I have been trying for a long time to write to you, but livelihood concerns keep me away from paper and pencils, and when we speak of livelihood concerns, we mean the toil and daily struggle to keep the Diocese and the missionary work alive.
Apart from the construction of churches, schools and clinics, there are also our operating costs, which also have to be covered. If I were on my own, I would not care. But I also have the priests and the children we have close to us: two Greek-African children from a Greek father and an African mother. Both parents died and we took them over.
There are many things we have to take care of: the priests, their vestments, their families, the scholarships we give, the soup kitchens, the medical care of many children and elderly people.
Conditions in the countries of our diocese are not good. In Burundi, there is political unrest, there are no telephones and everything has risen by 200%. How will these people live? They cannot find bottles or charcoal to cook. Total chaos!
I have been here for a few days and the disappointment, the fear of tomorrow is painted on the faces of young and old, who keep arriving at the missionary centres asking for help. The instruction I am giving to the priests and missionary partners is to be restrained and to only promote medical cases of children in great need, because our financial possibilities are limited and I do not know how long we will be able to cope with these increases and this situation.
I really wanted to write to you about Rwanda, where there is a serious problem on the border with the Congo and a war between rebels and the army is in full swing. But I preferred to share with you these difficult missionary affairs that we all experience on the African land. Burundi is the most difficult country and we are trying in this most difficult period for Greece to develop the missionary, social and humanitarian work that the Most Reverend Primate of the Alexandrian Church has entrusted to us.
But who knows God’s plans? We are praying:
“The works of our hands to thy will, and our deeds that are pleasing and pleasant to thee, do thou prosper, and through our worthy ones glorify thy most holy name…”
Burundi & Burundi Savvas Ruadas
