Holy Cross Mission is honoured and privileged to partner with our brethren in Gereja Ortodox Indonesia (GOI, the Orthodox Church of Indonesia).

Some of the clergy of Gereja Ortodox Indonesia

The Mission maintains contact with a number of Indonesian clergy, some of whom have served at the Mission. For some years we have operated the “Support an Indonesian Priest” fund, providing a practical and safe channel for Orthodox Christians in Australia to support their brethren in Indonesia.

Late in 2010 we became aware that some churches were struggling to even meet the costs of celebrating the Divine Liturgy regularly, and in 2011 began a three-year plan of targeted giving, focusing on their liturgical needs, and starting with those most in need. The objective is to contribute $A600 per year to each priest, for three years, for the liturgical needs of his local church.

The Board and Missioners welcome the contributions of interested individuals, families, and churches, and can offer assurances that donations are directed and transferred as intended. Relatively small amounts from Australia can have a big impact in Indonesia.

Holy Cross Mission has DGR status, which means gifts are usually tax-deductible for donors in Australia.

Please contact the Mission Treasurer for further information.

About the Orthodox Church of Indonesia

Gereja Ortodox Indonesia (GOI, the Orthodox Church of Indonesia) is a distinctly Indonesian expression of the Holy Orthodox faith. GOI is pan-jurisdictional, incorporating churches from the Patriarchates of both Constantinople and ROCOR.

GOI was started by the conversion of a young Indonesian man of Muslim background, who had been searching for a deeper certainty of God. While studying in Korea in the early 1980′s, and yearning to find the ancient Christianity of the East, he encountered the Orthodox Church in that country, converted to Holy Orthodoxy, and brought the faith back home to Indonesia.

The story of Fr Daniel has been widely reported, and can found in many places on the internet.

The Faith of Our Fathers is being kept and multiplied in Indonesia, in local languages, by local people, guided by local clergy.

Indonesia, with about 240 million people, is the world’s 4th most populated nation, and has the world’s largest muslim population. Indonesia is officially a multi-religious state, with constitutional protection for the five recognised faiths of Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, Roman Catholicism, and (Protestant) Christianity.

The Church in Indonesia faces unique challenges. GOI is a legally registered Christian church, but constitutional protection does not always mean ‘equality of opportunity’ or even-handedness by individual officials and authorities in applying local laws and regulations.

Attitudes are relaxed and tolerant in some areas, yet actively hostile in others. The Orthodox avoid those areas as it is dangerous for them to openly practice missionary activities. GOI reports that from time to time organized violence occurs against Orthodox Christians and it is hard to predict when and where. The Orthodox community in Indonesia lives in constant fear and discrimination. Freedom to worship in unregistered buildings is curtailed and permits for registering buildings as churches are practically impossible to obtain. Traditional Orthodox monastic and clerical dress is regarded with deep suspicion because of the similarity of some Islamic customs.

And yet the Orthodox Church in Indonesia is alive, growing…..