Orthodox Mission #19

19 • MARCH 2017

ORTHODOX MISSION QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ORTHODOX MISSIONARY FRATERNITY

orthodox mission

Founded in 1963 Honored by the Patriarchate of Alexandria #19 January-March 2017 Editor: Nostis Psarras Ss. Missionaries Cyril and Methodius

IN THIS ISSUE 04 2017 Report 08 Fiji 11 Indonesia 13 Ghana 15 Kenya 18 Mwanza 20 Congo (DRC) - Kinshasa 22 Malawi 26 Congo (DRC) - Katanga 27 Tanzania - Arusha 28 Congo Brazzaville 31 Christmas in Tulear 34 One "thank you" is not enough 36 Metropolis of Heroes 38 Christmas in Kolkata 41 Response to tearful thanks 43 Sophia Tentzidou 44 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 Constantinos Caracolis Member Panagiotis Anastasiades Member

Nicoleta Modiotou

Member

Holy Pascha 2017 Christ is Risen • Χριστός Ανέστη • Христос воскрес! ¡Cristo ha resucitado! • Le Christ est ressuscité! • Kristo Amefufukka!

Kristus telah bangkit! • Na Karisito tucake tale! • A Cristo ix pitz vi xi!

Annual Report 2016 Dear friends, donors, supporters and subscribers of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, have a good year!

The year 2016 was another blessed year for Foreign Mission.

Once more the Fraternity Board acted with fear of God and awareness of its great responsibility for the management of our historic Fraternity so that its goals can be realized. These are; 1. The moral and material support to the Greek Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox foreign mission worldwide.

2. The promotion of the Greek Orthodox culture and 3. The provision of assistance to poor regions of the world in order to improve their economic, spiritual, cultural, educational and sanitary condition.

Orthodox Foreign Mission gave the Fraternity Funds the amount of € 551,000. These proceeds came from donations.

The second major source of income comes from collecting rents amounted to € 58,000. To this amount another € 27,500 was added, coming from the sale of 50% of the legacy left to our Fraternity by the late Anna Vasilantonaki.

If to the above amounts we add the cash balance of € 252,000 of the past year (31.12.2015) and another € 36,000 in rental income from previous years, we have the total revenue of € 925,000, versus € 954,000 last year, an underspend of just a minus 3%.

PAYMENTS YEAR 2016 Our missionaries were sent remittances amounting to 453,000 euro compared to 388,000 in the REVENUES YEAR 2016 Despite the continuing poverty year 2015, despite the ongoing capiand uncertainty of the country for tal export ban (capital controls). We getting out of the tunnel of eco- submit requests for exemption from nomic hardship, your love for the that prohibition always accompa-

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nied by the relevant decisions of the Board, citing humanitarian reasons, and after a thorough review by the relevant subcommittee of the Bank of Greece, our requests are approved after 10 to 15 days.

Respectively we shipped six containers of € 135,000 worth of humanitarian aid, mainly food, religious items, clothing, footwear, school supplies, and many others, in support of the charitable work of the Orthodox Church, especially in Africa. This aid is always preceded by a request to the Fraternity on the part of the missionaries regarding their needs, which should not be produced in that country or are more expensive than the corresponding Greek ones. These containers were loaded from our warehouse in Filiro, Thessaloniki, where all the items that are purchased or donated are collected, sorted, recorded, sealed by me and depart for the port to be loaded onto the ship that will carry them to their destination countries. We thank our ware-

house volunteers for their painstaking efforts, which they always make with a happy mood after having prayed to the Holy Triune God. The total amount of dispatched remittances and social assistance benefits reached € 596,000 versus € 560,000 in 2015, an increase of 6.5%. It should be taken into account the fact that, as I mentioned before, the donations made were € 551,000 but we managed to send another € 45,000 despite ongoing difficulties and adversity. The cash account from previous years can be seen on the page after next.

The final total 2016 payments amounted to € 739,000. If we add the remaining€ 186,000 from bank accounts on 31/12/2016, we have the Gross Total Credit of € 925,400.25, which agrees perfectly with the Gross Total Charge of € 925,400.25.

This means a perfectly balanced management for the accounting period of the year 2016. All proceeds and expenditure are covered in full evidence, receipts that you receive,

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invoices and payment receipts.

OTHER ACTIVITIES We continued to promote the work of the Fraternity through the Internet in order to raise people’s awareness on philanthropy matters and attract more potential supporters. Very important was the contribution of the “Orthodox Missionary Fraternity» quarterly magazine published in 7,500 issues during the past year. We would like to thank in particular our brother and Vice President Nostis Psarras, who is in charge of this magazine, for his diligent work.

Our church attendance at the church-catacomb of St. John the Forerunner every 2nd Sunday fills our souls with exultation and spiritual joy. We would particularly like to thank the priest and physician Fr. Anthony for his contribution to the salvation of our souls through the Sacred Services and our partaking of the precious Holy Gifts.

Property: We had the 2nd apartment on the 1st floor renovated, and since 01.01.2017 it

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has already been let to a serious commercial enterprise for the amount of EUR 300 per month.

We also continued our regular gatherings on the second Sunday of each month, when we had the honor to host as distinguished speakers their Eminences Metropolitan Makarios of Nairobi, Jonah of Uganda, Alexander of Nigeria, Ieronymos of Mwanza, Dimitrios of Irinoupolis, Gregory of Cameroon, Nikiforos of Kinshasa, and His Grace Bishop Innocentios of Burundi and Rwanda.

