Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes - With Christian Love for Children of Kosovo and Metohija
Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) the president of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund (DMRF) distributed donations to children and poor families during his recent visit to Kosovo and Metohija
KIM Info-service
Decani, February 15, 2006
In organization of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund (DMRF) the Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes, the president of the Fund and cleric of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America with the blessing of Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren visited Kosovo and Metohija region in Serbia. Fr. Nektarije accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Teodosije, the abbot of Decani Monastery, distributed donations gathered by donors from the US and brought the message of love and Christian solidarity to the suffering people in Kosovo.
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| Fr. Nektarije and Bishop Teodosije with Serb children in Lipljan |
Archmandrite Fr. Nektarios Serfes serves at the Greek Orthodox Parish of St. Constantine and Helen in Boise, Idaho (U.S). He has been providing assistance for the suffering Orthodox Christians in Kosovo and Metohija as the President of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund in the last 7. years. Fr. Nektarije in his humanitarian work closely works with Auxiliary Bishop Teodosije (the First Vice-President), Hieromonk Sava Janjic (the Second Vice-President) and Mr. Veljko Sikirica, the treasurer of the Fund (Bethesda, Maryland). The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is also supported by the Parish of St. John the Forerunner in Washington D.C. through a devoted work of God-loving Archpriest Fr. Victor Potapov.
In the last several years the DMRF as a non-profit organization has gathered more than 300.000 USD through donations of many people of good will throughout the US and other countries of the world. The donations have been distributed by Bishop Teodosije and Decani monks directly or through humanitarian aid to the the people in Kosovo and Metohija, particularly to poor families, refugees, children and suffering monastic communities. The Fund works with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) and Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren (Serbian Orthodox Church). The DMRF has also been blessed by His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia.
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| Fr. Nektarios and Bishop Artemije at Gracanica Monastery
Orthodox clergy in most parts of Kosovo can travel only with police or military escort. The policeman on the photo, Michael from Greece says that it is an honor for him to provide protection for bishops Artemije and Teodosije on their travels through Kosovo. |
The visit of Fr. Nektarios to Kosovo and Metohija between January 24 and February 2 was an opportunity to visit again isolated Serb enclaves and distribute donations and winter clothes with a message of love from their brothers and sisters from the United States. Fr. Nektarios first visited Kosovo last summer and distributed help to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija enclaves. For Fr. Nektarios this was an opportunity to learn from the first hand about difficult humanitarian situation in which Kosovo Serbs live. His testimony which appeared on the Internet and in some Orthodox Christian magazines in the U.S. has additionally encouraged God-loving donors to support the Christians in Kosovo through the Decani Monastery Relief Fund.
Fr. Nektarios has also became known to many in the Orthodox world as a man who raised his cry against unjust imprisonment of the Archbishop of Ochrid (FYR Macedonia) Kyr Jovan, a victim of politically motivated persecution. Fr. Nektarios wrote many appeals and a beautiful prayer which was published at the official Web-site of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
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| Fr. Nektarije and Bishop Teodosije distribute donations to Serb children in the village of Staro Gracko, near Pristina. This village is completely surrounded by ethnic Albanian population and the villagers rarely dare freely travel after several attacks on their vehicles and a massacre in which 17 farmers were killed while harvesting their fields. |
At the beginning of this years tour through Serb enclaves in Kosovo Fr. Nektarios and Bishop Teodosije payed a visit to Gracanica Monastery near Pristina and spent a day with Bishop Artemije, the diocesan Orthodox Bishop for the region of Kosovo. Bishop Artemije blessed and cordially thanked to Fr. Nektarios on his God-loving work and efforts to relieve suffering of Orthodox Christians in the Province. Next morning Bishops Artemije and Teodosije together with Fr. Nektarios and diocesan priests served a Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the monastery chapel of St. Maximus Confessor. Addressing the congregation Fr. Nektarios conveyed greetings from Orthodox Christians from the United States and said that the Christian love knows no ethnic or political borders. Suffering of Christian community in Kosovo hurts equally Christians in Serbia and elsewhere in the world, said Fr. Nektarios.
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| Bishops Artemije and Teodosije with Fr. Nektarios during the Holy Liturgy at Gracanica Monastery |
In Gracanica village Fr. Nektarije visited the school of st. Sava, the Enlightener of Serbs, and distributed donations to the children who gathered to greet the dear guest from the U.S. Fr. Nektarije told to the children that the Orthodox from America feel strong solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Kosovo particularly in these cold days in which Serb villages are left without electric power and water supply for days. Many Serbs in Kosovo have not enough money to regularly pay for electricity so the Electric company leaves them mostly in dark and cold in temperatures which go down to -4 (Fahrenheit, i.e. -20 Celsius).
