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PSG
partner Stephen Gidus spent three weeks of the summer of 2003
traveling to Ghana, Africa to help the Orthodox Christian Mission
Center (OCMC) build a church for the Orthodox Christians living
there.Stephen was part of a seven-member team of Americans from
across the United States who were sent to build a new church
in the village of Breman, in the eastern region of Ghana.
The
missionaries were welcomed by the Chiefs of Breman in a ceremony
that included a procession from the camp to the village with
dozens of village people following on foot.
The
OCMC Mission Team members were also privileged to be part of
two historical mass baptisms. In the village of Brakwa, eighty-five
people of all ages were baptized in a near-by river and became
the only Orthodox community in that region of Ghana. In Breman,
where the Team worked, over forty people entered into the Body
of Christ through Holy Baptism. The Team members, including Stephen,
were given the opportunity to be sponsors (Godparents) to these
new Orthodox Christians.
The
Church in Ghana has limited income and survives only through
the generosity of Christians making donations to OCMC. The church
building project in Ghana was made possible through the donations
of a single family.
The
Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), located in St. Augustine,
Florida is a mission and evangelism agency that proclaims and
practices the evangelical imperative based on the Gospel of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who commissioned us to go "and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew
28:19). OCMC recruits, trains and sends missionaries to preach,
teach, baptize and to minister to the poor, hungry, sick, suffering
and orphaned. OCMC supports the development of indigenous leaders
and strengthens the infrastructures of churches, especially in,
though not limited to, countries where Christianity is a minority,
thus creating vibrant, eucharistic Orthodox Christian communities
throughout the world.
More information about the efforts
of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center can be found at www.ocmc.org. PSG |