Orthodox Mission #3

# 3 • MARCH 2013

ORTHODOX MISSION

QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE ORTHODOX MISSIONARY FRATERNITY

1963-2013: Fellow travelers in the Orthodox Mission in the nations for 50 years

orthodox mission

Founded in 1963 Honored by the Patriarchate of Alexandria January-March 2013 / Issue 3 (GR220) Editor: Nostis Psarras

In this issue 3 By the side of the children

of the civil war 7 Proceedings 2012 13 Financial Report 14 Fiji Islands 16 India 18 Indonesia 20 Kenya 26 Congo DR - Katanga 28 Congo DR - Kinshasa 31 Madagascar 34 Malawi 37 Guinea 38 Changes in the Patriarchate of Alexandria 39 Looking throught the mud huts 41 Arch. Theophilos Zisopoulos 43 Columns of gratitude 47 50 years of traveling You can give your love for the Orthodox Mission Abroad at the Fraternity's office, on our website via PayPal, or by deposit in this bank account:

EMPORIKI BANK • ΙΒΑΝ: GR03 0120 4050 0000 0008 0765 011 • BIC: EMPOGRAA Receipts of payments are issued and sent to the donators.

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

ierapostoli@hotmail.com Recognized chartiable, philanthropic, not-for-profit greek corporation.

Aim: Moral and material support for the worldwide Eastern Orthodox Mission Spiritual founder :  Archim. Chrysostomos

Papasarantopoulos Founders

:  Pantelis Bayas  Panagiotis Papademetracopoulos

Great Benefactor :  P. Papademetracopoulos

Board of Directors Constantinos Daoudakis Chairman

Nostis Psarras Emmanuel Moustakes Demetrios Sotercos Constantinos Metallidis Evangelia Traicoudi Nicoleta Modiotou Peke Azariadou Angelos Voyatzis

Vice chairman Secretary General Τreasurer Secretary Assistant Treasurer Assistant Member Member Member

By the side of the children of the civil war In the heart of the African land lies a blessed by God country, Burundi. Greenery covers plains, slopes and hills.

However, this earthly part of paradise became the arena of a ruthless conflict. Two tribes, two ethnic groups, the Tutsi cattle breeders and the Hutu farmers, could not find a peaceful way of coexistence. They threw themselves into an interminable fight of mutual extermination.

The civil war lasted for thirteen years. Human discord ravaged and scarred the country.

Cities, villages, hospitals, houses, roads were destroyed.

300,000 people lost their lives.

600,000 people had to abandon their homes. Families were broken up. Women lost their

husbands and children. Children were left alone, unprotected, orphaned. After the horror of war, victimizers and victims of the civil absurdity are trying to forget the bloodstained past and rebuild the country. The refugees return from the neighboring countries in thousands looking for their relatives and their mud houses. Plenty of them find nothing.

If the unity of people is the ultimate purpose of the Divine Providence and witnessing this unity the authentic way of carrying out the missionary work, then every single faithful Orthodox Christian realizes how much the ravaged land of Burundi needs to accept the surplus of the Eucharistic 3|

experience.However, the idea that remains a word, can only change words. Only ideas that take flesh are capable of touching and reforming the man.

On this principle three years ago began a genuine by God effort of reforming the man through the foundation of the Diocese of Rwanda and Burundi.

At first the prospects of this effort were met with wariness and the cynical mistrust of our times. However, the fruits of composition and recreation of what it means to be human in a fair, peaceful and viable world, have already started ripening in this spiritual field of Africa. The loving contact with

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the fellowman as an image of God was the only “fertilizer” which was proven useful to this cultivation.

I became participant in these fruits myself during my first missionary course in Burundi.

Images, emotions and moments are hard to depict on a piece of paper in the conventional way. However, on that bright morning of February23rd 2013 I made a promise to the hundreds of orphaned children of the civil war who are accommodated at the “Roof of Love” in the Buramata district. I promised to share with the whole world a story of faith and endurance at a time when the beauty of the truth

Children of our orphanage in Buramata, BR

“I love my neighbor, therefore I am”, has been replaced by the overrated principle “I have, therefore I am”.

The settlement was put up with the help of a group of doctors from Greece who decided to make the word “offer” a fulltime occupation and an aim of life, the Heart Doctors. This shelter operates thanks to the large or small contributions of the people who believe that the Word of God should be heard in the mud huts, in the thatched churches of Africa.

hanging by a thread because they expected to eat garbage, grew up on the streets and in the mud and were threatened by plain diseases.

In this shelter the orphans of the civil war earned the right to continue taking seriously what the adults had difficulty in accepting: dreams. They earned the right to continue believing in resurrection as a possibility of a decent future. They earned the right to tame the rough waves of life, which showed them its relentless face so early, and seek the haven of survival. Finally they earned the right to preserve childhood as an existence open to God.

This shelter embraces children who saw their parents being cruelly killed by brotherly hand. Children who could not smile because the pain of loss Christ said: “Let the children had chained the smile on their come to me, do not hinder them; lips. Children whose life was for to such belongs the kingdom

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of God” (Mark, 10, 13-14). This commandment becomes action in this corner of the African continent. This commandment turns into a hug for the children who were scarred by the conflicts of the adults.

Here is reconstituted the children’s shattered worldview, here is reformed the impaired by the specter of death children’s identity, here returns the original beauty of the children’s soul in order to implement the Words of the Lord “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, shall not enter it”(Mark, 10, 15-16).

At a time of daily transformations which affect almost all aspects of our life, the ability of the Church to contribute to the creation of a culture based on mutual respect and solidarity is disputed.

