Tanzania: Authorities brutally violated Maasai amid forced evictions from ancestral lands

 

Tanzania: Authorities brutally violated Maasai amid forced evictions from ancestral lands

'We will not go anywhere': Maasai resist Tanzanian government evictions

 

URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government on a Rampage Against Indigenous People 

Kicking Native People Off Their Land Is a Horrible Way to Save the Planet

URGENT! Tanzania: Stop the Maasai evictions!

 

URGENT: Maasai people are at risk of being violently evicted from their lands to make way for trophy hunting and elite tourism - this cannot be allowed to happen.

Join the call on President Samia Suluhu Hassan to end the violence and stop all evictions now!

Help us spread the word - Share this video!

➜ avaaz.org/HelpMaasai

We are Maasai elders from Northern Tanzania. Right now tens of thousands of our community could be forced off our ancestral lands to make way for elite tourism and trophy hunting.

We urgently need your support.

When we faced these threats in 2014, more than 2 million Avaaz members rallied behind our call! Together, we created such a storm that the President promised never to evict us from our lands.

But now, there’s a new head of state and plans are being revived! President Samia Suluhu Hassan may not listen to us, but we know she’ll respond to media and public pressure – to all of you! With two key high-level meetings in the region next week we only have days to deliver our global call again. Join us now – and show her the world is standing with the Maasai!

​- The Maasai elders of Ngorongoro District in Northern Tanzania 

 

To the President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan:

As citizens from around the world, we call on you to oppose any attempt to evict Maasai from their traditional land or require them to relocate to make way for foreign hunters. We are counting on you to be a champion for your people and stop any attempt to change their land rights against their will.

Click here!

Ανάγκη για ένα μηχανάκι για τον π. Ηλία της φυλής των Μασάι (Ανατολική Τανζανία), για 4 μακρινές ενορίες…

 

Ορθόδοξη Ιεραποστολή

Αδελφοί μου βοήθεια μας ο Άγιος Παρθένιος σήμερα και ο Θεός να ευλογεί τον πνευματικό μας πατέρα!!!

Πριν από 3 χρόνια χειροτόνησα τον πρώτο ιερέα από την φυλή των Μασάι!!! Με την βοήθεια του Θεού το έργο προχώρα γρήγορα, όμως το ποδήλατο δεν είναι πια αρκετό διότι ήδη εξυπηρετεί τέσσερις μακρινές ενορίες, παρακαλώ ας βοηθήσουμε όλοι μαζί να αγοράσουμε ένα μηχανάκι για τον π. Ηλία και την πρόοδο της Ορθοδόξου Ιεραποστολικής μαρτυρίας!!!

Το μηχανάκι θα στοιχίσει 800€, ας επικοινωνήσουν μαζί μου οι ελεήμονες δωρητές.

Ο Μητροπολίτης Ειρηνουπόλεως, Ανατολικής Τανζανίας και Σεϋχελλών Δημήτριος

«ΠΙΣΤΗ ΚΑΙ ΑΓΑΠΗ»

ΙΕΡΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΔΡΑΣΗ

ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

213/005506-92

ΙΒΑΝ: GR 48 0110 2130 0000 2130 0550 692

SWIFT – BIC: ETHNGRAA

 

 

Ο δάσκαλος που έγινε Μητροπολίτης στην Αφρική και έχει βαπτίσει 60.000 Ορθοδόξους - Ελλάδα - Νέα Κρήτη

Η αγάπη τον οδήγησε στην Ιεραποστολή - Τι είχε πει σε εκείνον ο Άγιος Παΐσιος

Έχει επιτελέσει και εξακολουθεί να επιτελεί θεάρεστο έργο, η ζωή του αποτελεί παράδειγμα προς μίμηση. Κινητήριο δύναμή του σε όλα όσα κάνει, η αγάπη… αυτός είναι ο μητροπολίτης Τανζανίας, ο οποίος σώζει χιλιάδες παιδιά από αρρώστιες και την πείνα.

Ο μητροπολίτης Ειρηνουπόλεως κ. Δημήτριος (κατά κόσμον Θεμιστοκλής Ζαχαρέγκας) γεννήθηκε στη Θεσσαλονίκη και είναι ο άγγελος φύλακας ο οποίος με τη στήριξη πιστών από Θεσσαλονίκη και Ρόδο εγκαινιάζει ναούς, νοσοκομεία, σχολεία, φτιάχνει καινούργια πηγάδια, προσφέρει καθημερινά φαγητό και φάρμακα, σώζοντας χιλιάδες παιδιά στην Μαύρη Ήπειρο.

Σε συνέντευξή του στην εφημερίδα «Ροδιακή», σύμφωνα με το kivotos.gr, μιλάει για το έργο του στην Αφρική από το 1989 που εντάχθηκε στην Ιεραποστολική Μονή του Αρχαγγέλου Μιχαήλ στο Θάρρι και αναφέρει: «Η ιεραποστολή ήταν στα σπάργανα. Αυτά τα 15 χρόνια βαφτίσαμε 60.000, ανάμεσά τους πάνω από 8.000 Μουσουλμάνους, χτίσαμε 35 εκκλησίες, δύο ορφανοτροφεία και τώρα χτίζουμε το τρίτο, έχουμε οκτώ δημόσια σχολεία με 12.000 μαθητές, για τους φτωχότερους των φτωχών, πηγάδια για να έχουν πρόσβαση σε πόσιμο νερό 500.000 άνθρωποι και έχουμε έντεκα κλινικές για τα παιδιά με AIDS, τροπικές ασθένειες και ελονοσία».

Ο όσιος Παΐσιος ήταν αυτός που τον προέτρεψε να γίνει ιεραπόστολος: «Είχα πάει στον Άγιο Παΐσιο τον Αγιορείτη (σ.σ. αναγνωρίστηκε ως Άγιος το 2015) και μου είχε πει «παιδί μου, μην το αφήσεις αυτό, έχει ο Θεός και θα δεις στην πορεία πώς θα εξελιχθεί αυτό».

Ο κ. Δημήτριος περιγράφει την επίσκεψή του στο κελί του Αγίου: «Παρατηρούσα ένα δωμάτιο κατασκονισμένο, αλλά λαμπερό. Αυτή η σκόνη έμοιαζε σαν χρυσάφι μέσα στο φως του ήλιου μέσα στο δωμάτιο του Αγίου Παϊσίου.

