What is your ministry?
I continue to be a volunteer in the Armenian Christian Medical Mission. I am a medical doctor (a junior neurosurgeon) who works in pediatric and adult hospitals. I also have a medical mission in our Baptist church, going to poor cities and providing medical services for poor people. I am also singing in our church choir.
When did you trust Christ?
I was born in a traditional Armenian family with apostolic Christian views. My parents were nominal Christians, like all Armenians, who never read the Bible and didn't know Jesus. When I was five years old, my father repented and started to study in a Baptist theological seminary. Since that time, I started going to Sunday school. I liked the Christian community, people, and church but never thought about my sins. So, I grew up in a church community and never felt I needed Jesus. When I was 15, I recognised who I truly am and how sinful I am in God's eyes. That day, I decided to follow Jesus. This is all by His grace and immense mercy.
What have been the defining moments of your Christian walk?
After my baptism, I started having a lot of temptations, but God helped me overcome all these situations. After finishing medical school, I was taken by the government to serve in the army for two years. This was the most challenging time in my life, but at the same time, it was the most blessed time. This was the time when I recognised how close God is to His children and how much He cares, and also this was when I realised how sinful and cruel people can be without God.
What do you hope to gain from participating?
I believe I can learn more about God's word, and it can bring me closer to Him. Then, I can be used more for God. Also, I hope it will help me understand where to live my future life and serve.
During the Year-Round Mentoring, I hope to learn more skills to help me evangelise, especially when talking with people involved in science. Most of my colleagues in the university and our hospital are highly qualified doctors who don't believe in God but are usually ready to listen and discuss God.
What is your leadership role or what were your past leadership roles?
Last year I was living in Bulgaria with my family. There, I had the opportunity to serve God inside a Baptist church in Sofia by preaching once every month. I was also a volunteer at Mission Without Borders, where we did a lot of missions in 2022. Before this, I lived in Armenia and was involved in church missions and serving with student groups.
Why should someone invest in your ministry?
I like theology and listen to a lot of preaching from John McArthur, John Piper, Voddie Baucham, and others. I want to share God's word with my friends and others. I dreamed of becoming a missionary doctor in a poor country for many years, but God showed me that now the door is closed because I have loans for my studies in Europe and must work to pay for them. I have a job and work in a good hospital in the capital of Armenia, but I continue to look for a place and time where I can be used more for God and pray for this. I also have a wonderful family - a wife and two sons (3 months and 2.5 years old). So, maybe God will open the door one day, and I can serve as a missionary doctor by word and medicine somewhere where there is a need. But I know that maybe God has other plans for me, and obeying is better than sacrifice.
