#16 • JUNE 2016
ORTHODOX MISSION QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ORTHODOX MISSIONARY FRATERNITY
orthodox mission
Founded in 1963 Honored by the Patriarchate of Alexandria #16 May-June 2015 (GR233) Editor: Nostis Psarras Ss. Missionaries Cyril and Methodius
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IN THIS ISSUE Patriarchal Thank you Fiji Islands Indonesia India Congo (DRC) Kenya Ghana Malawi Madagascar Mwanza Burundi & Rwanda A new farm in Uganda Catecheses in the Congo The wealthier continent Water: a source of life Columns of Gratitude
You can give your love for the Orthodox Missions abroad via Paypal at paypal@ierapostoles.gr, by check or by deposit in our bank account:
ALPHA BANK • ΙΒΑΝ: GR93 0140 4050 4050 0200 2000 170 • BIC: CRBAGRAA Other bank accounts: omf.gr/ways-give/ An ofiicial receipt for your donation will be issued and mailed to you.
Authors are responsible for their own articles. Owner:
Orthodox Missionary Fraternity
6, Mackenzie King st., Hagia Sophia sq. GR546 22 THESSALONIKI
2310 279910 fax. 2310 279902
http://orthodoxmission.org.gr communications @orthodoxmission.org.gr Registered Charitable Association Aim: Moral and material support for the worldwide Eastern Orthodox Missions Spiritual founder: Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos Founder
: Pantelis Bayas
Great Benefactor : P. Papademetracopoulos
Board of Directors Demetrios Sotirkos Chairman
Nostis Psarras Vice chairman Angeliki Arnaouti Secretary General Charalampos Metallides Τreasurer Constantinos Metallides Secretary Assistant Evangelia Traicoudes Treasurer Assistant Maria Cazamia Member Constantinos Caracolis Member Panagiotis Anastasiades Member
I am the vine; you are the branches ORTHODOX MISSIONARY FRATERNITY
Advancing the Orthodox faith since 1960 3
Patriarchal Thank you 4
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FIJI ISLANDS
«Praise the Lord, o children» Palm Sunday is the day when the relationship of children with the Christ and the Church comes alive in our minds. The Holy Righteous Prophet David centuries before the Lord’s coming, foresees with his prophetic eyes Christ entering into Jerusalem not in a secular demonstration but humbly seated on the back of a donkey and inviting children to honor and glorify Him by accompanying Him, cheerfully waving the palm branches and joyfully chanting «Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord» (Jn. 12,13). Even today, it is with the same innocence and joy in the field of 6
Mission that our Orthodox children literally flood the church where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, venerating with joy the holy icons and singing together, as if in an informal dance, with one mind and one mouth, sacred hymns in Greek, a language that appeals to their heart -despite not knowing it- and in English, which is the official language of the country. It is with particular craving that they come on line at the time of the Holy Communion in order to receive the most holy Body and Blood of our Christ. “God is the Lord and hath revealed himself unto us. ... Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord”, “Receive the Body of Christ, Taste the Fountain of Immortality”. It is very moving indeed to see little Irene singing out with her crystal clear voice “Christ is Risen”. Those who do their best for these children feel really touched and proud of this blessed “harvest” from which will come out the new Orthodox society in Fiji and all over the Pacific. Particular care is paid for the proper education of the children of our «St Tabitha Orphanage” in the hope that from there will emerge the members of our Church, tomorrow clerics and monks as well as the good family men and citizens. Little Amphilochios, an orphan who has lost both parents, blessed
with the exquisite gifts given to him by God, foreshadows this promising future of the orphanage, which he feels like his real home and reflects that in the verses he wrote to express how he feels in this house, i.e., the St. Tabitha, which is the first and only house he has ever had thanks to the interest and care of our great mother who is called Orthodox Church and of the Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters all over the world who have been supporting it with their love, both morally and materially. In these verses, which are written in English, he calls the orphanage “my family” and says that its name is Greek Orthodox Institution which is run by Orthodox sisters. He says he
Our orphans practicing hagiography
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feels happy to be a member of this family. St. Tabitha is the name of this orphanage founded by Bishop Amphilochios by the Grace of God. And he ends with the verse «Giving thanks to the almighty God for taking away my tears and sorrow». Young children are innocent and pure in both mind and heart, that is why they have divine flare and inspiration, like Amphilochios. This innocence and purity of theirs is confirmed by the Lord’s words, «Let the little children alone, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 19, 14) and “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