Παρατήρησα το κρεβάτι του που ήταν από τούβλα, το ένα πάνω στο άλλο και κάτι σανίδια και μία κουβέρτα ριγμένη έτσι πρόχειρα. Παρατηρούσα αυτή την απλότητα που όμως μέσα στην καρδιά μου γέμιζε ένα φως! Ένιωθα κάτι πολύ ιδιαίτερο και ελκυστικό. Κάτι πολύ πνευματικό και ουράνιο. Μετά με παίρνει στην εκκλησία. Μόλις μπήκαμε στο παρεκκλήσιο κάτι είδα εγώ στον θρόνο δίπλα, αλλά από νέο παιδί ποτέ δεν σκανδαλιζόμουν. Ποτέ δεν με ένοιαζε τι κάνει ο άλλος. Πάντα έβλεπα τον εαυτό μου και δεν ασχολούμουν με τους άλλους. Και μου λέει «Ήταν εδώ ένα παλληκάρι και μου είπε γέροντα έχω ψυχολογικά προβλήματα.

Του λέω πάρε αυτά τα στραγάλια να τρως κάθε πρωί νηστικός ένα στραγάλι, αλλά πρέπει να κόψεις το τσιγάρο. Και λέει: Ε να γέροντα, από αυτή τη στιγμή δεν καπνίζω ξανά». Κι άφησε το πακέτο στον θρόνο του Χριστού. Έτσι όταν μπήκα εγώ είδα ένα πακέτο Marlboro στον θρόνο του Χριστού. Και μου λέει ο γέροντας: «Αν ήταν κανένας άλλος τώρα, θα έβγαινε έξω σε αυτούς που μαζεύτηκαν -είχε γεμίσει ήδη έξω, ακούγονταν οι φωνές- και θα τους έλεγε βρε κορόιδα τι περιμένετε, αυτός τα τσιγάρα μέσα στην εκκλησία τα ’χει!».

Λέω «Προς Θεού γέροντα, πώς θα σκεπτόμουν τέτοιο πράγμα» και μου απάντησε «Παιδί μου, πρέπει πάντοτε να έχουμε καλούς λογισμούς. Πάντοτε το καλό μηχανάκι βγάζει καλούς λογισμούς, το κακό το μηχανάκι βγάζει κακούς λογισμούς. Άντε τώρα να φύγεις και να βάλεις το λουκέτο να μην μπουν άλλοι». Όταν έφυγα ήταν γεμάτο κόσμο. Εμένα δεν μου είπε τίποτα άλλο, αλλά καθώς έφευγα γυρίζει και τους λέει: «Τον βλέπετε αυτόν το δάσκαλο; Αυτός θα γίνει ιεραπόστολος!».

Όπως λέει: «Το όνειρό μου δεν ήταν να κάνω τον κόσμο Ορθόδοξο. Από μικρό παιδί σκεφτόμουν τον εαυτό μου να ανακατεύω το γάλα και να ταΐζω τα πεινασμένα παιδιά. Δηλαδή η αγάπη ήταν αυτή που με οδήγησε στην ιεραποστολή. Δεν ήμουν από μια πολύ θρησκευόμενη οικογένεια με τη στενή έννοια. Ο πατέρας μου δεν πήγαινε ποτέ στην εκκλησία. Αν και η μητέρα μου πήγαινε κάθε Κυριακή, γενικά ήταν μία οικογένεια αριστερών πεποιθήσεων, οπότε δεν είχαμε μια πολύ θερμή σχέση με την εκκλησία».

Αρχικά έγινε μητροπολίτης Καμερούν από τον πατριάρχη Αλεξανδρείας μακαριστό Πέτρο. Μετά το Καμερούν ο νυν πατριάρχης Θεόδωρος του εμπιστεύθηκε την Τανζανία, όπου εδώ και 15 χρόνια διακονεί.

Όταν πήγε εκεί, όπως αναφέρει, δεν υπήρχε σχεδόν τίποτε.

«Η ιεραποστολή ήταν στα σπάργανα. Αυτά τα 15 χρόνια βαφτίσαμε 60.000, ανάμεσά τους πάνω από 8.000 Μουσουλμάνους, χτίσαμε 35 εκκλησίες, δύο ορφανοτροφεία και τώρα χτίζουμε το τρίτο, έχουμε οκτώ δημόσια σχολεία με 12.000 μαθητές, για τους φτωχότερους των φτωχών, πηγάδια για να έχουν πρόσβαση σε πόσιμο νερό 500.000 άνθρωποι και έχουμε έντεκα κλινικές για τα παιδιά με AIDS, τροπικές ασθένειες και ελονοσία».

Ποιος είναι ο Ειρηνουπόλεως Δημήτριος

Ο Σεβ. Μητροπολίτης Ειρηνουπόλεως, Yπέρτιμος και Εξαρχος Ανατολικής Τανζανίας και Σεϋχελλών κ. Δημήτριος (κατά κόσμον Θεμιστοκλής Ζαχαρέγκας), εγεννήθη στον Σοχό Θεσσαλονίκης το έτος 1965.

Εσπούδασε στην Εκκλησιαστική Παιδαγωγική Ακαδημία Θεσσαλονίκης και στη Θεολογική Σχολή του Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης.

Το έτος 1989 ενετάχθη στην Ιεραποστολική Μονή Αρχαγγέλου Μιχαήλ-Θάρρι της Ρόδου. Διηκόνησε ιεραποστολικά από το 1992 σε Μαδαγασκάρη, Ινδία, Χόνγκ Κόνγκ και Φιλιππίνες και ανέπτυξε αξιόλογη φιλανθρωπική δραστηριότητα.

Εχειροτονήθη Διάκονος και Πρεσβύτερος υπό του Σεβ. Μητροπολίτου Χόνγκ Κόνγκ κ. Νικήτα το 1999.

Ενετάχθη στον Κλήρο του Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας και υπηρέτησε ως Προϊστάμενος του Ιερού Ναού Ευαγγελισμού της Θεοτόκου Αλεξανδρείας και Υπεύθυνος Γραφείου Τύπου και δημοσίων σχέσεων του Πατριαρχείου.

Έλαβε μέρος σε πλείστες Ειρηνικές Επισκέψεις και Ιεραποστολικές Περιοδείες του Πατριάρχου ανά τον κόσμο.

