Dear Beloved in Christ,

For nearly 40 years, our parish has struggled from it’s early beginnings until today in attempting to acquire a church building for our Orthodox community here in Hawaii. After all these years, and through the benevolent grace and intercessions of the Mother of God, that moment has arrived for us.

This year marks the 35th Anniversary of the Rededication of the Holy Theotokos of Iveron Russian Orthodox Church in Hawaii, in which we celebrated with grand splendor and joined by His Grace Bishop James.

Throughout these many years, our community has steadfastly worshipped in rented spaces, never being able to fully afford our own property.

Until.... this week, our Parish offered to purchase the old Calvary Church of the Islands in Kailua (Hawaii) for 2 million dollars. Miraculously, our offer was accepted. Our parish has raised these many years, over $700,000, that's all the money we have for this venture.

We are working with an Orthodox Venture Capitalist Firm whose main objective is to build and fund the purchase of Orthodox churches. God willing, they will loan us a million dollars to go towards this purchase.

Yet, with all this, we are still short some monies. With the blessing of Our Archbishop, we are sending out an appeal for aid. We are hoping to raise $250,000 by the end of the year.  I realize this is a large amount, but not impossible. With God, all things are possible!

We realize people have differing financial commitments and responsibilities and we would never want to overburden our family and friends with this. But if you would like to donate to help with this miracle, it would go a long way to do something our community has been dreaming of for nearly 40 years .... to have a church of our own, dedicated to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother.

If we can find enough people to help, we will have enough to cover our shortage.

Please contact us if you’d like to help in this worthy cause, (808) 256-9482 or rector.iveron@gmail.com or to use a credit card, please visit: www.Paypal.me/IveronHawaii. 

Please forward this post to as many people as you see fit.

We will also create a special commemorative plaque dedicated to all our benefactors and donors, which will forever hang on our church walls.

God bless you all for helping in any way you can, and may God bless the founders and benefactors of this holy temple.

In Christ with love,
Fr. Athanasius Kone, Rector

Holy Theotokos of Iveron
Russian Orthodox Church
845 Queen Street #101
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
www.orthodoxhawaii.org 

Video of the property:
https://www.facebook.com/iveronhawaii/videos/455935458448265?vh=e&d=n&sfns=mo 

With the grace of Our Lord and through the prayers of the Mother of God and by your prayers:

The negotiations have been incredibly difficult, yet we have persevered knowing that we are building a home to the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  One day soon, we will share with everyone our struggles and near daily battles against the evil one during this entire process.  Yet through all of this, people have been praying for us, and just knowing that, has strengthened us in pushing forward through all the obstacles.  The faithful have been incredibly generous in helping us raise money for the down payment, we have raised over $300,000 in donations from kind and wonderful people all over the world.  We are truly blessed!  Thank you.

WE ARE FINALLY CLOSING ESCROW ON APRIL 30th!  We will begin construction work to make the space into a viable and "Orthodox Church".  The space shall undergo extensive remodeling, (building of an altar, installation of wood floors, painting the walls, remodel of kitchen and bathroom.).  An exceedingly kind individual has gifted us an iconostasis that has been utilized in three Orthodox churches for nearly a century.  A miraculous gift to say the least!  As we previously said, the construction will be extensive, but we will do as much as we can afford to do.  The donations collected have gone towards our down payment, if you would like to help us with the remodel, please click here (PAYPAL), any and every donation is greatly appreciated, and all names are included in our prayers before the Holy Altar (by the rector and parish clergy) and before the Wonderworking Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (by Father Nectarios, the Icon's Guardian).  These names will be permanently added to our commemoration list for all time.

We have noticed that the Mother of God has been directing us all throughout this process, hence the continued obstacles by the evil one, and with her aid, we have noticed that a potential timetable has emerged.  We hope and pray our actions and choices are indeed pleasing to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother.

We thank everyone who has come forward to help us build a church to honor the Mother of God!  We know during this difficult time in the world helping a small church in the middle of the Pacific Ocean doesn't seem important at this time, but your generosity has helped change our lives.  We are forever indebted to you for your true Christian charity!  Without your support, we could not have even dreamed of purchasing a church property in Hawaii. 

May God forever reward you for your generosity and true Christian kindness!