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heaven” (Matt. 18, 3). In fact, to a large extent, it is with little children that the elderly indigenous Fijians look alike, with that characteristic simplicity and innocence of theirs. And they, like little children await our affection and interest. Let us not deprive them of that. The children receive Christ with palm and olive branches. Let us receive Him too and pave the road of life with branches of charity Let us cut down on the volume of our countless material possessions and walk on the road to the New Jerusalem with the good works of our love towards our poor brothers who are suffering. † Amphilochios of New Zealand
Bishop Amphilochios among our orphanage's children
Thank you for your support Dear President of the Historic Orthodox Missionary Fraternity of Thessaloniki Mr Sotirkos and venerable Board members, I would like to express my sincere thanks for the deposit of € 3,000, which was your contribution to the construction of the Sacred Church of St. George the Great Martyr in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga islands. I would also like to thank you wholeheartedly for your new donation of € 4,000 in support of our «Saint Tabitha Orphanage « on
the island of VityLevu, Fiji, where the center of our missionary activity is located. I do not forget that you supported us for the purchase of the land and the completion of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which is depicted in the photo and is adjacent to the orphanage and the Safe Home (the unprotected women’s shelter). Our little and big Orthodox brothers from Fiji send their love along with Paschal greetings to you and all the supporters of the Missionary work. † Amphilochios of New Zealand
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INDONESIA
On the path of the Orthodox faith Dear Friends of the Mission, With God’s help, we are in good health and hope it is the same with you. With the Lord’s blessing and the intercession of His Mother the Virgin Mary, we spent a blessed and joyful Holy Easter. Father Theodosius, Father Luke and I, Father Chrysostomos, conducted a divine liturgy at the St. Demetrius Sacred Church in Medan because the church, where Father Luke ministers in Sumbul, has not got an epitaph canopy yet. This is why, dear brothers we would like to ask you, if possible, to send us two epitaph canopies for the needs of some of our parishes 10
here in Indonesia. We would also like to thank you wholeheartedly for your offer of tickets, thanks to which we can regularly minister to our brothers’ needs on Nias Island, which is very far from our Mission center. On Lazarus Friday, I sent Father Theodosius to Nias Island to work there until Palm Sunday. Deacon Chariton Zega lives there with his wife and daughter. He is in charge of the Mission on the island and oversees three parishes and a school. Please, pray that the Almighty God will strengthen them. Near our house, there is an orphanage hosting a large number
of children. Suddenly, last January, its director disappeared. As a result, we, the neighbors, undertook looking after these abandoned children, each according to their own ability. We took four orphans into our home as our own children. We cannot take more, because apart from them, there are already a lot of children living with us besides our natural ones. As you probably recall, from the very first months of our settlement here in Indonesia, our main concern was to take some poor and orphaned children into our home to live with us as our adopted children. Dozens of them have studied and have made families that follow the
path of the Orthodox faith. These children are a great blessing indeed, real images of God that live with us. It is our moral obligation and duty to take them to school, not only to primary but also to high school. Please keep them in your prayers. That is all our news, my beloved brothers. Once again we express our sincere thanks to the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, which always supports us and helps us in the financial difficulties we face here in our Mission in Indonesia. May our risen Lord Jesus Christ bless you with His abundant goods. Kristus telah bangkit! Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu
Preschoolers in "Hagia Sophia" school, bulit by our Fraternity
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INDIA
Festive opportunities in Calcutta SUNDAY OF ORTHODOXY Today we celebrated the triumph of Orthodoxy in emotion and devout reverence. The children in our orphanages in Calcutta and our pious Orthodox brothers from the area, catechized by our prayerful indigenous priests, know about this triumphal feast, that is, the restoration of the icon veneration from Empress Theodora in Constantinople in the year 843. After the morning Divine Liturgy followed the litany of the sacred images in a procession all around the orphanage premises. I enclose some photos in which it is easy to distinguish the prevailing order and the children’s piety depicted on their faces. They feel 12
spiritual jubilation holding the holy icons. May we be healthy and able to celebrate this holy day next year as well. However, the daily routine is really stressful. There never seems to be enough time to deal with the multiple problems of my ministry the way I want to. I am alone, but there are moments when I feel the children’s angels accompany me, especially in major difficulties. Prayer is the only spiritual redemption that makes the soul rest. Late at night before the short rest that I take, I open the window... This season the snow melts from the mountains of Everest... An aura accompanies the river Ganges: a celestial gift, blessed indeed!