The Roof of Love bears witness to the fact that the Church in its earthly presence and action embraces, reforms, renovates the world. It ministers to the man, articulates its own life proposal and prioritization, on top of which is the child as a dynamic carrier of a promising prospect for a world “practicing the truth in love”. † Theodore II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa In the Great City of Alexandria, on 1st March 2013

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The proceedings of 2012 of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity Dear

brothers and partners of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, let us glorify and thank Our Lord, Jesus Christ, for the numerous benefactions and donations offered to us by His love in the past year 2012.

The Board sends its warmest wishes for a peaceful new year, where will prevail the love for the fellow men, the needy, the ones in grief, the unemployed who fear what the future might hold for them. May the love of the new-born Jesus overflow your hearts, and give health and peace to you and your families for the love with which you respond to the work of our Missionaries.

The work of the Orthodox Mission is one of Evangelism towards all the nations on earth. It is an order of our Lord towards the disciples and Apostles. “Having gone, therefore, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit �.

It is the same order followed by our contemporary missionaries who abandoned everything. They left behind parents, spouses, children and brothers in order to work in the countries of Africa, Asia, America and elsewhere, communicating the 7|

work of the Church with faith, zeal, endurance and sacrificial mood.Τhis is not an easy thing to do. They encounter plenty of difficulties, obstacles, perils and shortages. That is why they ask for partners (priests, teachers, nursing staff, technicians).

Our Fraternity and all of you, being in the rear, stand by the “front line- fighters” of this God-pleasing struggle, the missionaries, through prayer and material help. Below I briefly present an account of the proceedings of the Board of our Fraternity as well as the activities of several collaborating missionary centers.

Charity work The work of the Fraternity is to do anything in its power to help to the major problem of poverty, wretchedness, famine, sickness and abandonment, which stifles the largest regions on earth.

People starving to death, orphans, widows, elderly with no one to rely on, patients dying for lack of aspirin, spirit or iodine, amputees who cannot move, men imprisoned for small debts and so many others.

Dear brothers, we stand by all these people thanks to your help, which, apart from money, involves sending food, clothing and footwear, medicines and many others asked for by the missionaries.

Big containers are sent from our main warehouse situated at Fillyro in Thessaloniki. There, a big group of tireless and unsung workers, mainly young ones, work feverishly and enthusiastically in order to collect, arrange and load all these items into the containers.

There, every Thursday, another group distributes dry food to poor local families or anything else they need from clothing, footwear, medicines… These workers of such a sacred task are worth the praise.

Spiritual work We had the regular Divine Liturgies going on at the catacomb of the Holy Church of Saint John the Baptist with the blessing of His Holiness our Metropolitan Anthimos. The attendance of the faithful to the Holy Communion was great. We often had Metropolitans, |8

Bishops and priest- missionaries celebrating the Mass. After the Divine Liturgy, at the assembly room of our Fraternity, there is a gathering of members and friends of the Mission in a cosy atmosphere along with a cup of coffee. We often hosted the Missionaries themselves who talked about their work and activities.

Magazine Our magazine "Orthodox Mission" keeps being issued more and more improved. It refers, as you know, to the work of the missionary centers as well as to the requests of their needs. Our magazine is posted on the Internet in Greek and English. The translation into English is done free of charge by an English teacher from Northern Greece, whom we thank. Our magazine is offered for free.

Donations In the past year your donations covered 17 centers. They are in alphabetical order: Accra, Irinoupolis, India, Indonesia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Kolwezi, Korea, Madagascar, Malawi, BurundiRwanda, Brazzaville, New Zealand, Uganda and Sierra Leone.

584,791.50 € was sent in total, as a result of your careful love for our fellow men.

Activities of missionary centers In all of our missionary centers, there are Divine Liturgies on Sundays and feasts. On weekdays there are two services, Matins and Vespers. There are also christenings following catechism (a preparation that takes several months, even a whole year if necessary). The faces of the neophytes light with joy when at the time of the Holy Communion the Priest says “The servant of God receives the Body and Blood of Christ for forgiveness of sins and eternal life”, mentioning their Christian names for the first time.

There are other services as well, such as weddings, funerals, memorial services…

New Holy Churches are built, or incomplete ones are finished.

Schools of all stages of education are erected for the children, regardless of religion or race. There are also boreholes drilled so 9|

that the people there can have potable water.

Finally, there are kindergarten schools, orphanages, boarding schools, clinics and outpatient departments which are erected.

There are missionary schools, like a) the Higher Missionary Patriarchal School in Alexandria, named “Saint Athanasios” b) the Higher Theological Seminary named “Archbishop Makarios III” and c) the 1st Orthodox University of Congo named “Saint Athanasios the Athonite”, with about 70 students. The first graduation ceremony took place in 2011 with 11 graduates, several of whom already teach at schools of the Mission.

In addition, there are educational seminars for priests and catechists conducted by the Church. Moreover, there are groups of young mothers, who, among others, attend housekeeping and sewing classes. There are also choirs consisting of groups of young men and women, artistic events of music, local dances, theatre and other youth events.

On a daily basis at all the centers there are common meals throughout the week along with distribution of food, clothing, footwear and other relief items. In particular, there are special provisions in meals and food distributed to the handicapped and the elderly at home.

People who are in prison for debt below €100 are released. Finally, at the medical centers of the Mission there is free pharmaceutical and medical treatment.

I would like to stress the fact that at all |10

the schools and institutions the Greek flag is raised next to the local one, especially at the schools where the Greek language is taught.

