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Published by
SCOBA,
September 16, 2005
The 2005 OCMC Mission Team
Season Winds Down with His Grace Bishop
Dimitrios Sending Off the Last Team |
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September 16, 2005
The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC),
St. Augustine, FL - The 2005 OCMC Orthodox
Mission Team season finished with a six-person
team to Tanzania. This team had the special
honor to be commissioned by His Grace Dimitrios,
Bishop of Xanthos, the General Secretary of the
Standing Conference of Canonical Bishops in the
Americas (SCOBA) and OCMC’s Founding Director.
The commissioning service took place after
Vespers on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 at Holy
Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in St. Augustine,
FL.
The Tanzania Teaching Team assisted young adults
in a youth workers training camp. They took 200
Orthodox theological books that were donated for
a library at the Bukoba, Tanzania diocesan
headquarters. The purchase of these books was
initiated by last year’s OCMC Mission Team
members to Tanzania, as they responded to the
desire for knowledge of the Orthodox Faith they
encountered last summer. The Team also carried
with them a donation by the teen SOYO group of
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, towards the purchase of Bibles to
be distributed by Bishop Jeronymos.
The Orthodox Mission Teams accomplishments were
many, from the Tanzania Teaching Team, to the
remote areas of Alaska where Teams offered
retreats, counseling, catechism, ministry, while
the Alaskan Wellness Team focused on holistic
wellness to basic oral hygiene. 2005 brought
many firsts; such as the Albania Team to the
newly established Children’s Home of Hope to
assist in the daily activities of children
between the ages of 3 to 14; the Korea Team
which assisted local clergy and volunteers in
their first English Language Youth Camp; the
first Team to Paraguay which ministered to the
growing Orthodox community; and finally the
Puerto Rico Team which participated in several
religious services and ministered to the poor as
soup kitchen volunteers. Other successful team
projects included the Guatemala Team which
helped at the orphanage of Hogar Rafael Ayau;
the Romania Teams which assisted the Association
of Orthodox Christian Students of Romania (A.S.C.O.R.)
in hosting a youth camp and assisted the
Substance Abuse Outreach of OCMC missionaries;
and the Uganda Health Care Outreach that
volunteered in various medical clinics.
OCMC wishes to thank all those who served as
Mission Team members in 2005 and all those who
helped support the Mission Teams through their
prayers and financial support. In the next few
weeks, OCMC will be announcing next year’s
Mission Teams. Plan on “Putting Your Faith in
Action” in the mission field in 2006 and apply
early!
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