Dear brothers,
We received your letter and once more we would like to thank you for your help, which enables us to continue our little missionary struggle.
Two days ago I received the remittance of € 17,000, which you so kindly sent us for the drilling of five wells. Now we will focus on materializing our promise as soon as possible, on which you will be informed in detail.
Today the Orthodox community of Malawi is mourning. We are all sad because we have lost a very important and beloved member of our Church.
Paul, our neophyte orthodox native brother and catechist with fervent missionary zeal, is no longer with us. His soul has gone to meet Christ, whom he so much loved.
Paul was an exemplary Orthodox Christian. He had been catechizing his native brothers properly for plenty of years. He longed to communicate Orthodoxy to his country and was sorry that not all Malawian people were Orthodox, like Greeks! He was a little theologian! He attended our seminars for a year regularly and was among the first to come; he would take down notes very carefully and every week he would draw as much orthodox knowledge as possible from the weekly papers we have available in English and tsitseoua and would impart them to others.
Among his many catechumens was Father Ezekiel (the newly ordained priest), who, deeply touched, perfomed the funeral service along with Father Nicodemus.
The deceased Paul loved the orthodox prayer book so much that he was carrying it with him all the time, feeling, as he used to say, that it was as valuable as the Holy Bible. He marveled at the profound meanings coming out of the God-inspired prayers of the compline and the other prayers of night and day. He would pray being fully aware of what a prayer means. The prayer book was his best friend, that is why he tried to impart this experience to the others as well.
At the region of Dirandi, Paul was of the first Christians who formed a prayer group and begged daily and persistently to God to give them a Church; Indeed, God heard their prayers because a prestigious plot was found and purchased in their area as well as the donor who would build the Church in the name of Aghios Antonios (Saint Antony). This way, on the one hand Paul’s soul flew to Heaven, on the other we are going to make his wish come true. We are certain that he rejoices up there and glorifies God for listening to his prayers.
Our beloved Paul, even in the last days of his life when God visited him with his illness (tuberculosis), made us admire him because not even once did he resent his condition for two whole months that he was sent to hospital. Instead, he was glorifying God! He had a peace and gratitude for everything. As he would say: “God has given me the most precious gift, true faith.” He felt that deep inside, that is why he was really grateful despite his material poverty.
He left his last breath at the age of 51 in hospital, in the arms of his wife, a very pious neophyte Orthodox Christian. His soul flew to the Creator in reverence.
It is worth mentioning that his funeral service was attended by a lot of natives, Orthodox, non-orthodox, even Muslims, since he was beloved by everyone. Through the love and peace that characterized him, he had achieved something very important: to reconcile, unite and preach the love of Christ.
It is not an overstatement to say that until the last moment of his earthly life, Paul was honored by God to bring people close to the Orthodox faith and tradition that he so much believed in and loved.
We dare say so because a large number of people who attended the funeral service marveled at the grandeur, and the profound meanings of the psalms and the prayers of the service. They said: “What beautiful words you have, who are you, where are you so that we can come to be catechized….”
Wondrous is God, who finds ways to invite us close to him.
Everlasting be the memory of our brother Paul.
F. Ermolaos Iatrou
