When I was a little girl, I used to excitedly tell my mommy that, “I’m going to marry daddy when I grow up!” I couldn’t fathom marrying anyone else and questioned why I wouldn’t be able to do that. Frustrated and upset at the reality once I understand why not, I realized that, at the heart of it, I was and still am really in awe of the characteristics that our father, Vahe, exudes not only as a family man, but as a faithful follower of the Lord. I’ve so fallen in love with the qualities he expresses that I’m also looking for those in my future husband including: faith, joy, and generosity.
On The Elena & Natalia Show, we introduced our first guest of the season, our beloved and extraordinary father, he is truly our VIP, our Very Inspirational Papa! He is not only a devoted husband to our beautiful mother, Hilda, but a loving father to us and our little sister, Carolina. Vahe, also known as ‘Vic’, was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria, in an Eastern Orthodox household and moved to California in his late teens where he met his future wife on a blind date! He is a successful business owner, operating ABC Auto Electric in La Crescenta, CA for over 30 years, and in 2008, after a lifelong dream and vision and no experience in media, he started a media ministry and TV network called International Christian Family Network, Inc. Today, as a family of five, we serve together for the goal of having the Gospel preached and reached throughout our communities and across the world.
Watch our full episode and hear our father share his life story of how and when he came to know the Lord personally, the importance of serving, daily ministry, and keeping a joyful spirit throughout life. Trust us, when our father speaks, you want to listen to his timely words of wisdom.
Some people give to live, but our father lives to give. In our heart-two-heart interview together, he expressed, “You cannot give first unless you love. If you do not have love in you, you cannot give. You need to love people. If you don’t love people, you cannot give. If you give without loving, that means you want your name to be glorified. But if you love and you give, then you give Jesus the glory.” Truly the Lord has blessed him with wisdom and we know that when the Lord blesses you, it’s for the purpose of blessing others through you.
In the same way, our Father in heaven loved us so much and that’s why He gave. We read in John 3:16, “For God so LOVED the world that he GAVE his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
One of the most beautiful qualities about our father, apart from loving Jesus, is that he is so generous. Just like our Abba Father lavishes His love over us, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1), our father models His heart of true devotion for his family. We are so loved by him and so grateful to have him as our father. Beyond blessed.
Some people give to live, they give for groceries, maybe the 10% tithe, but he genuinely lives to give his all! Literally, he gets his sustenance and energy from giving. He has a heart of true generosity and all of his labor and sacrifice is surely, and will surely, not be in vain. We are beyond grateful to our Father in heaven for gifting us with the greatest father here on earth who truly models His heart of love and sacrifice.
We see our father daily waking up early, faithfully working hard, and never complaining. He provides for his family and serves us with joy, and that is how he expresses our Abba Father’s heart for us. We love that his life is so defined by consistency – in work ethic, in generosity, in gratitude, in joyfulness, in obedience, in being a ‘yes’ man, and most importantly in loving God, loving his family, and loving people. Because he serves the Lord, God gives him supernatural energy and strength; the joy of the Lord is his strength (Nehemiah 8:10)!
During our interview, we felt like we needed to take notes to absorb all the nuggets of Godly wisdom he was sharing! Here are a few valuable insights he’s gleaned throughout his years of following the Lord:
Words of Wisdom from vahe maranian
Your workplace should be your ministry place. Ministry is to serve. When you serve, stay faithful, and love people, and ministry will become so easy for you.
For me success is to stay faithful. Success is not in our timing, it’s in God’s timing. If God wants to give you success, He will. Nothing compares to God’s work and that is to stay faithful. The Lord will bless you when you are faithful.
One thing I realized is the joy of the Lord needs to be in us all the time. The devil is not after your soul anymore, because he knows that you are saved. He’s not after your money, because he knows you're giving all. He is after your joy.
When you are really hungry or thirsty, you don’t care what kind of food it is, you want to eat. ICFN is like that for us, because people are spiritually very hungry. When we put the programs on the network, they don’t look for [technical] quality, they look for the message.
To our beloved, beyond generous, fiercely faithful, holy, and humble father, do you know just how very much we love you? You are a treasure. You are treasured. We are so honored to have a father like you. We pray you know just how special, exceptional, and called you are – not because of what you can do, but simply because of who you are!
Thank you for so beautifully taking care of and protecting us. You love to see us happy and that’s what gives you joy. Your joy and positive attitude is contagious and your humble and clean heart has made our Father God in heaven very proud! You may be a father to your three daughters, but you are first a son to Him, and we will forever be grateful to you and to mom for raising us to be daughters of God.
And to you, dear reader, do you know just how loved YOU are? The Father’s heart for you is that you would know His son, Jesus, and have a personal relationship with Him. 2 Corinthians 6:18 says, “I will be a Father to YOU and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” You will only be able to follow the Father’s heart, if your heart is first in submission and obedience unto Him. And you will only be able to love the Lord fully, when you learn to obey Him fully. As a child obeys his or her parents, his or her love is displayed for them. But first, He is inviting you to be his Son or Daughter. He’s welcoming you to be a part of His family, will you accept the Father’s invitation?
