Orthodox Mission #34

orthodox mission

Founded in 1963 Honored by the Patriarchate of Alexandria October-December 2020 / Issue 34

Editor: Nostis Psarras

Ss. Missionaries Cyril and Methodius

In this Issue 04 07 08 12 16 19 20 23 26 28 31 33 35 42 44

New Zealand Indonesia Kenya - Nairobi Congo Republic Congo (DRC) - Kinshasa Congo (DRC) - Katanga Ghana Tanzania - Dar Es Salaam Guinea Uganda - Gulu Kenya - Kisumu Malawi Tanzania - Arusha Madagascar - Toliara Tanzania - Bukoba

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Authors are responsible for their own articles.

Owner:

Orthodox Missionary Fraternity 6, Mackenzie King st., Hagia Sophia sq.

546 22 Thessaloniki, Greece 2310 279910, fax. 2310 279902

https://orthodoxmission.org.gr communications @orthodoxmission.org.gr Registered Charitable Association Spiritual founder:  Fr. Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos (1903-1972) Founding president:  Pantelis Bayas Great Benefactor:  Panagiotis Papademetracopoulos Honorary president: Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and all Africa

Board of Directors Charalampos Metallidis President Nostis Psarras Vice president Angeliki Arnaouti Secretary General Dimitrios Sotirkos Τreasurer Constantinos Metallidis Secretary Asst Zenobios Iatrou Treasurer Asst Evangelia Traikoudi Member Aikaterini Alexandrou Member

Prodromos Kalaitzidis Member

License

Distributed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license.

Similarly licensed works of the following authors were used in the respective pages:

4 easegill 8 Ralf Κλενγελ 12 Julien Harneis 16 CIFOR 19 Jonathan Ball 26 Rita Willaert 28 Miss Helena 31 Rod Waddington 33 Joachim Huber 35 Daniel Ramirez 39 Mario Micklisch 44 Ryan Kilpatrick

Holy Nativity 2020 May the grace of our newly-born Christ shine upon you and the nations in the new year 2021

NEW ZEALAND

Routes of Divine Grace Dear readers of the magazine, we send you the joyful greeting of our Lord from distant Aotearoa (the name of New Zealand in the Maori language).

Christ can give each one of us so much joy and so many opportunities to share the beauty of the Mission!

Demetrius, a 15-year-old Maori boy (mentioned in the previous issue for his newly baptized family) wants to become a lawyer. Two years ago he lived far from the city in a house without running water.

Attending a good high school would be difficult. However, God Almighty has His way. Thanks to his

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exceptional school performance, Demetrius was admitted to the famous Hamilton Boys High School.

However, in order to study there, he would have to be a boarding pupil with a living cost of 2,000 euro. His parents were unable to respond. The school fees had to be paid by Friday and it was Tuesday! They asked for the help of their priest, Fr. George.

At the time, he was in Australia and urged them to pray together to Saint Demetrius to intercede.

The dinner at a family home of Mission friends in the presence of the good and very blessed priest Fr. Elias and 2-3

friends had surprises in store.

The discussion focused on the living conditions and efforts of the Mission in the Pacific islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, as well as in the Maori community in Raglan, New Zealand. Among other things, the priest referred to the request for financial assistance for the school of little Demetrius, since it had just been received and their prayer was asked for God to show them how to act.

The old lady sitting on the next chair asked to speak privately to our priest, to whom she said, ÂŤMy husband died last year. His

name was Demetrius. Since he passed away, I have been praying to Saint Demetrius to give me the opportunity to do something in his name, for the soul of my late husband. Tonight, when I heard the story of little Demetrius, I realized that this was the opportunity.

I will help the child to studyÂť.

She would not accept thanks, since in their parish Fr. Elias has made his flock realize that when people give and offer out of their wealth or out of their scarcity, they should not accept back thanks as payment. Instead, they should feel thankful and express their gratitude

Demetrius (on the right) serves as an altar boy

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for the opportunities God presents to them to serve Him and His children and to store up an invaluable spiritual treasure in Heaven.

Demetrius excelled in classes as the top-ranking student in the whole school and was awarded the praise for outstanding performance.

In this way, he honored in the best way the great benefit that God brought to his life! His benefactor on earth has fallen asleep in the Lord, but in Demetrius’ memory and prayers she will always be alive.

With a single act of kindness, she changed a young child’s life radically.

God gave her the opportunity, and

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she was able to identify it! She served an unknown fellow human being, offered a prayer for the repose of her deceased husband’s soul, honored Saint Demetrius, and praised and glorified the holy name of the Triune God. How much joy our Lord can give us! And how many ways He can find! He generously gives each one of us opportunities to experience the beauty and joy of offering to our fellow human beings.

May you have a Good Advent Season, and by the Grace of God, let us all walk towards His Holy Nativity. † Myron of New Zealand

In the Holy Trinity church

INDONESIA

Everything Closed Down This year we celebrated St. Demetrius’ feast day at Medan Cathedral with simplicity due to the fact that our parish is still closed to the large number of believers. So far we have not had any announcement from the government when churches, schools, shops and other retail and personal services will be permitted to operate. As a result, we do not know what will happen at Christmas. Our finances are getting worse and worse every day. But we have hope in Jesus Christ and in the Virgin Mary, because we know that strength and comfort come from them.

Since March I have been to very few villages, because many have been quarantined. Factories

and construction sites have been closed down. Rallies are a daily phenomenon. 15 million Indonesians have been left unemployed. Product prices are rising. We do our best to survive and sustain the Mission. Presbytera makes coconut oil, some people have started planting corn, others rearing goats or raising small poultry. We do everything in our power not to starve as we do not know when this situation will end.

This is why, my beloved brothers and sisters, we humbly ask for your prayers and your support.