The students are of all religions and races.

Current needs The needs are numerous and great. The most important one so that a missionary center can work has to do with human resources and dynamism. Another one is the creation of a School of Theology for the proper training of priests and catechumens.

Also, staff- training for medical and pharmaceutical treatment. Men’s training in several jobs, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, vehicle-drivers, builders... There is also need to have ecclesiastical books translated for the performance of liturgical services as well as other editions into the local language. Need for equipping Holy Churches, Schools, Boarding Schools, surgeries, cookhouses…. Need for means of transport (such as vans, passenger cars, motorcycles, bicycles, special vehicles for the amputees and others). Need for more boreholes for potable water. Purchase of a power generator for power supply. Need for agricultural tools (some missionaries create livestock or poultry farms, aiming at covering a big part of their needs).

The people of God who lived in the darkness, who did not know where real God is, have finally seen “the Great Light”.They have found Him. They have met Him. And they want to have Him for ever.

Let us all continue our efforts to help, 11|

mainly with our prayers, the real fighters, our missionaries. The current financial and spiritual crisis which our country is facing will eventually pass and be forgotten. It helps us get an idea, even from so far away, of how our brothers live there.

Thanks Finally, on behalf of the members of the Board, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of you who, one way or another, through your small or bigger contribution, support the work of God. I would also like to thank all our valued partners who spare their time and effort for the dissemination of the missionary work, such as: F. Kallistratos Lyrakis from Athens, F. George Steffas from Kalambaka, Mr Apostolos Kyrikos from Chalkida, Mr Mertzemekis Demetrios from Serres, Mr Adalakis Theodore from Xylokastro, Ms Diatsidou Polyxeni, Hatzoudi Maria, Avgerou Maria and Karypidou Georgia from Katerini. Also, Ms Charalambidou Smaro, Katsamaka Meropi and Kousaxidou Sophia, members of our Fraternity. Finally, we should not forget to thank the ladies who take care of us at our monthly meetings and offer us coffee.

Once again the Board expresses its thanks to all of you and our partners mentioned above and wishes health, peace, joy, spiritual strength and blessing for the new year 2013, all given by the God of Love, whose birth we celebrated a while ago. We also apologize if, somehow, we worried or scandalized any of you unintentionally.

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Financial Report 2012

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FIJI ISLANDS

A Miracle of the Holy Cross One day, on the second biggest Fiji island, Vanoua Levou, the person in charge of the Mission for the island , Father Barnaby, along with the hieromonk Savvas visited the hospital at the city of Labasa in order to comfort a patient. As they were talking with the patient, they heard unnatural loud screams coming from the other side of the corridor, and being alarmed by those grisly screams, they moved towards there in order to help.

In an adjoining room there was a girl lying in bed, who was blocking her ears with her hands, was twisting her head left and right and was screaming in a hair-raising way. The nurses were just standing aside, unable to understand what had happened and too scared to do anything.

Father Savvas approached a nurse and told her: “We are from the Greek Orthodox Church. |14

Could we just make the sign of the cross over her?� Then he takes out the cross which had the True Cross inside and started making the sign of the cross on her face.

The more he did so, the more she screamed. In the end, the priest put the cross into her mouth and immediately she calmed down. It was obvious she was possessed, and with the power of the True Cross the evil spirit finally left.

This incident reminds us of the words of the hymn of Octoechos "Great is the power of your Cross, o Lord".

Christ came to the world and was crucified for the salvation of all people. That is why the power of the Holy Cross is not only restricted to Christians, but also to any person under the power of Satan.

The cure of this Fijian girl through the touch of the True Cross as well as the faith of the fathers who thought of making

the sign of the cross over her, was the best sermon for herself, her own family and everyone else who witnessed this miracle.

When Christ said to his Disciples that he would be with them all along their proclaiming His Gospel, this is exactly what he meant: His living presence

Therefore, the Missionary work is done by Christ Himself ,who uses as means ordinary people, like the Fijian father Barnaby and the simple monk Savvas.

Mission is not a matter of wordly wisdom but a matter of faith “acting through disinterested love”. † Amphilochios of New Zealand

witnessed by the signs and wonders that would follow.

The Rise of Works of Love The construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity, a school and an orphanage has started at the city of Lautoka on Fiji Islands since the first days of 2013. The cost for the construction of the church is approximately 85,000€, for the orphanage 55,000€, for the school 30,000€ and another 17,000€ for further works, like plumbing, electrical installations and others.

We are aware of the fact that the financial condition in our Country is by no means the best. However, we still hope that thanks to your interest and the sensibility of your donors, something may happen.

Everyday life in Fiji

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INDIA

At the Borders of Love caused to the Mission, with great struggle and God’s help From far-off India we hope we still manage to maintain the the Lord blesses your life most important of our charity and leads everyone’s steps programs: the two orphanages to the road of salvation. and our school, the common On 21st November there meals for the poorest of the poor was a solemnl Divine Liturgy and the breakfast for the homeless at the Holy Church of the girls’ children of Calcutta, while in orphanage, “the Presentation the villages our five schools and of the Theotokos”. Our joy was surgeries are still operating. double those holy days since we The course of the school “Saint were honored by the presence Ignatius” is upward, judging not of His Eminence Metropolitan only by the actual progress of Constantine of Singapore. our children but also by the large Actually, two ordinations took number of applications on the place by our Metropolitan on the part of poor children of the region same day, that of our brother and for enrollment in the new school worker of the Mission Raphael to a year. Thanks to a donation from deacon and that of deacon George Thessaloniki, we have started the to a priest. On the 25th of the same construction of outdoor hygiene month we had the ordination of facilities and additional fire deacon Raphael to a presbyter. exits, which are required for the Despite the serious difficulties certification of the school for the that the financial crisis has higher grades. This work, which is Dear brothers in Christ,

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expected to be completed within two months, was a big relief as far as the educational future of our children is concerned.

