Zakarian, Tigran H. (1882–1966)

Tigran H. Zakarian was an early convert who became a colporteur and itinerant preacher for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East. He was instrumental in leading others to Christ and his end time church for 15 years before circumstances forced him to leave his homeland.

Zakarian was born on November 29, 1882, to Armenian parents in Julfa, Isfahan, Persia.¹ There are no records of his first contact with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and his conversion. He began working for the church before the Adventist message entered Persia in 1911. It seems likely that he encountered this message outside his native country in Beirut or nearby, where the leader for the Syrian-Egyptian Mission (comprising Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia) was placed. We can conclude that he had a good command of Arabic and Turkish as his travels took him to where these languages were mainly spoken.

Some years before 1910, Zakarian worked as the first Adventist colporteur in Syria. He mainly sold the book Daniel and the Revelation, which was instrumental in the conversion of Bashir Abdallah (Abo) Hasso from Mosul in Mesopotamia (Iraq). At the time, Hasso was studying pharmacy in the Syrian Presbyterian College in Beirut. The book created an interest in Bible prophecies, and Bashir attended W. K. Ising’s meetings in Beirut in 1910. He was convinced of the Adventist teachings and baptized as an Adventist in 1911. Bashir then returned to Mosul and shared his newly found faith with his family, planting the seed for the church in Mesopotamia.²

Zakarian’s ministry reached to Palestine as well, where he sold his books around Jerusalem. In 1912 he crossed the River Jordan into Transjordania (modern Jordan) and left some of his publications at Es-Salt, a city on the road to Amman. This was followed up by an evangelistic campaign the following year together with Ibrahim El-Khalil. Their ministry was later spoken well of by Michael Hilal Al-Haddad and others, a ministry that was interrupted in the spring of 1914 because of the outbreak of World War I. After they left, Michael began keeping the Sabbath on his own and brought his tithe to the Protestant church in Es-Salt. When Pastor Ising came to visit about nine years later in December 1922, Michael gathered many of his friends and relatives in his home to study the Adventist truth. The result was the establishment of a Seventh-day Adventist church in Jordan³. Again, the ministry of Zakarian proved to be fruitful.

The next we learn of Zakarian is about his work with literature among the soldiers in Egypt during World War I. He reports in 1915: “I have again to thank the Lord for His assistance in the distribution of literature. I spent much time and means to get a general pass to work in the soldiers’ camp among the different regiments but failed in this. My sales for May amounted to 124 francs” ⁴. At the time there was much turmoil in the Middle East with the confrontation between the British forces and the old Ottoman Empire.

From a report on August 10, 1919, we learn that Zakarian also worked as a colporteur in Turkey. In 1919 he wrote in the Review and Herald: “I have so much to thank the Lord for, because of our wonderful deliverance from Turkey and His bringing us safely to Alexandria, that I cannot find words to express my gratitude. I can only consecrate my life anew to His service in Egypt. Since the close of the war, I have been selling thousands of books to soldiers and sailors and have been a blessing to a few, but eternity will reveal the results.”⁵

Zakarian got his missionary and ministerial licenses from the Lower Egypt Mission and later the Egypt Mission from 1916--1923⁶. During his time in the Middle East, he worked closely with the directors W. K. Ising and George Keough. In 1923 he traveled with Pastor Ising and Dr. Arsen Arzooian and family from Baghdad to begin the work among Armenians in Julfa, Isfahan, in Persia, his native country.⁷

Like many others from the Middle East, due to the strain, insecurity, and hardships, Zakarian chose to emigrate to America. In 1928 he sent questions on certain complicated Bible texts from his residence in California to the editor of Signs of the Times.⁸ In December 1929 he wrote in the Review and Herald from Fresno, California, “That I have taken out citizenship papers in the United States of America, and in connection with that has effected a change of my name to T. A. Zachary.”⁹ He continued to eagerly follow the news from the Middle East and graciously acknowledged the receipt of the Armenian Sabbath School Quarterlies and the Middle East Messenger. In 1948, when he heard about the plans for a building program going on in Julfa, Isfahan, his birthplace, he wrote: “I sigh for not being actively at work in Julfa.” He had been assigned to work on the Armenian Song Book and exclaimed: “I am feverishly engaged in completing a very handsome song book, which will be very profitable to all who possess a copy.”¹⁰ He died in Fresno, California, on March 14, 1966, at the age of 83.¹¹

Sources

“Appointments and Notes.” ARH, February 6, 1930.

Fargo, Basim. “Iraq.” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventist. March 3, 2021. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/search-results?term=iraq.

“From Here and There.” Middle East Messenger, January 1949.

“In Remembrance.” ARH, October 6, 1966.

Ising, W. K. “Dedicating Our Chapel in Gilead.” ARH, May 15, 1930.

Ising, W. K. “En Route to Bible Lands.” ARH, February 15, 1923.

Ising, W. K. “Mosul, Our First Church in Mesopotamia.” ARH, July 19, 1923.

Ising, W. K. “Visiting Salt in Transjordania.” ARH, December 27, 1923.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, 1916 – 1924. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/Forms/AllItems.aspx.

“The Signs Question Corner.” Signs of the Times, August 14, 1928; August 13, 1929; January 5, 1932.

Wixwat, Melanie. “Jordan.” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventist. November 28, 2021. Accessed January 25, 2024. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/search-results?term=Jordan.

Zakarian, T. H. “A Word From Egypt.” ARH, September 25, 1919.

Zakarian, T. H. Quoted in ARH, July 8, 1915.

Notes

1. “In Remembrance,” ARH, October 6, 1966, 25.↩

2. W. K. Ising, “Mosul, Our First Church in Mesopotamia,” ARH, July 19, 1923, 8; Basim Fargo, “Iraq,” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventist, March 3, 2021, accessed January 25, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/search-results?term=iraq.↩

3. W. K. Ising,” Visiting Salt in Transjordania,” ARH, December 27, 1923, 9; “Dedicating Our Chapel in Gilead,” ARH, May 15, 1930, 16; Melanie Wixwat, “Jordan”, Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventist, November 28, 2021, accessed January 25, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/search-results?term=Jordan.↩

4. T. H. Zakarian, quoted in ARH, July 8, 1915, 24.↩

5. T. H. Zakarian, “A Word From Egypt,” ARH, September 25, 1919, 32.↩

6. Seventh-day Adventist On-line Yearbooks 1916-1924, accessed January 25, 2024, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/Forms/AllItems.aspx.↩

7. W. K. Ising, “En Route to Bible Lands,” ARH, February 15, 1923, 11.↩

8. “The Signs Question Corner,” Signs of the Times, August 14, 1928, 6; August 13, 1929, 6; January 5, 1932, 6.↩

9. “Appointments and Notes,” ARH, February 6, 1930.↩

10. “From Here and There,” Middle East Messenger, January 1949, 3.↩

11. “In Remembrance,” ARH, October 6, 1966, 25.↩