Dear Friends of Mission,
The eruption of Hunga Tonga volcano, located 60 km northwest of the largest island in the Kingdom of Tonga, became known around the world. It is there that our Church, with the help of many Orthodox Christians and many of the readers of your blessed magazine, has built and still continues to take care of the completion of the great Sacred Church of St. George and the smaller chapel of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
We all watched on television snapshots from the terribly large eruption of the volcano that reached 20 kilometers in height, the huge tidal wave that reached all the shores around the Pacific Ocean and the shock wave that reached as far as Greece not only once but twice. Fortunately, despite the severity of the eruption, God’s Grace protected the islands and the people in the surrounding areas.
The tidal wave that was generated destroyed property and accommodation on the islands’ coastline but did not cause mass deaths as in 2004 in Indonesia. Only three people lost their lives due to the explosion. May God rest them in peace.
The damage to our church buildings is limited to the deposition of ash from the volcano and the inflow of water into the small church of the Holy Apostles due to the fact that it is located at sea level 100 m away from it.
The current restrictions imposed on travelling to Tonga due to the coronavirus do not allow us to go there immediately to treat the damage caused. Our newly illumined brothers in Tonga took care of the church buildings as much as possible.
Praise be to God. The missionary work continues in the Fiji Islands as well.
Another five baptisms of our catechized brothers were performed on the island of Lampasa in the parish of St. Nicholas and Athanasius by our good priest Father Barnabas. His love for his flock is constant, unlimited and expressed in various ways. He embraces them all, protects them all, cares for them all, supports them all, in whatever way he deems appropriate and by whatever means the Almighty God sends to him. Everything is done for them.
Dear brethren, please do not forget in your prayers our newly illumined brothers on the islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, particularly our children at the St. Tabitha Orphanage, especially now in the blessed period of the Great Lent.
With my best wishes for a spiritually fruitful Great Lent
† Myron of New Zealand
