Fast, But Not Fast Enough: An Update from Missionary Michael Pagedas

Kristo Amefufuka! (Christ Has Risen!) Amefufuka Kweli! (Truly He Has Risen!)

The Orthodox Church of Tanzania has taken Great Lent and Pascha to a new level for me. Living next to the church, I was able to participate in all of the Pre-sanctified Liturgies, Akathist Hymns, and Holy Week services--something that had been all but impossible for me to do in the states. As with Christmas, I wasn’t subjected to holiday distractions like the Easter Bunny (which I recently discovered was a symbol taken from paganism!) and candy sales. Pascha was simply a feast day focusing on the Resurrection of Christ and nothing more.

This was definitely one of the more spiritual Lents I have had; but as far as fasting from food goes, I came up way short. Going into Lent, I knew things would be difficult, seeing as our daily diet is similar to what the monks eat on Mt. Athos and that we always take full advantage of any chance we get to stray from that diet. I decided that I would make this Lent more about what comes out of my mouth than what goes into it. It was almost like I knew what was in store for me. When Katie and I arrived in Nairobi (right in the middle of Lent) we soon discovered that fasting would be all but impossible. Our meals were included with our stay at the guest house, and it was all the stuff we missed eating stateside--burgers, pizza, and some of the best desserts we’ve had in almost 10 months. I gave in to the temptation based on 2 things: 1) it was the food that was prepared for us by our hosts, and 2) I knew that I probably wouldn’t get food like this until my next trip to Nairobi or until I got back to the states, whichever came first. Perhaps it was a cop-out on my part; but for me, fasting is more than just abstaining from food. Many Orthodox Christians (myself included) often put too much of an emphasis on fasting to the exclusion of faith, good works, and prayer. I made sure to embolden and underline the last part of that statement because I don’t want anyone to think I am downplaying the importance of fasting. Fasting is an essential part of Orthodox spiritual life, but all too often I have heard people either making a big deal about fasting or asking others about what they are giving up for Lent. St. John Chrysostom wrote:

"I have said these things, not that we may disparage fasting, but that we may honor fasting; for the honor of fasting consists not in abstinence from food, but in withdrawing from sinful practices; since he who limits his fasting only to an abstinence from meats, is one who especially disparages it. Dost thou fast? Give me proof of it by thy works!"

One of the daily Lenten readings also resonated with me:

“They seek Me day by day, and desire to know My ways. As a people who did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God, they now ask Me about righteous judgment, and desire to draw near to God, saying, ‘Why have we fasted, but You did not see it? Why have we humbled our souls, but You did not know it?’ Because in the days of your fasts, you seek your own wills, and mistreat those under your authority. If you fast for condemnations and quarrels, and strike a humble man with your fists, why do you fast to Me as you do today, so your voice may be heard in crying? I did not choose this fast, and such a day for a man to humble his soul; nor if you should bow your neck like a ring and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself, could you thus call such a fast acceptable. I did not choose such a fast,” says the Lord; “rather, loose every bond of wrongdoing; untie the knots of violent dealings; cancel the debts of the oppressed; and tear apart every unjust contract.” --Isaiah 58: 2-6

For me, this is what fasting should be about--not just abstaining from certain foods, but also from things like gossip, envy, greed, and lust. I still failed from abstaining from even those things, but that brings up one of the most important reasons why we fast: to show us that we can’t do this alone and that we need to rely on God’s grace to get us through.

Thank you to my support team!

Michael
m.pagedas@ocmc.org

An opportunity to support OCMC by bidding for our items at the Bay Area Wine Project!

June SAMP Spotlight: Fr. Augustinos Batalingaya

Fr. Augustinos Batalingaya serves in Tanzania, at St. Dimitrios Orthodox Church in Ibamba.

There are nearly 400 priests serving in 20 countries around the world who depend on support from OCMC's Support A Mission Priest Program. Please help us to provide this much needed assistance by making a gift to the SAMP Program at www.ocmc.org, and continue to pray for these faithful servants who minister to our brothers and sisters around the world.

