Armenian International Magazine (AIM) February 2000, Volume 11, No. 2

FOCUS OF THE MONTH

Jubilee in the Holy Land
Pilgrimage of the Century Includes Top Government, Religious Leaders

By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN

early 1000 Armenians from around the world gathered in the Holy Land during the week of January 17-24 to celebrate the bi-millennial jubilee of Christ’s Nativity in Bethlehem. The celebrations were headed by the top leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church with the participation of Armenian President Robert Kocharian, who led a 30-member state delegation to Palestine and Israel for the occasion.

Armenian International Magazine (AIM) February 2000, Volume 11, No. 2, pp. 50-52

Seven Years in Prison
“If one suffers, but does not believe, life becomes meaningless.”

Compiled by Hratch Tchilingirian

Father Manuel Yergatian, a 33-year-old priest and citizen of Turkey was arrested in October 1980 while preparing to leave Istanbul en route to Jerusalem. He was charged with anti-Turkish activities in the years when various acts of political violence against Turks by Armenians were reported. His whereabouts were not known and no one was able to contact him. Archbishop Shnork Kalustian, Patriarch of Istanbul, was called to testify before the military court. The Turkish press reported on the trial of the “priest who is Turkey’s enemy.” The US State Department turned down a request to intervene in the case. Amnesty International did investigate the arrest. After his conviction, Yergatian served nearly seven years in Turkish prisons. Since his release, he has remained silent about his ordeal. At this writer's request, Fr. Yergatian, 46, describes for the first time and in great detail, what happened when he was arrested and convicted on charges of inciting terrorism.

Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53

HAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY IN LEBANON

Hratch Tchilingirian

One of the most valuable contributions of the Armenian Evangelical Church and its commitment to education is the establishment of the Haigazian University in Beirut. After four decades, it remains the only Armenian institution of higher education in the Diaspora. Haigazian — which has graduated over 1,600 students since its founding in 1955 — is accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education of Lebanon and is a member of the Association of International Colleges and Universities. It offers 19 undergraduate and four graduate degree programs.

Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 64-66.

Psychological Welfare
Healing the Emotional Scars of the Karabakh War

By HRATCH TCHILINGIRIAN

"Every child and adult in Karabakh has a war story,” says Khatchatur Khachik Gasparian, 36, psychologist and head of the Yerevan State Medical University’s Medical Psychology Section. “The need to listen to them is enormous and essential,” he adds.

Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53

The Armenian Evangelical School in Anjar

Providing a brighter future

Hratch Tchilingirian

Ara (not his real name) was four years old when a social worker brought him to the Armenian Evangelical boarding school in Anjar, the Armenian village in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The school was already in session and the principal insisted that Ara should come at the beginning of the following year. But the social worker could not take Ara back. “You wouldn’t send him away if I told you where this child comes from,” pleaded the desperate social worker. Ara was very quiet and looked disturbed, says Rev. Nersess Balabanian, 40, who is in charge of the school. “The child’s father is a drug addict, his mother is a prostitute and he lives in a tiny room with two other little siblings,” explains Balabanian, “we couldn’t possibly return this child to that place.” They took him in.

Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53

The Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East

Coping with the effects of the war

Hratch Tchilingirian

Established in 1924, the Lebanon-based Armenian Evangelical Union of the Near East is one of the oldest among the five Unions that comprise the Armenian Evangelical Church. It is a union of over two dozen churches and congregations in seven countries in the Middle East and one church in Australia, as the origin of the Sydney church is traced back to Lebanon and Syria. 

Armenian International Magazine AIM Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 52-53

The Evangelicals in Armenia: On the Road to Pluralism

By Hratch Tchilingirian

Reverend Movses Janbazian of the Armenian Missionary Association of America reminisces about his various relief missions to Armenia.

Armenian International Magazine (AIM) Vol. 11, No. 1, January 2000, pp. 35-38; 43.

WHEN SMALL IS BIG

Armenian Evangelicals Render a Century and a Half of Service

By Hratch Tchilingirian

Numbering only 50 to 70,000 around the world, Armenian Evangelicals are among the most organized, visible, and active of the world’s eight million-plus Armenians. Despite their small numbers and their periodic conflicts with the Armenian Apostolic Church, the legitimacy, value and mission of the Armenian Evangelical Church has become indisputable over the last century and a half. Just the fact that it is politically incorrect to call them Protestants – they’re  Evangelicals – attests to a change of attitude and acceptance; they are no longer seen as “protesters” but as believers genuinely involved in Christian mission and evangelization.