THE HELLENIC LINK, Inc.

Member Update- BULLETIN

At the start of this New Year, when the general outlook is far from bright nationally as well as internationally, when the “homo homini lupus” is perhaps more applicable than ever before, the Bulletin wishes to bring to the awareness of its readers a hopeful glimpse of reality, the spirit of humanity’s brotherhood, afforded to us and the world by the culturally forward-marching Hellenic Christianity, thanks to its faithful and ever-pioneering missionaries. A vivid picture of this reality is given by the following report. The focus of the benevolent developments reported is Eastern Africa and particularly the country of Kenya, which was visited recently by Dr. Vasiliki Tsigas-Fotinis, a member of the Hellenic Link’s Advisory Council on Hellenic Education.

Africa, long neglected, or, even worse, exploited by the “civilized” West, is now experiencing a wondrous transformation, highlighted in Dr. Fotinis ’report, obviously cherished by the native Kenyans themselves. CJE

Orthodox Kenya:  Greek or not Greek? That is the Question

My 17 year old daughter and I were recently part of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) 2014 Teaching Mission to Kenya from October 27 to November 8, 2014.  Archbishop Makarios of Kenya, who is under His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, warmly hosted us.  From the moment our team was offered hospitality at Archbishop Makarios’ home to our travels in and around Nairobi, I felt that I was in Greece about 30+ years ago.  The beautiful flowers, the mountains, the genuine respect of the people for other humans, the décor of His Eminence’s home, as well as the metal blue gates of peoples’ homes, the heartfelt hospitality, brought me back to a time and place that warmly touched my soul so many years ago.

We both had life shifting experiences with our fellow Orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ in Africa, and continue to be impacted by the people and our experiences with them. We were given the blessing to live for just over a week in an oasis or mini paradise, in the middle of the largest slum in Africa – Kibera. That mini paradise, filled with beautiful flowers and plants, is the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School: Makarios III Archbishop of Cyprus Seminary.

His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Eminence Makarios Metropolitan of Kenya, Kenyan clergy, the teaching staff and the students of the Academy.

[This picture was taken two weeks before our arrival, so these are the seminarians that we now know well.]

The seminary serves students from all of Africa. Also located in this oasis is the Orthodox College of Africa, the St. Clement of Alexandria School (300 Pre-K to 8^th grade students), a Medical Clinic, a field, and an Orthodox Cathedral dedicated to All-Saints.  We also visited another school, The Child of God Academy, deeper in the slums.

Kenya was a humbling experience because it made us realize at a deeper level what really matters in life. God’s love is in the relationships, not in the material things. During our stay there, we focused on teaching, sharing, listening, and learning. We began our time with the Kenyan children in the Divine Liturgy, where all three hundred students sang the entire service by heart in English, Swahili and in Greek. There were no chanters or choirs. At the primary school, we focused our time in lessons about icons, parables, sacraments, and the Holy Cross. The children were each able to make their own beaded crosses to wear and protect them from the generous donations given by some of our sponsors. Even though the school was Orthodox, many children did not have their own cross, and it was touching to see them wear it throughout the week. We had the precious opportunity to exchange thoughts with the children.  They had truly inquisitive questions. They even taught Spyridoula, my daughter, some of their African dancing games and, in turn, she taught them the Greek Dance: hasaposeviko, which was a lot of fun to watch.

At the seminary, we attended classes and I taught two courses, and offered an after dinner reflection on how Christ and the Church teach by word and deed. Spyridoula, along with two other team members, helped lead and answer questions in a symposium that focused greatly on youth ministry and Orthodoxy in America. From these discussions, we are now jointly trying to find ways to implement youth programs, even a summer camp, at the seminary and at their local parishes. We also made the same beaded crosses with all the seminarians because again many had no cross, nor a Bible. Each and every seminarian, representing a number of different African countries, impacted us deeply and they became our brothers or ndugu in Christ. Everything at the seminary was a blessing, especially attending church every morning and evening with the beautiful seminary choir, chanting in Swahili, English, Greek and some other African languages, an adult baptism of a seminarian from Rwanda, and the sharing of fellowship (cultural singing, dancing, stories) at dinner and every moment of the day that created such strong and deep relationships with every single seminarian there.

At the Orthodox College of Africa, we met with their education and business chairs.  I offered a presentation on Learning Theories to current education students.  While at the college, we met and enjoyed a harmonic performance by the Royal Melodious Singers whose members come from a variety of Christian denominations.  Together they are committed to reaching the nations for the Lord through singing.

Wherever there was an Orthodox presence in Africa, we also saw the outpouring of love from the people, the governments, and the churches of Greece and Cyprus.  Many of the icons, vestments, and Modern Greek language textbooks fill their churches, libraries and schools.  The Hellenic spirit of philotimo and philoxenia is also found abundantly in the Kenyans and other Africans we met.  The profound respect of one human toward another, and the intricate role and responsibility toward the community, were refreshing to experience in today’s narcissistic society.  So then, my question to each one of us is, Orthodox Kenya: Is it Greek or not Greek? … in terms of values, personhood, sense of community, …. !

