#17 • SEPTEMBER 2016
orthodox mission
QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ORTHODOX MISSIONARY FRATERNITY
orthodox mission
Founded in 1963 Honored by the Patriarchate of Alexandria #17 July-September 2016 (GR234) Editor: Nostis Psarras Ss. Missionaries Cyril and Methodius
In this Issue 04 07 09 13 15 16 19 23 26 32 36 39 43 45
Tonga Indonesia Congo (DRC) Tanzania - Dar Es Salaam Cameroon Ghana Uganda Malawi Kenya Sierra Leone Tanzania - Mwanza Congo Brazzaville Burundi & Rwanda Columns of Gratitude
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If I had... If I had a pencil and a notebook, I would go to school. Our small village has no school. I heard from the adults that in the nearest village, which is large, there is a school. The distance, as I was told, is about an hour’s brisk walk through the forest path. I am not afraid of the animals that live there because I see them as my friends, and if I came across one, we would make good company in the forest. I have nothing to go to this school though. You see, I live in our grass hut and take care of my two younger siblings in the yard. Every morning my father and mother go to find food for us all. At night I dream of having a pencil to write letters and numbers, but I haven’t got the notebook. Sometimes I dream that I have a notebook but I have no pencil to write letters and numbers. Every day when the sun is rising in the sky, I’m sad. I pray to have a pencil and a notebook to write down the history of my village, as my grandfather tells me, but also to paint beautiful parrots and my friends the animals. A child from Africa 3
The flag of the Kingdom of Tonga
PACIFIC ISLANDS
“Glory, honour, and peace to every man who does good” (Romans 2:10) The Divine Grace, “which always heals that which is weak, and completes that which is lacking”, helped -in just eleven years- in the construction of the following structures for the religious needs of our Mission in the Diocese of New Zealand: A. In the area of New Zealand: 1. The Sacred Church of St. Nicholas in the city of New Plymouth. 2. The S. Church of St. Demetrius in Hastings 3. The Monastery Church of the Great Archangels with the chapels of Sts. Basil and Amfilochios in Levin 4. The cemetery chapel of St. Lazarus of the Four Days in 4
Wellington B. In the Southeastern Pacific island states of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa: 1. The Sacred Church of St. Paraskevi with the Missionary Centre in Sabeto Nadi on the island of Viti Levu 2. The Monastery Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos with cells for the nuns in the village of Saweni, on the island of Viti Levu 3. The Holy Trinity Cathedral with the St. Tabitha Orphanage and the home for the unprotected women (Safe Home) in Saweni, on Viti Levu 4. The S. Church of Sts. Athanasios and Nicholas in Labasa, on the
island of Vanua Levu Total: 7 Churches and 3 chapels We are currently in Tonga, which is a kingdom half an hour from Fiji by plane, for the construction of the Sacred Church to the honor of the Great Martyr Saint George the Trophy-bearer. On a previous trip we bought a nice plot of land in the capital Nuku’alofa, just 80 meters from the sea and the main road, almost the same distance as was the Sacred Church of the Great Martyr at the area of Therapia in Constantinople from Bosphorus; unfortunately that church was demolished by the
rulers for the public road to pass, as they said, and which, in a way, we want to “resurrect”. The purchase of the land cost 50.000 TOP (the currency of Tonga), i.e. € 25,000. The construction cost is expected to reach the 300,000 TOP, i.e. € 150,000, since we also plan to build an on-site rectory for the parish priest and the missionaries, as well as a small chapel dedicated to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. We consider the construction of churches very important, since for us the Orthodox, along with the preaching of the holy Gospel, it is absolutely necessary to have
Tongan women joyfully accept Christ's icons
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the Divine Worship as well, particularly the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. The indigenous are simple, good-hearted people with a strong religious feeling and get more impressed by the solemnity of rituals of the Orthodox divine worship, rather than the chattering and shouting of the Christians of other denominations. We hope that our effort will bear fruit with the help of the Great Martyr George the Trophybearer and the blessings of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. For any contribution in
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aid of the commencement and completion of this sacred work, we would like to thank in advance the warm-hearted donors and hope that St. George will be their helper who will offer assistance to them and their families and bless the life and the works of their hands. Special thanks to the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. May God make us all worthy to work for the good and the benefit of our fellow men, the prevalence of His Kingdom and the glory of His Holy Name. Amen. May the Theotokos be with us. †Amphilochios of New Zealand
Building plan for the church of St. Great Martyr Georgethe Trophybearer in Tonga
INDONESIA
New Hopes Dear Friends of the Mission, I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Allow me to give you the latest updates from the Mission in Indonesia. In July this year the ClergyLaity Congress of our Church was held with an attendance of more than 300 faithful, among whom two guests from the United States. Our priests and deacons were present as well and participated in all the programs. We sincerely thank you for helping us with the implementation of such an important event. As you know, we are in need of priests for some cities in Indonesia so that our Mission can grow and develop. Such cities are Jakarta, Denpasar, Bali, Kupang in Timor
and Dili, the capital city of East Timor. I have the blessing of our Bishop Constantine to teach and prepare young people for the priesthood. But as you are well aware, our Metropolis is too small and poor to help them. Besides the 15 children who live in my house, another four young people came over, all of whom wish to become priests in the future and stay close to me so as to learn the Orthodox faith. These young men come from the four cities mentioned before. They will stay with me for two years in order to learn the basics about a priest’s duties so that they can take on priestly life. They are staying within the premises of our Theological School. I teach them and take care of them on a daily 7
