For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7

Dear AMAA members, friends and supporters,

At the time ‘The Constant’ was penned for the latest issue of the AMAA News, see below, a variety of news headlines were at the focus of attention at kitchen tables across America.

Today, literally, the Coronavirus, a source of national and international anxiety and uncertainty, solely reigns at the top of all global concern.

This vicious pandemic has caused an unprecedented disturbance in the lives of the global population, unparalleled in the life of several generations.

The AMAA offices are not immune to this disturbance.

Having the health and safety of our staff at heart, we too have changed our appearance but have not compromised our service.

Considering CDC guidelines, a skeleton crew covers the AMAA Headquarters at 31 W. Century Rd., Paramus, New Jersey, as well as our Glendale, California and Yerevan, Armenia offices.

Despite the appearance, we are in business as usual, working remotely from home, meeting, connecting and communicating visually, electronically or by phone to continue normal operations.

In the light of this global uncertainty and fear, rest assured:

• We have mostly funded AMAA’s annual services and programs across the globe for the current fiscal year.
• We have successfully crossed barriers and obtained a license to fund our mission in Syria and Iran, delivering your heart sprung designated gifts to our embattled communities.

Despite fretful global turmoil, the AMAA remains ‘The Constant’.

Your heartwarming response to our emergency appeal for Near East Relief will reach where it is intended.

• Children will not suffer for unpaid tuitions.
• Families will not miss a hot meal.
• The elderly will not be shunned.
• The sick will not be deprived of medical care.

*Please feel free to call (201) 265-2607 or email info@amaa.org for assistance.

Amidst all the unprecedented and radical changes evolving around us, AMAA remains to be ‘The Constant’. Utilizing its human and material resources in these tiring times, AMAA will continue to proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and reach out to the physical needs of our people around the globe to the best of its ability.

• Please pray for divine intervention.
• Please pray for the AMAA.
• Please pray for the good Lord to have mercy.
• Please wash your hands.
• Keep social distancing.
• Stay at home if possible.
• Follow CDC, national and local directives and health guidelines.

Be safe, for God loves you.

Thank you for your continued support of the AMAA.

Zaven Khanjian
AMAA Executive Director/CEO

…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Matthew 25:40

By Zaven Khanjian, AMAA Executive Director/CEO

None of you, I suppose, have missed the major news headlines which have recently been the focus of attention at many kitchen tables of American families.

• Impeachment and Acquittal
• Coronavirus
• Climate Change
• US Primaries and Presidential Elections

and to a lesser degree

• Deal of the Century
• An Unrestrained Turkey Salivating New Imperial Ambitions
• Unrelenting Armed Conflict in the Near East
• Popular Discord and Economic Chaos in Lebanon

Emotions and positions like what we have currently witnessed have not been this radically polarized in American Society for quite a long time.

In fact, the schism within states and societies is not just confined to the United States of America. So much so that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, recently warned that “A wind of madness is sweeping the globe.”

Tons of ink can flow in the process of validating, explaining, justifying, arguing and defending one view against the other. But it is sad to note that the defining line of these conflicts is the reign of egocentrism, power, greed and narcissism. For man defies the conception of the truth. As we read in scripture, 1 Peter 1:24

“…All men are like grass.
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.”

In its 101 years of history and service, the AMAA has banged the rock and maneuvered through the killing fields of the post Genocide Syrian desert, the great Depression, World War II, bountiful natural disasters around the globe, post-Soviet independent Armenia, the Artsakh liberation war and endless, truly endless wars in the Near East since the end of World War II. Wars that have rocked the foundation of our thriving post Genocide communities in Egypt, Cyprus, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Wars, armed conflicts and economic decadence the redemption from which seems to have shared the fate of those ‘waiting for Godot.’

Amidst all this unrest, hopelessness and confusion, the AMAA has maintained one basic ‘constant’, reflecting God’s love and putting faith into action for our brothers and sisters in need. “……whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

Prior to the healing of wounds in Syria where rockets are still falling in the streets of Aleppo, while missile strikes intermittently continue in Iraq and Iran, a cry for help has once again come from Lebanon where UAECNE President Rev. Mgrdich Karagoezian has issued an ‘appeal for emergency support for the UAECNE ministries in these difficult times’ of increasing layoffs, hundreds of business closures, inflation and liquidity crunch.

AMAA’s ‘constant’ is in full motion. In faith, we answer the clear call for spiritual nourishment, educational support, physical sustenance, health care, social and cultural programs and provisions. The ‘constant’ is in the AMAA’s ability to retain a cup that never overflows. We have and shall continue to respond to the emergency appeal for support by the UAECNE and ask for your help in bringing stability to and injecting hope in our communities in the Near East.

Thank you for your support in shoring AMAA’s ‘constant’ yesterday, today and tomorrow.