Love, Laughter, and Family: An Update from Missionary Katherine Wilcoxson

I had mentioned in a previous update that one of my favorite phrases in any language is 'I love you'. Fr. Spyridon, our parish priest in Bukoba, has a daughter named Sofia. She is four years old. When we first met Sofia, she did not talk to us at all. Even if we spoke to her in Kiswahili she would only nod her head for yes or no. At that time, my Kiswahili was limited, but that doesn't matter; I knew the most important phrase. So everyday when I saw Sofia, I would whisper into her ear, "Ninapenda Sofia." Just those words. At first she didn't respond--probably because she didn't know what to do with this white person speaking to her in Kiswahili. But it only took a day or so, and then, when I whispered in her ear, she responded, "Ninapenda Katrina." Ever since then Sofia and I exchange this greeting every day when we first meet each other. It has been said over and over, but the best way to learn a language is to become as a child--and, you can ask anyone, I usually don't have a problem with throwing myself into this role. Whenever Sofia sees me coming her way she runs to me and stops just short of me, and I spread my arms way out, and she does the same, and we embrace. I have also taught Sofia how to blow kisses, and that's what we do when we say goodbye.

Speaking of kisses and saying goodbye, when I learned that I would have to travel home for awhile, James Hargrave escorted me to the Nairobi Giraffe Park. The big attraction at the park is that you can feed and pet the giraffes--but, the best part of all is that, if you put the maize pellets in your mouth (that's what they give you to feed the giraffes) and pucker up, you have the once in a lifetime experience of getting a (very wet and sandpaper feeling) giraffe kiss. I can't think of a better way of leaving the continent of Africa than to be kissed goodbye by a giraffe.

James also arranged another blessing for me. The day before I was scheduled to leave for the States, I found myself in the Nairobi Hospital as a patient. I was diagnosed with a kidney infection, and I wasn't able to leave the hospital until three days later, on the Tuesday of Holy week. James had been attending the daily services, and he spoke with Metropolitan Makarios of Kenya. When James mentioned that I was still in Nairobi Hospital, His Eminence offered to come to my room to anoint me with Holy Unction oil. That afternoon His Eminence came by, and he even brought his own photographer! So I can't wait to see my picture in the Newsletter for the Nairobi Diocese.

Differences in Babies

While I have been in Tanzania, many of my friends from home have had babies. As you can imagine, there are quite a few differences in American babies and Tanzanian babies. In Tanzania for example, it is very rare to see a child younger than two to be carried on their mother's hip. These children are always transported on their mother's back. Usually two pieces of cloth called kanga are used to support the child. The mother leans over, keeping her back straight, and places the child on her back. As this is done, the child actually balances itself on the flattened back as the mother ties the child in a sling with the two kanga (it's pretty amazing to watch). Once a child grows out of being carried on their mother's back, they are expected to walk everywhere. One last difference is that my friends have lots and lots of gadgets and toys for their child and themselves. One gadget has a timer to tell you when to feed your baby, which side you breast fed on the hour before, and how many diapers were changed. It is very uncommon for a woman to have a baby in Tanzania without a whole lot of support. Even if the woman doesn't have family, her neighbors, the neighbor's family, and the neighbor's friends help the woman especially if she is a first time mother. Community, relationships, and families are not just an idea - it is a lifestyle.

It is hard to not feel like part of some sort of family in Tanzania, which is really great when you miss your biological family. There is no shortage of love, laughter and the feeling of belonging to a family in Tanzania.

A Helping Hand: An Update from OCMC Missionary Christina Semon

My travels back to Romania went without problems, thanks be to God. My fellow Missionaries, Floyd and Ancuta Frantz, were hosting me for several of the days that I was in Cluj. On the schedule for Palm Sunday was a food/clothing drive for the Protection of Theotokos Family Center (PTFC) at Holy Annunciation Romanian Orthodox Church which is located near the Center. We parked the van in the courtyard of the parish. . The priest came out before the service to ask how we were doing and blessed us to have a van full of goodies for our mothers and babies of the Center. At our location in front of the church, people of all ages came to the van to give their donations. We caught peoples’ attention with our presence in the neighborhood. It was humbling and yet wonderful to see the grandmothers and the elderly bring in a bag of flour or cooking oil to us. That was all they could afford to give. Many of the elderly are barely able to survive on the low pensions that they receive, but they came to us to sacrificially give and participate with the Center in this effort. I learned something very special from this event. Once we acknowledged people’s gifts with a ‘thank you’, many of them responded by saying, “May God receive.” In other words, they are saying that they do not deserve the credit; but rather that the credit belongs to God.