Thanks to a number of donations from America and Australia the operation of our orphanages was given a life extension. We sincerely thank all of you, who, despite the severe economic crisis with all its negative consequences, thought of us and eased our anxiety.

One of our main targets remains the creation of a farm in order to cover as much as possible not only our own needs in food but also the needs of the institutions and the common meals. Especially now that food prices have doubled and the cost of covering the feeding needs has risen dramatically, this important

project is of utmost importance!

However, due to the dramatic decrease in the donations because of the crisis, the pace of creating the facilities required is very slow. We have made big progress regarding the fencing of the area and its partial land fill, but there is still a long way till its final configuration in a fertile land.

Even the slightest donation removes the possibility of our children going back to the streets where they were born. We are grateful for your continuous support.

Every single contribution -spiritual and material- makes us witnesses of your compassion, your spirit of solidarity and your Christian love.

From the Missionary Team

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INDONESIA

"Theotokos" Hospital is ready

Dear brothers,

Rejoice in the Lord. We are well thanks to God, and we hope that you are all well and live blissfully. I would like to mention some things about our dministry, here in Indonesia.

Baptism and Chrismation for 66 catechumens and 26 weddings.

There, I was approached by some widows who asked me to read them benedictions. However, since there is no specific benediction that caters for 1. We are grateful to God their case, I asked from God to for having 8 brothers from give them health, joy and lonthe Orthodox Christian Un- gevity. Those ladies were very ion of Sydney, Australia, pres- happy because our Church ent here. Their help is a great prays for the widows as well. blessing for the Orthodox Mis- Therefore, my brothers, many sion of Indonesia. The fact that times throughout this diaconia, we have devout and educat- we have to improvise in order ed brothers abroad projects to deal with some incidents. our communities positively.

At the Christmas celebra2. Last Christmas we were in tion, presbytera Elizabeth and our two communities in Sumbul, some gentlemen from the parSidikalang. The flock welcomed ish of Saint Demetrios at Medus joyfully. We actually per- an brought presents for all the formed the Holy Sacraments of faithful of our two communities, |18

which made everyone rejoice. Orthodox School here, so that it 3. I stayed at Sumbul for a can convey faster the message couple of days and I walked of Orthodoxy in this region. around all the surrounding villages. There I found a High School about 2 km away from our community of Saint Ephraim at Sumbul. This school operates with three big buildings and is going to be sold soon. It hasn’t got many students, because from what I was informed, the owner has financial problems, therefore, he does not take good care of the school.

That is why he intends to sell it at 45,000 €. Well, my brothers, if possible, please pray for this matter. It will be a great blessing for us if we manage to have an

My brothers, we express our gratitude for your great help and sacrifice, especially for the third installment given for the completion of the construction of our “Theotokos” Hospital at Medan.

I believe that 2013 will bring good news for our hospital, because it will be operating properly.

That was all our news for the time being, my brothers.

You know we always ask for your prayers. From the Orthodox Mission of Indonesia we send you our warmest regards.

F. Chrysostom Manalu

Pharmacy of the "Theotokos" Hospital, in which our fraternity has allocated 50,000 €

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KENYA Dear brothers,

Mission on credit

Rejoice in the Lord. I would firstly like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the recent congratulatory letter which you sent to my unworthiness on the occasion of the completion of twenty years of prelatic ministry, in the land of the African continent. All these years your Fraternity has benefited us in many ways, not only financially but also with the publication of my texts in your magazine, since the time I was still a layman.

Everything happens for the glory of God and His Church.

I put my humble thoughts down in writing today and I make a special request to all of you. It is the first time in the course of the Mission that we have not paid the salaries of our priests and we have not given them the standard Christmas bonus, either. For |20

three consecutive months, neither the priests nor the employees and the teachers of our schools have been given their salaries. I indicatively mention those of our Patriarchal School, the Teachers’ College and our Primary School, all of which are operating within the premises of the Metropolis.

It had never even crossed my mind that one day after more than thirty years, I could be writing such a title. This is indicative of the critical economic condition which we have reached, since now that I am writing to you, at the Patriarchal School as well as at the Primary school we eat entirely “on credit�on a daily basis, which means we have not paid the people who cook for us every day so that we can operate properly.

Is it possible? Yet, these people know how consistent we were to our responsibilities, that is

why they tolerate the whole situation and are silent, hoping that, as in the past, this way now, some donor will be touched and ease our pain and anxiety.

The Holy Metropolis of Kenya is regarded as and it is the biggest in the African continent. Briefly we remind you that we have 300 parishes, 250 priests, 30 Primary and Kindergarten schools, 15 High Schools (Junior and Senior), 30 medical centers, a Patriarchal School with seminarists from lots of countries of the African continent and a Teachers’ College.

They are all operating properly thanks to the personal care and spiritual guidance of His Beatitude Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria and All Africa.

I am making an appeal for your immediate support, especially on the matter of the payment of the salaries of our clerics, even fifty or one hundred Euros a month, if you can, so that we can take a short breath, or anything that you consider manageable on the part of your Fraternity.

