Father SilouanCHRIST IS RISEN!
- In Cebuano: Si Kristo nabanhaw! Matuod nga siya nabanhaw!
- In Tagalog: Si Kristo ay buhay! Tunay na siya’y buhay!
For Holy Week and Pascha this year, the faithful from all the churches in Mindanao gathered regionally for services. Here in our province of Davao del Sur, members from five communities came together at Holy Theophany Church in Talas. The task of translation is beginning to pay off: For the first time, this year we had daily special services from the Triodion in Cebuano, from Holy Thursday until Pascha itself. Click for Photo gallery…
Deacons for the Philippines
During his archpastoral visit last year, Archbishop Sergey of Solnechnogorsk ordained two new deacons for the Philippine mission. Deacons Romanos Buniel and Moses Cahilig were formerly priests in the Philippine Independent (Aglipayan) Church; since their baptism a few years ago they have worked sacrificially and with little reward to teach and serve the growing church in Mindanao. And this March, Joachim Gonzales, another former Aglipayan clergyman, was also ordained to the diaconate. After training here during Lent, Father Joachim is now in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to begin the forty days of Divine Liturgies that will prepare him to serve here on his return.
Update on Seminarians
Last August, we sent two young Filipino students from Mindanao to Russia to continue seminary education for the coming year; there they were joined by another student from Manila. Since then we have been preparing more students, and (God willing) five more young men will leave soon for classes in Thailand.
Back from Ukraine
At the beginning of Lent this year, Anysia Tabamo and Nun Maria returned from Ukraine. For the past year Anysia has been studying in Ukraine, and there the former Catherina Buniel, sister of our Deacon Romanos, was tonsured into monastic life as Mother Maria. Now they rejoin the Orthodox mission in the Philippines, bringing us their experience of church life and liturgical singing, their administrative and teaching experience, and their Cebuano translation skills. 
Left to right: Anysia Tabamo, Nun Maria, and Abbess Mikhaila of the Gorodoksk Monastery.
Orthodox sisterhood coordinates feeding programs, builds leaders
In the months since we launched feeding programs in many parishes of the Mindanao mission, we have had the opportunity to serve nutritious meals to children in many areas, teaching catechism, and recording children’s weight and height in order to understand progress and impact. 
The programs are coordinated by volunteers from the Orthodox Sisterhood based at Holy Resurrection Parish in General Santos City. These women are enthusiastically taking up their leadership role in this ministry — not only cooking, but organizing logistics, teaching, maintaining supply levels, and recruiting area children to participate. Additionally, lay leaders from widely-separated parishes are making connections, visiting one another, and forming lasting friendships that link the whole Mindanao mission. May God reward all who are supporting this practical ministry in prayer and finances! Your partnership is making this possible. 
On the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: Honoring the leaders and volunteers who coordinate the feeding program.
New Liturgical Text Resource
A new website has been launched, archiving Orthodox liturgical and scriptural texts in the languages of the Philippines.
Liturhiya.info currently hosts Orthodox texts in Cebuano and Tagalog. New content is added every week. Recent additions include:
- Updated Divine Liturgy and Prayerbook.
- Vespers, Compline, Hours and more from the Horologion.
- Texts for the Sundays of Lent and major services of the Triodion.
- Holy Week and Pascha.
- And we hope very soon to complete the liturgical Psalter which underlies all our services.
For more information: About the Liturhiya.info website.
Meeting of Missionary Clergy in Asia
In November, Fr Silouan and Hieromonk Cornily were invited to represent the Philippine mission at a roundtable discussion in Seoul, Korea, with MP Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), Archbishop Sergiy, administrator of the Philippine mission, Archbishop Anthony of Vienna and Budapest, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Office for foreign institutions. The presentations by mission clergy, and their response to questions by hierarchs, were illuminating and helped us put our own efforts in context. The real benefit of thee weekend was the opportunity to informally meet and get to know fellow MP and ROCOR priests from neighboring Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea – and from as far away as India and Australia. Friendships formed during these days are now bearing fruit in collaboration and encouragement.
A Diocese for the Philippines
At the end of December, in recognition of the growth of the Orthodox mission in Southeast Asia, the Holy Synod of Moscow established a new Exarchate of Singapore and Southeast Asia. Archbishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, who has been administrator of the Moscow missions in these nations, was elected to rule the exarchate as Metropolitan of Singapore and All Southeast Asia.
This February, the Synod further established dioceses within the exarchate: Singapore (including Indonesia and Malaysia); Korea (including communities in both North and South Korea); Thailand (including Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar); and the Philippines, together with Vietnam. Metropolitan Sergiy is to rule the Singapore diocese, while Archbishop Theophan of Kyzyl and Tuva, a Korean, will rule the Korean diocese. Ruling bishops have not yet been elected for the dioceses of Thailand and the Philippines, but the faithful are thankful that they will soon have a Bishop of Manila living here with us in the Philippines.
Our parish of St John of Shanghai remains a parish of ROCOR, under the omophor of Metropolitan Hilarion. But this is great news for the whole Russian Orthodox mission in which we participate. Since the Holy Synod in Moscow officially recognized and blessed the work of missionaries in the Philippines, we have all benefited from help, counsel, visiting teachers and missionary clergy, and from being included in the regional plans of the Russian Orthodox Church. We pray God will bless this newly-established exarchate, prosper the Philippines Diocese, and grant Archbishop Sergiy many years!
Successful fundraising campaigns
- Mamácao chapel reconstruction is complete
When termite damage made it necessary to tear down much of Nativity of the Theotokos chapel at Mamácao, generous donors provided funds to rebuild and icons to adorn the renewed chapel. The faithful at Mamácao are thankful for a place to worship! - Complete Menaion in English
Thanks to your donations of service books, students and members at St Matrona parish in Davao are able to worship in English! Additionally, a library of Bible study texts and spiritual books is already blessing Orthodox Education Center students preparing for seminary. 
Wheelchair for member with disability
At St Isidore in Alabel, we had the privilege of giving an elderly member her own wheelchair. She has had the use of a child-sized travel chair, but she likes the big one because it lets her sit at the table, and the wheels are big enough that she can push herself around. Many thanks to the generous donor who responded and made this gift possible!- A 4WD vehicle for the mission
Through the sacrificial giving of generous benefactors, in November we acquired a four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle, which can carry a big load of supplies over rough unpaved paths, or seat seven comfortably for long road trips.
Below: Here’s a group of mission leaders, together with supplies for local feeding programs, all going from the mission center in General Santos to Banate, Kinabalan, Talas, and both the churches here at Santa Maria. 
To the mission partners who have made this possible: Thank you! - School supplies
Last year, thanks to you, we were able to provide needed school supplies for children at five mission communities in our area. Now the 2019 school year begins on Monday, June 3: Your designated gift will make a big difference!
Partner with us to serve the faithful in the Philippines
The Orthodox mission in the Philippines is grateful to be blessed with a few major benefactors giving $25, $50, or more per month. But the majority of our partners have made a commitment to send the cost of a Starbucks coffee or two each month, about $5–$10, either by check or through an automatically recurring online gift. Could your family or parish commit to partner with us for the coming year? You make the Philippine mission possible.
We thank God above all for your prayers and intercessions for the infant Church in the Philippines. With your help and the grace of God, through liturgical services, teaching, mentoring, and practical benevolence, we hope to continue building leaders and laying a deep foundation of faith here.
In Christ,
Priest Silouan Thompson
Church of St John of Shanghai
Santa Maria, Davao del Sur 8011
Philippines
+63 995-456-8317
silouan@gmail.com
philippine-mission.org
facebook.com/StJohns.DavaoDelSur
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