I guess you must have thought of directing your appeal to other places such as the orthodoxchristianity.net although it has a different 'flavour' to this site. It also has a much larger following...
I am not sure what to do really. Which is why I posted here for advice and suggestions as well as prayer and support.
I guess I have thought that it would be Coptic Orthodox who would be the main supporters of missionary work by members of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. If there is no more support then perhaps I'll need to think of appealing more widely, but to be honest I remain unsure of what course to take. I would not want it to appear on OCnet that I was asking for support that my own Church had not provided.
I am increasingly sure that God wills that I be working in missionary work in the UK and that He will provide the financial support needed, which is not so much I guess in the scheme of things. But I am not sure how He will work out His will and provide what is needed.
If there are any projects that you need help in typesetting, designing, researching, etc., I'm sure there are members on this site that desirous and capable in helping. I, for one, offer myself in whatever capacity you need.
I am praying almost daily for you, for your ministry and for your family.
Had I the opportunity to help more I would have done it immediately. I currently suffer of a severe lack of income myself though I thought I've got some talents in many fields. My family, my son included, is now approaching the very dangerous critical mass situation. Though the Lord miraculously allowed us to marry my dear daughter, now we're reaching nil funds.
May the Lord help us and deliver our feet from all the evil traps. Amen.
A couple of relatives of mine in America, were telling me how whenever a Church was lacking funds for a certain project, a good way of raising the needed amounts would be by throwing a spiritual banquet dinner where bishops/clergy would be invited to speak. The tickets were mainly sold to the congregations of the other Orthodox churches in their state/neighboring states. Apparently these banquets are quite successful due to the hand-in-hand/help your brother's in the faith attitude, promoted by the different parishes. I don't know how practical this is in such a situation, and I understand that the Orthodox Mission would require a steady monthly income, but I figured I would share their idea. Maybe someone more familiar with this can further add to it.
I really appreciate the idea Gregory. But I am not confident about seeking support in such a way. I tend to not want to put myself forward and I can be shy. I want people to support this mission activity simply because it is supporting the Gospel.
My experience as an evangelical was that the churches would be circulated with a newsletter from a missionary identifying needs and funding would be provided by local christians and congregations. I know very well that our Orthodox Church is hierachical, and also that the idea of missionary work is fairly new within most Orthodox Churches. But I sort of imagined that things would work more like my evangelical experience.
It would, in any case, cost so much time and effort to organise a banquet that I would feel the time was not being used profitably to further the mission of the Church.
Comments
I am not sure what to do really. Which is why I posted here for advice and suggestions as well as prayer and support.
I guess I have thought that it would be Coptic Orthodox who would be the main supporters of missionary work by members of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. If there is no more support then perhaps I'll need to think of appealing more widely, but to be honest I remain unsure of what course to take. I would not want it to appear on OCnet that I was asking for support that my own Church had not provided.
I am increasingly sure that God wills that I be working in missionary work in the UK and that He will provide the financial support needed, which is not so much I guess in the scheme of things. But I am not sure how He will work out His will and provide what is needed.
Father Peter
If there are any projects that you need help in typesetting, designing, researching, etc., I'm sure there are members on this site that desirous and capable in helping. I, for one, offer myself in whatever capacity you need.
I am praying almost daily for you, for your ministry and for your family.
Had I the opportunity to help more I would have done it immediately. I currently suffer of a severe lack of income myself though I thought I've got some talents in many fields. My family, my son included, is now approaching the very dangerous critical mass situation. Though the Lord miraculously allowed us to marry my dear daughter, now we're reaching nil funds.
May the Lord help us and deliver our feet from all the evil traps. Amen.
GBU
My experience as an evangelical was that the churches would be circulated with a newsletter from a missionary identifying needs and funding would be provided by local christians and congregations. I know very well that our Orthodox Church is hierachical, and also that the idea of missionary work is fairly new within most Orthodox Churches. But I sort of imagined that things would work more like my evangelical experience.
It would, in any case, cost so much time and effort to organise a banquet that I would feel the time was not being used profitably to further the mission of the Church.
God bless you
Father Peter
;)