Apostle Peter
Of the Twelve Apostles, we must first focus on Peter, who served as a kind of language for the others of his group.
The first twelve chapters of the historical book of the Acts of the Apostles speak most about his missionary activity; the remaining chapters of this book speak about St. Pavle. 1Born in Bethsaida, he lived in Capernaum with his brother Andrew, fishing near the place where Zebedee and his sons, James and John, were engaged in the same craft on Lake Galilee. Peter was married and had a mother-in-law in his house, whom Christ healed. He subsequently traveled with his wife, performing missionary service (1 Cor. 9:5). His first name was Simon, but Christ renamed him Peter (Cephas - rock), foreseeing that, despite some of his natural weaknesses (self-confidence and ardor), he was still a born leader in the group of twelve.
His first encounter with Jesus took place at the Jordan (John 1:42), when his brother Andrew brought him to Jesus. Subsequently, he and his brother were called to Galilee for missionary work.
After his renunciation in a moment of danger, he was restored by the Risen Christ, as narrated in chapter twenty-one of the Gospel of John.
The first 12 chapters of the Acts of the Apostles tell us about his victorious performance in Jerusalem after the descent of the Holy Spirit, about his main activities in Jerusalem and the surrounding area until the moment when, according to King Herod Agrippa I (son of Aristobulus), the grandson of Herod the Great, having killed the ap. James, wanted to do the same to Peter, who, however, was saved from prison by God's intervention. Since then (A.D. 44) he has traveled more.
Peter was sent to Samaria to pray for the sending of the Holy Spirit on those who believed from this people, and he also established work among the proselytes converted to Judaism, visiting Cornelius in the city of Caesarea.
The Apostle Peter conveyed what was written in the Gospel of Mark, and through the same assistant (John Mark) the 1st and 2nd Epistles of Peter were written. Although the message speaks of Babylon as the place of Peter's stay, some think that it was Rome after the great fire under Nero, when persecution began there, during which the apostle was executed. Paul (in 64 A.D.) and then himself.
The Catholic legend that Peter founded the church in Rome is refuted by the Acts of the Apostles and the book of Romans,
in which nothing about this is remembered. But he came there to prepare the churches in Asia Minor for suffering, warning them of the “fiery temptation.”
The legend of his death is beautiful, but not proven by authoritative evidence. He was not any kind of pope, because he did not consider himself one: according to his message, he called himself a “fellow shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:1-5), and others did not consider him a pope (Gal. 2:7-14). Hence the conclusion that Peter is not the first bishop of the Roman Church, but one of the three pillars of the Church of Jerusalem, which were revered: Peter, John and James, the brother of the Lord, about whom more will be discussed.
I. Orthodox missionary
The emergence of heresies was foreseen by the apostles of Christ (2 Pet. 2:1-3). When heresy appears, the Christian and the pastor do not fear for the Truth and the Church, which, according to the Savior’s immutable promise, the gates of hell will not prevail; he grieves and fears for people falling away from the Truth and the Church. Missionary work, as protecting the Orthodox from heresy and as admonishing the lost, is the direct duty of the local parish pastor. Every missionary is externally a collaborator or assistant to the parish pastor. The closest assistants to a missionary pastor are: a deacon, a psalm-reader, a church school teacher, and selected parishioners. The following institutions can conveniently rally parishioners around a pastor for missionary purposes: Church-parish brotherhoods, Societies of zealots of Orthodoxy, Sisterhoods, Temperance Societies; statutes for them can be developed by the parish priests themselves. The help of parishioners is very valuable for a pastor. Parishioners can give the pastor all the necessary information about apostates in good time, they can help him by protecting the Orthodox, they can even help him by personally influencing the apostates. Brotherhoods and societies can also provide material assistance to the cause in necessary cases. In dealing with apostates, Orthodox parishioners require, however, caution so that they “do not damage their minds.” The help of women is very useful for a shepherd, as a strong bulwark of native truth; in their zeal they can greatly influence husbands and children.
