Dear Mr. President and dear members of the Board of Directors of the blessed Missionary Fraternity. I wish you peace and love from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. I embrace you fraternally and heartily and thank you for your brotherly practical missionary love, zeal and help to this traumatized country and the newly born Orthodox Mission in Sierra Leone. A Mission which, with the help of the Triune God, began to plant the seed of Christ’s Great Church from scratch. I acknowledge from the bottom of my heart that your help is not only important and historic but also maternal, because like a loving mother who cares for and nurtures her infant, you have nourished and cared for this new Mission at the most critical moment of its existence. Of course, as the Mission grows, the need of the Mission for the “parents” in Thessaloniki will diminish. But now is not the time to become orphans. The works which were started with your exclusive financial help for the purposes of the Mission are many, with the help of the Great God and your care and prayers all these works are progressing or have already been finished.
- The address offices.
As I informed you in my previous report to you, Mr. President, we have finished the administration offices on the site of our large school, Freetown Orthodox Christian School. I thank the Brotherhood for their financial assistance towards this project. It was imperative that new offices be built for the high school administration staff which is in dismal condition. On the occasion of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, we celebrated solemnly the inauguration of the new offices. Among other dignitaries who were present was the Mayor of Freetown. These new offices serve:
- The Director of the High School
- The high school accountant
- The Director of the Primary and Secondary School
- The delegation of the Mission
- The Director and Secretary of the Orthodox School of Education of Sierra Leone, who is responsible for coordinating and supervising all the educational programs and institutions of the Mission.
- A reception area
- The Cathedral
The Holy Church of “St. Eleftherios and St. George” is proceeding with your financial help. Also, the construction of the Cathedral in the area of our School continues. The excavations and foundations have been done. The first slab and the first walls (3 meters) with columns were finished. Thank you for your new donation of 10.000€.
- The Gymnasium – Lyceum
Within the existing school site, the construction of a high school continues. The plans were made with the cooperation of you Mr. President, Mr. N. Fournari and the African Engineer here, Mr. V. Peua. Excavations and foundations were made. The first slab is finished and the first walls are being finished. The total cost of the school is estimated at approximately 125.000 €. I have already received the amount of 40.000€. I am waiting for the third instalment of €20,000.
- Construction of a priest’s house and guest houses for visitors.
I recently received 10,000€ from the Brotherhood. Thank you very much. It was a project of great need. The work began under the responsibility of the engineer Mr. Vaios Peua. So far I have given 8,718€ towards this project and I am waiting for the second instalment of 10,000€. I inform you that three houses for the disabled have been finished and three others are to be finished soon. Thank you for your interest. From 8 June a school will be opened for the children of the disabled and the neighbouring community. In addition to the educational benefit to the poor children, the school will certainly have missionary advantages. During the day we will use one of the houses for classrooms. At night they will be used as bedrooms for the unmarried invalids. Obviously this is a temporary situation. We are awaiting assistance in establishing a permanent building that will be used as a primary school, middle school and high school.
- The Clinic
I received your donation of 10,000€ a while ago. The location of the clinic will be on our large plot of land in Waterloo and will serve the disabled as well as the surrounding community. The choice of the exact location has been made. We are going to start construction soon.
- School desks “Wilberforce” and scholarships.
I have received the 10,000€ that you have already sent for scholarships. A small amount of this, 1000€, was given for the construction of desks after the school was destroyed in the recent war. As you know, Mr. President, this school was given to our Orthodox Mission by the Mayor of the city (I enclose a photocopy of the relevant document from the City Hall of the capital). The school was given to us so that we could organize and operate it as we wish. I asked that they also give us the land in front of the school. The other 9,000€ are used as financial aid for the educational needs of poor children and young people. Soon Deacon Fr. Silouanos is preparing and will send you a full report on this matter.
I thank your Brotherhood very much for undertaking to provide significant funding for the very basic projects of this new mission in West Africa, a country that is now just beginning to recover from a tragic civil war (1990-2002). By the grace of the Great God I hope that this partnership in Christ between the Brotherhood and the Sierra Leone Missionary Campaign will continue.
I wish you the love and blessing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to be with you.
I am grateful in Christ
Archimandrite Themistocles Adamopoulos
