With the grace of God and the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria, I arrived on January 13th in the capital of Ghana and the seat of my new Metropolis after a long journey, which I started from Athens to reach the West African shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Leaving a freezing Athens and stepping off the plane, you are greeted by a midday heat of 33°C and 90% humidity and you immediately know you are somewhere else. Upon first contact with the people you realize that they are decent and peaceful by nature, something you can see in their looks. They love strangers and their first conversation is Akooaba! Welcome! Everywhere people are working. I didn’t notice any beggars at traffic lights, at street intersections, anywhere. Something I confirmed in the following days. From early in the morning everyone is running to work, maybe that’s why it is described as one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Arriving at our missionary centre where both the Metropolis and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration are located, I immediately see that people who have worked here a lot have preceded me and I find this organised missionary unit. Next comes a veneration at the cathedral and a short tour of the site and my settling in at the cathedral, which from the first view of the building appears to have been built as a clinic rather than a house for habitation. My first concepts are how to settle into my space and arrange it according to my own needs and daily life schedule.
The second day was followed by a planning of our first moves: the priestly meeting, so that I could get to know my direct collaborators and they could get to know me, the meeting with the youth circles and the planning of the enthronement. Phone calls, updates and many procedural matters, permission to stay, phone line and some initial needs. Finally, an important priority was preparing and updating for the annual meeting of the Orthodox congregations at the end of January. This meeting is a four-day program, during which Orthodox from all over Ghana travel to the village of Fomena, where we have a large plot of land belonging to the Church with the Church of the Annunciation and the site is set up as a camp by Greek standards. All Orthodox of all ages gather there with a program of worship, talks, evening prayers. Each group presents a program, musical or dance. The youth and young children all have some participation. Of course, all the clergy of the diocese are present. In general, this helps to strengthen relations between the Orthodox communities and especially between them around the worship life and the spiritual nourishment that the Church offers and those who need it so much. And I cannot hide from you the satisfaction and joy I felt seeing their devotion and dedication and great faith. Perhaps it is no coincidence that what we see everywhere in Ghana is Gye Nyame, “nothing but God”, a symbol of God’s supremacy. This unique and beautiful symbol is everywhere in Ghana. It is the most popular ornament, it indicates the deeply religious nature of the people in Ghana. Gye Nyame, “nothing but God”.
And then I praised God for the work of the Mission, because it was carried out systematically and for many years by all my predecessors and it is necessary to continue this effort when you see such fruits for the glory of the Holy Name of God. In fact, it is necessary to mention that it is very important to create a situation by building a church, a school, a clinic. But even more important is the glorification of these buildings in their operation in time, which needs constant support and assistance for the proper functioning of these facilities. Unfortunately, in the absence of this support, we lose what we have gained by investing in the building and cannot operate them in the long term. This is the most difficult element and is called operating costs. It is an issue that few people notice and pay attention to and it is essentially about people who do not only have eyes to see, but have vision and insight and are not locked into a picture alone, but the picture becomes a cause for reflection and action.
Dear members and supporters of the Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood, you are people who are characterized by insight and action and that is why you have become involved in Foreign Mission. May our good God bless and grace you! I am grateful to you because you often extricate us from the problems we face in the field of our ministry in your own way and for that I thank you. Your brother in the love of Christ
The Accra Narcissus
