Update from the Ghana Mission
Bythe grace of the Son of God who has nourished us and the blessings of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa, we continue our missionary work in the country of Ghana and in other countries of West Africa, where the jurisdiction of the Holy Metropolis of Accra extends. We are summarizing some of the events and presenting them to you, for your information.
FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS
In the city of Tema, where the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas was recently erected and consecrated by His Beatitude in 2008, we celebrated the memory of the “Holy Sailor” and patron saint of seafarers on Sunday 6th December 2009. Present were the faithful from Tema and the capital of the country Accra, Ghanaians, Greeks, Russians, Lebanese, the crews of the Greek ships, which were in the port of Tema during these days. After the Divine Liturgy and the Litany of the Holy Icon of the Saint, a meal was served to all the pilgrims. For information, we report that the construction of the Kindergarten and the Medical Centre is nearing completion, donated by the Maria Tsakos Foundation, other companies and individual donors.
GROUP BAPTISMS IN EASTERN GHANA
On Saturday, December 19th, group baptisms were held in the village of Gyaha by the priests of the region. After their annual catechism, 66 of the catechumens came to the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation. On Sunday 20 December, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the presence of His Eminence, who blessed the new Holy Church of the Nativity of Christ, which has just been restored. This parish is very strong and has very good prospects for progress.
ORDINATION OF A NEW DEACON IN THE GANA
On Sunday, December 27, 2009 , at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the ordination to the diaconate of Subdeacon Basil Labi was celebrated.The new deacon is a graduate of Holy Cross Theological School in Boston, U.S.A.He is a son of a priestly family, since his grandfather, the late Fr. Gregory Labi (one of the first Priests of the Orthodox Church in Ghana) and his father, Fr. Joseph Labi, are the General Priestly Commissioner of the Holy Metropolis of Accra. Deacon Vasilios also offers his ministry in the Offices and the Seminary of our local Church. May God support and bless him !
VISIT TO THE IVORY COAST
On New Year’s Day and after the Divine Liturgy we went to visit the Orthodox Christians in Abidjan on the Ivory Coast and to celebrate with them the great events of the Divine Revelation of our God. On Sunday, January 3, 2010, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Church of the Resurrection of Christ together with the Priest Fr. Jeremiah. Most of the parishioners were present and with great reverence participated in our worship gathering. Then in the hall of the Missionary Centre the ladies of the Parish had prepared a rich breakfast, offered by the Holy Metropolis, for all the faithful. Their enthusiasm was great, since they now have a walled Holy Church and Missionary Centre for their various parish events. There is still some furniture missing, mainly tables and seats, which we have arranged to be made soon, from donations of various Christians from Greece and Cyprus.
THEOPHANY IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE OF GHANA
As every year in the village of Braman in eastern Ghana we celebrated the great feast of Epiphany on Wednesday 6th January at the Holy Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. There, with the participation of all the faithful of the village and the surrounding areas, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the Great Holy Mass. Afterwards, in procession, we went to the river Ayesu, which passes through the village and celebrated the ceremony of the consecration of the waters and the immersion of the Holy Cross in its waters according to the Orthodox custom. Young people of the area fell and retrieved the cross, to whom our Church offered souvenirs and a sum of money to cover their study expenses. For information, we mention that in this village there is an old small Church of the Baptism of Christ, which we no longer serve because it is no longer dangerous. This is the reason why the parishioners reverence this feast and all of them attend church, even though it was a weekday and a working day for the country.
EDITION OF IREOS
On the afternoon of January 6, the late Fr. Samuel Adjei Kumi, who was one of the first ordained priests of the Orthodox Church of Ghana by the Blessed Metropolitan of Accra, Mr. Ireneos, in 1982, passed away at the age of 70. He served for a number of years as the General Priestly Commissioner of the Holy Diocese. Recently he suffered a cerebral epilepsy, which eventually became the cause of his death. His funeral was held in the Cathedral in Accra, where he was a parish priest, and his burial in the cemetery of the town of Larte. May God rest his soul.
From the Holy Metropolis of Accra
