The charitable work of the Holy Metropolis of Moanza is a direct function of the love and contribution of our Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters. It is they who enable us in various ways to benefit and relieve the wounds of the impoverished and helpless Africans.
Often, more or less, we receive the gifts of their love in containers, and in this way we can give our poor fellow citizens the joy that they are not alone, that the Church cares for them and stands close to them, not only spiritually but also materially.
Our intention to embrace people in their psychosomatic being and to share with them some of the very heavy burden they carry on a daily basis, led us to make use of the possibilities offered to us from time to time in the field of health. A well-equipped hospital-health centre is already operating on the outskirts of Bukoba town, providing relief to dozens of people in the wider Kagera district of the province in basic health care needs. The presence of volunteer teams of Greek and American doctors from time to time in the area is a real blessing and joy for all of us. The services that these teams provide in a different area of the metropolitan territory each time are invaluable and bring comfort and hope to our suffering brothers and sisters.
The education of children and young people is an issue of great concern to us. Through knowledge their lives can be radically changed and transformed. Education will bring them, if they want it, closer to the Truth, which is so thirsty for every human soul, but especially and intensely so for the African soul. Their abilities are many and their appetite is great, but the educational and living context in which they develop leaves little room for their advancement and progress.
Our concern and reflection on this issue is almost constant. The Orthodox Greeks have helped us and continue to do so. With their assistance, we have already put into operation two Gymnasiums, in the form of a boarding school, on the premises of our Church. Their operation is satisfactory and in these places children, apart from knowledge, can be taught ethics and honesty.
Also, the Orthodox young people of the Metropolis consider those people – their peers and confidants – who with love and enthusiasm supported and strengthened in every way their steps in the higher levels of education (high school and university or college), as great benefactors of their lives. These young people today are scientists and some of them gratefully support in turn the work of the Holy Metropolis, offering the fruits of their studies in the field of the Church. They know well that an unattainable dream became reality, because sensitive people with the faith of Christ in their hearts stood by them with care and concern.
The Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood has from the very beginning been a helper in the work of the evangelization of souls in northern Tanzania, strengthening in every way the π. Sosthenes Kiyonga , the first Tanzanian missionary in the region, who this month marks 8 years since his death. Thanks to his tireless ministry in an area as large as Greece and serving in 30 parishes, thousands of souls found salvation close to Christ. We hope that, with his blessings, the Orthodox faith will take root and bear fruit more and more in the African land. For all this we thank you and ask for your prayers.
From the Holy Metropolis
