The Armenian Evangelical Christian Endeavour Summer Center (Kchag) went through a lot of renovations this Summer. It is headed to restore back its vitality among the Armenian Evangelical churches and youth; and on this occassion, we had an interview with Garbis Deyirmenjian, who is leading the renovations. Mr. Deyirmenjian is an elected member of the Christian Endeavor Executive Board in Lebanon (Kordsatir Marmin), which manages and takes care of Kchag.
(Interview by Raffi)
(Interview by Raffi)
Raffi - Kchag went through essential renovations, and even the youth and junior youth joined their hands (see here) to make Kchag a better place. Who was leading the renovations and who participated in helping kchag to get back to its feet?Garbis - We have just finished the renovation of Bezjian and office buildings. These 2 buildings are part of the ones that will be kept in the master plan (they don’t need to be demolished). Bezdgian is planned to accommodate groups in winter also, since it has all the facilities in one building (meeting rooms, kitchen, bedrooms). The office building can also accommodate people in winter, but it doesn’t have meeting rooms and kitchen in its premises. By renovating these 2 buildings we can accommodate nearly 50 people in summer and 30 people in winter. By finishing these 2 buildings we can tell that Phase 0 & 1 of the Kchag master plan prepared by EMI (http://www.emiusa.org/projects/projectprofile_5410.php and http://www.chanitz.org/2007/06/emi-group-oh-yes.html) have been accomplished. Also our renovation plan for this summer includes the playground, where the basketball boards are renovated and people can also use it for football games with the high fence to make the playground safe. We cannot renovate the playground completely since in the EMI plan there will be a major change there. For these projects we have hired a contractor to do the construction works. The Kchag committee members did the volunteer works like replacing the basketball boards, cleaning works, electrical connections, cleaning of the basketball court ground, cutting some damaged trees and the grass with the help of our youth and junior groups. Also the Kchag committee does the follow-up works with the contractor by checking the quality of the work, follow up the schedule and supervise the work.
Raffi - AMAA interns were to arrive in Lebanon, but the plan went through change. Any reasons why?
Garbis - The reasons are not related to us.
Raffi - Summer time is a period when families come to kchag. This time you had another plan instead of Kchage Café, can you tell us more about this change?
Garbis - This year the activities were different in Kchag, we had our first youth camp there! YES, OUR FIRST YOUTH CAMP IN KCHAG SINCE 1986! After 24 years years. I know that it didn’t have all the facilities ready, but most of them were installed. I hope this will be the start of our camps in Kchag. This year we didn’t have Kchag Café, sorry for this but we thought that Kchag Café is being very routine, although many of our church members were enjoying it a lot. The Kchag Café must be stopped for a certain time. We are planning to have different programs in order to enjoy our fellowship there in summer.
Raffi - What plans do you have in the far future?
Garbis - The short plans are: To renovate the church in order to be presentable, to install Solar energy water heating system, on the Office building and Bezjian. As for the long term plan, we are working on the fundraising plan to find donors all over the world to participate in this beautiful plan of renovation and restoration of Kchag. The master plan with its details have been published in Chanaser.
Raffi - What would you like to say to the youth, the churches, and those who love Kchag?
Garbis - Kchag is coming back, and our youth will have the chance to go there to concentrate on God’s word and spend time with Him to seek His will and live a life that honors God. But it’s not easy, everybody must participate with the gifts that God has given to us.
Photos provided by Garbis Deyirmenjian