Taking the Gospel to the Land of Noah

A team of Americans with “Barnabas Touch,” a ministry of the Baptist Missionary Association of America Missions Department, recently traveled to Eastern Europe to conduct a pastor’s conference. There were four members who made up the team, our “Barnabas Touch” leader Larry Barker, Seminary President, Dr. Charley Holmes, Pastor Donald Brown and me, Pastor David Pickard.

We arrived in Yerivan, Armenia not knowing if it was a country that loved or hated Americans. All I knew was that it was just north of Iran. Every time I told people I was going to Armenia I got the same response, “Ooh!” So, I did not know if I would be greeted at the airport with a kiss on the cheek or with a sword to the neck. To my joy, we found that Armenians love America and Americans. We received kisses and hugs from men and women alike all during the week.

We began by teaching at the Evangelical Baptist Seminary of Armenia where Asatur Nahapetyan serves as the Seminary’s Rector. He was our host and the contact person between Armenian Baptists and the Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA). Asatur is a unique and godly man. He was late picking us up at the airport because his wife was having a baby at that exact moment.

The three days of teaching at the Seminary went very well. Dr. Holmes taught expository preaching via a translator. Larry Barker taught about leadership. Donald Brown and I encouraged the brethren by sharing our personal understanding and experience of the ministry.

Yerivan is the capital of Armenia. It is a huge city of 1.5 million people. Cars and people weave themselves through the streets. It looks like chaos, but drivers and pedestrians seem to avoid collision by inches with little stress involved. Clouds covered the sky most every day, but three days before we left, the sky was clear and we saw Mount Ararat for the first time. It seemed to glow as the sun lighted the clouds with pink and purple colors which reflected on the snow-covered top of the majestic resting place of Noah’s Ark. What a euphoric feeling to be in the amazing presence of such scriptural landmarks! We never saw Mount Ararat like that again.

On Sunday we each preached at different churches around Yerivan. Dr. Holmes preached at Central Baptist Church. This church is the mother church of most of the “Y-10” church plants that are being supported by the churches of the BMAA. “Y-10” represents an effort by Baptists in Yerivan, united with Baptists in America, to reach that city by planting at least one church in each of its 10 districts. I preached in a small church outside of Yerivan. I almost lost control of my emotions when I stood to preach before this Armenian congregation. I was in awe with the realization of where I was and what these people had been through.

With two days left in our stay Dr. Holmes and Larry Barker returned home. They left a Mississippi pastor, Donald Brown, and me, an Oklahoma pastor, in Yerivan to do evangelism. For me, it was the best two days of the journey. Brother Donald and I went to several apartments and homes where people lived who had attended “Y-10” mission meetings. We were able to use the Evangelism Explosion gospel presentation to lead 17 wonderful Armenians to Christ. One unique thing about Armenians is that they all claim to be “Christian.” They are raised as Christians. They are baptized by sprinkling as babies and taught all their lives that they are Christians and members of the Apostolic Church. The problem is that though they are religious, they are not believers. They have limited knowledge of scripture. For this reason, stressing repentance is very important. There needed to be a realization of sin and a turning from religion and religious works to the person of Jesus Christ.

When it came time to pray for salvation, the translators called it the prayer of repentance. Again, I experienced that same feeling I had when gazing upon Mount Ararat. All my life I heard people pray for the Iron Curtain to come down. Now, here I was sharing Christ with men and women in private dwellings within the former Soviet Union where Russian Tanks once held residents as prisoners in their own homes. Thank you, Father, for the privilege of taking Jesus Christ to the land of Noah.