basis. We also eat together and talk. They are from 28 to 32 years of age and I believe they are ready for the priest’s office as they are mature enough for such a vocation. As you also know, two years ago Father Athanasius, who served in Tarutung, reposed in the Lord. Six years ago I met a good lad who enrolled in our St. Paul’s School of Theology in Medan. He has already finished his studies. He comes from the village of Tarutung and is called Eleftherios Goklas Manalu. Two months ago he got married, and now he lives in the village with his wife. The good thing is that he wants to become a priest and stay in the village to serve our three parish communities, as Fr. Athanasios did. However, there is a major obstacle: we cannot afford to pay wages for the priestly service. This is why I intend to help him a little
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in cultivating his fields with coffee beans and vegetables crops, which will enable him to get by in the village. In addition, around there, we have three parish communities and for his transportation from one community to another, he will need a motorbike. A new motorbike here costs € 2,000, while for growing coffee and vegetable crops, another € 1,500 is needed. It would be a great blessing for us if you could help him because with his ordination, our three communities in Tarutung will be able to operate smoothly. Please pray for God’s divine favor in this matter. That was all our news, dear brothers. Our needs are many, but our ministry has to go forward. May God, the source of all good, bless you abundantly. Wishing in the Lord, Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu
Traditional Orthodox marriage in Sumatra
CONGO (DRC)
What’s going on? —Your Eminence, Your Eminence, it is urgent. The sun hadn’t yet risen when Fr. G, the monk who lives with me on the Bishopric premises, was knocking hard on my door. —What is going on? —We received a phone call from Fr. Alexander from Ilebo. His wife is not well; she has been taken to hospital in terrible pain. The doctor said she must have an operation immediately. In Ilebo, a small harbor town in the center of the Congo (DRC) which is accessible by barge from Kinshasa and the journey takes about a month, there is the parish of the Holy Apostles served by Fr. Alexander, a priest who has got
six children. The presbytera, his wife, is a simple, humble woman, benevolent and obedient to the Church. This priestly family does not come from Ilebo. However, the priest and his presbytera willingly obeyed their Bishop’s wish two years ago when they were asked to move from their village Sambo, which is about one week distance by pirogue in the Saguru River and settle down in Ilebo in order to oversee the construction of the Church of the Holy Apostles, which was realized thanks to the generous contribution of friends of the late Archimandrite Jacob Pantelides. It is really hard to live in a new 9
place with people from another tribe. Having to bring up six children, rent a home, carry water from far away every day, enroll the children in school and send them there, see around you helpless children dying while striving to raise your own. And yet, the priest and his wife willingly came to Ilebo defying everything in order to help in organizing the parish and in reconstructing the S. Church of the Holy Apostles. However, they had hardly settled there when the presbytera fell ill. With presbytera in terrible pain, Fr. Alexander had no other choice but to take her to the rudimentary hospital of Ilebo, where she was 10
examined immediately. Those moments were critical and full of distress. The doctor said her condition required urgent surgery but asked for 300 dollars in order to do the operation. Where was that money to be found though? Here there is neither free hospital care nor free medication, everything has to be paid. —Please, doctor, do the operation for my wife to be saved and my Bishop will send me the money required for it, begged the priest. —No, first the money and then the surgery, replied the doctor. —In tears the priest started begging the doctor: Please, think of my poor little children and don’t let my wife die.
—No, first the money. Fr. Alexander contacted us and explained the whole situation. In our turn, we contacted the hospital by phone. —It’s Saturday today, we will send you the money, please proceed with the surgery. Our anxiety was increasing as the time was passing. We struggled to find the money and send it. With God’s help we finally found it and sent it. Fr. Alexander received it, the surgery was done, his presbytera was saved and their little children stopped crying for their mother. People often come begging for help, «My child is sick and I don’t have the money to buy medicines or take it to hospital. The doctor told
me to do something quickly or else my child will die.» It is really very hard not to be able to help because you have not got the money to relieve them from their distress. For three months we were unable to pay the medical and hospital costs of our students from the Theological School and the priests’ families in one of the hospitals in the city of Kinshasa. Every now and then, there was a call from the hospital: —You owe us 1500 dollars, when are you going to pay your debt? —We will not admit your students, priests’ and employees’ children and families to our hospital unless you have paid us the money you 11
owe us first, they notified us from another hospital near our School of Theology. What are we supposed to answer when there is no money? «Do not worry, we will pay...» How frustrating this can be! Here people often get sick, so they have to pay the doctors, then, buy the prescribed medicines. Where can one find so much money? Diseases like malaria (the African malaria), typhoid fever, infections of blood, devastate the population, particularly children. The fact that they have to carry a lot of weight, especially during the transport of water in buckets or drums, creates hernias and often leads young people to surgery.
