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 non-
Christian 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.