Μητροπολίτης Καμερούν εξελέγη την 16ην Σεπτεμβρίου 2002 υπό της Αγίας και Ιεράς Συνόδου παμψηφεί, χειροτονηθείς από του μακαριστού Πατριάρχου Αλεξανδρείας κυρού Πέτρου Ζ΄ την 6ην Οκτωβρίου 2002.

Μητροπολίτης Ειρηνουπόλεως εξελέγη υπό της Ιεράς Συνόδου την 27ην Οκτωβρίου 2004.

Η Ιερά Μητρόπολη Ειρηνουπόλεως περιλαμβάνει στην πνευματική της δικαιοδοσία τα κράτη της Τανζανίας και των Σεϋχελλών νήσων.

Διαβάστε, αν θέλετε, και:

Ένα ακόμη πηγάδι προσφέρει καθαρό νερό σε χιλιάδες μικρά παιδιά… Ανατολική Τανζανία

Δυσκολίες στις εργασίες του Ιερού Ναού Ευαγγελισμού/Αγίων Ακύλα και Πρίσκιλλα στη Μητρόπολη Ειρηνουπόλεως Τανζανίας. 

Matthew, a Pious Maasai

Τανζανία: Εκεί που τα παιδιά πεθαίνουν για 3 ευρώ ( εμβόλιο ανεμοβλογιάς )

Saint Siluan of Mount Athos - Three wonderful publications in Swahili, Kikuyu and Masai...

The book by Saint Sophrony on his Spiritual Father and Elder, Saint Siluan of Mount Athos

romfea.gr (in Greek)

Translation A. N.

For many decades, we have been making a humble attempt to put our sacred Services into circulation in the local African dialects.
And I believe that we have succeeded, with the help of the professors and the seminary students of our Patriarchal School "Archibishop of Cyprus Makarios III".
We have already published the Sacramental texts of our Church for the Holy Week of Easter, the Offices for the 40 days of Great Lent, the Pentecost, Orthodoxy Sunday, Theophany, the Akathist hymn, the supplications to the Holy Mother, the Easter Sunday Vespers of Love, the Liturgies of Saint John Chrysostom and of Saint Basil the Great, the Service of the Pre-sanctified Gifts, etc., in more than 30 dialects - not only of Kenya, but also Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia... even Catechisms in various dialects.
It can easily be named "Book of Blessings", since several of the aforementioned Services are included in a separate volume.
These publications of the specific volume were the fruits of the benefit that the seminary students had acquired, when they were so deeply impressed during the evening readings, that they themselves asked if they could translate them into Swahili, Kikuyu and Masai and for my benefit also, a debt and respect for the person of the Elder and my Spiritual Father - and now Saint - Sophrony.
The images on the front and the back cover were kindly prepared by the sisters of the Essex Monastery and the exact words of Saint Siluan were written in local dialects, entirely unexpectedly.
This year we began to read the texts of Great Lent in English, which is the common language of all the seminary students, followed by discussions.

Το βιβλίο του Αγίου Σωφρονίου για τον Άγιο Σιλουανό τον Αθωνίτη σε τρεις αφρικανικές γλώσσες

---

romfea.gr

 

Για πολλές τώρα δεκαετίες κάνουμε μια ταπεινή προσπάθεια να κυκλοφορήσουμε στις τοπικές αφρικανικές διαλέκτους τις ιερές μας ακολουθίες.

Και πιστεύω ότι κάτι κάναμε με τη βοήθεια των καθηγητών και ιεροσπουδαστών της Πατριαρχικής μας Σχολής «Αρχιεπίσκοπος Κύπρου Μακάριος ο Γ΄».

Ήδη εκδώσαμε την Αγία Εβδομάδα τα μυστήρια της Εκκλησίας μας, τις ακολουθίες της Μεγάλης Τεσσαρακοστής, Πεντηκοστής, Ορθοδοξίας, Επιφανείων, Ακαθίστου Ύμνου, Παρακλήσεις στην Παναγία, Εσπερινό της Αγάπης, Λειτουργίες Ιωάννου Χρυσοστόμου, Μεγάλου Βασιλείου, Προηγιασμένων Δώρων κ.τ.λ. σε περισσότερες από τριάντα διαλέκτους όχι μόνο της Κένυας, αλλά Ζιμπάμπουε, Νιγηρίας, Ουγκάντας, Ζάμπιας … Ακόμα και Κατηχήσεις σε διάφορες διαλέκτους.

Μπορεί άνετα να ονομασθεί Ευχολόγιον, αφού σε ξεχωριστό τόμο περιλαμβάνονται αρκετές από τις προαναφερθείσες ακολουθίες.

Οι εκδόσεις αυτές του συγκεκριμένου τόμου ήταν καρπός της ωφέλειας που προσκόμισαν οι ιεροσπουδαστές, όταν στη βραδινή ανάγνωση εντυπωσιάστηκαν τόσο που ζήτησαν να το μεταφράσουν στα Σουαχίλι, Κικούγιου και Μασάι και για δική μου οφειλή, χρέος και σέβας προς το πρόσωπό του Γέροντα και Πνευματικού μου Πατέρα, τώρα Αγίου, Σωφρονίου.

Οι εικόνες του εξώφυλλου και οπισθόφυλλου φιλοξενήθηκαν από τις αδελφές της Μονής στο Έσσεξ και γράφτηκαν στις τοπικές διαλέκτους τα αυτούσια λόγια του Αγίου Σιλουανού σε ανύποπτο χρόνο.

Αρχίσαμε και φέτος με την έναρξη της Μ. Τεσσαρακόστης να διαβάζουμε στ’ Αγγλικά που είναι η κοινή γλώσσα όλων των ιεροσπουδαστών και στη συνέχεια γίνεται συζήτηση.

 

St Silouan of Mount Athos (from here)

Saint Silouan was born Simeon Ivanovich Antonov in 1866 to pious Orthodox parents in the Tambov region of Russia.  His youth was much like other village young people of his day and much like the lives of many youth today. While he was attracted at times to the spiritual life and seeking God, he was more attracted by the pleasures of village life.   He worked as a carpenter on the estate of a nearby noble and spent his free time drinking vodka with his friends, playing his concertina and socializing with the village girls.  It was said that he could drink three bottles of vodka without feeling any effects.  Young, strong and handsome he was popular with these girls and one evening fell into the sin of fornication.  On one occasion a young man who had too much to drink and wanting to show off for the girls, threatened Simeon and tried to take his concertina.  In Simeon’s own words:

 At first I thought of giving in to the fellow but then I was ashamed of how the girls would laugh at me, so I hit him a great blow to the chest.  His body shot away and he fell backwards with a heavy thud in the middle of the road.  Froth and blood trickled from his mouth.  All the onlookers were horrified.  So was I.  “I’ve killed him,” I thought, and stood rooted to thespot… It was over half an hour before he could rise to his feet.

