African Orthodox Philanthropic Diakonia Before and During COVID-19 in Kenya
Keywords:
diakonia, philanthropy, African Orthodox Church of Kenya, Kenya, pandemic, COVID-19, sacco, holistic mission, missionAbstract
Orthodox philanthropic diakonia (gospel in action initiatives) is been noted in the life, theology and mission of the Church in all ages. Starting from the biblical period, the early church and the contemporary church, the Eastern Church is witnessed practical pastoral care before, during, and after pandemics. This paper insists that the active participation of the church in pastoral and philanthropic diakonia activities outside troubled time helps build platforms for the same during the troubled times. The African Orthodox Church of Kenya, which houses four dioceses of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa in Kenya is a good example of how its existing church philanthropic diakonia platforms directly and indirectly has helped offer humanitarian support to the Kenyan society in difficult and normal times. Some of these philanthropic diakonia activities are the reason most Orthodox Christians continue to manage their daily lives prior, during and after the first case of COVID-19 which was announced in Nairobi on 12th March 2020. This study shall seek to unveil how prior philanthropic-diakonia of the African Orthodox Church of Kenya is helped create the space for the COVID-19 philanthropic diakonia efforts of this church in this part of East Africa, as well as shed light on locally initiated philanthropic diakonia.
