being an integral part of it. The world sends strong messages to the youth today, luring them into drugs, pornography, sexual promiscuity, ungodliness. The church has to take a stand and keep the fortress strong. In order to reach out to the youth, the Christian Endeavour's Executive Committee of the Armenian Evangelical Churches has requested Badveli Datev Basmajian to become the youth minister. On this occassion, we had an interview with him. 

(Interview by Raffi)


Raffi - What was your reaction when you first received the request from the CE Union to become the Youth Minister of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in Lebanon?
Datev - When this position was offered to me, I was filled with mixed emotions. Because, on the one hand, I have the passion to minister to the youth, but on the other hand, I also know that it is challenging to work with the youth. I asked God’s guidance in this matter, and gave my positive response to the CE Union who had already done its part in arranging for us to move to Beirut, and be a full time Youth Minister serving the Armenian Evangelical Churches and Schools in Lebanon. I should also mention that, Lebanon used to have a full time Youth Minister a long time ago, but didn’t have the luxury to have a full time Youth Minister for the last two decades, so the members of the Executive Committee did their part to manage the youth ministry on the field. The Youth Societies of the Armenian Churches raised the issue, the need to have a full time Youth Minister. It was obvious that the field needed a dedicated person to minster on a full time basis.

God spoke to me through this need, which is a different form of ministry than being a full time pastor of a church, having in mind that in the end, the reason and the One who calls to ministry is God himself. Ministering to the youth requires a different approach, it is more focused on the youth and their needs, be involved in their daily life, their challenges and relationships. I believe that God has already prepared me, and continues to prepare me, for this mission, and I also believe that God has a lot to do through me, which is a great honor and joy for me to be useful in His hands.

Raffi - Can you tell us what your ministry will entail, and the fields you will be responsible for?
Datev - The ministry will be on different levels:
- On the personal level, I will be meeting with the youth and teenagers to guide them to Jesus Christ and encourage them to follow Him, having in mind the needs of today’s youth.
- On a group level, I will be forming a Core Group of young people who are already committed and have leadership positions but have less time to take care of their own spiritual intake, and will be meeting with them on a monthly basis to have some time of worship and prayer, encouragement and guidance.
- Committees: I will be forming a Joint Teenagers Committee, and a Joint Youth committee that will be planning joint events targeting different occasions on the Armenian and the Christian calendar, whether spiritual, social, or an Armenian cultural event.
- Training: I will be planning leadership training seminars or retreats for our leaders who serve the teenagers and the youth, and also be preparing new leaders who have the potential to serve.
- Recourses: I will be providing resources and materials that are up-to-date and that help the leaders to be prepared.
- Schools: I will be visiting the Armenian Evangelical Schools, doing chapels, and preparing school activities with the leaders of the teens.
- Website: or a Facebook page for the Teens and for the Youth and update it, mentioning new events and posting pictures or giving reports of the past events.
- Camps: I will be planning and executing the Summer Camps, Teens and the Youth.

Raffi - What are the issues that the youth in our churches face today? How can they overcome these issues?
Datev - Due to globalization, rich diverse culture, and dissimilar concerns, the attention of the youth gradually has started drifting away from the church. Having this in mind, we need to admit that the church cannot compete with the world and its progression. This doesn’t mean that it’s a lost cause, and that the church cannot have an effective ministry with the youth. We have another factor that can be offered to the youth, which is to show genuine and personal interest, counsel, acceptance and love.

What the young people need today is first, adult spiritual guidance, not in a traditional way, but in a way that can connect to the youth today. Second, role models that will help them create proper awareness in life in general and in spiritual life in specific. This will give the courage for the youth to tackle the issue of being indifferent, which is the key to becoming a healthy member of the society, and the church. We need to support the youth to create healthy relationships, be interested in education and career forming, and be aware of decent courtship (healthy girlfriend-boyfriend relationships) which will lead them to healthy marriages; therefore, we will have a well-functioning society. The world tries to bring change from the outside, which is why the appearance is the most important aspect; whereas God brings change from the inside out, which is why the heart and the soul of a person matter most for Him. As the body of Christ, we are called to be imitators of God.

The challenge for the body of Christ is to show love and acceptance to the young generation, and the challenge for the young generation is to acknowledge and accept the love offered by God, through His people.

Raffi - What are the short term plans?
Datev - The short term plans would be the ongoing plans, which are the same points I mentioned in answering question #2.