Since it is not possible to share everything in a simple article, we continue to post our stories, reflections, and the stories of those we met, along with the hundreds of pictures and videos taken on our new BlogSpot (fotinisduo.blogspot.com). We hope that by sharing this experience in this way, each of you could get a glimpse of the treasure that we found in Kenya.

Vasiliki Tsigas-Fotinis, Ph.D.

May your learning never end and your love for others weave community!

A Brief History of Orthodoxy in Kenya

Orthodoxy came to the people of East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya) not through the efforts of a single missionary, but through charismatic African men searching for truth and ‘orthodoxia’ in the early 1920s. Correspondence began with the Patriarch of Alexandria, and by 1946 they were received into canonical Orthodoxy through Patriarch Christophoros.

In 1958, because of the rapid development of the Orthodox faith in East Africa, a Metropolitan (Nicholas Valeropoulos) was appointed to care for the Spiritual needs of the three East African countries. The name which was given by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria was the Holy Archbishopric of Irinoupolis, which means the “City of Peace”.

The late Archbishop and President of Cyprus Makarios III, a leading personality in the fight for the independence of his country, was closely associated with the President and leader of the independence movement of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. During the fight for freedom from colonial British rule, the Orthodox Church of Kenya played a leading role in the struggle for Independence. The Mau Mau movement had many leaders from the Orthodox faithful, especially in Kiambu. During the struggle for freedom, Orthodox Schools and Churches were closed by the colonial government and many Orthodox priests were imprisoned.

On March 22nd, 1971 Archbishop Makarios laid the foundation stone of the Orthodox Patriarchal Seminary at Riruta, with the blessings of His Beatitude Nicholas, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. Archbishop Makarios said: “To help our African brothers in their search for the ways of God in Christian virtue and brotherhood and with the blessings of Almighty God we create here a center from which new Apostles of Christ will spread the word of the Lord in this part of the world and administer the comforting joy of the Gospel in the hearts of our beloved African brothers.” He pointed out that it was a symbol and expression of friendship between the peoples of Kenya and Cyprus. During this visit, he performed large-scale baptisms in Nairobi and Nyeri.

Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos who was assigned as Acting Archbishop in 1982, completed the seminary and undertook the training of indigenous priests, translations, and the building of Churches, clinics and schools. The Orthodox Patriarchal Seminary is under the Patriarchate of Alexandria and serves many of the countries of Africa. In 1998, the Seminary was renamed the Orthodox Patriarchal School. Today it follows the curriculum of other Orthodox Christian Theological Schools and functions with students from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Cameroon who are being trained to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Orthodox Faith.

On February 22nd, 2001 the (late) Patriarch of Alexandria, PETROS and the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate met to assign Archbishop MAKARIOS (of Zimbabwe) as Metropolitan of Kenya. The Metropolitan has studied at Sorbonne and Oxford and holds a doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford. He taught at St. Barbabas seminary in Nicosia and the Orthodox Patriarchal Seminary in Nairobi for more than 15 years before 1998, when the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria assigned elected him Metropolitan of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. His Eminence continues to teach Church History, Missiology, Homiletics, Hagiology, Teleturgics, Patristics and Greek.

The Orthodox Church in Kenya is making a great contribution to the social, economic and educational development of the country. Many secondary schools, clinics and nursery schools throughout the country have been created to meet people’s spiritual and physical needs, making a visible witness of love and concern throughout the country. There are many ongoing programs concerning Youth and Women. Translations of the Divine Services of Orthodoxy are being made in many of the languages of Africa.

Today, there are four Metropolitans in East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania (2) and Kenya) – two of which are African. The World Council of Churches website currently puts the number of Orthodox Kenyans at over 600,000.  The OCMC has been involved in assisting in the establishment and nurturing of the Church in Kenya through sending missionaries, Teams and clergy (Support A Mission Priest – SAMP) support in addition to assisting with building projects and Agape grants throughout the years, beginning in 1985. Currently there are 250+ priests and deacons in Kenya, the majority of them receive some type of assistance through the OCMC, Support A Mission Priest program. Additionally, the OCMC has offered assistance in training of the indigenous clergy of Kenya through grants.

