Alexandria, December 10, 2013
The Pope (Patriarch) Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa has congratulated the Orthodox Missionary Brotherhood, which was founded in 1963, on its "golden" anniversary, thanking it for its self-sacrificing work that now embraces the whole continent.
The brotherhood was founded as the "Friends of Uganda" fellowship in Thessaloniki by efforts of the zealous missionary, Father Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos.
Moving to Uganda in 1961, Fr. Chrysostomos wrote his spiritual friends from there: "Help me! The people here thirst for Orthodoxy and Christ and are hungry at the same time".
Baptism, 1974, photo from the newspaper the Brotherhood
His friends responded and in Thessaloniki, on December 8, 1963, 26 people gathered at the first meeting of the fellowship, created for rendering spiritual and material aid to those suffering in Uganda.
After the repose of Fr. Chrysostomos, the fellowship was renamed—it became the Orthodox Missionary Brotherhood and today it is active in 22 countries of Africa and Asia.
