The Church in the World - Fr. Lou Christopulos
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- The Church in the World
In the past several months, parishioners from St. Catherine have had the opportunity to visit various parts of the world and be a part of the work of our Orthodox Church in those places. Katie Magerko, this past spring and Char Myrick, this summer went to Guatemala with visiting mission teams and helped at the Hogar Raphael Orthodox Orphanage. Eight of us from St. Catherine went late this summer near Tiahuana, Mexico, to St. Innocent Orthodox Orphanage and built a small house for a single local mother, her two children and one grandchild as part of “Project Mexico”. Finally, in early September, I had the opportunity to go on a study tour with staff from the IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities), another Orthodox priest and several lay people to Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. This article will focus on this experience.
The purpose of the tour was to visit a place where IOCC has been working in order to see first hand what they do as our Orthodox relief agency from America. This is the third such study tour with annual and semi-annual tours planned. Dean Triantafilou, IOCC Executive Director, my brother Dan, Director of Development and Amal Morcos, Communications Director, led the tour. Dean was head of the staff is Serbia during and following the war of the mid-1990’s.
IOCC’s essential mission is to respond to natural or civil crises with other national or international relief agencies and to, in a coordinated effort with the other agencies, find their niche on how they can help. Such was the case in Serbia and the area of the former Yugoslavia. In the mid-1990’s, during and immediately following the war, their purpose was emergency relief. They took from monies that the donor base had donated and applied for grants, primarily from agencies of our U.S government and received and distributed food, clothing, blankets, hygiene items, medical supplies, etc., in order to help refugees and displaced people – of which there were over 2 million. A good portion of this work was done in danger zones near fighting. Deliveries were often made, having to drive through these zones. IOCC hired local people to assist. In fact, of the twenty or so staff members that we met on our trip, almost all of them were local people, many of whom had worked for IOCC for 7-12 years. After the war, the work focus shifted to helping the refugees return to their homes – most of which had been damaged, looted or destroyed- helping them repair and rebuild and reclaim or begin new jobs. This process included rebuilding infrastructure in towns or agricultural regions, including smaller electrical lines, water to homes, roads, etc. Most recently, IOCC has been working with local N.G.O’s (non-governmental organizations) to distribute micro-loans to people for small businesses.
During the eight days that we were in the region, we visited some twenty projects or beneficiaries of assistance through IOCC, from Serbia to Kosovo to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Additionally, we visited the Patriarchal Cathedral in Belgrade, the famous 14th Century Decani Monastery in Kosovo, Monastery Soko in Western Serbia, the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in Banja Luka, Bosnia, where we participated in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with His Grace Bishop Jefrem and visited the fabulous new Cathedral of St. Sava, under construction in Belgrade. When is it completed, it will be one of the three largest Orthodox Churches in the world, only slightly smaller than the famous St. Sophia in Constantinople. Our last evening, we ate dinner with His Grace Bishop Irinej, newly consecrated Serbian Bishop of Australia and New Zealand. Bishop Irinej is from America and was one of the first IOCC employees in the former Yugoslavia and advocate for human rights in this region with America and the international community.
This study trip provided me with one of the greatest and most powerful experiences of my life. To see people like you and me recovering from a brutal war was very sobering indeed. The ethnic and religious tensions of the region were most noticed in our trip to Kosovo, which presently is some 98% Albanian Muslims. We visited a Serbian village and the famous 14th Century Decani Monastery, that was literally surrounded by Albanians. Their safety was in jeopardy. The village was protected by NATO Peacekeepers whose barracks were on a hill overseeing the village. Armored vehicles and armed NATO troops guarded the entrance to the Monastery, escorting our group inside the walls of the historic Orthodox spiritual center. The faith and courage of these people was truly inspiring.
The geography of the area is breathtaking with beautiful mountains, fertile valleys and picturesque rivers, especially the Una River on the border of Bosnia and Croatia.
Finally, and most importantly from the study trip’s point of view, IOCC’s work in the area was nothing short of incredible. The staff members that we met were professionals, dedicated to their jobs in helping others on behalf of you and me. IOCC is respected by other N.G.O’s of the region and trusted by the governmental agencies, primarily from America, whose grant monies are administered by the IOCC. I return with a confidence and trust in IOCC even higher than before I left.
Thanks be to God that we have matured in our Orthodox Church in America to the point that we have organized efforts to assist others in need throughout the world. IOCC, OCMC (Orthodox Christian Missions Center) from SCOBA (Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America) and efforts such as Hogar Raphael in Guatemala and Project Mexico provide opportunities for us to be vehicles of our Lord’s Grace and be a part of the “Church in the World”.
With our Lord’s blessings,
Father Lou.