None of this, however, would have been possible without the continued support and practical assistance of 1,400 donors from 22 countries to the work of the Orthodox Overseas Mission, which our Fraternity has been ministering to for 54 years. The Board wishes you health, family peace and every blessing. May the year 2017 be a year of bigger achievements in the field of Mission, to the glory of the Holy Name of God. Demetrios Sotirkos President

Ταμειακός Απολογισμός 2016 I. CREDITS Α.

CASH AT THE BEGINNING OF FISCAL YEAR 2015

Β.

FISCAL YEAR REVENUES SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DONATIONS RENTS INTEREST ON DEPOSITS EXTRAORDINARY AND NON-OPERATING INCOME INCOME FROM INHERITANCE

Γ.

PREVIOUS YEARS REVENUES

Δ.

FOLLOWING YEARS REVENUES (ADVANCE PAYMENTS)

TOTAL REVENUES IN 2015

251.627,36 € 637,486,89 551.785,03 €

57.792,00 €

409,84 €

0,02 €

27.500,00 € 35.606,00 €

680,00 €

673.772,89 €

TOTAL CREDITS

925.400,25 €

II. DEBITS Α.

FISCAL YEAR EXPENSES STAFF WAGES AND COSTS OTHER WAGES AND COSTS OTHER SERVICES TAXES AND FEES VARIOUS EXPENSES PR-Marketing Honorary distinctions and hospitality expenses Organization of conferences, meetings and events Missionary Expenses

733.657,33 €

53.428,23 €

3.301,30 €

37.148,96 € 15.640,32 €

618.979,42 €

1.975,34 € 2.276,54 € 1.800,74 €

596.140,41 €

Cash transfers to missionary divisions Charitable allowances In kind aid to missionary divisions Stationery & Magazine Publication Immediate consumption materials Declaration expenses Utility expenses Other general expenses BANKING EXPENSES EXTRAORDINARY AND NON-OPERATING EXPENSES

452.912,00 €

Β.

FISCAL YEAR PURCHASES

Γ.

PREVIOUS YEARS EXPENSES TOTAL EXPENSES IN 2015

2.425,23 €

E.

CASH AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2014

8.367,38 €

134.861,03 €

12.671,86 €

495,43 €

88,92 €

2.982,69 €

547,49 €

3.524,99 € 1.634,11 €

3.610,12 € 739.692,68 €

TOTAL DEBITS

185.707,57 €

925.400,25 € Σελίδα 1 από 1

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FIJI ISLANDS

The Good Shepherd

Father Barnabas, former Hindu by the name Shree Nair Chrisna, is the vigorous, tireless priest of the non-existent until a few years ago and now bustling with life parish community of Sts. Athanasius and Nicholas in Labasa of Vanua Levu here in Fiji. Full of strength and vigor, full of enthusiasm and fervent zeal for the prosperity and expansion of the sole parish community on the second largest island of Fiji.

New Year’s Eve today and he welcomed us with great joy at the airport so that we could meet on such a great day at his parish, near his flock, mainly consisting of former compatriot Hindus.

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All of them, young and old, with joyous faces, welcome to their small church their Spiritual Shepherd with his entourage, who mainly came to give, but they also take pleasure in the presence of their spiritual children. Sacristan Nikitas cannot get enough of ringing the sweet bell of the Holy Hierarchs Nicholas and Athanasius’ church, a kind donation of a family from our Macedonia, who wish to remain anonymous. Fr. Barnabas’ relationship with the glorious homeland of Alexander the Great is double since Thessaloniki is the place where he was ordained into priesthood and the base of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity,

from which he has occasionally received spiritual and material assistance.

Present at our welcome are also other Orthodox Christian brothers who have come from the Savu- Savu region, two hours distance by bus, so that we can celebrate the New Year all together.

The end of the previous year and the beginning of the new one are marked with the christening of fifteen young and older catechumens, followed by the wedding of three couples, all taking place within the churchyard.

Rich are the New Year’s

presents. The people’s faces are glowing with joy, especially Fr. Barnabas’, who cannot get enough of repeating «The Servant of God is baptized « and “A robe of light Thou hast bestowed on me, O Thou that art arrayed with light as a garment ...”And then follow the weddings “O Lord, our God, crown them with glory and honor.”

Indeed! Is there any greater honor and glory than the one offered by the Holy Church through her sacred Mysteries?

Father Barnabas, you were found by Christ down there in SavuSavu, an unimportant

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employee, unknown to many people, and you were raised and honored through the Sacred Mysteries of Baptism, Confirmation and Priesthood.

These make up the source of your strength and enthusiasm, which is slowly transforming Vanua Levu into a spiritual oasis and a point of reference. May your

parishioners and family cherish you.

May Vanua Levu, Fiji and our Holy Metropolis rejoice in you. May our Holy Orthodoxy be proud of you.

May the New Year 2017 be blessed and may during this year God grant His abundant blessings to Fr. Barnaba’s parish, Fiji and our homeland Greece. Amen. †Amphilochios of New Zealand

Vanua Levu - Fiji

This island is the second largest of Fiji. It covers an area of 5,587 square kilometers and hosts a population of about 150 thousand inhabitants.

This fantastic island is embraced by coral reefs. Nature here goes beyond human imagination ... The main product is sugar, sourced from top quality sugar-cane . The capital city is Labasa and the second largest town is Savusavu, where there are hot springs by the sea. The island is crossed by the International Date Line (IDL). The highest altitude is 1,111 meters and belongs to a mountain surrounded by luxuriant vegetation.

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INDONESIA

Spiritual renewal Dear Friends of the Mission, rejoice in the Lord!

