On 14 March, with God’s will and help, and with the blessing of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and His Eminence Serafim, Metropolitan of the Autonomous Orthodox Church of Japan, we laid the cornerstone of the church dedicated to ‘The Resurrection of Lazarus’ and ‘Saint Dimitrios the New’ in Minami Alps, Yamanashi.
The faithful gathered in prayer together with the clergy, took their usual places in the church before it was built, already prefiguring the performance and completion of the works. Alongside them, the Buddhist priest from the temple across the street also joined.
The foundation construction will begin on April 1st and will be carried out by a local Japanese company. The wooden church will be installed and assembled between 29 April and 19 May, when the monks who built it will arrive from Romania. The roofing will also be installed during this period by another Japanese company.
The prayers gave us hope and courage, ensuring that whatever lay ahead would not trouble or frighten us. Until this festive moment, when we saw the wooden church from Romania arrive in Yamanashi, we had gone through many trials. We realized that building a church is not easy, especially in Japan. Above all, God’s power and care have triumphed. Although the challenges and temptations continue to test us, after today we are more hopeful that the work will be completed.
Surely, this effort— which from the project stage to this moment has taken nearly two years— is a team effort, an undertaking of communion. Therefore, in order to bring it to completion, we must continue to appeal to communion and mutual help. The upcoming expenses (foundation construction, church roofing, labor, rented equipment and other unforeseen costs) bring us back to prayer and to our heartfelt request: please be part of this historic project and help us to complete it!
All those who contribute their gifts to the building of the church dedicated to “The Resurrection of Lazarus” and “Saint Demetrius the New” will be commemorated as founders at the Holy Liturgies celebrated in it.
Your donation can be made at the link below:
or directly to the accounts:
RON ACCOUNT BENEFICIARY: PATRIARHIA ROMANA – PAR. TOKIO IBAN: RO59RNCB0075004895030001 CUI 4430779 (cu mențiunea : pentru Tokyo, Japonia)
JPY ACCOUNT Bank: Mitsubishi UFJ
Branch: Kunitachi (243)
Account: normal
Number: 1447599
Name: Rumania Seikyokai Nihon Shibu (Representation of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Japan) SWIFT code: BOTKJPJTXXX
May God bless all our donors and benefactors! With God’s help and your support, we will celebrate the first Divine Liturgy in the church dedicated to Saints Lazarus the Righteous and Dimitrios the New in Minami Alps, Yamanashi, at the end of May.
