Love Thy Neighbor

In the summer of 2018, I attended a Maronite conference in Houston, Texas. Maronites are Lebanese Catholics and the Lebanese ambassador to the United States was soliciting help to make his embassy more effective.

Christians, in theory, share a third of political party with Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders in Lebanon. In practice, the terrorist group Hezbollah dominates Lebanese politics, with help from Iran, with a militia that is larger than the country’s national army.

When I went online to see if I could volunteer, I was met with two options to offer assistance through:

1) Are you a Lebanese citizen?

2) Are you an American of Lebanese descent?

I asked the ambassador after his speech if only Lebanese people could offer assistance and his response has stuck with me since then, “Sure. It never occurred to me that someone who was not Lebanese would want to help.”

This is tragic testimony to the state of the world today. Due to the fact that various Christian diasporas have been forced out of their homelands to Western democratic countries, their attempt to protect family and fellow Christians who remain under repressive regimes in places like Iraq, Armenia, and Pakistan (among many more) have been reduced to “interest groups” and “lobbyists.”

Christians in the United States and Europe need to think beyond geo-politics and remember that their brothers and sisters in Christ need help and government is often too unwieldy to act on urgent concerns.

Christians should not separate themselves along ethnic lines and, instead, should invest time and resources into demonstrating the Christian virtue of charity to make a difference in communities outside of their own.

Saint Paul often exhorted the churches in various regions to raise money for those in most need, often Jerusalem and Rome where persecution was the greatest.

One Christian community in need of urgent assistance are the Armenian people living in the Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Artsakh has been under constant pressure from Azerbaijan to fully capitulate ever since 2020 when the Aliyev regime in Baku invaded Artsakh to absorb Artsakh into Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan was able to gain vast tracts of territory and reduced entry into Artsakh to a single road between Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia.

Since then, Azeri forces have engaged in small arms and mortar fire across the border into Artsakh, and have even occupied Artsakh land.

Azerbaijan escalated tensions further by initiating a blockade in December 2022, of the only road into Artsakh with so-called environmental activists. The supposed protesters claimed to be against the operation of a mine in Artsakh, which they claimed harmed the environment.

Azeri “environmental protester” kills a pigeon while blockading Artsakh.

Critics slammed the pretense of the blockade as Azerbaijan’s oil production has polluted the Caspian Sea for decades and reduced various animal groups to near extinction.

When the international community demonstrated it would not hold Azerbaijan accountable, the Azeri army took control of the blockade and has restricted access of food, medicine, and fuel to this very day.

Artsakh has been reduced to starvation rationing, and many have lost their lives, including children and infants, due to lack of medical supplies.

If immediate action is not taken to lift the blockade within approximately two months, then over 120,000 people will either be starved to death or forced to abandon their ancestral homeland.

One organization preparing a humanitarian aid package is the Christians in Need Foundation (CINF). The members of this organization are exploring options to ensure sufficient food and medical aid reaches Artsakh. Donations can be made here - LINK

As plans develop into fruition, people will be needed, “boots on ground,” to support the humanitarian aid effort. If you feel called to help prevent a genocide, you can either reach out to CINF directly through their website or email Lucerna Lux Media at: treyblanton@lucernaluxmedia.com

Volunteers must be willing to travel to Armenia to assist in the project. For those unable to travel abroad to confront Azerbaijan’s aggression, you are encouraged to contact congressman on the House Foreign Affairs committee.

Inform as many congressmen as possible that they need to act urgently to safeguard the Republic of Artsakh.