Our Woman of the Week is Arpi Nakashian, nominated for the many roles she plays in her church. We caught up with her at the Faith and Works conference in Venice:
"I am just an Armenian girl, who was born and raised in Jerusalem, currently works in New York City, drives a Japanese car, loves eating Italian pasta, and has a French tennis racket... I am no different than anyone who walks down the streets of NYC. However, there is something about me that people don’t see… I have the invisible sign of the Holy Cross anointed on my forehead since the day I was baptized into the Armenian Orthodox Church. My family planted the seed of faith in me: they nurtured this seed by introducing me to God, taking me to Church, praying with me, and teaching me to love and serve others no matter the circumstance. So even though people may not see the print of the Holy Chrism, Soorp Muron, on my forehead, I try to live my life in such a way that my words and deeds portray the love of our Lord.
"Throughout my life, I’ve tried to do so in my daily life while interacting with people, as well as teaching in Sunday and Armenian Schools, singing in the church choir, serving on various boards including the ACYO-WD Central Council. My hobby: volunteering at Church became my full time ministry as I decided to attend St. Nersess and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminaries. I now not only work at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, but decided to continue my education and get a Phd in Theology so that I can be more equipped to teach and guide the faithful to Christ—thanks to the teachers who watered the seeds that my family planted! So now I don't just direct tourists to the Holy Seplcher, I take them on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Christ."
Axia!
We asked our Woman of the Week, Arpi Nakashian, to tell us more about one of her ministries: “‘An ancient Church enlightening through digital media!’ That’s probably the motto I’d pick to portray my ministry. But, I’d rather say ‘our ministry,’ because a team of skilled and talented faithful servants of our Church brought this creative approach into our Diocese. Starting from the vision to building our own studio, having our own videography hardware and software, as well as weaving the videos, podcasts, online interactive activities, and apps. My part in all this is diving into and excavating our ancient manuscripts, studying our rituals, sacred traditions, liturgy, the teachings of our Church Fathers, and bringing the Scripture into the lives of our faithful through various media. As I write the scripts, I realize that faith and the mystery of our Church can’t be squeezed into short videos; but a few minutes of planting a seed of Christ’s teachings into someone from anywhere in this world who has clicked on our material online is an accomplishment. I get emails and social media Direct Messages from people across the world that I have never met, both Armenians and non-Armenians, who have mentioned that our material has changed how they view our Church and our Lord—and sometimes even how our digital education has changed their lives. The Armenian Orthodox Apostolic Church has always chosen to adapt to the evolution of technology no matter the century to teach the Truth and shepherd our people to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and truly a blessing that my Church has trusted me to teach our faithful using modern technology.”
We asked Arpi Nakashian, our Woman of the Week, about her morning routine:
“Alarm! Alarm! Alarm!
That’s what I wake up to most mornings… A typical morning before going to work is planned quite well the night before: starting from stretching, reading, praying, eating a date, drinking coffee, getting ready, strolling to the train station… Ha! Ha! Ha!
Honestly? The amount of sleep I get sometimes isn’t enough to take my exhaustion away… snooze temptation? Answer -> my whole plan just goes out the window. I’d have just enough time to get ready, grab a date, and run to the train station. One thing I do in the mornings that has become an ‘Arpi custom’ is: before walking into the Diocesan offices, I turn toward the St. Vartan Cathedral as I’m walking through the plaza, make the sign of the cross and pray two verses from St. Nersess Shnorhali’s popular series of prayers. One is asking God to protect us and the other to give me wisdom so that I can do his work truthfully. The days that I don’t work… Sometimes I wake up with the sun and other times I miss the morning; but no matter the morning, I always try to end my day with…
Amen! Amen! Amen!”
Here is a link to the whole list of the series of prayers in Armenian and English, if you’d like to add: http://www.stthomasarmenianchurch.com/…/i-confess-with-fai…/.
Thank you, Arpi!