Raffi - What are the long term plans?
Datev - There are a lot of ideas for the future of this ministry, having a Youth Center where volunteers can come and hang out with, direct, counsel and provide a healthy resourceful environment to the youth of that specific area. But in general, long term plans or goals would be directed towards the endeavor of investing much time and effort on preparing leaders/disciples for God and His kingdom. After all, we are called to be faithful to the Great Commission written in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

In the end, I would like to state that I believe in Jesus and His promise, He promised to be with us always. He gives me the greatest support I need. Other than that, I will need the cooperation of the leadership and the youth who I am working with, so that the Youth Ministry grows. And as for me, I need is to be faithful to His call and mission; keeping the Christian Endeavor motto in mind; serving Christ and His Church.

Installation of Badveli Datev Basmajian, as the Youth Minister of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in Lebanon

On Sunday, 28 Nov. 2010, Badveli Datev Basmajian was installed as the youth minister and coordinator of the Armenian Evangelical Churches, during a worship gathering held in the Armenian Evangelical Church in Ashrafieh. Mr. Serop Ohanian and Badveli Hrayr Cholakian led the worship, Mr. Garbis Deyirmenjian gave the CE Executive Body's word, Rev. Raffi Messerlian preached, and Rev. Megerdich Karagoezian installed Badveli Datev as the youth minister. Rev. Soghomon Kilaghbian prayed for the new youth minister.
The Ashrafieh church band played the music and Mr. Anto Messerlian sang two songs.


Mr. Serop Ohanian

Mr. Anto Messerlian


Ashrafieh church band


During worship




Mr. Garbis Deyirmenjian


Badveli Datev Basmajian and Sirag Karagoezian-Basmajian


Rev. Raffi Messerlian


Badveli Datev Basmajian


During the installation with the members of the Christian Endeavor Executive Body

Chanitz Summer Camp at Kchag


During worship time


The band


Rev. Ounsi Anees (Egypt), who brought the messages




Bible Study with Rev. Vicken Cholakian (Greece)




The camp leaders (L to R, front): Jiro Ghazarian, Yester Kilaghbian, Liza Barsoumian, Silva Chilingirian, Hagop Akbasharian
(L to R, back): Badveli Hovhannes Hovsepyan, Badveli Hrayr Cholakian, Rev. Ounsi Anees, Badveli Datev Basmajian, Rev. Vicken Cholakian

Young Stewards from Around the World Participating in the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Central Committee Meeting


Stewards WCC Central Committee 2011 on the cultural day


Priscilla Balachandran, Mihaja Randrianja, Anthony Elenbaas, Ms. Chantal Alexe and Rose Mika Fable


Razmig Michaelian (Lebanon)


WCC Central Committee 2011 Stewards during cultural evening


Arthur Gevorgyan (Armenia)


Mihaja Randrianja & Krystsina Charniuk


Luthendo Moyo, staff member Marc-Henri Heiniger, Camilo Andres Portillo Yanez & Iryna Vaisane

Youth and the ecumenical movement: “There is a delicate dance going on in our churches”


Rev. Jennifer Leath

The Rev. Jennifer Leath is a member the World Council of Churches Joint Consultative Group with the Pentecostals and ECHOS, the WCC commission of youth. She is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the USA and identifies herself as “a Black American who lives in solidarity with those in the African Diaspora and all those who experience oppression, these are they who capture my heart.” Leath was one of the speakers at the 2011 WCC Central Committee plenary on “Ecclesiological Landscape”, where she shared a strong testimony on the issue of youth and ecumenical movement. She was interviewed by Marcelo Schneider.

What are your thoughts about the fact that most of the older members of the Central Committee joined the ecumenical movement through youth movements and organizations?

Well, all people in the plenary were once young and got involved in the ecumenical movement in the formative stages of it. Many of them came out of organizations that were designed specifically for youth earlier on, but today the landscape has changed. Such organizations don’t have the same impact they once did. This means that youth don’t have the same form of formation possibilities. However, I also think this is really a systemic issue. It is not about the WCC, but it is how we work in today’s society. It’s about power.

But is not the WCC in many ways a reflection of what is happening in the churches?

The issue is that all of the institutions with which we work – all of these structures have aged, and as they aged they did not set in place systems to make sure that their constituencies would be rejuvenated.

So is there a generation gap in the ecumenical movement?

I think that there definitely is, but I think that there is a delicate dance that is going on, because, on the one hand, it is very important for a fellowship of churches such as the WCC to have as much authority in its voice as possible – and the authority that is recognized in our institutional churches and in our regions and in our countries is that of the leaders of our denominations, and that leadership is often an older leadership.

