Friday, February 22, 2013

Volunteers needed - Makodia needs you

Makodiya is a living testimony of the love of Christ, carefully nurtured and guided by the vision of the saintly Mar Theodosius and it has come so far by the works and prayers of this bishop who chose to live, work and is now resting far away from Kerala. His prayers will always be its strength.

But Makodiya needs a lot of help - it needs volunteers to come and visit and work. To come and visit the area and take back memories to share for others. For volunteers to stay for a few days or weeks to help set up different projects, or help maintain others, to help financially and in kind to provide for the daily sustenance and long term existence of this mission project.

There are many ways to help - your prayers, your help in cash and kind will go a long way to providing succor and encouragement to those working on the ground in Makodiya; however I feel the best help would be to come and visit Makodiya, become aware of what happens here, spread the word, come back with others, to get involved with the work here and take ownership in the vision of Mar Theodosius of becoming an effective light for Christ in this region.

A side note:
I could sense that after the passing of Theodosius Thirumeni, the mission is somehow falling out of the radar of the Church. Hence I feel the need of the hour is to get back to talking about Makodiya, not only talking, but trying to visit there and finding out first hand the work that happens there, and getting involved to make it better. Maybe give the volunteers working there a call at times, encourage them, motivate them and let them know how they are doing God's work. Just a good word can sometimes do wonders.

(Written by Mathew Samuel (Sunil), a visitor to Makodiya in January 2013)
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1 comment:

  1. RyanFebruary 6, 2014 at 8:23 PM

    Dear Makodia Mission Project,
    I heard about Makodia mission from Fr Mathai Alakkot in 2000.Please update me about what is going on now. Who is in charge of the mission there now?How can we help to continue the mission? My email is sabuninan@aol.com
    Regards.
    Sabu.P.Ninan

    ReplyDelete

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Our Shepherd

Our Shepherd
HG Dr. Joseph Mar Dionysius, our Shepherd and Diocesian Metropolitan, Director of the Makodia Mission is the guiding light in our ministry

Purpose - provide a glimpse of a gigantic vision

In the past I have often heard of Makodiya and Theodosius Thirumeni's work there, but was unable to find much further details or pictures of what happens there, what Thirumeni's vision was, what is its current state etc.

This blog is a small initiative to provide some information, some visibility to this mission - which needs a lot of support and prayers. Hope this endeavor would help focus attention on this place and work that was so dear to Theodosius Thirumeni who remains one of the pioneers of mission work for the ancient Church of India.

- Mathew Samuel (Sunil)

Set up by a visionary

When Late Lamented HG Stephanos Mar Theodosius Metropolitan arrived in Makodia in the 1980s, there were no roads or civilization. It was the visionary grace of the bishop who saw potential to do Christ's work in these remote areas that brought the Indian Orthodox Church to the region.With great patience and love, the bishop and committed disciples built up the mission among the tribals - far away from Kerala, far away from what the Church considered home for many centuries.The Indian Church has now finally begun to embrace India.

Sharing Christ - not conversion

Christian "Mission" is usually mis-interpretted as "conversion" attempts - this is the result of the aggressive Western gospel works in India without properly understanding the richness of the spirituality in India. The Indian Orthodox Church does not believe in forcible conversions, or even that conversion and baptism are the ultimate goals of Christian missions. The Indian Orthodox Church, which has existed in India since the beginning of Christianity, understands India like none else, and sees mission work in its essence as "sharing Christ" which translates itself to serving the poor, loving unconditionally and working for justice. Working for the upliftment of the poor is doing Christ's work. That is gospel work, that is Christian mission - and that is what is seen in Makodiya.