We hope that by the grace and help of God, you will become the good Samaritans in order to support us so that we can continue our work, which is a work of love, sacrifice and offer towards our brothers in Kenya.

We thank you in advance for your contribution and love.

With wishes and love in the Lord, †Makarios of Kenya

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Children' s Support Program We experience the plight of the little children on a daily basis.

In our societies some things are taken for granted. Our own child grows up in its environment and under any circumstances it should be given the necessary amount of food from the morning till the night. This is an absolutely natural situation. Here, however, in Africa, things are different. The children wake up in the morning and they go to bed at night hungry; no one can guarantee to them that they will have the food they need.

This is why the Holy Metropolis of Kenya ,among its various

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programs, implemented a special children’s feeding program, and not only: it undertook a crusade of survival of the little children, not only for daily food, i.e. breakfast and a meal, but also for educational opportunities for children by paying 20₏ a month.

This effort met with response, and now this program has spread throughout the country. Our own people make the biggest efforts and stand by our side so that we can save as many souls as possible and relieve our children who live under very difficult or even inconceivable conditions.

The conditions are not good for

the children. That is why through this program the Holy Metropolis of Kenya is trying to give a message of hope and certainty that all children are entitled to life and education.

Every year, on various occasions, the Holy Metropolis organizes meals for the children, except for the daily one. So, this Christmas at the yard of the Metropolis, apart from the children of the kindergarten and the primary school, gathered the poor children of our area, too, for a rich Christmas meal and not only. Soft drinks were offered to them as well as a little Christmas present along with stationery, like notebooks, pencils...

One mother with two little children approached the Bishop and confessed to him that the food

offered to them at Christmas was the only one they could eat that day, otherwise they would have stayed hungry on a Christmas day.

The efforts and the programs of the Holy Metropolis of Kenya will be continued even under those economically adverse circumstances. We must not leave the children suffering in their distress. We must do our best so that they will no longer sleep hungry.

This way, we will be able to support, encourage and give hope to these unprotected children who live under extremely difficult conditions and are expecting a helping hand to keep them going towards their beautiful destination on our planet.

From the Holy Metropolis 23|

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DR CONGO Katanga

The Voice of the Orthodox Faith Dear brothers in Christ, With this letter I would first like to thank you for your multiple benefactions towards our Holy Diocese, which I have been humbly serving as its head for seven years.

The work of the Diocese extends tο a large region of the province of Katanga with a population of 16 million people.

We try to do anything in our power so that the Word of God is heard, that is why ten years ago we created a radio station with very high ratings. However, a major obstacle to disseminating the Word of our God is the power failure and the antenna which we

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use from the telephone exchange of Kolwezi.

We ended up creating an antenna near our radio station, which will be fed by the electric generator of the Mission when there is no state power supply. Its total cost will reach the amount of 12,000 American dollars.

I humbly ask all of you to help us with our request mentioned above so that our Station operates continuously for the glory of God. I wish you a Happy Lent and God’s blessing in abundance to all of you. † Meletios of Katanga

Sponsors of education Dear brothers, “Thanks a lot, God bless them”.

This is the “thank you-phrase” used by every single student from the Holy Diocese of Katanga for your Fraternity when they received the allowance you so kindly offered for their studies. You are well aware of the fact that studying here in Congo is a very difficult and expensive thing to do. We, ourselves, taking into consideration the financial crisis which our beloved country is going through, are also aware of the difficulty of undertaking an “educational sponsorship” nowadays, as well as of the amount of love one should have in order to undertake such an action.

The Holy Diocese of Katanga expresses its sincere thanks to your Fraternity and asks you to convey wishes and thanks to the sponsors of these children.

We received the amount of € 14,000 for the school years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. With this money, our students were able to pay the tuition fees for their enrollment, since here fees are paid at the beginning of the school year.

Please, remember us in your prayers to the Lord.

Monk Efthymios of Gregoriou 27|

DR CONGO Kinshasa

Learning: a dream of hope for life Dear brothers, I humbly wish the benevolent God bless you all, your families and your missionary work in the new year.

I particularly ask for your prayers, so that I can deal with the numerous and difficult problems which arise daily.

Things are becoming more and more difficult. What saddens me the most, though, is when at the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy orthodox students approach me and ask me to help them continue their studies. Some cannot afford to pay the tuition fees of the University and are obliged to quit. Here there is no such thing as free education; the |28

attendance, the exams, the notes, are all paid. Other students cannot fend for themselves and beg for some food, others are evicted from the houses they have rented because they have no money for the rent. One can see thin faces which are thirsty for learning, though. Gazing at them, I feel really ashamed for not being able to do anything for these young people and help them continue their studies. I even avoid going to my office.

I try to avoid accepting the visits of young people because I have nothing to say to them.

What could I tell them? Words of comfort? What can one say really to starving young people or those who are kicked off their Universities for not being able to

pay the low rent for their lodging or buy their food? What could I tell them when I could not give them some form of aid to help them continue their studies?

who have to interrupt their studies due to lack of money?

