Growing Orthodox Christianity in Africa

A few weeks ago I paid a visit to the Fourth Night blog. This is the personal blog of a young journalist named Constantine Markides. Constantine is the son of  Kyriacos Markides, author of  "Mountain of Silence."  and a professor at the University of Maine. Constantine had recently accompanied the Orthodox Archbishop of Kenya to the second largest slum in Africa on the outskirts of Nairobi. Kibera is inhabited by over a million people. The houses have no plumbing and no electricity. There are distinct communities within, typically separated by tribe and/or language.While there he took a number of photographs of the appalling conditions. Seeing these photographs left an indelible impression on me. For many days afterward, I thought about what I had seen and what it meant about the wide gulf between my life and the life led by other human beings on the same planet. The memory of those pictures lingered for awhile and eventually was filed in the recesses of my mind until brought again to the fore last Sunday by the presence of a young Orthodox priest from Kenya. Father Athanasios Akunda. 

Father Akunda had come to visit our parish in Maine to share with us his work as a missionary in South Africa. Although there are a number of Greek immigrant communities in that country, the legacy of apartheid precluded any outreach on their part until the last few years. Father Akunda is the vanguard of an effort to establish an indigenous Orthodox Church in South Africa that includes all races. As he celebrated the divine liturgy with us I could only imagine the anxiety he was feeling for family in Kenya whom he had not been able to contact despite repeated attempts. The New Year began in his native Kenya with tragic consequences for many Kenyans as widespread violence erupted in the wake of the contested presidential elections between incumbent President, Mwai Kibaki, and challenger Raila Odinga held on on December 27th. Reports coming in from all over Kenya are painting a vivid picture of growing unrest and escalating conflict. According to Reuters, over 300 people have already died in the clashes between rival factions and the police. In Nakuru, the Orthodox church of St. George was destroyed and in other locations  the homes of Orthodox priests were burned.

The African Orthodox Church has an interesting and convoluted history.  It represents the efforts of Africans to establish an indigenous Church unencumbered by the baggage of the colonial past.  A detailed background can be found here.  The man most responsible for much of the  growth of Orthodoxy in Africa was Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus. He first arrived in Kenya in 1957, while in exile, where he spoke to the Kenyan people of freedom and justice during a time when they were still under colonial rule. A friend of Jomo Kenyatta, the Kenyan revolutionary leader, the Archbishop returned in 1971 to a hero's welcome.  During his visit he baptized 5000 new Orthodox Christians. On his way back to Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios made the following statement: “What especially moved me is the fact that in the eastern region of Africa there are thousands of Africans who follow the Orthodox faith. I sincerely believe that Greece can contribute to the Christianizing of hundreds of thousands of Africans and through Orthodoxy, the Greek spirit will shed light through the immense African continent.” He eventually became known for his efforts on behalf of the African people, which included the building of a seminary, as  the "Apostle to Africa."

The Kenyan capital city of Nairobi houses the Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary and St. George Orthodox Church lies nearby in the heart of the Kibera slums, which have been a flash point for much of the recent violence.   Father Athanasios graduated from the  Makarios Seminary six years ago and went on to receive his Masters of Divinity degree at Holy Cross Theological Seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. More impressive than his academic credentials, however, was his deep love for Christ and his steadfast dedication to establishing the Church throughout the world. His story is inspirational on some many levels.  Fr. Akunda’s gift for the work of missions was the reason Archbishop Seraphim brought him to South Africa in the 1990s. His efforts, combined with the work that had been done by the St. Nicholas of Japan Mission Society and Dr. Steven Hayes, resulted in Orthodox mission parishes springing up in places like Shoshanguve,  Mamelodi, Eldorado Park and Yeoville, among people who were not traditionally Orthodox.  Relying solely on public transportation, Fr. Akunda visits these far flung communities regularly.  Efforts such as that of Father Akunda are bearing fruit throughout the vast continent of Africa and are supported by the Orthodox Mission Center  Support a Mission Priest (SAMP). 