The general nature of pastoral and missionary means is negatively expressed in the famous saying of Met. Gregory: “Police measures are not our measures.” This was stated at the beginning of the 19th century. The Church has only moral means; As for external and civil measures, they are the essence of the Sovereign’s business. The state, which values its union with the Church, dutifully takes its measures to weaken the destructive activities of the confessors of heresy. A missionary pastor, of course, should know state laws about faith and the Church. Such legalizations are set out in the “Basic Laws of the Russian Empire” and in the appendices to them - in the “Charter of Heterodox Confessions” and in the “Charter on the Prevention and Suppression of Crimes”. According to our current Fundamental Laws, the Orthodox Faith and the Church are recognized as dominant (Fundamental Laws, ed. 1906, Art. 63–66), and therefore it alone has the right to convince followers of other Christian confessions and people of other faiths to accept its teachings and faith ( “Charter of Foreign Conformation”, Article 4. “Charter on the Prevention and Suppression of Crimes”, Article 70). The Evangelical Lutheran and other heterodox churches are commanded to refrain from proselytism (“Charter of heterodox confession” Art. 256, 779, 1102 and 1110); they are prohibited from touching in matters of faith the convictions of the conscience of followers of the Orthodox Church and other faiths and distracting them from their own (“Charter on the prevention and suppression of crimes”, Articles 70, 77, 45 and 63). If the said laws are violated by sectarians, the parish pastor can take action, but only through the diocesan authorities, and then with complete discretion.
An indication of pastoral and missionary means can be found, after the Holy Scriptures, in the following editions of the Holy Synod: “Instruction to the priest regarding those who err from the truths of the faith” (5th ed. 1856); “Resolutions of the Eminences of the southwestern region who met in Kyiv in 1884.” “Rules on the organization of missions and the method of action of missionaries and pastors of the Church in relation to schismatics and sectarians” (defined by the Holy Synod on May 25, 1888); “Definition of the Holy Synod regarding the conclusions of the 3rd All-Russian Missionary Congress, which was held in Kazan in 1897 (“Missionary Review” 1900 No. 7–8); “Definitions of the Holy Synod regarding the conclusions of the 4th All-Russian Missionary Congress, which took place in Kiev in 1908” (Church Veda. 1908 and 1909); finally - “Rules on the organization of the internal mission of the Orthodox Russian Church, approved by the Holy Synod on May 22–28, 1908” of the Church. Ved. 1908 No. 22). The rules of 1908 are the latest and have the main guiding significance in organizing missionary work in dioceses. In accordance with all these synodal orders, the missionary parish pastor has the duty of using in his parish a set of the following means that can create a strong missionary impact on parishioners faithful to the Church and on apostates:
1) It is necessary for the pastor to be constantly aware of the religious views of local sectarians, their personal composition and vigilant supervision over them so that they do not spread their false teachings.
2) There must be an accurate record of persons: those born in the sect and those who were seduced, with proper reporting of information about them to the Diocesan Authorities.
3) Explanatory, exhorting and accusatory conversations with apostates should be conducted (see Conversation 4).
4) Church sermon and extra-liturgical interviews with a positive presentation and explanation of the truths of faith prophesied by apostates; analysis of sectarian errors during extra-liturgical interviews (see Conversation 4).
5) Apostates and persons wavering in the faith returning to the bosom of the Church can be admitted to Holy Communion only after a thorough and complete examination of their conscience in confession.
6) It is urgently necessary for the pastor to visit the homes of parishioners during religious services with pre-holiday prayer, familiarize himself with their spiritual needs and have a decent conversation with them. It is convenient to ask former schoolchildren and schoolgirls about how much they remember what they learned according to the Law of God and how they apply it at home. You need to start visiting houses well in advance of the holiday.
7) It is appropriate to instill in parishioners, according to the word of God: to avoid apostates in every possible way, not to attend their prayer meetings and not to accept them into your home.
Only selected parishioners who are well-read and firm in the truths of the faith may be directed to conversations with apostates. The help the priest receives from such readers is very significant, and he himself must take care of preparing them. They can form the main nucleus for the formation of a parish brotherhood or a circle of zealots of Orthodoxy.
9) Missionary work through schools - mixed and women's parochial schools (see Conversations 5 and 6).
10) Establishment of church-folk and missionary libraries at churches or schools, distribution of religious and moral leaflets of the Trinity, Kyiv, Panteleimon and others to the people, distribution of missionary brochures.