With the help of God we are doing well. I hope you are all doing well too, always with His protection.

I would like to mention some things from our Orthodox Mission here in Sumatra, Indonesia.

From 23 to 26th of December, 2016, I went to our parish community of the Lord’s Resurrection in Siparbue village. I stayed there to give them some counseling, since their priest Fr. Athanasios fell asleep in Christ two years ago. Until now no other priest has gone there.

So, in order to give the chance to the parishioners of the Tarutung province to go to church, another priest from the city of Medan needs to go down to their village, and

that is either Fr. Theodosius or me.

Those days that we conducted some celebrations (Holy Liturgy, Baptism and Christmas services), they rejoiced our stay, because we were close to them. We pray to the Most Merciful God to send them a priest.

Things here in Indonesia are not good, because there has been an upsurge of religious fanaticism on the part of bigoted Muslims, who want to apply sharia throughout Indonesia. Most people do not want them, because here we have many races, tribes and religions. These Muslims have made a lot of attacks, burned churches and dropped bombs on Christian property. If Christians want to claim a leadership position, they are hindered by them in any possible way. O brothers, 11

please pray that the Almighty God guards and protects us.

We received your donation of 7,000 € and we thank you very much for your love and kindness. In January we began the construction of the priest’s house. We have also scheduled the baptisms and paid all of Stephen’s fees for University.

This year, God willing, he will finish his studies and will start looking for a job to help his little orphaned brothers, those that Fr. Athanasios has left behind.

My beloved brothers, another son of Stephen’s father, Cosmas, is keen to become an iconographer.

His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia has invited him there in order to become an iconographer and a theologian too. All the costs

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in Australia will be covered by the Archdiocese, but in order to go there, he needs to learn the language and pass the required exams. As you know, we priests here in Indonesia do not get any salaries. Consequently, I cannot afford to send Cosmas to learn the language, which is why I resort to your love. In the future we will need an indigenous iconographer for our Mission here, which is why Cosmas is valuable to us. I appeal to your kind heart to help him learn the language. The cost will reach the amount of 3,000 euro.

This is all our news, my brothers. May the Most Merciful God bless you with His abundant goods in the new year 2017.

Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu

HE Metropolitan Constantinos at an Orthodox school

GHANA

A Human Story Filled with God One Sunday morning in August, we were expecting in our Mission Center a priest from Sierra Leone, who had brought to Ghana his wife (presbytera) for health reasons. She was suffering from the incurable disease in different parts of her body. That morning Father Alexander came alone because his presbytera was in hospital. That clergyman was of short stature and had just been ordained. As he walked, his feet entangled in his robes but his step on the ground seemed light and the humility of his spirit was visible.

Several days went by and after a while, they came and stayed with us at the Mission Center of Accra.

Unfortunately, besides a certain

disability, his presbytera also had her right arm amputated due to cancer.

I watched them in their daily living with us. I noticed Father Alexander, every other day, washing his own clothes and those of presbytera’s in the tub himself, and her sitting next to him on a concrete block and speaking to him, keeping him company this way so as not to leave him alone. As soon as he finished washing, he carried the clothes to hang them at the other side of the Mission Center. She would follow him with slow steps while he was hanging up the clothes to dry. Her leaning on the crutch made it impossible for her to give her husband a helping hand, but in fact, she helped him with her 13

attitude. In the afternoon, they would sit side by side under the big tree of the Mission Center and he would read her various verses of the Bible. When you saw them talking to each other, there was complete harmony. They spoke and looked in the same direction.

The presence of Father Alexander and his presbytera Elizabeth was a great living example and at the same time a sermon on conjugal love, devotion and faith in God’s will. Their living is a silent sermon, which leaves a deep impact and provides a vivid example of the silent presence of God among us.

Dear Members of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity of

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Thessaloniki, It is the presence of God in our lives that plays the most important role in our achieving refinement.

A living example of this is the two protagonists of our story described above. They are examples to be followed and imitators of the Lord’s life, which can only be described in one word: LOVE. This love is something you make a reality as well through your kind support of our struggle on the large Mission field of Africa, where we try to sow the seeds of the love of God into wretched but decent human souls.

With love in Christ † Narcissus of Accra

Fr. Alexandros and his amputated presbytera

KENYA

Two new churches for Kenya

With the blessings of His Beatitude Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, during the festive twelve- day period of Christmas, His Eminence Metropolitan Makarios went to the consecration of two new churches in two different regions.

The first church was dedicated to the Resurrection of our Savior and to the Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, on December 28, 2016 in the remotest corner of Kenya, near the border with Somalia, at the end of the Indian Ocean, in a small but dynamic parish community in Beketoni village next to Lamu island.

This region, plagued by the recent events with the jihadists and the Islamic fundamentalists, was hardly accessible. For this reason both the trip there and the consecration

service were postponed frequently and for a long time. But this time, even though the whole area was surrounded by strict security forces, the preparations required were made, and ultimately the visit was realized under tight security.

It took us two days to get from the Orthodox Patriarchal School ÂŤArchbishop Makarios IIIÂť to our final destination, with an intermediate overnight stop in Malindi. Everyone feels too small and weak when the human factor comes first, defying the major protection and stewardship of God Himself, who, along with His Friends the Saints, directs our life and our actions, particularly in such very special cases. Right here come naturally to mind the living words of the Apostle Paul that suit our own 15

Church inauguration

case, « nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.» Thus, all the things that seem strange and frivolous to us, the people of little faith, meet in a wonderful manner with the holiness and blessedness of our Saints, making it possible for us to understand how important such things are, like the act of the church consecration in that remote part of the world, since with the placement of holy relics, the whole of the visible and invisible nature of God, our creator, is sanctified and transformed. In any case, nothing could stand in the way or stop us.

