Bishop Themistocles of Nikopolis (also known as Fr Themi) has been conducting visits around Australia to share his experiences and learnings from his missionary work in Sierra Leone.

While in South Australia, the bishop visited St George College, the state’s first Greek Orthodox School, to share some valuable insights with teachers and students as a guest and key speaker.

After the morning assembly prayers, the bishop went on to explain how he has been helping people in Africa since 2008 with fundraisers and volunteer work. He also explained that aside from the bigger projects he also involves himself everyday with “hands-on” duties including providing education to young and old, preparing meals, supplying those in need with clothing and helping in the building of homes for those who are homeless.

Bishop Themi then asked the students how many pairs of shoes they owned, receiving responses ranging from two to many.

Bishop Themi talking to the students at St George College. Photo: Supplied

“You don’t know how lucky you are here in Australia to have not just one pair of shoes, let alone multiple pairs of shoes,” he said, highlighting the privilege of Australian students to attend everyday schooling and have access to food.

“In Africa, if the parents and the children don’t go to the streets and work as beggars, they won’t have any money to buy themselves food for that day,” Bishop Themi added, explaining how much it means to have just one dollar a day in Africa.

The bishop then shared a video of the mission showing himself with other volunteers working alongside local people to ensure the community is provided with day-to-day necessities, health, education and support.

Touched by the speech and video, one of the younger students of the College, asked: “How can we help these families by sending shoes from Australia to Africa?,” a question that moved not only Bishop Themi but everyone in the audience.