11) Testing the recipients at baptism, as well as testing the parishioners’ knowledge of prayers during confession, marriage and in other cases - teaching prayer through singing and choral reading at extra-liturgical interviews.
12) Arrangement of church choirs and general singing during services. Where there are well-organized choirs, general singing of at least some prayers is desirable, for example. at Vespers “Quiet Light” and “Now You Let Go”, at Matins “Glory to God in the highest”, at Liturgy “I Believe in One God”, “It is Worthy to Eat”, “Our Father”.
13) Conducting all-night vigils and other prayers in villages and hamlets remote from the parish church; The place of prayer may preferably be a church school.
14) It is necessary to ensure that existing and newly built crosses and icons for church and home use are of decent appearance and writing. The consecration of newly constructed crosses and icons should be performed in the church publicly and solemnly, with the expressive reading of the prescribed prayers, which are filled with deep missionary content.
15) Crosses and banners used during burials and religious processions must be taken back to the temple with the decorum appropriate to the sacred object; It would be nice to put covers on them.
16) There must be prayerful, reverent, clear and reasonable reading during worship in the choir, that is, good psalmodic reading.
17) The statutory and diligent fulfillment by the priest of all pastoral duties. Commitment of St. Baptism should be through immersion and, if possible, in St. temple.
18) Careful execution of single confession for all parishioners. “You should never accept several people together for confession, even if they were children, but you should confess each one separately. For a good shepherd, confession serves as the surest means of learning the spiritual state of each of his flock and the most reliable way to have a beneficial effect of pastoral instructions on their souls” (Resolution of the South-Western Eminences of 1884).
19) The arrangement of the home life and personal relationships of the missionary pastor in particular should be free from lessons, especially from lessons in extortion - for the shtunda itself will tell him: “doctor, heal yourself.” Young shepherds should be imbued with the consciousness that they have accepted the yoke of Christ, and not just the honorary title of abbot.
20) It is necessary to improve oneself through reading the patristic and especially ascetic works. How much we lose by not reading the instructions of St. Theophan, the recluse Vyshinsky, the greatest contemporary psychologist of prayer and moral states! (All his works were published in a very accessible manner in Moscow by the Athos Panteleimon Monastery).
21) Pastoral prayer for spiritual children, faithful and lost. “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given to Me, that they may be one” (John 17:11)!
Apostle John
Of the twelve apostles, the second among the three pillars was considered the Apostle John, son of Zebedee, brother of James. His meeting with Jesus took place at the Jordan after the baptism of Jesus, when John, being a disciple of John the Baptist, left his teacher and followed Jesus. This meeting remained unforgettable. After this he returned to Galilee, where he was called a year or a little more later by Christ at the beginning of His ministry in Galilee. Christ called him and his brother James “sons of thunder” because of their ardent temperament and zeal for Jesus in Samaria, as well as their desire to be first in the coming Kingdom of Christ. Despite this, John became Jesus' favorite disciple. He was the only one who did not run away after the arrest of Christ and stood at His cross, and there he took His Mother under his care. They think that he also had a house in Jerusalem, and therefore was known to the high priest and could receive Mary, and then her sons. In addition, it was John who, in his gospel, described the ministry of Jesus in Judea and especially in Jerusalem, which indicates his good familiarity with the living conditions in that city. But we are interested in his missionary activities.
In Jerusalem
He is the second pillar of the Jerusalem church, accompanying Peter when healing the lame man at the entrance to the temple. He shares imprisonment with Peter (Acts chapters 3 and 4). From Jerusalem, John accompanied Peter to Samaria to strengthen the converted Samaritans in the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17).
Beyond Jerusalem
It is believed that after Jerusalem, that is, after its destruction in 70, John transferred his activities to Ephesus, which then became the most influential point of missionary work. Three famous students came out of his school: Polycarp, later Bishop of Smyrna, Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch.
The books written by him or under his dictation were of particular importance:
1. The Gospel, beginning with the pre-eternal birth of Christ and ending with the special 21st chapter, as an addition explaining that it is unfair to wait for the Coming of Christ before it; i.e. John, death. Written around 90 A.D.
2. 1st Epistle against the Gnostics. The 2nd and 3rd messages are preserved from personal correspondence.