That is why I was forced to find the courage and resort to your Fraternity in order to Today, as soon as I got out entreat you -addressing to your of the church, I met again with benevolent heart- to grant us several students who were 25 scholarships for destitute waiting for me and who started students, and also help continue begging me to help them; among their studies the orthodox them were two Law students young people of our Metropolis who told me in anguish:” We who are facing this problem. have interrupted our studies Only then will the Bishop be since 2010 because we didn’t able to look at them in the eyes. have enough money. We tried Therefore, I was very touched to find the money, we worked, to be informed of the decision and still, what we have gathered of the Board of your Orthodox is not enough. We need another Missionary Fraternity with 150 dollars. We haven’t got it which you let us know about and we will lose this year, too. the approval of the fund: Please, help us!” My heart was tight. What am I supposed to A. 12.000€ for the scholarships do? Where can I find the money of the destitute students of our to give not only to them but also Metropolis, to other Orthodox young people B. 6.000€ for exceptional

Constructing an Orthodox school in Gungu, CD

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financial assistance C. 4.000€ for a surgery and D. 1.350€ for Christenings.

took place at the Holy Church of Saint Mark in Kinshasa and was followed by two weddings.

I thank you for taking me out of a daily pastoral deadlock.

Now I will be able to help the destitute students continue their studies. I particularly want to thank the donors and I pray that God presents them with the Kingdom of Heaven.

This group of the neophytes is the fruit of the ministry of Mr Vaios Prantzos at our Holy Metropolis, who organized the catechetical work, monitored and guided the catechistsstudents and our new theologians- in their missionary work here in Kinshasa.

Today, the 19th of January, we had the great blessing by God to baptize 53 of our indigenous brothers. They were taken to the Holy Sacrament of Baptism after catechism. The christening

I thank you once more wishing every blessing in your God-pleasing work as well as to the members of your Fraternity and their families.

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† Nikiforos of Central Africa

Group Baptism

MADAGASCAR

Building a nest of care Dear brothers,

I would like to thank you and plead with you to contribute I would like to inform you that the pace of erection of the financially to this work; I hope Orphanage in Antananarivo is there will be some noble donor slow due to the economic crisis who could offer a considerable which is afflicting Madagascar amount of money so that as well. As you can see in the this work is completed. The photo, the building is quite donation which was sent to us big therefore a lot of money by an anonymous lady from and time is required for its Thessalonica has already been completion. Almost 60% of used for building a wing, which the work has been covered. will be named after her husband.

We hope that by the grace Finding the necessary funds is not easy at all, because, as you of God we will soon be able to know, the revenues of the Mission operate our orphanage so that have decreased significantly, we can accommodate more which makes it very difficult than 200 orphans and exposed to continue. For the completion infants, who have grown up and operation of the first floor, and need their own space. another 200,000â‚Ź is required. The construction of the other floors has been indefinitelypostponed.

With love in Christ †Ignatius of Madagascar

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Water tank The mind travels to southwestern Madagascar. It takes us with emotion to the major coastal city, Toliara, at dawn, when the first sunbeams stroke it gently.

The surrounding plains of this semi-arid region are inhabited by three tribes: the Antandroy, the Bara and the Mahafaly.

They are mainly breeders and earn their poor living more from farming and less from fishing.

Their villages consist of grass huts but the people are half-naked due to lack of proper clothing. They are deprived of the most vital good of life, water. They have to walk long distances in order to find it. They carry it in boxes with animals or on their shoulders; even children do so.

In this adverse environment, the Orthodox Mission cultivates the souls of the

From the spring of your heart natives with the seed of love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Late Bishop Nektarios was the first loving cultivator. His hard work is continued with a lot of paternal love by His Grace Metropolitan Ignatius with the assistance of the filled with the spirit of God Archimandrite f. Polykarpos Mikragiannanitis.

In this issue, we present the first water tank with a capacity of 25,000 cubic centimeters, which cost 10,000 â‚Ź and was created thanks to the donation of a distinguished donor. The same donor is sponsoring the creation of a second water tank in another village of the region.

Each tank is equipped with a water filter and will be regularly fed by a water wagon so that 1,000-2,000 inhabitants will not be deprived of water.

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MALAWI

Walking to the Kingdom of Heaven Dear brothers, We received your letter and once more we would like to thank you for your help, which enables us to continue our little missionary struggle.

Two days ago I received the remittance of â‚Ź 17,000, which you so kindly sent us for the drilling of five wells. Now we will focus on materializing our promise as soon as possible, on which you will be informed in detail.

Today the Orthodox community of Malawi is mourning. We are all sad because we have lost a very important and beloved member of our Church.

Paul, our neophyte orthodox native brother and catechist with fervent missionary zeal, is no longer with us. His |34

soul has gone to meet Christ, whom he so much loved.

Paul was an exemplary Orthodox Christian. He had been catechizing his native brothers properly for plenty of years.

He longed to communicate Orthodoxy to his country and was sorry that not all Malawian people were Orthodox, like Greeks! He was a little theologian!

He attended our seminars for a year regularly and was among the first to come; he would take down notes very carefully and every week he would draw as much orthodox knowledge as possible from the weekly papers we have available in English and tsitseoua and would impart them to others.

Among catechumens Ezekiel (the

his was newly

many Father ordained

priest), who, deeply touched, perfomed the funeral service along with Father Nicodemus.

The deceased Paul loved the orthodox prayer book so much that he was carrying it with him all the time, feeling, as he used to say, that it was as valuable as the Holy Bible. He marveled at the profound meanings coming out of the God-inspired prayers of the compline and the other prayers of night and day. He would pray being fully aware of what a prayer means. The prayer book was his best friend, that is why he tried to impart this experience to the others as well.

At the region of Dirandi, Paul was of the first Christians who formed a prayer group and begged daily and persistently

to God to give them a Church; Indeed, God heard their prayers because a prestigious plot was found and purchased in their area as well as the donor who would build the Church in the name of Aghios Antonios (Saint Antony).

This way, on the one hand Paul’s soul flew to Heaven, on the other we are going to make his wish come true. We are certain that he rejoices up there and glorifies God for listening to his prayers.

