In the Lord’s words to His disciples, after His resurrection, the essence and content of missionary work as a command and will of God is founded and contained; “as the Father has sent me, so I am sent to you” (John 20:21) and “as you have gone, make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19-20). Mission is: – Going out and moving towards our fellow human beings to meet them, talk to them, help them, sympathize and empathize with them, moving out of love in the pattern of God’s descent towards the human race. The model of a perfect missionary is the missionary outreach and movement of the God-Man. Christ did not wait for man’s return, but went and found the lost man himself and as a good Samaritan and shepherd led him to the flock, to the bosom of God, to the mantra, to the inn of His Church. – God’s command. The previous words of the Lord do not have the place of an exhortation, but of a command. Mission is a command of Christ. Mission as a commandment was practiced by the Apostles, they poured out into all the ends of the world and preached the Gospel, without regard to toil, sacrifice, danger, even their own lives. – A debt and a debt: The Apostle Paul considered the missionary mandate as both a debt and a debt. He said that he was a debtor to Jesus Christ if he did not evangelize. His conscience, his being, his existence were identified with the missionary debt of evangelizing Christ to the Gentiles. “Woe is me if I do not evangelize” (1 Cor 5:16) and “I am a debtor to both Greeks and barbarians, to both wise and foolish” (Rom 1:14). Mission is a duty of the whole Orthodox Church of clergy and laity. In the area of the missionary and pastoral jurisdiction and ministry of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria throughout Africa, in recent years, under the inspired spiritual guidance of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodoros II, the tree of mission has flourished, grown and given rich spiritual fruit. The Holy Metropolises and Dioceses almost doubled. Worthy and struggling clergymen were chosen as bishops and missionaries and sent to the various African countries to spread the Orthodoxy that the African continent is waiting and thirsting to know. The Orthodox flock is constantly growing. Every day thousands of Africans are being catechized, receive Orthodox baptism, unite with Christ and become members of His One Holy Catholic (Orthodox) Church. Above, above and behind the eyes of the world, the drums of war, the economic crises, the drumbeats and the spotlight of the powerful of the earth, Christ is quietly and secretly doing His work. He is fighting against the world ruler of the darkness of this age, the devil, to win the souls of men, having as His accomplices the Orthodox missionaries of every age and everywhere on earth. At the invitation of His Eminence Metropolitan Nikephoros of Central Africa, with God’s help, I went to Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, where the headquarters of the Holy Metropolis is located, to see the missionary work taking place there. I went twice, in June 2012 for a month and a half and in November of the same year until mid-February 2013 for three and a half months.
The task is huge. The prospects and opportunities for the development of Orthodoxy are unimaginable. Every day challenges and invitations are presented. Individuals, indigenous groups, villages and regions are asking and inviting the Orthodox Metropolitan, Ven. Nikephoros, to come himself or to send priests, catechists and missionaries to catechize and baptize them. His Eminence Mr. Nikephoros is almost alone from morning till night. He runs and does not have time. The tasks and problems are many. In particular, he is absorbed by the operation of the university-level theological school. As rector, as curriculum officer for all departments, as a teacher of many courses, as provider and in charge of the boarding house for the 85 boarding students, as maintainer of the building facilities and machinery, as spiritual father, guide and pastor of the priests and catechists in Kinshasa and throughout the Congo. All he serves with patience. With the blessing and spiritual guidance of the Metropolitan, I have been engaged in the following missionary activities. a. Teaching two semester-long courses at the Theological School, 30 hours of teaching for each course. b. Teaching two semester-long courses at the Theological School, 30 hours of teaching for each course. With catechisms. The fruit of the catechisms was the baptism of 48 indigenous Orthodox (young and old) at St. Mark’s Church in Kinshasa. c. With visits to Orthodox schools of the Metropolis, St. Mark’s in Kinshasa and Kasangulu. d. With the preaching work at the St. Mark’s Church in Kinshasa. e. With the supervision of projects in the hinterland, in Gungu, 700 km from Kinshasa, where the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Foreign Mission has undertaken the construction of two projects: the Church of the Immaculate Conception and a primary school. f. The foundation of the Holy Church of the Archangels and Archangels in Kinshasa, which is being financed by the same Brotherhood. g. With the preparation to open a new missionary scale in a large Congolese city, Kikwit, of about six hundred thousand inhabitants, 520 kilometres from Kinshasa. During our visit with His Eminence the Metropolitan to the Mayor of the city of Kikwit, the Mayor told us: “I know the Orthodox Church very well, that it is the oldest Christian Church. But I have a question: all these years where have you been? Why are you late?” We answered him, “Better late than never. Now it is God’s good pleasure for the Orthodox Church to come here too…”. He promised us that he would help us to bring Orthodoxy to their city. There is already a group of about 300 zealots in Kikwit and they are asking His Eminence to send them an Orthodox priest and make them a Holy Church. Such voices are heard from all parts of Congo and Africa. They are asking us and waiting for us. God hears the cries of the people who seek him and rewards the labors and sacrifices of the selflessly working missionaries and their co-workers in his vineyard.
May His all-holy name be glorified. Vaios Prantzos
Professor – Civil Engineer – Theologian
Regular member of the Brotherhood
