The Kikuyu tribe proclaimed the Metropolitan of Nairobi as their “Elder”

Romfea news (in Greek)
Translation A.N.

Last week the Very Reverend Metropolitan Makarios of Nairobi, Kenya, co-officiated in the Divine Liturgy with Their Eminences Bishops Innocent of Rwanda and Burundi, Athanasius of Kisumu and Western Kenya, and a large number of Priests at the sacred church of Saint Eleftherios in Rironi, a suburb of Nairobi.
Present at the Divine Liturgy were the Orthodox faithful from neighboring areas, board members of parishes, orthodox ladies from Christian unions, orthodox men from their respective union, youngsters, political factors and others.
Towards the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Very Reverend Metropolitan bestowed honours on two important workers of the Orthodox Christian Union who had served for several years and had performed effectively: Moses Mungo who was Chairman, and William Muhoro who was Secretary of the Union.
Moses was present and had accepted the honorary plaque, whereas William had already slept in the Lord, so his widow accepted the honorary plaque in his stead.
Also honoured was the oldest of the professors of the Patriarchal School “Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III”, Clement Kabutu (…)

Afterwards outside the church, there took place a special ritual where, according to the Kikuyu tribe’s traditions and culture, the Metropolitan was proclaimed “Elder” of the tribe, which is a very important honorary title – the highest – for his humble ministry in Kenya.
That day was particularly special for the Very Reverend Metropolitan, who, after the Divine Liturgy and extremely moved, revealed to everyone that God had blessed him in so many different ways and with spiritual experiences, given that he performed the Divine Liturgy with the two African Bishops and the Priests, who had all been students of his at the Patriarchal School.

As a matter of fact, because of the absence of Bishop Neophytos, his message was read by a representation of Priests who had purposely come over, to honour the Metropolitan.
The same thing occurred on the previous Sunday at the church of Saint John at Nyeri, where he co-officiated with the aforementioned Bishops and the local Bishop Neophytos together with all the Priests who again happened to be his former students and were also ordained by him. This was the greatest blessing that the Metropolitan had received, inasmuch as all three African Bishops used to be his students.
This was followed by a rich celebratory program with dances, songs and the cutting of the traditional cake.

Excerpt from Metropolitan Makarios’ speech:
"(...) Titles and Ranks are all good! But they are a challenge and a reminder that we must focus on the way we can help our fellow man…
Do we actually examine in depth and convince ourselves that we need to increase inside us the virtue of humility and reconciliation?
Our Lord taught us with His words and His actions how we can serve our fellow-man with humility, out of love towards him, and that only thus can we succeed in this crucifixional-resurrectional course.
«Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being» (1Cor.10:24). We will succeed, only when we sacrifice our very self for our fellow-man, the least among our brothers, who is none other than God Himself.

It is the fruit of virtue, since we are giving the other an exceptional honour and are interested in his ascent.
How much, really, does our humility help us attain all the other important virtues that will support us so that we can finally reach our final destination: deification and holiness! And we can then always have the desire to love our brother even more, and to even sacrifice our very life so that he may be saved.”


Please, see also

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) An Orthodox Christian parish in Turkana desert  
THE MAKARIOS LEGACY IN KENYA
Eglise orthodoxe au Kenya: «Le message de l’orthodoxie est intemporel et dépasse les tribus et les langues»
Orthodox Kenya
Orthodox Mission
Serving the Least of the Brethren: the Missionary Work of "Orthodox Africa"!