2018 January 01, MondayIt was a festive day for 80 teachers of 6 districts in Yerevan. The meeting was held on 27 December, 2017, at #51 public school. In his opening speech, HG Bishop Vardan Navassardian, the Head of the Christian Education Center of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, welcomed all the teachers and extended his gratitude to the BS of Armenia, for organizing Bible Quiz and supporting the teachers and the students as well. Ms Mariana Apressian from the BS, gave a detailed explanation how to get prepared for the upcoming quiz and about the Bible Treasury, how to read and to use the book.
The gathering was presided by Ms Anna Stepanian, the Head of the Education Department of Yerevan Municipality. In her speech she reflected on the past quiz, held in Yerevan in March-November, 2017, stating: “Personally I’m aware of all the details of the results. The figures say a lot about the success, which is the result of the beautiful and exemplary cooperation between the Christian Education Center and the BS of Armenia. Now I am addressing the teachers. I know your concern of today, while you are preparing for the New Year and Christmas festivities, but for a moment let’s forget all these things and concentrate on the most valuable goal, by getting biblical knowledge, the Wisdom of the Bible. Today you will receive some biblical literature, and I pray that your children be blessed by the Word of God.”
The closing words came from Abp Yeznik Petrossian, the GS of the BS of Armenia. His Eminence began his speech by a memory of his childhood: “My mother has got a bag from the time of the Second World War. The content of this bag was a mystery for us. One day she opened it, where there were three books carefully wrapped; a Bible in Classical Armenian, a Bible in modern Eastern Armenian (19th century), and “Narek” prayer book, known as Second Bible among Armenians. And she told us, ‘You know that I cannot read, please, read for me from these books, because there is the Light of Jesus…’ My mother had lost her sight when she was a child”.
His Eminence shared his thoughts about the Bible Quiz project, stating: “I witnessed the biblical knowledge and the brilliant mind of our schoolchildren everywhere through this competition. So, this is a huge responsibility for us to work more carefully with these schoolchildren, to secure healthy families, villages, cities, and strong statehood.”
At the end, Abp Petrossian presented New Revised “Etchmiadzin” Bibles to Ms Stepanian and to Bp Navassardian, and “Narek” prayer books to some staff members of the Christian Education Center, who have extended their support through the long period of the Bible Quiz. Then all the teachers received the Bible Treasury I, to prepare their teams for the upcoming quiz.