With the grace of God and the blessings of our Most Reverend Pope and Patriarch Theodoros, we continue our missionary work. I cannot say that there are no difficulties, problems and temptations. As much as we try to overcome them, there is the temptation that does not allow us to continue our work unhindered. Particularly now, in the period of economic crisis, things have become quite difficult and we are trying hard to meet our current expenses. We are not discouraged, but hope in God, to Whom the work belongs. And indeed God has not abandoned us.
There are people who support us from their savings, giving us hope and courage for the work we have undertaken. I cannot fail to mention the undivided help of the Brotherhood of Orthodox Foreign Mission, through which out of nowhere persons appear who undertake to sponsor a church or some other specific project.. Thank you very much for what you do for the work of the Church. Recently, construction work is underway on five Holy Churches, a small school (where we are adding classrooms due to the inadequacy of the existing ones) and an extension of a clinic in the Tulear area. All these buildings are donations from anonymous donors from Greece and abroad. As far as the additions of rooms and the extension of the clinic are concerned, this is an indication that by the grace of God these institutions are functioning very well and people prefer them for their good work. We praise God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us in our humble ministry.
Longing for church
Of course, the shortages of both human and non-human resources are too many. Many people in many villages have been waiting for years to have a Holy Church of their own. It is their desire but also our responsibility for their material and spiritual needs. There are about 20-25 villages that lack Holy Temples and during our visits we always hear the same pleas regarding getting their own Temple. We too hope in God’s grace and in the presence of a new donor who will sponsor a Holy Temple. We feel a special joy and praise the name of God when in the remote villages and dense forests we hear the sweet sound of the bell inviting our faithful to common prayer. But it is more touching to see people, young and old, and mothers with little ones on their backs, without considering effort and time, running like thirsty deer to quench their spiritual thirst in the clear waters of the Orthodox Church. And if you watch them during the hours of the Holy Masses with how much attention and participation they chant the well-known troparia of our Church. What if they are not educated with degrees and scrolls? They possess another treasure in their hearts called Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. This grace of Christ that they have within them gives them joy and also gives them wings to overcome various obstacles and find what they love and worship. Such thoughts come to my mind when I often walk the paths through the woods until I reach the villages that the mission car cannot access. I see people and try to get into their psyche and understand them. Many times we do them an injustice by judging them from the outside. How far we are from reality! Our humility is only in words, but theirs is in practice. That is the big difference.
Conversion to the Truth comes at a cost
About a month ago I visited a very remote village, where the new priest began to indoctrinate the people in the Orthodox faith. These people were former Roman Catholics and they were introduced to Orthodoxy in a wonderful way and they even handed over the church to us, since they had built it themselves. We visited them and they all gathered -where else- in the temple. An ancient temple, which was not only a temple! And yet, these people were proud of their temple and even more proud because they had given it to the Orthodox Metropolis. After talking to them a lot and explaining many things about the differences between Orthodox and Catholics, we gave them our poor gifts of books, crosses and icons and left for the missionary center. Their request was that we build them a new church and a school, because the Catholic school does not accept Orthodox children. My plea to all of you reading this article is to help us build a Holy Church and a school, so that the name of God of the Orthodox Church may be glorified and souls may be saved.
Getting to know Orthodoxy
We have too many such cases. Missionary life holds many surprises and miraculous events. Once, while passing through a village located on a main road, in a barren and rocky area, where there is not a single tree and the people live by making coal, we stopped to give them food. After we finished our mission, we asked if there was a church in this area. The answer was that there is not. We were told that some of them go to church at the nearest Orthodox Church which is two hours away from their village and sometimes they walk there. The priest who accompanied us promised to go regularly to visit them and we would build a small church for them. Unfortunately so far we have not fulfilled our promise. We see that God’s grace is leading the way and preparing the ground, however difficult it may be. But we need to follow and continue this cultivation before the seed is lost or trampled upon by men or temptation. It is both an art of the arts and a science of the sciences.
† Ignatius of Madagascar
