Deception, Love, Faith

By Silva Karamian Yessaian

Life’s stages pass by quickly, starting with conception. The stages become stories, and our legacy is passed down from one generation to the next. These stories teach us courage, patience, hope, and, above all, love. Like an oak tree, we stand tall and strong, spreading out our arms, much like the branches of an oak tree, to embrace life’s challenges and struggles as we shelter the ones we love.

Embark on an inspiring journey of deception, love, and faith with the author as she shares her heartfelt personal story—a story of a life lived with respect, adversity, and humility—a life full of learning and finding meaning and appreciation in all she came across with, as she adapted to a new culture while keeping her own principles and identity.

“When I am weak, I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).



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• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645314349

Book preview

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Deception, Love, Faith

Silva Karamian Yessaian

Copyright © 2019 Silva Karamian Yessaian

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2019

ISBN 978-1-64531-433-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64531-434-9 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Integrity, Humility, and Social Justice

The Historic Revolution in Iran

Strong Family Values and Loyalty

Education: A Golden Key for Success

Working Woman in the United States

The Thesis

Cultural Democracy

Health Challenges

Faith

To my parents, Anik and Martiros Karamian.

Acknowledgment

Anik and Martiros Karamian, my parents, for their lifelong encouragement.

Varoojan, Aichemik, Christina, Eric, George and Jenny for their support.

Michael, Luka Rafi, Emily, and Alik, my precious grandchildren, for their unconditional love and the motivation behind writing this book.

Marie for encouraging me and editing this book.

Gayaneh, Serjik, Lily, Marie, and Joseph for sharing their brilliant memories.

My teachers and professors, especially Louise Derman-Sparks, and public schools directors and supervisors for believing in me.

All families and students, relatives, and grandparents for their support and trust.

Christina Schweighofer for her brilliant outline.

All sisters and brothers in Christ for their faith.

In Touch Ministry and Dr. Stanley’s daily support.

Almighty Jehovah, our creator, for cleansing, sifting, directing, and showing His plan for my life.

Chapter 1

Integrity, Humility, and Social Justice

It was a day like any other. I was in first grade. Even though I barely remember all of first grade, because of tonsillitis for most of the school year, I recall that day as if it was yesterday. I was seven years old and vividly remember my mother getting me and my brother ready for school. It had snowed all night, and we were excited to get to school. We ate breakfast—scrambled eggs with badar, a bread spread with butter, cheese, or jam, and a cup of milk. My mother made our lunch boxes ready too—a chicken sandwich topped with lettuce and tomato, fruits, and a cookie nazook. Once we were finished with breakfast, one of our servants walked us to school. Our servant was a tall person and seemed like a giant to me with his long and tall arms and legs. He sat me up on his shoulder, holding me and my backpack, as he held onto my brother’s hand. This is how we got to school every morning. The school was about fifteen minutes away, which seemed longer on this special morning. It was cold, and I felt like my nose was freezing. But our heavy wool coats, along with our hats and gloves, kept us warm as we walked.

The trees, sidewalks, and streets were covered with a white blanket of snow, pure and shiny. The sun’s reflection on the white snow created rainbow colors. That was a special sight.

Reflecting on that special memory, I now realize the trust, respect, and humility I grew up with. My parents trusted our servant to walk us to school every day, teaching us to trust others regardless of differences in religion or faith. They raised us in an Islamic country and taught us trust, respect, and humility as we held onto our Armenian heritage. I now realize how easy and happy our childhood was because of the way our parents taught us to love and above all respect. My parents were the best role models for us, six children, teaching us to be respectful of the differences in the culture around us. As I realized later, biculturalism has many advantages in having strong morals and spiritual values. Social justice grows with you in diversities.

Teaching ethical convictions and character, being truthful, doing the right thing in any and all circumstances even when no one is watching you, guidance, accountability, encouragement, and helping one another were their motto, as they raised us with principles of Christianity.

In the name of my Lord, the Almighty, and His Son, Jesus Christ, my attempt in sharing this book is to pass on these principles to the next generation.

Who Are Armenians?

In order to better understand Armenians especially Armenian women, it is helpful to know a little about their history.

Armenia, which lies in the southwestern part of Asia, is east of Greece and north of the Holy Land known as Asia Minor. It lies in the highlands around Lake Van and Lake Sevan, where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers begin their long journey to the Persian Gulf and the Araxes River ends its ancient path to the Caspian Sea. This is where Mount Ararat, the place Noah’s ark landed after the flood, stands covered with snow. The people who lived in this area around 1000 BC were known as the people of Urartu, and it is from them that name Ararat arises.

In about 800 BC, a branch of migrating Aryan people from the northwest moved into this area. The mixture of the original inhabitants and the Aryan invaders formed the Armenian people. The resulting population combined with the strong characteristics of the native Urartians, a society of hardy mountain people accustomed to the rigors of the severe climate, with the cultural achievement of the newcomers.

The Armenians have a legendary account of their origins as well, and it explains why they call themselves Hai and their country Haiastan. Moses of Khoren described the history of the Armenians in the same manner as the Bible describes the early history of humanity. According to Moses, a great-grandson of Noah, Haik, fought his cousin Bel for the right to live freely. He defeated Bel and started a nation named Hai. The name Hai is taken from a small group of people who lived in the area.

In pagan times, before Christianity, Armenians had a whole family of Gods like the Romans and the Greeks. The chief god was Aramazed, similar to the Greek’s Zeus and the Roman’s Jupiter. Astghik, the goddess of love and beauty, is the equivalent of Aphrodite (Greek) and Venus (Roman).

