Tanzania is an East African country eight times the size of Greece. AIDS is one of the biggest problems for its poor people. The Holy Metropolis of Irinople, through the Holy Metropolis of Irenopolis, through Monsignor Demetrios and the Missionaries Arch. Photios Hatziantoniou & Michael Danios, participates in the daily suffering of our African brothers and sisters in Tanzania by distributing pharmaceutical care to hundreds of AIDS patients and other sick people.
It has also established nine schools in different regions and cities. Primary, Secondary and High Schools, which are still being built with the support of sensitive donors, are being handed over to the government to serve the students of the Maasai tribe.
The Metropolis pays the tuition for many Orthodox needy students each school term. It drills several wells with drinking water, as most houses have no taps. It provides a daily glass of milk and biscuits to two hundred and fifty hungry children and food to hundreds of young and old every Sunday.
He is helping the twenty Orthodox African priests spiritually to become good spiritual fathers and to take up the baton of the Mission. But this requires a great spiritual struggle and time. On the material side, he has built many presbyteries for the priests and provides them with the necessary daily food.
It is very touching to see Africans sitting quietly in the church, taking communion in an orderly manner in the Body and Blood of Christ, all together saying “I believe” and “Our Father”, shaking hands when the priest says: “Let us love one another” and at the end of the Mass to sing so beautifully “Holy Virgin”. By the grace of God, thirty holy churches have been built and thousands of baptisms have taken place.
However, the needs and temptations still exist for the poor and suffering children who walk barefoot in the streets, but you always see them happy and smiling at you.
It is admirable that only the Orthodox Mission was able to be of help, to stand by these children and these unfortunate people. By giving a little something to these happy little faces we are filled with the joy of giving, which is one of the most beautiful moments for every Orthodox Christian.
Let us all pray for these people that God will give health to our African brothers and sisters and to our Greek missionaries who, at the risk of their lives, are struggling to bear witness to Orthodoxy and Greece.
Maria Vraka
Baby Nurse
