Dear friends of the Mission, With God’s help, our Pastor, Metropolitan of Singapouris, Mr. Constantine, came once again to Medan and ordained Deacon Savas as an elder in the Holy Church of St. Demetrios on August 24, 2018. We were very happy because the number of priests who are ministering in Indonesia are increasing and so will the number of faithful in our country. Now Fr. Savas is waiting for a good person to buy his tickets and rent him a house to live with his family in East Timor.
Deacon Prochoros is in Jakarta and is assisting Fr Gabriel there. We are waiting for His Eminence’s blessing for him to be ordained and take over as parish priest in Jakarta, as Fr. Gabriel is often away and goes to other places to minister. Our ministry continues in Subul as well. Father Luke, Sr. Mary and their children are doing well. In addition to being a parish priest, Fr. Luke is also the principal of our St. John the Baptist school. Usually, when he is at school, he works in his garden, which is next to the church, but his garden is very narrow. So, he is thinking of buying another field next door to plant vegetables and thus ease his family expenses. The adjacent field is for sale for EUR 1 500. In Nias, his ministry
π. Chariton Zega continues. He is pastor of three parishes and principal of our St. Nicholas school. Fr. Chariton in his simplicity continues our Orthodox mission there. The parishioners are eager and love him, so they decided to clear a field of grass and plant rice. When the rice ripens, they harvest it and bring it to the priest’s house. Thus, for a year Fr. Chariton has enough rice in his house to support his family.
Ο π. Theodosius , finally, it’s near me. To be able to live, his eldest mother works in a factory. We can’t help him much. So all our priests here in Sumatra and all over Indonesia do not have regular salaries. We have to find ways how to live for them. With the power of God and the intercessions of the Blessed Mother, we will continue to work in the field of Orthodox mission. With many blessings,
π. Chrysostomos Manalu
