Dr. Jacob Pursley, Mission to Muslim Georgia, and Artsakh Refugee Ministry
March 26 - May 9, 2024 Update
In this letter:
We celebrate the purchase of a new property in Agarak on the border of Iran.
Church update and ministry update from Agarak.
Iranian presence is growing in Armenia.
Update on the Artsakh refugee ministry.
Mission to Muslim Georgia scouting trip overview.
Graduation for the completion of year two of the Armenian Theological Academy.
And a few personal updates from the Pursleys.
Purchase of New Property in Agarak (Border of Iran):
Below are pictures of our newly purchased property and buildings. The Lord provided through you for the purchase of this property. It is adjacent to our current ministry center, and now we are able to expand and have a designated church gathering hall. We plan on putting in a theological library and study area with Farsi, Russian, Armenian, and English books. We are now cleaning and leveling the majority of the property, and preparing to landscape it to use for our ministry youth camp. The Lord provided so generously through our donors to be able to purchase it, and now I have ordered a new roof (a new roof for work and materials was around $7,000). The new roof should be completed by the first week of June, then we can begin the renovations of each room. If any volunteer(s) are willing to come this summer and or fall, to work on this renovation project, we NEED you. Please write me.
Watch these videos to see what we have to do, and our future plans: First Floor and Property:
Bottom Floor and Property:
The church in Agarak continues to grow, and more are reached each week. However, we need help.
This ministry began with a vision/scouting trip that I took to the region in 2019. In 2020, our first missionaries moved to the region. Now we have a church, language center, and youth camps. The gospel is going forth in this unreached area. We are in need of short/long term missionaries who will join our team to do humanitarian aide work, English teaching, developing relationships in the community, and physical labor on the church property. Please write to me if you or your church can send a team. We would prefer at least 1 year volunteers. If someone can only come for 3-6 months, that is okay too. You will learn the Armenian language and, if you are interested, we have a Persian language learning tract as well.
More and more Iranians are moving to Armenia.
Below you will see building structures. The first picture is very close to our ministry center. It is an Iranian consulate. We see at least 1,000 Iranian trucks pass through the border, not including tour buses and personal cars. You can see the trucks in the picture below. Iran has just built its first Iranian village within the borders of Armenia, and that is right where our Agarak ministry is located. Below you can see the pictures. It is a work camp for Iranians that have come to build a tunnel and road. They will be there for at least 5 years, and many have already asked to be our students.
Update on the Artsakh refugee ministry.
Our church, International Bible Church of Armenia, and our church in Agarak have been serving 100s of families from Artsakh. Below are the latest pictures of the projects we are involved in. One project, is that our team in Agarak has been digging water lines to bring water to the homes that the refugees were relocated to, and it is in this particular village where they have started a language club and a Bible study. Our team in Agarak was able to deliver hundreds of hens and roosters to these families as well. See the pictures below.
Another set of pictures pertains to a rabbit breeding and selling business we are beginning for 48 families. This includes building the cages, providing the rabbits, feed, and business plan to help them sell the rabbits for meat. We have many more projects planned and need funding to do them. Each family is visited, prayed for, and currently being discipled.
Mission to Muslim Georgia scouting trip overview.
In 2021, I traveled to a Muslim region of Georgia with my son Dow. I was shocked to see it was an unreached area for the gospel, and so close to Armenia. Here was the video I made about the region at the time:
I never stopped praying for this region and I have been wanting to plant churches in every village since seeing it. This year I finally returned with a team of 11: 8 from the US, and 3 from Armenia. It was a trip with a few trials. For example: on the way there, we drove an hour or two on a horrible backroad to get to the border crossing, only to find out that an avalanche had blocked our path! So, we had to re-route and drive an extra 3 hours.
God gave me a vision over the past 2 years that I should plant a missions base out of a proximate city to the Muslim region. The challenge is that we need long term missionaries called to do this (who will go?). We stayed in that city, and drove into the rural Muslim areas from there. At night I prayed about which of the 100s of Muslims villages we should visit. I choose two on Google maps, and the next morning we set out. It was open doors for the gospel the entire time. I decided I would drive us right up to the mosque, then we would find people and start talking. That is what we did. In the first village we spoke to many Muslims, we were invited into a home, shared the gospel, and prayed for them. The second stop was after driving on a perilous road. Please watch my video about that here and share this with potential folks who will come to do work here full-time:
On this second stop, I saw a group of teens in a field in an open area. We pulled off and walked up to the group. They greeted us, and after some pleasantries, the schoolteachers invited us to join them. It was a Muslim school having a field trip. The youth were around 16 years old, and they were playing, eating, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Then we came. We spent 4 hours with this group. We found out that they were from at least 6 different Muslim villages in the area. They invited us to visit their homes, their villages, and they wanted us to spend more and more time with them. We ate with them, sang worship songs for them to listen to, our team danced with them, and now we have several villages inviting us to come, teach English and continue the relationship with them. You will see some of these interactions in the above video link.
Now, I am praying that God would form an American and Armenian long-term mission team to base out of the proximate city! Who will go? Please contact me if you are interested.
One of the American teammates made this video about our trip. Watch it here, Lost Heritage:
Graduation for the completion of year two of the Armenian Theological Academy.
Pursley Personal News
On April 13, my last living grandparent, Nadene Pursley, went to heaven. I was able to watch the funeral virtually from the rooftop of our ministry in Agarak, as her body was laid to rest in California. I know she is with the Lord.
For the first time in our life, Lisa and I purchased a home. It was the home we have been renting since we moved to Armenia. We use this as a ministry hub for homegroups and missions base. Now we have to renovate it. I am a little overwhelmed with all the work, including our ministry, but grateful to have a place we can settle into after 24 years of marriage.
In the next newsletter, I will highlight the work in Turkey. There is always too much to share. Keep us in your prayers Pray for short and long term workers to come alongside us here in Yerevan, Agarak, and Georgia.
For the King,
Jacob
Hello Jacob,
This is Susan Cable, 1st Pres Macon. Heard you at our missions conference. After your talk, 3 women were signing your email list, when Cindi Peed said we need to donate to get that building ready for ministry. Two or three weeks later many in our church contributed.
Day after, my husband spoke with a Godly man about your vision to restore the property to use as a Mission House.
He was intrigued with what my husband said. He was never asked for money, but made a decision to donate a very significant amount.
I’ve sent him the May Newsletter so he can see the building “in progress.” Look forward to heaven to meet those that came to faith because of the investment in the Mission House!
Susan Cable
First Pres Macon