St. John the Forerunner Foundation
Summer Newsletter, 2010
Beloved Brethren,
We pray you are all well by the Grace of our Loving God and enjoying a blessed summer with your family and loved ones.
Sisters putting in insulation
By God's Grace and your help, much has been accomplished here at the Monastery since our last newsletter went out in January. Due to your faithful love, support, and prayers for us, the building of the new cells has made great progress.
The sisters have been working very hard, doing a great deal of the labor themselves. Last April, the sisterhood put in all the interior insulation in the three-story dormitory themselves.
The drywall was put in by a reputable company out of Yakima that worked long hours to finish the job quickly and professionally. Following the drywall installation, the sisters completed all the interior painting.
Sisters helping Fr. Michael to install windows
Currently, the sisters are installing interior doors and a tile company is beginning to lay tile which will be followed by the hardwood floors. We expect all the flooring to be complete by the beginning of September. Also, a stucco contractor is working on the beginning stages of the stucco for the outside of the building.
If all continues to go well, we hope to obtain permission for occupancy and move in before the end of this year.
In the mean time, the monastery has been very busy this summer. Our Feast day celebration on June 24th was blessed once again by the presence of His Eminence, Metropolitan Gerasimos, and over 400 pilgrims who joined us to honor our blessed Forerunner.
From July 5th through July 17th the sisters hosted two sessions of Girls' Retreats with 75 of our faithful teenagers attending the two sessions. It was a very blessed two weeks and the sisters were very encouraged by the zealous young souls eager to learn about their Orthodox Faith.
Due to financial circumstances and the delayed completion of the engineering plans, the monastery was not able to begin work on the church this year as planned. God willing, construction on the Church will begin early in Spring of 2011.
Therefore, the effort to raise funds for the building of the new church continues. St. Andrew's Orthodox Church in Arlington, Washington and St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in Vancouver, BC hosted very beautiful and successful fundraising dinners this past April and May. There will also be three Benefit Dinners coming up in September and October. One in Wasilla, Alaska, one in Felton, CA and the annual dinner in The Dalles, OR.
These Benefit Dinners have been a tremendous help in raising funds for the monastery's building project, but have also been a great aid in spreading monastery awareness. We are eternally grateful for all those who labor and sacrifice to make these dinners such a success.
View from the West with dormitory (currently under construction) to the right.
South view with future Trapeza in the foreground, and dormitory to the left
The above images show the architect's model of the final outlook of the Monastery after the three stages of construction are complete.
The first stage, that is nearly complete, is the building of the dormitory with the cells. The second stage will be the construction of the Church, which we anticipate beginning this spring. The third stage will include the kitchen and dining facilities.
The vision for the FutureOnce again, we thank you from the depths of our hearts for your continued support of this project despite the economical crisis our world is in. May our Merciful Lord, through the intercessions of our Holy Forerunner, reward your pious generosity and pour out blessings upon you and all your families!
We pray that you and your families may have a spiritually fruitful Dormition Fast, and may the Feast be joyous and richly blessed by the grace of our Holy Theotokos.
Thank you very much.
With love in Christ,
Gerontissa Efpraxia & the sisterhood
