St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) MISSIONARIES, MONKS AND MARTYRS: MAKING DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS By Luke Alexander Veronis Light and Life Publishing Co. 1994 St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 1 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) Dedicated to The One Living God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit Glory be to His Name forever! St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 2 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................5 Present Ignorance of Orthodox Missions History Foundations for Orthodox Missions Love of God and for God Inner Necessity History of Orthodox Missions Methods of Orthodox Missions Selected Missionaries CHAPTER 1 ST. PAUL: APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES (1ST CENTURY).....................................16 Historical Background Conversion and Calling Mission Strategy The Person of Paul Missionary Teams Church Planting in Strategic Locations Short Stays in Different Style of Preaching Strategy of Prayer Conclusion CHAPTER 2 MONASTICS OF EGYPT, PALESTINE AND SYRIA (4TH CENTURY)………......28 Monks as Missionaries Conclusion CHAPTER 3 CYRIL & METHODIOS: EVANGELIZERS OF THE SLAVS(9TH CENTURY)……34 Historical Background Christian Apologist vs. the Muslims and Jews Mission to the Slavs Visit to Rome Methodios’s Return to the Slavs Methodios’s Visit to Constantinople Conclusion CHAPTER 4 STEPHEN OF PERM (1340-1396)...............................................................................45 Historical Background Mission to Perm Beauty and Power of the Liturgy and Church Conclusion CHAPTER 5 KOSMAS AITOLOS: MISSIONARY OF THE BALKANS (1714-1779)...................51 Historical Background Call to Missions The Teachings of Kosmas Conclusion CHAPTER 6 HERMAN OF ALASKA (1756-1837) AND MACARIUS GLOUKHAREV (1792-1847).....................................................................................59 Herman of Alaska Missions to Alaska St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 3 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) Defense of the Natives Conclusion Macarius Gloukharev Call to Missions Missionary Vision Conclusion CHAPTER 7 INNOCENT VENIAMINOV: APOSTLE TO AMERICA (1797-1878).............71 Historical Background Call to Missions Ministry Among the Aleuts Ministry Among the Thlingits Return to Russia Missionary Bishop Orthodox Mission Society Conclusion CHAPTER 8 NICHOLAS KASTAKIN: APOSTLE TO JAPAN (1836-1912)..........................80 Historical Background Arrival in Japan First Japanese Convert Growth of the Japanese Orthodox Church Struggles of the Church Bishop Nicholas’s Accomplishments Conclusion CHAPTER 9 ANASTASIOS YANNOULATOS: MODERN DAY APOSTLE.........................93 Historical Background The 1960s - Following the Call of God The 1970s - Planting Missionary Foundations Within the Church The 1980s - Theory Becomes Practice The 1990s - Culmination of His Work Conclusion CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................104 REFERENCES CITED...............................................................................................................107 St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 4 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) INTRODUCTION The Eastern Orthodox church, with its 2000 year tradition, is a treasure in the modern Christian world. From its apostolic and patristic roots, through its 1000 year Byzantine civilization as the center of the Christianity, to its expansion into eastern Europe and Russia, this church of the first seven ecumenical councils represents an unsurpassed and unbroken heritage of theology, liturgy and spirituality. Often overlooked, however, is the great missionary tradition of the Eastern body of Christendom. Missions, as a proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all creation, have always played an integral role in the very essence of the Orthodox church. Certainly, there have existed periods when the Orthodox have been less active in fulfilling the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20). But often, these lapses can be attributed to adverse historical conditions rather than indifference. In fact, a host of missionary figures throughout the centuries have carried on the apostolic zeal of proclaiming the gospel to all peoples. This present study will review the lives and ministries of a select number of these missionaries in order to show how missions have always been a part of the very nature of the Orthodox church. Present Ignorance of Orthodox Mission History Within Catholic and Protestant circles, it is often assumed that the Orthodox church rarely engaged in missionary work. Western theologians, either because of parochialism or sheer ignorance, frequently overlooked the host of missionaries coming out of Orthodoxy. Their oversight has unfortunately been reinforced by numerous misconceptions concerning Orthodox history and the adverse historical circumstances that thwarted efforts to spread her message. From the time of the apostolic age until the Great Schism between East and West in the 11th century, continuous missionary activity has occurred. One writer accurately observed that, “while Byzantine missions before the split between Rome and Constantinople show definite characteristics distinct from those conducted by the Western church, all mission work of that period is often labeled ‘patristic’” (Stamoolis, 1986:19). Such a general label has stripped away from the Orthodox church part of her mission St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 5 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) heritage. The rich missionary activity of Byzantium included outreach to the Goths, Huns, Iberians, Cochis, Cucasus, Celts, Persians, and Armenians among others (Yannoulatos, 1989:65). It culminated with the conversion of the Slavic peoples by the exemplary missions of the brothers Cyril and Methodios. Only recently has the Western world become familiar with such a history, thanks to the modern scholarship of such people as Francis Dvornik ( Byzantine Missions to the Slavs ). A second factor contributing to a general ignorance of Orthodox missions is an unfamiliarity with historical circumstances facing Orthodox lands over the past six centuries. After a millennium of Orthodox domination and expansion through the Byzantine Empire, the collapse of Constantinople in 1453 brought a period of darkness over the Orthodox church. With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the activities of the Orthodox church were greatly restricted. Islamic law forbade any proclamation of the gospel to those outside the Christian faith, while conversion to Islam was greatly encouraged and sometimes forced upon the subjugated Christians. During these 400 plus years of oppression and decline, the suffering Orthodox church in Greece, the Middle East, and the Balkans was unable to participate in much missionary activity. Soon, their rich heritage of missions was almost forgotten. As the 19th and 20th centuries brought independence to many of these Orthodox lands in the Balkans, the establishment of national, administratively autonomous Orthodox churches arose. Independence and freedom also brought the emergence of a secularized nationalism which negatively impacted the church’s zeal for the Great Commission and obscured her authentic apostolic tradition. While the Orthodox church throughout the Balkans produced little missionary activity during its dark ages, the apostolic torch was passed to a former missionary land - Russia. From the 14th century, the Orthodox church in Russia actively participated in significant missionary work throughout the lands north and east of Kiev. Many noteworthy examples of Russian missionaries shone forth from the 14th to 16th centuries. Missionary activity reached its apex in the 19th century, when a great renewal in spiritual life and apostolic zeal swept across Russia. Because most of these missions took place among the numerous ethnic groups within the vast boundaries of the former tzarist Russian Empire, the amazing achievements of so many missionaries drew little notice outside of Orthodox circles. St Francis Magazine is published by Interserve and Arab Vision 6 www.stfrancismagazine.info - www.interserve.org - www.arabvision.org St Francis Magazine Nr. 4 Vol. II (March 2007) The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 abruptly disrupted all activity of the Russian church while enslaving Orthodoxy’s largest and most active missionary church under the yoke of communism. The Russian church struggled to survive in the 20th century while the Orthodox church in the Balkans desperately tried to recover its authentic heritage after 400 plus years of oppressive Ottoman rule. These circumstances kept the Orthodox church inactive in external missions during the first half of the 20th century. Not until the 1950s and 1960s did the church begin