The Mid-West C2C Fellowship Goes from Zoom to Live

When Covid hit, it was devastating in many ways. For our churches, there were feelings of being isolated and alone. As a response to this issue, the AEUNA Rebuilding Task Force created something they called the Church2Church program. Three different groups were started by zoom to bring people together for prayer and fellowship so that our Armenian Evangelical community stay connected. One group was started in New England, and we even got one going for South America. In the Midwest Church2Church Fellowship group we included our churches in Detroit and Chicago, as well as the four Canadian churches in Cambridge, Toronto, Montreal and Laval.

Because the distances between these Midwest churches were so great, they met via zoom on a regular monthly basis. Jennifer Telfeyan-LaRoe serves as the convener/organizer, and a wonderful sense of Christian togetherness developed. Over the years, they have shared joys and concerns in prayer and continue to anticipate their meetings with joy.

From the beginning, however, there was a vision for the group to plan events for the churches to meet in person. Though everyone knew this would be difficult, it was decided to move forward, exploring ideas for a retreat or seminar of some kind. In our prayer times, we found that many of us had encountered situations in our own lives or with loved ones, that involved dealing with critical illness or other tragic problems. We often talked about how difficult it is to comfort others in our lives, who are dealing with such things. When we discovered that Rev. Aren Bahadourian had created a ministry called Remain, through which he teaches a seminar entitled Help for the Helpers, we were very interested. Rev. Aren and his wife Trina have been through a great deal of difficulty in their lives and felt the need to create a ministry that teaches people how to “Remain” faithful even during the hardest times of life.

We reached out to Rev. Aren and confirmed his availability, but then we faced the practical issue of how to get everyone together. It was decided that for this first attempt, we would divide and conquer. In other words, we would offer the seminar twice in one weekend, once in Toronto and then again in Montreal. With our speaker set and a plan in place, we began preparing for a fantastic weekend.

On Friday, May 1, the seminars started in Toronto. About 35 people gathered for a meaningful presentation on the importance of “lament” in the Bible and the need for us all to Grieve Well. On Saturday morning we reconvened with the topic changing to Helping the Helpers. We were led through a very personal journey of how to understand the loss/trauma of another person and respond to it in a meaningful way. Each point resonated with the attendees as they could relate to the different situations being presented. Many questions were asked and those present shared their own experiences. Through quotes, teaching, discussion and even role play, he engaged everyone in the room, and we all went home blessed.

Immediately following the seminar in Toronto, we hopped on a plane and headed to Quebec, Canada. On Sunday morning we split up and preached at the two churches in Laval and Montreal. Then in the afternoon, we again had a good crowd of about 30 people as Rev. Aren led the Help for the Helpers seminar again. It was another successful event, and people were thankful for the experience.

We flew home on Monday morning and looked forward to sharing feedback with the group on zoom at our next meeting. This small but faithful group is doing a lot through the means available to them and God is using it for his glory.

Rev. Ron Tovmassian