Christmas Concert in the Armenian Evangelical Church of Ashrafieh

The Armenian Evangelical Church of Ashrafieh had the idea to hold a Christmas concert this year with the vision of bringing people together for a special night organized and performed through its multitalented church band.

The event carried a lot of promise from the start off and took months of planning and preparation to reach fruition. It was a challenge for the band to prepare something different from the customary banquet showings or previous concerts done during various occasions. Extra attention was paid this time to the details of decoration, lighting, costumes, slideshow presentations… etc. The music was newly arranged and practiced persistently. The idea was to overwhelm the comers with the spirit of Christmas and joy through the beautiful tunes and melodies.

The concert comprised of a total of 14 songs, which were offered to the crowd in different arrangements of the band. They included a 4 voice a Capella, a cheering song by a group of Sunday school students and a grand finale Christmas medley in a night that was both heartening and magical.

Band members included: Aren Deyirmenjian (Piano), Garin Haidostian (Violin, Vocals), Hagop Harfushian (Bass, Saxophone, Vocals), Lori Yacoubian (Flute), Nareg Tavitian (Drums), Raffee Parseghian (Drums) and Shahan Kilaghbian (Keyboard, Guitar, Bass, Vocals). Outstanding vocalists accompanied them during different songs including Jirayr Ghazarian, who performed two sing-alongs inviting the crowd to join in worship. Garin Haidostian sang a mix-translated “Mary Did You Know” in both Armenian and English. Sero Kelougian sang Armenian Christmas song “Kishern Ichav Meghmig Lour”. Minas Atamian performed classic Christmas songs such as “O Holy Night” and “The Christmas Song” along with a duet in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with Talar Haidostian. Talar also had solos in “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and a duet in “Winter Wonderland” with sister Garin Haidostian.

The concert turned out to be a major success both in terms of performance and attendance. The Armenian Evangelical Church of Ashrafieh was packed with over 400 people with some having to stand outside only to listen to the music. The general response was greatly satisfying as people came up on stage after Rev. Kilaghbian’s benediction and congratulated the members.

The band will aim to build on this with future concerts and events, God willing. With His strength, hopes and expectations are high to reach out to different people through music and worship.













Aren Deyirmenian

Armenian Evangelical Ashrafieh Church's Sunday School Outing in Kchag

It was a blessing for the students and the teachers of Armenian Evangelical Sunday School in Ashrafieh to gather in KCHAG on Sunday 13th of November from 8:30AM till 1:00PM.
Instead of having our weekly worship time in church, we spent quality time enjoying KCHAG's beautiful scenery singing, learning Bible verses, doing arts and crafts and playing.
We also had breakfast together: Milk, cornflakes, cheese and bananas, a way of encouraging the kids to eat healthy.

























Armenian Evangelical Ashrefieh Church's Sunday School Visiting Kahl and Elderly House

On Sunday, 22 May 2011 - the Sunday School children, along with their teachers, of the Armenian Evangelical Ashrafieh Church visited Kahl and the Elderly House in Bourj Hammoud.
We spent time with every single elder, singing to them and giving them cookies.
Not only they were happy, but we were blessed to see their smiling faces and hearing their stories.

Gassia Keloukian,
Sunday School teacher



















An Interview with Mrs. Maral Deyirmenjian, Today's Youth

Depression, aggression, drop-outs, drugs, indifference are some of the traits that we see in a-not-so-small number of our youth today. We raised this important issue, and had an interview with Mrs. Maral Deyirmenjian, the principal of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School, to give answers to our questions and provide us her professional feedback.

(Interview by Raffi)

Raffi - Can you tell us about the differences that you see in the teenage students 10 years ago and the teenage students today?
Maral - Teenage students today have more distractions than what they had ten years ago: the accessibility of the internet at homes, ipods, MP3s, etc. come to entertain and distract the teenagers; these also interfere with their sleeping patterns. We often encounter students who have not slept more than four hours and come to class out of focus and exhausted.

The teenagers today are living in a hedonistic society; meaning, they are surrounded by a society that values pleasure over other personal values; this is a major obstacle in their pursuit of academic excellence, which is often the result of self-discipline and hard work.

Raffi - What are the needs of the teenagers and what kind of of challenges do they face today?
Maral - Teenagers need guidance, in my opinion. As Rousseau has stated, adults have to be “loving distant guardians”. We need to help them to develop their personalities and become independent individuals.

Raffi - What do the schools and churches do and need to do more, to help our teenagers regarding these challenges and needs?
Maral - The schools and churches have to be aware about the problems and challenges our youth are facing. We need to get to know them more intimately and give them the assurance that we understand their problems and are here to help them to find their own solutions for the problems they are facing.

