Pious gentlemen and ladies, rejoice in the Lord! With God’s help we are well. I would like to report some news from our Orthodox mission here in Indonesia. On February 12, 2012, His Eminence Metropolitan Constantine of Singapore was enthroned in Singapore. I was present there. Thank God! Finally, we have our permanent Pastor. My brothers and sisters, on March 3, 2012, we had the graduation of the Apostle Paul Medan Theological Seminary, the building of which you built for us. The students, who finished their studies, are 120 people. The graduation ceremony was attended by representatives of the government from Jakarta. So the name of the Orthodox Church is going up. Thank God! Our Theological Seminary is still young in age, but through the intercession of St. Paul the Apostle, the number of students is constantly increasing.
My brothers, three months ago we planted potatoes on the farm we bought last year with your donors’ money. We harvested 30 tons of potatoes, but we didn’t make enough money because the prices were too low. Now we planted peppers and we expect to get something in early July. So we are trying as much as possible to raise some money for the expenses of our local mission.The Theotokos Hospitalhas also been running for two years. The main source for its reconstruction comes from Fr. N. Marchetto, a retired priest from Australia. Recently, 3 mothers came to us for childbirth and, because we do not have enough incubators for the infants, we had to rent from elsewhere. The reconstruction work on the building has stopped because we don’t have enough money.
I see this Hospital as a good means to spread the Orthodox faith throughout Sumatra. Of course, we have heard the news from Greece that the situation there is not good. Therefore, we pray to Almighty God to bless Greece, the homeland of so many saints of our Orthodox Church, to come out of this critical situation.
My brothers, to finish the building of this building, we need a lot of money: about 200,000 euros. That is why I am bothering you again with the missionary problems I am facing here in Indonesia. Thank you for your prayers for the Orthodox mission in Indonesia and for the examples of love you have shown and taught us. May God bless you and strengthen you.
With many greetings
Fr. Chrysostom Manalu
