Dear Friends of Mission,
Like every week and throughout the year, I travel a lot, going on pastoral journeys from the one end of Kenya to the other. Besides the divine liturgies, which are conducted without fail in proper or makeshift churches, we visit our orphanages and of course, all our schools, Kindergartens as well as Primary and Middle Schools.
These days, due to the Memorial Saturday and the feasts of Pentecost and of the Holy Spirit, I performed three divine liturgies in different regions. Our main focus though lies on our orphanages, which host unprotected young children. Naturally, these little angels are happier now since the Orthodox Church here in Kenya, under very difficult circumstances, has undertaken the difficult task of supporting and giving hope to the children who are deprived of their parents and have no other protection in order to survive. In the more distant schools, where poverty is soaring, we do our best to provide them with a serving of milk, which is all our slender means can afford. We do this simple act of love to give some joy to these innocent souls, as they feel relieved and their hunger is somewhat diminished.
Our experiences regarding this sad and, naturally, unacceptable but very real fact seem to be out of this world … The image of little children crowding and waiting in long queues for a simple serving of powdered milk is so shocking! We live in the 21st century and perhaps many of us are under the impression that there are no hungry people today, particularly young children, which is by no means true. These poor creatures expect us to offer them the minimum we have to help them survive. Providing them with this milk serving is one of our main priorities, since it is necessary for their survival, and we will do our best to continue supplying it by any means. However, considering our inadequate financial resources, how much is it humanly possible for us to do, how many people are we able to support, how many children are we able to save from hunger?
We therefore need strengthening and support from warm-hearted people who love and strive for the survival of these innocent human beings. We see these little angels very day. We are proud of them and hope that we will not lose them. With this bare minimum that we can provide to them, we believe we will manage to save them. Come along with us, support us, and help ensure that these little children will not sleep hungry…
† Makarios of Nairobi