Let us all praise the Holy Name of the Triune God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Chrysostomos Manalu 7

KENYA - Nairobi

A Message of Hope from the Eternally SnowCapped Mount Kilimanjaro I always write down my thoughts, my ideas, my concerns and my feelings, not only now with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing rise in global hungerespecially here in Africa.

Surprises come unexpectedly but they almost always give a hopeful message, although nowadays the situations we are going through are difficult and quite often confuse humans.

It is a fact that since the coronavirus outbreak, our Orthodox Church has undertaken a struggle of offering and sacrifice to our suffering fellow human beings, particularly here in Kenya.

Thus, with the prayers of contemporary elders and the 8

blessings of His Beatitude, the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoros II, all these months I have been able to travel inland from the one end of Kenya to the other, delivering the word of God, conducting the holy sacraments of our Church, especially that of the Holy Eucharist, as well as distributing food for the support and relief of our brothers and sisters regardless of religion and faith Moreover, despite the tough times we are going through, we conducted the dedication service of new church buildings in various areas.

Our Lord, as we have known Him through His life - with His living presence, miracles and divine interventions, despite His Holiness

and Divinity, remains a stranger to many people and is so much despised that in the end, it is like putting Him back on the Cross one more time to sacrifice Him. He once again humbles Himself in order to save the human race.

So these days I felt the need, as a part of my spiritual and pastoral duties, to visit our Orthodox brothers who live and move at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro; historic, active and supportive communities, with two majestic church buildings already in operation and another ready to be dedicated and open to the faithful. The journey was long and somewhat difficult and tiring, as on the way to Kilimanjaro there is severe aridity and drought and the landscape is totally barren –unlike here in Central Kenya, where it is constantly raining; however, the

feeling of God’s love changes the whole setting.

This love does not remain as dry as nature there but is transfigured, transforms everything and becomes a place of rest and hope. With these feelings, I arrived at the first church, where I met with only five young people waiting for me. I was impressed by their kindness, their maturity but also their nice thoughts. During this serious discussion and acquaintance with them, I could discern the certainty and confidence that these young people nurtured for the presence of the Church in their lives, the positive and living presence of the Kingdom of God as a universal feast, a grand banquet (Luke 13:24).

The most important thing was that we were in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a famous

Four Evangelists church, constructed with our Fraternity's funding

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and mysterious place, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and we could not help thinking how important must be the fact that there are such young people with deep religious consciousness and faith. At that moment I thought that from that very place, we could see God Himself indeed as a stranger and a sojourner, but along with the group of other «strangers», He becomes a friend who gives hope and prepares the Kingdom of God through the pure and innocent creatures of His; the ones who have not yet known evil and sin but already live the «heavenly world», which will eventually lead them and bring eternally into them His anticipated eternal Kingdom.

I am convinced that what I experienced from the very first 10

moments with those «heaven sent» young people, verified one more time that Christ was both true God and true man who came to this world and was incarnated in order to save and give eternal life to mankind with His example (John 10:10).

And we repeat that we are in the middle of nowhere and yet, we see how important was the decision of our Lord to leave Heaven and come to dwell upon the earth, to become one with us, humans. The deeper we delve into the details of His divine presence, the more we feel the glory and majesty of theology, that of acceptance, extreme emptiness and condescension, and above all, of His humility. Moreover, it is imperative that we see in practice that the peoples are called here to camp

with Him and thus immediately taste His own condescension, His already mentioned acceptance and hospitality (Psalms 23,15).

And we did not stop there. We also had to see the well-equipped orphanage that will soon host all the orphans of the area. Here the message given from time immemorial is that our Lord Himself was a stranger and a sojourner throughout His earthly life. And yet, He gives us this excellent example, which we experienced with those inhabiting the remote mountain of Kilimanjaro where we see Him ready to serve any human being regardless of race and origin, language and morals (Mark 10:45).

And the culmination was revealing, mysterious, mystical: first the conduction of the Divine Liturgy

at the Church of the Three Hierarchs and then the sanctification of the waters at the Church of St. John the Forerunner. We saw and marveled at the zeal and faith of our priests first and then of all the faithful people of God, especially of our youth. The efforts and sacrifices of the workers? were not wasted but were fixed and established there on the rock of faith and truth; and now, in our case, on the age-old mountain of Kilimanjaro, which sends us all the message of love, hope and light, emitted by the truth of the Gospel and the Savior of the world Himself that the kingdom of God has every right to be known by all, since that was, is, and will always be the ultimate purpose: the salvation of all mankind. †Makarios of Nairobi 11

CONGO REPUBLIC

Eight Years of Ministry to Fellow Humans Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, November 21, 2020 was the day that marked- by the mercy and grace of God- the eighth anniversary of the election of my unworthiness as the first Shepherd of the newly established Holy Diocese at first, and eventually, the Holy Metropolis of Brazzaville and Gabon, after the paternal proposal and under the patronage and support of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II and by a unanimous regular voting of the Holy and Sacred Synod of our ancient Patriarchate.

Eight years of apprenticeship in the principles and mentalities of the Congolese brethren, eight years of deep concern for their spiritual progress in Orthodox teaching and tradition, eight years of exhausting 12

tension for the administrative reconstruction, stabilization and progress of the H. Metropolis according to the Holy Canons, the Patriarchal Ordinances of the Second to the Throne Church of Alexandria and the legislation of the Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon.

Finally, eight years of conscious silence, in response of pastoral responsibility to reckless external blows, extremely dangerous for the cohesion of the newly established local Church ... But the Lord is alive, “and doest wondrous things alone�!

