Armenia: churches help refugees

The world looked on helplessly a few weeks ago as about 120,000 people fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region after it was seized by neighbouring Azerbaijan in a lightning-fast military campaign.

The region is situated between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, just north of Iran. This means that almost the entire population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has now left, to try to rebuild their lives in Armenia.

Nagorno-Karabakh – recognised as part of Azerbaijan – had been run by ethnic Armenians for three decades.

Evangelicals Now spoke exclusively to Perouz Harrison, of the charity Armenian Ministries, about the unfolding humanitarian crisis there.

What has been your involvement with Armenia in the past?

PH: My husband Michael is the Director of the charity Armenian Ministries (www. armenianministries.org.uk) which aims to help as many destitute families as we can in Armenia, as well as to spread the Gospel of Hope in the form of literature and conversations. Together we have worked in this ministry full time for 15 years. We live in Armenia about eight months of each year distributing food, clothes and other humanitarian aid, and running summer camps for children. We send aid containers from the UK to enable us to distribute the help in Armenia.

How are you personally involved now?

PH: We are still involved in the same way, but the work has grown since 2020 to include helping refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and also wounded soldiers. We give the former food parcels, bedding and clothes and schoolbag materials. We help the latter with wheelchairs, crutches and – where we can – medically. Aside from the food, which is bought locally, everything we supply is donated and sent from England. I work in our office in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, speaking to people in need, comforting them, listening to them and deciding how we can best help them.

Have you met/spoken to any of those recently displaced? What stories do they tell about their recent experiences?

PH: Our office is now encountering an unprecedented number of families who are essentially homeless. We have helped several families who are living in their cars that they escaped the fighting in, including a 100-year -old grandmother. They also have very few clothes. The rest of the family spend their nights in the homes of kind strangers but the old lady says she wishes to die in the small part of her homeland that remains to her. She has essentially given up hope. They were a resourceful, hard-working and cheerful people who have lost everything. One elderly man said that he came out of his home, locked the door and left. He didn’t even take spare clothes, just his passport. He said: ‘What would be the point, my life has ended, I am just waiting to die.’ We have also helped many families with very small children, even babies, who do not have enough to eat and are traumatised from the bombing and warfare.

How are churches in Armenia currently reaching out to those who have fled

Nagorno-Karabakh? What impact are they having?

PH: We know several good and kind church leaders who are helping in every way they can. Some are allowing refugees to live in their spare rooms while they find suitable premises, others are helping with food or clothes. We work on the principle that every one that we support is a precious soul helped. The current need is completely overwhelming. We may not be able to help everyone, but if everyone plays a part we can help many. The left hand photo is of three displaced families. The pastor of a local village church has given them his spare room to live in. The food parcels have been donated from us to them at his request.

Are any churches outside Armenia helping too? If so, how?

PH: Both UK churches and individual Christians are giving us money to buy food in Armenia and also pack and send emergency aid containers.