Writing for the Cyprus Mail, Constantine Markides has been reporting on Limassol-born Archbishop of Kenya, Makarios Tyllirides, whose efforts over the past three decades have led to a flourishing of Orthodoxy in East Africa and the continuation of the Makarios legacy throughout Kenya. It is Orthodoxy's unique approach to missions is responsible in part to its increasing numbers in Africa:

"In one week this month, he consecrated three churches, one in the Nairobi periphery shantytown of Kangemi, another in the southern hillside community of Karinde, and another in the jungle village of Ivola near Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. But although the ceremonies did not diverge in substance from those performed in Cyprus and Greece, there was an additional dimension to them: the rituals of the tribal community were also included.

The Archbishop does not merely grudgingly allow these tribal traditions. In fact, he insists that they be incorporated into the Orthodox services.

“Actually, we as a church are the ones who are encouraging and keeping alive the culture of these people,” Archbishop Makarios said. “For some of these tribes, this is the first time that written texts [the translated texts of the Orthodox services] are circulating in their dialects. In fact, the services you heard today in Swahili were published in Cyprus.” Archbishop Makarios noted that technological advances and the Kenyan government’s adoption of English as its official pedagogical language had only served to sever the 42 tribes of Kenya from their native dialect.

“We also insist that every tribe demonstrates [in the church] its traditional dances and songs,” the Archbishop said. “That way we maintain the tradition.”

The 62-year-old Archbishop is so supportive of their traditions that he joins in on the dances with them, wearing his bishopric regalia, scepter in hand.

“Many cannot imagine a bishop dancing,” he said. “[They find] it unthinkable in our tradition. But here we do it. It does no harm to anybody.”

The Archbishop has also learned the chants in the language spoken in the particular region, so the liturgies are conducted in both Greek as well as the local dialect.

All of this, along with his commitment to building schools and clinics in remote regions, has helped to draw in crowds. The churches overflow during the consecrations, with attendees one moment bowing down and crossing themselves silently, and the next ululating and clapping their hands over their heads.
Last Wednesday during the funeral service of a 38-year-old Presbytera who died from post-natal anemia after giving birth to her 11th child, hundreds of Kenyans, possibly even a thousand, gathered from the neighbouring villages to hear him speak.

But despite the innumerable churches constructed under his guidance and the thousands of Kenyans who have joined the Orthodox Church in Kenya.  Archbishop Makarios insists that proselytising does not take place.

“We don’t go out knocking on doors to bring people in. We merely say come and see. If they like what we are doing, then they will join us."

MAY THEIR EFFORTS BE BLESSED AND MAY ALL CHRISTIANS FIND IT IN THEIR HEART TO SUPPORT AND PRAY FOR THEM AND THEIR FLOCK.

      

Comments

[Simon Baddeley]

The roots of my feelings for the Greek Orthodox Church started with my Dad, who'd got divorced from my Mum in 1948 in the saddest circumstances for him, but then met Maria (my Greek step-mother in Athens who had been married to the artist Yiannis Moralis) and married her in the little church in Odos Hermou, is that the Greek Orthodox Church allows you a second chance and will still sanctify a second marriage. In those days when divorce was still shameful even in UK, that was something wonderful. Is it true what he told me as a child so long ago? It must be because their wedding was in that church Kaknikarea off Syntagma Square - and they would have to have declared their past to the priest. Simon

[Margaret]

What a lovely post. How such unlikely events conspired to produce such fruitful outcomes. Notwithstanding the common cause that Cyprus and Kenyan shared to get rid of the dastardly British colonials, I wonder if Makarios would ever have visited Kenya, if he had not been exiled and on his way back to Athens from the Seychelles. Out of that short visit, almost accidental visit, so much grew.

[Ismini]

Stavros
I really enjoyed reading this post.I have close links (due to my father)with some monasteries in Agion Oros and Ormylia and I am very much aware of "ieapostoles" in many places in Africa and elsewhere. When I was younger I wanted to go to Burundi but then my dream never materialised.

Simon, The Greek Orthodox Church will not allow more than a total of three religious marriages, and this is only permitted in extreme circumstances. However, civil marriages are not recognised by the Greek Orthodox Church so even if you have been married many times before at a Register Office these will not be considered if you choose to marry in Church.
Orhtodoxy is a religion which allows for mistakes, at least thats how I was brought up to believe.

[Stavros]

Simon,

True Christianity is always about a second chance.