No pagan forces from this densely populated -mostly by Muslimsarea was able to impede the divine will and hinder God’s own plan.

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Now the whole village can proclaim till the end of time the words of the Apostle Paul again,» while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10) The second church is located outside the renowned Nakuru town with the famous lake, which hosts thousands of flamingos and varied wildlife in the jungle adjacent to it. In this area there are already consecrated churches, like those of the Resurrection, of Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, of Agios Nektarios and others. Soon two more churches will be consecrated: the church of Saint George and that of Saint Paraskevi.

The consecrated church of

Hagia Sophia will serve the needs of the Orthodox local residents, who used a makeshift church until recently. His Eminence, who has been visiting this village for several years now, thought of the importance it would acquire, especially through the creation of new educational establishments and several industrial enterprises, and decided to lay its foundation stone. Little by little, the construction commenced with the zeal and enthusiasm of both priests and parishioners. After superhuman efforts it was only recently completed.

This Orthodox sacred church is very impressive indeed and, as it is just off the road, it draws the admiration of passersby, who stop

to have a closer look at it. And then, on entering it, they get even more impressed by the beautiful Byzantine icons that decorate the iconostasis and the surrounding walls.

These two new sacred churches have been acquired by Kenya in order to proclaim joyfully the timeless message of the Lord’s Resurrection. Thanks to them, more and more souls will find spiritual rest and will ultimately be led to their salvation. May the name of the Lord be blessed and glorified, since once more He called us into His loving embrace, accepted us there and gave us a message of optimism and hope. Amen! †Makarios of Kenya

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TANZANIA

Mission and Education in Africa The command of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Holy Apostles and, by extension, to the Church and every single Christian, was clear: «Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” «(Matt. 28: 1920). This command is the starting point and the guideline of every missionary effort of the apostolic Church throughout the centuries.

It is also clear that the command of Christ relates to a teachinglearning relationship between the evangelical message conveyors («everything I have commanded you”), and the recipients of this 18

message («all nations’).

The Church is called to incarnate and teach the great, admittedly, mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16), and the nations are called to become disciples and be initiated into the mystery. The teaching process is laborious, requires suitable and favorable conditions, deposition of blood and spirit on the part of both participants in the teaching-learning process, which can be lifelong, perennial, until it reaches Christocentricity and Christoethics, always by the grace of God. This is therefore the very essence of Mission. The reason, the activities, the visions of the missionary work of the Church

The Patriarch of Alexandria among Mwanzan students

should constitute its very existence.

Only then will the results be pleasing to God and beneficial to the present and the eternal future of those people of the world who hunger and crave for the Truth and the Light.

In her course the Church preaches, catechizes, admonishes, is evangelized by her word and deed, using forms and terms of this world, to which she gives a whole new dimension and depth. The conditions of the various peoples are considered and exploited in the best possible way in order to become the tools of sowing the seed of God’s Word, i.e., of Christ. This path is the uninterrupted Incarnation of the Son of God in the hearts of His children.

In the case of Africa, and not only, the missionary plough is called to proceed slowly and very carefully, and spend a lot of time and effort preparing the ground which fell to its lot. It first needs to develop culture and then transform it and make it Christ-centered. The road to civilization has always passed through education. Therefore, it would be no exaggeration to say that in the African reality before the Mission builds, organizes and operates a church, it should build, organize and operate a school.

Once again, it is on the schoolchurch pair that we are left to build our missionary visions and orientations.

From the Holy Metropolis 19

CONGO (DRC): Kinshasa

Two Shipments of Love Dear brothers in Christ, I would like to express my great joy for contacting you and my deep gratitude as well as the gratitude of my Congolese brothers for the shipping of two containers with humanitarian aid from the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. Their arrival created a festive atmosphere with dances, hymns and songs. With earnest enthusiasm the students of our Orthodox Theological School unloaded the containers and filled the empty warehouses of the Metropolis with useful supplies.

The two containers contained basicfood items,clothing,stationery, sewing machines for the Sewing School, folding beds, sacred vessels, 20

church bells, liturgical books (such as the Parakletike, i.e. the Great Octoechos, the Pentecostarion, the Triodion, the Menaia)various icons, theological books for the University library, dental equipment, insulation materials and many other items, all sent with love by our brothers in Greece.

Daily there are times that I hear the students discuss with each other: ÂŤOur Orthodox Greek brothers must love us very much!

We’ve heard that their country is facing a great economic crisis.

What adverse situations they must be going through! We did not expect them to have such a rich and generous heart and deprive

themselves of many things in order to help us. May God bless themÂť.

Students and believers and all of us who are here working in the vineyard of our Lord Jesus Christ in ministry of Him, feel great appreciation and earnest gratitude for your Fraternity.

Upon arrival of the containers, our collaborator Mrs. Stella Papadopoulou organized with students clothing and footwear distribution to poor students of our schools in the area of the capital Kinshasa; also food was distributed to families in great need and to the surrounding villages.

I praise the Holy Triune God for making me worthy to serve Him in the depths of the African jungle and disseminate the true Orthodox faith in our indigenous brothers.

A sincere thanks to His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, who gave me the blessing to serve here and minister to the long-suffering people of Congo.

Finally, once again we would like to thank you wholeheartedly for your continuous support and assistance. May the Benevolent God give you His heavenly and earthly blessings in abundance. †Nikiforos of Kinshasa

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MALAWI

Thank You for Your Support Dear Friends of the Mission, Rejoice in the Lord always!