Raffi - The Amish community is know that the parents allow their teenagers to try the outside life for a year, after which they ask their sons and daughters whether they want to stay in their community or leave. Do you agree that we need to leave the teenagers to try the life they want for themselves?
Maral - Whether we leave them to try or not, they will be trying it to find their own way. The experimentation is a normal process in the path of maturation in the stage of adolescence. What we can do is to keep an eye on them, let them know that we are here when they need us and we are praying or them. There is a verse in the Bible that I treasure: “Put all things to test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil.” 1 Thess. 5: 21

Raffi - What kind of suggestion and advice would you give the youth workers and leaders who work with the teenagers?
Maral - My advice to the youth workers is love your youth, love them, love them…

Raffi - What would you like to say to the teenagers today?
Maral - You are not alone, God is nearer to you than you think!

A Cultural Event with the Participation of the Six Armenian Evangelical Schools

Sponsored by the Lebanese Armenian Evangelical Educational Council and organized by the Lebanese Armenian Evangelical Educational Coordinating Committee, and on the occasion of the 95th Year of the Armenian Genocide, on Friday, 30 April, in the Boghossian Theatre, the cultural event was held, with the theme of rebirth, that were presented by the students of the Lebanese Armenian Evangelical Schools.



After the Lebanese and Armenian anthems, the chairman of the committee welcomed the guests.

Then six Armenian Evangelical Schools' (the Armenian Evangelical Secondary School of Anjar, the Armenian Evangelical Central High School, the Armenian Evangelical P. & E. Torosian School, the Armenian Evangelical Gertmenian School, the Armenian Evangelical College, the Armenian Evangelical Shamlian Tatigian Secondary High School) students presented dances,individual and group recitations of Armenian poems, songs, and musical pieces.

At the end of the cultural event, the Executive Director of the Armenian Evangelical Missionary Association, Mr. Levon Filian was invited to give a speech. He confirmed the fact that when 2-3 Armenians come together, they create culture, and build home, school, and church. He greatly appreciated and congratulated the students for the presentations, and he concluded with the following words, "Our mother tongue, our Armenian culture, our Christian forefather's spilled blood, let us keep it, let us uphold their faith".

In the end, Mrs. Sossy Balian congratulated and thanked all those who took part in making this event a successful one. She also thanked the students and their parents, the teachers and the principals. Also, to the mayor of Bourj Hammoud, Mr. Antranig Messerlian, for his support.

The event was closed with prayer by Rev. Soghomon Kilaghbian, the chairman of the Central Committee of the UAECNE.


The choir of the Armenian Evangelical Shamlian-Tatikian Secondary School


Students of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School playing on different types of musical instruments


Joint choir of Anjar & Torosian & AEC


Armenian Evangelical Gertmenian School's students singing


The Sipan Dance Group of the Armenian Evangelical Shamlian-Tatikian Secondary School


Dance Group of the Armenian Evangelical College


Dance group of the Armenian Evangelical School of Anjar


Dance group of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School


A student from the Armenian Evangelical College


A student from the Armenian Evangelical School of Anjar reciting a poem


Mr. Levon Filian, the Executive Director of the AMAA


Ms. Sossy Balian


The closing prayer of the Rev. Soghomon Kilaghbian

A Very Close Competion, in which the Armenian Evangelical Central High School students were the winners



Organized by the ARF Lebanese Youth Union's Central Committee, on Saturday, 20 November, 2010, a General Knowledge Contest was held among various Armenian schools in Aztag's Punik hall.

The participating schools were: Armenian Evangelical Shamlian-Tatigian Secondary School, Yeghishe Manougian College, Armenian Catholic Kevork Harboyan School, Hamazkayin M. & H. Arslanian Djermaran, Armenian Evangelical Central High School, Hripsimiants School, Levon & Sofia Hagopian College, AGBU Tarouhi Hovagimian Secondary School.

After very close competition, the Armenian Evangelical Central High School accumulated the highest score, and came out first. Levon & Sofia Hagopian College came out second, while Hamazkayin M. & H. Arslanian Djemaran came out third.

The winners will receive tickets to visit Armenia.

The Honorable Results of the Three Students of the Armenian Evangelical Central High School


Teddy Khachadourian,  Maria-Lena Kissoyan, Mrs. Maral Deyirmenjian (principal), Hagop Harfoushian

The Armenian Evangelical Central High School's 11th grade participated in the "Model United Nation" event, organized by the Lebanese American University.

It is worth mentioning that 10 Armenian students received awards among more than one thousand foreign and Armenian students.

From the Armenian Evangelical Central High School, Teddy Khachatoudirna presented about "Globalization" and received the Diplomacy Award. Hagop Harfoushian presented about the viewpoint of the Republic of Slovenia about the International Use of Nuclear Energy, and also received the Diplomacy Award.

Also, Maria-Lena Kissoyan presented Nepal's viewpoint about the Security of the Female and Children refugees, and received a valuable prize in the Position Paper field.

It is worthy to mention that these 3 students were able to receive awards due to their presentation skills.

The participating Armenian students received warm appreciation from the organizers, which showed great respect to the Armenian schools.