The past four years have been turbulent for Lebanon. Like ripples in a pond, each difficulty has had a pervasive effect — leaving its people on the verge of hopelessness and despair. Skyrocketing unemployment rates, a currency devaluation of more than 90%, medication scarcity, zero electricity, high rent and the deterioration of health sectors are causing people to live in dire conditions, affecting the mental health of people old and young and leading to family breakdown and violence. Armenian families living in Lebanon find themselves feeling hopeless and paralyzed. Families who used to lend a hand to help others now need help for themselves.
Yet, in these dark moments of despair, JMP serves as a beacon of light for thousands of Armenian families. With your help, JMP puts faith into action delivering a variety of services with a staff that operates with compassion and respect. We witness lives change — children experiencing academic success and improving their social skills, vulnerable seniors smiling with dignity, families moving toward sustainable and self-reliant lives, and chronic patients regularly receiving their medication.
We’ve watched the transformation of Azad, a 76-year-old woman with chronic illness. She lives with her physically and mentally challenged brother in a dank basement with a cracked and rotting ceiling. An accident had left Azad, the main provider, without work and any means of income. She was terrified that she and her brother could starve to death, and she was burdened with despair. Now, JMP provides a monthly allowance for their basic needs, free medication and help with hospitalization payments. Azad feels at home when she comes to the office, knowing that the social worker will boost her self-esteem and give her the hope she needs to survive. She feels dignified, cared for and supported. In her own words and fighting through tears, Azad says: “Without Jinishian, life would have been hell for me and my brother. I don’t know if we would have survived.”
We’ve seen a remarkable change in Diana, a 17-year-old who lives in a small, run-down apartment with her parents and three younger siblings. Her father is unemployed, and her mother works as a cleaning lady earning minimum wage, which doesn’t even cover rent.
The family struggles to survive from day to day with no proper food, hygiene, clothing and furniture. They sometimes eat only once a day and most nights the children go to bed on an empty stomach. Diana dropped out of school because of the family’s financial difficulties and her broken self-esteem. Desperate, her mother was encouraged to seek help at the JMP office where she enrolled Diana in JMP’s program for teenage girls. Through weekly gatherings and one-on-one sessions with a social worker, Diana regained her self-esteem. With JMP’s financial support, Diana is currently studying child care at a technical school and has dreams of having her own nursery. Diana credits JMP for “bringing her out of a dark abyss” and changing her life. For the first time since she can remember, Diana feels hope for her future.
Please consider making your best gift to help JMP serve the most vulnerable in Lebanon. Your gift can make a difference to a senior, a teenager or a family in need. The scope of needs is vast, but knowing they have support, we strive to give people, like Azad and Diana, the gift of hope and dignity.
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.”
(Jeremiah 17:14)
Eliza Minasyan, Executive Director Jinishian Memorial Program
Your gifts go directly to build up health, faith, farms and businesses by empowering local JMP teams in Armenia, Lebanon, Syria, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Artsakh and Georgia. To make the greatest impact, consider making a monthly gift.
Thank you for standing in unity with Armenian Christian leaders to share God’s love with the most vulnerable and to build a brighter future for all!
Spreading the Vision of Matthew 25 across the Church
The PC(USA) believes that we are called to serve Jesus by contributing to the well-being of the most vulnerable in all societies – rural and urban, small and large, young and not-so-young. From affordable housing to community gardens to equitable educational and employment opportunities to healing from addiction and mental illness to enacting policy change – there is not just one way to be a part of the Matthew 25 movement.
