Christ is Risen!
By the grace of God, with the wishes and blessings of the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodore II, and of course, with the unrelenting missionary zeal of His Eminence Metropolitan Dimitrios, the Orthodox Mission in eastern Tanzania is going on with God-pleasing results in terms of quantity, but mainly in terms of quality.
This year, the truly festive atmosphere of the feast of feasts, the celebration of celebrations and the joy of the Resurrection is experienced both by our newly-illumined brothers who received the holy baptism on Saturday of Lazarus (286 neophytes), as well as the Christians in the parishes of eastern Tanzania, particularly in our new parishes, such as Kissaki, where the government finally gave us a large plot of land for the construction of a Church dedicated to the Holy Trinity and to St. Irene and of the St. Jacob Primary School.
In the town of Mvumi, where there are approximately 300 catechumens, we are trying to acquire a plot in order to build the Holy Church of the Annunciation, donated by a dear couple of great benefactors of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity and of the Holy Metropolis of Irinoupolis, who want to stay anonymous.
Also in the city of Sokoine, birthplace of one of the first political leaders of free Tanzania, and on the main road leading to Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, we are already in the process of acquiring land to build St. Athanasios Church, the fruit of love of the spiritual children of Archimandrite and Missionary Fr. Antonios Stylianakis from Thessaloniki, again with the contribution of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity.
We are currently preparing two more faithful men with large families to be ordained and become the new missionaries in the jungle of eastern Tanzania, in the regions of Mikumi and Selous. Please pray for these two zealous new native missionaries so that we can put into practice the prayer of Saint Silouan, « I pray Thee, O Merciful Lord, for all the peoples of the world, that they may come to know Thee by the Holy Spirit.
May the Light of the Resurrection illumine all the peoples of the earth. As for the members and donors of the Mission work, may the joy of the Resurrection nestle in your hearts permanently.
«Christ is Risen»!
† Dimitrios of Irinoupolis