HOLY PASCHA This year we were made worthy of celebrating together the brilliant day of the Resurrection of Our Christ with joy in the children’s hearts. The Holy Week was accompanied by tears and grief for the suffering of our Lord and Savior. Let humanity take out of the agonizing sacrifice the permanent joy of the Resurrection. The Paschal meal of love that followed, was dressed in children’s songs, unadorned, without meet whatsoever. The children chanted in Bengali: Christo punurotito hoeche! - Shoti punurotito hochet! (Christ is Risen! - Truly He is Risen!). THANKS It was the love of God that led me to Calcutta to serve the orphaned children there. I consider them my own children. This is something they feel too, especially
when they get sick, and I’m always there for them to look after them with motherly affection. I would like to thank wholeheartedly the group of people from Montreal, Canada, for the financial assistance of €6,700 that they sent me through the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. There is a strong bond of brotherly love connecting me with the Fraternity, because it was the first to support the first Orthodox missionary to India, the late Fr. Athanasios Anthides. May the Grace of our Risen Savior protect the warm-hearted, caring people around the world who plant the sprout of hope in the souls of unfortunate children; and may God grant you good health and strength and bless your missionary work. Sister Nectaria
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CONGO (DRC)
Missionary Wanderings Dear friends of the Mission, Christ is Risen! Filled with profound gratitude, I am writing to thank you wholeheartedly for the 15,000 euro which you sent us thanks to the generosity of your donors from Montreal, Canada. With this money we supplemented the expenses we made for the repair work done to our radio station. I am also sending you photos of the shipment of medicines donated by Mr. Anastasiades Panagiotis from Thessaloniki to our small hospital at distant Shamana. Shamana, as you know, is far from here in the depths of the woods of the Congo, near the Saguru River. In order to go there from Kinshasa, one has to travel on small river boats for about two months. 14
Before days we were notified by the parish priest of Ilembo Fr. Alexander that the medicines had arrived at the port of the village. At the same time, he notified Fr. Augustine, parish priest at Shamana, who sent children in canoes in order to collect them. They did collect them and after a week’s journey in the river, they reached Shamana. The joy of our natives there was beyond description. The Benevolent God heard our prayers, and with the blessings of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore and of His Grace Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras , He sent out to work as a missionary with us the Very Reverend Archimandrite Theodosius Tsitsivos from the Holy
Monastery of the Old People’s Home in Patras, Greece, who happened to be an old student of mine at the Athonias Ecclesiastical Academy. On March 24th we went with Fr. Theodosius, Monk Fr. Gerasimos Belesi and Mr. John Katsikogiannis to Gungu, where on March 25th we held the festival of the Sacred Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, built through donations from the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. Next, we visited the school that you also built for us, where children presented a festive program that they had prepared for us. Then, we gave instructions for the continuation of the construction work. The road to that place is not good at all; on the contrary, it is sandy and sticky. We repeatedly got stuck in the sand, but thank God,
it enabled us to fulfill our purpose. Finally, after a long and difficult journey, we reached Kikwit. When we arrived there, it was quite late at night but there were a lot of people still waiting for us. The time of our arrival coincided with the Salutation Service. Although it was late, after the service they all sang for us in order to please us. Dear brothers in Christ, once again I would like to thank you for your love and support to our Metropolis and its missionary work through the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. May the Benevolent God grant you His abundant mercy, every heavenly blessing and the indelible joy of the Resurrection †Nikiphoros of Kinshasa
Medications shipped for Shamana by our Fraternity
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KENYA
Children leaving for vacation It was a great surprise. So sudden, indeed! In the morning, at around 10, I heard strange sounds of songs from the adjoining kindergarten and primary school. I immediately wanted to know what was going on. They informed me that the school would close for the standard holidays and the children would leave. So they decided to make a celebration. Without any delay, I got up and found myself in the school yard. When I appeared, the children’s voices became louder out of surprise, as they were not expecting me. It was such a joyful atmosphere with the moving young children’s singing and dance performances, that I really felt a great inner joy. 16
Thechildren of the kindergarten as well as those of the primary school were awaiting the surprise. They knew that on their leaving for holidays, they would get a special gift: their new uniforms, as shown in the pictures. The headmaster and the board of teachers were waiting for the Bishop to announce it officially. And the time came. He talked about the importance of education, their liturgical life with the daily morning and evening church services, the food offered to them daily despite the current economic difficulties, and went on to advise them not to rest too much or spend a lot of time on games during the holidays but study and help their parents and younger
siblings. I could see their innocent faces, their clean and sparkling eyes, their smile, their movements and the joy which was so strongly depicted on and in them. Everything about them revealed their gratitude and appreciation towards the Orthodox Church, which gives them the opportunity to study for free along with so many other spiritual as well as material facilities and amenities. The kids one by one passed to get their new uniform. Suddenly, a small kindergarten child made a deep bow, kissed the Bishop’s hand and whispered in English Thank you, Bishop; may God bless you with many more years of good health. Listening to this
little child, who wanted to say a big thank you with so much innocence and gratitude, I was deeply touched and I thought of the importance of proper education, of pedagogy related to religious education. I believe that our insistence for our Church to have its own schools, from kindergarten up to University, is the best guarantee for raising not only the living standards of these people but also their academic and spiritual level. The headmaster, who is an excellent educator, related to me plenty of cases of very small children, who have neither father nor mother, how badly they are in need of this personal communication and contact. This
