BEARING WITNESS THROUGH STEWARDSHIP: A TESTIMONY OF FAITH, COMMUNITY, AND GRATITUDE

By DeAnn Kokatt

Der Guregh asked me to give a Stewardship Testimony. What is a testimony? A testimony, in a religious context is defined as — bearing witness or evidence about God’s truth, character and works. I grew up in the Armenian Church and I have been a member of a faith community all of my life. I believe in God. I believe that He has a unique plan for each of us. He leads us to people in our lives to help us, to teach us, and to love us. I believe that we are where we are supposed to be — which has led me to be here with you today. Our journeys are different, our paths in life are unique. But we are all here today at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church celebrating in our shared faith. The faith that teaches us that God has given us all that we have and all that we are. They are our gifts. These gifts are our unique talents and abilities. Some of us are scholars, some of us are talented athletes, some of us are artists, musicians, poets, or authors. Some of us can cook, or bake, or set a beautiful table. Some of the scholars may have become teachers, the athletes may have used their talents on the field of play, or coached a team to victory, the artists, musicians, poets and authors have all made the world a more beautiful place with their works of art, beautiful melodies, or words, the cooks and bakers have prepared delicious meals set on beautifully decorated tables. How we take responsibility, manage, and use those gifts that God has entrusted us with — is Stewardship.

We sit here in this beautiful sanctuary because the Stewards that came before us had a vision to build a church that would preserve our faith and our heritage. We watched the video a few weeks ago where the Godfathers of our Church Family—broke ground. I know that many of you watched your fathers and grandfathers—our Church Stewards, with shovels in hand, start to see their vision for our faith community come to life.

I came casually to this community by attending Armenian Fest with my family. I attended Thursday Night Bible Study, where Alice Matosian shared her poetry with me. I came to the Saturday Cooking Classes, where I met Mary Chobanian, Helen Kashian, Rose Hajinian, and Shirley Dadian—the faithful women who welcomed me like they had known me for years—and very graciously shared recipes that were lost to me after my grandmother passed. It was at one of those cooking classes that Jan Kopatich asked me if I would volunteer for a 2-hour shift in the Bakery for Armenian Fest—and we all know how that has worked out. But I didn’t start coming to Church until Deacon Albert —before he was ordained Der Guregh—called and asked me to attend Badarak. That one call changed everything—it brought me to this Church Family. I have sung in the choir, I joyfully serve on the Hospitality Committee, the Parish Council, and the committee privileged in planning the 2026 Diocesan Assembly.

But the greatest gift this loving faith community gave to me was on April 29th, my world shattered that day. My husband, Lee, passed away very unexpectedly. This faith community called me, brought me flowers, meals, sent cards, and gifts, cooked and decorated the hall for Lee’s Hokejosh— but most of all you prayed for me and my family, and you continue to pray for me and with me. You were all there for me when I needed it the most. I am proud to call St. John the Baptist Armenian Church, my spiritual home. This is Stewardship Pledge Season, I ask you to sign your pledge card to continue the vision that our Church

Godfathers had for this faith community. Building this Church was an act of hope and a leap of faith in trusting God’s plan. Making a financial commitment is part of that act of hope that will enable this Church community to continue to welcome others and do for them what it is doing for us. I hope that you see how your stewardship enables you to take your own leap of faith and show your gratitude to God for all that He has generously given to us.