Dear friends of the Mission, rejoice in the Lord!
First of all, I would like to thank you for your continuous support to the work which our Holy Metropolis has undertaken to accomplish in far off Madagascar by the Grace of God and the blessings of our Revered Head, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria Theodore II.
The struggle still goes on, despite the difficulties we have to confront, economic as well as in human resources. However, how could we possibly stop such a God-pleasing work, when the Grace of the Most Holy Spirit is ahead of us and paves our way for the Evangelization of immortal souls? When the people who live isolated in far off villages do not mind the efforts and the discomfort and walk for hours in order to reach us and ask from us to go and catechize them so that they find true God and join the body of the Church?
Fishers of souls
Once, we went to a village 1,300 km away from our missionary centre for christenings. It was a long journey and special preparation for everything necessary was needed, because in such multi-day trips no mistake or omission is allowed. On the way, we stopped at a very distant village to have a lunch in one of the small shops along the road. Our presence and appearance aroused the local people’s interest. Before long a large number of them had gathered around us; then, they were given the explanations they were looking for and their catechesis began. After giving them plenty of books on our Church, we left with the promise to visit this village again. We did visit it again and eventually we created a good parish there.
A flood of temptations
In the field of Mission, surprises come one after the other. God grants us great moments but also tries us through a lot of temptations, efforts and difficulties. Last year, we were struck by heavy rainfall and cyclones. In the city of Tulear the river dam was destroyed; as a result, the river inundated the city. A big part was flooded and in some places the water rose more than one meter. The damage was so severe that thousands of people were left homeless, without even the basic essentials. Among them were two priests. Our Church was not indifferent to the drama of our fellow men. It helped as much as it could the flood-stricken people with clothing and food. As for the two priests, the other clerics of our Holy Metropolis cut back on their own stipend and raised a sum of money quite sufficient to help the two priests buy anew lots of the things that were damaged.
One of the Holy Churches of our Metropolis in the Tsongobory region was flooded and plenty of items were damaged. The same happened to two other churches in other regions, Vatolatsaka and Besely; strong gusts of wind swept off the church roof and rendered the church non-operational. The priests had to conduct the Holy Liturgy outdoors. We have restored all three churches and equipped them anew; thank God, they have become operational again.
New Christians and priests
In the last months, by the Grace of God and with the efforts of both priests and catechists, there have been plenty of christenings in several villages. Fr Theodosios, Archimandrite of the Holy Metropolis of Ierissos and the Holy Mountain, with the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Theocletus, visited us again this year and along with indigenous priests, performed several christenings in the villages where there are catechumens. We would like to thank Fr Theodosios, who has been offering his services to our Metropolis for several years now, as well as His Eminence Metropolitan Theocletus for allowing him to come here and offer us his ministry for almost two months.
Last November, with the blessings of His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II, we had the ordinations of two young men that were ministering to our Metropolis. The newly ordained clerics have graduated from our Theological Seminary and are expected to cover few of the many gaps our parishes have to deal with. The Theological Seminary cannot function properly due to the economic problems we ourselves have been facing as well lately.
Financial deadlocks
The crisis is becoming more and more evident as time goes by. We are trying to make ends meet and cut down on our expenses to the bare minimum.
Dear brothers and friends of the Mission,
Lately we have been going through difficult times. The financial crisis of Greece and Cyprus has had an obvious impact on us as well. We have cut down on our expenses, on our transportation, as well as on our working staff to a considerable extent. We have reached a point of not being able to cover the necessary expenses or the salaries of those people working for the Mission.
Shutdown of programs
We have already stopped the children’s breakfast, which we had been providing since our coming on duty here. These poor children are now deprived of even this plain breakfast since we could not afford to buy them biscuits. As a result, they have become even poorer since they go to school and to their jobs hungry. I would like to remind you that about 800 children used to have breakfast within the premises of the Mission on a daily basis, but during the school vacations, this number amounted to 1,200-1,300 daily. The door of the Mission is now closed for all those barefoot, ragged and with the bloated stomachs, poor children, who would come here from far away. Plenty of them had to walk for 3km.
The same has happened with the food distribution to 130 families every Monday. We can no longer buy them food (rice, lentils, beans, corn flour etc) because we cannot afford it any more. The little food that was given to them helped the poor families pass the week without having to look in the garbage in order to sell what they would find, such as paper, nylon and anything else that could be sold.
Another great project that had to stop was the Orphanage. Its construction has been completed, but we need you in order to finish plenty of jobs there. The rest of the working cost amounts to 100,000-120,000 euros.
I am well aware of the economic crisis that has struck Greece, but I am making an appeal to our beloved brothers and friends of the Mission to help us continue the work of our Church on the distant land of Madagascar, and “great will be your reward in Heaven”; according to the prophets, “he that has pity on the poor lends to the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17).
Ignatios of Madagascar
