- For me, poverty means not eating the food that pleases me; for my African brother, it means starving to death.
- For me, poverty means not drinking as much and as many drinks as I want to make my larynx happy; for my African brother, it means that even the little water he has is muddy water.
- For me, poverty means not having the house I imagine; for my African brother, it means that his house – at best – is a haystack.
- For me, poverty means not going to the market often for shopping; for my African brother, it means not having anything to wear.
- For me, poverty means waiting in a hospital queue; for my African brother, it means dying of a virus.
I wonder, what is true poverty? Why do I and my family, Lord, have all the material goods and not enough and my African brother, who is also Your child, is deprived of everything? I am sure you would answer me, since you have already done so in the Bible:
“That is why I have given you all that you have, so that you may offer it to My child, your brother. That is why I told the parable of the Good Samaritan, that is why I urged the rich lord: “that in thee thou lackest; sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and the second shall follow me”; therefore I quoted the parable of the foolish rich man, saying those terrible words, “O Lord, this night thy soul is required of thee; but hast thou prepared it?” That is why I said when I described the day of judgment, “I have begged, and ye shall give me meat; I have eaten, and ye shall feed me; I am a stranger, and ye shall clothe me; I am naked, and ye shall circumcise me.” That you may recover yourself, to love your neighbor as yourself, not forgetting the words of Paul: where there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but all things, and Christ in all.”
The Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood, based on the principles of the Gospel, despite the crisis of recent years, with the grace of the Most High God and Father of all nations and your support, sent 3 containers of humanitarian aid to the countries of Africa, Malawi, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. The containers were loaded from the Brotherhood’s warehouse (Filiro) and contained long-life food, church supplies, furniture, toys, medical instruments and clothing. We feel a strong need to thank our missionary friends for their prayers and material help. God bless you!
