LIVERY 20-10-2009
“Having gone on making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”With the help of God Almighty, the permission of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicodemus of Kassandria and at the invitation of His Eminence Metropolitan of Irinopolis. Demetrios, my seventh consecutive trip to Tanzania has taken shape, offering love in person to the brothers in Eastern Tanzania, but especially in the region of Iriga. We arrived in the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, and after staying there for a few days, until the crew of E.R.T.3 and three other volunteer donors arrived, we set out, a group of about ten people, led by His Eminence Demetrios, for Iriga. The enthusiastic welcome we received from the natives, in Iriga, in Magalali, and at the missionary centre of Kidamali, where the culmination of our visit took place, was admittedly overwhelming. The little children with shiny eyes, and wide smiles, who waited at the missionary center of Kidamali Iriga, the sharing of the daily morning beverage, or the solemn gatherings, with the beloved indigenous clergy there? The afternoon soup kitchens and multivitamins for the adults and children, or the daily vespers in the mission center church with the “Buana Urumia” i.e. “Lord have mercy” from the mouths and rich hearts of the poor indigenous children? Still, the excitement and great attendance of the people at the divine services or their smiling faces when they received the offering from us unworthy ones? We were struck by the devotion and attention with which they literally imbibed the Words of God, which our humility communicated to them, as food of life, for the soul and body. Diseases plague a large portion of people of all ages, even the most tender. Poverty, in great proportion and in all its glory, produces many consequences. Some of these are the lack of clean water and medical care. We used the St. Theodore Clinic as our base to distribute clothing and other essentials, which, through the love of the friends of the Foreign Mission from Greece and Cyprus, were provided. The joy and gratitude that was reflected in the faces of those who received the clothes and shoes, which in many cases overflowed from their lips with the words “Asante sana”, i.e. thank you very much, will remain indelibly engraved in our memory. But we must not omit the great multitude, of all sexes and ages, who were baptized by His Eminence, the Minority and the native priests. By the grace of our Savior Lord Jesus Christ, more than two thousand of our indigenous fellow human beings were written in the book of life “for whose sake Christ died”, including four mayors. In addition, blessed activities such as: ordinations of indigenous clergy, weddings, inauguration of a school built by the Mission , inauguration of a school sponsored by the Mission , consecration for the foundation of an orphanage, etc. You have merited us, Our Christ, to feed You, to water You, to clothe You, to care for You, in the person of Your “little brothers and sisters” there.
We beseech the Most Merciful God from the depths of our soul and heart, because “the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few”, to bring forth clergy and laity worthy of such a great Mission, such as that of the Foreign Mission, in the God-given and historic Metropolis of Irinople, from which, with His mighty right hand, many souls can be counted among the choir of the elect of Your Kingdom. Bless you!
The Priestly Superior of St. Athanasius Nunnery
Archim. Photios Hadjientoniou
