During the period of 15 August, we started a new missionary tour, 670 kilometres away from Colosse. Our tour had three legs. On the one hand, to celebrate with our Christians the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the city of Sandoa, and on the other hand, to see for ourselves the situation that prevails, to listen to the problems and difficulties that our Christians encounter on a daily basis, but also to listen to the problems and difficulties that our Christians encounter on a daily basis, and where we can and have the potential to provide solutions. Also, to indoctrinate people in matters of Orthodox faith, worship and life, so that these people can become better acquainted with what the Orthodox Church is.
During our tour, we saw people’s houses, which are made of mud and straw. But also the way they live every day, such as their limited and scarce food, no cooking utensils, no refrigerators, no electricity, shows the extent of their poverty and misery.
On the road, many difficulties and problems due to the bad road network, too much dust, in many parts of our route the road cut in half, non-existent telephone network.
We visited the parishes under our spiritual jurisdiction, communicated with the priests and our Christians, gave food and medicine and supervised the various works that were taking place in the churches.
One thing that impressed us was the patience and joy of the people. As it was getting dark and there was no electricity and lighting all over the road network, we arrived in the town of Kasazi to spend the night with our partners. There, the priest, Fr. Aristarchos, with a group of people was waiting for us. In the darkness and with the scarce light of the car, we saw the people, outside the Church, dancing, singing, holding branches and grass in their hands, showing in this way their gratitude and joy that we visited their parish.
After resting, the next day, at 06:00 am, we set off for the rest of our journey. When we arrived in the town of Sandoa, around 12:00 p.m., the priest Fr. Alexios, holding the Gospel, greeted us at the beginning of the town along with the children holding candles and hexagons. Women chanted and sang, young people on motorbikes escorted us to the Church and a crowd of people followed us to the entrance of the Church. Before we entered the Church, the custom of the people is to lay cloths down the aisle as Christ entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As we entered the Temple, we all chanted together and at the end I greeted the entire congregation for their welcome, love, and the effort they put into the appropriate preparations for the reception. In the morning, a High Mass was celebrated. The clergy and people participated in the parish celebration honoring in their own way the person of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The next day, after bidding farewell to the Christians of the parish of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary of Sandoa, we headed 200 km away, to the parish of St.Artemius the Great, in the city of Musouba, with a population of over 900 thousand inhabitants. There, we were welcomed by Fr. Sergius, the Governor of the city and a large number of Christians. Their joy was so intense, because due to distance and various other problems our presence there was limited. We celebrated the sacrament of the Eucharist in a Church, which was made of mud and had palm leaves for a roof and in some places tarpaulin for a roof. The altar was a plastic table, as was the altar offering. The icons of the altar were plain paper, which were supported on a piece of wood. The seats of the Christians were bamboo benches and there you could see five and six people sitting there.
During the Divine Liturgy, you could see the joy painted on people’s faces and their praise to God was even greater. At the end of the Mass, the faithful sang and danced according to their customs and culture. The Governor of the city offered the Bishop traditional gifts of the region. Afterwards, we gave a sum of money to the Christians with the promise that with this money they would put a new roof on the Church, but at the same time, they would take the necessary steps to install electricity. After the end of the Divine Liturgy, the celebration continued outside the Church with songs of praise to the Triune God by the parish choir, with traditional dances of their tribe, but also with the distribution of food (boukari, spaghetti, potatoes, greens and peanuts) to all the people who participated in the parish celebration. At the end of the celebration, we thanked the priest, the governor and all the people and set off for the return journey.
Another missionary tour came to an end with beautiful and unexpected moments. We returned to Colosse with a variety of emotions and images, which renewed our faith in God and renewed our mission and our duty to the people to continue our goals.
† Constantine Kosmas
