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My First Report from the Field

by Maria Roeber

Farah na amani! (Joy and Peace!)

This is the traditional Christian greeting here in Tanzania, and it’s one of the first phrases I’ve learned since arriving here about a week ago! Greetings from Bukoba!

My journey here started in State College, Pennsylvania where I’d been staying with my parents for the month of May, having moved out of my apartment in the DC area. While Mom headed to California to visit my brother, Dad drove me down to Washington, where I boarded a plane for London. My next flight took me to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Next I flew to Mwanza, a smaller city on the Eastern side of Lake Victoria. My fellow OCMC Missionary, Michael Pagedas, welcomed me to town and we spent a couple of days resting there before taking an overnight ferry across Lake Victoria to Bukoba!

I’m living in a house belonging to the Orthodox Church, right next to Twelve Apostles Orthodox Church, quite a fitting name since my first Sunday Liturgy here fell on the Feast of Pentecost! Between Matins and Liturgy, Kneeling Vespers and the Churching of a mother and child, the service lasted about four hours! Quite a welcome! I now know a few more phrases in Kiswahili: “Bwana hurumia,” means “Lord, have mercy,” and “Amina” means “Amen!” I’ve also learned that “Karibu!” means, “Welcome!” and everyone here says it to me! “Asante” means, “Thank you!” and I say that word more than anything else!

The weather here is a balmy 75 degrees, with blue skies and sunshine all day, every day. We’re officially in the “dry season,” so I’m being diligent about sunscreen and hats, as we’re very close to the equator . Outside the house are palm trees and roses in the front garden, as well as an avocado tree in the back yard! We’ ve had guacamole for dinner a couple of times already!

Speaking of food, the diet here consists mostly of carbohydrate staples like beans and rice, and potatoes. We eat those every day for our main meal, and usually have some type of fried bread for breakfast. I’ve eaten pineapple and guava so far, and vegetables are usually green peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. Dairy is fairly non-existent, although you can buy eggs here. Meat is rare in our household diet. We do have access to bottled water, which I am drinking almost to the exclusion of anything else!

Each morning the church bells awaken us for Matins, which is served at 7 a.m., and every evening we hear Father ring the bell for Vespers at 6 p.m. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, we go to Liturgy. I’m blessed to have a copy of the Divine Liturgy with Kiswahili on one page and English on the next, so I am able to participate a little. I’ve been made most welcome in the congregation by many people, but especially by Simeon, our priest’s 16 month-old son. Simeon toddles up to me any time I enter church and either grabs my fingers to hold my hand or throws both of his arms around my knees until I pick him up. He’s been a delightful companion, as he’s in about the same language-development stage as I!

Photo credit: ocmc.orgI have so much more to tell you, but I’ll save it for another update. Overall, I am well and am almost adjusted to the time change, I’m making small journeys into town to learn my way around and accomplish chores and errands, and I am blessed to live with dear friends and missionaries from the United States, so I am well supported by people who’ve been here for nearly a year.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the past year! I wouldn’t be here without you, and I am so excited to begin my ministry as a nurse and more importantly as a loving witness for Christ! You are in my prayers and I ask for yours! Glory to God for all things!

In Christ,
Maria

Apostles’ Fast Begins

The Apostles’ (Peter and Paul) Fast begins today, Monday, June 20, and lasts through June 28. Omit meat and dairy through June 29; fish is permitted on the 24th, 25th, 26th & 29th.

If you are receiving Holy Communion weekly, the Apostles’ Fast reminds us of the need to go to Confession if not having already done so since Pascha.

Pool Party This Sunday

The Mirandas are hosting a pool party for the entire parish this Sunday (June 26) beginning at 2 p.m. Please RSVP by email or phone (639-0045) by Thursday, June 23. Bring a Lenten side dish to share and don’t forget your towel and sunscreen!

Community Garden Volunteers Needed

More helping hands are needed for weeding and general garden work at the Community Garden located at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at the corner of Circleville and Valley Vista. Current work days are Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and helpers of all ages are welcome. The food produced at this garden benefits our area food banks. For more information, contact Terri Finke. Please consider giving a hand.

VBS Daily News: Good Fruit Fills Students

Participants Nearing Capacity — But Ready for More

STATE COLLEGE, PA — Vacation Bible School students continued to fill their spiritual baskets by adding their bounty the study of fruits of goodness and faithfulness. These fruits were found to be a natural source of energy and give the body the very nutrients they need to keep going and growing in the image of Christ. A key point in today’s session was the discovery that the larger and more abundant the fruit of the Spirit, the stronger and more mature the person becomes. With that in mind, there is high expectation that all the students will become grand champions.