Bishop Makarios giving out school uniforms
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is something I experience daily in our place here and, being a teacher myself, I try to deal with education issues as seriously as possible and glean the words of St. James the Lord’s Brother: «Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. « This education offered pure and unadulterated through ecclesiastical orthopraxis undoubtedly prepares, simply and humbly, tomorrow’s leaders and citizens of the Kenyan land. This feeling is everywhere around. The Church excels, is a pioneer in what we call true, Christcentered education, away from the arbitrariness of the misguided
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so-called «intellectuals”, who not only have lost their way, but they also mislead innocent children, disorienting them. Our schools, in addition to providing proper education, hot meals and clothing, offer the natives the chance of attending the church services, but most importantly, they create a communion of love; in other words, we apply that beautiful saying of the great saint of our Church, John Chrysostom, «whoever resorts to love, reduces the importunity of admonitions and remarks. Do you want to correct a man? Take him privately, and show him affection. Love is the greatest teacher. † Makarios of Nairobi
GHANA
Christ is Risen: The Joy of Ministry We lived days of ineffable joy and gladness during the celebration of the holy days of Easter season here in West Africa, and particularly in the capital of Ghana, Accra. Praise to the Holy God who makes us go through both crucifixion and resurrection, experiences that words cannot adequately express; you simply live them and enjoy them. I apologize for communicating with you with this simplicity of speech and with a personal tone of voice, but I cannot imagine what our life would be like without the Church; a life of depression, melancholy, neuroses and psychoses. Perhaps this explains why psychiatrists are doing big business nowadays. Probably this is so because we moved away from life in Christ, which
is nothing else than Church life. During the Holy Week I visited several parishes of Ghana and I had the chance to live again the first church joys that I experienced when I was a little child in Amman, Jordan; the same spontaneity, the same magic, the same warmth, the same simplicity and the same grace after 48 years, which every man feels when being next to faithful people, ordinary, decent and absolutely poor. On the night of Holy Saturday and on Easter Sunday, in the Vespers of Love Service, the world was full of joy. All the Orthodox in Ghana, Ghanaians, Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Lebanese, Syrians, everyone sang in their own language together “Christ is Risen�. An early church without ethnic divisions! With uni19
ty and brotherly connection around Christ, the choir singing in African rhythms a spiritual feast of sounds, what is left for you is to get up from the tomb of despair, of frustration, of your loneliness, participate and fly from the earth to the heavens along with Christ and all the people. On the same day and after the Vespers of Love, came the common feast of love. We all joined the same simple, frugal meal, with a real love, simple, unpretentious, genuine, effortless, the love of Christ. But all these expressions of joy are not magical or taken for granted. They are full of problems, difficulties and many adverse situations when you are responsible for the others and you have the obligation
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to give away such experiences to the people around you. The Mission may be a heavy cross to bear but at the same time it carries redeeming properties, like those of the Lord’s Resurrection. The minute you say “thanks be to God” and have hardly finished the phrase, help arrives. Unfortunately we cannot meet the operating costs of the mission centers, because there are no longer stable sources of project support. The burden is getting heavier and heavier. Our hands are tied. We are losing ground in the missionary provinces to the onslaught of “charismatic” groups, overwhelmingly supported by the United States. Our clerics can hardly make ends meet after the sal-
Holy Unction by bishop Narkissos
ary reduction they have undergone. The financial support of our clergy, which was undertaken by the Apostolic Diakonia of the Church of Greece for many years, due to the crisis in Greece has been limited to two salaries of € 90 each per year, that is, €180 a year! And this is where things stand, in countries that have no appreciable productivity and the only source of revenue is the continuous rise in commodity prices, electricity –where available–, water etc. In these countries, nothing is provided free of charge, neither education nor health, resulting in some of our clergy thinking, under the pressure of their inability to meet the basic needs for the
survival of themselves and their families, of entering the “charismatic” Christian communities. Unfortunately, this happens when there is no steady source of revenue, so we can make progress - or at least, manage to sustain and not lose ground. Dear friends of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, you were, are and will always be a constant source of love, which stems from your longing for true Love, which is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. For this unwavering financial support of yours, our Holy Metropolis will always be grateful to you. Christ is Risen, my joy! † Narkissos of Accra 21
MALAWI
The advent of the New Metropolitan It was with great joy that the Orthodox flock of the Malawian capital of Blantyre, clergy and laity, received His Eminence the new Metropolitan Ioannis of Zambia and Malawi. Host events began on Saturday March 12 at the magnificent Church of the Resurrection, bringing together Orthodox Christians from most parishes of the country in order to welcome their new spiritual Shepherd, to get his blessing and to wish him on their part a blessed ministry in his new bishopric duty. The ceremony was officiated by His Grace Metropolitan Damaskinos of Johannesburg and Pretoria, who sent a message to the newly enthroned Metropolitan and the Orthodox congregation, clergy and 22
people of the Metropolis. The ceremony was attended and greeted by a representative of the Parliament of Malawi, the city’s mayor, honorary consuls of Greece and Cyprus, leaders of the region and all the Orthodox clergy of the country, on behalf of whom Elder Fr. Nicodemus extended a greeting. His Eminence Venerable Father Ioannis, deeply touched, expressed his gratitude to the Holy Synod of the Church for their confidence in him as well as their love and referred to his predecessors, promising to continue their work tirelessly. Then, he addressed the faithful natives, announcing his desire to establish an agricultural school for the progress of the country and the young people.
