HAMILTON (ON) - On Sunday, June 26th, the parish of All Saints of North America in Hamilton hosted its annual Chinese Orthodox Missions Dinner, in support of the Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China.
This is the fifth year the Canadian parish has hosted a Chinese Orthodox Missions Dinner, with special guest Father Paisius Altschul, as well as Bishop Irénée of Québec (OCA - Archdiocese of Canada), who came for their parish feast day. The parish is eager to see the work copied by others.
"Canada is a fraction of the size of the United States, with a fraction of the number of Orthodox faithful. I look forward to our brothers and sisters in the U.S. meeting and exceeding our small efforts here", said Father Geoffrey Korz, rector of All Saints of North America Orthodox Church in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
"The Chinese Dinner is one of the simplest events to hold, and one of the best received. These raise critical funds to support translations and seminary work, to reach out to one-third of the world's population. If a few thousand dollars each year can accomplish this much, imagine how many people could be reached with the Orthodox Faith if American Orthodox Christians step up to the plate. This would be perhaps the greatest spiritual gift we could every give to China and her people," he said.
"The amazing thing is, the Chinese are open to hearing the Gospel, and their authorities are not opposing the Orthodox Church. God has given us a remarkable window of opportunity."
A downloadable Chinese Orthodox Missions Dinner toolkit can be downloaded at www.asna.ca.