“Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36)

On October 18, 2019, a meeting of the “Socio-psychological Assistance to Syrian Refugees’’ project of Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable Organization (Aleppo-NGO) was held with the participation of 52 members. The guest of the meeting was Priest Grigor Hovhannisyan following our letter of cooperation addressed to The Primate of Ararat Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Archbishop Church Navasard Kjoyan.

Dzovig Makarian-Baitarian, Co-Founder and Vice President of Aleppo-NGO, presented biography of the priest to the attendees, after which passed to the brief description and main goals of the Project.

The Priest started the meeting with the Bible command, that says. “Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36 ), then all the attendees prayed unanimously. Later the Priest started spiritual conversations with the participants. Discussions covered different ecclesiastical topics, including sacrament, baptism, marriage, liturgy, candle lighting etc.

The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. The participants were satisfied with the meeting since they gained new knowledge and information concerning the topics of their interest. Priest Grigor Hovhannisyan offered to organize a pilgrimage to St. Sargis Church in Argavand, which was welcomed by everyone.

Priest Grigor Hovhannisyan closed the meeting with prayer and the expectation to meet again and continue the conversations. At the end of the meeting a treat was organized by Krikor Astabanian.

As a reminder, the free socio-psychological assistance meetings at Aleppo-NGO provide support to Syrians who went through the war and find themselves experiencing psychological side effects, helping them to recover and become actively involved in the civil life of Armenia.

The meetings take place every Friday at 16.00, at Aleppo-NGO office. The address is 11 Northern Avenue, -1 floor (entrance from Abovyan street).