This is an example of the community taking responsibility for their own people. The priest of the parish started a relationship with the PTFC. His heart was touched by the services offered to the mothers and their babies. Through his leadership, he was able to gather and encourage his parishioners to participate in taking care of their people.

OCMC’s goal is to help local churches be the Church to its own people. The PTFC has been receiving boxes of generous clothing donations from many parishes in the USA. Through their prayers and holy action, which enable these shipments, seeds of Christ’s love are being planted in the fertile soil of Romania. The director of the PTFC, OCMC Missionary Ancuta Frantz, said that she did not expect such a strong response. There have not been many parishes that have jumped to action like this parish in the history of the PTFC. The outcome was a full van loaded with food and clothing essentials for the PTFC to assist the mothers and their babies that God has brought to them.

Glory to God for all things!

An Ascension Greeting from the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC)

The staff, board, missionaries, and volunteers of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) pray that you have a blessed Ascension Feast. On this day we have a great opportunity to consider our response to Christ’s last words prior to His Ascension, which were to “go and make disciples of all nations”. The OCMC stands ready to help you answer your call to share the Orthodox Faith so that the whole world may know hope and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Support Team Update: From Missionary Maria Roeber

Kristo amefufuka! Christ is risen!

I am writing to you from Denver, where I am currently doing a week of language training (learning Kiswahili!) before my departure to Tanzania at the end of this month!

It has been a long process; but thanks be to God, with your help, I have built a fantastic support team and am fully funded/pledged for two years of missionary service as a nurse in Bukoba, Tanzania!

It feels like it’s been so long since my last update, and with this being my first official emailed update. I thank you for your patience with me over these past few months as I have been developing my support team while working full-time in Washington, DC! My last day of work was April 1, and since then I have been to Florida for my pre-field training at OCMC headquarters, packed up and moved out of my apartment in DC, and enjoyed Holy Week and Pascha at home in State College, PA with my parents. For Bright Week I travelled out to Calistoga, CA to visit my sister at Holy Assumption Monastery, and then to the LA area to visit with my brother. I also had the opportunity to visit Saint Barbara’s monastery while staying in Santa Paula. Following this week in Denver, I will return to State College for a few days. Then, I will be in Kansas City to attend a medical missions conference for short and long term missionaries. This leads me to my next big announcement…

On Sunday, May 22 at 5 pm, I will be officially commissioned as a long-term missionary with OCMC! If you are in the DC area (or are willing to travel) I invite you to attend Great Vespers at St. Sophia’s Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC. The commissioning will follow the Vespers service, and will be held in conjunction with the annual DC area OCMC benefit banquet. If you would like to attend the banquet, information is available on the OCMC website at http://ocmc.org/resources/view_event.aspx?EventId=261. You don’t have to attend the benefit to come and pray with and for me, though! I would love to see all of you before I leave!

I’m so grateful to all of you who have been praying for me, and to those of you who are pledging to support me or have donated to help send me to Africa! I am so eager to finally be on my way and to begin sharing Christ’s love and salvation with people in Africa! It’s also very exciting to know that soon I will be using my skills as a nurse to minister to the physical needs of people in Bukoba and in the surrounding areas. I can’t wait to start sharing the details with all of you!

May you enjoy a blessed Paschal (Easter) season, and please be in touch! I hope to see as many of you as possible in DC on May 22!

In Christ,

Maria Roeber

Missionary Candidate

Paschal Greetings to the Moldovan Elderly: An Update from Missionary Christina Semon

The youth of St. John Maximovich Social/Youth Center were focused on feeding the elderly. They collected old paper that people had around their homes. They turned in all the paper to a paper company which was recycling it and, in return, they received money. They did not use this money to take a special excursion for themselves but instead used it reached out to the sick and poor elderly in town during the Great Feast of Pascha. They made food bags for 10 elderly and they would have done more bags but that it was all they could do.

As I got to hear this beautiful news, I asked the question of how the elderly would get these bags. The youth said that they would ride their bicycles to their houses. I thought that would be a big challenge since they were carrying eggs! So I offered my car to assist with the deliveries which would not have been possible without the blessing of my support team in allowing me to have this transportation. The kids were excited about this offer of mine. We loaded the car and left to greet and visit the elderly from the church, especially those who were not well enough to make it to church.

As the driver, I could see from the car some of their facial expressions of joy and appreciation that the kids remember them this Pascha. The poor elderly gave a simple joy which truly made an impression on the youth on the day before Pascha.