With the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrios of Irinopolis, we were once again in Tanzania. After a 10-hour journey from the capital through the jungle and after seeing various wild animals, we arrived at Kindamali, the Mission Centre. There are the Church of Saints Andronicus and Athanasius, the Church of St. George, the rectory, a clinic, a kindergarten, a hostel and an orphanage. There and in the surrounding area, indigenous priests and believers who truly experience Orthodoxy live in huts. I was shocked to hear one of our indigenous priests say “Please God merit me to die in this blessed robe”.
Our program was full of blessings. In the morning the voices of more than 200 children called us to give them the traditional breakfast of milk and vitamin cookies. Then with Fr. Photios and other priests, we toured the villages and celebrated the Divine Liturgy, each day in a different parish. On this devotional tour, our Orthodox brothers and sisters greeted us with love and with their churches decorated with flowers crudely placed in plastic and tin cans, but radiating paste and beauty. Fr. Photios held seminars for our priests, elders, catechists, and we gave them the gifts that your love sends to the Mission. We gave much needed vitamins to the hundreds of children who came to us. We have been blessed to attend hundreds of baptisms and weddings, and the catechisms are unending. After the sacraments there was a feast – a table and gifts for all.
Our visit to the Maasai tribe was also important. To see faces beaming with joy, just because we went to their village, we entered their huts and they turned over a bucket to sit us down! Many of them are being catechized and baptized, they show great interest in Orthodoxy and our bishop surrounds them with much love. While we were there, he ordained an Orthodox Masai as a reader. The Holy God blesses the work of the mission in Tanzania, where His Eminence Demetrios has been ministering for 10 years. Only one project remains to be completed: the St. Andrew’s Clinic in Magalali. If a donor can be found, thousands of children who die every day from various diseases in this region will find care and help there. I thank God for having merited me to be in His field.
Nun Thekla