The natives expressed their gratitude through various events, poems and songs from the Sunday school groups, and created a joyful and festive atmosphere. The children were running to collect the sweets that were being given out at the church, and many believers were longing to receive the blessing of His Eminence... On Sunday March 13, at the Saint Nektarios church, the whole Greek community participated in the Prelatic Divine Liturgy. His Eminence Ioannis expressed his joy for the continued progress of the community and promised to work for its substantial fruition from his new position. In the end, the Metropolitan distributed a DVD of religious
content to all believers. The simple ceremony was completed with the common feast meal which the Hellenic community hosted in his honor. In this new beginning, we are grateful to have the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity by our side. Once again you made us a donation of a new well. There has been a new parish community in the village of Ouakala, in Chikwawa district, which is the region that we destine this well for, and if by any chance a warmhearted donor is found, we can also build a church for our newly illuminated brothers there. We would like to thank you once again for your support. May God bless you all abundantly. Fr. Ermolaos Iatrou
A new waterpump in Kalimbunga, funded by our Fraternity
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Baptisms in Rwanda
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MADAGASCAR
Resurrection of Souls Christ is Risen! It is with great pleasure that I am writing to you in order to thank you once again for your continued support of our poor efforts to evangelize souls and accomplish important missionary work offering our humble ministry to our poor brothers, all for the glory of the Lord and our Church. Our missionary struggle is being continued, always with the blessings of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II,. Even though times are tough and the conditions in the Third World countries, adverse, the struggle is pleasant and fills us with joy, jubilation and abundant love that comes from above from the Father of lights. Our love for our brothers defies any sacrifice and difficulty. The thirst for 26
ministry is growing. We are not intimidated by the distances in vast forests and deserted roads without any human presence for several hours. You only see earth and sky and you encounter plenty of dangers in the inaccessible parts of the rivers, running the risk of getting stuck in the middle of the river or getting your car overturned due to large potholes. However, we always bear in mind that “perfect love casts out fear,� according to St. Apostle John the Theologian. Meeting our brothers is something that gives us great joy, but so is the completion of projects in remote areas, which strengthens our body and soul. We praise God for the two completed churches in the regions of Diego and Port Dauphin, whose construction was financed
by the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity from anonymous donors. They were built in two large towns where there was no Orthodox church. With the help of God, Orthodoxy gains ground and spreads. People have started to learn about our faith, which was unknown until now. However, this alone is not enough. There are plenty of ongoing needs. Many villages are expecting to have their own church built, which will meet their spiritual and religious needs. There are not only requests but also complaints on the part of the Christians here, and we, in our turn, pray that God will send out new donors for the construction of new churches. We hope for and anticipate the joyful message that someone will want to build a church.
Moreover, as I mentioned in a previous article, the Orphanage has finished but is in need of equipment. We appeal to your kind heart for help so that we can do our best for the orphaned children. Last month a large number of baptisms were performed in three major cities in the northern part of the country. Our newly-illumined brothers were a special blessing for our Church. The grace of the Holy Spirit was evident on their faces. What gave us great satisfaction in particular was the fact that they became members of the Body of Christ, i.e. His Church, May the Comforter illuminate other people as well and help them get to know Orthodoxy and free themselves from the nets of heresy. †Ignatios of Madagascar
Baptisms by bishop Ignatios and father Polycarpos
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Grant us Your Peace When you return to your country from a distant missionary journey, it is absolutely natural to reflect on the fruits of your effort. The mind turns to the people you met, the words you said and heard, the situations, the adversities, the tests and trials, all the factors that can determine firstly the spiritual fruitfulness of your effort and secondly our brothers’ souls that are thirsty for God. The mind also turns to the new church, which was only finished yesterday. To this new Arc, which, from tomorrow on, through the imaginable talanton, the word, the prayer, ethics and, above all, through the example, will call the 28
reasonable sheep to gather and render glory and supplication to the Triune God within a Church that neither pretends nor seeks its own, but has been preaching Truth and Love for two thousand years now. Your thoughts go around the people who encounter you in the street and curiously ask you who you are and what you represent. To the devotion that people show to those few simple words you tell them and their thirst to experience above all what you teach them; what you profess; the pure, unadulterated truth. The True Faith of our Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy: a name that the people in every corner of the land
of Madagascar are getting more and more familiar with! Our eyes fill with tears when we hear in the silence of the night the last words of the poor peasants: ‘yes, we too want you to come here and establish an Orthodox Church”. People until yesterday lost in ignorance and in the darkness of their sins. Many times, there is no Christian background whatsoever. Nevertheless, they listen and run to us like children, innocent and pure. They long to hear the voice that does not come out of our mouths but which, by the Grace of God, stirs the hearts and visits the slum areas, the mud-huts, the hospitals, the orphanages, the parish communities, the pain, the
