Christos Georgiou
Doctor, Dentist, Regular member of the Fraternity
Easter 2015.
Going through the most joyful period of the year, that is, the
Easter period, my mind and heart cannot help overflowing with joy, hope
and nostalgia, since they are still on the missionary division of Sierra
Leone, just one month after my return. It’s there that I experienced
the moving adventure of Faith, it’s there that the Chancellor, Fr.
Themistocles Adamopoulos chose to follow the Crucified Christ to the
corner of Africa, where reside the poorest of the poor.
By the grace of God, with the blessings of the Pope and Patriarch
Theodore the II of Alexandria and all Africa and the financial
contribution of the friends of the Mission from the little they have,
within the last seven years the newly established but so fervently
struggling Orthodox Church of Sierra Leone carries out in a wondrous way
a diverse missionary, philanthropic as well as educational work despite
the adversities and the numerous problems that can occur any time.
First of all, as regards the catechetical work and that of worship, I
was greatly impressed by the spirit of freedom and love with which the
Church embraces those souls that seek the Truth and come to hear the
Word of God, which is preached in a simple, experiential way. The
christening of the catechumens is not held roughly and hastily but after
a long period of catechesis and a fully conscious decision on their
part. Two highly emotional moments were when the priest knelt down in
order to give the Holy Communion to some handicapped people in a
wheelchair, and at the Vesper of Forgiveness, with the faithful
exchanging words of sincere forgiveness with each other and the priests
forming a circle of unity in an atmosphere full of reverence during the
period of the Great Lent.
As for the part of charity, on the outskirts of the capital city, in
the region of Waterloo, Fr Themistocles established what the Patriarch
called on a recent tour to Sierra Leone ‘the pride of the Patriarchate’,
the village of Saint Moses the Black for the war amputees. This
compound of residences consists of lodgings for the disabled and their
families, clinic, school, workshop and church, and offers its services
to the most vulnerable and helpless citizens of this country: the
homeless amputees. The recent fifteen-year-tragedy of the civil war in
conjunction with diseases like polio, have left countless victims with
mutilations or disabilities. Those people, stigmatized and marginalized,
found a warm embrace of God to shelter their dreams.
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Divine Liturgy in St. Moses’s village
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Catechism in the amputees’ village
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Syke street school
In such an exceptional place is the clinic of Saint Mary Magdalene
and Saint Olympia, where for a week, along with a local cardiologist, we
examined more than 350 patients from the surrounding areas and helped
them with the right medical treatment. Apart from malaria,
undernourishment, tropical and skin infections, we observed increased
percentages of hypertension due to the psychosomatic impact caused by
the war. Next step is the construction of a special clinic for the
creation of prosthetics for the amputees, a worth-supporting effort.
Fr. Themistocles lays special emphasis on the part of education,
mainly of those children that have exceptional educational capabilities.
The capital city of Sierra Leone has been named “the Athens of Africa”
due to its tradition in the field of education. The school of the
Orthodox Church in Syke street offers free education to more than 1,500
children with primary and secondary schools. Unforgettable will be the
memory of the school wall, where in clear Greek letters stands out the
phrase “Love God, love Knowledge”. Within the school premises we gave
the students a dental examination and lectures on oral hygiene,
preventive hygiene and medical emergencies. The same place hosts the
activities and events of the Orthodox Youth Fellowship, where we had a
catechetical class and a video projection with pictures from the
Orthodox tradition. Also, there is a college for students operating with
distinguished professors from all over the world.
Before leaving for Sierra Leone, I filled my overweight luggage with
little holy icons and crosses, books, school stuff, balloons and the
communion bread that my mother kneaded for the Divine Liturgy. On my
return, the same suitcases were carrying some solid diamonds from the
bloodstained land of Sierra Leone. Those were the sincere and guileless
communion of love with the brother there, the pure smiles on the
children’s faces, the chances for ritual services in the Orthodox
Churches, and Fr. Themistocles’s phrase “It’s God we should glorify, not
grumble”. Unconsciously came to my mind one of Saint Symeon the New
Theologian’s sayings, which fits this humble Orthodox missionary
division: “There is a little joy that laughs at death”. Christ is Risen!
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Travelogue 2005-2006