During these eight years, the love of all of you, the honorable members of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity run by the prominent Board of Trustees under the successive presidencies of three outstanding and pious men at the

helmof thecharity- Mr. Konstantinos Daoudakis, Mr. Demetrius Sotirkos and Mr. Charalambos Metallides, manifested itself in every way and generously, always to the extent possible as this eight-year period of my humble missionary service coincided with the severe economic crisis that plagues our beloved homeland. However, selfless love knows how to open roads and overcome obstacles. It is this strong love and support of yours, as well as the love and support of other brothers from other missionary associations that managed to work miracles during my service here!

Miracles concerning not only the unhindered operation of the Saint Eustace Orthodox Orphanage, the ÂŤsmall familyÂť of a total of

48 children, who you embraced and supported sacrificially during this crucial period, but also the designation of this institution as a model one and as the best in terms of quality social organization on the part of the Congolese authorities.

Other miracles concerning the erection or completion of Churches for the enlightenment and sanctification of our native brothers, such as the fundamentally erected and dedicated Church of St. John the Forerunner-Saint Nicholas in Impfondo city, the first Orthodox Church in northern Congo-Brazzaville, in the land of the renowned small-sized Pygmies, one of the oldest tribes on earth, who have embraced the Orthodox faith, and the recently completed

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Church of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Saint Cosmas of Aetolia, which holds a conspicuous position in the city of Nkayi.

And many other miracles concerning the presence of new priestly vocations and ordinations, the baptism of thousands of brothers, the improvement in the living conditions for others, the medical care of the needy, the education of poor children, the survival of abandoned brothers‌ Unfortunately, this anniversary coincides with a tragic event for humanity, the globe-wide curse of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Naturally, from the beginning of March, the pandemic affected the Republic of the Congo as well.

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Almost immediately, a Presidential Decree was issued, which, among other things, imposed a complete suspension of the operation of churches, temples, mosques and shrines of all religions, Christian denominations and sects (from March 15 to August 24), while restrictions on the free movement of citizens were imposed. The situation was then entrusted to the Army, which imposed a curfew during certain hours and undertook to maintain order.

The situation prevailing in the country (curfew, shop closures, work suspension, lack of medical infrastructure and financial liquidity, even greater difficulty in meeting living needs resulting in an

ongoing aggression and violence, a climate of fear and insecurity and many others...) had a direct impact on the life of the newly established Metropolis of Brazzaville, since it greatly multiplied the requests for help on the part of Orthodox native brothers to it, mainly coming from the large urban centers affected by the pandemic, for purchase of food and medical supplies, even for burying the destitute dead...

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters, «Long live the Lord our God, the God of Hosts»! Our catechumens are already spiritually preparing for the baptisms that will take place this Christmas, our schools continue to operate aligned with the emergency sanitary measures

against Covid-19, the children of our Orphanage are enjoying good health, and the liturgical life is being continued uninterrupted despite the limited by government decision number of believers during this difficult period.

The local Congo-Brazzaville Orthodox Church continues to sail, even though most of the time the wind is not favorable. However, with your own prayer and the whole-hearted sacrificial offering that knows how to overcome the clutches of temptations and trials, love will thrive and work wonders.

For»perfect love casts out fear» (1 John 4:18)!

Thanks be to God for all things! † Panteleimon of Brazzaville & Gabon

Students of our Orthodox school

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CONGO (DRC) - Kinshasa

Our Little Hospital The construction work in our little hospital has stopped due to lack of funding. It did not manage to work, except for the period when the team of doctors from Greece had arrived. Then, a large number of poor natives were examined, took some medication and were cured.

The road outside the building was full of people, patiently waiting for their turn to be examined by the doctors who had come from Greece.

The examination rooms did not have doors, so we hung blankets for doors. The doctors had to examine and offer their help to the natives who could not afford to see a doctor, and had no money to buy any medicine, not even an aspirin.

The moments that the doctors lived were very emotional. All of us

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were emotional watching so many poor people suffering. Our eyes misted over with tears of pain at the sight of their plight, but also of joy that the Orthodox Church offered something to our poor, forlorn brothers there alleviating their pain and giving them some hope for the next day. We praised and glorified God and asked the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Panteleimon to help us complete our Health Center, our little hospital.

The pandemic was coming, and we still had not managed to complete it, to offer something to these long-suffering people who live in utter poverty. We felt deep sorrow and grief; we prayed and apologized to God for our inability to help. We could not look these poor people

who live around our small hospital in the eye. What would they think?

“You gave us hope for a few days, and now in the difficult period of the pandemic, you have left us all alone!”

A lot of people kept asking: “when is the Health Center going to open? When will the doctors come?

When will you help us?” We avoided approaching the place all this time.

We only put a guard there. We were feeling awful for not being able to find any money to proceed with the construction work. As a result, the health center remained closed when it was most needed, when it was supposed to be open and offer the love of Orthodoxy to our needy brothers. We were absent. We were overwhelmed by sorrow and grief;

however, we had no choice but to keep it closed due to lack of money.

Towards the end of the first phase of the pandemic, we started the work again with the money sent to us by our philanthropic brothers. With the help of the friends of the Metropolis and the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity of Thessaloniki, the internal doors and some medical and hospital equipment were loaded into the container and are coming. The ground floor, when everything else that is needed has been completed, will be able to operate. We want to believe this will happen soon if our philanthropic brothers help us.

On the first floor, which includes an operating room, treatment rooms and a conference

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room, there is still a lot of work to be done: electrical and plumbing installation, tile flooring, door and roofing installation, appropriate medical and hospital equipment installation. All this needs a lot of money to be accomplished.

We believe and hope that our Most Holy Theotokos, the mother of us all, and St. Panteleimon, to both of whom our small hospital «Panagia Soumela - Agios Panteleimon» is dedicated, will enlighten devout brothers and philantropists, who will help for its completion and provide medical care and assistance to the poor natives.

