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He then came to Athens and joined the Holy Monastery of the Bodiless Powers (Petraki),<ref group="note">(Greek: [http://www.monipetraki.gr/ Ιεράς Μονής Ασωμάτων - Πετράκη])</ref> where his main duty was that of father [[Confession|confessor]] for people of all ages and walks of life, becoming well respected and loved. In the years of occupation<ref group="note">Second World War, and the ensuing [[w:Greek Civil War|Greek Civil War]].</ref> Fr. Chrysostomos went to [[w:Edessa, Greece|Edessa]] where he served as the General Hierarchical [[Vicar]] and [[Protosyngellos]]. Subsequently he was transferred to [[w:Kozani|Kozani]], Thessaloniki, and Athens, where he received his Secondary School Diploma. Eventually he returned again to the Monastery of the Bodiless Powers (Petraki) in Athens, from where he determined to enroll in the University of Athens Theological School. At the age of 55, in 1958, he finally received his theological degree which he had so greatly desired.
During the course of his studies in Athens he came into contact with certain colleagues of African descent, who may have inspired him towards his forthcoming mission. The African students at the University were from Uganda, and represented the first native Orthodox Christians from Uganda to be formally educated in the Orthodox faith. One of these fellow students, [[Theodoros Nankyamas of Kampala and All Uganda|Theodore Nankyamas]], would later play a prominent role and become one of the first Orthodox bishops in East Africa. Another, Demetrios Mumbale, would become the first Orthodox physician and founder of an Orthodox medical clinic in Uganda.<ref name=VERONIS>Fr. Alexander Veronis ([[Orthodox Christian Mission Center|OCMC]]). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=W1QiVpBKfhYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Orthodox Concepts of Evangelism and Mission].'' In: Paul Wesley Chilcote, & Laceye C. Warner (Eds.). '''The Study of Evangelism: Exploring a Missional Practice of the Church'''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008. p.279.)</ref> In the event, after many years of faithful service in his native country, he experienced a strong leading, a true "Macedonian Call,"<ref group="note">Acts 16:6-10.</ref> to go as a [[missionary]] to Africa.<ref name=MAKARIOS>[[Makarios (Tillyrides) of Kenya]]. ''Sermon at a Memorial Service for the Pioneer Missionary Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, at the Church of St. Paul, Kagira, 29 December, 1993.'' '''Adventures in the Unseen, Volume 1.''' Orthodox Research Institute, 2004. pp.115-119.</ref>
==Africa 1960-1972==
===Uganda===
At the age of 57 he Fr. Chrysostomos decided to go on his mission to Africa, venturing forth in full confidence that the God who called him would also provide for his needs and support.<ref name=VERONIS/>. The Archbishop at that time, as well as his acquaintances, tried to discourage him on the pretext of his advanced age and state of health. However during a trip to the [[Holy Land]], he met the Patriarch of Alexandria [[Christophoros II of Alexandria|Christophoros II]] from whom he obtained the blessing,<ref group="note">Formal ecclesiastical permission to undertake an action is referred to as a "blessing". The blessing may be bestowed by a bishop or priest, or by one's own spiritual father.</ref> thus resolving to continue the mission.
In 1960 Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos went to [[w:Kampala|Kampala]], Uganda, where he worked for ten years before moving to Zaire to begin a new mission there.<ref>Stephen Hayes. ''[http://www.orthodoxytz.com/OrthodoxMission.asp Orthodox Mission in Tropical Africa].'' '''Missionalia''' (Journal of the Southern African Missiological Society)., citing:<br>
Father Chrysostomos wrote about the first difficulties he encountered:
He began an extensive correspondence program, writing to friends, relatives and acquaintances who might be able to help in any way. Thus he slowly started to receive aid from Greece, Europe and America in the form of packages of clothing, cheques, utensils and other items. In another letter he wrote:
Learning a new language at that age was not easy, but within a year of arriving in Africa, Father Chrysostomos could preach in [[w:Swahili language|Swahili]]. He provided [[Catechumen|catechesis]], he taught, and performed the [[Divine Liturgy]], and [[Baptism|baptized]] numerous of the [[w:Indigenous peoples|Indigenous peoples]]. In addition, he prepared others for the mission, guiding them towards the priesthood.
===Kenya, Tanzania, Congo===
He then expanded the mission to neighbouring Kenya<ref group="note">Kenya's post-colonial history started when it became independent on 12 December 1963.</ref> and Tanzania(Tanganyika). In [[w:Nairobi|Nairobi]] he created another missionary station, stating "the work (of mission) is progressing, Orthodoxy is expanding." He also completed a translation of the [[Divine Liturgy]] and various [[Prayer|Prayers]] into Swahili.
