Armenia Pp 2111 02Arman (pictured with his mother, center, and wife, Anna)  knew nothing about Jesus as a kid. He was a restless child, a troublemaker in his community in Armenia. He would get in fights at school, coming home covered in bruises.  When he finished school, his mom began attending a local church, but Arman didn’t approve.

“I didn’t want her to go there,” he says. “I kept silent, but I didn’t agree at all. I accompanied my mother to church and waited outside to bring her home. Sometimes, evil thoughts about damaging the building would come to my mind.”

One day, while waiting for his mother, Arman saw Anna. She was lovely; and even though she was a believer like his mother, he liked her. They began spending time together, and soon Arman fell in love with her. He confessed his feelings for her, but Anna was hesitant; she knew he wasn’t a believer. Arman decided to pretend to be a Christian, tricking Anna so they could be together.

“I started going to church, sitting nearby Anna, acting as if I was serious about it,” he says. “I even went so far as to pretend I had repented. I only did so to impress her because I loved her.”

His plan worked. Arman and Anna were married. But his fake lifestyle soon faded; he quit going to church and went back to his sinful ways. “What I did not know was that my wife was praying all the time for me,” he remembers.

One day, Arman was in a horrible car accident. He was drunk and rolled his car into a nearby gorge. He was severely injured and was in and out of hospitals for the next two years. Before each surgery, the doctors gave him little chance of survival; but by the grace of God, he survived all eight surgeries.

“When I woke up after one operation, I saw Anna and my mother praying by my side,” he says. “In that moment, I realized it was God who had saved me—that the help and protection were only from Him.” Arman truly repented and told his family he wanted to attend church. “As soon as I could walk, we went to church together,” he says. “It was a miracle.”

That day, God spoke to Arman. “In tears, I knelt and prayed with all my heart, asking the Lord for forgiveness. I felt so guilty about my lifestyle,” he says. “That was the moment my new life started. I asked the Lord to change me, and I experienced His power in my life.”

The pastor invited Arman to a Project Philip Bible study and he eagerly agreed. He completed the program and was given his first Bible. “I received a precious gift, my own Armenian Bible, the best thing I had ever received in my life,” he says.

Since then, Arman has dedicated his life to deepening his knowledge of the Bible. His wife, mother, and two children see the change in him. He continues to study with his family and shares the Gospel with friends and neighbors.

Arman is forever grateful for Bible League supporters. “I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those people who are helping us. Because of your caring hearts, I’ve come closer to the Lord,” he says. “I have a dream to talk about God to my friends. I would like to see them and their families coming to Christ.”

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