wfn.org | [SCOBA] Encyclical of SCOBA for IOCC Sunday November 22, 2009

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>STANDING CONFERENCE of the CANONICAL
>ORTHODOX BISHOPS in the AMERICAS
>8-10 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075

>Let us not love in word or in tongue,
>but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

>IOCC Sunday
>November 22, 2009

The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of the
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas

To the Most Reverend Clergy, Venerable Monastics and Devout Faithful
of the Holy Orthodox Churches in the Americas

>Dearly Beloved in Christ Jesus,

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord,
and from the All-Holy Spirit.

On this Sunday before our National Feast of Thanksgiving, we offer thanks t o
God who has given us the ministry of loving and caring for our brothers and
sisters. Through International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), our
SCOBA humanitarian aid and development agency, the Orthodox people of North
America have a way to express their love and unity to the wounded of this
world. Since 1992, IOCC has delivered more than $300 million in humanitaria n
services to people in need in more than 33 countries on our behalf.

In the spirit of Christ’s love, IOCC helps families who have been devasta ted
by a natural disaster like a hurricane or are forced to leave their homes
because of an armed conflict. Your gifts of love allow IOCC to deliver
water, food, medicine, hygiene and hospital supplies to those who need them
the most in places like Georgia, Russia, Kosovo, the Holy Land, Lebanon and
Zimbabwe.

IOCC also helps families and communities in 24 countries create lasting
change through micro-loans for poor farmers, education for children from
low-income families, vocational training for refugees and programs that hel p
prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Orthodox Church is a key partner with
IOCC to help the poor. IOCC assists the Church to create and manage
charitable works, and to mobilize thousands of Orthodox Christian volunteer s
across our Nation.

IOCC is every Orthodox Christian listening to this message today. When you
support IOCC, you are expressing your desire to give and to receive God’s
love. And so brothers and sisters, as the Apostle of love exhorted the
faithful of his day, so we exhort you. Let us not love in word or in tongue ,
but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18), the love of the Triune God Who is
Love.

May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you and your families this
holiday season, as we offer thanksgiving to Him, and make ready to receive
Him anew in His Glorious Nativity in Bethlehem.

>With paternal love and blessings in Christ,

>†Archbishop DEMETRIOS
>Chairman
>Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
> 
>† Metropolitan PHILIP
>Vice Chairman
>Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
>Of North America
> 
>† Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER
>Secretary
>Serbian Orthodox Church in North
>And South America
> 
>† Metropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos
>Treasurer
>American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox
>Diocese in the USA
> 
>† Archbishop NICOLAE
>Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese
>In the Americas
> 
>† Metropolitan JOSEPH
>Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church
> 
>† Metropolitan JONAH
>Orthodox Church in America
> 
>† Metropolitan CONSTANTINE
>Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
> 
>† Archpriest Alexander Abramov
>Acting Representative of the Moscow
>Patriarchate in the USA
> 
>† Bishop ILIA of Philomelion
>Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America

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