At the same time, a medical group of friends of the Holy Metropolis, headed by the priestdoctor, professor of Medicine and director of the Health Center of Vari

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Attica Fr. Michael Dandoulakis, is making the necessary preparations to organize the operation of our small Hospital. We are making an earnest appeal to doctors to support this effort.

Our Metropolis has no resources here in Congo or anywhere else, it relies solely on the donations of those who selflessly deprive themselves of some things in order to help us. Thus, the only way to complete our hospital and render it operational is through everyone’s contribution. Without your help and support, this God-pleasing project is condemned to fail.

We humbly pray to the Benevolent God to reward the love and sacrifice of the donors with rich heavenly and earthly blessings. † Nikiforos of Kinshasa

Our little hospital

CONGO (DRC) - Katanga

We need your help

Dear Mission friends and supporters, May God shower His abundant grace upon you and bless you in your life and in your hard work.

I have already received from the bank the notification for two checks which you sent us, one in the amount of € 20,000 for the Church of the Annunciation and another in € 5,520 for the students who study through the educational adoption program. I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for your kind response. These days we are finishing the Church of St. Herodion in Kolwezi, the third parish within the city, and I hope we will soon be able to start rebuilding the Church of the Annunciation in Manika, because our Christians there have grown

a lot and we need to create more parishes to accommodate all of them.

Our daily struggle may be hard and painful, but it is also blessed when we see our Christians struggling and sacrificing for Christ.

Their suffering is indescribable, which is why we do our best to support them in any possible way.

These days that the schools opened, we helped them by distributing stationery and other school necessities; however, the children go to school famished since they have no food to put in their mouths.

That is why I turn to your blessed Fraternity for help. If you could send us a 10 tonne container with various food items to alleviate their hunger, it would be a God-sent blessing. † Meletios of Katanga 19

GHANA

From Ivory Coast to Burkina Faso Ivory Coast - the name alone sounds interesting. It is, of course, reminiscent of another era, a tough one, that of colonialism. The colonists then gave the countries names after the products they took from them. One night, from those typical of such tropical regions, my predecessor, His Eminence Metropolitan Narcissus of Naucratis, very wisely pointed out how much we, Orthodox Christians, differ from them. They insisted on grabbing what was most valuable to the countries, whereas we bring them what is most valuable to us, Orthodoxy.

In Abidjan, the capital city of Ivory Coast, we have our first parish with Fr. Jeremiah Behanzin as parish priest. Recently, two other priests have been ordained and two 20

new centers of Orthodoxy have been created, two new parishes. In Akures village, 47 km away from Abidjan, where Fr. Sebastian Mahi serves, the sacred services are performed inside a straw hut. In Agboville, a town 70 km away from Abidjan, Fr. Albert Ebrin conducts the sacred services in a makeshift tent. Fortunately, with the help of a local believer, we have secured a plot of land on which a church building is already under construction. His Beatitude our Patriarch is also planning to have a clinic and a school built in this area.

Despite all the difficulties we face on the Coast - the need for church buildings not only in the two new parishes, but also in other suburbs of Abidjan, the necessity of continuous training of clergy

as well as of finding prospective candidates to the priesthood – yet, our missionary zeal does not wane.

This explains how Orthodoxy has traveled all the way through from Ivory Coast to Burkina Faso.

Accompanied by a group of believers, Fr. Jeremiah visited the neighboring country, and his contact with the natives there bore fruit. In a relatively short time, our first parish community was created.

With the frequent visits of either Fr. Jeremiah or Fr. Albert, there were catechisms, baptisms, Divine Liturgies. A house in the Benogo region of Ouagadougou, the capital city, has been used for the conduction of the Sacred Mysteries and as a gathering place for the faithful.

With the spread of the pandemic, the borders between the countries have been closed.

As a result, our faithful in Burkina

Faso are deprived of the visits of our priests as well as of God’s blessing, since the Holy Mysteries cannot possibly be conducted without a priest. We pray that things change for the better soon. It is encouraging though that there is a newly-lit brother distinguished by his moral values, faith and thirst to know more and more of the Orthodox faith, who would make a good first permanent priest for our new parish community.

Even though things are not at all easy for our Mission, I do not lose faith as I remember the words of our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew (9:37), «The harvest is plentiful.»

We may lack resources, but with God’s help along with your support and love, I strongly believe that everything will be accomplished, even if it takes more time.

Wishing in the Lord, † Peter of Accra

Our faithful in Agboville are waiting...

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Burkina Faso «The Land of Honest People» Burkina Faso lies in the bossom of Western Africa. It is a landlocked country.

It borders Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Togo, Benin and Ghana. Its late President Thomas Sankara renamed the country of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means «the land of honest people». Upper Volta gained its independence from France in 1960. It spans over 274.200 square kms and is home to about 20 million inhabitants. Its capital is Ouagadougou, which lies 800 kms east of the Atlantic Ocean. Its southwestern region is covered by wild rainforests and rich fauna. Green is always present there thanks to seasonal rainfall. The central part of the country is dominated by savannah. Moving northwards, one faces the extremities of the Sahara desert. Islam is the first among the religions of the population, with Christianity and various local religions following.

The country has few natural resources and is a member of the African poor.

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TANZANIA - Dar Es Salaam

Ordination of the First Maasai Priest in Tanzania With ecclesiastical magnificence but also simplicity, as is customary in Africa, and with the blessings of HDB Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, the until recently Deacon of the Holy Metropolis of Irinoupolis Fr. Elias Katasiko, was ordained Elder by His Eminence Demetrius of Irinoupolis.

It is worth stressing that Fr. Elias is the first Orthodox priest from the primitive Maasai tribe in Tanzania.

