The Saints Continue the Mission

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth…
For we are God’s fellow workers.” (1 Corinthians 3:6–9)

Every missionary eventually comes to the same realisation: many of the fruits we gather today have grown from seeds sown by those who laboured before us. We ourselves are only one chapter in a story that began long before us and will continue after us. The Church has always been the Lord’s garden, where the Holy Spirit brings forth the fruits of holiness in every generation. Each of us is invited to labour in that garden, trusting that God alone gives the growth.

This year has taught our Orthodox Mission in the Pacific this truth in a profound way.

Within a short time, two beloved members of our missionary family, who gave themselves completely to the Gospel in these islands, reposed in the Lord: our beloved elder, father, and founder of the Orthodox Mission in the Pacific, Metropolitan Amphilochios, whose vision, sacrificial love, and tireless missionary spirit laid the foundations of Orthodoxy throughout Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa; and our dear brother and concelebrant, Fr Bartholomew, the first indigenous Fijian Orthodox priest, whose quiet faith, humility, and deep love for his people became a living sermon of the Gospel.

Their departure has left an emptiness that cannot be measured simply by the work they accomplished. We miss their voices, their prayers, their guidance and their presence. Yet they have not ceased to share in the Mission because they have not ceased to belong to Christ. The same Lord whom they served now receives them into His Kingdom, where they continue to pray for the very Mission to which they devoted their lives. Death has not ended their ministry; it has transformed it. What they once offered through visible labour, they now offer through ceaseless intercession before the throne of God.

This is why the Orthodox Church speaks of the saints not as heroes of the past but as living members of the Kingdom. Their feast days are not anniversaries recalling something that has been lost. They are liturgical manifestations of what has already been accomplished in the God-man, Jesus Christ. In every feast, heaven and earth meet. Time is opened to eternity, and the Church experiences, here and now, the communion of the age to come. The saints bear witness that the Kingdom of God is not merely a future hope; it is already present in our midst.

And so, the Mission continues.

Young indigenous Orthodox men are preparing to become the next generation of priests, ready to shepherd their own communities and proclaim the Gospel in the languages and cultures of their people.

The new alumni and student accommodation at St Tabitha Children’s Home is nearing completion, opening a new chapter in our care for young people as they continue their education and begin adult life while remaining connected to the Church that has nurtured them.

New volunteers continue to arrive almost every month, offering their time, skills and love in service to Christ and His people. Their presence reminds us that the Gospel still inspires hearts far beyond the shores of the Pacific.

The Mission is also sustained by the remarkable generosity of faithful Orthodox Christians, parishes and churches from many countries. Through their prayers and sacrificial financial support, children are cared for, clergy are sustained, communities are strengthened, and new missionary work becomes possible. Though separated by oceans, they labour together with us as members of the same Body of Christ.

God continues to add to His Church. In July in Fiji, we rejoiced in welcoming new members through Holy Baptism, witnessing once again that the Holy Spirit continues to call people into the life of Christ. Every baptism reminds us that Pentecost has not ended. The Gospel continues to take root in new hearts and new families.

There is also great hope for Samoa. The plans for the new Orthodox Mission Centre have now been submitted, and, God willing, work on the land will begin before the end of the year. What is now only lines on paper will, by God’s grace, become a place where future generations will gather to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, learn the Orthodox faith, receive hospitality, and encounter the love of Christ.

Looking at all this, we begin to understand something essential about the Church.

Every generation receives the Gospel from the hands of another. The Church is built through countless acts of hidden faithfulness, most of which history never records.

Gerontas Amphilochios planted. Fr Varnavas, Fr Panayiotis and Fr Bartholomew—the indigenous priests whom he ordained, and who have now all departed this life—watered those seeds with tears, prayers and faithful service. Others now continue the labour. One day they too will entrust the work to those who come after them. Yet the Mission itself remains one and the same because its true foundation is neither human strength nor human planning, but Christ Himself.

Perhaps this is one of the greatest consolations of the Gospel. The labourers come and go, but the Lord of the harvest remains. Those who have reposed continue to pray. Those who labour today continue to sow. Those yet unborn will one day reap what is now being planted.

The Mission in the Pacific is therefore not simply the story of churches being built, projects being completed, or communities growing. It is the unfolding life of the Kingdom of God in these islands—a communion that embraces the living and the departed, missionaries and newly baptised, benefactors and volunteers, children and elders, all gathered into the one Body of Christ.

For this reason, we give thanks—not only for what has been accomplished, but because the Lord of the harvest continues to call, gather, and sanctify His people in these islands.

Archimandrite Meletios Pantic

Head of Missionary Ministry, Holy Metropolis of New Zealand

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