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Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation Completes Chapel for
Religious Services
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2012/12/29/armenian-lighthouse-charitable-foundation-completes-chapel-for-religious-services/
COMMUNITY | DECEMBER 29, 2012 3:35 PM
A formerly estranged young couple is reunited and officially married
in the new chapel. They are later joined by their young son and return
home with gifts to start a new life.
LONG BEACH, Calif. and PTGHUNK, Armenia - Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian,
the founders of the Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation (ALCF),
the organization formerly known as Paros `Lighthouse' Charitable
Foundation, funded and recently completed the construction of a chapel
adjacent to the ALCF center. The chapel was consecrated and named
Soorp Mariam Asdvadzadzin (St. Mary Church). More than 150 supporters,
members of the clergy and friends attended the October consecration,
joining and honoring the chapel's benefactors, Zuhrab and Seta
Ghazarian of California. Constructed of tuff and basalt stone, the
chapel was built by workers from the surrounding villages of Ptghunk
and Musaler.
ALCF Founder Seta Ghazarian states, `It was a wish in the heart of
both myself and my husband, Zuhrab, to give back to Our Lord Jesus
Christ in gratitude for all He has given us in our lives. The chapel
has always been part of our plan for the local community.'
Following the consecration, the first official service held in the
chapel was a wedding ceremony. The bride was a resident of Myradoon,
the ALCF's women and children's shelter, who became a resident with
her 2-year-old son when she and her husband became estranged. After
living in Myradoon for five months, receiving job training in
cosmetology and undergoing marriage counseling, the wife and husband
were reunited in marriage in the chapel. This ceremony carried special
meaning for the couple because their initial union took place without
official documentation from the government or the Armenian Church.
Since opening Myradoon in 2011, ALCF has reunited approximately 80
percent of its married residents with their husbands, fulfilling one
of the most impairtant tenets of the ALCF's mission: preserving the
sanctity of the Armenian family.
Today ALCF operates Husi Jerag (Light of Hope), which offers
desperately needed seervices to the local, underserved community
including vocational training, psychological counseling and therapy,
sewing and cooking classes, women's health services, feeding the poor
and elderly, supporting a local kindergarten, weekly Bible study,
family sponsorships, and donations of essential goods to the needy in
Armenia and Artsakh. In addition, ALCF operates a shelter for abused
women and girls, called Myradoon (Mothers' Home) with open doors to
the children of these victims. Armenian Lighthouse Charitable
Foundation is a non-profit, public benefit corporation registered in
the State of California and Republic of Armenia.
Donations are needed to advance its work. Contributions to ALCF can be
mailed to: P.O. Box 3595, Seal Beach, CA 90740.
From: Baghdasarian
Religious Services
http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2012/12/29/armenian-lighthouse-charitable-foundation-completes-chapel-for-religious-services/
COMMUNITY | DECEMBER 29, 2012 3:35 PM
A formerly estranged young couple is reunited and officially married
in the new chapel. They are later joined by their young son and return
home with gifts to start a new life.
LONG BEACH, Calif. and PTGHUNK, Armenia - Zuhrab and Seta Ghazarian,
the founders of the Armenian Lighthouse Charitable Foundation (ALCF),
the organization formerly known as Paros `Lighthouse' Charitable
Foundation, funded and recently completed the construction of a chapel
adjacent to the ALCF center. The chapel was consecrated and named
Soorp Mariam Asdvadzadzin (St. Mary Church). More than 150 supporters,
members of the clergy and friends attended the October consecration,
joining and honoring the chapel's benefactors, Zuhrab and Seta
Ghazarian of California. Constructed of tuff and basalt stone, the
chapel was built by workers from the surrounding villages of Ptghunk
and Musaler.
ALCF Founder Seta Ghazarian states, `It was a wish in the heart of
both myself and my husband, Zuhrab, to give back to Our Lord Jesus
Christ in gratitude for all He has given us in our lives. The chapel
has always been part of our plan for the local community.'
Following the consecration, the first official service held in the
chapel was a wedding ceremony. The bride was a resident of Myradoon,
the ALCF's women and children's shelter, who became a resident with
her 2-year-old son when she and her husband became estranged. After
living in Myradoon for five months, receiving job training in
cosmetology and undergoing marriage counseling, the wife and husband
were reunited in marriage in the chapel. This ceremony carried special
meaning for the couple because their initial union took place without
official documentation from the government or the Armenian Church.
Since opening Myradoon in 2011, ALCF has reunited approximately 80
percent of its married residents with their husbands, fulfilling one
of the most impairtant tenets of the ALCF's mission: preserving the
sanctity of the Armenian family.
Today ALCF operates Husi Jerag (Light of Hope), which offers
desperately needed seervices to the local, underserved community
including vocational training, psychological counseling and therapy,
sewing and cooking classes, women's health services, feeding the poor
and elderly, supporting a local kindergarten, weekly Bible study,
family sponsorships, and donations of essential goods to the needy in
Armenia and Artsakh. In addition, ALCF operates a shelter for abused
women and girls, called Myradoon (Mothers' Home) with open doors to
the children of these victims. Armenian Lighthouse Charitable
Foundation is a non-profit, public benefit corporation registered in
the State of California and Republic of Armenia.
Donations are needed to advance its work. Contributions to ALCF can be
mailed to: P.O. Box 3595, Seal Beach, CA 90740.
From: Baghdasarian