The touching sacrament of his ordination took place at the Metropolitan Church of Saint Paraskevi in the city of Dar es Salaam, whose erection was a donation from the family of George and Erasmia Arnaoutoglou and the Greek Community in 1952.

The Sunday Divine Liturgy was attended by the President, the board and a lot of members of the Greek Community, as well as by many natives from various tribes of Tanzania, but mostly from the primitive Masaai tribe, who ,at the end of the Divine Liturgy and after the “Agape Meal”-that is, the Christian fellowship meal, celebrated and congratulated in their own primitive African way the first Priest in Tanzania from their tribe.

Fr. Elias will be in charge of the Masaai Mission in the wider area of our Mission Center in MOROGORO, in eastern Tanzania, where there are about 30 primitive Masaai communities (nomads) and 6 newly established Orthodox parishes. † Demetrius of Irinoupolis 23

A School in Africa In a blue dream the bright stars twinkle As if they want to write the word «Education».

While the veil of silence covers the night , A small child from Africa Dressed in the sun rays, Approaches… and touches my sensitive feelings, He wants to relate the real dream of his life…

I nostalgically remember his tender words That touched my soul and conscience.

Here in Africa I live in a house made of kneaded mud.

Every morning when the butterflies wake up, They play and dance for me.

Many times the butterflies touch my chest; I believe their antennae send messages To my heart how much they love her.

But many times I think that if I had a pencil and a notebook I would go to a bigger village; I heard that there is a school there .

I would walk… I would walk on the grass; This is my natural shoes.

On this route I would meet my friends the animals But also the winged creatures of the sky.

They as well have feelings of love Coming from God’s wonderful creation.

When there are shady clouds in the sky…

When there are sad thoughts of age, My tears accompany the rain Because I do not have a pencil and a notebook to go to school.

Why…? Why…?

Nostis Psarras 24

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GUINEA

Shipping aid for the pandemic Dear Friends of the Mission, It is with great pleasure that I contact you again In a time when all of humanity is plagued by the corona virus pandemic. The whole world is going through unprecedented experiences, and unfortunately most of the consequences fall on the shoulders of the Church, since once again, all the bows are pointing their arrows at the target that they have always considered a thorn in their malicious plans, the Church of Christ.

Now, our brothers in Africa have to deal not only with poverty, lack of clean water and simple diseases, but also with fighting the Chinese flu pandemic. How could they possibly deal with it when we, the so called “developed countries�, 26

cannot face it effectively themselves? How could they afford to buy antiseptics, face masks and disinfectants when they can hardly make ends meet and try hard to get some food for their families? These people are so poor that they struggle to make a living, how could they afford all these expenses?

It is this fight where you are called to play your part and support us. Our Mission friends come to us to become our fellow-companions and supporters. You come to put into practice the words of Christ.

You come to share the love you have in your heart for God with your fellow human beings in Africa.

On Monday, November 2, by the grace of God and with the blessings of His Beatitude our Pa-

triarch Theodore II, we loaded two containers with humanitarian aid and many school supplies for the children of Guinea and Zimbabwe. All the blessings destined for Zimbabwe were offered with great love by the Mission friends of an island where many saints lived or were martyred, Mytilene, with the help of Mr. Panagiotis Tiniakos.

Food for Guinea was offered by Fr. Panteleimon Poulos. Brand new clothes were sent from London by a most devout sister in Christ, Mrs. Evdokia Kyprianou, with the help of Fr. Joseph Paliouras and the blessings of Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain.

The containers have embarked on their long journey to give joy to our brothers in Africa. We are now knocking on your door, the door of your warm heart, to help us pay

the freight rates. For the container to Guinea we need €3850 and for the container to Zimbabwe another €5700. I am sure you will respond to our call again. We are well aware of the difficult times that everyone is going through, especially our benefactors, but we have no other door to knock on.

May God strengthen you in your life and may the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrhstreamer-the patron saint and protector of your city, whose memory we recently honored, bless you and sanctify you. The blessings of our Patriarch will always accompany you. Take care of yourselves, and let us hope that we will soon be delivered from the invisible enemy of the pandemic.

With love in Christ, † George of Guinea

Let's help them

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UGANDA - Gulu

Hardships and vision My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, Once again, I am given the opportunity to contact you and express my deep gratitude to all of you for your assistance with our spiritual and humanitarian work in faraway Uganda, and for enabling us to relieve all those who knock on our door and ask for help.

It is true that the COVID-19 pandemic that plagues all of humanity has not left us unaffected, either. Besides the diseases caused by infections and our inability to provide any medical treatment, now this deadly virus is being added to infect these poor and already troubled people.

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A wholehearted thanks for the well As a Bishop, I stand by everyone, without making any discrimination between those who are members of the Orthodox Church and those who advocate and believe in something else.

For instance, the borehole that was drilled at St. Nectarios parish in Palalo village, (for which we would like to express our deep gratitude to those who helped), has not been made only for the members of the Orthodox Church, but it is accessible to all those who need this valuable good, water. I hope that more warm-hearted philanthropists will appear to help quench the

thirst of even more fellow humans in other areas who are deprived of this good and in order to meet their needs in water, are forced to collect rainwater in makeshift pits, which is contaminated.

All this requires warm prayers, a lot of effort as well as sacrifices, good partners and kind-hearted people who want to help their brothers in need.

Thanks be to God, for He won’t let us get discouraged or disappointed. Where we are unable to overcome a need, God comes through our prayers and provides us with a solution. I want you to know

that my flock has deep faith and hope in God. We are not knocking on the door of your heart as if we were beggars. We may lack many essential things, it is true, but we have dignity. Relying upon our slender means, we try to meet our operational needs and carry out our humanitarian activities.