One day, shortly before he began his required military service, he dozed off to a light sleep and dreamt that a snake crawled down his throat.  He woke up to hear a voice saying: “Just as you found it loathsome to swallow a snake in your dream, so I find your ways ugly to look upon”.  Simeon later reported he saw no one but was convinced that it was the beautiful voice of the Mother of God coming to rescue him from the evil pit his life had become.  This vision/dream would alter the rest of his life, he began to be ashamed of how he was living his life.  As an example of the change in him, one evening, while serving his military service, he and a few of his friends went to a tavern where there was much loud music, dancing and carousing.  Simeon sat quietly and hardly spoke which led his companions to inquire why he was so quiet.  Simeon said:

I’m thinking that here we sit in a tavern, eating, drinking vodka, listening to music and enjoying ourselves, while at this very hour on Mount Athos they are in

church for vespers and will be at prayer all night.  And I’m wondering which of us will put up the best defense before God’s Judgment Seat – them or us?

At the age of twenty-seven in 1892 he left his native Russia and came to Mount Athos, where he became a monk at the Monastery of St. Panteleimon and was given the name Silouan, the Russian version of the Biblical name Silvanus. He was given the obedience (work duty) at the monastery mill, sleeping little, fasting severely and praying continually.  He struggled against sinful memories from his past life and practiced the Jesus Prayer.  Though barely literate, he received the grace of unceasing prayer and saw Christ in a vision. After long years of spiritual trial, he acquired great humility and inner stillness. He prayed and wept for the whole world as for himself, and he put the highest value on love for enemies.

He was never ordained to the diaconate or priesthood but continued his ministry as a monk in which he devoted himself to praying for all people. A monk is a man who prays for the whole world….. I tell you that when we have no more men of prayer the world will come to an end and great disaster will befall – as, indeed, is happening already.
Having repented and received God’s mercy for his past life, Father Silouan felt great compassion for all people.  He wrote:  “But when a man sees in himself the light of deliverance from sin there awakens in his soul a mighty compassion for all who ‘fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23) and prayer for the ‘whole Adam’ fills his being.” 
After a period of time, Father Silouan was appointed one of the stewards of St. Panteleimon’s monastery, helping in the administration of a monastery with over 1,000 monks and overseeing 200 laymen who worked in the monastery’s many workshops.  After assigning the work tasks for the day, Father Silouan would return to his room to pray and weep for the men who had left their families in their villages to seek employment in far off Mount Athos.  He wrote:

He who has the Holy Spirit in him, however slight a degree, sorrows day and night for all mankind.  His heart is filled with pity for all God’s creatures, more especially for those who do not know God, or who resist Him, and therefore are bound for the fire of torment.  For them, more than for himself, he prays day and night, that all may repent and know the Lord. 

Father Silouan died in the monastery after an illness on September 24, 1938. He was glorified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1987 and his relics are enshrined in the St. Panteleimon’s Monastery on Mount Athos.  His writings were edited by his disciple and pupil, Archimandrite Sophrony who later established a monastery in England and became known as a staretz himself. 

Please, see also

 
Elder Sophrony Sakharov († July 11, 1993)



Stand with the Maasai (or: How people can live next to lions without killing them)

An unexpected death in the Maasai 

Patriarch of All Africa with Orthodox Maasai in Kenya

The Kikuyu tribe proclaimed the Metropolitan of Nairobi as their “Elder”
Hope for the Kikuyu (Kenya) / "The caves along the Tana River became the refuge for freedom fighters..." 
Orthodox Christian dialogue with Banyore culture
The Orthodox Church in Kenya & the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III
Orthodox Mission in Tropical Africa (& the Decolonization of Africa)  

Matthew, a Pious Maasai

"Today, on 21 August, going to a very remote and difficult area in the Iringa region in Central Tanzania, we passed through a wild forest, where we met children who filled their pails of muddy water to transport for miles to their home for whole their family." (from here)

By Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha - Orthodox Missionary Fraternity

In the Orthodox Vineyard of Africa

 

Every time we return from Greece or from a long journey to our Mission Center in Kidamali, Iringa, crowds of faithful, little children, young and elderly people, come with manifest joy and kindness to welcome us, but also to ask for some financial or material assistance. This phenomenon is common and we are delighted to see it happen because we know that it is not pretentious but genuine and spontaneous. Besides, this region is the poorest and most primitive of Tanzania, and these people are our own people, our beloved family.
One day after my return to Arusha, I see at my door a tall, thin lad in the characteristic Maasai dress and with a broad smile on his face. It was Matthew. We baptized him when he was a little kid. Since then, he had attended school, loved our Church and when he came of age, he married a pretty and modest young woman from his village, and now he is a father of two children. Indeed, on our last visit to the Maasai village all of them asked us to ordain Matthew priest for their village.

Well, that morning seeing him right in front of me filled me with joy mainly because deep inside of me I have hopes for him that some day by the Grace of God, he may become a good priest of our Church. When he kissed my hand, he said to me, “Caribbou Askofou,” that is, “Welcome Bishop, I have come to take your blessing”. 
I could not help thinking that he wanted to ask for something, and I was wondering what that might be. Instead, he repeated that he had heard I had returned, and that he was there to greet me. In the conversation that followed I told him that some of our brothers from Greece had given us some money for borehole drilling in their village. 
The Maasai villages are isolated from the rest because they have a different cultural background and tradition from the other Africans. They believe they originated from Alexander the Great and do not mix with other tribes.
Matthew’s answer to the question left me speechless. Instead of feeling delighted and say that the borehole would save them from walking miles and miles to carry water, he said: “It would be better to do the drilling between our village and the adjoining African village because the Orthodox Church is the Church of Love and does not discriminate among human beings “!

An answer I really did not expect to hear, which shows the nobleness and the manly dignity of these people and proves how deeply the truth of the Gospel touches their pure souls..
Before he left, I asked him if he needed anything, and he only asked for a prayer rope. His face light up when I hung it round his neck, and he went away overjoyed. From the depths of my soul, I praised the Triune God, who supports us in our work with such spiritual joys, which make us draw courage and continue.

