“These pastors are gathering together to be encouraged and refreshed,” Mock says. “Together we see that the best we can do in our world today is declare the eternal hope that we have in God, which has been afforded to us through Jesus Christ.” 

The conference comes as Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a US-brokered peace deal aimed at resolving conflict rooted in a regional dispute ongoing since the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

Historically Armenian but officially recognized as part of Azerbaijan, the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been fought for and ruled by ethnic Armenian forces for decades. Azerbaijan regained full control of the area in a 2023 offensive. Since then, Mock says SGA has been supporting Armenian churches as they minister to refugees fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“We have seen a constant tension: the fear of sending young men to war, the fear of losing men, the fear of losing more cities and towns and villages,” he says.

Mountains in Nagorno-Karabakh. Courtesy of Unsplash.

For this reason, the peace agreement has brought easier breathing to many families on both sides of the conflict. The 99-year lease involves a 27-mile stretch of land within Nagorno-Karabakh, known as the Zangezur Corridor, which will be developed as a trade route for oil, natural gas, and commodities. 

“What is established now is a roadmap for commerce and prosperity for both nations,” Mock says. “What you have is a situation where now everyone is a winner, including Europe, as they are now securing access to oil, natural gas, and commodities coming through Central Asia and Asia itself.”

Relief from decades of fighting, however, does not dissolve centuries of ethnic and religious tensions. The conflict in this region dates back to the fourth century, when Armenia recognized Christianity as its national religion. 

“As Islam grew and Armenians were seen as dissidents, the war of religious differences grew,” Mock says. During WWI, the Ottoman Empire carried out a mass genocide of Armenians. Armenia was then ruled by the Soviet Union until gaining independence at its collapse. 

All the while, Mock says churches have continued declaring hope to the hopeless in the form of salvation through grace alone.

“Whether there is a war going or there is a ceasefire, they continue to do the work that God has raised them up to do,” Mock says. “And so there is the political scene: there is the tragic reality of both the genocide and the pressure that exists between these nations, but in the middle of it there is the freedom that we have in Christ.” 

Praise the Lord for the cessation of fighting, and please pray for the continued work of the church in Armenia. Pray for pastors as they remind their congregations of the brevity of life and the assurance of a savior, and pray for believers as they hold grow in the knowledge and grace of their savior, Jesus Christ. 

Beyond historical losses and present gains, Mock points out: “Our hope is in Jesus.” 

Read more about Armenia’s history here. 

Bus stop in Armenia. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Featured image: President Trump brokers peace deal with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan. Screenshot courtesy of the White House.