3. Revelation, written after the year 95, when the persecution occurred under the emperor Domitian. The following year (96th), John, who had been exiled to the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean, was released and described the visions he had received during his exile. Also a vision of the glorified Christ (in chapter 1) and messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor which he served. He was an apostle of love and remained so, living to about 100 years old.
Died around 100 AD.
Remarkable stories of missionaries 2
On Sunday I went to the store
and, as usual, he took with him a new covenant for the cashier.
When I gave the cashier the Gospel, she was so surprised and happy. She said that she was literally just thinking about where I could buy a new covenant. Glory to Christ! * * * Sundar received God's help
when he was arrested in a city called Rasa, in Tibet.
He was taken before the chief lama and accused of Christian teaching, a “foreign” religion. His sentence was to be thrown into a dry well, where many people had previously been left to die. The top was covered and Sundar was locked among the decaying meat and bones to rot in complete darkness. He thought: “ My God, why have you forsaken me?
“A few hours later he heard the lid being removed and saw a rope coming down.
The voice said, “Hold on to the rope.” Making a loop to support him under his arm, Sundar climbed up and again breathed in the fresh air with pleasure. There was no sign of his deliverer around, but he enjoyed his freedom. The next day he again taught publicly about Jesus. When the High Lama heard about this, he arrested Sundar again and angrily demanded an explanation as to how he had escaped.
There was only one key to the lid lock, so the lama assumed it had been stolen. He was surprised to find the key still attached to his belt. He immediately released Sundar, telling him to leave the area, but did not dare punish him any further.
* * *
An American missionary told this story.
He asked a Christian Indian to tell him what he thought about Christ.
The Indian knelt down
and made a large circle of dry leaves. He placed a worm in the center and set the leaves on fire. In vain the worm tried to find a way out of the burning circle, which threatened him with death. Finally, exhausted, he stopped trying to escape and prepared for the worst. Then the Indian reached out his hand and, carefully taking the worm, transferred it to the cool grass. After this, turning to the missionary, the Indian said: “This is exactly what Jesus Christ did for me.”
* * *
It is important!
Please
remember to pray for all the missionaries who are engaged in this work and for those assigned to this work.
It's a pity that many people like to do nothing more and grumble at others. Many Christians are infected with a passion for competition and debate about who is right and who is wrong. Don't be like that! Learn to be polite and understanding. Every soul is priceless to God and dear to Him. Pray for all missionaries who are carrying out Christ's commission. The Bible says: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." (Matt. 24:14) Based on materials from: bible-facts.org
Philip
Acts of the Apostles 8:5-25 tells how Philip came to the Samaritan city of Shechem, where Christ had spent two days after the conversion of the Samaritan woman (John 4:6-43). Then there was sowing, and now a bountiful harvest has come, despite the unpleasant incident with Simon the Magus, who wanted to buy the Holy Spirit with money (this is where the word “simony” comes from).
Acts 8:26-39 tells of the conversion of the Ethiopian, treasurer of the queen of Candace, through whom the seed of the gospel was carried into the heart of Africa.
We know very little about Philip himself, except that he was elected deacon, and that he was given direction by the Holy Spirit to Samaria, from there to the desert road to Gaza, and then to the cities of Judea, Azoth (Lydda, Joppa) and Caesarea , preaching the gospel everywhere.
The latest information about him is found in Acts. 21:8-10, when in his house, who was now called an evangelist and a deacon, the Apostle Paul and his companions stopped for many days to preach the Gospel in Caesarea. From this we see that Philip remained at the center of spiritual work where, through Peter God called Cornelius and other pagan (Roman) proselytes.
Thus, through the two deacons, God carried out a great missionary work. One had to die for the word to move, and the other had to go and preach the gospel. Do we know that God wants to use each of us if we agree to accept His ways? Apostle or deacon do the will of God. For the hungry, does it matter whether the king’s servant gives him bread or the black slave? Everything is from God and in everything may God be glorified!
Jacob - brother of the Lord
The Book of the Acts of the Apostles lists among those who were waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem, Mary, His mother and His brothers (chapter 1, v. 13). The twelfth chapter tells about the execution of James, John's brother, then about the arrest of Peter and his miraculous release, after which Peter asked to inform Jacob and his brothers about this in Jerusalem. Consequently, this James, who remained in Jerusalem, was considered a responsible person in the Jerusalem church. In the fifteenth chapter it is said that during the first Council of Jerusalem, James spoke with authority, supporting Peter, and proposing to free the Gentile Christians from subjection to the law of Moses. This led to a positive conclusion to the decisions of the council.
