My brothers, rejoice in the Lord. I am writing to you from Malawi, from our Orthodox Mission. By the grace of God and the blessings of His Eminence, Monsignor Joachim, we are trying to minister to our African brothers and sisters here. Our needs are always great. Our missionary work continues, and with the care of the Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood we are achieving Godly and charitable works. I have good news to report to you. The main one, of course, is the arrival of our Patriarch and his stay here for 6 days. The blessings we have received are many; he performed the dedication of the Holy Church of the Resurrection of the Lord, a great donation of your Fraternity. The Holy Church of the Resurrection of the Lord adorns the town of Blantyre with its aesthetic beauty. During his visit, His Beatitude the Patriarch also admired it. My brothers and sisters, above all I want to express to you the thanks of all the people of Malawi. Many souls will benefit.
The native deacon George Moyo has already been put in charge there. His ordination took place a week ago. But my dear brothers, I beg you, please donate a house for the priest of this church. Where will the priest live? Who will guard the church? It is necessary and imperative to have a house for the priest. The cost is 16,000 euros. We make a heartfelt appeal to donate it to us. Also the church will need to be equipped with holy vessels, vestments, icons and other priestly utensils. These will cost about 6,500 euros.
My brothers, I am sending you a photo of one of the 14 wells that you have opened for us for the year 2011. With the opening of so many wells in just one year, the inhabitants in these areas are really feeling very happy because they have the necessary drinking water for their personal needs.
I remind you that Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa and because of the contaminated water, cholera, malaria and typhoid fever continue to debilitate the country. Your Brotherhood with the help of vulnerable people in the community continues to drill wells in Malawi and save lives. The plot, which we bought, is in the Nyabadué area, inside Blantyre. There, His Beatitude the Patriarch laid the foundation stone 3 weeks ago to build the Church of the Nativity and a School. It is a central plot of land, which we bought with great sacrifice at a cost of 50,000 euros. I hope that donors will be found so that we can build our church and school because the people really need them.
God bless you all
Priest Hermolaus Iatrou