“Inform your ministry” (2 Timothy d 5)
With the grace of God and the blessing of the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, Theodore, I set out again on the third day of Easter towards the capital of South Sudan, undertaking a journey that was to have many pleasant surprises mixed with many difficulties. First of all, the rainy season has begun in South Sudan and malaria is on the rise due to the mosquito bites, which increase in number during this period. I was not left unaffected by this experience, as there was not a millimeter on my hands and feet without a mosquito bite, despite the protection measures that are known to all. In any case, the miracle is to avoid contracting malaria and this miracle was performed on me. Thank God! Subsequently, the almost incessant rainfall on a rather non-existent road network made our travel from one place to another seem like a Golgotha. You set off to a particular destination planning to complete a mission that anywhere else on this planet would take at most two hours, but here, in this place, requires a week.
It is considered an achievement to get a job done, especially when that job is related to public services in Africa, but the miracle is done! The process of recognition of the Orthodox Church by the state of South Sudan has been accomplished and we are now an active member of the South Sudan Council of Churches. I do not hide from you the joy and satisfaction I felt and the personal need to praise God’s name, as, in addition to the effort we put in the preparatory work required, God revealed to us the right persons at the critical time to speed up the process to reach the desired result of recognition within a few months, which under other circumstances would have taken years. A great surprise also awaited me when I arrived in the town of Wau and headed to our community, where I was greeted by the faithful at the door of the church of Prophet Elias, holding the Greek flag. I was reflecting to myself how people who had never visited Greece and may not even know where it falls on the map had understood in their hearts the symbolism of holding the Greek flag in a foreign land far away and feeling Greek. But history proves that this is what Hellenism has always been, cities scattered all over the world and not confined to one geographical place, which proves its anthropocentric character and makes it a universal culture.
But the first example is shown by the Church, as Orthodoxy does not remain confined to its territories and its people, but opens up, goes on its way, seeks man, wherever he is, and offers him the possibility of meeting with God freely and without limits, and creates churches (as places of meeting between God and man) scattered all over the world, which proves the universality of this faith, which lives harmoniously within nations and states. But the same has never been a nation or a state, but always the Kingdom of God’s love. The next day I celebrated the Resurrection Mass and baptized four new children. In the sermon at the end I stressed to them that for us Orthodox the experience of God in the world is the life of the Church through her sacraments. Afterwards, we all ate together and I showed them photos of my first visit to them, which gave them much joy, since there is neither television nor cinema. When I returned to the capital Juba, I visited and met with the tribal chief of the Magala area, Sultan (King) Tarshizio, and thanked him for the donation of the four-acre plot of land and assured him that this donation will return to the area with many benefits from the construction of the St. Mark’s missionary center, which will include a maternity clinic and an elementary school.
And so, with the recognition of the Church and the settlement of the property titles of the land, we begin the filing of architectural plans and the issuance of a building permit by the competent authorities for our missionary centre. Miracles of faith are also the product of the patience of the people in whom the miracle is performed. It is there that faithfulness is tested and man is surrendered to the will of God. And where God wills, men’s order is defeated. And this is our faith in our project in South Sudan, where after 38 years of church absence (due to the civil war) our good God has given vitality to His Church.
Just like the paralytic in the pool of Siloam, who waited for 38 years for this encounter with God, our brothers and sisters in South Sudan after 38 years have found their place of encounter with God, their Church alive, and are moving forward on the road to a better future in the long-suffering South Sudan.
In this I ask for your blessings and prayers. Amen!
† Nubian Narcissus