Looking back on his past in the service of Jesus, the apostle Paul in Galatians 2:9 says: “When James and Cephas and John, who were esteemed as pillars, knew of the grace given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the hand of fellowship, that we might go to the Gentiles, and to them to those who are circumcised."
So Jacob is presented to us as the pillar supporting the Jerusalem church of the Jews. Tradition calls him the first bishop of this church, who enjoyed enormous authority among both Christians and Jews. He was called James the Just, who was equally subject to the requirements of the law of Moses and the grace in Christ Jesus. For Jews, he considered this obligatory, but for the pagan believers, he did not demand this, as many zealots from his church, walking on the heels of St., demanded. Paul and those who brought trouble into the churches from the pagans. (Read Galatians).
The last time the Acts of the Apostles speaks of Jacob is in chapter 21, verses 18-25, when he, along with other elders, persuaded Paul, to reassure the believing Jews, to take the vow of a Nazirite, but the implementation of this advice led Paul to arrest and imprisonment . Jacob, of course, did not want this and did not foresee this. He continued to lead the Jerusalem church until the year 66, and was killed, according to tradition confirmed by Josephus, through the machinations of the high priest, the Sadducee, in the year 66 almost before the start of the Jewish uprising against the Romans.
Jacob, the brother of the Lord, is credited with the letter of Jacob, which he sent to the twelve tribes of Israel who were in dispersion after persecution. Obviously he meant all Jews in the Diaspora, trying to bring them closer to Christ Jesus.
In its external form, this message consists of separate parts on different issues, like the Proverbs of Solomon. Since the author of the Epistle of Jude calls himself the brother of James, they think that he also belonged to the brothers of the Lord (see Matt. 13:55).
In conclusion, let’s read James’s introduction to his epistle, verses 1-12, which gives us a wonderful picture of this servant of God.
ABOUT THE DEATH OF JAMES, I. Flavius says that the high priest Ananus, a Sadducee, taking advantage of the opportunity: that the procurator Festus died, and Albinus was on his way from Alexandria, assembled the Sanhedrin, presented to them James, the brother of Jesus, called Christ, and accused him of breaking the law and ordered to be stoned. The most just of the citizens wrote a complaint to King Agrippa, asking him to prohibit Anan from acting illegally, and some informed Albinus that Anan had no right to convene the Sanhedrin without his permission. Albinus wrote an angry letter to Anan, and King Agrippa deprived him of the high priesthood, which Anan had enjoyed for three months.
Defeat the shaman, convert the brahman. Stories of Orthodox missionaries
Photo from the personal archive of Priest Georgy Maximov
“We baptized a Filipina and her tumor disappeared.”
Priest Georgy Maximov, missionary to the Philippines:
I was born and raised in an atheist family, I was going to enter VGIK, I really liked the world of cinema. But I read the Gospel of Luke, felt that this was an unusual book, and realized that there is only one life and it must be spent on the highest - and there is nothing higher than God. So I entered an Orthodox university and became a priest.
Four years ago, a strong typhoon, Yolanda, hit the Philippines. Thousands of people died. My friend, Father Kirill Shkarbul, was then serving in Taiwan and decided to collect humanitarian aid for the Filipinos. He came to the disaster zone and met the Aglipayans there, a church that separated from the Catholics a hundred years ago. Their archbishop, having met Father Kirill and admiring the way he embodied faith in life, called him and asked him to make the parishioners Orthodox. Thousands of people were waiting for us, and I was among the priests sent to the Philippines for catechesis.
Missions are not sponsored by any special fund of our church. We received most of the money from acquaintances, friends, parishioners, and Bishop Mark helped with tickets to the Philippines. Missions are always a way out of your comfort zone, a journey to where you can’t control anything. Therefore, you just have to rely on God, put yourself in His hands.
I usually didn't stay in a hotel. He lived in bamboo houses of the Filipinos, in wooden outbuildings near the temple - wherever there was an opportunity to stay, he stayed there. I ate with the Filipinos - rice, fish, eggs, fruits.
