Vlad listened carefully to what Izyaslav was saying about Christian life in Mktvartvelo. As an ambassador for Samantra the religious needs of Christians, even those not of the Orthodox faith, was a high priority on his agenda. What Izyaslav described was perhaps expected in a country where Christianity was a small minority. Still once he would return to the capital of Mktvartvelo he wanted to discuss more at length with the government back home what could be done to address at least in part some of those issues.
“You make a fine point, Father Deacon, I believe not many of us in Samantra understand the perspective of being a religious minority.”
“Will you do me a favor Father Deacon? Easter is fast approaching (ooc: although when we started the thread Christmas on the 7th of January had just passed
It was a long trip, ok? ), would you allow us, the Christians of Samantra, to pay for the repairs as a gift to your community?”
“What you have said got me thinking, Father Deacon. We Christians, not to mention Orthodox Christians, are a relatively small minority in Mundus. We should engage more, our friends in Zaporozh have developed a reputation in our part of Mundus thanks to their
Church Youth League which sees their youth engage and participate in various activates across the country. As Samantra and Zaporozh rediscover their bonds their model of church youth leagues is spreading in Samantra. There is even talk of a Pan Slavic youth league. Would you be willing to talk to the members of your community about setting up such a local organization in your community? What I hope will happen in the months and years that will follow is that youth from your community will travel and exchange experience with other Orthodox Christians from Mktvartvelo and the Christian Rus’ countries. I understand that your community is not rich, what I ask is to see if there is interest in your community for something like that and we will leave to the Lord and the solidarity of the brothers and sisters in Christ to handle financial matters.”
Vlad also made a mental note to report back to the Minister of External Affairs of Samantra and submit the proposal for the community here to be included in the President’s Easter message. He hoped that could
happen if he moved fast enough.