CELEBRATION IN INDONESIA
The country of Indonesia has been at the forefront of world news ever since the riots began in all the major cities as the people protested in the streets against the rule of then-President Suharto.  Although the majority of violence and the looting were mostly directed to the ethnic Chinese population and the businesses owned by Suharto’s family and friends, our priests and faithful went into hiding because of fear they might be the mob’s next target.  By God’s grave however, all our people and the churches remained unharmed and the situation has since subsided, at least for the time being.  The Metropolis of Hong Kong kept in contact with the communities through Fr. Daniel and sent financial help to Indonesia in order for the parishes to face the hardship of rising prices and civil unrest.
In the meantime, the life of the Orthodox Church in Indonesia is thriving.  First, we would like to congratulate Fr. Daniel Byantoro on the occasion of his tenth anniversary of his arrival to Indonesia as an Orthodox missionary.  Furthermore, we extent our warmest greetings to the parish of Sts. Cyril & Methodios, in Grasak Indonesia, on the occasion of the feast day of their patron-saint.  We also wish health and prosperity to the parish priest, Fr. Methodios, on the occasion of his feast day.  However, there are even more reasons to celebrate in Indonesia, as His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas will ordain two men in Solo, Indonesia, on June 10th & 11th.  We pray that the grace of the Holy Spirit will enlighten them in their ministry.

METROPOLITANATE COOKBOOK
As a fund-raising project, the ladies of St. Sophia’s Sisterhood are putting together a cookbook with recipes from the around the world and especially from Southeast Asia.  Contributions may be sent by fax or e-mail to Georgia Alikakos at c/o Orthodox Metropolitanate offices.  Our e-mail address is OMHKSEA@ netvigator.com.

ORDINATION OF GEORGE VLADIMIROU
His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas will ordain Mr. George Vladimirou to the diaconate on June 30th and to the priesthood on July 5th.  Mr. Vladimirou will then be coming to Hong Kong in order to serve the parish of St. Luke.  He is a Greek Cypriot and has studied law at the Aristoteleio University of Thessaloniki and theology at the University of Athens.  The arrival of the new parish priest should take place at the beginning of this August.  All parishioners of St. Luke’s and the faithful of the Metropolitanate of Hong Kong look forward to the new worker of Christ’s Church.

SUMMER INTERN
We welcome our Summer Intern, Mr. Athan Stephanopoulos, who will be working at the Metropolitanate offices June through August.  Besides the office work, Mr. Stephanopoulos will also travel to Indonesia and possibly India in order to do seminars for the youth groups.

FR. IGNATIOS SENNIS TO VISIT HONG KONG
While His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas is visiting Greece for the ordination of Mr. George Vladimirou, Fr. Ignatios Sennis, from Calcutta, India, will be visiting the parish of St. Luke, in Hong Kong.  He will be conducting the Divine Liturgy on June 30th & July 5th.

BABY BOOM IN HONG KONG
Over the past six months, the parish of St. Luke in Hong Kong has been blessed with a baby boom.  The new arrivals have taken place in the  Papageorge, Vassiliadis, Hellman, Jost, Damianides, & Stamatis families, two boys and four girls overall, while one more baby is due in October.  In this joyful way the parish is growing, and God willing it will continue to grow in months and years to come.

A NOTE OF GRATITUDE
In the May issue of the CENSER, a special appeal was issued for funding that will keep this publication running.  In response, we received a very nice letter and a donation from a reader in Macau.  Even though many people support the Metropolis in many different ways, and we thank all of them for the love and prayers, I would like to especially thank our Macau parishioner for hers was the only letter we received all month.   It was a great moral boost, and we hope God’s grace be with her and with all our faithful readers and supporters of the Orthodox mission in Hong Kong & Southeast Asia.