So far your love for the Orthodox Mission of Malawi has been immense. We are deeply grateful for that and wholeheartedly pray that God grants you His blessings a hundred fold. For us it is a great responsibility to make good management of the donations coming from the friends of our mission, but is also a great joy, since we take every contribution of yours as a support of the work we do sent from above...

In every project we envision and try to implement for the relief of pain of our Malawian brothers, our heartfelt desire and request in our prayer is that God always blesses and supports our plans provided this 22

is done for the good of His Church.

Only in this way, dear brothers, do we continue our humble work, that is, with the certain belief that every single work here in Malawi is a work of God. Based on that, we are often more daring to ask for support for God’s work than we would be if we asked for our own projects, and we are confident that God informs all of you accordingly...

The needs of our Mission here in Malawi are known to you.

Pain, poverty, hunger, diseases, epidemics, death, lack of proper godly education, exploitation of man by man, unemployment, despair in general and the maintenance of a hopeless unorthodox establishment, are large and deadly for the soul

wounds, which afflict the whole country. Despite the fact that hope fades easily within the grim reality we experience here daily, we try to stand by our suffering brothers offering sympathy and support to each one personally, without seeing them as another “case” or as “numbers”. With the help of God and yours, this is something feasible now in our 35 Orthodox parishes.

The money you offer us for our Mission, dear brothers, becomes daily meals for 300 children in our parishes, assistance for poor or sick families, visits to prison in support of the prisoners, fees for some cases of poor students.

But above all, what is really costly, besides our great effort, care and labor, is our struggle to support all of these parishes with visits,

systematic catechisms, baptisms, production and distribution of printed material and much more.

If one estimates the cost of the fuel required in order to get to our parishes which are scattered in the country, one finds out that the maintenance and running costs of our mission are actually very high, and only through the intervention of God, Who acts in the hearts of His instruments, can such large amounts of money be gathered for the smooth continuation and realization of our activities and projects.

We therefore thank you once again for your support, trust and help so far. May God always bless you abundantly and sanctify you.

Fr. Ermolaos Iatrou

One of many waterpumps funded by our Fraternity

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Divine Liturgy in Madagascar

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CONGO (DRC): Katanga

Like Young Olive Shoots

Dear friends of the Mission, For the holy days of the Christmas period and the New Year, we wish all of you God’s blessings in abundance. May the Lord promote the work of your Charitable Society so that you can continue your Godpleasing ministry of supporting our suffering brothers in the black continent, and everywhere else.

Once again, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for your kind donation of €6,850 for educational sponsorship and baptisms, which you offered to our Holy Metropolis for the year 2016. We would like to assure you that this spiritual «investment» for educating the young Africans of our H. Metropolis, who, thanks to you, are given the opportunity to continue their studies, has borne

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rich fruit, that is, educated children.

Moreover, through your support, it is now feasible for the baptisms of our African brothers to be performed smoothly. First, catechisms are conducted, and then, follows the first Holy Sacrament, that of Baptism, which initiates our brothers into our Holy Church, for their «naturalization» into her and for their being called «Orthodox Christians», which is the highest and more honorary title for us.

Therefore we are deeply grateful to all those who earnestly and despite the economic crisis we are going through give out of what little they have for charity and social solidarity.

Have a good and blessed New Year † Meletios of Katanga

The Bishop of the Newly Established Third Diocese of Tanzania On 11th December 2016, His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria officiated at the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy at the Sacred Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Savvas the Sanctified of Alexandria and during that he performed the ordination of the new Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha and Central Tanzania.

His Grace Bishop Agathonikos (Nicolaides) of Arusha and Central Tanzania was born in Giannitsa in 1964. He graduated from the Pedagogical Academy of Florina and the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Since 1986 he has been a monk of the Monastery of Saint Dionysius of Olympus. He served as Preacher of the Holy Metropolises of Florina

and Kitrous, while from 2004 to 2011 he served in various Missionary Divisions of Africa, and then as a Chancellor of the Holy Metropolis of Irinoupolis in Tanzania.

In December 2013 he went to Alexandria, where he served as Dean of the St. Athanasios Patriarchal Academy, and as Codicographer and Director of the Patriarch’s Private Office. On November 17, 2016 he was unanimously elected Bishop of the newly created Diocese of Arusha and Central Tanzania.

The Orthodox Missionary Fraternity welcomes with emotion the assumption of duties of the new missionary struggles by His Grace and hopes that he will continue the rich fruitfulness of his predecessor.

Axios!

Photo: Telemachos Pappas, Romfea.gr

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CONGO BRAZZAVILLE

The River Congo, Our Jordan River The main feature of water is the flow, and when the water flows, it can hardly be intercepted. Even the biggest dams people build may seem powerless to stop it. In the Old Testament, namely in the Book of Genesis, it becomes pretty clear what «deluge» means.

However, water has another feature, its unifying power. Seas, lakes and rivers unite places, allow the passage of vessels, transfer knowledge and goods and contribute to creation, progress and unity. Let us also remember the Book of Genesis, where God’s Spirit «moved upon the face of the waters.» (Gen. 1: 2), and the beginning of the world’s creation became a reality.

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Epiphany means the time of the sanctification of all things, man and creation, by the Grace of the unifying Spirit. Experiencing this truth a few days ago we, the Orthodox Christians of the newly planted Church of Congo-Brazzaville, headed for the banks of the Congo River in order to participate in the blessing of creation. We went to the river, which on that day was a mental image of our own Jordan River, where we were all spiritually renewed and saw Christ, the True Light that enlightens and sanctifies every man who comes into the world.

