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ARMENIAN CHURCH TO HAVE HEAT THIS WINTER
NCN News - Nazarene Communications Network
Sept 13 2012
As summer draws to a close, a Nazarene church in northern Armenia can
look toward winter without its former dread thanks to a Nazarene
Compassionate Ministries project that supplied the 40-person
congregation with the means to heat their church.
Winter is always severe in the mountainous area of Akhuran. The
area sits at 865 meters altitude (nearly 3,000 feet), and sometimes
reaching -40 Fahrenheit in the winter, said Seyran Vardanyan, pastor
of the Nazarene church, in an email. In fact, last winter was the
coldest in 12 years.
The church, which was first organized in 2003 with four people,
met in an unfinished building without a roof or floors. Two Work and
Witness teams finished the construction that year.
To decrease heating expenses, the church would plan all their weekly
activities during the two- to three-hour worship gathering on Sunday
mornings. This way they could leave the church unheated the rest of
the week when no one was there.
This hasn't worked well because the building's wood- and cow
dung-burning stove fills the church with smoke. As a result, the
people could only tolerate remaining inside the church for the Sunday
morning worship service, and not for the usual Sunday School classes
or kids clubs.
The rest of each week, the church rooms were icy, which put its
furniture, musical instruments, and electronic audio equipment at risk.
Firewood is not cheap in Armenia. In rural areas, families struggle
to find permanent jobs, and thus to afford wood to heat their homes,
Vardanyan wrote.
"Even families that can afford to buy wood normally only burn it
in the morning and in the evening," he said. "[The] same economic
challenge is affecting the pastors of the churches as well. Many
pastors are bi-vocational; struggle to find permanent jobs."
To help, NCM began to sponsor the heating expenses for the Nazarene
church. As a result, the church doesn't have to conserve firewood and
can scatter church activities throughout the week, which means they
can avoid the eye-watering build-up of smoke. A more consistently warm
church is also better for the sound equipment and musical instruments.
"Without NCM support for heating during the winter we would not
only face large utility bills, but would also have to involve more
people-resources to solve issues related to the absence of heating,"
Vardanyan wrote.
NCM is also providing heating fuel to Nazarene pastors, including
Vardanyan, and one of the most economically challenged families to
whom the church actively ministers.
"This winter we decided to help one family that was facing a very
difficult economic situation," Vardanyan said. "Provided support was
just right to help them get to the point where the head of the family
was able to find employment and was able to take care of his family
for the rest of the winter."
http://www.ncnnews.org/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000008&id=10011736
NCN News - Nazarene Communications Network
Sept 13 2012
As summer draws to a close, a Nazarene church in northern Armenia can
look toward winter without its former dread thanks to a Nazarene
Compassionate Ministries project that supplied the 40-person
congregation with the means to heat their church.
Winter is always severe in the mountainous area of Akhuran. The
area sits at 865 meters altitude (nearly 3,000 feet), and sometimes
reaching -40 Fahrenheit in the winter, said Seyran Vardanyan, pastor
of the Nazarene church, in an email. In fact, last winter was the
coldest in 12 years.
The church, which was first organized in 2003 with four people,
met in an unfinished building without a roof or floors. Two Work and
Witness teams finished the construction that year.
To decrease heating expenses, the church would plan all their weekly
activities during the two- to three-hour worship gathering on Sunday
mornings. This way they could leave the church unheated the rest of
the week when no one was there.
This hasn't worked well because the building's wood- and cow
dung-burning stove fills the church with smoke. As a result, the
people could only tolerate remaining inside the church for the Sunday
morning worship service, and not for the usual Sunday School classes
or kids clubs.
The rest of each week, the church rooms were icy, which put its
furniture, musical instruments, and electronic audio equipment at risk.
Firewood is not cheap in Armenia. In rural areas, families struggle
to find permanent jobs, and thus to afford wood to heat their homes,
Vardanyan wrote.
"Even families that can afford to buy wood normally only burn it
in the morning and in the evening," he said. "[The] same economic
challenge is affecting the pastors of the churches as well. Many
pastors are bi-vocational; struggle to find permanent jobs."
To help, NCM began to sponsor the heating expenses for the Nazarene
church. As a result, the church doesn't have to conserve firewood and
can scatter church activities throughout the week, which means they
can avoid the eye-watering build-up of smoke. A more consistently warm
church is also better for the sound equipment and musical instruments.
"Without NCM support for heating during the winter we would not
only face large utility bills, but would also have to involve more
people-resources to solve issues related to the absence of heating,"
Vardanyan wrote.
NCM is also providing heating fuel to Nazarene pastors, including
Vardanyan, and one of the most economically challenged families to
whom the church actively ministers.
"This winter we decided to help one family that was facing a very
difficult economic situation," Vardanyan said. "Provided support was
just right to help them get to the point where the head of the family
was able to find employment and was able to take care of his family
for the rest of the winter."
http://www.ncnnews.org/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000008&id=10011736