WASHINGTON—Reverend Haroutune Selimian—President of the Armenian Evangelical Community of Syria and member of the Central Committee of Syrian-Armenian Emergency Relief and Reconstruction Organization—took an active part in the 65th annual National Prayer Breakfast.
At the invitation of the bipartisan Congressional Committee of the National Prayer Breakfast, Reverend Selimian was hosted at this national gathering, held on February 2 in the Washington Hilton, by Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. The program, attended by over 3,500 guests from over 100 countries, featured remarks by President Trump and a keynote address by U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and retired U.S. Navy Chief of Chaplains.
Rev. Selimian was joined by Levon Filian, a national leader on humanitarian, ecumenical, and educational issues, who has served as former Armenian Missionary Association of America national Executive Director and and is currently the West Coast AMAA Executive Director. The AMAA serves Armenians in 24 countries including, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Egypt. Both Rev. Selimian and Filian took part in a series of related Prayer Breakfast seminars, including those dealing with humanitarian and religious freedom issues in Syria and the Near East. They also visited the ANCA for a working meeting regarding Armenian American advocacy in support of Syrian Armenians.