December 25, 2021, marked the 200^th birthday of the “Angel of the Battlefield” and American Red Cross founder, Clara Barton. Of her many notable achievements during her lifetime, one is her trip to the Ottoman Empire of Turkey in 1896. At 75, Clara Barton departed for Istanbul from New York on January 22. “The picture of that scene is still vivid in my memory,” wrote Barton after her return. “Crowded piers, wild with hurrahs, white with parting salutes, hearts beating with exaltation and expectation – a little shorn band of five, prohibited, unsustained either by government or other authority, destined to a port five thousand miles away, from approach to which even the powers of the world had shrunk.”

Barton obtained permits from the Ottoman government and stayed in Istanbul, sending doctors and other teammates to historic Armenian settlements. According to her estimation, the journey saved the lives of 50 thousand Armenians. Upon her return, she wrote a report called “America’s Relief Effort in Asia Minor.” The Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan published this in 2012.

The traditions began by Barton continued throughout the Armenian Genocide. U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Dr. Clarence Ussher, Dr. Ernest Yarrow, YMCA’s John Elder, and James Arroll, actor Jackie Coogan, and many others engaged in an unprecedented humanitarian effort to assist the suffering Christians. As a sign of gratitude, a group of Armenian children stood in front of an American orphanage, signaling, “America, we thank you.” Four hundred girls waved a carpet of gratitude with nearly four million handmade knots gifted to the White House in 1925. In 2021, an Armenian producer Manvel Saribekian prepared a film to highlight the historical assistance of the American people.

Today by assisting Armenian families who live under the Azerbaijani-Turkish siege, International Christian Concern seeks to continue the noble efforts of Clara Barton and missionaries who tirelessly helped to suffer Armenians. The small Christian country withstands the continuous pressure and aggression of radical forces because of the substantial material and moral support received. It showcases that the Christian Island of Armenia, at the intersection of Europe and Asia, is not alone.

Now, when Azerbaijan officially threatens to erase the Armenian cultural heritage, the help of ICC or other American and international organizations is hard to overestimate.

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Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of advocacy, awareness, and assistance. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.