The main thing for a missionary is love. She teaches a lot. They don’t love from nine in the morning to six in the evening, this is not work, you need to love all the time. If you love, then missionary work also becomes a humanitarian work. One of our Filipino parishioners became seriously ill. She comes from a poor family and has no money for treatment, so I helped her financially. We cannot bring a truckload of rice, but we are obliged to help to the best of our ability, although our main task is to help people understand Orthodoxy and strengthen themselves in it.
The leader said: come on, baptize me, and after me all my people will be baptized. But we can't do that. After all, we are talking about human destinies
There are aborigines and pagans in the Philippines. They live in the mountains. And so the leader of the Bilaan tribe became interested in Orthodoxy. We came to him and met him. The aborigines have an archaic mentality: whatever the leader says, everyone will do it. The leader said: come on, baptize me, and after me all my people will be baptized. But we can't do that. After all, we are talking about human destinies: we cannot accept into Orthodoxy those who do not yet understand what it means to be Orthodox. And in order for this tribe to understand what Orthodoxy is, a missionary is needed who is ready to go there for two or three years, live, work, joke, help - do everything together with these natives, to understand them first of all. And only then teach them Orthodoxy. So far, such a person has not been found, so we put the story with this tribe on pause.
In the mission, from morning to evening you do something: conduct services, give lectures, teach church singing. You are constantly on the move, because many people want to learn about Orthodoxy in completely different places. On the last mission, in a month and a half, I only had one more or less free day. Fortunately, my wife understands this and lets me go. And once I even managed to take her with me. Her support gives me strength, so everything I have been able to do is thanks to her.
Miracles are not uncommon on missions. I saw with my own eyes the story of a young girl with cancer. The community helped her financially, the girl underwent treatment, but it did not produce results. At some point, the doctors said that it was better to just go home and die in peace. The girl accepted this as the will of God, humbly, and went to pray to St. Nicholas. A week later, she went to the hospital for tests for the last time - it turned out that the cancerous tumor had completely disappeared.
A missionary I know said that the most beautiful thing he has seen in his life is the eyes of a person who hears the Gospel for the first time. And I experienced the most blessed feelings when we baptized people in August 2015 in the Philippine village of Ladol. Hundreds of people in white clothes went to the sea to be baptized - it was probably similar to what happened in Rus' 1000 years ago. We baptized for nine hours. And I didn't feel tired at all.
Then I walked along the streets and saw the guys: they were playing football, and on their necks they had crosses that I put on them. I then thought that I had not lived my life in vain.
“It was hard for the Brahman, and I baptized him”
Priest Stanislav Rasputin, missionary to India:
Photo from the personal archive of Priest Stanislav Rasputin
Until I was 15, I was an atheist. Then he experienced a mystical experience of meeting God, became a believer and realized that the only meaning of life is in serving God.
I entered the Faculty of Law and at the same time served as a sexton in the church. Having received his diploma, he began teaching at the university, but quickly became a priest. The fact that I was accepted into the church can be explained simply: I had a lot of experience, more than many who graduated from seminary.
I myself was not looking for ways to become a missionary - I was simply following the will of God. And one day I was offered to go to India. I had no expectations: if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. But there were tasks: for example, I had to baptize former parishioners of the Anglican Church into Orthodoxy. In addition to the previously set tasks, new ones arose. I baptized a Brahmin, a member of the highest Indian caste. He had a difficult life situation, and Christ appeared to him in a dream, although he knew nothing about Orthodoxy. Christ said: “Don’t be afraid, I will save you.” A month passed and I already baptized the brahman.
Hindus are not very fond of Christian preachers. One day a girl from a Hindu family came to me and asked me to baptize her. She said that just because her family members found a Bible on her, she was severely beaten. The girl was baptized, her family disowned her, and she had to leave home.
In Russia, people are a little ossified; here we often need to be persuaded to go to church, but in India, where an Orthodox church is not so easy to find, people are thirsty for the truth. They do not come out of fashion, they want to live as Christ taught. He is outside the framework of culture, he came into the world not only for Jews or Russians, but for everyone.