Agathonikos of Arusha

Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha

The Orthodox Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha and Central Tanzania was born in 1964. He serves the Orthodox Missions in Africa since 2004, while in 2016 he was ordained the bishop of the newly-founded diocese of Arusha.

You can see: ENTHRONEMENT CEREMONY OF HIS GRACE BISHOP OF AROUSA AND CENTRAL TANZANIA

 

The sick woman who was healed 

 

And, lo, I am with you always… 

 

Patriarchal Visit to Cameroon

 

See also 

 

Tanzania: «Africa needs hands and hearts that love through deeds, not words and theories»

The Orthodox Church in Tanzania
“Christ is the hope of the Africans” : A spiritual Odyssey in Tanzania
Video kuhusu Kanisa la kale (Kanisa la Orthodox) katika Tanzania ― Video about the ancient Christian Church (Orthodox Church) in Tanzania ― Video antiikin kristillinen Kirkko (ortodoksikirkko) Tansaniassa

 

 

Orthodox Baptism in the Diocese of Arusa, August 2018 (more here)

Diocese of Arusha
Tanzania 

Maasai (tag)

Stand with the Maasai (or: How people can live next to lions without killing them)

An unexpected death in the Maasai 

Patriarch of All Africa with Orthodox Maasai in Kenya

Orthodox Tanzania

The Church as the Liberated Zone: "All we Christians are terrorists..." (and 2 videos, from Tanzania, Maasai, & DRC)

The Kingdom of Heaven, where racial discrimination has no place
"THE WAY" - An Introduction to the Orthodox Faith
St. Justin Popovic: Whither does humanistic culture lead?
 

Videos about African children

See also

Maasai children singing

Meet Munyiva from Kenya - A day in her life 
 
Panwapa: Day in the Life Kids in Tanzania
 
The Little Maasai Children Tribe Dancers Singing, Dancing and Jumping 

Kenya: Risky Road to School (Learning World S4E9 3/3)

Meet Sifa from Rwanda - A day in her life

Meet Matheo from Tanzania - A day in his life
 
Kind Coins for Kenya

Photo from here

And

African Children (tag)
 
Stand with the Maasai (or: How people can live next to lions without killing them)

An unexpected death in the Maasai 

 

Patriarch of All Africa with Orthodox Maasai in Kenya

The Orthodox Christians in Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda.

African Pentecost 2017

The Feast of Pentecost

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann
Orthodox Metropolis of Zambia and Malawi
 

Pentecost. Icon from here.

"The feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit." I say these words I've known since childhood, and all at once they strike me as if I'm hearing them for the first time. Yes, from the time I was a child I knew that ten days following the Ascension, meaning fifty days after Pascha, Christians from time immemorial celebrated and continue to celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit in a feast known by its church name as Pentecost, or more popularly as "Trinity," the day of the Trinity.
For centuries, to prepare for this feast the churches were cleaned and adorned with greenery and branches, and grass was strewn about the floor... On the day of the feast, at the solemn vespers, the faithful stood in church holding flowers in their hands. These customs explain how the feast of Pentecost entered Russian popular consciousness and literature as a kind of sun-filled, bright celebration, the feast of flowering, a kind of joyful encounter between human beings and God's world in all its beauty and grace.
All religions, including the most ancient and primitive, had a feast of summer flowering, a feast to celebrate the first appearance of shoots, plants, fruit. In ancient Judaism, this was the feast of Pentecost. If in Old Testament religion Passover celebrated spring's resurrection of the world and nature, then the Jewish Pentecost was the feast of movement from spring to summer, celebrating the victory of sun and light, the feast of cosmic fullness. But in the Old Testament a feast common to all human societies acquires a new meaning: it becomes the annual commemoration of the ascent of Moses up Mount Sinai, where in an inexpressible mystical encounter God revealed himself, entered into a Covenant, gave commandments, and promised salvation. In other terms, religion ceased being simply nature, and now became the beginning of history: 

Feast of Pentecost 2017 in BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (from here)

 
God had revealed his law, his commandments, his plan for humanity, and had shown the way. Spring, summer, the eternal natural cycle, became a sign and symbol not only of nature, but of man's spiritual destiny and the commandment to grow into fullness of knowledge, life and perfect wholeness... Finally, in the very last phase of the Old Testament, through the teaching and insight of the prophets, this feast became a celebration directed toward the future, to God's final victory in his creation. Here is how the prophet Joel speaks of this:
And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the men-servants and maidservants in those days, I will pour out my spirit. And I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth...before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered... (Joel 2:28-32) Thus, the Jewish feast of Pentecost is a feast of nature and the cosmos, a feast of history as the revelation of God's will for the world and human beings, a feast of future triumph, of God's victory over evil and the coming of the great and last "day of the Lord." All this must be kept in mind in order to grasp how the first Christians experienced, understood, and celebrated their feast of Pentecost, and why it became one of the most important Christian celebrations.

 

Harare, Zimbabwe: Cathedral of the Holy Trinity celebrates the Pentecost (from here)

The Book of Acts, devoted to recounting the history of the first Christians and the initial spread of Christianity, starts precisely with the day of Pentecost, describing what took place fifty days after Christ's resurrection and ten days after his ascension into heaven. Just before his ascension Christ had told the disciples "not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, 'you heard from me..." (Acts 1:4). So in ten days, according to St Luke's account,
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance... And all who heard were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." (Acts 2:1-4, 12.13)
To those witnesses who remained skeptical, the apostle Peter explained the meaning of the event using the words of the prophet Joel quoted above. "This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel," he said, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh..." (Acts 2:16,17).
For the Christian, therefore, the feast of Pentecost is the completion of all that Christ accomplished. Christ taught about the Kingdom of God, and here it is, now opened! Christ promised that the Spirit of God would reveal the truth, and now this is fulfilled. The world, history, life, time, are all illumined with the final, transcendent light-all are filled with ultimate meaning. The last and great day of the Lord has begun!

