With the help of God and the blessings of His Eminence Bishops George of Guinea and Theocletos of Florina, a missionary visit to Sierra Leone, West Africa, was carried out from 23 May to 9 June 2017 by a team of the Metropolis of Florina. The delegation included the reverend, two nuns from the Holy Monastery of St. Augustine of Florina and Mr. Konstantinos Christomanos, professor emeritus of the University of Thessaloniki. The visit took place at the invitation of the local missionary Fr. Themistocles Adamopoulou. The purpose of the mission was to offer assistance in the difficult and multifaceted work being carried out there and especially the training of priests in ritual matters, since in Sierra Leone there is no Orthodox liturgical tradition, since Orthodoxy has been alive for only ten years. During our stay of about twenty days we tried, as much as we could, to fulfil the purpose of our visit. Several lessons were given to the priests on matters relating to the value of the priestly ministry, the celebration of the sacred Sequences of Vespers, the Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, as well as the general order and decorum of the Church. I must confess that there was great interest on the part of the native priests.
At the same time, the nuns tried to teach the ladies how to knead offerings for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Unfortunately, the priests in Africa are often forced to serve with common bread (loaf) bought from a bakery! They were even shown how to make the glue. We also bought a sewing machine, with which we sewed covers for the Holy Tables, uniforms for altar boys and other church items. In addition to these there were sermons in churches, catechetical classes in youth meetings and lectures at the Pedagogical College of our Orthodox Church by Mr. Christomanos. During our stay we were hosted at the Orthodox Missionary Center located in the capital city of Freetown. In addition to the hospitality buildings there is also a church of Saints Constantine and Helen, which was built with a donation given through the Missionary Association “Saint Cosmas the Aetolian”. It also houses the College (Pedagogical School) mentioned earlier, a remarkable institution of our Church with a high level of studies, attended by about 135 students. A kindergarten is also under construction, together with a boarding school for orphans and abandoned children. In another area in the centre of the capital, Syke Street, there is a second Orthodox Centre, which includes the Cathedral of St. Liberty, which was built with donations from the Orthodox Foreign Missionary Brotherhood, as well as a school with about 2000 kindergarten and primary school children. In the same area there is also a school building with 16 classrooms, which was donated by a lady from Athens through the same Brotherhood.
The third centre is located in Waterloo, 20 kilometres from the capital. In this place there is the church of the Resurrection of the Lord and St. Moses of Ethiopia, also donated by the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Foreign Mission of Thessaloniki. This is the second school unit of our Orthodox Church, which is attended by 500 children. In the same area there are small houses, which accommodate disabled victims of the civil war that ended in Sierra Leone in 1991-2000. During our stay in Sierra Leone we made two important visits. One was to the School for Blind Children, a state institution for blind children who were abandoned by their relatives. These children attend the school and are accommodated in a boarding house within the institution. The boarding school is supported with food from the Orthodox mission, as the state cannot cover all its needs. We were very touched by the typhoon children with their beautiful songs, as well as with their thanks to those who send food from Greece, such as the Brotherhood of the Orthodox Foreign Mission. Fr. Themistocles suggested to those in charge that the Orthodox Church should take over the management and maintenance of the School.
The other visit was to a district of the capital, Kroo bay, which is considered one of the poorest and most deprived areas in the world. This visit was one of the most overwhelming experiences of our lives. The living conditions cannot be described. People live in shacks, without sanitation and sewage systems, and as a result there is an unbearable stench throughout the area. It is considered the ‘Africa of Africa’. With great difficulty and precautions we walked through its muddy and dirty paths and visited the school and the clinic, which were in a deplorable state. What we saw was unbelievable. When we left, we had the feeling that we had come back from hell. Fr. Themistocles is thinking of asking the state to give the school to our Church, to be responsible for its maintenance and operation. Many were our impressions and experiences. We have experienced the miracle of the birth of a Church. We saw how the Grace of God, without the human material means used by other denominations, draws souls to the only true Church, Orthodoxy, overcoming all obstacles and opening ways to spread the Gospel. Seeing from afar these difficulties, one feels it is one’s duty to pray more intensely for the work of our missionaries and to strengthen it in every way.
Archim. Epiphanios Hatzigiagou