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There are often knocks on our door. «Our child will die unless it gets medication; please help me.» «Our child has died, help us bury it, we can’t afford to buy the coffin or cover the funeral expenses... ‘ Difficult times indeed whenever the phone rings, or there is a knock on your door. What will they say? What am I supposed to reply? It would be a great blessing for us if there were a fund that would cover the expenses for medical treatment and hospitalization. If only our brothers who are philanthropists could help! If there were money in this fund, we would be able to deal with such an important problem effectively. †Nikiforos of Kinshasa
TANZANIA - Dar Es Salaam
For I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink Dear brothers in Christ, By the grace of the Holy Triune God, with the blessing of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa Theodore and under the watchful care of our Most Reverend Metropolitan Demetrios of Irinoupolis, we continue our efforts to provide a solution to the water scarcity problem and give the precious drinking water to our brothers in Tanzania for their survival. You know from our previous communication through your reputable ÂŤOrthodox MissionÂť
magazine that for years we have been drilling water wells, from which our fellow human beings can draw clean water, in Iringa region. Borehole drilling is particularly necessary during periods of severe drought, which can last for several months. Dear readers, many of those who have access to clean water thanks to your precious support, are interested in trying the Living water, springing up into everlasting life. Do not forget that each borehole attracts many African sisters to meeting our Savior and 13
Redeemer Jesus Christ. If, as St. James the Apostle, son of Zebedee, says in his Catholic Epistle, for a single soul that someone will help to be saved, he will cover a multitude of sins, consider how many of our sins will be covered by helping thousands of people who are in spiritual ignorance to be saved. You, my brothers, the blessed children of the Church of Christ, applying ‘His words and His example� to your life, are not content to only care about fulfilling your own needs but you open your heart and your hands and embrace the brothers of Christ in Africa .
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We would like to inform you that on our last visits to the Mission centers in the regions of Ruaha and Iringa, in the interior of Tanzania, we witnessed a tragic reality: many of our fellow human beings die due to lack of clean potable water. We plead for the power of the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with devoutness and sympathy so that we can raise the amount of 3,000 euro required for a borehole, where thousands of our poor suffering brothers will be relieved. With love in Christ Archim. Photios Chatziantoniou Chancellor
Distribution of school backpacks
CAMEROON
An endless struggle Dear friends of the Mission, Rejoice in the Lord always! I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for the amount of 3,000 euro which you sent us for the smooth continuity of the operation of the Rural GP Surgeries (northeast of the Marwa region) of our Metropolis. We are deeply grateful to you and to all the charitable brothers who expressed their love through their contributions. I would also like to inform you about the problem which occurred regarding the construction of the Sacred Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, funded by a noble-hearted lady from Thessa-
loniki. After many adversities and postponements, which I have already told you about, we managed to buy a plot of land of 1,945 sq m in a developing area of YaoundÊ in the direction of the International Airport. In an area of 660 sq m we plan to build the S. Church for the lady donor, with provision for a small rectory and a room for the needs of the Parish. As for the rest of the plot, we consider constructing a building complex for a Theological Seminary. Thank you for your ongoing support. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you all abundantly. †Gregory of Cameroon 15
GHANA
Let all that you do be done in love Dear friends of the Mission, Rejoice in the Lord always! With this letter I would like to express my joy whenever I communicate with you and share the missionary efforts, anxieties and difficulties that we face in the field of Mission in Africa and especially in our Holy Metropolis in Ghana, West Africa. I would also like to express my personal gratitude for the constant and tireless support of your brotherhood in my missionary efforts from the first moment of my episcopal consecration and my appointment to the field of the African Mission, initially in Sudan and now in Ghana. The only feeling
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that emerges from the collaboration with you is that of brotherhood, which comprises part of your name as well. You are true brothers in Christ, with discreet courtesy and efficiency, which reveals not only your great experience but also the cultivation of your soul. In Ghana, there has admittedly been great missionary effort to spread Orthodoxy from all the missionaries as well as my predecessors for three decades now, which creates the imperative duty of continuing this work at two levels: the maintenance of the things acquired and the expansion of the Mission both geographically and substantially.