And also in respect to the governments of our countries, they’re not paying attention to the voice of the youth in the same way that they pay attention to the voice of the leaders of these institutions. […] So there is this delicate dance between being powerful in the perception of the structures of society in which we participate and also maintaining a prophetic and youthful voice. Not that the prophetic and youthful voice are always the same, but sometimes they are.

What is the best way today for the youth to contribute for a change in the WCC?

Well, I think that we have to insist on being both a part of the living fellowship and a part of the governance structures, and that means that we need to be trained and know how the WCC governs itself. And the correction that we should make that our predecessors didn’t is that we should design in our structure a way to make sure that as we age others behind us can come up because we don’t want this problem again.

What is the role of the church of Jesus Christ in the world?

I dream of the church, the ekklesia, the calling together, of all people who are cherished and honoured because of the particularities that we bring and are able to realize these particularities as the Church Universal. We become universal only through our particularities and through the integrity of our particularities.

That is my theoretical answer. But actually the theoretical answer is insufficient because the church that I dream of is the church where none are free until all are free, it is the church where we do justice, love, kindness and walk humbly with our God. That means we do not rest, we do not sleep, we do not stop, we keep fighting.

Our mission is that everyone will be able to live with the benefits of this world that God has given us in an equal way, to share equally. We cannot fall prey to false ideas of meritocracy and we cannot act like we have already arrived. We have to acknowledge in a self-reflective way that we are not yet there and that until the eschaton we won’t be. God’s reign on earth is when we find ways to empower one another even when it means that we need to “disempower” ourselves or share power with others.

WCC
21.02.11

Harvest Day in the Armenian Evangelical Church of Anjar

Harvest day is celebrated every first Sunday of October, in an event organized by the women’s association of the Armenian Evangelical Church, who gather financial donations and offerings of vegetables and fruits for the KAHL Association, for the elderly and the blind.


Kevork Karaboyajian, manager of KAHL, conveyed the message of the day on Sunday, 3rd of October, where the donations of fruits and vegetables were piled up in an appealing way in the Armenian Evangelical church and a representative group from the KAHL Association was also present, who, after the service, were invited for lunch prepared by the women’s association.











http://www.mousaleranjar.com

An Interview with Mrs. Maral Deyirmenjian, Today's Youth

Depression, aggression, drop-outs, drugs, indifference are some of the traits that we see in a-not-so-small number of our youth today. We raised this important issue, and had an interview with Mrs. Maral Deyirmenjian, the principal of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School, to give answers to our questions and provide us her professional feedback.

(Interview by Raffi)

Raffi - Can you tell us about the differences that you see in the teenage students 10 years ago and the teenage students today?
Maral - Teenage students today have more distractions than what they had ten years ago: the accessibility of the internet at homes, ipods, MP3s, etc. come to entertain and distract the teenagers; these also interfere with their sleeping patterns. We often encounter students who have not slept more than four hours and come to class out of focus and exhausted.

The teenagers today are living in a hedonistic society; meaning, they are surrounded by a society that values pleasure over other personal values; this is a major obstacle in their pursuit of academic excellence, which is often the result of self-discipline and hard work.

Raffi - What are the needs of the teenagers and what kind of of challenges do they face today?
Maral - Teenagers need guidance, in my opinion. As Rousseau has stated, adults have to be “loving distant guardians”. We need to help them to develop their personalities and become independent individuals.

Raffi - What do the schools and churches do and need to do more, to help our teenagers regarding these challenges and needs?
Maral - The schools and churches have to be aware about the problems and challenges our youth are facing. We need to get to know them more intimately and give them the assurance that we understand their problems and are here to help them to find their own solutions for the problems they are facing.

Raffi - The Amish community is know that the parents allow their teenagers to try the outside life for a year, after which they ask their sons and daughters whether they want to stay in their community or leave. Do you agree that we need to leave the teenagers to try the life they want for themselves?
Maral - Whether we leave them to try or not, they will be trying it to find their own way. The experimentation is a normal process in the path of maturation in the stage of adolescence. What we can do is to keep an eye on them, let them know that we are here when they need us and we are praying or them. There is a verse in the Bible that I treasure: “Put all things to test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil.” 1 Thess. 5: 21

Raffi - What kind of suggestion and advice would you give the youth workers and leaders who work with the teenagers?
Maral - My advice to the youth workers is love your youth, love them, love them…

Raffi - What would you like to say to the teenagers today?
Maral - You are not alone, God is nearer to you than you think!