The «King-River Congo,» according to a native expression, is the biblical Jordan River that comes as far as the African equator, since the water

does not make discriminations, to irrigate the land of this Orthodox community and give life to it. This is the way God “Who has revealed Himself” gathers His Church and strengthens her.

We went out of the church of the Lord’s Resurrection, located in the country’s capital city, having partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ our Lord, aiming to go in procession to the banks of the second largest river in the world.

The processions of the Orthodox Faith have a confessional as well as a didactic character, let alone for us here in Congo-Brazzaville, since the period in which we have been living – from the establishment of the local Orthodox Church until today - might as well be characterized

as «Apostolic»! Besides, it is only thirty two years since then. Thus we are experiencing our own first Christian century in the year 2017, that is, symbolically speaking, we are in our own “32 AD», whatever that means in practice …

This is the glory of the Church: Christ and His “children of light”, who tirelessly confess Jesus Christ as the world’s Savior and Redeemer!

Here, our processions differ from the respective ones of our blessed homeland, since there is no official religion in this country. Here, our procession passes through our fellow citizens, who either engage themselves in traditional religious practices and rituals, or practice sorcery, or belong to another Christian confession, or experience

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the chaotic delusion of a sect (a person-centered «religious» group with a Christian disguise) hurt just as deeply by prejudice. The Epiphany procession is a collective expression of the Truth of the Triune God in a society enslaved to superstition and inequality, in a society characterized by lack of opportunities, in a society where the human person is most often devalued.

We tossed the precious cross into the Congo River, our own Jordan River. We can see that both rivers, the Congo and the Jordan, vivify God’s creation with their waters and that they are flowing at the same time. On our return to the Capital Cathedral we chanted the psalm «who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest

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wonders”. Christ promised us that he would not leave us orphaned.

We can see that in the Epiphany procession, which is growing year after year, increasing in attendance and participation.

Our brothers are seeking the Light! O Lord, keep Your Light shining for us, inundating with the momentum of the Holy Spirit not only the natives’ souls so that they can experience Your heavenly blessings, but also our Orthodox Greek brothers, so that they do not forget in the whirlpool of life the offer of actual love and help for these African souls who have just tasted the redemptive power of their own»Jordan River»! † Panteleimon of Brazzaville and Gabon

Children of "Saint Eustace" Orphanage

Holy Christmas in Tulear

I arrived overnight in my beloved city of Sakaraha in Tulear.

I came, although yesterday the fever and the exhaustion of the last two months due to a persistent illness did not leave room for such decisions. I spent two months confined at home, asking God to make me worthy to spend Christmas close to the people I love. Yesterday I was in conflict: on the one hand, I was struggling with the thought of going out of the house as there was a risk of a sudden deterioration of my health, and on the other, my heart was filled with sadness and pain for our people.

Holy Christmas 2016!

I am sitting under two mango trees, which are used as a roof to

protect us from the morning dew, with our new parishioners; under the blessed sky, which now plays the role of a dome, so that the Omniscient God can lean on in order to observe and listen to his children’s prayers.

Christ is born, glorify!

The antimension is laid over the table. This table was specifically made in order to replace the altar and bear on its perishable wooden legs the Imperishable and Eternal God, who today will give His light to the city of Sakaraha and preach through our quiet supplication in the Peace of the Matins service the great event of the Nativity of Christ.

Christ is born.

How different really is this 31

natural, divine Peace from the fake and false “peace” of this world! And yet, it is felt and experienced under our humble trees. Under the trees of our land today...

The Heaven opens and Christ is born! In this beautiful and so well blended harmony of the natural and human worldly element with the divine and heavenly. This uniqueness is something that no other doctrine can offer or see. No other doctrine manages to see the glory of God within the peace of the material world or, conversely, the peace of the material world in the glory of God. This is so, simply because nowhere else can the Peace of God be felt and experienced

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except through our Orthodoxy.

The people attending this Divine Liturgy are the same who until yesterday were against our purchasing this land and had been trying to stop the procedure for at least one month; now they are praying along with us. I do not want to mention the causes of this behavior but what I do know is that now they are catechumens, they call the writer of this article «our priest» , while the church that we hope will be built in this beautiful place, they like to call it «our church.»

Indeed, I hope that close to these wonderful mango trees a beautiful church will soon be erected. .. The Sacred Church of the

Lord’s Ascension, a generous offer of love made by an anonymous donor through the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity.

At this time that I am writing the construction work is about to begin in a few days. And the dream comes true, always by the Grace and with the help of our Most Merciful God. When the construction work of our church has finished, I hope and pray for it to be filled with human souls that will regard Thy glory, O Christ, in the glory of Thy Church.

However, never will they forget the presence of these magnificent mango trees, which I also hope they will stay upright along with the

church.

And when aged and with teary eyes I gaze upon our first church here with you, my brothers of this land, it is with pride I will also gaze at these superb mango trees - the first real church in our city Sakaraha. I will always remember the first divine liturgies with you under the Creator’s firmament of heaven and soliloquize that wonderful quote from the Gospel: «Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool».

Fr. Polykarpos of Hagia Anna Sakaraha-Tulear 33

One “thank you” is not enough Dear friends of the Mission, Rejoice in the Lord always.

