What can we say about the Orthodoxy in
Kenya? I think I should forgo the statistical data, which you can find in many
articles in Russian and English, and stick to “what our eyes have seen.”
There are many children in the Orthodox
parishes in Kenya. Children often constitute 70–80 percent of a congregation.
There are a lot of orphans in the country. AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases
take their toll on the Kenyan population. Coupled with drug and alcohol abuse,
this disastrous situation leaves many children in need of foster care. This is
the kind of work that the Orthodox Church has undertaken. The Church
establishes schools and shelters to feed and clothe the children, at the same
time preaching Christianity. Aside from comprehensive education, young
Christians study the tenets of the Orthodox faith and participate in church
worship and the operation of the shelter. That is how they naturally become
more involved in the life of the Church. This missionary strategy has been
implemented for a couple of decades and has proven to be very effective: the
Orthodox Church in the country demonstrates remarkable growth.
Most of educational facilities and
shelters look unseemly. The buildings stand on rented or purchased land and
look like bunkhouses without floors and windows, made of planks and other
building materials. If there is a water well, it’s considered a blessing. Water
is very pricey in Kenya.
You will hardly see “Orthodox”
architecture in Kenya. There are some nice-looking churches but we haven’t seen
any luxurious or weird ones. St Macarius Church in the seminary stands out from
the rest. There are churches made of stone in Nairobi and several other cities.
There are few such churches and most of them don’t look particularly appealing.
It costs an immense lot to build a stone church. Many priests used to be
enthusiastic about it but could not finish the construction. Churches under
construction aren’t a rare view in Kenya.
Going through the country, we came across
churches made of wood and all kinds of stuff. They looked less presentable than
barns back home. You will suddenly discover that this or that shanty is a
church only when you enter it and see the Royal Doors, icons, and candle holders.
People sit in church during worship. Anyway, regardless of how run-down the
building might be, you’re immediately impressed by its tidy yard. Only the
Orthodox and the Catholics seem to have clean church yards in Kenya but I can’t
speak for the entire country, of course…
The Church in Kenya is the community — the
faithful — rather than edifices. Perhaps, this is its main advantage. The Church
does not waste huge amounts on “centennial projects”. It invests in the people,
its parishioners. Huge buildings and expensive vestments don’t play any role
here. In spite of a favourable attitude of the government, the Church does not
enjoy financial support from the state and survives on its own. These
conditions make a bag of rice more valuable than some costly adornments of a
parish church.
Naturally, one shouldn’t look at Orthodox
Christian life in Kenya through rose-coloured glasses. Community life requires
some effort, emotional investment, and, what is crucial, good stewardship. We
met extremely poor missionaries but they had vibrant communities nevertheless.
We also visited stone churches in big Kenyan cities, which stand half-empty
even on Sundays. Generally, it is obvious that the most essential aspect of the
Orthodox mission is planting the congregation — the community of people who love
God and care about each other.
What are Kenyan priests like? They’re just
people. Like ours. Younger priests are filled with zeal and enthusiasm, while
the older generation have a more tempered attitude. What they have in common is
high theological qualifications, thanks to Nairobi Seminary. The seminary
teaches clergy for the entire African continent. Good professors, many of whom
received their degrees in Greece and St. Vladimir Seminary in the USA,
teach in the seminary. The Primate of the Orthodox Church in Kenya Metropolitan
Makarios is an example to follow: he graduated from Oxford University and the
Russian Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.
Life is tough for the priests who serve
far from big cities. The Orthodox Church primarily addresses the poorest groups
of population. That is why many priests have to work. For instance, Father John
rents two fields where he grows flowers for sale. His work day begins very
early. Before he comes to the shelter and plunges deep in the problems of the
school and the children, he works in the fields with his family. After 6 PM,
when most of the children go back to their homes, he has to return to the
fields in order to feed his family. The life of Orthodox clergy is really hard.
That is why their happiness is worth much more. They are happy not because
life’s always good; it originates in their ability to knock at the heaven’s
door and to receive joy from God.
The high priest of the Kenyan Orthodox
Church is a unique and remarkable man. He jokingly calls himself a “grandson”
of Saint Silouan the Athonite because Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, known to
the Russian reader by his brilliant book Elder Silouan, was his spiritual father for more
than thirty years. He is the person who sets the standards of behaviour to all
priests and lay people in Kenya. He is remarkably active for his age: he
teaches in the seminary and travels around Kenya all the time, supporting his
priests in their work. Metropolitan Makarios keeps looking for ways to fund the
construction of churches, schools, and shelters.
When we first visited Kenya, Metropolitan
Makarios took us on a visit to some local parishes. We visited five or six parishes
in one day and brought them some humanitarian aid. At the end of the day, our
legs were swelling so hard that we could barely move, but His Eminence was
still smiling and lively.
Metropolitan Makarios is easy-going, far
from the image of a self-important and arrogant “prince of the Church”. As soon
as he met us, he led us to the seminary refectory, seated us around a table,
and started waiting on us: he fetched new meals and carried away our dirty
plates. It puzzled us because our people are not accustomed to this kind of
Gospel-like simplicity and modesty. He does not have guards, expensive
accessories, and stylish cars. You immediately comprehend that he is a true
monk. He doesn’t care who you are: the President of Cyprus, with whom he talked
on phone in our presence, or a regular guy from a poor neighbourhood…
Returning to Nairobi from our mission trip
to the coast, we knew: Metropolitan Makarios was there waiting for us. He
phoned us several times to make sure that we were okay. When we finally arrived
at the seminary several hours later, in the middle of the night, he was really
waiting for us. He grabbed one of our bags and tried to carry it to our cell.
Doesn’t it speak louder than words? His priests love him very much. I have
never witnessed such friendly and warm relationships before.
A liturgy in Kenya is accompanied by
joyful songs and dance. The dance is meant to glorify God. It doesn’t have any
erotic or dirty connotations. It’s absolutely pious and fits into the worship
harmoniously. Africans dance everywhere but it doesn’t mean that they dance
during every service, not at all!
Parishioners actively participate in the
Divine Liturgy. They read the Holy Scripture, recite prayers, sing chants and
hymns. The Eucharist crowns everything.
It is during one such service that it
suddenly dawns on you that their joy is for real. Many of them literally live
in hell. The Church and common prayer is their only beam of hope and joy. Our
“proper reading” of prayers, not grounded in the spirit of those prayers, is
much more dangerous and hypocritical than their childlike spontaneity. You
suddenly realise that God is present.
There is no “other” Orthodoxy. It’s
exactly like ours. There are various conditions that people live and get saved
in but everyone is saved by the same Jesus Christ.
Every time I return home from a mission
trip, I start looking at what the Lord has given me from a different angle. We
are so happy to see open churches, have the chance to read the Gospel and do
the ministry! How much we are given and how insensitive to it we have become!
People always ask me why children in
Africa keep smiling, despite their poverty, diseases, and hunger. I don’t know.
Maybe their eyes aren’t worn out by the screens of iPhones, their spiritual
eyesight is still strong, and they can feel that God is always near because
they are loved.
End of Part II
St. Elisabeth Convent
June 14, 2018
CONVERSATION