Students of Russian theological academies from Africa are helping to restore churches as volunteers: in three summer months they have already worked in five regions. Natives of Kenya, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Madagascar and other African republics came to Russia to receive higher spiritual education and become Orthodox priests. In the summer, together with Russian students, foreigners help preserve ancient churches and preserve frescoes. Future priests from Africa told RT why they decided to study in Russia, what struck them most here and whether they plan to return to their homeland.
17-year-old Khariton came to Russia from Nigeria last year to receive religious education and become an Orthodox priest. He studies at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and for three summer months he travels around Russia and helps restore Orthodox churches in different regions.
Now he, together with other student volunteers, is engaged in the conservation of the 18th century Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the Tver region. This is already the fourth church where Khariton came to help during his first summer holidays in Russia.
He decided to become an Orthodox priest as a child. His parents have long professed Orthodoxy, and the young man attended the Orthodox Church back in Nigeria.
“My family and I belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. It was my decision to become a priest; my parents did not decide anything for me. And since we belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, why go to some other country to receive spiritual education? I had to go to Russia, so for me the choice was obvious,” says the RT student.
Last year, Khariton, among 11 applicants from Kenya, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Madagascar and Tanzania, entered the preparatory department of the Theological Academy. In the first year, foreign students study only Russian and also get to know the country. Khariton, like his classmates, already perfectly understands Russian speech by ear, but it is still difficult to speak on his own.
“I have only positive impressions of the country,” Khariton smiles. — We often went on excursions, one of the most interesting for me was when we were in the Kazan Cathedral and St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. I’ve been to Orthodox cathedrals before, but these made a huge impression on me with their grandeur!”
So far, Khariton does not know whether he will serve in Russia when he becomes a priest, or return to his native Nigeria.
“This will be the decision of the metropolitan (Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa). If he says he needs us to come home, we will come back. Or maybe he will send us to serve in churches in Moscow, for example,” says the student.
“Eustathius is a model assistant”
Orthodox volunteers are conserving the Church of the Savior of the Image Not Made by Hands in the village of Orekhovo in order to preserve it as much as possible in its original form.
“On the walls of the church there are frescoes preserved: the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, below him an image of the Youth Jesus and teachers in the Jerusalem Temple. Here on the western wall is a fresco of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And here I also saw an image of Mary Magdalene washing the Savior’s feet with her tears, but then the fresco crumbled. Now we are trying to preserve the remaining images,” Alexey Ilyin, assistant to the dean of the Rzhev district district for the restoration of the temple, tells RT.
In August, he and the volunteers were especially in a hurry to work on the altar: they had to have time to lay the floors and prepare the church for the liturgy on the patronal feast day of August 29, when the Orthodox Church celebrates the transference of the miraculous image of Jesus Christ.
A student from Madagascar, Eustathius, helps the man in the work of laying the floors in the altar. Ilyin especially appreciates him.
“I can say that this is an example of an assistant. I would like such a person as a partner to work in the church on a permanent basis. He still only needs to learn a little Russian in order to fully establish mutual understanding. In general, I can note that African students have such a strong desire to learn Orthodoxy, which, unfortunately, I don’t even see among our people,” says RT’s interlocutor.
21-year-old Eustathius from Madagascar decided to become an Orthodox priest following the example of his father. After studying, he would like to return to his homeland and spread Orthodoxy there.
“In my country we need to build Orthodox churches, because there are few of them there yet. Mostly among the Orthodox churches in my homeland are churches of the Greek Church,” says Eustathius.
The young man often switches to French, the language spoken in his native republic. So far, Russian is not easy for him: “It’s a very difficult, but beautiful language. I’m trying to speak it [more] and study it.”
When asked what impressions he has of Russia, the student answers succinctly: “I like almost everything here, but in winter it’s very cold. I don’t like the cold here.”
“It’s like going back to childhood”
The volunteer activities of African students are coordinated by the Firebird cultural center. Over the three months of this summer, foreigners from Africa took part in the restoration of Orthodox churches not only in the Tver, but also in the Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, and Omsk regions.
“Students participate [in construction teams], based on their interest and desire, and choose different volunteer areas. Some people have less strength: they get more tired. And then they come back early or have another summer cultural program. And some work longer, there are those who spend the whole summer in our construction teams,” Konstantin Gorditsa, an employee of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, responsible for working with foreign students, and director of the Firebird cultural center, tells RT.
Along with foreigners, students from Russia also participate in construction teams. Despite the difference in cultures, students find a common language and have time not only to work, but also to relax.
“We somehow miraculously understand each other: we work, pray, and become one big happy family. In our free time, we swim in the river, go on excursions to neighboring cities, play volleyball, billiards, and football. It’s like you’re back in childhood, spending time in camp. It’s interesting here, and it seems that you are closer to God because you are doing some good deed,” says Zlata, who studies at the Orthodox Missionary School and goes to construction teams for the second year in a row.
The girl especially likes the physical work of restoring temples.
“Such work distracts the head. We work with men equally: for example, we lay scaffolding, work on the roof. We usually work three hours before lunch and three hours after,” says RT’s interlocutor.
“The continent needs shepherds”
Volunteers prepare food together: Russians teach African students how to cook borscht, dumplings, and porridge, and this also helps them quickly learn the language and immerse themselves in the culture. So, what surprises Africans the most is “Russian soup”: in their native countries this dish is prepared completely differently.
“In Nigeria they told me that in Russia I would eat a lot of soup. And then I thought: “That’s good, I’ll eat the same soup as at home.” But it turned out that in Russia your soup is completely different. Yes, and porridge is prepared here differently than in Africa, and it was also in Russia that I tried buckwheat for the first time. But the potatoes turned out to be the same as in my homeland,” says Khariton.
His friend from Madagascar, 29-year-old Dimitri, would most like to get acquainted with Russian literature.
“Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin - I can’t read their books yet, but I really want to master the language so that I can read them in the original. But I already read the prayers at the service in Russian,” says the student.
Like some of his classmates, Dimitri grew up in the family of an Orthodox priest. His father served for a long time in the Alexandrian Orthodox Church. Two years ago, the Patriarchate of Alexandria recognized the independence of the "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" (the Russian Orthodox Church considers this entity a schismatic movement). After this, some Orthodox Christians in Africa came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, so as not to have connections with schismatics.
“Previously, my father was a Greek Orthodox priest, but then he decided to move to the Moscow Patriarchate. When I told my father that I also wanted to become a priest, he advised me to go to Russia, because our Metropolitan [Klinsky] lives there and I need to be close to him,” says Dimitri.
He is confident that after graduating from the seminary he will return to his homeland and develop the Orthodox Church there.
“Our country needs my experience, so I will return and serve there, like my father,” the interlocutor says.
The press service of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church told RT that seminarians can be ordained during or after their studies: “Having accepted holy orders, the clergy will return to African parishes, where they will minister to the multiplying flock. The people of the continent are in dire need of pastors, spiritual care, and catechesis.”
In the coming academic year, the exarchate is preparing to accept another 15 to 30 students from Africa, who will learn Russian and then receive higher spiritual education in Russia.