Orthodoxy and Missions

The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox parishioners, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey,  learned about the ministries of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center(OCMC) with special guest, Kenneth Kidd, the Annual Gifts Officer for the Center.

Evangelizing is the oldest ministry in the Orthodox Church, as our Lord, Jesus Christ himself, gave this command, “Go forth and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19.  The transforming message of the Gospel of our Lord has made enormous changes in the lives of people who had never heard the Good News.  

Kenneth gave us an overview of the amazing outreach work that the missionaries are doing internationally, in particular, the tremendous witness and response to the Orthodox faith, in Mongolia, Kenya and Guatemala.

In Mongolia, a priest began evangelizing alone, but with the response of people wishing to know more about the faith being overwhelming, he reached out to the OCMC, and mission groups have been sent to assist him.

In Kenya, missionaries were sent to the region of Turkana, where they witnessed to the local people and over 400 were baptized in the river.  The latest development is the training of Missionaries Priests in Kenya, and recently their own Missionary Priest was sent to Johannesburg, South Africa.

In Guatemala, a Catholic priest converted to Orthodoxy, and with his flock of 100,000 Guatemalans in the region of Huehuetenango, there was a great need of evangelizing in the Orthodox faith.  Again, the Mission Center, responded and teams have been sent to the area to assist.

Kenneth also elaborated on the Mission Center reaching out from the Church assisting the parishioners in their daily needs.  A water well, as well as small clinics, are developed so that the local people can do their own outreach.

Our own priest, Father George Liacopulos, is the President of the OCMC Board of Directors, and his passion and enthusiasm for Missions abroad has made awareness for evangelizing the faith an important ministry in our church.

In order to promote Mission work, the Center has asked each Parish to elect two Ambassadors.  We are proud to have Richard and Linda Havilland as our Parish Ambassadors.  They keep the Parish informed with the latest developments in the Mission field and hold events to raise awareness.  We thank them for this event.  The dinner provided by the parishioners was excellent and the discussion that ensued was also very enlightening.

There are many other ways to become involved with this wonderful mission, by supporting Missions, Missionaries, Team Members, Mission Priests and Mission Projects as well as going personally to serve on a Mission trip. Next summer, our own Greek Orthodox Youth of America (GOYANS) are going to Alaska on a mission trip.  We wish our GOYANS all the best in their planning for this wonderful outreach. 

For more information, please visit the OCMC website: http://www.ocmc.org or contact

Eugenia Kramvis 

Outreach Ministry

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

7004 Ridge Road

Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234

ekramvis@comcast.net