Calling all Clergy - OCMC Mission Teams Need YOU!

Published by the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, March 30, 2005

The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), St. Augustine, FL - This year there is an essential need for priests to serve as leaders of OCMC Mission Teams; especially to Guatemala in July and Tanzania in August. Mission Teams provide the opportunity for priests to teach the Faith, share the Sacraments and interact with those hungry to receive the love of Christ. Clergy who have participated on or led OCMC Mission Teams in the past have expressed that the mission experience changes their lives and renews their zeal for their pastoral ministry.

The OCMC Mission Team to Tanzania, gathering young adults from across Tanzania for a teaching camp, seeks a clergy leader. Tanzanians new to the faith are eagerly awaiting a deeper knowledge of the truth they so sincerely embrace. The knowledge shared today will play an important role in the lives of these young people for years to come. Fr. Gregory Horton from St. John the Baptist Church in Post Falls, ID led the Team last year and said:

Traveling on a short-term Mission Team is a life-changing event. I can no longer look at my parish ministry with the same eyes as before the trip. Every moment is now alive with excitement and challenges because of the inspiring image of brothers and sisters on the other side of the world who are living the Apostolic Faith that we share. It is the experience of a lifetime, and I highly recommend it to anyone able to dedicate some time to this type of work.

Fr. John Schmidt from Sts. Constantine and Elena Church in Indianapolis, IN led an OCMC Mission Team to Guatemala last year. The Team went to the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala City which is run by Orthodox nuns. They ministered to children who once endured extreme poverty and deprivation as they learn to trust and discover the saving Love of our Lord Jesus Christ. OCMC Mission Team members who return from this Orphanage are overcome by the unconditional love the children express. Fr. John describes his experience the same way:

One morning before breakfast I was walking around the park and was approached by one of the little boys. He noticed that I was not wearing my cross. I had neglected to take it out of my rasso pocket. As I reached into the pocket and pulled it out he reached to kiss it. He then took it and put it around his neck, held the cross, and blessed me! This tells everything about being here—you come to give blessing, but are blessed so much in return.

Other OCMC Mission Teams needing clergy leaders in 2005 are India, Alaska, Korea, Albania and Kenya. For more details about these and other OCMC Mission Teams in 2005 please go to www.ocmc.org/teams.php.

If you are a member of the clergy, please consider if God is calling you to serve Him on an OCMC Mission Team this summer. If you are not clergy, you are needed in the mission field too! Apply today!

The Orthodox Christian Mission Center: Helping Orthodox Christians respond to Christ's call to preach, teach, baptize, minister to the poor and make disciples of all nations as the official international mission agency of SCOBA.



Volume 7 Number 14 - Tuesday, April 5th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY