On Sunday, December 10, on the Feast of the Sign of the Most Holy Mother of God, delegations of communities of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church from abroad arrived at Rogozhskoye. The delegation from Uganda was led by Fr. Joachim Walusimbi. Five people arrived from Africa on the morning of December 7th. Fr. Pavel (Rehmat) Nazir and student Vera (Arisha) Babar arrived from Pakistan. Foreign Christians came to Moscow to participate in the Third International Old Believer Forum, which took place on December 7 in the the Pashkov House of the Russian State Library.
Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Korniliy received foreign guests at the spiritual and administrative center of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church after the Sunday liturgy. The meeting was attended by the dean of the parishes of Uganda, Priest Nikola Bobkov, and the iconom, Priest Alexey Lopatin, as well as the secretary of the Moscow Metropolis, Protodeacon Viktor Savelyev. The delegates shared their impressions of the forum and their visit to Russia. Also, the representatives of the Old Believer communities of Pakistan and Uganda introduced Metropolitan Korniliy to the state of affairs in their parishes and outlined plans for the future.
Today there are four Old Believer communities in Uganda. Their main efforts are aimed at the construction of churches and the renovation of the adjoining buildings. Communities have to buy land – the high population density does not allow the state to allocate land for use for the needs of believers. Meanwhile, churches in these places are visited not only for prayer; the territory around the church is also a place for good deeds. Thus, the Old Believer community is planning to open a primary school at the church in the suburbs of Kampala in January. One of the communities is starting to build a church, the other has recently drawn up the documents for the purchased plot. Another future parish is starting to look for land for construction. All work is carried out for donations, including from the Russian Old Believers. The earnings of local residents, especially in rural areas, are extremely low, and for many people it is difficult to find work.
After the meeting, the Primate of the Church presented the guests with the Calendar published by the Metropolis and a book about the Old Believer region Guslitsa. In turn, the Ugandan Old Believers presented Bishop Korniliy with gifts from the fruits of the African soil, which they grew with their own hands. Communities from Pakistan and Uganda have invited Metropolitan Korniliy to visit their countries in the nearest future.
