The clergy
One bishop, two priests, three deacons. Half a million souls.
Bishop Osios and his people work day and night. They celebrate three and four liturgies a week in different locations, driving two to four hours each way.
Given the distances and the difficulty of travel, the right first step is to establish twenty regional parishes, each serving four to six surrounding communities. As a community grows, it can receive its own priest.
We urgently need twenty priests and twenty deacons. A sponsor covers a deacon at $550 a month or a priest at $750 a month, for up to five years while the parishes grow into supporting their own clergy.
Bishop Osios of Sasima
Evangelos Pata Tuctuc was consecrated Bishop of Sasima in October 2024 at the seminary above Huehuetenango, the first Guatemalan-born Orthodox bishop and a spiritual son of Fr. Andrés Girón.
Sponsor a priest or deacon
Sponsor a priest
$750/month
Keeps a priest serving a regional parish and the four to six villages around it.
Sponsor a deacon
$550/month
Supports a deacon who serves the liturgy and teaches the faith alongside the priest.
Sponsorships are monthly and can be cancelled at any time from the link in your receipt.
Who we are looking for
Spiritual leaders devoted to guiding their flock toward God and eternal life. Men who are compassionate and patient, who will listen, who will understand what their people are carrying, and who by God's grace will help them bear it. We call on every willing, able, and devoted Orthodox Christian to come forward, take up a parish, and shepherd the faithful. We welcome you with paternal and Godly love.
Why it matters
These faithful are new to Orthodoxy. They need frequent and consistent catechism. They are learning the discipline of prayer, how to make the sign of the cross, and how to receive the Orthodox sacraments and live by them. The local priest must teach them the place of the Theotokos, the saints, and the martyrs, and open to them the fullness of the Orthodox faith.
Missionaries and skilled hands
We need missionaries, theologians, chanters, iconographers, skilled laborers, volunteers, and Christian pilgrims. We need you and the talents God has given you. Tell us what you can offer and we will follow up with dates.
Get in touch
A pilgrim's account
You have to see the parishioners waiting for the bishop to understand what is at stake. I was humbled by them. Men and women in their finest clothes, mothers carrying babies on their backs, many of them arriving on foot or in the beds of pickup trucks from communities all around. They come because they do not know when the next chance will be to attend a liturgy, receive communion, baptize a child, or speak with a spiritual father.
At my first stop, I witnessed the baptism of eight infants and thirty-two adults. Two days later, at the next parish, five infants and fifteen adults. At my final liturgy, the same again.
Between 150 and 300 faithful gathered at each service. They were always smiling, always glad we had come, and afterward they prepared a meal for everyone. I left thinking we should be doing this work every single day. Human strength is the only thing standing in the way.
Christos Sotiriou
Three ways to help