joy. A voice that is only duly guided and directed through our humble lips by the Holy Spirit. Then the mind turns to the crying mother and her afflicted child. To the fever that was literally burning the young boy yesterday. To the dead child that we only buried yesterday wishing him “a good and unhindered journey to Heaven”- “soa va die ry zanako”! On this last journey, may you have the angels and our saints as fellow travelers and may your aching heart find rest and peace. May your lips, which were longing for God, drink from the Spring of Life and satiate their thirst. We apologize to you for all the things we could have offered you, and now we pray for you here
Divine Liturgy in a strawhut
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in this mother-land of Madagascar, waiting for the day that will mark the end of our own life too. God willing, I hope to meet you there in your own land and in your heavenly dwelling place. Whatever this life deprived you of, may you receive it from God in the eternity as you deserve and according to His will. Fatigue makes my eyes close but it is memories that make them open. So many pictures and so many words! Words of gratitude, of bitterness, of relief. But also words of pain and endurance. But where is the ultimate criterion? The eyes are no longer closing from fatigue but from 30
agony. An agony that looks like that of Golgotha. And finally you end up thinking how many will follow you. How many are the ones who will hear the Word and wipe the sweat from your face. It is inevitable, though, not to think how many others will give you vinegar on a reed in this sacrificial crucifixion that is hiding underneath your blessed black robe. You turn your head to the icon of Our Lady and think. You think and pray to the “Full of Grace� Mother of our Lord asking her to cover with her protective shield this Missionary work which is still alive, despite the numerous difficulties,
adversities, temptations, problems , and which, I believe, will be living until the end of time. And Our Lady sweetly answers you: “My child, think of the people’s pain and the comfort you give them. And bear in mind that the ultimate criterion is nowhere but there, within the Peace and Love that surrounds you and with which you surround the others.” Then, you close your eyes within this Peace and Love having above all your conscience as your witness and supporter along this martyrical way to the Golgotha of the Mission. Indeed, there is no greater
witness in our hearts than our own conscience. When you look around you and you see this Joy, then you can close your eyes relieved for this night rendering a last supplication, an ultimate prayer before the Lord brings the curtain on today in order to give tomorrow a new dawn along with a new hope. Here are a few words straight from the heart, within which one can discover most, if not all, the mysteries of Faith. “Grant us Your Peace, O Good One. Save and protect your reasoning flock now and forever and unto the ages of ages.” Fr. Polycarpos of Hagia Anna
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TANZANIA
Made perfect in weakness Recently, the neophytes, who comprise the flock of the Holy Metropolis of Mwanza, like all Orthodox Christians in the world, celebrated the Resurrection of Christ. It is known to all believers that the Resurrection of Christ is an undeniable fact. It gives human life a new quality. It makes finite life eternal. This applies to all the people in the world and of all time. It is characteristic that Christ is the light of the world. Liturgically, our Church points it out: «the Light of Christ…”, while on Easter day we hear: «Come receive the light...» Here is the call of the converts. The Mission field is changing. A new man is created. These people are true children of the One True God: the children 32
of light. In the Light of Christ, the Mission world is released and starts worshiping the true God. It becomes a world of love and peace that is pursuing a spiritual path to higher creativity, where Christ as Lord and God guides everything. Unfortunately, in recent years this project in the Holy Metropolis of Mwanza, Tanzania, has been undermined for two reasons: 1) the economic crisis plaguing Greece and Cyprus, and 2) the poverty of our converted brothers. As a result, we have difficulty carrying out and extending the missionary effort. This means that we cannot afford to start new communities nor can we maintain and preserve the already existing ones. We would like to remind
you that the Metropolis of Mwanza has 200 parishes, 40 priests, two seminaries, 2 monasteries, 2 middle schools, 20 clinics, one hospital and 50,000 faithful, and all this within an area of 175,000 sq. miles. The two seminaries of the Holy Metropolis of Mwanza have been closed. The lower of the two, the one in Kasikizi, has been rendered non-operational for four years now. In this school, which offered a twoyear-study programme, the H. Metropolis could prepare catechists and clergy candidates. The higher one, located in Lucherere, was closed before it was even opened. It was my dream for the city-dwelling clerics. It was planned to offer a
three-year study programme. However, its construction stopped halfway. The building has never been completed. What can be done now? Without prospects for priestly calling and training our local Church is destined to fade and wither with each passing year. In the future we will no longer have any vineyard workers. We had a scholarship program for needy male and female students, which is no longer available. Each priest had two scholarships. Orphans and poor but intelligent children were given the chance to study. The program helped the scholarship holders all the way from middle school to university. We already
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have dozens of scientists who studied with the help of those grants. They conduce to the economic, social and cultural development of the country of Tanzania. If we want to move forward, we need the light of Christ as well as education. The light of the Resurrection of Christ gives us unity of faith and love. None of us lives for ourselves alone, but for one another, too. There is compassion. An Orthodox Christian does not hesitate to help the afflicted person. The Orthodox Missionary Fraternity puts this value into practice. It has stood by us with missionary consciousness for many years, especially now in this
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difficult period of economic crisis. Under the flag of the unity of faith and love, it overcomes all obstacles and difficulties in order to help. I cannot find the appropriate words to fully express my gratitude. However, from the depths of my soul, I would like to thank the Fraternity for its donations of 15,800 euro. A big thank you for your kind support! When faced with this reality, which varies from sad to desperate, we do not cease to have hope. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is a victory, and the risen Lord will send out compassionate brothers to help us. Christ is Risen! †Ieronymos of Mwanza