The unfortunate thing is that times have changed and the funding of this project is very limited now due to the global economic crisis and especially in Greece and Cyprus. There are still many benevolent people who want to help but unfortunately they cannot. This impedes the work at all levels and we have come to a point where we can hardly cover the operating expenses of our presence there, whether it be clergy wages or current accounts, moving around and the smooth operation of “St. Basil Orthodox Seminary� for clergy and catechists. Meanwhile, we have warily
reopened the Late area technical school, whose operation was discontinued two years ago. In addition, we need to buy a plot of land in the Ivory Coast for the building of the second churchwhich is a straw hut- at a distance of 40 km from the capital Abidjan, in Akouree village from where you I have photos of the church (the straw hut) attached. Allow me to remind you that in the missionary divisions, along with the church, we must always build a house for the parish priest because without his physical presence, the church gets deserted. These are briefly the scheduled
Church in an Ivorian grasshut
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and known things, but there are a lot more unexpected ones that sometimes arise all of a sudden and can upset any financial planning, getting it out of control. These things are many, such as unanticipated health issues of priests and their families, school fees, past and present monetary claims from staff members, exorbitant increases in the bills of two largely scarce commodities, water and electricity, and thefts occurring from time to time due to the great poverty and deprivation from which the whole population is suffering. Of course at the end of the letter I do not want to give this
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harsh picture of the reality here, because in the Mission there are many bright aspects that strengthen us spiritually and make us be more realistic and even more devoted to our cause. Here fits the word of the Gospel «for my strength is made perfect in weakness». With these last words I close my letter to you. May our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and always grant unto you all supplications that are unto salvation. “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you» (Col.1: 24) † Narcissus of Accra
UGANDA
The ecclesiastical morale in Uganda The Holy Metropolis of Kampala and All Uganda, a Metropolis of great historical importance for the Orthodox missionary activity of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, as the local Church which invited the Orthodox Mission to the sub-Saharan Africa, is by the grace of God dynamically advancing its mission in Uganda, a large project, spiritual as well as social. The Holy Metropolis has undertaken a very important pastoral work in a large country, three times the size of Greece. It is divided into nine prelatic regions, while its headquarters is situated in the capital Kampala. With the Lord’s help, the project continues despite the
problems that exist and those that so often occur. On May 30, 2016, the Metropolis held with great success an assembly of priests and Catechists, which was attended by approximately 200 delegates, 80 priests, catechists and some members of the various parish committees. The seminar dealt with discussions mainly focusing on the efforts of the H. Metropolis to accomplish self- subsistence, especially in these days of the economic crisis that is ravaging Greece, which has had a great impact on our missionary work, since the Mission in this place is considerably aided by the financial support of our brothers in 19
Christ from Greece. Priests and catechists exchanged various ideas regarding the creation of means and resources for the economic self-sufficiency of the local Church. At this point we will mention the inducement of His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah of Kampala to the priests to give great emphasis on preaching the faithful awareness of their responsibility to support the work of the Church and their priests, even with the little they have. His Eminence stressed the importance of introducing in the lives of the believers, organized at parish level, the issue of giving the one tenth of their income to the
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Church and reminded everyone of the word of the Bible: You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you .At the end of every third year you shall
HE Bishop Jonah of Uganda in the priest's seminar bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do (Deuteronomy 14:22-23, 26-29). Both priests and catechists regarded the advice of His Eminence as a stance which not only helps believers express their love to the Lord, offering something from the blessings we are given by Him, but can also support the work of the
Church. We hope that the implementation of such models in the local Church will greatly assist in the achievement of the self-sufficiency of our Holy Metropolis. The realization of the whole event by our Metropolis, however, was also accomplished thanks to the financial support from the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity; this is why we would like to express our deep gratitude for your love and assistance to the difficulties of the work of our Church. May the Lord continue to bless it abundantly. Fr. Paul Nzalambi Vicar General 21
We set our hope on your love Dear brothers, I greet you in the Lord. I am a graduate of the Theological Faculty of Athens University and with the blessings of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II, our beloved Chief Shepherd, I have received blessing to go back to my home country Uganda to help our Metropolitan Jonah as the Vicar General of the Holy Metropolis. In my country I encounter a lot of problems, but I believe in our Christ and never lose hope. His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah has appointed me as the head of the parish of Holy Apostles in Kyanuna region. In the parish there is the cognominal S. Church, which is
