May the great peace and love of our Lord God
always be with you!
I recently returned from a two week trip to the
region of Kosovo/Metohija. As president of the Decani Monastery
Relief Fund, it is my privilege to represent the love of Christ, made possible
through your care, when visiting the region.
First, I’d like you to know that there was such
an outpouring of thanksgiving over the 1,000 packages of seeds that were
distributed. People were both amazed and grateful for the generosity and
provision received. We gave out icons everywhere we went (again, thanks
to you) and sensed a great deal of encouragement despite on-going situations of
deterioration and difficulty. During my visit, the Fund also distributed
over $12,000.00 and another $6,000.00 was distributed before my arrival in the
region to help cover the costs of firewood, electricity, food & medicine,
new chain saws, as well as water repairs for schools.
Having said this, I will speak candidly:
the needs in the area remain significant. And, we are entering the
coldest season of the year.
Many churches in the region are often without
heat. I attended one Church that simply does not have heat--not even on
Sunday. Winter temperatures are often in the single digits and sometimes
below 0. With scant or no heat, this is no small hardship.
Fuel is desperately needed, not only for
churches and monasteries, but for family homes as well. Fuel =
firewood. $125 will keep a home warm for a month. $125 will also heat a
church or monastery for services. $400 will heat one family’s home throughout
the winter months. Sadly, many do not have $125.00 or $400.00 to even
purchase fuel and depend on the Decani Monastery’s Fund to help. This is
one reason why the Fund exists, to provide practical assistance.
Family receives firewood
on behalf of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund
Firewood arrives at
Decani Monastery to help families and monasteries
Fuel and electricity is also an issue for local schools and hospitals. On one visit to a school, I learned that for three hours at a time, daily, the school’s electricity is turned off. I asked a teacher what happens at the school when this occurs? She matter-of-factly remarked that the children put on their coats, because it means we’ve lost heat and lights. Of course! Can you imagine having your own child educated in this environment?
Food supplies remain a serious problem
throughout the region. Six soup kitchens exist with limited food to feed
those who are destitute. One soup kitchen visited feeds two thousand
families a day at lunch only—that is all the food that is available for one
day. They could cook for more than just the lunch meal, but there isn’t
enough money to buy additional food.
This kitchen also supplies a meal to students
from a local school.
Oftentimes the meal is soup and bread. Previously, the local soup
kitchens used to feed children at some of the schools a breakfast, but due to
food provisions, the meal has been cut back to once a day—a
lunch.
The truth is some people eat only
once a day—youth, elderly, entire families. The situation regarding
limited food and lack of fuel is oppressive. Sadly, it is the Serbian
population that is being oppressed in this manner. Non-Serbs in the
region appear to have plenty of heat and food.
The Decani Monastery is attempting to help as
many families as possible through the winter months obtain needed firewood and
food. We can continue helping our brethren who live in hardship through our
donations to the Decani Monastery Relief Fund.
The Feast of our Lord’s Nativity is celebrated
on January 7 in Kosovo/Metohija. It’s a custom among many families to
roast a pig for this great celebration. Every Christmas, the Decani Fund
helps as many families as possible obtain a pig to roast. One roast will
provide a week’s worth of meals for a family. This is a special provision
for people who eat meagerly otherwise. Each pig costs over $100, but it’s
money well spent—people receive hot, substantial nourishment! The
abundance is also a sign of God’s merciful watch and care for them. Last
year we helped over one hundred families by providing pigs for the Feast.
We would love to do that and more this year. Will you joyfully help us
feed these dear people again this season?
Prayers are offered daily in the region that
others still care about their sufferings and struggles. Prayers of
thanksgiving are being offered daily for you!
Through
your support of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund, there will be joyful faces
and hearts in Kosovo and Metohija this season! One person cannot provide
everything needed, but many people doing what they can will make a huge
difference for the Christian brethren there. We count on you as we have
in the past, and, frankly, I stand amazed at what God has done and continue to
do through you all.
Would you be willing to provide firewood fuel
for a home or church? Or, pay a school’s electric bill? Would you
prefer to bolster the food supplies of a soup kitchen? Would you like to
provide a pork roast for someone’s Nativity celebration? When donating,
feel free to designate how you would like your gift to be used. You can
send me an email at father@serfes.org and let me know how
you’d like your gift applied.
Donate easily by using Paypal option at this
link http://www.thedecanifund.org/ or by writing a
check:
Decani Monastery Relief
Fund
c/o Very Reverend
Nektarios Serfes
2618 West Bannock Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
The Decani Fund Board of Directors joins me in
offering our sincere thanks and prayers for your kind-hearted generosity—the
Lord bless you!
Peace to your soul!
Humbly in our Lord,
+Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios
Serfes
President of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund
P.S. I just received word today from the school
in Osojane. They now have a new refrigerator and oven which was donated
in behalf of our Fund. Lunches will now be served at this school
daily! Icons were donated, too, for the classrooms and enough resources
for a new PE room. Also, the hospital in Lapje village received 22 sets
of complete linens for the beds there, thanks to the DMFR. Thank God for
all of you who make this possible—thank you, O Lord!
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