The mission to Kenya has begun!
The team members have flown from their respective parts of the country to meet in Jacksonville, FL at the OCMC Mission Center. The evening kicked off with a nice spaghetti dinner and personal introductions. Each person is so unique and will bring his and her own experiences to bear on this trek across the globe.
One thing is for sure though, everybody has a hunger for adventure and a deep love for God and all His people.
Here we’re standing in front of the the icon of the Great Commision of Christ. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:16
Our mission is not to baptize or convert, but to work with the existent Kenyan Orthodox Church and her youth. Every year the young adults of Kenya organize themselves for their major Youth Conference. We’ll be traveling to the Kisumu region in Kenya to offer our support to this annual youth conference.
The Orthodox community of Kenya is the most numerous on the African continent, and consists of about a million parishioners. The Kenyan Archdiocese of the Alexandrian Patriarchate has about 200 churches, dozens of church parochial schools and a Seminary School in Nairobi.
Our first stop in Nairobi will be the Archbishop Makarios Seminary to meet with the local students and the Archbishop. From there we’ll travel to Kisumu and begin our work at the youth conference.
Everybody is super excited and just a little bit nervous at all the unknowns that we will encounter! After all, isn’t it the unxexpected which brings us personal growth and insight?
Praying that Saints Methodios and Cyril, patron saints of missionaries, will guide us and protect us on our trip! And maybe help us find some super cool beads that we can bring back...
We also ask for your prayers and blessing.
Love, Fr. Dimitri
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