It happens that you preach to a thousand people, everything starts well, but three years later none of these thousand remain in Orthodoxy
In Russia, the Orthodox Church tries to be the church of the majority, and this often affects people’s understanding of the faith: out of 10 people baptized in Russia, at best, three will return to the church within six months. And in unenlightened countries there is no goal to please large masses of people, work is carried out individually, so faith is deeper and sincere.
You never know what results a mission will bring. It happens that you preach to a thousand people, everything starts well, and after three years none of these thousand remains in Orthodoxy. And sometimes you preach to 10 people, and after three years they attract a thousand other people to the faith.
A priest has three main responsibilities: to officiate, to teach the Orthodox the word of God, and to provide spiritual care. The missionary may not do the first, nor the second, nor the third. The main goal of the mission is to show people an alternative to the generally accepted path of life. For example, if you simply talk about a healthy lifestyle in school and at the same time mention spiritual health, this will also be a mission.
Mission is the natural need of a Christian to share the joy of God that he experiences. Unfortunately, there are now quite a few missionaries, partly due to the fact that in the Soviet Union the Church had very limited opportunities for missionary work, and several generations of believers lived like this, and enough time must pass for new experiences to be formed. Another mission is getting out of your comfort zone. And few are ready for this.
“They baptized a Mongolian woman - and her dead grandfather stopped coming to her”
Father Cornelius, missionary to Mongolia and Kenya:
Photo from the personal archive of Father Cornelius
Since childhood, it was natural for me that God exists. At the same time, in my youth I had an unpleasant experience of sin. I knew I was doing something bad, but I couldn't stop. I went to church and one day I met Father Daniil Sysoev, who was killed in 2009. In this man I saw that it was possible to live without sin - not to fornicate, not to drink, but to live like a Christian. Gradually I began to become a church member and went to Father Daniel’s missionary courses. I learned about the wonderful world of the church, and I wanted to share this knowledge with people.
Father Alexei Trubach, rector of the Orthodox church in Ulaanbaatar, invited Father Daniil Sysoev to Mongolia. But Father Daniil was killed, so we, his students, went. My brother in Christ and I stayed in a Russian hotel. Its owner is an Orthodox man, he gave us a big discount on our accommodation.
I don’t have a bad attitude towards the Mongols because once upon a time their ancestors kept us under the yoke. The Christian attitude towards people is treating everyone as equals. In addition, the Tatar-Mongol yoke is God's punishment for internecine strife. Back then, Christians killed Christians.
But now Mongolia is dominated by an unpleasant kind of Buddhism - Tibetan. At the museum, the guide showed us the instrument with which Buddhist lamas perform their rituals: it is made from the tibia of a 17-year-old girl. According to the guide, the ritual is still preserved; human sacrifices have not disappeared. They also worship spirits; one day a Mongol can go to a lama, and then to a shaman. This leads to what is called in secular language poltergeists and drummers. When we arrived at the temple in Ulaanbaatar, a Mongolian woman came to us and assured us that the spirits were forcing her to become a shaman. I don’t know how the story with this woman ended; Father Alexey worked with her. I know for sure that one Mongolian woman’s dead grandfather stopped coming to her when we baptized her.
There are also Protestants in Mongolia, and it was among them that we had to preach. At least they believe in God. The Apostle Paul also first went to his own, to the Jews, who already knew the one God, and only then went to the pagans.
We came to their houses of worship and talked about Orthodoxy. Of course, we encountered opposition from pastors. One of them canceled all meetings for the entire period that we were there, so that we would not go to him under any circumstances. Doors were closed in front of us, security was called, but where they wanted to listen to us, we preached.
Real Orthodox Christians, not nominal ones, but those who attend church weekly, seekers of God - even if they are Kenyans - are closer to us, Russian Orthodox Christians, than Russian atheists
It is difficult to talk about the success of this mission, because we stayed in Mongolia for only three weeks. What matters to us is not the number of converts, but the quality of their faith. When a Protestant came to Saint Nicholas of Japan and asked to be baptized into Orthodoxy, Saint Nicholas refused him and asked him to go and think about his desire. After all, baptism is a change in life and worldview, and not just a ritual.
Then I returned to Russia, but did not stay at home for long. OCMC, an Orthodox American missionary organization, invited me on a mission to Africa. That's how I ended up in Kenya.
