The Orthodox Christian Mission

The Orthodox Christian Mission My purpose in this brief essay is to present importance and the Orthodox Christian mission. It is generally known that Our Holy Orthodox Church has a very important mission. This mission is for every Orthodox Christian to be an Evangelizer. Certainly, that is possible, we must establish that through Eucharistic communities, that serve the Holy Liturgy. Missionary effort will be geared toward non-baptized people. Missionary action has to consist of announcing the message of salvation, the “Good News.” The mission understood its function in cosmic terms: to sanctify, here and now, this land, these people, and bring them to the unity-in-love which is the goal of authentic Christian mission. There is a link between life, faith and liturgy, but catechism would also play an important part. This would be an especially important lesson in areas where non-Orthodox Christians live. St. Paul when he visited the nonChristian Community in Athens, noted that the people were believers but in “an unknown God”(Acts 17,23). In certain areas, Orthodox Theology has not been systematically taught. Unfortunately, there are many challenges and needs in the Orthodox Community in South Africa. It must contend with, poverty, unemployment and health issues such as HIV/AIDS. One of the most serious consequences of apartheid and the struggle against it was the suspension of basic freedoms and destruction of life and the lack of education, especially, Orthodox Christianity. South Africa is one of the countries where people suffered tremendously and the people lost their faith in God. They lost the primary hope of salvation. Unfortunately, we recognize that the efforts that would have been directed toward believing in God were used to survive in the environment of apartheid. The non-Orthodox Christian Communities had a different agenda and philosophy. During the visit of our Orthodox Missionary Group to the Apartheid Museum, I saw a photograph, written in coal that stated, “ When the Europeans came, they had the Bible and we had the land. Now we have the Bible, and they have our land. This message was loud and clear to us, what is desired is the Christianity of love and understanding, as taught by the Apostles! The Orthodox Christianity must be that of the belief in theology, the concept of community, as in the Church and the Eucharist being the center of that community. Furthermore, as St. Basil established hospitals for

the health of the body he also provided theology for the healing of the soul. Nothing reveals better the relation between the Church as fullness and the Church as mission than the Eucharist, the central act of the Church’s leitourgia, the sacrament of the Church itself.1 It is through the Holy Eucharist that every missionary has the responsibility to be a witness for the Faith. The Orthodox Church states that their members have a missionary responsibility to teach Apostolic and Holy Fathers Tradition in the language of the nation and times. Some other important aspects are: 1. To know witness and experience the ways of our Lord and Savior in as described in the Beatitudes and other examples in the Bible. But, they are also to live this Christian life. 2. The Missionary must consistently also teach we are to live in peace and harmony and to be able to endure trials and tribulations in the name of Christ, every day of our life. 3. Missionaries have a responsibility to instill the concept of peace and tranquility with neighbors. This must be taught in all humility, by example, and in harmony with the teaching of the Church. 4. All these examples can be observed in the lives of the Orthodox Missionary Saints who with their actions were examples of the true Missionary Way. Saint Nikolai of Japan is such an example. His words, “In the beginning you must share and teach Christian Love, and then teach and share the Words of Christ and Christianity. A testament to the greatness of Saint Nikolai of Japan and his works is exhibited by a Church in South Africa being dedicated to his memory. Bishop Innocent (Venijaminov) was also a shinning example of a missionary. He received a call to go witness to the people of Unalaska/Alaska. He traveled thousands of miles to reach his mission which included the Aleutian Nation. Saint Innocent compiled the written alphabet of the natives. He then translated The Holy Scripture, The Church Services in their native language. He taught the adults and children in their native language using the books which he had translated. This is the perfect example of what all missionaries are to do in the land of their calling. This will enable the success of their mission and the participation of the people. In closing to review the situation of our missionary challenges in South Africa I offer the following observations; Our Holy Orthodox Church has great success in its Missionary Work all over the world. However the 1

Alexander Schmemann, Church, World, Mission, pg. 214

challenges in South Africa are great. We must double our efforts to further establish Eucharistic Communities. One of the difficulties that must be addressed is the need for more moral and financial assistance to ensure success of our Mission. The current unemployment rate is 40%. There are many more obstacles to be over come. With the help of all our Orthodox Communities all over the world we will be able to ensure that the people of South Africa will be able to enjoy the blessing of being members of our Holy Orthodox Church and be given the chance to live that Christian life by enjoying all the teachings and services in their native language. I was blessed to have experienced this opportunity to see how our Missionaries in South Africa are striving to bring the Good News to the people. Much has been achieved. To those that have contributed to these achievements I will continually pray for them and their continued success. I will dedicate myself to see that this Mission continues and succeeds. Selimir Vagic On St. Archdeacon Stephan 2009.