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operating smoothly. There is also a school under construction but it is still incomplete. The main problem I face here is that there is no rectory. We already have a plot of land where the small house for the priest could be built; however, we cannot afford to start its construction, whose cost is estimated at around 12,500 euro Therefore, I appeal to the warm and gentle heart of any charitable brother who can support us, to help us realize our dream. We thank the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity for their love and continued support for the projects that we perform. With love in Christ Fr .Paul Nzalambi Vicar General
MALAWI
Transfusions of Love My dear brothers, Rejoice in the Lord! Following the cordial meeting that we had at the offices of your Fraternity, I would like to thank you in writing for our missionary collaboration, which I find ideal. We always feel you by our side and draw strength from your continuous presence, which makes us overcome the difficulties that occur. We eagerly continue our humble struggle thanks to the support of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. Allow us to inform you about some of our needs. Years ago we established a translation center where we translate the Menaia and other church books from English into Chichewa, the local language. We appeal to your warm heart for
financial assistance regarding this purpose. We would also like to thank you for the water wells, which become the occasion for new parishes to spring up in different parts of the country. Please continue to give us this opportunity in as many places as possible. The cost of each well is â‚Ź 3,500. Finally, we thank you for the baptism program, which enables us to do some further missionary work, and for the humanitarian aid shipment. Your contribution and support to these programs is absolutely vital. Please continue to assist us in them. May God bless and sanctify you. Father Ermolaos from the Mission in Malawi 23
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Water pumping by Ghanain children
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KENYA
The Catechist’s Faith, the Little Boy and the Chameleon We happen to live in the center of God’s creation: a country full of forests, mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers. Naturally, it takes a long time for a little boy to cover the long distance from his house-or rather his mud hut- to the school where he goes - through difficult conditions and through that dense vegetation of the Kenyan nature. As that little boy was returning home from school, he got thirsty and stopped to drink some water from a running river. He knelt down in order to quench his thirst. At that place where he chose to stop though, the water was stagnant-it was neither running nor making the slightest 26
movement. It was a sunny day and the sunlight was strongly reflected in the water. On a branch of a nearby tree there was a chameleon sitting quietly, enjoying the varied beauty of nature. The moment the boy knelt down to drink some water, he saw the shadow of the chameleon on the water. The boy was so thirsty that he couldn’t wait any longer to quench his thirst. However, while he was drinking water, he saw the chameleon’s shadow being reflected there, so he thought that along with the water he had swallowed the little reptile as well. He ran to his house as fast as he could, being cer-
tain that the chameleon was in his stomach. Just the thought of such a thing made him sick both physically and mentally. From that moment on, whenever he tried to eat something, he could not help vomiting. He could not keep any kind of food in his stomach. Even after several months had gone by, the boy was still suffering from the idea that he had swallowed a chameleon, which, of course, was wrong. Naturally, he was constantly sick. The only living member of his family, his mother, told everyone about her little son’s suffering seeking help and solutions, but to no avail. One day the catechist of the region was shocked to hear about the sad and painful situation of the mother but mainly of the boy, since
the latter could not eat anything. The catechist had deep faith in God. He knew that He was the only one that could provide a solution. He prayed fervently and the next day he devised a plan. He arranged to be at the boy’s house at dinnertime. Since the visit was scheduled, the child’s mother had prepared the food and was expecting him. As the catechist recounts, they both prayed to God for wisdom and inspiration. The child did not suspect anything and thought that the catechist was on his standard catechetical tour. While they were eating, he saw the terrible thing happen. The poor little boy would vomit everything he put in his mouth. Inside his pocket the catechist had a chameleon similar to the one the boy thought he had swallowed. As soon as the boy
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vomited, the catechist rapidly took out the chameleon from his pocket and dropped it into the vomited food without being seen. Immediately he took the chameleon out of the boy’s plate and told him in a serious tone of voice, «Is this the chameleon that you swallowed?» And the little boy, relieved, answered joyfully, “Yes, it is!” What followed cannot be adequately described with words. The boy’s mother breathed a sigh of relief, expressing her satisfaction this way. From then on the boy started eating normally, continuing his life without fear or suspicions. This unusual event, an actual event, which comes out of the daily life of our African brothers, gave the catechist the chance to teach us a great preaching lesson. This story shows clearly the 28
power of strong faith in God. The catechist had developed a strong faith himself, and through his prayer he called forth the divine intervention, which put an end to the little boy’s misery. The role of the catechist was of decisive significance because he was the connecting link between the boy and God. He believed that the benevolent Father would not allow an innocent child to be suffering any longer. Also, in the child’s behavior one can see that if we cannot think clearly, we panic and we get sick and there is no way to fight this unless we turn to God and establish deep roots of faith. With God’s help, we can do everything. We should never forget that «What is impossible with man is possible with God.» † Makarios of Kenya