Feast of Pentecost 2017 at the temporary Cathedral of St Dimitrious in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo (from here)

The Gospel of the Sunday of Pentecost
The Promise of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-52)

 

Orthodox Metropolis of Zambia and Malawi
(photo from Pointe-Noire)
 
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing[a] in Him would receive; for the Holy[b] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Who Is He?
40 Therefore many[c] from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Rejected by the Authorities
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night,[d] being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen[e] out of Galilee.”
John 8:12
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

 Reading the prayers of Pentecost 2017, outside in a Maasai village, Kenya (photos from here & from here of Bassie Masoha Feldman)

Pentecost - If any man thirst… Three important things.

Orthodox Metropolis of Zambia and Malawi

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, there are three very important things that are said in the gospel today. They’re right in a row. One is basically a question. The other is a command or actually, a suggestion, and the other is the result.
We are celebrating today Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, the apostles and all the rest of the believers up to and including us – the Holy Spirit Who enlightens us, Who shows us the way of life, Who speaks to us in groaning s that cannot be uttered[1]. He tells us the things of God, the things of Christ; He enlightens us.
But none of this, none of this will happen unless first we consider this very, very important question. And we must answer.
When you answer a question, a Christian question, it’s not something that you say once. It’s something that you answer again and again and again. An example is when the Lord said, “Simon, son of Jonas, loves thou me?” And he said, “Yea, Lord, I love thee.” And he was asked three times in a row.
We are asked that question every day. Do we love the Lord or do we love the world? So we can’t answer that question just one time. It has to be answered over and over again.
And here is another question very similar to the question that is posed to us on the Sunday of the Cross: “If any man thirst, if any man will,” it says on the Sunday of the Cross, “let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Here it says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.”
There’s a parallel here. How do you come unto Christ and drink? You deny yourself; you take up your cross and you follow Him.

Pentecost 2017 in Tunisia (from here)

“If any man thirst” – It’s a question that needs to be answered every day. Do you thirst?
Now, thirst, biologically, is just when you feel the need for water, and if you are extremely active, you need to be drinking water even when you don’t think you need it. In the Christian life we should be cultivating our thirst, constantly thinking.
How do you cultivate your thirst? I think the easiest way is to compare this life to the next, comparing the person you are with the person you should be. Compare the promises of God with the way of the world. And if that doesn’t make you thirst, then you have a severe problem like unto being that ground that is hard packed, so that the seed cannot grow.
If a person has no thirst whatsoever, the Holy Spirit will not fill them; the Holy Spirit will not live in them, no matter how Orthodox they are. No matter if their father and mother were Orthodox, it’s been in their family, no matter if they serve in the church, no matter if they are clergy. If a person does not thirst for God, then the Holy Spirit will not fill him.
So the first and foremost thing that is necessary for our salvation is for us to thirst, for us to desire. God revealed Himself to us. Otherwise, we would know nothing of Him. So the first and foremost thing of salvation is God loving us and creating us.
But we were created, and we often look to worldly and earthly things instead of spiritual things because they are more immediately tasty to us. They are more immediately pleasurable to us. They are easier to obtain, and the things of God are hidden. So it takes effort to cultivate a thirst.

Pentecost 2017 in the Parish of The Holy Apostles in Rwamagana, in Eastern Province of Rwanda (from here)

 

So on this day of Pentecost, I’m asking you: Do you thirst?
Now, the apostles were gathered together on the day of Pentecost and the tongues of flame came and stood over each one of their heads and they prophesied and they spoke in other languages. Why did this happen? It was because they were gathered together; they were thirsting. In the fifty days since the Lord had risen they were together every day in prayer and in fasting, not understanding really about the future. The Lord had spoken to them about this future, but they did not understand, but they stayed in one place so that on the day of the Holy Spirit they were all enlightened. If any one among their company had left, then on that day they were not enlightened.
So the first thing that you must do is thirst. And then the next thing with thirst, find something to slake your thirst. And the only thing that will satisfy us is Jesus Christ. So we must come unto Him and drink.
Does this make you remember the woman at the well? He said to the woman at the well, “If you ask of me, I’ll give you living water.” This living water is the Holy Spirit. “He that believeth on me,” says the Lord, “out of his belly shall flow forth rivers of living water.”
This metaphor is really wonderful. The belly is also a figure of speech for the heart; it is interesting that the belly is sometimes taken as the heart in Scriptures. The belly is the place where we fulfill our desires; it is a metaphor for all desire. And the Lord will sanctify all of us. If our belly is sanctified, then certainly the rest of us will be as well.
Now, sometimes people have trouble believing. It’s really difficult. There’s a lot of, dissonance in the world. We want to be something and we’re not. We try to be good, and yet there are these thoughts that assail us. We try to find Christ, and sometimes He does not seem so near. So there’s this tug of war that’s going on all the time. It’s a lot easier to believe the things in the world because we see them and we feel them and we experience them rather than the things of God. And anyone who says that they never have any such feelings, that person is not telling you the truth.
How do we experience Christ? First by knowing we need Him. Thirsting. Second, by coming to Him. And the gospel of the Cross is “Deny yourself, take up your Cross and follow Me.” So we are talking work, and not anything that’s really, really easy. We are talking if you have something that you really need and you know that the only way to get it is by obtaining something, you’re willing to work for that.
And then what happens? “Out of his belly shall flow forth rivers of living water.” if out of your belly was flowing forth cool, refreshing, life-giving water, wouldn’t you know it? Would any man need to tell you any proofs of Christ? Would you need to have any dogmatic definitions? No. Because God would be within you. You would feel Him moving. There would be no doubt. This is what we are attempting to obtain, and it is obtainable, and we do believe this because the saints obtained it.
If you are having doubts, then recognize that this is a sign of your own fallenness and weakness, and renew your thirst. Whatever you can do to come to the Lord, do it, and drink of His living water, and you will eventually feel out of your belly this living water. There will be no doubt. There won’t be any room for any doubt because the Holy Spirit fulfills all things.
Do what you can do so that eventually you can do what you cannot do.