Election Time!-Reminder to Members

A New Function of the Incoming Board

The purposes of the Hellenic Link, Inc., as specified in its Certificate of Incorporation and further detailed in the Article 2 of its By-Laws, are pursued and their implementation managed by the Board of Directors directly or by mandatory and discretional committees generated by its executive authority. One significant committee established in the past (2005) was the Advisory Council on Hellenic Education. For ten years, this Committee has steered a number of educational projects which laid the foundations for a previously nonexistent infrastructure of  Hellenic Paideia in the USA. Beyond the study of basic educational needs, the Council undertook the initiative for the development of Standards for the Teaching/Learning of Modern Greek, as a first step to introduce the teaching of the language in the primary/secondary educational system of the country. Another area of learning which has been lagging behind is the lack of awareness of the values and accomplishments of the Byzantine Civilization, being the missing link between the Classical Hellenic and the Modern Western Civilization; studies on this theme have been sponsored by the Committee and they are currently in progress. Yet, another aspect of the progress sought in learning the Greek language has been the effort to make available in Greek universities relevant studies directly accessible to American Students and satisfying the academic requirements of their home academic institutions.

In 2004, the BOD after careful consideration decided that the Advisory Council should be merged with the Board for the following reasons: Hellenic education is and will remain a primary concern of the HL, therefore, it makes sense for the Advisory Council with its leading educator-members to be an integral part of the Board. The enrichment of the HL leadership with outstanding educators would be highly desirable. Moreover, the merger of the two bodies would facilitate overall coordination and make administration more efficient.

Accordingly, the new Board to be installed soon will include elected members who will serve the educational objectives of our Association as a distinctive Committee/Council.

An Update on Issues and Projects of the Hellenic Link

The new Board that will emerge from the election will have a full agenda that will require their careful attention and productive management. We highlight here a few pending matters, which need further examination and action.

• The status of the “Standards for Teaching Modern Greek” project. As is known, the document drafted by the Task Force on assignment by the Advisory Council in cooperation with the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages, has been under editorial review in the hands of ACTFL. While we are awaiting the publication of the final document, it is appropriate to point out that the Council is ready to assist to the extent needed in the completion of the project as well as for its implementation

In didactic practice. There is no doubt, that the approval of Modern Greek as one of the foreign languages to be taught in U.S. schools of primary and secondary education, will necessitate a serious commitment and effort on the part of the Greek American community. We note that preparations for this essential and unavoidable eventuality are not yet in the making. It is incumbent, therefore, for the Hellenic Link, Inc., in the context of its own cultural mission and history, to make plans and to undertake initiatives to achieve broader social cooperation within the Omogeneia, focused on the realization of Greek language learning in American schools.

• As our readers know by now, the Hellenic Link, seeking to create new opportunities for dissemination of Greek learning in America, had informally recommended the institution of summer courses of Modern Greek for the benefit of American university students. We are in the pleasant position to let everyone interested know that our recommendations were heeded: the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has established a specially designed two-summer Program that offers to American, including Greek American, students an advanced level of proficiency in Modern Greek that fully satisfies the requirements for language course learning of their home institutions of higher learning in the USA. This Program is to be launched this summer (June 15, 2015) The University of Patras is currently developing a similar program which will be ready soon to serve students from North America. In support of the above programs, the Hellenic Link has been advertising them within the Greek American community. Relevant announcements already have been presented in the Greek American Press; such efforts should be intensified. Moreover, the Board community through its Council on Hellenic Education ma make good use of televised presentations to enlighten the community  on the value of the new language-learning opportunities and thus try to effect thriving enrollments in the mentioned summer programs.
• In view of the continued financial problems experienced in Greece and the inability of the educational authorities of the country to assign teachers of Greek to schools in the United States, it becomes more urgent for the Hellenic Link to act as a think tank once again, this time to ascertain the feasibility of establishing a training program for certified teachers of Greek, who could be hired in US educational districts that can support viable programs of teaching/learning Modern Greek. The new Board can review earlier efforts to delineate the establishment of such an educational resource.

Environmental Concerns Put to Action at the U. of Maryland

The “Terps”(for Terrapins, the undergraduate students of the University of Maryland-College Park) began in Spring 2011 to push for the university to  reduce bottled water consumption on campus. Their proposal to provide stations where people could fill their reusable bottles with tap water was awarded a $62,000 grant which was immediately applied. In their publication Sustainable UMD (Fall’14), they have presented the accrued benefits of their action versus the current detrimental use of bottled water:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Buying Buying disposable bottled water costs 2,000 times more than tap water – making it more expensive than gasoline. Producing disposable water bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil each year. The application of the student proposal on the College Park campus during the 2013-2014 school year diverted 623,000 bottles from landfills and over 12,300 pounds of plastic waste by filling bottles with tap water (see photo).

We applaud this limited but eloquent utilitarian practice in favor of environment-preservation of the students in Maryland and we warmly wish that it finds imitators in many analogous situations around the country and the world. Moreover, we deeply wish that the same proactive wisdom prevail in matters Hellenic, in meeting challenges of the present and in planning for the future.

THE HELLENIC LINK, Inc.

A NON PROFIT CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

OF HELLENES AND PHILHELLENES

INCORPORATED IN DELAWARE

Suite No. 278, 38-11 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria, New York 11105

Web Site: http://www.helleniclink.org Email: info@helleniclink.org

Contact Telephone: (718) 217- 0430

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