A big request: Help us build a spiritual center It is not only the churches that need to be built or renovated where they exist, it is also the centers that need to be created in each parish so that people can have access to a school, a doctor’s office, a spiritual

A new water project, funded by our Fraternity

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center to have the necessary supplies in their daily lives. Not only for the faithful, but also for our priests who also need training seminars, so that their ministry can bear fruit.

As regards the last point mentioned, our Holy Diocese makes every possible effort to create a center so that our priests and catechists can attend some training courses that will help them with their work. We hope that this effort of ours will find people who will respond to our request and support us. Another project that must be implemented is the construction of the Diocesan Offices, so that the members of the Church and all those who want to contact us will

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know that there is a coordinating center for all the activities of our Missionary ministry, and will be able to receive any information that they will want.

My beloved brothers and sisters, thank you once again for your continued support and valuable assistance. I remember every single benefaction you make to us and I pray that God rewards you a hundredfold for your selfless love, and shower upon you His abundant blessings. May you always be healthy and at peace.

Wishing in the Lord, †Sylvester of Northern and Eastern Uganda

Soup kitchen for kids

KENYA - Kisumu

Moving with faith By the grace and help of God, the missionary work of our Church in Kisumu, Western Kenya, is progressing. Despite all the protective measures taken against the great ordeal that all of humanity has been going through, we were able to continue our sacred services of the Great and Holy Week and all the feasts behind closed doors with very few attendees from our diocese, following the guidelines of the State of Kenya for the protection of the faithful.

We adorned our humble Epitaph canopy with roses and visited the houses of people who had ailing family members and relatives at home or in hospital.

We visited two orphanages in remote areas of our bishopric territory and talked to the children.

In fact, in one orphanage, the children sat on the grass in the area of the still unfinished church building, which stays in that condition until the right materials are found for the construction of a decent church. These children are hosted by the parish priest Fr. Theodoros and his wife presbytera).

We performed the ordinations of two Priests who will now take on their own parish so that the faithful Orthodox Christians will have their own place to attend the Divine Liturgy. Quite a few of these churches also still need a lot of work 31

to be completed, and some of them are made of mud and zinc.

Thanks to the generous contribution of donors and benefactors, we were able to pay the salaries of our priests so that they can take care of their families themselves.

The aforementioned are only a few of the problems our Mission Church in Kisumu, Western Kenya, has to deal with. Without your continued support, things would be far more difficult.

We are striving to move forward but we never lose faith in God. We have the confidence that our prayers will not be wasted but that the blessed seeds we sow today in this

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far-flung land of Africa will bear fruit a hundredfold. Also, we hope in the love and interest of faithful people who truly love missionary work, so that the poor children of this corner of the world will have a better tomorrow.

Photos can only show a little part of what it means to be a part of Mission. However, by watching the lives of these fellow human beings from even closer, let alone by living close to them, one can easily understand the daily needs and concerns that a mother and a father have for their children in order to help them survive and manage to get through today and every day. †Markos of Kisumu

Divine Liturgy in a strawhut-church

MALAWI

Supporting the poor As a missionary bishop, I feel very thankful to my Lord, “for His merciful kindness is great toward me, His humble and unworthy servant”, so that I may minister the great Work of His Church, that of the Evangelization of the people who are far away from our traditionally Christian homelands.

In this Work, you are the blessed companions, the ones who read these lines and your heart overflows with feelings of love and compassion for your poor, longsuffering brothers, and are ready to give your contribution from your excess or from the little you have so as to support us and help us meet the many needs we face.

These needs are both spiritual and material. Your prayers give us

strength and patience so that we may continue our multifaceted struggle with joy.

We must make known to your Love that we continue to provide food to the poor children of the Parishes of our Diocese. The Joy and gratitude they receive from the mite of your love, ascends as incense accepted before the God of love.

My beloved brothers and sisters, let us not forget that during His Second Coming, our Lord and God Jesus Christ will judge us mainly by how much we have exercised love.

May the Righteous Judge reward you for your support with His abundant blessings a hundred fold and grant unto you Eternal life. † Photios of Malawi 33

Cordial thanks My beloved brothers and sisters, we thank the God of Love who enables us through your own contribution, to practice the great work of Love, especially in these tough financial times that we are going through.

We pray that the Holy God increases in our Homeland the number of people who offer selfless love and assistance, particularly in the “great Mother to the needy”, as the city of Saint Demetrius is often called, the historical co-capital of Greece, our beautiful Thessaloniki.

We wholeheartedly thank and praise the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity and all those who participate in this beautiful struggle of love.

You are our rear guard. Without your contribution, our missionary

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work would not be able to stand on the ramparts of the struggle. Thank you once again wholeheartedly.

Blessed children of God, my joy and crown, may the name of the Lord be blessed from now to eternity.

Whateveryou havedoneand will do for the poor children of Malawi, our children, the children of Christ, you do it for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Give Love and receive Eternal Kingdom close to our Savior and Redeemer, the be-all and end-all, the King of our hearts, the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory, honor, praise and worship now and forever and to the ages of ages.

Amen.

Wishing in the Lord with infinite gratitude, † Photios of Malawi

TANZANIA - Arusha

The Mission Center of Arusha Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, By the grace of God and with your own constant support, the work of our Church in Central Tanzania is progressing, despite the difficulties that afflict modern society due to the corona virus pandemic.

It is a fact that in the wider region of Central Tanzania, the pace of life of our native brothers has not been significantly affected; these simple-hearted people have been facing this threat with calmness and faith in the providence of God. The prayers of all the members of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity have been supporting us in our difficult but God-pleasing work!