Although he made constant appeals for assistance in his correspondence to Greece, inviting others to join the mission, he received no response. Although no longer young, Father Chrysostomos displayed an energy, which a man half his age might have envied. He launched himself into a continual round of evangelizing, teaching and preaching. He had the qualities, which should be the hallmark of every priest: zeal, dedication, self-sacrifice, devotion to duty and, above all, holiness.<ref name=MAKARIOS/>
For 10 years, Father Chrysostomos laboured in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, but all the time his spiritual vision was fixed on another territory, where the flag of Orthodoxy had not at that time been raised: the country which is today called the Democratic Republic of Congo.<ref group="note">Called ''Zaire'' from 1971-1997.</ref>
In 1970 Father Chrysostomos went to live in Congo to begin a new mission there, staying there for two years, that is, for the remainder of his life. Here he met with an even greater response from the Indigenous population, however he was beset by an enormous lack of material assistance and helpers to assist him.One month before his death, he wrote a letter saying:<blockquote>"I love the Africans and am fully convinced that the Lord has brought me here. I hope to use the few remaining days of my old age preaching and teaching here. The place I am now located in is a large city (Kananga) of 50,000 people near the central part of the Congo. The people are eager to learn about Orthodox Christianity. But I am old and alone and my capacities are now limited. I don't know how I'll manage, but the Lord Jesus will show me, as He always has in the past. Remember me in your prayers."<ref name=VERONIS/></blockquote>
===Death===
==Legacy==
Father Chrysostomos opened the road for modern Orthodox missionary activity in Africa. He started out at 57 years of age all by himself without any aid, and found himself in Africa preaching the [[Gospel]]. Numerous obstacles confronted him: racism, language barriers, primitive living conditions, lack of funds, limitations imposed upon him by superiors, ill health, poor diet, etc. Not one to despair easily, Fr. Chrysostomos looked upon each obstacle as a challenge and managed "with God's help," as he was accustomed to saying.<ref name=VERONIS/> After labouring for twelve years across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Congo, and having learned the Swahili and French languages at a relatively old age, he fell asleep in Africa having started a huge task, which was continued with great success.
Today, much progress has been made in evangelizing Congo, and there is a [[Archdiocese of Central Africa|Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in Kinshasa]]. Father Chrysostomos was the pioneer, who laid the foundations, on which the superstructure of Orthodoxy in Congo was raised up. Kenya is not a small country, but Congo is more than four times the size of Kenya. Father Chrysostomos was always on the move, travelling widely. His life was a continuous round of travelling, preaching, [[Baptism|baptizing]], planting churches and celebrating the [[Divine Liturgy]]. The greatest desire of his heart was to spread Orthodoxy to Congo, and in this, he was marvellously successful. He was a perfectly humble man, full of the [[Holy Spirit]], a truly [[w:altruism|altruistic]] person who remains relatively unknown even today.<ref name=MAKARIOS/>
<blockquote>As with all preachers of the [[Gospel]], the full results of Fr. Papasarantopoulos' missionary efforts in Africa will be known only to the [[Lord]] of the Church. Orthodox history teaches that like prayer, the life of "a righteous man has great power in its effect" (James 5:16). However the seemingly humble ministry of this one missionary, advanced in age before he began, has had a direct effect on the [[Orthodox Church]] in both Greece and the United States. Shortly after his departure for Africa from Athens, a new missionary movement began in Greece in 1961 called "The Inter-Orthodox Missionary Center" under the aegis of the Pan-Orthodox Youth movement [[Syndesmos]]. ...A new journal entitled ''Porefthentes (Go Ye),'' edited by [[Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Albania|Anastasios G. Yannoulatos]] accompanied this movement. Through the writings and influence of Yannoulatos, now a bishop and professor at the University of Athens, and this new movement, interest in missions has greatly expanded in Greece over the past twenty years. Today there are at least three missionary societies in that country operating out of Athens, Thessalonike, and Patras, all of which publish journals on missions. There were no such official organizations existing in modern Greece prior to Fr. Papasarantopoulos' venture of faith in Africa. It is noteworthy that all developed almost immediately after Fr. Papasarantopoulos' correspondence from the mission field began to ignite the faith of his friends and supporters in Greece. A similar phenomenon occured in the United States.<ref name=VERONIS/></blockquote>
==See also==
* [[Church of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria]]
* [[Archdiocese of Kampala and All Uganda]]
* [[Archdiocese of Kenya]]
* [[Archdiocese of Central Africa]]
* [[Orthodoxy in Africa]]
'''Missions'''
* [[Orthodox Christian Mission Center]]
* [[Syndesmos]]
==Notes==
==Sources==
* Fr. Alexander Veronis ([[Orthodox Christian Mission Center|OCMC]]). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=W1QiVpBKfhYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Orthodox Concepts of Evangelism and Mission].'' In: Paul Wesley Chilcote, & Laceye C. Warner (Eds.). '''The Study of Evangelism: Exploring a Missional Practice of the Church'''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008. pp.279-294. ISBN 9780802803917
* [[Makarios (Tillyrides) of Kenya]]. ''Sermon at a Memorial Service for the Pioneer Missionary Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papasarantopoulos, at the Church of St. Paul, Kagira, 29 December, 1993.'' '''Adventures in the Unseen, Volume 1.''' Orthodox Research Institute, 2004. pp.115-119. ISBN 9780974561851
* [http://www.mmess.gr/gardikiou.php?lang=en Holy Metropolis of Messenia]. Holy Monastery of Gardikiou.