 
Pentecost 2017 in Beira, Mozambique (from here)
 
First of all, you must be thirsty. You must know that you have a need. You have to know that you need God. And I tell you, unfortunately there are people that don’t know this need. Sometimes we don’t know this need either. But if we know this need, then let us come to Christ. And you come to Him by being completely pure, never thinking evil thinking thoughts, never cursing, never having any unclean thoughts, never being jealous, never lying, never being unpleasant, and never being irritable. If you can do this, then that is good, but most people cannot. None of us can do this, not consistently, not every single moment. But we can do some of it; and the things we can do, we must do.
If you can be kind to your neighbors, be kind even if they are not kind to you.
If you can refrain from judging someone or at least refrain from judging with your lips, then do this.
If you can fast, then fast.
If you can come to the services frequently, then do this.
There are many, many other things.
We could speak of hundreds of things that, if you can do them, I tell you, you must do them.
Sometimes things that you and I consider simple, other people consider difficult, like fasting, for instance, or saying our prayers in our morning or continence or any other things. But what you can do, you must do because the Lord says, “Come unto Me and drink, and out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And this is the part that you cannot do, but you will be able to do. No man will be saved without great effort.
If you want to show the Lord that you thirst, then evaluate what you can do
Now, can you fast? All right.
Can you pray?
Can you come to church regularly?
Can you commune?
Can you confess?
Can you tithe?
Can you be kind?
Then do these things.
If these are things that you are capable of doing and you are not doing them, then woe unto you because how can the Spirit come in, because if you are not doing things that you can do, you certainly won’t be able to do anything that you’re not capable of, and you never will.
So that is what that little aphorism that I made up means. It is important, and the Scripture teaches it all the time. I mean, I didn’t make it up out of the air. It’s right in the Scriptures.
So if you thirst, follow Christ to the extent of your abilities. Perhaps those abilities are not very good right now. But they will become better if you follow according to the extent of your abilities now. And then you will become better able to do good things later on. And there is no substitute for purity and goodness. Purity and goodness make us know Christ in the way that no one can gainsay, no one can fool us, and no doubts can creep in.
So here is the key to the Christian life. Thirst for God. Thirst for goodness. Thirst for peace. Recognize that you are lacking something, something very precious that you need. Desire that thing. And then, to the best of your abilities, come to Christ and drink of His water which He offers. Take up your cross, deny yourself, struggle.
“If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He that believeth on Me,” as the Scripture has said, “out of his belly shall flow forth rivers of living water.” And we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming today to make this a possibility for us to have the rivers of living water in our life but only if we thirst and if this thirst drives us to come after Christ and to follow him. Amen.

The Gospel of the Sunday of Pentecost in Kiswahili, Portuguese and Arabic

The Lord Jesus Christ teaches the people (icon from here)

Orthodox Metropolis of Zambia and Malawi

Vijito Vya Maji Yaletayo Uzima
Yohana 7:37-52
 
37 Siku ya mwisho ya sikukuu, ambayo kwa kawaida ndio ili kuwa kilele cha sherehe, Yesu alisimama akasema kwa sauti kuu, “Mtu ye yote mwenye kiu na aje kwangu anywe. 38 Kama Maandiko yasemavyo, ye yote aniaminiye, vijito vya maji yaletayo uzima vitatiririka kutoka moyoni mwake.” 39 Yesu alisema haya kuhusu Roho Mtakatifu ambaye wote waliomwamini Yesu wangempokea, kwani mpaka wakati huo, Roho alikuwa bado hajatolewa, kwa kuwa Yesu alikuwa bado hajainuliwa na kutukuzwa.
40 Waliposikia maneno hayo, baadhi ya watu walisema, “Hakika huyu ndiye yule Nabii.” 41 Wengine wakasema, “Huyu ni Masihi!” Lakini wengine wakauliza, “Kwani Masihi kwao ni Gali laya? 42 Je, Maandiko hayakusema kuwa Masihi atakuwa mzao wa Daudi na kwamba atazaliwa Bethlehemu, mji alioishi Daudi?” 43 Kwa hiyo kukawa na mgawanyiko kati ya watu kumhusu Yesu. 44 Baadhi yao walitaka kumkamata, lakini hakuna aliyethubutu kumgusa.
Kutokuamini Kwa Viongozi Wa Wayahudi
45 Hatimaye wale walinzi wa Hekalu waliokuwa wametumwa kum kamata Yesu, walirudi kwa makuhani wakuu na Mafarisayo. Wakauli zwa, “Mbona hamkumleta ?”
46 Wale walinzi wakajibu, “Hakuna mtu ambaye amewahi kufundisha kama yeye.” 47 Mafarisayo wakajibu, “Ameweza kuwa danganya hata ninyi? 48 Je, mmewahi kuona kiongozi ye yote au mmoja wa Mafarisayo ambaye amemwamini? 49 Lakini huu umati wa watu wasiojua sheria ya Musa, wamelaaniwa.”
50 Ndipo Nikodemo, yule aliyemwendea Yesu siku moja, ambaye alikuwa kati yao akauliza, 51 “Je, sheria zetu zinaturuhusu kumhukumu mtu kabla ya kumsikiliza na kufahamu alilotenda?”
52 Wakamjibu, “Je, wewe pia unatoka Galilaya? Chunguza Maandiko nawe utaona kwamba hakuna nabii anayetokea Galilaya!”
Yohana 8:12
Yesu Ni Nuru Ya Ulimwengu
12 Kwa hiyo Yesu akasema nao tena akawaambia, “Mimi ni nuru ya ulimwengu. Mtu ye yote akinifuata hatatembea gizani kamwe, bali atakuwa na nuru yenye kuleta uzima.”

Rios de água viva de Jesus Cristo
João 7:37-52

Photos from Pentecost 2013 at the Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa, Cairo (from here)
 
37 E, no último dia, o grande dia da festa, Jesus pôs-se em pé e clamou, dizendo: Se alguém tem sede, que venha a mim e beba. 38 Quem crê em mim, como diz a Escritura, rios de água viva correrão do seu ventre. 39 E isso disse ele do Espírito, que haviam de receber os que nele cressem; porque o Espírito Santo ainda não fora dado, por ainda Jesus não ter sido glorificado.
40 Então, muitos da multidão, ouvindo essa palavra, diziam: Verdadeiramente, este é o Profeta. 41 Outros diziam: Este é o Cristo; mas diziam outros: Vem, pois, o Cristo da Galileia? 42 Não diz a Escritura que o Cristo vem da descendência de Davi e de Belém, da aldeia de onde era Davi? 43 Assim, entre o povo havia dissensão por causa dele. 44 E alguns deles queriam prendê-lo, mas ninguém lançou mão dele.
45 E os servidores foram ter com os principais dos sacerdotes e fariseus; e eles lhes perguntaram: Por que o não trouxestes? 46 Responderam os servidores: Nunca homem algum falou assim como este homem. 47 Responderam-lhes, pois, os fariseus: Também vós fostes enganados? 48 Creu nele, porventura, algum dos principais ou dos fariseus? 49 Mas esta multidão, que não sabe a lei, é maldita. 50 Nicodemos, que era um deles (o que de noite fora ter com Jesus), disse-lhes: 51 Porventura, condena a nossa lei um homem sem primeiro o ouvir e ter conhecimento do que faz? 52 Responderam eles e disseram-lhe: És tu também da Galileia? Examina e verás que da Galileia nenhum profeta surgiu.
João 8:12
João 8:12
Discurso de Jesus sobre a sua missão
12 Falou-lhes, pois, Jesus outra vez, dizendo: Eu sou a luz do mundo; quem me segue não andará em trevas, mas terá a luz da vida.

