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Missionary

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In 1973, his friend Archimandrite Chariton (Pneumatikakis) took over his role in Kananga, Congo. Father Chariton’s enduring missionary legacy can be summed up in his last words, “Ring the bells of Orthodoxy in every corner of Africa.”
Another great Greek Orthodox missionary was Father [[Cosmas (Aslanidis)of Grigoriou]]. At a young age, he began a correspondence with Fr Chrysostomos. He traveled to Congo (then called Zaire), where the fire of missionary fervor blazed forth in his heart. Under the guidance of Amphilochios (Tsoukos) (in Congo at the time; now in New Zealand), he built an astonishing 10 churches in 14 months. He was advised to receive his monastic tonsure on Mount Athos before returning to the mission field. At his tonsuring, he was named Kosmas Cosmas in honor of the great Saint [[Cosmas of Aetolia]] (+1779), also an Athonite missionary. Renewed in his love for God and in spiritual strength, Father Cosmas returned to Zaire.
First Father Kosmas Cosmas went to Kananga, to assist Father Chariton and Sister Olga. Then, receiving the blessing of Metropolitan Timothy of Central Africa, he journeyed to Kolwezi. There he began to build many churches. Over the course of his missionary labors, he baptized 15,000 Africans, catechized, preached, provided the sacraments of the Church, abd organized a large agricultural complex that would provide food and jobs for many, including lepers and prisoners. Having learned Swahili and Afrikaans, he faithfully passed on to the Africans the Orthodox Tradition as he had learned it in Greece and on Mount Athos – most especially the Jesus Prayer – for the salvation and transformation of the people and their deliverance from demonic magic.
Three months before his sudden death in a car accident in January of 1989, Father Kosmas Cosmas told his elder, Father George: “Missionary work is not done for a few months; whoever wants to be a missionary must leave their bones on African soil.” And so it happened with Father KosmasCosmas, whose grave has become a popular pilgrimage site.
From the beginning, Orthodox mission work in Africa emphasized the importance of translating church services into the local languages. Archbishop [[Makarios III (Mouskos) of Cyprus]] was very active in East Africa, where he personally baptized thousands of people. In the late 1970s, Makarios helped establish a seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. He asked Andreas Tillyrides (now Metropolitan Makarios) to organize the seminary. The newly built seminary opened its doors to students from East Africa in 1982 and later, in 1995, received students from West Africa, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar. During his time as dean at the Orthodox Patriarchal Seminary of Archbishop Makarios III in Nairobi, Andreas Tillyrides began a program which guided students to translate services of the Orthodox Church into more than 15 African dialects. Andreas was tonsured a monk in 1992, receiving the name Makarios. Shortly after this, he was ordained to the priesthood and then consecrated bishop by Metropolitan Petros and Bishop Theodoros of Uganda. As Archbishop of Kenya, he currently oversees more than 430 churches, and is fluent in multiple African dialects. He was instrumental in the consecration of Bishop [[Athanasios (Akunda)]] of Kisumu and West Kenya in 2015 and Bishop Neophytos (Kongai) of Nyeri and Mt. Kenya in 2016.
* Hieromartyr [[Daniel Sysoev]] ([[evangelist]] in Moscow; martyred by Muslim fanatic in 2009)
* Archbishop [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas]], Apostle of the South (convert to the Orthodox Church; active in Texas, Mexico, and the American South; reposed in 2011; body was discovered to be incorrupt)
* Father [[Kosmas Cosmas (Aslanidis) of ZaireGrigoriou]] (missionary to modern-day Congo; reposed in 1989)
* [[Nicolai Ilminsky]] (translator and missionary to Muslims on Russian frontiers; reposed in 1891)
* Metropolitan Innocent (Figurovsky) of Beijing (missionary bishop to China; reposed in 1931)
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