18-Year-Old Epileptic Says Thanks At the time of my writing these lines, amid the countless debts owed by the Metropolis of Kenya, are those for medical examinations, surgeries, medications and others in a hospital in Nairobi. Today the debt has reached the amount of â‚Ź 150.000! The number is certainly astronomical. However, it was thanks to this money that lives were saved, sad people were relieved, young children and old people smiled, hope filled the hearts of so many souls... I have already recorded a number of incidents in our schools and our orphanages, which, most of the times, look like a fairy tale. Today I am going to deal with the latest example of a lad, a young man who has remained cognitively like a ten- year- old child although he is turning eighteen! He came to live next to us ten years ago in order to attend kindergarten. The story of his life after he answered the relevant questions about the course of his family and himself shocked everyone. Like most of the children here, he did not know his father. Until the age of ten, he used to sit on the roadside and sell vegetables with his mother in order to secure
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a crust of bread every day and not die of hunger. Naturally, the child fell behind in school. Fortunately, thanks to the schools of our metropolis the child was able not only to study, but also to ensure a free daily meal. All these years the child experienced various health problems, which we faced as well as we could. Ten years later, he wanted to contact the Bishop, who baptized him when he was still in kindergarten, writing his feelings on a piece of paper. He wrote characteristically: In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Your Eminence, I am at a loss for the right words, but also I do not know how to repay you for all the good things you did for me in my life. Besides being my guardian angel, you have been like a parent to me. The reason why I am saying this is that my mother could never have 30
afforded to take me to hospital. This made me appreciate you even more. You did everything in your power to ensure that whenever I was sick, you provided me with medication and everything that was necessary so that I could get well. I cannot repay you for everything you did for me. I can only say “thank you�. May God reward you for all the good things
you have been doing for me. Now I am in the eighth grade and this is my last year at St. Clement’s primary school. I do not know how and from where I will be supplied with my medication after leaving school but I have faith in you, Your Eminence. Your Eminence, I would like to pay you my deepest respects for the rest of my life. Whatever I do,
wherever I go, I will pray for you. I would also like to say “thank you” for providing me with free education from kindergarten until now, for covering all my needs in education. May God be with you and reward you for the good things that you do. With love in the Lord, Your son Felix Eleftherios Okeno, the child with epilepsy
I think the content of this letter reveals the innocence of this young man, who managed through the pain and discomfort of his illness to keep inner peace and serenity and regain strength and hope. This proves beyond doubt that pain makes man perfect through the cry of the soul. † Makarios of Kenya
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SIERRA LEONE
“I was hungry and you gave me to eat” Christ and the Poor The concern for the poor is undoubtedly one of the chief tenets in the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is found repeatedly in the Gospel wirings. Indeed it is so central to His proclamation that He indentifies Himself in total solidarity with those who are poor, hungry, socially and physically disadvantaged. In a striking statement in the Gospel of St. Matthew, He thanks those who feed the hungry in personal terms: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink” (25.35). This 32
form of a complete identification of Christ with the poor is unique among the world’s various religions. It is therefore logical to conclude that we who claim to follow Christ have a non-negotiable obligation to help the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger – wherever they may be found! The Orthodox Mission in Sierra Leone and the Hungry The Orthodox Mission in Sierra Leone take Christ’s above principle very seriously. We are located in one of the poorest nations on this planet, recovering from a long and
barbaric civil war, a deadly Ebola outbreak and catastrophic floods. Therefore the obligation to feed the hungry becomes an imperative tenet of our Mission’s practical theology (“orthopraxia”). Orthodox Missionary Fraternity Towards the accomplishment of this Orthopraxia, we are very grateful to our friends in Greece especially the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. Every year for the past several we have receive at least one container of food and other supplies. Indeed during the Ebola crisis we would receive at least two
containers. In particular we are grateful for the generous supply of rice and oil. Rice constitutes the basic staple diet of the people of Sierra Leone. This indispensable supply forms part of our Mission’s various feeding programmes. School Feeding Programme On the fringes of Freetown (the capital city), we have established a compound with comprehensive facilities – a large Church of the Resurrection of Christ and St. Moses the Ethiopian (funded by the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity), a nursery school, a primary school, a
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medical clinic, a large dining hall, housing for a community of disabled people, two houses for priests and guest houses for staff workers and overseas missionary visitors. Our schools on this compound have 485 pupils and twelve teachers. Every school day we offer them a free hot meal. In addition we also feed our entire staff at the compound. That means every work day we feed over 500 people a free cooked hot meal. It is important to remember that many of the children attending our school come from
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an extreme poverty background. Indeed some are Ebola orphans. Before this feeding programme was initiated last year many of our pupils would come to school ion an empty stomach and could hardly concentrate in class. And would have even struggled to obtain a hot meal on a guaranteed daily basis. This situation has now changed. We here in Sierra Leone are very grateful to your benevolent organization for its wonderful contribution of food – especially rice - in feeding the hungry children of Waterloo.
