Armenia

I HAVE SELECTED Armenia, regarded as the first country to accept Christianity in the 4^th Century. It is a desert and mountainous area sandwiched between the Russian, Turkish and Persian empires. It was under Turkish control until annexed by the Soviet Union in 1920 and is now an independent state with the break-up of the Soviet Union.

In the nineteenth century there was an evangelical revival movement in the Armenian church. At the same time there were Turkish fears of an Armenian uprising.

The worst killings of Armenians took place in 1915 with April 24^th still observed as Memorial Day by the descendants of the Armenian survivors. As many as six hundred thousand may have been killed on that day, among them, many witnessing Christians. Witnessing Christians have often been caught up in national struggles and national fears; they cannot escape the fact that they are part of a wider community and suffer with that community.

Moslem countries. Moslems have killed many witnessing Christians with or without the connivance of governing authorities. In the 1990’s four Christian leaders have been put to death in Iran.

The Moslem religion sees ‘martyrdom’ as an automatic entry to Paradise and this belief has obviously influenced Moslems in their own willingness to die as ‘martyrs’; it has influenced them in their treatment of Christians.

ARMENIA