Twenty years have passed since the Benevolent God led me to the Mission. 1996 was the year when the late Metropolitan of Kampala and All Uganda Theodore Nankyama came to Greece gravely ill. When I went to see him, he asked me to go down with him to Uganda to help the Overseas Mission. I was really at a loss because the late Metropolitan was everything to me. He had practically collected me from the streets of Kampala, where I was wandering around like a stray dog, and took good care of me. «What should I do now that he is sick?” I thought to myself. “I’ll go for a while and as soon as he gets well, I’ll come back to Greece”.

Unfortunately the late Theodore did not recover, but fell asleep in the Lord. At his funeral 34

I saw something that shocked me. It was the children who the Bishop had gathered close to him, orphaned, poor and stray. They all had one question: «Who will take over us from now on?» Then I heard a voice inside of me saying, «I will» and indeed, it was that day that I decided to stay close to these children.

The same year 1997 His Eminence the new Metropolitan Jonah of Kampala and All Uganda appointed me rector to the historic parish of the Transfiguration in the village of Degeya. Historic parish indeed, because this was the first parish of the local African Orthodox Church. I wrote my first letter to Panagiotis Papadimitrakopoulos – eternal be his memory! In a few days I received a considerable amount of money for the orphanage. Since then, the Fraternity has not left my

side.Until today it has repeatedly helped us with programs like the soup kitchens, the reconstruction of two primary schools in the region and educational sponsorship.

Two children have studied at University, a health clinic has been built in memory of unforgettable Panagiotis, a mill and a tractor have been acquired, and the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen is being completed. We are deeply grateful to you!

Fifteen children from the orphanage have been ordained priests led by Father Paul Nzalambi, the new vicar of the Metropolis of Kampala and All Uganda, and the priest monk Father Prodromos, abbot of the first Orthodox male monastery in Uganda. Six girls from

the orphanage have become priests’ wives. Three girls have become nuns led by Sister Maria, abbess of the first female monastery of Saint Mary. In a few weeks, three other girls are leaving for Rhodes to be tested in a nunnery and get properly prepared for establishing the second female monastery. Many others, male and female, have become professors, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, police wardens and catechists.

We expect your humble contribution so that we can keep these centers of humanitarian offer running as much as possible.

We wish you all of the Lord’s grace and blessings unto you and a good missionary year.

Fr. John Kibuuka

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Visit to the Metropolis of Heroes With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan George of Guinea, I visited Sierra Leone, a country that has been tested by the deadly Ebola virus. The biggest obstacle was that I had to communicate with the Sierra Leoneans without knowing English.

And yet, this was done without any difficulty at all! I remembered my English from school, although I was laughed at by the children. But with the language of love, I could talk to a child as if I were a child, to youth like a young person, to the elderly like an old man. A lot of people ask me how they can become missionaries. The answer is simple. You do not need to be rich to become a missionary, all you need is Will. If you want, you can make it.

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During my stay there I was involved in the training of priests, because most come from Islam, the Methodists and the Protestants, and they need to learn about the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. I also dealt with the youth who, with your help, will be the future members of the Church of Christ. The Mission is trying to relieve the people, by the saying of Jesus: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest�. It builds training centers, takes care of the disabled and provides warm meals every Sunday after the Divine Liturgy, not only for the Orthodox, but also for everyone else, regardless of religion.

I was greatly touched by a girl when I asked her to meet her

mother. «No, Father, you cannot meet her because she is illiterate and does not know English ...»! At that moment tears filled my eyes!

I told her: «My mother is illiterate too, and yet, she brought me into this world. I love her and I’m proud to present her without a shred of shame and say: This is my great love.

«Her mother came. At the end of our conversation, this woman tells me with a touching voice: «Father, I may be illiterate, but I don’t want my daughter getting pregnant from a boy, I want her to study. Please help her, because both of my other daughters got pregnant and did not have the chance to go to school.

«At this moment, these words are coming back again. I promised her that our Mission, which loves

youth, would make every possible effort to realize her dream. This is our Africa ... Can anyone save her?

Only the Orthodox Christian would answer this question.

I saw how the people herechildren and adults-would kill one another for a plate of food or for the clothes that they were given, and I could not bear it. This is why I am asking all readers to pray for this people and say “Lord, have mercy on them”. After all, St. Gregory the Theologian says: «What I consider to be the best is the love to the poor and the compassion and sympathy towards our fellow humans.

Nothing is more pleasing to God than that sympathy and love. « † Archimandrite Athanasios Kayembe

Students of our Orthodox schools in Sierra Leone

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Holy Christmas in Kolkata When I decided to come to India-specifically to the orphanage of the Orthodox Church in Calcuttaand I announced it to my friends, they all asked me the same question: «Where will you spend your Christmas? At least, will you have any relatives there? «And I replied,» Yes, I will have my aunt, Sister Nektaria «.

It is true that Christmas is a family celebration customarily spent with the loved ones. But I came to Calcutta and was welcomed into a larger family. More than 100 boys and girls who live in the orphanage received me as their brother, and we spent these Holy Days together.

A few days before the holidays, the older girls made prosphoron 38

(communion bread) for the Divine Liturgy in our Greek Church of Calcutta and for the church of the Girls’ Orphanage. Due to these preparations, the grounds of the orphanage had a festive atmosphere. On Christmas Eve, the older girls again went to clean the church. They polished all the utensils, swept, mopped and decorated the place with colorful flowers to be ready for the reception of the faithful, who would come to church to celebrate the Nativity of Christ.

Boys, girls, and many faithful from the village and the surrounding area turned out in the evening for the all-night vigil of Christmas.

