A delegation from the U.S. based non-profit Philos Project is in Jermuk, a resort town in Armenia, to get acquainted with the geopolitical situation and Armenia’s Christian culture.

Philos Project, according to its website, “seeks to promote positive Christian engagement in the Near East by creating leaders, building community, and taking action in the spirit of the Hebraic Tradition.”

The delegation, which includes former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, also wanted to see the aftermath of Azerbaijani attacks on the town in September 2022.

Passages Israel, one of the projects of the NGO, is a nine-day “pilgrimage” to the Holy Land and intensive post-trip education designed “to strengthen the faith of American Christian college students, connects them to Israel, and prepares them for a life of Christ-centered leadership.”

The visit of the delegation to Armenia was initiated by the president of Philos Project Robert Nicholson with the support of the James Tufenkian Foundation. 

Brownback, in a February 2023 interview with the National Catholic Register regarding the state of religious freedom globally, noted the plight of 120,000 Christian Armenians in Karabakh.

“They’re [Azerbaijan – ed.] really trying to force the inhabitants out, not kill them, but just force them to leave. Armenia, which they were part of, Armenia is the first country to openly declare itself Christian in the history of Christendom. So, it’s tied into that Armenian situation,” Brownback said.