From Friday to Sunday, November 14-16, 2025, Metropolitan Ambrosios of Korea and Exarch of Japan conducted a missionary visit to the island of Okinawa and to Tokyo, the capital of Japan.
On Friday afternoon, the Metropolitan, together with his associates, visited a building located in a central area of Okinawa that fully meets the requirements to be used as a church, a gathering place for the faithful and for other parish events, as well as a residence for the priest’s family. It also has a large parking area and outdoor space for various activities. The purchase price of the property is one million U.S. dollars (US$1,000,000). Together with the Rev. Fr. Andrew Kearns and members of the newly established association “Orthodox Genesis in Okinawa”, they discussed the purchase of the property and the organization of the Orthodox parish in Okinawa under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The following day, Saturday, November 15, in the spacious hall of the welcoming home of Mr. and Mrs. Socratis Smith and Erasmia Eliaki Metropolitan Ambrosios, together with Fr. Andrew and 35 Orthodox faithful and catechumens, celebrated Orthros and the Divine Liturgy.
The emotion of all those present was overwhelming, as the Metropolitan emphasized, “Today is a historic day because today we celebrated the first Divine Liturgy held in Okinawa!”
He conveyed to the entire congregation the paternal wishes and blessings of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, thanked Mr. and Mrs. Smith for their hospitality, and concluded by stressing that “it is the duty of all of us to become, each in our own area, a ‘little apostle’ for spreading the Orthodox witness in Okinawa.”
On Sunday, November 16, the Metropolitan, together with Rev. Fr. Paul Koroluk and a number of faithful and catechumens, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at St. Alban’s Anglican Cathedral. In his homily, taking as his starting point the feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, the Metropolitan expounded on the Lord’s words “Follow Me” addressed to the tax-collector, highlighting the three dimensions of Christ’s call to Matthew:
a) “Follow Me” means that we must not let any love for material things overshadow our love and desire for Christ.
b) “Follow Me” also means keeping God’s will in our daily lives.
c) Finally, “Follow Me” means that we too must become apostles and evangelists like St. Matthew did.
After the Divine Liturgy, a small reception followed, during which everyone had the opportunity for spiritual fellowship with one another. The Metropolitan also had a special meeting with two Japanese students, one Orthodox and the other a catechumen, who are very interested in Byzantine and Patristic studies. The professor of one of the two students sent the Metropolitan an invitation asking him to give a lecture at the university where he teaches, on the topic of Byzantine iconography, which the Metropolitan gladly accepted.
Source: Metropolis of Korea