Fr. Themistocles distributes aid provided by our Fraternity
Sunday Feeding Programmes Every Sunday after the church service we offer a free hot meal to all members of the congregation both in our Cathedral of St. Eleftherios and St. George in Freetown and in our Church in Waterloo. We also hand out food supplies (especially rice, oil and sugar) to those most in need including the members of our disabled community in Waterloo. The news has gone out among the poor in Freetown and in Waterloo that our church offers free hot meals on Sundays, does not ask for any offerings, nor tithe anyone. That is quite unique in this country. Consequently the numbers are growing
every week. Thank You I wish to thank your noble organization, all the volunteers who work hard to procure the supplies, assemble the container and shipping all this food across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for the consumption of the poor of Sierra Leone. Thank you for acting as our missionary partners in feeding the hungry and therefore in feeding Christ Himself. May God bless you! Fr. Themistocles Adamopoulos Freetown, Sierra Leone 35
TANZANIA - Mwanza
The Apostolic Diamonds in the Country of Gemstones One of the most significant and difficult achievements of missionary activity is the translation and conveyance of the semantic meanings not only of the sacred texts, but also of the daily prayer practice of the Church into a language which is clear and understood by the newly evangelized peoples or by those who are constantly growing in Christian awareness. The language was and still is the vehicle through which the knowledge, faith and love for the Creator and Redeemer God can be planted within the human heart, which was called by the Holy Spirit to become a ÂŤnew creation.Âť It is standard practice of the 36
Orthodox Apostolic Church to address those peoples who have not yet met Christ and invite them into the Living and salvaging faith, hiring and utilizing the word shapes of their language, and generally, their linguistic background. In doing so the Church is confronted with numerous challenges, dilemmas and, many times, deadlocks. The majority of the languages are poor, descriptive, without variety in expression and unable to convey semantic richness and depth; and it is these languages that are invited to become carriers of the message of salvation and deification in Jesus Christ. It is mainly there that the strug-
gle and anxiety of every missionary venture can be identified, that is to say, how the insurmountable wealth of the ecclesiastical experience can be acquired and become moral principles and life habit in a distant country where the children of God live differently, without negating or betraying the essential features of this experience. Moreover, if we focus our attention on the space time of the African continent, we will realize with keen concern that along with the dizziness caused by the medley of languages, which are, anyway, tragically poor in terms of expression, another impasse coexists: the relationship of the African people with the book, any kind of book, which
ranges from superficial to non-existent. Therefore, how can the faithful and baptized Christian in Africa be initiated into the great mysteries of the Divine Revelation when there are no books in his mother tongue, or even if there are some, he does not read any? If the only opportunity for him to get the book in his hands and read from it is during the divine worship, it is exactly then that the Church should help him do it. By offering him the sacred texts and readings translated into a language he understands, the Church supports and motivates him to enter the sphere of God’s will. Countries with large natural wealth but at the same time ex-
A new drilling project by our Fraternity
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tremely poor; not in the way the world views poverty, but in terms of ontology and spirituality. Places with hidden «treasures» in their guts, but impoverished in truth and awareness. There the Church is called to embrace them and being equipped with respect, patience and perseverance, to create favorable sowing conditions of her own precious and priceless treasure in the barren and uncultivated vast continent, to fertilize it and make it able to produce fruit for eternity. Here comes, once again, the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity from Thessaloniki in order to give presence and actively support the work of the deacons of the Gospel,
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financing and making reality an impossible dream: the «Masomo ya mitume”. That is the edition of the Apostles’ readings for each day of the ecclesiastical year in the Tanzanian language- Swahili-, according to the order of the Orthodox liturgical tradition. This way, every day a new Apostolic Diamond will enrich the heart and spirit of those living in the land of diamonds. Every day, a spiritual seed will fall on earth, until, one day, the Holy Spirit will transform it into a large tree with strong branches, lush foliage and succulent fruit, which will provide shade, rest and food for many “who labor and are heavy laden». Amen. † Ieronymos of Mwanza
HE Bishop Ieronymos of Mwanza giving out stationery
CONGO BRAZZAVILLE
Who is so great a God as our God? Before the beginning of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, that is to say, the integration of the new Church member into Her bosom, comes the service of catechesis with the reading of exorcisms, the renunciation and condemnation of Satan from the catechumen and the acceptance and confession of our Lord Jesus Christ as the One and Only God. Even from the early Christian years, as we can see in texts of the Holy Fathers, the catechumen had to leave behind his old erratic religion and renounce Satan consciously so that he could proceed to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism in Spirit and Truth.