Armenians believed that objects had personalities and experienced feelings. Anahit was the goddess of beauty in ancient Armenia.

The Christian religion was brought to Armenia very soon after its establishment. According to events recorded in the Bible, the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew traveled to Armenia to spread Christianity. During the first 250 years, Christianity in Armenia was practiced in secret. By the end of the third century, the Armenian king Tiridates decided to support the religion and become a Christian himself. His court secretary Gregory, who had long been a Christian, is considered a saint among Armenians—Saint Gregory the Illuminator.

Under the personal direction of Tiridates, the Armenians destroyed the old temples and built Christian churches. The kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as a national religion. In the early fourth century, Christianity was accepted in the powerful Roman Empire.

In AD 451, Armenia fought in a life-and-death struggle with its neighbor, Persia. The Persians wanted the Armenians to give up Christianity and embrace Zoroastrianism. There were Christians living in Persia especially in the city of Tabriz at the border between Armenia and Persia. Armenia had been ruled by Persian kingdoms of Seljuk, Changiz Khan. Sultan Ahmad by the order of Khalil Pasha of Osmans took thirty thousand prisoners, mostly Armenians, although Shah Abas won the battle in 1617–1618 and took most of the prisoners back.

During all these battles, the Armenians continued to fight to keep the Christian faith. The Armenian National Church has been built completely of stone and has the whole appearance of a lofty structure. The churches that were built a thousand years ago still stand today in spite of centuries of military attacks, earthquakes, and severe climate. Armenia, also known as the land of churches, has around four thousand monasteries and churches. Noravank is one of the monasteries built in the middle of thirteenth century. In 2002, the Noravank Monastery was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. The site is composed of three surviving churches, each decorated with intricate designs and religious symbols.The scene in Noravank’s upper sculpture (God and Adam) shows God with His right hand lifted above the crucified Christ, flanked by the Blessed Virgin and John the Evangelist and above the prone figure of the prophet Daniel. This picture magnifies reading of giving life to Adam and sacrificing His Son Christ.

Political History of Armenia

After its beginnings in 700 BC, the Armenian nation grew steadily. It extended to a large geographical area. By 100 BC, Armenia extended from the shores of Caspian Sea in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. This political and military power was achieved under the reign of Tikranes II, known as Tikranes the Great. But Armenia’s success did not last long. Rome’s military power reduced Armenia’s geographical boundaries. By the time of Christ, Armenia was a small and self-contained nation.

After its conflicts with the Romans, Armenia grew stronger. During the first five centuries AD, the country adopted Christianity and a national alphabet and achieved great literary and religious stature.

In the eleventh century, a major change took place. Seljuk Turks from the east invaded Armenia and overwhelmed the ruling families. Many of them fled to west with a large group of followers. These people settled near the Mediterranean Sea in the southern part of the Taurus Mountains. Many Armenians had lived there since the time of Tikranes. This new region was known as Cilicia, and it survived as an independent nation for three hundred years. Cilicia fell as a result of the Turkish invasions when they captured Constantinople in 1453.

The period from 1400 to 1700 was a dark age in Armenian history. They lived under the absolute rule of the Turkish sultans. They were Christians in a Muslim world with no rights or freedom as citizens.

In the eighteenth century, Armenia’s intellectuals living in foreign countries started to write poems, articles, and novels as they expressed their ideas about freedom. By the second half of nineteenth century, Russian and European powers demanded that the Turkish government make changes in their treatment of Armenians. In Turkey, revolutionary groups of Armenians, deciding to end the Turkish oppression and to gain basic human rights, began to form. Many Armenians traveled to Europe, America, Russia, and other countries during this time.

In 1914, World War I broke out, and the immigration of Armenians out of Turkey was virtually halted. The Turkish government had the idea that Armenians were supporting the foreigners against the Turks. The Turkish government decided to exterminate the Armenians. Two million Armenians were driven from their homes and marched into the Syrian Desert. In the process, one and a half million died or were killed. When the massacre ended, only a few thousand Armenians survived. Some managed to escape to Russia where other Armenians lived.

The Armenians in Constantinople were unhurt, but the leaders of the Armenian community were all arrested and killed on April 24, 1915. The Armenian communities were rebuilt without leaders. In honor of these leaders, Armenians all over the world commemorate April 24.

The Armenians in Russia were fortunate to establish their independent republic in 1918. The new government issued currency and postage stamps and established diplomatic relations with many countries including the United States. Their independence did not last long.

Both Russian and Turkish forces attacked Armenia in 1920. Armenia was divided between the Soviet Union and Turkey. The Soviet part of Armenia became part of their republic, and now, it is part of the modern Soviet Union, which is only one tenth of the original Armenia. The rest of Armenia became part of central Turkey. The Armenians in Turkey had lived for centuries as a Christian nation within a Muslim nation without any freedom of religion or civil laws. They were not allowed to establish their schools or any cultural institutions that would preserve their ethnic identity.

Armenian Language

The Armenian language has its roots in the language of the Aryans who migrated to Armenia in 800 BC. During this time, the Armenian language was not a written one.

When they became Christians, they used either Greek or Assyrian for written texts. At the beginning of the fifth century AD, the religious priest Sahak and the scholar Mesrop created a new alphabet containing thirty-six letters that were used to make up a written language. This same alphabet with two additional letters is used by Armenians everywhere today.

After Mesrop’s Armenian alphabet was established, the Bible was translated into Armenian. This translation has been called the Queen of Translations. Following this, many important civilized works were translated into Armenian, and new