Members of a village community responding with interest to the
Bible Society in Armenia’s Gospel on Wheels initiative [photo: BS
in Armenia WR412/12 ARM07DJ-1]
ARMENIA — The people who live in the border villages of Armenia’s remote Tavush region, high above sea level in the far north-east of the country, have long been accustomed to fending for themselves. Their small communities are perched on rocky hillsides, far from cities or even small towns, and they survive mainly through agriculture. They rarely see people from outside their immediate area, so they often feel ignored and marginalised. And with few churches operating locally, most people do not have access to the Scriptures either.
Drawing on its long experience of working with people living under physical, social and psychological pressure*, the Bible Society in Armenia decided last year to focus its attention on the people of the Tavush region.
Poverty or grace
The Gospel on Wheels project involved making a series of visits to a central location, often a village square, where residents of five villages – men, women and children – assembled to read and discuss some of the parables Jesus told. On each occasion, the Bible Society visitors selected a specific topic, such as poverty or grace, and linked it with an appropriate parable and psalm. To encourage more active involvement, each participant received a pamphlet containing the parable, the psalm, hymns and prayers. It did not take long before people began to eagerly await the Bible Society’s visits. As the project progressed, smaller sessions were held for specific community groups, including children, teachers and the elderly. And each group soon started to ‘own’ the sessions, seeing for themselves how God’s Word was relevant to their own circumstances. “The people were overjoyed to find answers in the Bible to many questions that they encounter in daily life,” reports Bible Society Program Director Arshavir Kapoudjian. As well as guiding Bible reading and discussions, the Bible Society visitors spent time visiting the sick. They also worked to establish links with local influential people, including community leaders and school principals, who will play a key role in the long-term success of the project in years to come.
Promising signs
And even before the Bible Society’s visits came to an end, there were promising signs that the people of these five villages will be building on this initial encounter with God’s Word. “A small group has begun gathering in one woman’s house,” reports Mr Kapoudjian. “They have asked the local priest to visit them more often and to pray with them. Some people have also asked permission to rebuild their ruined churches.” As they look to the future, these people will be supported in their journey of faith by a series of Scriptures left behind for them by the Bible Society: 700 copies of the Gospels, 1,000 copies of The Parables of Jesus and 1,000 copies of The Miracles of Christ.
This report refers to project 71116.
* For earlier stories about the Bible Society in Armenia’s work among marginalised communities, see World Report 379/12, 377/5 and 374/27.
(WR 412/12 - 06.07) [1 photo]