2014 was the 52nd year for the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity... Results Report 2014

More than 4 billions of people around the world are unaware of the gospel of Christ. They have never heard the words of the God-man and never had the opportunity to accept a call to repentance. The numbers are huge, but God’s power is unlimited. This is why a few dozens of people nowadays continue the missionary work that began on the day of Pentecost. With minimal means, they travel huge distances to meet every fellow man and call him in the Body of Christ.
2014 was the 52nd year for the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. By God’s grace it was also a year full of love, vitality and progress for our sacred purpose. Only in 2014, we raised the amount of 711,228.49 € from your own donations for the Orthodox Missions and we funded, in whole or in part, more than 30 projects and programs of the missionary divisions.
Of this money:

• the amount of 436,661.00 € was transferred in cash to the missionary divisions,
• 98,809.48 € was given to support the missionary divisions with in kind aid,
• 18,885,49 € was spent on allowances to Orthodox students studying in Greece with a view to working in the Mission of their homelands,
• 111,056.66 € consists of temporarily restricted donations, scheduled to be used in 2015.
• The remaining amount was spent to raise awareness for the missionary work and on operating costs of the Fraternity.

St. Charalampos’s church, Cameroon

Projects

Churches

In the year 2014, we started or completed the construction of eight churches in African countries. Overall, 183,600 € were given to build churches for the religious needs of the new Orthodox in Africa. More specifically, the churches are: Holy Archangels in Madagascar, Annunciation of Theotokos in Gungu, Congo (DRC), Ss. Cosmas and Damian in Nkhuwala, Malawi, Ss. Constantine and Helen in Bombo, Uganda, Ss. Luke of Simferopol and Holy Taxiarchs in Burundi, St. Charalampos in Cameroon, Dormition of Theotokos in Uganda and Ss. John the Baptist, Demetrios and George in Burundi.
Thus, the Orthodox converts will now have their own church to gather, pray and be spiritually edified.

Water projects

No one can live without water. This is why millions of people in developing countries walk up to more than 10 kilometers every day to bring clean water to their homes. In order to help our suffering fellow men, our missionaries create water projects, such as wells, tanks and water pumps. In 2014, thanks to your love, we built 7 projects in Madagascar, Malawi and Kenya. 2,500 people have now access to clean water!

Water pump in Ntcheu, Malawi

Clinics

The most common wish among people is health, both in rich and poor countries. The Orthodox Missions set up clincs and dispensaries to provide people with medical care for free or at an affordable cost. In 2014, we financed the equipment of “Panagiotis Papadimitrakopoulos” Health Center in Bombo, Uganda, and Theotokos Hospital in Medan, Indonesia, with the amount of 15,000 €.

Theotokos Hospital, Medan

Science Workshop

We constructed a Natural Science workshop in Larteh, Ghana. 50,000 € were given for this project, of which 20,000 € were disbursed in 2014. The laboratory will serve the educational needs of the students of the city’s Orthodox schools.

Programs

Soup kitchens

Most missionaries minister in countries, where hunger is a daily guest. Therefore they organize soup kitchens for people, where they can come and get a plate of food, regardless of their race, gender or religion. In 2014, we funded these rations with 60,250 €.

Soup kithcen in Antananarivo

Baptisms

The primary purpose of the Mission is to meet our distant fellowman, to reveal the mysteries of God to them and to invite them to His Church. In yet another year, you participated in the Baptisms program with 16,200 € and gave our missionaries the opportunity to do more.

Educational sponsoring

With the Educational Sponsoring program, you empower young Africans to go to school. In 2014, more than 23,000 € were given for education of young students in Congo (DRC), Indonesia, Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone.

Humanitarian aid

In the year 2014, with your own help, we shipped 3 containers of humanitarian aid to Sierra Leone and Madagascar. The total cost amounted to 98.809,48 €.

Loading a container for Sierra Leone at our warehouse in Philyron

Emergencies

Earthquakes, plauges and floods occur daily around the world. Two of the biggest dangers in 2014 were the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone and the devastating monsoon rains in Sumatra, Indonesia. Thanks to your prompt response, our Fraternity sent 14,200 € to Medan, Indonesia for damage repairs, while in Sierra Leone we sent 16,500 € as well as 75 m³ of food and means of protection from infection.

Miscelaneous needs

Everyday life at the Mission raises various more needs. For this reason, the amount of 65,361 € was given for purposes such as clergy wages in Kenya and Korea, purchase of land in Katanga, Congo (DRC) and Congo Rep., the new missionary opening in Sudan and the needs of a boys’ orphanage in Impfondo, Congo Rep.

Our amazing supporters

Nothing of these would be possible without our 1,514 supporters from 22 countries, who care about the Orthodox Missions and contributed less or more to promote our work with a median donation of 100 €.

Countries

For one more year, we were active in 21 countries and offered them the help you trusted us with. The aid was distributed to missionary divisions, as follows:

Impact

By God’s grace and despite the financial crisis, our Fraternity continues to convey your rich offerings to support the Orthodox missionaries. During the last ten years only, we sent nearly eight million euros for the development of the missionary work.

Lectures

Nine times in a year, on the second Sunday of the month, we meet at St. John the Baptist’s church in Thessaloniki for prayer and liturgy attendance. Afterwards, we gather at our Fraternity’s hall, where Orthodox missionaries give short lectures on the Mission. In 2014, we hosted bishops Demetrios of Irinoupolis, Alexios of Carthage, Ignatios of Madagascar, Ieronymos of Mwanza, Innocentios of Burundi & Rwanda, Fr. Themistocles Adamopoulos from Sierra Leone, Fr. Polycarpos of Hagia Anna from Madagascar and Fr. Ermolaos Iatrou from Malawi.

* * *

Thank you all for another great year! We greatly appreciate your support, the trust you put on us and your passion for the spread of our Orthodox Christian faith far and wide. Let us all pray that 2015 will be a better and more fruitful year for Orthodox Missions and all mankind.

 

http://orthodoxmission.org.gr/2015/01/results-report-2014/