The choir consisted of the girls of the orphanage, who sang Byzantine

hymn tunes in Greek, English and Bengali. People of all ages, young and old, were all attending the Divine Liturgy without talking, silently participating in the Mystery. All these people came to know Christ and were baptized into His Church, believers in a country where Christianity is a minority and fanaticism is fierce. They are true Christians. I felt infinite admiration for them and I will try to imitate their example in my own personal and spiritual life.

After the Divine Liturgy, all the participants gathered in the orphanage refectory to drink tea, eat cake and watch the ladies sing Christmas songs. At midday everyone gathered in the same place to

enjoy the Christmas dinner. The atmosphere was so nice and festive!

The children were happy and the food simple but wonderful.

In the afternoon, we visited the church in Calcutta with a group of boys and girls. I was told

by Sister Nektaria that on such a day lots of people come from early in the morning to pray. What I saw though, was far beyond my imagination. We sat in the church for a few hours in order to have a look at it and venerate the holy icons and during our stay there, thousands of people passed to light a candle and pray. The queue outside the church was huge. The most impressive thing though, is the fact that these

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crowds were not Christians. They were Hindus, who, nevertheless, acknowledge and respect Christ.

Once again I was immensely impressed by the reverence of these people. Inside the church they were peaceful and serene, and when arriving in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ, they knelt down to venerate it and pray.

Hindus of all ages passed through the beautifully decorated Orthodox sacred church.

The spectacle was unprecedented and unique. The church interior was so beautifully floodlit and decorated! Externally, not only the building but also the surrounding trees and the manger were illumi-

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nated with spectacular lights. Everything was adorned with remarkable care and attention, a sign of devotion and Faith, love and gratitude to the newborn Christ, our Savior.

The fact that the Mission in this distant country is blossoming is a blessed work, which presents Orthodoxy as a religion of love and offer to the fellow man and which honors all those who support it, both materially and morally.

May God enlighten all those responsible for this remarkable missionary work and give them strength and health to continue their daily struggle to change the lives of even more people in need.

Hector Roumeliotis

Response to Tearful Thanks Knowing the truth is a feeling incomparably beautiful and comforting... Transmitting the truth is a feeling that is not only creative but also essential... What truth? The truth that every man more or less, openly or in secret, eagerly or reluctantly, sought flanked by deep questions. Does God exist? Is there life after death?

What is my destination? To all these existential quests the answer is generously offered by Christian faith, particularly by Orthodoxy.

In the «civilized Christian» world where we live, namely in the «Orthodox» Greece, meeting with Christ is possible and depends on the desire and intent of each person.

This, however, does not apply to the countries of the so called

«third world,» a more pure world though, where there are people who have never heard of Him, the Savior of the world and their Father.

The mission above was organized and undertaken by the Orthodox Church (led by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Alexandria), as well as by Orthodox missionary societies such as ours.

The effort of witnessing for Christ and His Principles to the ends of the earth consists of two momentous aspects: on the one hand, the spread of the Gospel and, on the other, its practical application to acts of love, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and generally strengthening the needy. In the last ministry, the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity 41

participated actively by sending four containers with humanitarian aid last year, that is, in 2016: two to the much afflicted Sierra Leone and two to Congo, aiming to strengthen the Theological Faculty of Kinshasa, and its own charity work. The aforementioned containers were loaded with: • more than 75 tons of long-life food • necessities such as desks and chairs, furniture, soap, medicines, medical equipment, generators, school supplies, clothing, toys, and finally, • religious items such as holy chalices, icons, vestments for the priests, holy table covers, liturgical vessels and books and many others.

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For this offer, the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity earned tearful «thank you» from those responsible for the projects that received the containers and our indigenous brothers there who tasted the fruit of our love. Our answer to their tears of gratitude is, “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke. 17:10).

We are truly grateful to all the young people, the ladies and all those who selflessly and joyfully offer their ministry in the warehouses of our fraternity in Filiro, Thessaloniki. We are also deeply grateful to our brothers from Florina for the financial and material support of this effort.

Constantinos Metallides Theologian

Unloading of humanitarian aid in Kinshasa, Congo (DRC)

Sophia Tentzidou

The Affectionate Beggar for Christ

Venerable Mother Sophia, I am deeply saddened to announce your repose in Christ on November 16, 2016. Allow me to break the chain of silence and write a few words about your earthly life.

Your ascetic presence clothed with humility, was an example to be followed for many of us in our society.

If reckless courage is an attribute of men, how could one characterize your own courage?

Could it be that being guided by angels, you were granted extra invincible power? Indeed! It was a great feat to manage to send trucks to former Yugoslavia and give out the life essentials to the orphaned children of the deadly war there!

As I recall, we shared years of missionary acquaintance through the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity.

Here in Thessaloniki you were the “beggar for Christ». I guess you were flying towards the Missionary vision with wings of affection going from church to church in order to collect some more coins in your canister. You would beg «For a glass of milk for the hungry children of Africa, despite the fact that your health problems were your permanent fellow companions on this path, regardless of the season.

For this sacred ministry you were honored with the Cross of Saint Glorious Apostle and Evangelist Mark by Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Petros VII as a token of spiritual gratitude.

May your journey lead to the salvation of soul and to eternal life.

Christ is Risen!

Nostis Psarras 43

Columns of Gratitude Donations from 1.11.2016 to 31.1.2017

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For God loves a cheerful giver

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Attribution

This work is being distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (goo.gl/Q9uqXL). Similarly licensed works of the creators below were used in the respective pages:

4 Storm Signal 6 Paul Saad 15 Benh Lieu Song 28 Clint Mason 44 Miltos Gikas 46 Diana Robinson

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