Dear Mission Friends and Supporters, Rejoice in the Lord!
I hope and wish that despite the pandemic, you and your beloved ones are well. This year has been a difficult one for both our Fraternity and the missionary divisions in Africa and around the world, whose faith and endurance has been tested and tried countless times.
I would like to thank you wholeheartedly for one more year of support, love, trust, interest and generosity, which means a lot, not only for the Fraternity, but above all, for all those who benefit from our missionary work.
Sixty years since its foundation and action, the Fraternity has served universal values and the command of the Lord “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Our Fraternity members are members of the Church of Christ. For many years now they have been offering the surplus of their heart to the suffering man.
They know that little Christ is born every day, in the hut of a poor African, or under the roof of a suffering Peruvian or a poor fisherman off the coast of Haiti.
They know that little Christ is born every day, in the hut of a poor African, or under the roof of a suffering Peruvian or a poor fisherman off the coast of Haiti.
They know that little Christ is born every day, in the hut of a poor African, or under the roof of a suffering Peruvian or a poor fisherman off the coast of Haiti. Christ is always born where He is least expected, so He remains the God of surprises. He is always born in poverty, in pain, in the trials and the uncertainty of this world. That is why He is the God of all those who live on the margins of life, whom the “civilized” world has isolated and condemned to a life in the darkness.
I thank you on behalf of the entire Board of Directors for giving us the opportunity to illuminate the world, this side of the earth that cannot be easily and yet it exists, and where some cold-hearted people persistently try to cover up the light in the people’s hearts.
We started our meetings this difficult year with the visit of Metropolitan Peter of Accra on 9/2/2020 and we stopped on 8/3/2020 with Metropolitan Constantine of Singapore. The Good God allowed us to have the last visit of the year, that of Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha on 11/10/2020.
Our magazine came to fill this gap of the absence of missionaries with news and updates from countries where the light of Orthodoxy shines, with activities such as meals for the hungry, book- publishing programs in local dialects, erection of school buildings, clinics and orphanages, well-drilling for clean potable water, baptisms, but above all, the construction of church buildings for Divine Worship.
What follows, is the “picture of your love” for 2020. During this year, the Fraternity supported the missionary divisions with direct financial assistance amounting to € 650,211.30 for their various needs as follows:
- General Needs € 237,235
- Baptisms € 15,400
- Indigenous Languages Publishing Program € 1,500
- Schools € 45,000
- Churches € 132,700
- Clinics € 43,800
- Humanitarian Aid € 77,526
- Orphanages € 6,700
- Wells – Tanks € 46,650
- Priest Salaries € 5,600
- Meals € 14,550
- Educational Sponsorship € 10,550
- Other Needs € 13,000
Total € 650,211.30
In the year 2020, the construction of three churches, all funded by our Fraternity, was completed: • The Holy Cross Church in Nairobi • The Holy Church of St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain in Kananga and • The Holy Trinity Church in Kananga
At the same time, 4 other churches funded by our Fraternity are under construction; we oversee the progress of the construction work there.
Moreover, we are financing the construction of a polyclinic in Kinshasa, which is almost complete and partially operational. That is why our Fraternity supports its operation throughout the year. At the same time, we are supporting the operation of a Medical Center in the Iringa Region of the Holy Diocese of Arusha.
Furthermore, we supported catechism and baptism programs in four regions (Arusha, Toliara, Malawi, and Brazzaville), and we funded the translation of liturgical texts into a local dialect in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania (Fr. Ermolaos).
During the year 2020, in this difficult financial situation due to the pandemic, the Fraternity had large revenue losses from the agreed leases. Thus, most properties had a 40% loss of the expected revenue.
Nevertheless, it is very encouraging as well as important the fact that in the midst of this financial drought, all these Mission needs mentioned above were met; a great achievement indeed, always with the help of God and the contribution of our members, friends and supporters.
At the same time, this blessed group of young people, the future of our Fraternity, did not stop sending humanitarian aid in containers from the warehouses in Filiro.
Specifically, five containers with 125 tons of humanitarian aid were sent to strengthen the missionary divisions, as follows:
- On June 1st, to Sierra Leone (Fr. Themistocles)
- On July 6th, two shipments to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Fr. Nikiforos)
- On October 22nd, to Katanga (Fr. Meletios)
- On November 3rd, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Fr. Nikiforos)
However, paying the African priests still remains a challenge for us and at the same time a call for a better life, where our Orthodox priests will be able to feed their large families and provide access to medicines and education for their children.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This pandemic has once again highlighted inequalities, indiscriminate globalization, the use of resources and wealth in the most unorthodox way. Through mass media, poverty, cultural decline as well as lack of solidarity and love for our fellow human beings were made known to everyone. However, the so- called “civilized”world deliberately and persistently shut eyes and ears to all these so as not to accept another world living on the margins and in obscurity.
However, the world does not only revolve around America and Europe. Millions of people die not only for a vaccine against Covid-19, but also for a handful of rice.
The Fraternity remains vigilant with arms outstretched, hoping and struggling for a brighter future, for a better life, in the Light of our Risen Christ.
The President of the Board Metallides Charalambos