يَسُوعُ يَتَحَدَّثُ عَنِ الرُّوحِ القُدُس
ﻳﻮﺣﻨﺎ 7:37-52

37 وَفِي اليَوْمِ الأخِيْرِ وَالأهَمِّ مِنَ العِيْدِ، وَقَفَ يَسُوعُ وَقالَ بِصَوْتٍ مُرْتَفِعٍ: «إنْ عَطِشَ أحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ، فَلْيَأْتِ إلَيَّ وَيَشْرَبْ. 38 وَمَنْ آمَنَ بِي، سَتَفِيْضُ مِنْ أعماقِهِ أنْهارُ ماءٍ حَيٍّ، كَما يَقُولُ الكِتابُ. [a]» 39 قالَ يَسُوعُ هَذا عَنِ الرُّوحِ القُدُسِ الَّذِي سَيَنالُهُ المُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ. لَكِنْ لِأنَّ يَسُوعَ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَدْ تَمَجَّدَ بَعْدُ، فَإنَّ الرُّوحَ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَدْ أُرْسِلَ بَعْدُ.
الخِلافُ حَولَ يَسُوع
40 فَلَمّا سَمِعَ بَعْضُ النّاسِ هَذا الكَلامَ بَدَأُوا يَقُولُونَ: «هَذا الرَّجُلُ هُوَ النَّبِيُّ [b] حَقّاً.» 41 وَكانَ آخَرُونَ يَقُولُونَ: «هَذا الرَّجُلُ هُوَ المَسِيْحُ.» غَيْرَ أنَّ آخَرِيْنَ كانُوا يَقُولُونَ: «أيُعْقَلُ أنْ يَأْتِيَ المَسِيْحُ مِنَ الجَلِيلِ؟ 42 ألا يَقُولُ الكِتابُ إنَّ المَسِيْحَ سَيَكُونُ مِنْ نَسلِ داوُدَ، [c] وَإنَّهُ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَلْدَةِ بَيْتَ لَحْمَ [d] حَيْثُ عاشَ داوُدُ؟» 43 فَحَدَثَ انقِسامٌ بَيْنَ النّاسِ بِسَبَبِهِ. 44 وَأرادَ بَعْضُهُمْ أنْ يَقْبِضَ عَلَيْهِ، لَكِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ أحَدٌ أنْ يُمْسِكَهُ.
قادَةُ اليَهُودِ يَرْفُضُونَ أنْ يُؤْمِنُوا
45 فَرَجِعَ حُرّاسُ الهَيْكَلِ إلَى الفِرِّيْسِيِّيْنَ وَكِبارِ الكَهَنَةِ. فَسَألَ هَؤُلاءِ الحُرّاسَ: «لِماذا لَمْ تُحْضِرُوهُ؟»
46 فَأجابَ الحُرّاسُ: «لَمْ يَتَحَدَّثْ إنسانٌ بِمِثلِ هَذا الكَلامِ قَطُّ!»
47 فَقالَ الفِرِّيْسِيُّونَ: «هَلْ خُدِعْتُمْ أنتُمْ أيضاً؟ 48 هَلْ تَعْرِفُونَ أحَداً مِنَ القادَةِ أوِ الفِرِّيْسِيِّيْنَ آمَنَ بِهِ؟ 49 لَكِنَّ أُولَئِكَ النّاسُ فِي الخارِجِ لا يَعْرِفُونَ شَيْئاً عَنِ الشَّرِيْعَةِ، وَهُمْ تَحتَ لَعْنَةِ اللهِ!»
50 وَكانَ نِيقُودِيْمُوسُ واحِداً مِنَ الفِرِّيْسِيِّيْنَ، وَهُوَ الَّذِي كانَ قَدْ ذَهَبَ إلَى يَسُوعَ سابِقاً. [e] فَسَألَهُمْ: 51 «هَلْ تَحْكُمُ شَرِيْعَتُنا عَلَى أحَدٍ قَبلَ الاسْتِماعِ إلَيْهِ أوَّلا وَمَعْرِفَةِ ما فَعَلَهُ؟»
52 فَأجابُوهُ: «يَبْدُوا أنَّكَ أنْتَ أيضاً مِنْ أهلِ الجَلِيلِ؟ ابْحَثْ فِي الكُتُبِ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ شَيْئاً عَنْ نَبِيٍّ يَأْتِي مِنَ الجَلِيلِ.»
ﻳﻮﺣﻨﺎ 8:12
يَسُوعُ هُوَ النُّور
12 ثُمَّ وَاصَلَ يَسُوعُ كَلامَهُ لِلنّاسِ فَقالَ: «أنا هُوَ النُّورُ لِلعالَمِ. مَنْ يَتْبَعُنِي لا يَمْشِي أبَداً فِي الظُّلْمَةِ، بَلْ يَكُونُ مَعَهُ النُّورُ الَّذِي يَقُودُ إلَى الحَياةِ.»


See also

Orthodox Spiritual Legacy: Pentecost (the Descent of the Holy Spirit)  

Pentecost – a frontal assault on Hades! 

The Saturday of Souls Before Pentecost: "The prayer of a righteous man has great power" (James 5:16)

God the Holy Trinity: 'The Lover of Mankind'
 
Utatu Mtakatifu, Mungu ambaye anapenda ubinadamu
 
De Pâques à la Pentecôte
 
About Pentecostalism and Charismatic Move
 
Charismatic Revival As a Sign of the Times

 

In Peace Let Us Pray to the Lord : An Orthodox Interpertation of the Gifts of the Spirit / An Orthodox answer to the pentecostalism and charismatic movement!

 

How “White” is the Orthodox Church?

 

African Initiated Churches in Search of Orthodoxy...