July | 2007 | presvlisa's Xanga Site

~Niagara Birthday Pics Part II~
Maria~Angelica taking in the view

Skylon Tower

View from the Skylon Tower elevator

Maria~Angelica shopping for souvenirs

Note Maria~Angelica’s hand holding Jonah’s ear. LOL!

Niagara on the Lake – Birthday dinner at The Buttery Restaurant.

This was the first time we ever bought Maria~Angelica her own cone; gone are the days that we could get away without buying her a cone, but boy did we enjoy watching her eating her cone.
~Birthday Pics From Niagara Falls~
I have so many photos I want to upload but I am finding it increasingly difficult; I don’t know if it is our computer or the apartment complex’s connection. At any rate I am able to share with you a few that I did manage to upload. I really enjoyed my birthday excursion. We also had a lovely 4th of July; the boys started skating lessons and work began on the parish house today. Hopefully I will be able to share more pictures of all these events and more, soon.
Birthday Lunch

Horse Shoe Falls

Maria~Angelica was so frightened of this bear; she was walking along all of sudden looked up and was terrified.

Maria~Angelica with her thumb and ear lobe… and The Falls in the background.
Quote for the Week:
“As to those who are good and kind but are not believers, we cannot and must not judge them. The ways of the Lord are inscrutable; let us leave these good people entirely to His judgment and to the grace of His Providence. He alone knows how and why He has built the argosy of humanity, and the small boat of each one of us, such as it is.:
St. Marcarios of Optina

Scripture of the Week: “Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” Daniel 7:27

Question of the Week:
There seems to be a generalized belief among Christians that non-believers are such because they have chosen to reject Christ. On the contrary, many non-believers are such because they have never truly been introduced to the gospel story…it is not so much a rejection than a complete ignorance of the choices available. Which of these perspectives do I hold? How does it influence my interaction with non-believers?

Thought for the Week: On Judging our Neighbor
We live in a very complex and complicated world. Daily, we come face to face with people, ideas, and values with which we disagree, or with which we only partly agree. This is ‘living in the world, but not being of it,’ and it is a painful, but necessary working out of our beliefs and of our own salvation. It trains us to cling to the teachings of our faith and to appreciate the truth of our rich tradition as Orthodox Christians.

What is to become of the fine and kind people around us who don’t, at least outwardly, profess Christ? The good thing is, we are free from making such judgments. St. Paul says, we can’t even judge ourselves (1 Cor. 4), and our Lord teaches us not to judge, lest we be judged (Matthew 7). We are charged not to judge on this level, and we are the better for it. Who can know the heart of a man except God alone? The beauty of Orthodoxy lies here: we do not, and cannot know the outcome of any man’s life, except through the grace of God revealed to us through their acquired holiness. All people have within them the possibility for choosing God until their last breath. Thus, we CAN make a difference in people’s lives. This ought to elevate our desire to love and encourage all people, to treat them with the greatest respect and love, and to live the Gospel through our actions. If even we, unworthy sinners, can make a difference in our neighbor’s salvation, we know truly that God has become a man and that He has made His dwelling place in us.
~Orthodox Africa~
These wonderful photos are from my friend, Anna. You can view all the photos here. To learn more about Orthodox Christian Missions and how you can help go to www.ocmc.org If you would like to read more about Baptism in the Orthodox Christian Church go here.
At our Church in the morning, we were invited to an Orthodox Mission Church, St. Seraphim Orthodox Church in Shoshanguve, Gauteng Province, South Africa.

We went to the Church for the Baptism. As you can see from the pictures, it is a very modest building – they are hoping to build a new brick building soon. You can see the new foundation in some of the photos, but for now they are meeting in a building constructed of pressboard and corrugated steel with a part concrete, and part dirt floor. Many surrounding homes are built the same way, but there are also sturdy brick homes nearby, as well as homes which are not constructed as well as the Church.

Just to get to Church, some worshippers must pay about 2 days wages (the price of public transportation is very high, and many don’t have cars) - so the people make quite a sacrifice to go to Church. The day we were there they had been at Church for about 6 hours (Orthros, Liturgy, and Baptism, with breaks in between), and had not taken a break for a meal.

Before the service started, the Priest asked if we were willing to be Godparents to two of the older children being Baptized, and we said yes. About 10 to 15 people were Baptized that day, mostly babies, but also some older children and adults.

Our Godchildren are Nicholas, who is about 8; and his sister, Rachel, who is about 11. Their Mom is Johanna, who you will also see in some of the pictures -and they have a baby brother, too.

Orthodoxy is growing rapidly here in Africa, there is a Seminary for Orthodox Priests and Deacons who are African, and a new Monastery is also being opened. Some of the service we attended was conducted in the local African language, but also some was in Greek, English and French. The Creed was sung by the worshippers in a local African language.

The Priest you see in some of these pictures, Fr. Johannes, was widowed last November and has two little sons, age 7 and 8. He seemed like a wonderful and gentle man. Fr. Athanasius was also trained at the Seminary, and the Chanter, Chrysostomos of Kenya, is currently a seminarian, too.

Hope you like the pictures!

Love, -Tasos and Anna
St. Seraphim Orthodox Church in Shoshanguve, Gauteng Province, South Africa.
The first part of the Orthodox Baptism service, that would take place in the Narthex, if there was one.

Fr. Athanasius adds Oil to the Baptismal Waters
Babies about to be Baptized.

Anna and Tassos with their Godchildren and their mother.
~Thank you!~
Thank you for all the birthday wishes, cards, e-mails , phone calls and in person. I had a lovely 29th birthday. Fr. and I are so blessed beyond our wildest dreams and are continuously amazed at the places God has taken us. We are forever grateful for the will of God in our lives and all the blessings we have received. It is very refreshing to be a part of such a loving and welcoming Greek Orthodox Community. It is a like breath of fresh air so much so that is hard to accept all the goodness and love we receive every Sunday and throughout the week. The children are blossoming and thriving right before our eyes; this move is a blessing for our entire family. Everyone is anxious for us to get settled in the parish house. The work should begin this week and I have met with the kitchen designer and we will start on the bathroom plans this week too. Thank you to everyone for your love and concern.
ETA: BTW I haven’t made any protected posts, but if I do you are all on the list that asked to be.

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Month: July 2007

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