Changes

Starting in 1987, the Mission Center sent short-term mission teams to East and West Africa, later expanding to 25 other countries. At the suggestion of Charles Ajalat, Archbishop Iakovos “moved forward the idea” to make the Mission Center an agency of SCOBA (Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas). “This concept was embraced by all involved,” and in light of its taking on a pan-Orthodox nature, the GOA Mission Center was renamed the [[Orthodox Christian Mission Center]] (OCMC). “By 2014, 2500 short term and 115 long term missionaries have served in thirty different countries under the OCMC,” consisting of “clergy, physicians, nurses, teachers, catechists, social workers, church builders, translators, and volunteers of all ages.” The approach OCMC takes in cross-cultural missionary work is to seek the blessing of the Orthodox hierarchs in the sending nations and to work closely with and support the initiatives of the Orthodox hierarchs in the receiving nations.