Bishop Ieronymos at an Orthodox kindergarten
RWANDA
Positive developments Dear friends of the Mission, Christ is Risen! Together with my paternal prayers, please, receive my sincere thanks for your loving offer, both for the specific projects and for the financial aid you provide us now and always! As I have told you, we have already bought two plots of land for the construction of St. John the Baptist and St. Luke churches and we have signed the contracts and took the property titles. Moreover, we achieved the official recognition of our Church in Rwanda, which was a necessary condition for our further action. Mrs. Despoina Azoridou and Chrysanthi Nicolaidou-Perissoglou from Thessaloniki visited us and toured our plots and rudimentary
church buildings, where we all enjoyed proto-Christian Divine Liturgies, sermons and communication. I consider you always as my family, like I felt then in my student years with the late president Papadimitrakopoulos; indeed, you also continue to consider me as your brother and partner. Your help is really valuable for the support of the missionary, educational and charitable work of our Diocese, while your interest for our brothers in remote Africa is also encouraging in personal terms. With thousands of blessings for you and your families, but also for all Orthodox people. †Innocentios of Burundi and Rwanda 35
A new farm in Uganda Dear brothers in Christ, Kristo Azukidde! Christ is Risen! We would like to extend our warm greetings to all of you from the remote village of Nawango in Uganda and inform you that we received the money sent by your Fraternity in order to buy cattle and a plot to start a small farm. We are also in the pleasant position to inform you that for a start, we were able to buy two cows and an acre of land; unfortunately, due to the current high cost of land and cows in Uganda, we could not afford to buy more. Wanting to use the money wisely, we also bought some feed for our cows for the first months, while one of them is pregnant and will soon give birth.
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We are really pleased with this small start, because we do hope to make this little farm grow in the future and become big enough to enable us to provide milk to our orphaned and abandoned by their families children, whom we try to take care of despite the numerous difficulties. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity and all those who pray for us and support us. Thank you for your love and for everything you have been doing for us. May God reward you by blessing you abundantly and by granting good health to you and your families. Please keep us in your prayers! Fr. Stephen Lunagula
Catecheses in Congo With the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Nikiforos of Central Africa, my last transition to the Congo only involved catechetical and spiritual activities, such as: Teaching in the Orthodox Theological School the course on «Basic Concepts of Architectural Morphology and Church Construction,” giving special lectures to the students of the Theological Faculty on Orthodox faith, catechizing the catechumens and those already baptized in Kinshasa and in the broader region, in the parishes of Santa Barbara, of Holy Archangels and of St. John Chrysostom Kasangulu, and last, catechizing the pupils of the elementary and secondary schools of these parishes and also of St. Mark’s parish. From the catechetical sessions
I realized that those people of God had a strong need and thirst for genuine Orthodox word. The Orthodox in the Congo and other African countries are confronted with the risk of heresies, magicians, sects and are lured by many temptations, therefore they are in need of spiritual support. The following examples are typical: a) The students of the Theological School had many questions as to the relationship between the spouses in terms of Orthodox theology, since the local customs and traditions shape attitudes and behavior contrary to the Orthodox Christian spirit, ethics and lifestyle, as prescribed in the Gospel. I tried to explain to them the intellectual content of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the unity and equality of the spouses. 37
b) In St. Barbara’s parish an Orthodox woman asked me: «Our parish does not offer us, the Orthodox, many material things while other confessions, like Catholics and Protestants, give us money, jobs etc. What can we do?” I replied: ‘We the Orthodox, are poor, but our Church offers us the gospel pure and unadulterated, the divine and human person of Jesus Christ undefiled and not fake; also, it offers us genuine spirituality, complete and perfect salvation. If you stay here, you will be saved; if you go there, you will end up in hell. «The answer satisfied the lady. c) An elderly male catechumen at the S. Church of the Holy Archangels, who was a Protestant, told me: «The Protestants make several weekly programs: one day they have
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preaching, another prayer and some other day they perform healings. You in our parish, what programs do you have? «. I replied: «Those are programs of fraud, deceit, evil. The Protestant pastors are not priests but deceivers, acting deviously like sorcerers. With our own Orthodox programs, we get to know the true Christ and ourselves, who we really are, what passions we are dominated by. We learn to think correctly, how to fight our passions and become sanctified. «I saw him satisfied. The next time he came, he was hot for Orthodoxy. This time, I was not only spiritually benefited, but I also felt deep joy, and I praised God for His blessings. Vaios T. Prantzos Regular member of the Fraternity
Africa: The richest continent with the poorest inhabitants After almost 3 years and 2 postponements, God allowed and I traveled again to Africa for the 6th time. In fact, I went to the Holy Metropolis of Irinoupolis in order to finish and put in the proper place in 4 churches the holy icons I had had in my house for two years. The 70 years of my age and a cold with severe back pain that did not mean to go away, added to my stress during my preparation. There were moments when I got angry with myself for this decision of mine, but the thought of the churches being finished and operating without holy images, was more than enough to convince me that it was worth the little trouble entailed for His glory.