I came to a country with a completely different culture and way of life. Africans are very poor, it is very hot, they have a lot of diseases and parasites. You come with protective equipment, but the locals don’t have it. And at the same time they enjoy life and love each other.
There was such a father, Vladimir. He is black and Kenyan. He decided to take up a mission in the north of his country - with the Turkana tribes. Over the course of several years, Father Vladimir converted about 300 people. We also preached among the Turkana people. Since most of them had already been baptized, we mainly carried out catechism - deepening into the faith.
Africa is actively becoming Christianized, not only by the Orthodox, but also by Catholics and Protestants. Of course, we are not talking about the northern countries of Africa, where Islam is accepted and Christian preaching can simply lead to death: official execution or lynching.
Real Orthodox Christians, not nominal ones, but those who attend church weekly, read prayers, seek God - even if they are Kenyans - are closer to us, Russian Orthodox, than Russian atheists.
I also stayed in Kenya for a short time - only about a month. But a real mission should last at least a year, or better yet, a lifetime.
“The fear of hell is hard to overcome.” How they change religion in Russia
Russian apostates told “Snob” how to believe in several gods, sometimes together, sometimes separately, or alternately, and what to do if you are a Jew, but there is no synagogue within a radius of a thousand kilometers
“We will circumcise our son and baptize our daughter.” How do mixed families live?
Why is it better for a Jewish woman to be with a Muslim than to be with an Orthodox Christian, and what a Catholic mother-in-law and a Buddhist mother-in-law will never give the go-ahead for?
Barnabas
Without Barnabas, it is unknown what direction the apostle’s ministry would have taken. Pavel. After Paul's conversion there was no bridge between him and Jewry, and this is natural, but there was also no bridge between him and the apostles who did not trust him. At such a moment, God sent Barnabas.
Its origin and independent activities.
We find some information about him in Acts. 4:36-37. Here for the first time his Hebrew name Josiah is mentioned, and it is said about the sale of a plot of land belonging to him and that the money was transferred to the apostles to help the poor. The apostles called him Barnabas, which means son of consolation.” He was originally a Levite, but was born on the island of Cyprus, which meant that he knew Greek culture and spoke Greek.
God needed him when Saul was introduced to the apostles (Acts 9:26-27).
Barnabas’s personal qualities led to the fact that when the apostles learned about the independent emergence through the testimony of ordinary believers of a large church in Antioch, they sent him to be a bridge between Jerusalem and Antioch.
Barnabas's first missionary journey with Paul.
Not Jerusalem, but Antioch was the first missionary center. The calling of Barnabas and Paul is recorded in Acts. 13:1-5. One of the details of this journey, which lasted one or two years, takes us to the homeland of Barnabas, to the island of Cyprus, and from there to central Asia Minor, and almost the same way back to Antioch (chapters 13-14). They were accompanied by John Mark, who had returned halfway to Jerusalem.
Barnabas appears to be the leader at the beginning, but gradually Paul's bold actions push him into first place. They begin their preaching in the synagogues, proving with the Scriptures from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Christ. They use the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the so-called. "Septuagint" In synagogues, in addition to Jews, one usually finds Greek proselytes converted to Jewry, called "those who worship God"
In every place they encounter contradictions and division of minds and found Christian communities. On the way back, elders are appointed in the communities from among the local believers. Starting from Cyprus, the name Saul, as a Hebrew name, is replaced by the name Paul, which in Latin means “small.” Thus, the initiative gradually passes to the “small”. Yet they complement each other wonderfully, and this once again proves the importance of Christ's practice of sending out missionaries two at a time.
New events forced them to go to Jerusalem to check their activities. The path there was like a triumphal procession.
The Sinai Manuscript found by Tischendorf contains the Epistle of Barnabas, which some publishers divided into 21 chapters and others into 15 chapters. Judging by the content of the message, it is difficult to assume that it was written by Barnabas, a companion of St. Pavel. Here is a sample of the presentation of Scripture and future events by this unknown Barnabas: “The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of creation: “And God created in six days the work of His hands, and on the seventh He finished, and rested on it, and sanctified it.” Notice, my children, what this means : “He finished in six days” The meaning is: “In six thousand years the Lord God will bring everything to an end.” Chapter 13:3-4 (in another edition - chapter 15).
