In 1963 the Brotherhood of Orthodox Foreign Mission was founded under the name “Friends of Uganda”. We are talking about the time when the African states were then young countries, having just received their independence. Uganda was one year old, having received its independence in 1962. It was in the context of independence that the slogan of fighting the three diseases: poverty, disease and illiteracy was born. Our Orthodoxy with clean hands was on the side of the struggles of the Africans. No Orthodox country was involved in either slave trade or colonialism. So given the above, the establishment of the Missionary Brotherhood called “Friends of Uganda” was a name and a thing. But Orthodoxy has the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1). This gospel essentially sets people free and Africa at this critical time needed it badly.
By the grace of God, in 1929, the two friends, Fr.Spartas and Fr.Obadiah discovered that the Orthodox Church is the Church of Christ which through the ages continues the work of Jesus Christ. While in 1961 again the two friends, Archimandrite Theodoros and Archimandrite Chrysostomos, theologians and graduates of the University of Athens, arrived in Uganda for missionary activity. It should be noted that the poverty was great. Apart from this, conditions were also difficult on all sides. The establishment of the Brotherhood called “Friends of Uganda” helped to cure these needs so that the Lord’s work could bear fruit. But if we could see the hearts of the founders, we can say and probably the name they chose confirms that they were historically conscious. Uganda was blessed by God to be the first country in Africa under the Sahara that its inhabitants would convert to Orthodoxy. A great honour and blessing. But also a great responsibility. She deserved to be helped in her mission.
The writer, a native of the Orthodox Mission in Africa, was born in 1962, the year of Uganda’s independence and one year before the foundation of the “Friends of Uganda”. The Brotherhood was founded at the right time and its purpose was a good one. Through its course and action, which could be described as “60 years of Mission and Love”, the Orthodox Church has benefited greatly. The Brotherhood built many Churches and founded many institutions. We are talking about dispensaries and schools. It educated many children in various universities of the world. He translated many liturgical books. People were taught Orthodoxy, and if it were not for the political instability that prevailed from 1971 to 1995, Uganda as a cradle of Orthodoxy would indeed have made even greater progress.
We must thank the founders from the bottom of our hearts and wish the Brotherhood many years of happiness!
†Campalas Hieronymus
