Building the Church of St. George in Tonga

Greetings in the Lord! My name is Michael Jones. I am an Orthodox Christian living with my wife and four children in Eagle River, Alaska. After listening to a podcast on Ancient Faith Radio about the extraordinary missionary efforts of the Holy Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New Zealand, I felt a strong calling from our Lord to reach out and see how my family and I might be able to assist in their holy work. Because I am a building contractor, His Eminence Archbishop Myron invited me to Tonga to meet his missionary team and visit the Church of St. George, which has been under construction since 2016. I had a very blessed first trip in April 2019, which you can read more about in my blog at: www.OrthodoxyForTonga.com. The diocese began building the church 3 years ago, and it has proved very difficult to complete the project. The church is one of the most remote Orthodox temples in the world, perhaps second only to a small chapel in Antarctica! Getting building materials and skilled workers to Tonga is very expensive and time-consuming, as you can imagine. Recently, the archdiocese asked me to bring a small group of skilled workers to come assist 3 workers from Greece who have been onsite at the Church of St. George for a couple months already. The archdiocese raised money and hired these three men to get the church building dried-in (weather-proofed) and address some safety issues so the local congregation can begin performing services in their new church ASAP. The men from Greece can only stay in Tonga for about 1 more month, when their visas run out in mid-March. These men have been working very hard - basically living on beans & rice so they can focus all their efforts on completing the project. Unfortunately, in large part due to the logistical difficulties of the project, they are not going to be able to finish everything in time. I am taking a small team - 5 or 6 volunteer professional tradesmen -while the Greek team is still onsite, because they will be able to help give us the "lay of the land" and advise on what projects take highest priority. Our goal is to get the building secure from the weather and safe so the small-but-growing Orthodox congregation can begin to hold services there. Our team: Michael Jones -- Eagle River, AK (licensed contractor) Myles Kelly -- Eagle River, AK (finish carpenter) Ryan Smith -- Eagle River, AK (Project Mexico missionary intern) David Young -- Denver, CO (licensed contractor) Peter Lynch -- Ft. Collins, CO (licensed contractor) Our Alaska-based team will also be taking an inventory of the remaining work to complete the temple (floors, finish work, kitchen, bathroom, showers, interior painting, electrical and church furnishings) for one or more trips after this one. The archdiocese is very small and has no budget - everything they have accomplished has been done by faith in God and the generosity of many around the world. They will not be able to support our trip monetarily. Each of us travelling is a skilled, experience craftsman or missionary. Each of us will need $2,000 for airfare, plus food & incidentals, plus an additional $2,000 each for building materials. The archdiocese is also securing additional funding to pay for the remainder of the Greek teams stay. I recently came across this quote from Archbishop Anastasios the missionary well-known for resurrecting the Church of Albania after the fall of communism. It really built in me a belief that this project holds to the traditional Orthodox approach to mission work: "When the Byzantines spread the Gospel they took a direct interest in also passing on the cultural creations and structures that they had developed up to that time through the Gospels inspiration. They offered the best they had in the way of art, painting, music, and architecture. They sent their best artists and helped build exceptionally beautiful churches as symbols of Gods Glory. They cultivated artistic sensibilities that sense of beauty which transforms the world." --Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos) Please support our small, dedicated group as we offer the "best we have" in completing this exceptionally beautiful Orthodox temple. May it be for the Glory of God and a blessing for the people of Tonga. Thank you for your prayers and support! Two of the Greek men who are currently onsite in Tonga. They have one month to finish before their visas expire. Our group of experienced contractors will fly to Tonga on February 29, 2020 to help them finish the project. Thanks for your support!!