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Themi - Apostle To The Hungry
A rock star, atheist, Marxist, world-class theologian, African missionary, and a Greek Orthodox Bishop all in one lifetime? Bishop Themistocles Adamopoulo's life story reads more like a bestselling novel than a biography.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Bishop Themi's family emigrated to Australia in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Themi was the bass player for The Flies, a Beatles-type band that took Australia by storm for two years. Then he entered Melbourne University and became an academic star and a neo-Marxist social activist.
After a personal tragedy, Themi sank into a fog of hippie confusion. His rock star, atheist persona was shattered. Then one night in Eltham, Australia, changed his life forever. Over a few months, a series of Divine visions changed a young man from a lost soul into a servant of Jesus Christ.
He studied theology, languages, and Biblical studies at some of the most prestigious universities in Australia and America, including Brown, Princeton, and Harvard. Themi became an elite Biblical scholar, able to read Coptic, Aramaic, and Hebrew and fluently speak English, French, and Greek.
In the late 1990s, Themi again questioned his life's direction. Was he serving Christ best as a top-tier academic? A series of events led him to follow another path, serving the poor in his native Africa.
Themi founded the Holy Orthodox Mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 2008. Over the past fourteen years, Bishop Themi has battled Ebola, the indifference of much of the developed world to African poverty, and the ruinous impact of centuries of racism and colonialism to feed, educate and offer the love of Christ to thousands of West African men, women, and children.
Bishop Themi Adamopoulo's life story is a reminder that there are real Christian heroes in this all too often phony world. Themi is the genuine article, someone who truly embraces Christ's greatest commandment, to love one another as He loved us.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Bishop Themi's family emigrated to Australia in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Themi was the bass player for The Flies, a Beatles-type band that took Australia by storm for two years. Then he entered Melbourne University and became an academic star and a neo-Marxist social activist.
After a personal tragedy, Themi sank into a fog of hippie confusion. His rock star, atheist persona was shattered. Then one night in Eltham, Australia, changed his life forever. Over a few months, a series of Divine visions changed a young man from a lost soul into a servant of Jesus Christ.
He studied theology, languages, and Biblical studies at some of the most prestigious universities in Australia and America, including Brown, Princeton, and Harvard. Themi became an elite Biblical scholar, able to read Coptic, Aramaic, and Hebrew and fluently speak English, French, and Greek.
In the late 1990s, Themi again questioned his life's direction. Was he serving Christ best as a top-tier academic? A series of events led him to follow another path, serving the poor in his native Africa.
Themi founded the Holy Orthodox Mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in 2008. Over the past fourteen years, Bishop Themi has battled Ebola, the indifference of much of the developed world to African poverty, and the ruinous impact of centuries of racism and colonialism to feed, educate and offer the love of Christ to thousands of West African men, women, and children.
Bishop Themi Adamopoulo's life story is a reminder that there are real Christian heroes in this all too often phony world. Themi is the genuine article, someone who truly embraces Christ's greatest commandment, to love one another as He loved us.
242 pages, Hardcover
Published December 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 18, 2023
I did enjoy reading the life of Bishop Themi. Although growing up Greek Orthodox, he only becomes interested in practicing the faith as an adult. He embraces Christ's commands to love and care for the least of Christ's brothers and sisters and does so through a mission he founded in Sierra Leone. He deals with great tragedy and problems there as Ebola swept through the country. Bear's writing style makes it easy to read. Themi has a love for Christ and the poor that is inspiring. The book says he is not always easy to get along with, but his faith and heart are in the right place.
April 15, 2023
What a story! Bishop Themi's life journey is stranger than fiction, with an inspiring upward trajectory. I would have preferred to read more success stories of those he has ministered to and less about the Ebola epidemic, though. I hope support for his mission through paradise4kids.org greatly increases through Mr. Bear's book. Truly a worthy cause!
June 30, 2024
A wonderful summary of the life of a man who has impacted positively the lives of so many written plain and simply said that everyone can understand this book appeals to every person who has even the slightest amount of compassion
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews