Building Bridges, Lighting Paths: OCMC's Eventful Year & Future Growth

Through your faithful support, 2023 was an eventful year at the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) allowing us to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to more people in more places in a sustainable way.

In 2023 we were able to place new missionaries in the field, including Ruby Maggard in Fiji and Theodora Veronis in Mexico. Additionally, the Jones family relocated from Fiji to Tonga and Fr. Juvenal Repass moved from Guatemala to become our first-ever missionary in Brazil. We partnered with new hierarchs in Africa, supported over 100 new mission priests in Africa, and rolled out a new digital chant stand in Spanish!

During the Nativity feast we heard the Prophet Isaiah's words foretelling the coming of the Messiah, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined" (Isaiah 9:2). Your support has allowed us to expose people to the Light of Christ through our missionaries, missionary specialists, and partners with whom we work in 27 countries.

Fr. Martin Ritsi, OCMC Executive Director recently reflected, “As I have been traveling through Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya at the end of November and the early days of December, I have witnessed first-hand the fruit of your support. African priests can tend more effectively to their flocks assured of the consistent monthly support offered by our Support a Mission Priest Program (SAMP). Sustainable income generation projects like a beekeeping initiative assure a stream of income for the operation of the Diocese of Kisumu and Western Kenya. Future income generating projects in Nairobi and Kampala will assist theological education at the Makarios III Seminary in Kenya and the priests and diocesan operations throughout Uganda. And people are hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many for the first time, in the Karamoja region of Uganda and elsewhere. Indeed, people are ‘seeing’ the LIGHT!"

         
In October, OCMC supported an exploratory mission to six villages in Karamoja region of Uganda. The group was led by His Grace NEKTARIOS, five clergy from Uganda,     
and another from Kenya. Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Gulu and Northern Uganda.

Your generosity is what makes this all possible. You have not only helped us accomplish so much in 2023 but positioned us to make an even greater impact in 2024! Thank you and may you have a blessed new year!

Click below to learn more about the world-wide work of OCMC.

Making Disciples of All Nations

•••