Memory of Saints and Martyred Missionaries
- Fr. Nikodimos 29.12.1941
- Fr. Chrysostomos 29.12.1972
- Fr. Sosthenes 25.9.2005
As in the Old Testament, the dove flew from Noah’s Ark and returned with an olive branch, a sign of new life… so at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the power of the Spirit, two Saints of the Greek Church, Nicodemus Sarikas and Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, flew like other doves into the heart of East Africa, to announce to the Land of the Apostle Mark the joyful news that “blossomed the desert” of Orthodoxy among the native brothers.
They kneaded the honest sweat of the missionary effort, their toil and suffering, so that Orthodoxy could take root in the African land… Nicodemus planted, Chrysostom watered and the Lord increased it…
In the choir of Saints, time loses its power, it does not exist, it disappears, it does not touch them, they are timeless souls, living in the space of eternity…
But many times this time stops, turns back, when we bring them to our memory, stealing moments from their lives calling us with their cry… “Hold fast the sails of the Mission, as we have held them and given them to you to sail everywhere with the ship of life and hope”. The Orthodox Missionary Fraternity has relied from the first steps of its creation on the blessings of these Holy Fathers Sarikas, Chrysostomos and Sosthenes of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, with the aim of the universality and timelessness of its eschatological journey. It is ecumenical because it belongs and is given to all the length and breadth of the earth, from Cuba and Latin America to Fiji and India, and from Haiti and Madagascar to the Horn of the Black Continent. This route has never been a rose garden, but full with the toil, pain and sweat of the Saints…
With this little boat of the Mission, heritage and tribute of the descendants to the ancestors, we too, friends and brothers, will travel today to the Deeds of 2022, feeling “the experienceable” according to St. Gregory Palamas, the energies of God that direct the work of the Fraternity.
Events
8 missionary meetings were organised, in person and online.
- February: Bishop Timothy of Assos (ZOOM)
- March: Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha
- March: Metropolitan Ambrose of Korea (ZOOM)
- April: Bishop Photios of Malawi
- May: Bishop Cosmas of Constantiane
- October: Metropolitan Myron of New Zealand
- November: father Chrysostom Manalu, Prelatic Commissioner of Indonesia
- December: Metropolitan Ieronymos of Kampala and Metropolitan Ignatius of Magadascar
Construction Projects
Humanitarian aid
6 containers with 25 tonnes of humanitarian aid each for Kinshasa, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Malawi, Arusha and an orphanage in Romania
Water projects
13 wells for pumping clean water in Arusha, Gulu, Kampala, Malawi, Bukoba, Jinja and Toliara
Soup kitchens
66.450 food rations in Brazzaville, Indonesia, Kinshasa, Bukoba, Bukomba, Kisangani, Arusha, Toliara, Nairobi, Accra, Madagascar, Malawi, Malawi, Colombia, Jinja, Haiti, Kanaga, Katanga and Nigeria
Baptisms
109 baptism registrations in Arusha, Kampala and Toliara
Educational sponsoring
55 student sponsorships in Arusha, Katanga and to Orthodox foreign students in Greece
Salaries of priests
6 priests were supported
Other needs
We supported the Patriarchal School of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, covered the operating costs of the clinic in Kidamali Iriga, supported the orphanages in Kolkata, India, and repaired the St. Sophia School in Indonesia. Finally, we supported 32 missionary teams in their various missionary needs.
Prayer
The Lord and God Jesus Christ, the preacher of the glory of the Father, the great minister, provider and giver of life, the one sent to the sheep of Israel, the one who enlightens the way of the Apostles, give rest, O Lord, the saints and equal of the apostles Nicodemus, Chrysostomos and Sosthenes, in your holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Amen.
