Bennett

Bethany

Baptism in a river

Nathan got to meet up with a man from the States this month who makes trips out here sometimes to distribute Scripture. A friend connected us with him, and we were able to pick up dozens of Peրsiaո language New Testaments! These will be a great blessing in our church's outreach endeavors!

A supporting pastor got to visit Armenia this month! The Peրsia Project we are part of was started in the heart and prayers of this pastor friend of ours from Ohio. He has been here to Armenia several times, but he got to bring his wife this time and a friend from their area. They did some ministry in another part of the country, and then we got to spend a couple of days with them! Fellowship with them was a big encouragement, and they also brought us some goodies from the States! Overlapping with their visit, we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! Because of ministry and personal travels over the years, this is actually the first time we have celebrated our anniversary in the same state/country as a previous one.

Celebrating the 4th with sparklers

One of the peaks of Mt. Aragats after a long hike

Nathan is pointing at a rock carved in the 7th cent. B.C. It is an Urartu inscription using Neo-Assyrian cuneiform lettering and is located about an hour from us. Fortunately, that's not what we write in, but we do have a unique alphabet and unique script.

Nathan and Alicia

Lee family photo

A staple of cuisine in our region is bread which comes in various shapes and sizes, and the kids love it! Having fresh bread at low prices is a big blessing!

A staple of cuisine in our region is bread which comes in various shapes and sizes, and the kids love it! Having fresh bread at low prices is a big blessing!

We are practicing our Armenian handwriting. Mastering the Armenian script is a new aspect of Armenian we have been working on the last couple of months. Typing it and reading it is one thing, but the script form has some significant differences from the printed form. This has been important since when people write something down for us, it is always in the script and has been hard to read.

We made new friends this spring who we are excited to get to know more. They are involved in reaching and discipling Peրsiaոs throughout the region with the goal of disciples training disciples. They invited us to help them with their baptism service this spring where six believers were baptized. It was an exciting day and an encouragement to us to see more of the opportunities to reach into the Mսsլim world from here. They have some Luri friends too, so we are praying the Lord guides our steps in these hopeful connections.

We got to spend a few days in Lori province (northern Armenia) this spring. We were invited to attend the wedding of a Peրsiaո friend and his American bride. It was a neat service conducted in Armenian with Peրsiaո and English translation. We also got to visit the ruins of the 1000-year-old Lori Fortress. The complex included this ancient church with a baptistry outside and beautiful views of the rivers below the fortress.

Both kids are doing pretty well. Bennett has been doing preschool with mom and is reading a few little words. Bethany likes to pretend she can too. Both kids are struggling a little bit with some aspects of the culture right now, but they love other aspects. One big prayer request is for them to make good friends here. About a month ago, their Iրaոiaո friends in our neighborhood moved away, and this next week, their closest American friends head back to the states too. Bennett is often very friendly and tries to make friends at the playgrounds. He knows so much English for a three-year-old that it is hard for him when he can't communicate well with kids his age. Older kids are happy to say hi to him, but kids his age tend to get shy when he approaches. As he learns more Armenian, this will become easier, so please pray that he embraces it.

Both kids are doing pretty well. Bennett has been doing preschool with mom and is reading a few little words. Bethany likes to pretend she can too. Both kids are struggling a little bit with some aspects of the culture right now, but they love other aspects. One big prayer request is for them to make good friends here. About a month ago, their Iրaոiaո friends in our neighborhood moved away, and this next week, their closest American friends head back to the states too. Bennett is often very friendly and tries to make friends at the playgrounds. He knows so much English for a three-year-old that it is hard for him when he can't communicate well with kids his age. Older kids are happy to say hi to him, but kids his age tend to get shy when he approaches. As he learns more Armenian, this will become easier, so please pray that he embraces it.

Offering NTs to Iրaոiaո Truck Drivers on Our Way to English Camp

The distance between Yerevan and the southern border town is about 200 km, but the mountainous terrain makes the traveled distance almost double that, and the travel time is about 8 hours of driving. Once you are in the southern province, it seems like half of the vehicles are big trucks and buses going back and forth between Armenia and Iրaո. We stopped at a scenic pullover on the way down, and there were several Iրaոiaո truck drivers there who willingly received some of our Peրsiaո NTs with gratitude. There is a lot of potential for ministry to Iրaոiaոs in that region. The camp was a good way to help and meet others with a heart for the region and a good way to invest in the country we live in. Although I (Nathan) have been down there before, this was the first trip down there for the rest of my family. We made a couple of scenic and tourist stops along the way which helped break the drive up. On the way back, we noticed a very heavy police and military presence all over the southern province. We found out later that the prime minister was down there on a working visit, and we were even passed by part of his motorcade.

Alicia helping at English camp with face-painting

Bethany ready to start playing "football"

Shaki Waterfall was a fun little hike for the kids

Megri Pass where the kids were "On Top of the World!" r

Enjoying a cable car ride from Tatev

Visiting an old church that is often covered by the reservoir

“Busy with Bennett and Bethany” We feel like both kids have been growing quite a bit. Bethany turned two this month, and she's growing by the day! Some good friends of ours brought us to a carnival-type park which was so much fun! Bethany has been eating well and is trying to catch up with her brother, so the "twin" question gets asked frequently. It's nice that we have two kids pretty close together making it easy for them to play and learn together!

“Focus on the Field” – The Border While down in southern Armenia, we frequently drove for several kilometers right along the Armenian border with Iրaո. In the picture on the left, you can see walls from an 18th century fortress. In this region, a river forms the border between the two countries, and there is a fence between the river and the road. Our hearts are on the other side of that fence, and we enjoyed being just meters away from that country and being able to see across to roads, vehicles, buildings, and the people who live there and who need Christ! We head back to the States soon for a required visa reset trip and have some other things we need to get done in the process. We appreciate prayers for a safe, fruitful trip!