Margaret,

The ongoing tragedy in Africa is not so much a legacy of the "dastardly colonials" as much as the people who replaced them. Ultimately the problems of Africa have to be solved by Africans themselves. All we can do is help them as best we can and that doesn't always mean with more financial aid, most of which seems to end up lining the pockets of those in power.

[Stavros]

Ismini,

Monasticism is making steady progress here in North America where we desperately need its spiritual wisdom. Spurred in large part by Elder Ephraim, a spiritual child of Elder Joseph.

http://www.stanthonysmonastery.org/VisitorInfo.htm

[Kevin McEvily]

May their selfless labors bear much fruit!
The tragedy in Kenya is especially foreboding for those of us who considered it the most solid democracy in the region.
Stavros, I have to agree with you in absolving the British for the worst of the African travails. We have come to understand much more about the continuing cost of colonialism. Nevertheless, without intending to incite riot here, it has been my observation that that the British left their former colonies far better off than any of their colonialist competitors.
I have a cousin, now a priest of the Benedictine Order, who as a brother went to Uganda in the early 60’s. He established a number of very successful schools and was principal or headmaster at a particularly well regarded high school he had founded when Idi Amin, that old nemesis of the great Mordecai Yabakov, nationalized the school and its property and expelled my cousin and much of his staff. Still, it was better treatment than your friend, Paul Melshon, got when he beat his di di mau from the continent’s more southern regions. Paul was sentenced to death in absentia for his efforts on behalf of Bishop Muzorewa. Though I can’t imagine Paul thought of himself as doing the Lord’s work in Rhodesia, I see a similar a lesson in these two experiences: Laborers in the vineyard would do well to follow your dictum for more worldly intervention – know the geography, history, dynamics (including the reputation of the local vintner --or Ordinary) of a place before signing on. What’s the prognosis for your missions in Kenya?
By the way, today we celebrate the birth (1788) and life of Lord Byron, a figure distinguished by an immortal description offered by a contemporary literary figure who knew him intimately -- “mad, bad and dangerous to know!”
I understand that the poet’s life is still revered in Greece for his own attempt at adventurism on behalf of the cause of independence from the Turks. Didn’t we once share a drink at The Childe Harold on DuPont circle in Washington? If we didn’t, let’s meet there some time soon and raise a glass to Byron and to Greek independence.
Semper fi,
Kevin

[Theophilos Xenos]

I should be the last to wade into a discussion on the merits of Orthodoxy, since I am hardly practicing, but here's my piece: if you join the Orthodox Church, you will never feel oppressed. Never. I spent nearly ten years of my life with a Catholic "lady" turned born again Christian and I must say the religious experience was a NIGHTMARE. She was openly disparaging about the Greek "papades" and while I have my issues with them, nothing that I have experienced in the church of my family and ancestors comes even close to the claustrophobic, apocalyptic, oppressive atmosphere surrounding "true Bible disciples." And one last thing: when you get to know Orthodoxy well, you will experience inner harmony and peace that, I'm sure, you'd never thought existed. I did experience that feeling very briefly and I wish I could muster the strength to go back ... but that's another story entirely...

[Ismini]

Thank you Stavro for the link to the monastery. It is very impressive. One of the things I miss about not living in Greece is having a church near my house. Over the nine years I am live in this place, a lot of progress has been made and we do have a regular priest (from mount Athos) and a small orthodox community but no permanent church. There is a monastery near us in Essex but we do not visit regularly.

[Stavros]

Theophile,

Your comment made me think of this review:

http://www.steve-myers.com/05-09-26.html

Ismini,

Your very welcome. I remember being a part of a small community of Orthodox believers when I lived in North Carolina. The nearest church was one hour away. Our priest was a Russian Orthodox Navy Chaplain and our chapel small and humble. The community was close knit and the relationships we developed have endured the test of time. Perhaps who we pray with is more important than where we pray. Give it time, some day you will get your own Church.

[Stavros]

Kevin,

Africa is suffering and suffering always puts things in the proper perspective, that is why it is fertile ground for mission work. The bulk of that work is being done by Africans and rightly so.

BTW, we have a great deal of catching up to do and quite a bit of toasting, all we need to do is work out the logistics.

Semper fi