In our previous communication I informed you about the progress of the construction works in the Orthodox Mission Center in the city of Arusha. We hope that the church dedicated to Our Lady, which is scheduled to be rebuilt there, will become a reference point for the entire missionary work in Central Tanzania. Given our limited financial resources, we are starting the project for the erection of the sacred church in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos rather shyly, but we hope for your wholehearted support. During this period, an effort is being made for the architectural blueprints to be completed so that in the near fu-

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ture, our vision deriving from the noble heart and plans of His Beatitude our Blessed Patriarch Theodoros II for the city of Arusha will begin to take shape. I am making an earnest appeal to your charitable hearts for assistance through your contribution to this important task for the Diocese, always to the extent possible. Let us all play our part so that the Orthodox Church can have a serious presence in Arusha, the heart of East Africa.

In the same area, there are plans for the construction of a school complex for theological and

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technical courses. Education is a valuable asset and no child should be deprived of the right to participate in the schooling provided. In Central Tanzania as well as throughout Africa many children are unable to attend even basic education. School dropout rates are rising because many families are unable to meet the financial demands of paid education. Thus, the vision of schooling seems utopian to thousands of children in Central Tanzania and all around Africa.

With the help of all of you together, our Diocese activity hopes to

be extended to the educational sector as well by organizing theological seminars and by creating professional - technical study courses. The theological training of the clergy and the lay members is considered necessary so that all those ministering in our Diocese will possess the necessary theological education.

At the same time, there are plans for the establishment of a Technical School with practical studies for both boys and girls. Informatics, Engineering, Hygiene, Cooking, Sewing, Housekeeping, are some of the educational programs

that will be included in the curriculum of our Mission Center Technical School in Arusha. These courses will have an immediate response to everyday needs and will offer easily accessible education, open to any young person in Central Tanzania.

An additional important area of action is the translation of liturgical and patristic writings of our Church into Swahili. The existence of liturgical and patristic books in the language of the natives is considered necessary not only for the beginning of their course in the Orthodox Church, but also as a support for

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their later spiritual life. Moreover, the lack of liturgical books, which are absolutely necessary for the performance of sacred services, is considered particularly important.

The Octoechos or Parakletike, the Menaea, the Triodion, books whose existence is taken for granted for the Greek Orthodox liturgical reality, are absent from our daily services.

There is a great need for translation of all the liturgical books of our Church. We have been working in this direction since we first came to Central Tanzania. We formed a translation committee consisting of clergymen fluent in English. The

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seat of this committee will be located at the Orthodox Mission Center established in Arusha.

For all these actions which we are planning to carry out, we need your valuable contribution! Once again, we make an earnest appeal to your charitable hearts, asking you to assist in the work of the Church and our Patriarchate. It is an indisputable fact that without your financial and spiritual support, none of these important projects could have been accomplished.

With feelings of deep gratitude and love in the Lord, †Agathonikos of Arusha

Waiting for the meal

TANZANIA - Arusha Missionary Team in Dodoma

Land for the Mission My dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.

We are writing to you from the Dodoma Orthodox Mission in Tanzania. With the blessing of His Grace Agathonikos of Arusha and Central Tanzania a short time ago, we were appointed to Dodoma city, which is the capital of the state, in order to establish a Church here and spread our faith in this part of the world. We are very happy to write to you, because despite all the difficulties, we can clearly see the hand of God. We are certain that it is His will for the missionary work here to be accomplished as well.

The devil is always hovering near us watching his opportunity to spoil

our plans, but our Lord does not allow him to bother us for long, and so, little by little, our Mission grows.

There is not a single Orthodox church in Dodoma. From the beginning, one of our main pursuits was to find a good plot of land to build our mission center. This was very difficult, because there are very few plots available for sale, which are very expensive indeed. However, with the magic Hand of God, the miracle happened, and we would like to share it with you so that we can all wholeheartedly praise and glorify our Triune God. With the help of Mr. Nikos Mamakos, a Greek expatriatepermanent resident of Tanzania, we 39

anxiously started searching for a plot of land by car. Together we found the first plot, which is 8 km outside the city center (approximately on its extension). The plot is large and very central, on the asphalt road; there is even a hill inside it. Once we saw it, we knew it was meant for us. Nikos promised to build himself a large cross with lighting on top, to shine at night. That was it.

Immediately after checking for it in the land registry, we paid a deposit and made a deal to pay the rest in about 2 months’ time.

The strange thing, my brethren, is that we only had the money for the deposit, and now with deep hope in God, we pray that a good Christian will be found to help us.

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We are sure of this, for His love is infinite and He always grants His blessings upon His laborers. This is something we experienced in Malawi as well during our service in the Mission there. We always lived a miracle. Another good thing about this plot is that it already has two houses built inside, and we are buying it with them. I do hope we will soon rent out the house where we are currently living and move to our own place as soon as possible so that we can finally start our mission trips to the villages.

Besides this first miracle, there is a second one that I would also like to talk to you about, which we still cannot believe. As we said before, it is no longer possible to find a plot

of land in the heart of the capital, that is, right in the city center. And yet, once again, our Good God has given one to us. We met a Minister of the country who is a good man and wanted to help us. We talked to him about our faith and the work that has been done in Tanzania by our 3 bishops for 15 years now. He marveled at it and expressed his joy for that. We gave him books on the Orthodox Faith in English and talked to him about Mother Church, the Holy Orthodoxy, which is the only Truth. We pray for his soul, may God enlighten him to understand and believe. He has a good heart, which is why we asked him to act on our request and find us a small plot in the heart of the capital, only large enough for a modest churh

building and a humble abode for the parish priest. And he found it for us. In two months’ time we will sign the contracts and it will be ours, and then we will look for a donor to build us a church there. If this is not a miracle, then what is it, my brethren? How could we not be moved and not cry out of gratitude?

How could our hearts not overflow with praise and thanksgiving to our beloved Jesus? We hope God will give us a third miracle: a church on the Dodoma campus with hundreds of thousands of students.