Personally speaking, I had to come to the African equator, a place not purely Christian, in order to see things “in practice�. I had to go to places which either had never heard of Christ before, or if they had, they had heard, seen and lived everything through the prism of heresies and the schism. Now that the Church bells ring the Orthodox way, they give a warm and joyful welcome to the blessed Gospel seeds in this land, announcing the way that leads to Unity, the way that leads to the Truth of the One, Holy and Undivided Trinity. Those who are out of Church belong to themselves. Those who 39
are conscious members of Hers, belong to Christ. The Fathers say that the one who is in despair is under the power of Satan. So is the person who denies Christ and is not in communion with Him and His Holy Church except with himself. Here in Africa, those who cooperate with Satan through the relevant occult rituals, always move around their “ego”, always have speculations and ulterior motives, they only care about their own interest and always seek something for themselves whether that be wealth, social status or prestige, or whether they are driven by envy, jealousy or hatred for the other, his life or his progress. It is not accidental the fact that the sorcerers enjoy a lot of recognition in such societies, a recognition 40
which has its roots in the inmost fear for the “powerful spirit” which only inflicts harm, even to those who are empowered to invoke it and are in virtual communion with it! Our brothers who come to Holy Baptism more or less know all these things that I mentioned before. They are well aware of the need for supremacy, the meaning of isolation or stepping on one another, or even cooperating with the devil. And this is so because a number of them, if not the majority, have had this sort of experiences without ever finding joy, hope or serenity in their life, as they themselves admit. Therefore, the renunciation of Satan before Baptism becomes a decisive act for the life of the African catechumen which will be sealed in Christ with
the Grace of the Most Holy Spirit during the baptismal service. As workers of the Lord who conduct the sacred mystery of Baptism in Africa, each one of us has had experiences to remember of demons trembling at the sign of the Cross! All of us have had experiences of newly-illumined brothers, who at the sight of the sanctified water of Baptism changed their behavior and were turned into wild animals only to calm down later on when immersing into the same sanctified water that a while ago made the demons tremble with fear. I had such an experience myself a short time ago with a young woman who had had a smiling face until the part of catechesis was over but who started feeling
uncomfortable from then on. And this turned into body convulsions, inarticulate screams and a fall to the ground at the sight of the sanctified water, before the triple immersion. Invoking wholeheartedly our Benevolent God and begging for His mercy and power, I insisted on the poor woman’s entering the holy baptistery.” The servant of God … is baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. And it was then that the convulsions stopped and serenity returned to her face! When at the end of the holy mystery I asked that educated noblewoman to testify before everyone present what she had experienced a few minutes before, she boldly said that she had felt losing herself into 41
utter darkness before immersing into the holy water, whereas when immersed into it, she felt “redemption from invisible ties”, as she mentioned word for word. Satan rests where Christ is forgotten, where love is left aside. The societies that are ministered to by humble missionary laborers of the Gospel of Christ have had thousands of victims over the centuries, such as victims of witchcraft and sorcery, superstition, slavery, ignorance, illiteracy, war, the western civilization…In every case the victims suffered from those powers which are against anything God-driven, blessed or creative, anything that promotes spiritual development. And it is indeed a miracle of the Triune God the
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sowing of the Word in a land barren of love over the centuries, a true love, which springs from the empty Holy Sepulcher of the Resurrected Jesus. Lifting up my eyes to the Crucifix, the One who stretched out His holy arms on the Tree of Life and joined the unreconciled things of this world bringing unity, I pray that He leads our brothers of this ecclesiastical province into the common doxology of our Church “with one mouth and one heart”, so that joined in one faith and in true love with all the Orthodox Christians all over the world, they magnify His Most Holy Name and live within the everlasting Light of His Grace. † Panteleimon of Brazzaville and Gabon
BURUNDI & RWANDA
Keeping the light burning Dear friends of the Mission, Once again I greet you in the name of the Triune God. Lovingly I ask you to accept my humble thanks for your support to the missionary work that I was entrusted with by our beloved spiritual father, the Pope and Patriarch Theodore II. Our mission and vision is to spread the light of Orthodoxy in Burundi and Rwanda, where it seems to have a bright future. The love, hospitality and education I received from you, Greek people, while I studied there, these are the things I strive to give. Our main activity is the dissemination of the Orthodox faith that is the only true faith.
There are many challenges, since we are obliged, required and requested to respond to the thirsty souls in the various sectors of society. Education is the key to deal with and tackle problems, such as poverty and ignorance. In one place, we have the only primary school in the region with over 600 children, who walk more than 5 kilometers daily, while most of them totally lack basic equipment, such as pencils, pens and copybooks, although the education we offer to them is free, because their parents are unable to provide for them and because most children are orphans. Occasionally we try to give them some lunch, 43
because most of them come very early in the morning without having eaten breakfast, or even without having had food the night before. In every class we have 100 pupils. At times we have to cut a pencil in three pieces, so that every students has something to write with. The government asked us to build a secondary school in this region, because for these students, when they get out of the primary, it means the end of their studies; there is no middle school in that place. We laid the foundation stone for the new school, which will be
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dedicated to Saint Paisios the newly canonized saint. Our prayer is to be able to complete the school, because the education of the young people is the future for our Church and the whole country. Although we have baptized many people, we continue to worship and have our services under the trees, in tents, in rented houses and in the countryside. Please, keep us in your incessant prayers, so that we’ll be able to keep the candle of Orthodoxy burning. †Innocentios of Burundi and Rwanda
School lunch in Buramata
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This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license (goo.gl/Q9uqXL). Similarly licensed works of the resoective holders were used in the following pages
4 Nicholas Raymond 7 Ratha Grimes 9 Julien Harneis 15 Camer 16 Josephine Cross 19 RĂźdiger Stehn 27 Kathryn Bullock 46 Tim Hipps
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