Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: I'm at Republic Square in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Got government buildings here with the National Gallery of Armenia, the national history Museum.
And I just attended, right here in this building, the National Gallery of Armenia, the inaugural Republic of Armenia prayer breakfast. It was a gathering of 300 people from around the world, many local, many of them Armenian, but of faith leaders, political leaders, business. Businessme people who are just topping their fields. And it was actually really amazing. Now, for those of you who do know and are extremely interested in the politics of Armenia, like, you will know that there was a lot of controversy surrounding this event.
You know, the president and the prime minister spoke. Prime minister Nicole Pachendian addressed this delegation twice, actually, during this time. He quoted a lot of scripture. He talked about how he became a believer. It was very interesting. Interesting. But now, at the same time, you know, this was categorized by. By the opposition as a.
As a pro government event.
But the organizers of this event actually took us to each museum, which is the holy see of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It's actually the. It's like the Vatican for the Armenians. And there we got the other side of the story. And I feel it was a real privilege to be able to exposed to both sides, to hear from the government, but then also from the Catholicos of all Armenians who defended his clergy against what he says are false charges of terrorism and, you know, conspiring to. To ignite a revolution and treason and coercing others, you know, to participate in this. So. So it was great to be able to hear both sides. All right, so we're at each Miyazin, right? Did I say it right?
Which is like. I call it like the Vatican of the Armenian Apostolic.
Okay, great. All right, so this is a very interesting day for me. And by the way, so I'm with Jacob personally, who's one of the organizers of the Republic of Armenia prayer breakfast. First ever prayer.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: Prayer breakfast. Yeah, I don't. There's not been something like this, at least for a thousand years. I really. It's been. I can't even know. I don't even know what time.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: All right, well, it's been extremely informational and enlightening, and we heard from government leaders, but now, very interestingly, we heard from the church leaders, and there's a little bit of dissension between the two. So I'm very impressed that you brought us to both sides. First of all, what would you like? First of all, how is this going for you as one of the organizers? You're looking at this, and people like me from overseas.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah. So the individual believers club at Civil Society that organized this entire event, it was not a political event. It was a spiritual prayer event organized by non clergy. And what is amazing about that is that we can come together and invite people from all walks of life to come and pray. And so we were able to do that in this historical event for two days. And we had the president of the country come, we had the prime minister came two times, and we had various pastors from the Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, we had the archbishops, we had from all different faith denominations come for this conference. And we also had organized previously, obviously the trip here to the Mother Sea to meet with Katakin ii, the Catholicos and Sorpazan Natonhovonisyan. And we just got finished with that meeting because we wanted all of the people that are coming from the outside to also hear from them because there's this so called controversy that there's persecution of Christianity in this country specifically targeting the Apostolic Church. And so we wanted them first to also pray. And they did. And they prayed. They closed our meeting with prayer. But they also answered questions from people from the west and from around the world about this. And so we really wanted everybody to, because the organizers of the event, and I'm one of them, this is where the first cathedral right here was ever built in the world.
And so this encompasses Arminian Christianity. And this is the Republic of Armenia prayer breakfast. And so we worked with the Apostolic Church completely in this. So that shows it wasn't a political event.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's what a lot of the criticism has been, is that this is a political, pro government event.
But what I do find interesting, look, I'm not going to underestimate, understand the full issues of this country in the short time that I'm here. But I do feel like at least I was exposed to both sides. Yes, to the, you know, the government position, but also the church's position and also the just the differing sides on, you know, the peace deal, recent peace deals like with Azerbaijan and.
But overall I do see that there, this, the conference provided a lot of information just about things that aren't related to politics, that aren't related to the church. I mean, we got information about economic possibilities and also faith and values here in Armenia. And I think that those issues really can transcend these divisions.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Yes, yeah, no, I agree with you 100%.
You know, the people here want a spiritual renewal.
They're tired of Sovietistic ideologies that have really kept spirituality suppressed within the government. So this is why this is historic. It's the first time that in a government office there are people praying, reading the Bible, quoting the Bible. Yes, we're in a church. That's normal. But to see that in everyday life, we had businessmen that saying they're starting their businesses off every day in prayer and in scripture reading with employees. So this is a really good example to show the world that there can be a truly Christian country with principles and values. Maybe not everybody is a true believer inside, but this is something that we're trying to promote.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I have to say that if you're watching this now, I mean, Armenia, the feeling I get from this whole conference is that Armenia is really at a crossroads. Like, it's at a, of course, a geographic crossroads of east and west and, and Russian influence, US Influence, but it's also at a geopolitical crossroads, a cultural crossroads. I just feel like this is.
Armenia is on the cusp of something. Like something is happening. To put it here in this position.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: At this moment, I agree with you, Nicole, and I think it's in the. The best position it's ever been in its history, specifically Republic of Armenia, but before that, the Soviet Union. So this is an exciting time for arme spiritually. There's been this revival. I've seen it now since 2008 until today, in 2025, economically growing. I mean, a peace deal. I mean, there's just so many great things that are happening here. And that God's people came together for two days, over 300 people asking God for his mercy and blessing and protection. God's going to hear those prayers.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: Amen. I mean, it was amazing. It was very well done and it'll be great to see the fruit of this going forward. So, Jacob Hurley, thank you very much.
[00:07:55] Speaker B: Thanks, Nicole. Good seeing you again.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Thank you. And thank you. Thank you for watching this. And of course, stay tuned for more because there's more to come with Armenia at the very least.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: Great.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Thank you. But in addition, this, the summit really transcended politics and we talked about a lot of other pertinent issues. I mean, we heard from, like I said, businesswomen. There was a panel about women and women's rights, persecution of religious minorities. I mean, they went into also the details of the trade and how like this whole geopolitical region is. Is in a bit of turmoil right now.
So that was really good. There were top notch speakers, experts in their field, leaders in, in the field. And from Armenia, from around the world, many nations were represented.
And I think I really feel like this, this summit positioned Armenia as a key player in the region. I mean, you saw like. And actually beyond the region. And you'll see that in one of the interviews that I did because we talk about how this could all be part of a connection from Central Asia into Europe, and Armenia will play a key role in that.
What I gathered from this, this whole thing overall is that Armenia is at a crossroads. I mean, it's geographically at a crossroads, I mean, from east to west for sure, and it's lurching slowly away from the Soviet Union and toward possibly more US Influence. I mean, it was definitely the intention of U. S. President Trump by brokering this peace deal with Azerbaijan and also the installation of the trip, which is the Trump road for international peace and prosperity. And that's going to be the road that connects all of these countries in the region. It's going to be a way for Central Asia to get their goods and products through the caucuses and into Europe. I mean, it's. It's going to be crucial. It's going to be extremely interesting.
There was also an interfaith panel.
There was also. And members of the Jewish community were present, which in some ways dispels the myth that of Armenian anti Semitism. However, with the interfaith panel, there wasn't a Jew on the panel, which perhaps next year they would. They would get one. I mean, there was Muslim, there was a Yazidi, there were Christians, but Christians of different denominations.
But, you know, as you've got, Europe seems to be moving away from its Christian roots and losing that Christian identity. But I really feel like Armenia is reinforcing. Armenia, the first Christian nation in the world, is reinforcing its Christian identity and becoming the vanguard of Christianity in the region. So it's going to be exciting to see. I think Armenia is on the cusp of something really great. And so stay tuned and we're going to be following this and see what happens. You know, we love Armenia, so we're going to be back.
And anyway, check it out.
Bye. From Yerevan.