My beloved brothers and sisters, now that Christmas is coming, let us make sure that our Christ is born in our own hearts as well. Amen!

Fr. Ermolaos Iatrou

Distributing antidora

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MADAGASCAR - Toliara

The Well of Life I will never get tired of confessing, because first of all, it relaxes me to experience things myself, that the life of the Gospel takes on flesh and blood every day, in every step of our Church Mission. I myself used to be an indifferent reader of the Bible; emotional, moderately faithful, or of course, unfaithful, and with a vague perception that the distance of centuries makes storytelling interesting but distant and largely inapplicable!

I thank God that the myths were refuted with my first walk in the neighborhoods of the Black Continent. Whether it was Cameroon or South Madagascar, 42

the faces of the Gospel would constantly spring up in front of me. The lepers, the crippled, the ones bleeding, those harassed by unclean spirits, Lazaruses, the poor in money but rich in scars/sores and bound to inhabit Paradise, the deniers of true faith, the zealous nuns in black dedicated to deep prayer and engrossed in it, Judases, Peters, Marthas, Maries, and so many Samaritan women!

God is where finding water is as uncertain as gambling and like a road race for all of us. He is where a bore drilling lasts for days, with the machines exceeding three hundred meters. God is there and gathers brothers who

live in spiritual darkness, who are thirsty and tired of living a life of inequality. He places them next to us, they take water from our hand, and sometimes they ask: «Who are you?», «Why do you bother to do things for us?», «What do you believe in?»Questions that even I, myself who can hardly articulate a few words in the local dialect, answer with unspoken eloquence in one word: «Christ», «Christ», «Christ»... It is for His sake, for the holy faith in His sacrifice, that we make a minimal sacrifice for our fellow human beings.

This sacrifice would never have been made if all of you had not been

by our side, with us, next to us, each one separately and all together. If the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, along with brothers near and far, had not been a constant presence, even in this horrible and difficult period of the pandemic, which among other obstacles, has caused terrible delays in the completion of the titanic project of well- drilling.

It is for this reason and for many more and unknown ones that I would like to thank you wholeheartedly!

May God bless you and protect you all with His omnipotent grace!

The missionary by the well, † Prodromos of Toliara

One more well, funded by our Fraternity

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TANZANIA - Bukoba

A new beginning Dear Friends of the Missions, I would like to share with you the concerns we have here in Bukoba after our settlement with the blessings of His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.

Our greatest effort involves the unity of the diocesan clergy, providing them with support as regards the problems of their parishes and their families for their better performance in the missionary work. Without priests, we cannot possibly do many things.

These are our hands, our partners, the mouth of Christ in their parishes, the sign of God’s presence in the local communities.

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What makes their role even more difficult is that they have to give the testimony of Christ and Orthodoxy among RomanCatholics, who are the majority. An imam calls to prayer 5 times a day, even though Muslims are a minority in our city. Also present are other denominations, such as Protestants, with Anglicans, Lutherans and Adventists, as well as a large number of Pentecostals, charismatic� magicians and others.

The Diocese of Bukoba has shown a rich history of missionary activity for 60 years now. Initially, it was the current Archbishop of Albania Anastasios who came here as the first Archimandrite in 1962.

Then, it was Theodore Nankyama who also came as an Archimandrite in the ‘70s.

In 1983-1991 Archbishop Anastasios was appointed as Vicar of the Diocese of Irinoupolis. He began to catechize, baptize, ordain priests, build churches. We still have priests ordained by Anastasios. His work was subsequently developed

by Jonah, current Metropolitan of Kampala (1992-1997) and Ieronymos current Metropolitan of Mwanza (1997-2019). The great Missionary of our Diocese was the late Fr. Sosthenes. May we have his blessing and may his memory be eternal!

From Bukoba, Orthodoxy spread throughout Tanzania,

and today we have reached the point of having 4 Ecclesiastical Provinces throughout the country, 2 Metropolises and 2 Dioceses.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros loves Bukoba very much.

He has paid 3 visits to Tanzania, two of which to Bukoba. He is deeply concerned about the problems the local Orthodox Church has to deal with and cares about its future.

The Diocese of Bukoba comprises 185 parishes and 100 built churches served by 35 priests, 3 of whom are advanced in age.

The 85 parishes use thatched roof huts for churches. All priests have two, three, even five parishes under their pastoral care and jurisdiction. There is a priest

Baptism by Fr. Chrysostomos Maidonis

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who has 10 parishes to serve!

There is an immediate need for 35 motorcycles to be bought so that the priests can do their job. My neighbor Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha has taken one motorcycle to every single priest. Here we can find some imported ones from Dubai at $ 1000 each. Besides motorcycles, we are in need of priestly vestments, cassocks, holy utensils, Altar covers for the Holy Table and many others.

God willing, in February we will operate the Priestly Seminary to train more priests and advance the work of Christ more smoothly.

We must also help our Catechists, who voluntarily go and help the Christians to gather where there is no priest available. We need 40 bicycles for them. Here we find them at â‚Ź 75 each.

Moreover, it is in our plans to organize a seminar for the

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Catechists as well, because they do not have any catechetical aids and they need guidance and aids on how to do the catechesis properly.

For this reason we will try to equip the Theological Seminary in Kasikizi so that it can accommodate priests, catechists and seminarians in the summer as well, and camps for our Orthodox children.

Furthermore, we will try from September 2021 to re-operate the Theological School, which has been closed for 8 years now. There, our candidate priests will be trained for two years and receive the knowledge required to be able to serve the large number of vacant Parishes in our Diocese.

Thank you for listening to our needs!

Arch. Chrysostomos Maidonis Patriarchal Vicar Of Bukoba

Procession in a strawhut-church