After going through a lot of discomfort for two consecutive days and nights, I finally arrived at my destination. The temperature due to the altitude and the rainy season in the region was bearable. After a week of hard work I had the icons ready, and after the arrival of Metropolitan Demetrius, we set off on our trips to the most remote villages, all plagued by wretched poverty. From the capital city of the province we bought flip flops in various sizes, school supplies, biscuits, candies and 8 tons of corn, all loaded onto a truck that was following us, and along with Metropolitan Demetrius, Fr. Photios, the Orthodox Romanian nuns from Iasi Irene and Parthenia, Marco (an Italian 39
volunteer who had been baptized Orthodox) and Chris (a doctor from Patras), we set out to visit villages. The joy of the inhabitants was evident but so was their poverty. We received a traditional welcome, which included dancing with drums and bells on their bare feet known as “caribou: (welcome). On their faces you could see the gratitude they were feeling and the simplicity of their hearts. Like little children, they welcomed us with enthusiastic shouts, which are equivalent to our own applause, and as we were leaving, they were all singing the Asante Asante (a thanksgiving song). The Divine Liturgy and the sermon were followed by a fellowship meal consisting of local food, which had been prepared by the women in the courtyard. After that, we gave
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out flip flops and small bags with school supplies to the barefoot little African children and a large sack of corn of 10 kilos to the adults. One could see the poor mothers carrying a baby on their back and holding an older child by the hand, balancing the 10-kilo sack of corn on their head and walking several kilometers to reach their hut in order to prepare bukari (pie made with ground corn and baked on an iron plate). I will never forget that young mother who poured a few corn grains out of the bucket, and started picking them from the ground one by one as if they were precious pearls. There, I realized once again that in Africa human life has no value. Many children had extensive wounds on their feet, which, with-
Group feeding out proper medical care and treatment, would result in gangrene. Christos with his medical equipment did his best to relieve the pain, but whatever you do there, never seems to be enough. They are so many problems, and human assistance is so inadequate! In the market of Iringa we were approached by a beggar who stretched out his wounded hands to us, having all his fingers and the nostrils of the nose eaten away by leprosy, a disease which we only encounter in the New Testament or in encyclopedias. The images of this modern Job and of the children with the infected feet will accompany me for a long time and will test my conscience forever. What
am I supposed to say to the Judge on Judgment Day when He asks me what I have done for the least of these brothers? At night under the mosquito net, all this came back to my mind and I was looking for answers to explain the unexplainable. How is it possible that the richest continent on earth has the poorest inhabitants? How much has our soul hardened and we accept inequality and the exploitation of these people so easily and without the slightest remorse? For 10 years now, His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrius has been struggling with as much strength as he can get from our support to relieve our black brothers’ suffering 41
and spread the word of our Lord, giving them the hope of salvation. The missionary work done for our poor brothers is really important. The seed that falls slowly has begun to bear fruit. Almost every Sunday several baptisms are performed, which makes the little flock grow. There are churches, schools, clinics and orphanages built. Also, water wells and boreholes are drilled, which enables the poor Africans to have access to clean water, this precious gift of God, which was given to us in such abundance. It is really sad to see papists, protestants, millenarians and all sorts of religiously deceived people preach their error to the least of our brothers, who, while trying to escape the influence of the sorcerers, they fall into the nets of the heretics.
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We can all contribute out of our scarcity towards the alleviation of the hardships of these poor- like Lazarus- people and help spread the pure word of Orthodoxy, storing up treasures in Heaven, which are not deductible. It would be a great blessing to have the financial support required for the reconstruction of the 8th school in Tanzania, which the little children are so much longing for, so that they do not have to walk several kilometers daily to have access to education, something which we take for granted. Having spent three weeks loaded with intense experiences, I took the way back home, in the hope that the merciful Lord will forgive our indifference and will not classify us with the ones on His. Anastasios Sekeroglou Regular member of the Fraternity
Water: a Source of Life Every day, large areas of our planet have to deal with a major problem resulting from the unfavorable climate change, which is becoming even more extreme than one could possibly predict. The indigenous peoples, mainly in the sub-Saharan Africa, are experiencing tragic situations due to water scarcity. This is one of the leading causes of death for thousands of children. Also, millions of children have to walk long distances on a daily basis in order to carry some water to their mud-huts. Water shortage can cause cholera and multiple diseases, such as typhoid fever, trachoma and dysentery. Since 1963, the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity has been serving kindhearted donors. It funds a large number of projects, such as well-drilling and creating drinking water reservoirs, through the Orthodox Missions in countries like Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, DR Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. We appeal to your feelings of brotherly love and ask for your kind support to our effort. Let a well of life from the spring of our heart become our seal of love stamped upon our conscience. Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us: “I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink...” Μatt. 25:35 43
Columns of Gratitude Donations from 2/1/2016 to 4/30/2016
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For God loves a cheerful giver 44
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License
This work is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (goo.gl/Q9uqXL). On the pages noted below, similarly licensed works of the respective authors were used:
6 Sahra 16 Marcel Oosterwijk 32 Ann-Kristin Langer 36 Tim Ellis 39 Deni Williams 44 Mary Shattock
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