My dear brothers, The last period has been quite difficult because of the various sad events that are taking place, especially in the interior of the country: the many deaths, the insecurity, the displacement of populations and the economic crisis. The economic situation is difficult, everything is becoming more expensive, and the small salary that the indigenous people receive in local currency is not sufficient to meet their main needs. Things are getting more and more difficult. Fortunately, the love and concern of the Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood sent us food in the last two containers so that we can meet the nutritional and other needs of our theological school boarding school. We are now in the final period of exams and at the end of the month we are giving out degrees to our new graduates. Young people, ready for action, excited to go to their provinces to serve the Church as teachers, catechists, chanters and, for those of them whom God wants, as priests.
God’s blessing this year was the creation and operation of the sewing school. A new effort of our mission. Thirty girls are attending it completely free of charge. This school helps the women to learn a trade so that they can use their knowledge to earn an income and help their families financially. The tours in the countryside have continued, despite the many new difficulties we have. Mbuji-Mayi, Kabinda, Nkanka, Mbaza-Ngungu, Kikwit. The pastoral tours in the interior of Congo helped us to follow closely the efforts of our priests and catechists, the possibilities and problems of our mission, to rejoice and pray with our faithful and to ask God to send workers of His Gospel. With the blessing of our Blessed Patriarch Theodore, His Beatitude, Mr. Photios Kimpabala, a professor of Kinshasa State University, was ordained and installed in Mbaza-Ngungu, 150 km from Kinshasa. Since his posting, he has been striving to better organize the parish and the mission in this town and the surrounding villages. This town is central on the route from Kinshasa to the Atlantic Ocean. It has the potential to become a hub for missionary work in the upper Congo.
The progress of the Byzantine School is a great blessing from God. Already the choirs of the young people of the capital have been reorganized. It is a pleasure to hear them singing with great enthusiasm and fidelity the troparia and hymns. Of course, the lack of music books makes it very difficult for them… A new archpriestly district has been created in the interior of Congo, in the town of Mweka, with a radius of more than five hundred kilometres. where it takes a month to travel by boat through the rivers. The Rev. Fr. Alexander Minga, the Reverend Pastor of Mweka, has been appointed as the chief priest commissioner and with the cooperation of the other three priests in the area, they are going ahead with the missionary work. For reinforcement, by order and blessing of His Eminence, immediately after Easter, his deacon, Fr. Chrysostomos, was sent for a month, who supervised the continuation of the work at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Ilembo, assisted in catechesis and the organization of seminars for young men and women, and visited parishes.
The visit of the Archbishop of I. Archimandrite Arch. Chrysostomos with the two accompanying nuns of the I. The presence of the monastery of St. Kosmas Arnaia, Sister Paraskevi and Sister Akilini, and two laywomen, Mrs. Venetia and Mrs. Stella, helped us a lot. The two, Sister Paraskevi and Mrs. Venetia, were involved in the cooking of the boarding school of the theological school. The nun Akilina, a medical doctor-haematologist, and the nurse Mrs. Stella with the operation of the clinic of the Theological School. Three offices were converted into dispensaries and, in addition to the students, the faithful of the parish of St. Barbara and residents of the area were invited and examined. Soon the medical priest Fr. Michael Dandoulakis, who had come to teach medical courses at the theological school, was also invited. Blood tests and other examinations were carried out, free medicines and medical advice were given. About five hundred people were examined. Fr. Chrysostomos taught at the Theological School the courses he teaches every year. The visitors worked with the catechist of the Metropolis, Mrs. Stella Papadopoulou, in the catechetical work and visited parishes.
A great crusade must be launched to acquire land and a temple in the neighbourhood where the handicapped live. They continue to gather on the sidewalk of their neighborhood, to do the services, the catechism. It breaks your heart to see them gathered like this. Ordinarily we go, we call them and we do the services. We all pray that donors will be found to buy a plot of land. This parish is in the centre of the capital, where land is unfortunately expensive. A new group in another district of Kinshasa is gathering in a house, singing and worshiping. A new parish is beginning to form. Many invitations for missionary work are received from different parts of Congo. Many difficulties. We are few, we are not enough, although all our partners are trying with all their strength. Ask our Lord to bless our mission.
From the Holy Metropolis
