96th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide, Easter Sunday Coincide on April 24, 2011

Contact: Jenny Kiljian, 424-234-8616

MEDIA ADVISORY, April 14, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- As we approach this holiest of days, Armenian American religious leaders have called on people of good conscience throughout the United States to hold a National Day of Prayer on Sunday, April 24 in honor of Easter and in commemoration of the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

"As children of the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, on this Holy Day of Easter, we call upon our Christian brothers and sisters as well as people of all faiths to pray with us for the two million Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Pontians, and Greeks, who fell victim to the Ottoman Empire's World War I-era genocide of its Christian minorities, and for justice and peace to prevail in our world," said the statement, signed by Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian; Archbishop Hovnan Derderian; Very Reverend Father Krikor Chahinian; and Reverend Joseph D. Matossian.

"As Christians, on April 24th we will celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the salvation of mankind. On that same day, as Armenians, we will commemorate the rebirth of our people from the ashes of merciless genocide."

A Facebook page -- Resurrection and Recognition: National Day of Prayer on April 24 -- has been launched in order to disseminate this message to a worldwide audience. Facebook members can join the page by going to facebook.com/dayofprayer  and clicking "Like" and share the page with their friends. Efforts are also underway to enlist the support and participation of non-Armenian Christian churches and organizations throughout the United States.

No Christian nation has been without its trials in their service to the Lord, and the Armenian people have never shirked from the challenges they have faced in defense of their faith.

Before he was crucified, Jesus Christ assured Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die." There is no such thing as coincidence. April 24, 2011, is part of the Lord's divine plan for the Armenian people -- a diaspora of millions strewn around the world that, like our Lord Jesus Christ, will be resurrected from the ashes of destruction.

For more information, visit facebook.com/dayofprayer.