Dear brothers,
Hail in the Lord. With God’s help we are well, we hope you are all well and blessed. I would like to report some news from our ministry here in Indonesia.
1. We thank God for the presence here of 8 brothers and sisters from the Orthodox Christian Union of Sydney Australia. The help they have given us is a great blessing for the Orthodox mission in Indonesia. In fact, the fact that we have pious and educated brothers and sisters overseas also serves as an advertisement for our communities.
2. This past Christmas we were in our two communities in Sumbul, Sidikalang. The believers welcomed us joyfully. We even celebrated baptism and anointing for 66 catechumens and marriages for 26 couples.
Some widows approached me there and asked me to read blessings to them. However, as there is no specific wish, I asked God to give them health, joy and longevity. These ladies were very happy, because the church also prays for widows. So, my brothers and sisters, many times in this ministry, we deal with some events by improvising.
At the Christmas event, Elder Elizabeth and some gentlemen from the parish of St. Demetrios Medan brought gifts for all the faithful of our 2 communities and everyone was very happy.
3. In Sumbul I stayed for a few days and walked around all the surrounding villages. There I found a Gymnasium about 2 km. from our community of St. Ephraim Sumbul. This school operates with three large buildings and is soon to be sold. It does not have many pupils because, as far as I have been informed, the owner has a financial problem and so does not look after this school. He will therefore sell it at a price of EUR 45 000. So, my brothers, if it is possible, pray about this matter. It will be a great blessing for us if we have an Orthodox School in this region, so that the message of Orthodoxy can be carried more quickly in this region.
My brothers and sisters, we thank you very much for your great help and sacrifice, especially for the fourth instalment (12,500€) for the completion of the building of our Hospital of Our Lady of Medan. I believe that 2013 will bring good news for our hospital, because it will be functioning normally.
This is our news, my brothers and sisters, for the time being and we always ask for your prayers. From the Orthodox mission in Indonesia we send you our warmest greetings.
π. Chrysostom Manalu
