Kenya - Meru Youth Outreach Orthodox Mission Team

"What can we offer Kenya in return for these gifts shown to us as visitors; gifts of the Spirit so often exemplified by lives of the saints? Our love, by showing them we are their family across the sea who cares for them and is united with them in their struggles (as they teach us and unite with us in our major struggle, apathy). Our time, as we share what we have learned in our different fields and areas of expertise. Our support through prayers and finances since we are given and richly blessed here with so much! Beyond anything else, ourselves. We cannot be afraid to cry over their pain with them, or lose ourselves in friendships with them and their children.  – Team Member 2017

NYERI, Kenya – The 2022 Kenya Mission Team has been invited by Bishop Neofitos of Nyeri and Mount Kenya to share the love of Christ at an Orthodox orphanage in central Kenya. The Camp Program will be open to the children of the St. Mark Primary School. The Team will offer lessons on the faith, crafts and lead sport activities.  Evening activities may include discussions with the teenagers on social and faith issues. 

The Nyeri Bishopric is one of the more active bishoprics in the Church of Kenya, with four secondary schools, four primary schools, two Orthodox Clinics, a number of nursery schools, ten permanent Orthodox Churches, a number of mission communities and the Makarios Children’s Home. In 1989, an OCMC Team traveled to Nyeri for the first Team to the area and built a retreat center. Since then, numerous Teams have supported the ministries in the area.  The Makarios Children’s Home was opened to meet the great need of caring for children without parents in the greater Nyeri region.

Orthodoxy arose in East Africa without the influence of foreign missionaries; founded by two charismatic African men searching for truth and ‘orthodoxia’ in the 1920’s. The Orthodox Church in Kenya was received into canonical Orthodoxy in 1946, and the Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary was opened in the 1980’s to train indigenous priests from Africa. OCMC continues to provide support for theological and catechetical training, and works with church leaders to address issues of self-sufficiency for the church. Presently, the Church in Kenya has three hierarchs, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Kenya, Bishop Neophytos of Nyeri and Mount Kenya, and Bishop Athanasios of Kisumu and Western Kenya.

Mission Team members should be exemplary role models for the children.

Dates:  June 18 - June 28, 2022

Cost:  $1,415.00 (+airfare)

TravelTeam Members must fly on the international travel itinerary OCMC will provide to and from the project destination. Team Members are responsible for all air travel: from Wichita, KS to Nairobi, Kenya on June 18, returning home on June 28. Airfares are not included in participant cost.

Fund raising– Each Team Member is responsible for the participant cost and airfares associated with this Team.  Team Members are encouraged to invite others to participate in this effort through prayer and tax-deductible donations. Participant cost includes room and board, local transportation, orientation costs, ministry expenses, excursion and materials.

Share in a journey of faith… Orthodox Mission Team members are challenged to view the world with God's eyes and seek how He wants to use them to fulfill His plans. This cross-cultural experience, combined with outreach, offers participants a life-changing learning experience. This experience is about people, culture and missions. It is also about prayer, for you and others; it is about God, those you serve, and about yourself, as you serve Him.