Our beloved Paul, even in the last days of his life when God visited him with his illness (tuberculosis), made us admire him because not even once did he resent his condition for two whole months that he was sent to hospital. Instead, he was glorifying God! He had a peace

Neophytes in the Orthodox faith

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and gratitude for everything. As he would say: “God has given me the most precious gift, true faith.” He felt that deep inside, that is why he was really grateful despite his material poverty.

He left his last breath at the age of 51 in hospital, in the arms of his wife, a very pious neophyte Orthodox Christian. His soul flew to the Creator in reverence.

It is worth mentioning that his funeral service was attended by a lot of natives, Orthodox, nonorthodox, even Muslims, since he was beloved by everyone.

Through the love and peace that characterized him, he had achieved something very important: to reconcile, unite and preach the love of Christ.

It is not an overstatement to say that until the last moment of his earthly life, Paul was honored by God to bring people close to the Orthodox faith and tradition that he so much believed in and loved.

We dare say so because a large number of people who attended the funeral service marveled at the grandeur, and the profound meanings of the psalms and the prayers of the service. They said: “What beautiful words you have, who are you, where are you so that we can come to be catechized….”

Wondrous is God, who finds ways to invite us close to him.

Everlasting be the memory of our brother Paul.

F. Ermolaos Iatrou

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A well of life from the spring of your heart

GUINEA

Shipment of humanitarian aid Dear brothers, Rejoice in the Lord.

In February a container sailed for Conakry, capital city of Guinea, filled with a harvest of love for this people of West Africa. The loading was made by volunteer partners of the newly founded Holy Metropolis of Guinea.

Among the various items that were sent to Guinea was a fifty-seat-bus, an offer of love of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, which is intended to serve the intercity routes in the interior of the country so that it can cover the missionary needs.

Taking its first steps in Guinea, the |37

Mission is asked to respond to the call and expectations of our indigenous brothers for their spiritual and material support.

I am grateful to your Fraternity for supporting me financially during my humble service at the Holy Metropolises of Zimbabwe, Accra, and recently at the H. M. of Guinea, which comprises the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea- Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Cape Verde. I would also like to thank warmly our donors, who supported considerably the missionary work by giving the little they have. †With love in Christ, George of Guinea

The 3rd Ugandan Bishop Innokentios at the Holy Diocese of Burundi and Rwanda His Grace Bishop Innokentios Byakatonda of Burundi and Rwanda was born in Uganda in 1964.He studied at the Seminary of Chania and at the Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he did postgraduate studies.

During his studies in Thessaloniki, our Fraternity embraced him affectionately as their own child, because they discerned his moral standards and his fervent zeal for dedication to the work of the Mission in the peoples of Africa.

B

He continued his postgraduate studies on Patrology at the Theological School of the Holy Cross in Boston and at the Seminary of Saint Tychon in Pensylvania, Usa. He was ordained a deacon and a presbyter by the late Patriarch Peter of Alexandria. He served as an Academic Director at the Patriarchal School of Nairobi in Kenya, as a Deputy Dean at the Orthodox College of Kenya and as a Patriarchal Commissioner of Southern Soudan.

y decision of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, there have been the following changes regarding the Missionary Teams of Africa: • His Eminence Metropolitan George of Accra has been transferred to the new Holy Metropolis of Guinea, while His Grace Bishop Savvas of Burundi and Rwanda to the H.M. of Accra. • The first one who has been consecrated Bishop of the Holy Diocese of Brazzaville and Gabon is Archimandrite Panteleimon Arathymos, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod. |38

Looking through the mud huts My most recent mission to Madagascar has been indelibly printed on my memory. I begin my narration with what made me the greatest impression: the importance of the relation of our country, which is currently being afflicted verging on a humanistic crisis, with the poorer peoples.

where the living conditions were very hard. This is something one could feel right away from the scenes of daily life.

The schedule of our stay in the country involved daily expeditions to several villages of the province of its capital city, Antananarivo.

that has never been given.

One had the feeling of descending a lot of steps of poverty and deprivation at the sight of the fear and the despair on these people’s faces.

Although our society is Their eyes mirrored mixed undergoing a violent decline, feelings of abandonment, one can distinguish the isolation, condemnation to incredible grandeur of the a life where survival ranged Greek soul, which continues to from hard to impossible. embrace and help the muchEvery time our eyes met theirs afflicted peoples of the universe there was a big WHY coming despite its slender means. out, looking for an answer At times the route scenes alternated with milder ones.

Such a picture came into view on the broad horizon: a village with Those with problems with little mud houses built up on a their eyesight that ran to hill, on top of which dominated the surgery were examined and complemented the scenery and received medical and a whitewashed Greek-Orthodox pharmaceutical care. At the church. same time the right glasses Another cross, another for each case of long or short- conquest of love on the distant sightedness were provided. island of the Indian Ocean!

The people we associated with repaid our visit with their smile, simplicity and gratitude.

Another village was filled with the sweetness of the spiritual light- a light like that However, we visited regions of the Resurrection which gives 39|

hope and reforms every man.

other peoples’ difficulties, which we no longer pass by but The Mission work in Madagascar is magnificent. It we see them as an invisible link numbers 90 parishes throughout that connects us all together. the island. It has managed to We, modern Greeks, have a reform local communities within moral duty towards our History, the few years of its existence. which is being tested once more: The children of Greece are experiencing a declining state; and yet, they continue to help the children of Madagascar from the little they have and do not cease understanding them and sympathizing more with them.