Goodness — Do the Right Thing

Today VBS participants learned that goodness is really a call to action. This fruit leads us to give of ourselves extravagantly in service to others and to doing what is right. It is something we can’t hide since it is an outward and energized expression. Jesus showed goodness when he cleansed the Temple and drove out those who were not honoring the Father (outwardly and energetically).

An example of goodness can be seen in the way different people help those in need — even in a simple offering of a glass of water to a thirsty passerby. One person may give the water because they should — they are obedient. Another person provides the water so they can feel good about themselves. But a person who gives the water with the strong and sincere desire to do the right thing is acting out of goodness.

I’ve Got the Music in Me

VBS students have been learning many new songs this year (along with a few old favorites). Ask your favoring VBSer to sing a few songs for you and see how many fruits you can pick out!

You Gotta Have Faith!

If you looked in the dictionary, you would find a technical definition of faith stated as, “To follow through with a commitment regardless of difficulty.” Faithfulness is essential to the success of any faithfulness of their subjects. Public figures rise of fall deepening on the faithfulness of their supporting public. Officers in the armed forces depend upon the faithfulness of those who serve under them.

Faithfulness means that no matter what happens you will rejoice in the Lord. Maybe everything will go wrong. Maybe there is no job, no income, no house to live in; sickness comes, trials come, disappointment overwhelms, the bottom drops out, and everything is a mess. But no matter what, you will serve the Lord. This is the kind of faithfulness that God is asking for. This is the kind of faithfulness that God will bless.

FPO — For Parents Only

Everyone knows that the secret to a successful crop is the care and feeding of that crop. As a parent, it is your responsibility to check on your crop each and every day to ensure that they have everything that is needed to ensure proper growth (spiritual and physical).

VBS Daily News: Local Area Expected to See Increase in Kindness Reports

Students Vow to Also Demonstrate Larger Amounts of Patience

STATE COLLEGE, PA — “Please go ahead of me.” “Do you need some help?” “I’ll get that for you.” These were a few of the things which could be heard at the mid-point of this year’s Vacation Bible School. Students discussed the spiritual fruits of patience and kindness and how they can put these into action. Local residents have been put on alert for HTOC kids who are “really nice.”

Can Kindness Really Be Random?

Kindness is love in action with velvet gloves on and it involves time and energy and interest on our part in others. Now kindness can be expensive as it can involve us in that which may be inconvenient for us. It really is an attitude of thoughtfulness and helpfulness that enables us to render gentle service to others in their time of need.

There was a phenomenon started several years and it is now a full fledged foundation about performing random acts of kindness. The wonderful things which are suggested by the group (see below) are terrific but it is really us working with the Holy Spirit that makes them happen and God is not “random.” He is consistent and deliberate and with our cooperation and His guidance so shall we bo also.

If you need some kindness ideas why not try some of these:

  • Hold the door open for someone
  • Pay the toll for the car behind you
  • Clean graffiti
  • Give your dessert to a friend at lunch
  • Send a “thank you” note to a policeman or a firefighter
  • Light a candle in church for someone who is sick
  • Eat lunch with someone new at school or work
  • Help someone move
  • Pick up garbage you see on the ground

Patience: Who Has the Time for It?

Patience is that gracious trait of being able to keep on keeping on, bearing the load of responsibility and difficulty. But sometimes we become just the opposite — we do not have the disposition to stay with the task until it is completed. The Holy Spirit enables us to endure until we have finished the work that we were put here to do. It’s really all about accepting a difficult situation without demanding a deadline to remove it.

Everyone Can Be Bilingual

Mark Twain wrote, Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can read.” Why not try out your language skills today?!

FPO — For Parents Only

Children should be taught that before any work, to ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is usually done by reciting the customary prayer: “O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things; Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.”

Water Brought to Remote Village through Mission Efforts

LOUPWALA, NORTHERN KENYA [ocmc.org] – Without a reliable source of water, the Turkana people here once fought to survive. Thanks to its generous donors, the Orthodox Christian Mission Center announced last month the completion of a borehole water well that will provide the people of Loupwala with water for years to come. In nearby Lodwar, ocmc funds also supported the completion of a church and will support the operations of a primary school located on that church property.

You can view video of the Mission Center’s work in Northern Kenya here.

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VBS Daily News: Peace (and Joy) in the Valley

Download Day 2 Newsletter

 

STATE COLLEGE, PADuring the second day of the 2011 HTOC Vacation Bible School there was brief discussion of the possibility of chaining the nickname of the local area to Joyful Valley but this was tabled for future consideration.

In other news, students today focused on the spiritual fruits of joy and peace. Students learned that joy is more than being happy but rather it comes from us living in the way God wants and being glad no matter what is happening in our lives. To live in the joy of the Lord we are told not to worry about tomorrow for God will take care of us. “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor spin.”

Students also found that peace is being free from worry and fear and getting along with people around you. Peace is mental and emotional calmness in the midst of problems and that peace is love’s security.

Joy — It’s Much More Than Being Happy

In our culture there is plenty of happiness and merriment (just go downtown on a football weekend). Also, think about some of our most cherished greetings, “Happy Birthday!”, “Happy Anniversary”, and of course, “Merry Christmas!” But when we greet each other with these words do we really express upon them a sense of His deep joy — that desire that only comes from knowing and understanding from whom the Joy truly springs forth?

Happiness is oftentimes relatively easy to come by (for kids, this may be a new toy or a day at the amusement park) but it is fleeting. Real joy is sometime that takes happiness to a whole new level — it’s like a thousand birthdays at once. Joy brings a sense which encompasses the depth of the soul that warms like nothing else. Find His joy and get warm! (BTW — most kids have found it — ask them their secret.)

Peace Out

The peace that Christ has left to us has been conveyed through the centuries from the first announcement to the apostles during the Mystical Supper (John 14:27): “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you, not as the world gives, give I to you. Do not let your heart be troubled and be not afraid.” To find that peace is to give up the search for the imperfect peace that the world gives. Oh, how we search for it everywhere, from so many people in various situations. Yet we find that even the best of humans ultimately will let us down. Each time we hear the celebrant during the sacred services utter the word, “Peace be with you,” we hear the promise of the Master in the voice of the priest. Only His peace and presence offers abiding comfort. Only the Holy Spirit quells the confusion of our thoughts and raises us to an awareness of bliss in God.)

— Rev. V. Berzonsky

FPO — For Parents Only

VBS is a great time for your kids — but it is even a better time to talk with your children about the important thins which they have learned. It’s your responsibility to reinforce these daily lessons (Hint: Read your VBS Daily News.)



VBS Daily News: Summer Learning Season Begins

Download Day 1 Newsletter

 

“I’ve Got the Fruit of the Spirit in Me” Theme Set for 2011 VBS

STATE COLLEGE, PA — It just wouldn’t be summer in Happy Valley without the annual HTOC Vacation Bible School (VBS) and today participants enjoyed an exciting first day. As the Orthodox Church is in the joyous Pentecost post-feast period, the theme this year is “I’ve Got the Fruit of the Spirit in Me!”. The theme centers on Galatians 5:16-26 and these gifts are being studied to encourage the spiritual growth in the students. They will make connections between the Bible stories and “real” life and although the VBS offers serious study about God there will also be plenty of fun.

Some goals for the week include:

  • Understand who is the Holy Spirit;
  • Identify each of the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, etc.);
  • Learn that the fruits are outward signs of an inward change in one’s life;
  • Encouraging participants to understand that they should do their best to work with the Holy Spirit to get the this fruit into their personality;
  • Have the students discuss and understand Bible passages where the attributes of each fruit are revealed and how to apply them to their life.

What is the Fruit of the Spirit?

Today the VBS students got their first taste of spiritual fruit with the stuffy of the fruit of love. St. Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Notice that St. Paul uses the singular “fruit” instead of a plural “fruits.” This indicates that these “fruit” comprise a singular cluster of characher “in Christ,” and not to be considered independent of one another. What a nice bunch of fruit we should all strive to become!

Who Do You Love?

The neat thing about God’s love is that it’s not a feeling to Him, He can’t fall out of love with us. He loves us even when we’re not “lovable” and when we’re grumpy or doing bad things. He loves all of us no matter what.

Now, the real tricky part is loving others like God loves us. There is a special kind of love we can have for others, it’s called agape love. Pretend for a day that you have special glasses on and that everyone you see you love just because God loves them, like the way you love a mom or dad, brother or sister.

You may run into somebody you don’t think deserves your love or you just don’t want to love at all, but God loves them and if we love God we are supposed to live them too. Who exactly are we supposed to love?

  • Love God
  • Love yourself
  • Love your family
  • Love your friends
  • Love your neighbors
  • Love your enemies

FPO — For Parents Only

Parents please be prompt when dropping off and picking up your children day. If we are not at the church for dismissal, please come to Holmes-Foster Park. Also, don’t forget your children must signed-in/signed-out each day.

Parish Picnic Fun for All

We had the largest group to date attend our parish picnic last Sunday! Many, many thanks to the cooks (Chris Reeves, Josh Cattell, and Bruce Haupt) who grilled wonderful hotdogs and burgers and to everyone who provided side dishes. The food was outstanding—and plentiful! A fun time for all!

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