It is paradoxical the fact that now that the lights of a virtual prosperity are coming down, we can see more clearly, being able to perceive more directly

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We need to regain our strength and take care anew of the spiritual as well as the natural tree of our Country, in order to move again from a harsh winter to a blooming spring, sending out its scents and its cool breeze all over the world.

Catherine Alexandrou Surgeon-Oculist Regular member of the Fraternity

Archimandrite Theophilus Zesopoulos

The Lion has slept!

Reposed in the Lord on 29. 1. 2013. A humble Levite of our Church, an honest worker of the Gospel of Christ.

A man of sacrifice and offer.

Archimandrite Theophilus- his secular name being Theodore Zesopoulos, was born at Kyparissi in Grevena on May 1st 1930. He studied at the Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

His tonsure as a monk takes place at the Holy Monastery of Panagia in Goumenissa. In 1959 he is ordained a presbyter and is given the title of the Archimandrite.

He served at the Holy Metropoles of Kilkis, Eleftheroupolis, Messinia, Kassandria, Florina and finally at the Holy Metropolis of Lagadas, from where he retired in1987, but he never truly left the noble army of Christ.

The mission was his work and his whole life. Preaching rejuvenated him, nurtured him. He issued hundreds of leaflets, books and magazines, the best-known being the magazine SAINT LYDIA. In 1958 he founds Dorkas, a Charitable Fraternity of young girls which engages in charity as well as in the support of young girls, and in 1965 the Orthodox Christian Fraternity “LYDIA”, which mostly engages in the field of mission.

In the 1960’s he founds boarding schools for boys and girls in Kilkis, where every year and for almost a decade 200-220 children find a warm home to nestle and fulfill their studies.

He cares about the creation of Sunday schools, religious circles and church camps. With his help, there are Holy Bible study circles as well as Christian student groups in lots of Holy Metropoles in Macedonia with the blessing of their Bishops.

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The sea says farewell to the sun, as the sea of faces said farewell to its spiritual sun on the journey to eternity.

The camp “the Joy of Children” which has been operating in ultra modern installations since 2010, has had a successful course of about 40 years. Overall, so far, about 25,000 Greek children and 20,000 children coming from countries of the same denomination have been hosted there (Serbia, Belarus, Georgia, Romania, N. Epirus).

Feeling the pulse of our times, he wishes the word of God to be heard on the radio, Christ on the microphone! On July 7th 1993, the radio station “Lydia the Philippian” broadcasts for the first time and manages to calm, relieve and reform souls, thanks to the tireless efforts of Father Theophilus.

In 1996 he takes a bold decision.

Realizing the catalytic influence of television, he undertakes the burden of staffing and operating |42

the ecclesiastical TV station 4E, which is currently transmitted by satellite and through the internet all around the planet. From 1996 up to his repose, i.e. for 17 whole years, as the President of the Board, he was the mastermind, the spiritual guide. He was at the helm of the station defying any sacrifice, as long as the name of God was glorified and the station served Christ and Greece.

A brave man has gone! A pioneer, a tireless worker of the Gospel is now in the eternal monasteries. A worthy cleric who honored his holy garments and sowed generously the word of God in the hearts of people. From now on, he will be resting in peace in the arms of God, Whom he worshipped and served with zeal and faith.

May we have his blessing.

From LYDIA Fraternity

Columns of Gratitude and heartfelt thanksgiving Donations from 1/11/2012 to 31/01/2013

Names can be found on the printed issue. Withheld in online publication for reasons of privacy.

"For God loves a cheerful giver" 43|

References Pictures of these pages are supplied free under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 or BY 3.0 license by their copyright holdres: 8 ryankozie 10 kimvanderwaal 11 Locutis 14 mattk1979 20 gwen 35 Julien Harneis 39 Elin 42 B michael clarke stuff 43 jenny downing 44-45 Ross Hong Kong 46 aftab. 47 shoebappa

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1963‒2013: Fellow travelers in the Orthodox Mission in the nations for 50 years

50 years have passed since the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity was founded and we became fellow travelers in this long and difficult journey of life. Opening the window of thoughts, the minds travels in the past and stops at the rise of the spiritual light of the Orthodox faith for our African brothers.

The late F. Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos first flew to Uganda on the wings of love. As a great spiritual farmer, he started sowing the Divine Word of the Gospel and planting it in the souls of the much- afflicted natives.

He was an unsung worker who followed in the footsteps of the Apostles with a message to convey: “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) Through the holy sacrament of Baptism, he dressed thousands of souls in a sun-embroidered mantle, the mantle of the Light of life, our Lord. He set an example to his followers who went to Africa later on: F. Athanasios Anthides, F, Amphilochios Tsoukos, F. Chariton Pnevmatikakis, F. Kosmas Gregoriatis and many others.

Half a century later, the Fraternity which he himself founded, having social sensibilities, continues its humble fight only thanks to our noble donors. Their endless kindness to help their fellowmen who are suffering, exalts them onto the heavenly road that leads to the Kingdom of God. Together since 1963 we have livened up hope in much-afflicted peoples.

We have built Holy Churches, Schools of all stages of education, orphanages, clinics and surgeries, have given medicines and have granted scholarships, have drilled wells, have offered farming tools and special vehicles for the amputees, have provided common meals to orphans and poor children…

By the Grace of the Triune God and with your support, we continue our charity work for another 50 years.

Missionaries:

Sweat of love watered in the thirsty desert of the soul 45|

1963-2013: Fellow travelers in the Orthodox Mission in the nations for 50 years