Afterwards, Bishop Teodosije and Fr. Nektarije visited Lipljan where they prayed in front of the crying icon of the Theotokos in the church of Sts. Florus and Laurus, the martyrs who suffered for Christ in the 3 century AD under Diocletian, not far from the present church. They also visited the village of Staro Gracko which is remembered for a massacre of Serb farmers in summer 1999. A group of 17 Serb farmers were killed by Albanian extremists while they were harvesting their fields. Fr. Nektarios and Bishop Teodosije visited the local school "Braca Arsic" and distributed donations and gifts (winter gloves and hats) to the children who greeted them together with their teachers. Decani Fund supported the children of Staro Gracko before too, particularly the children who lost their relatives in the post-war period.
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| With children of Staro Gracko village in front of the school. Despite cold weather and poor supply with electric power the children were full of joy. |
The following day, after the Holy Hierarchal Liturgy at Decani Monastery, where Fr. Nektarije stayed during his visit to Kosovo and Metohija, Bishop Teodosije and Fr. Nektarije visited the monastery of Sts Cosma and Damian at Zociste and the village of Velika Hoca near Orahovac. With deep pain and prayer on his lips Fr. Nektarios could personally see the desecrated Christian tombs near the monastery which was completely devastated by Kosovo Albanian extremists after the war in 1999. The monastery is in reconstruction at the moment and a new monastic brotherhood is struggling to rebuild the shrine from the ashes. The monks hope that in spring first Serb returnees will come back to their reconstructed homes in the Serbian part of the village of Zociste which is just next to the monastery.
Fr. Nektarios said to Fr. Seraphim that the Decani Monastery Relief Fund will continue to gather donations also for assistance of monastic communities and said that Orthodox Christians from all the world should help the process of reconstruction of Orthodox sites in Kosovo and Metohija.
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| Fr. Nektarios in front of the desecrated Orthodox Serb tomb in Zociste. Dozens of cemeteries have been destroyed after the NATO led intervention in Kosovo despite the international civil and military presence. In many cemeteries tombs were smashed by axes and opened. Often remains of the deceased were scattered around. |
After the visit to the Patriarchal monastery in Pec and the Monastery of St. Nicholas at Gorioc Fr. Nektarios expressed a wish to pay a visit to nuns of Devic monastery which he visited during his previous visit last summer. Devic Monastery was completely torched by Albanian extremists in March 2004. However, nuns with their courageous Abbess Anastasia soon returned to the ruins and rebuilt a house which was constructed with donations provided by the Patriarch of Constantinople and the DMRF. Fr. Nektarije encouraged mother Anastasia to persevere in their testimony of faith and love guarding the shrine of the 14th century saint St. Joanikios the Wonderworker the holy relics of which miraculously survived the destruction. Devic sisterhood is under particular care of Bishop Teodosije and Decani monks who regularly serve at the monastery church the interior of which is still covered by a layer of soot from the fire.
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| Fr. Nektarije and Bishop Teodosije at the ruins of Zociste monastery. The church of Sts. Cosma and Damian was blown up with explosive and
the monastic quarters were set on fire. |
The tour through the north part of Metohija (the Western part of the province usually known only as Kosovo) Fr. Nektarios and Bishop Teodosije finished with visit to the returnee Serb village of Osojane. They prayed in the village church and distributed donations to the children in St. Sava school. As everywhere else the children welcomed Fr. Nektarije and the Bishop with lots of love and gratitude.
Fr. Nektarije expressed great joy seeing so many children in Osojane which was just a heap of ruins three years ago before the first Serb returnees came to this village. He said to the villagers that the internatinal community is encouraging the process of returns and that the Church will wholeheartedly assist the returnees and help them to start their new lives. The villagers of Osojane would have never returned to their homes if it had not been nuns and monks from Metohija monasteries who offered to them assistance when it was most necessary.
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| Bishop Teodosije and Fr. Nektarije with Serb children at St. Sava's school in the returnee village of Osojane, near Klina |
Bishop Teodosije personally accompanied Fr. Nektarios to Belgrade airport from which he flew back home to America with a promise that he will come again to Kosovo and Metohija where, as he said, he has left his heart.
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Regular reports with lists of donors of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund are available at the Web site of Fr. Nektarios Serfes .
We are taking this opportunity to thank to all donors of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund in the name of all Orthodox Christians from Kosovo and Metohija, especially the children. May the Merciful Lord abundantly reward them for their love.
text and photos - Decani Monastery Brotherhood
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| Fr. Nektarije and Bishop Teodosije with Abbess Anastasia in the burned church of Devic Monastery which is still being used for prayer by nuns |
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| Bishop Artemije and Fr. Nektarije
UN Close Protection Police Unit provides regular protection for higher Orthodox clergy in Kosovo and Metohija. In most parts of the province monks and nuns travel only with police and military escorts due to security reasons |
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| KFOR peacekeepers at the checkpoint at the enrance to Devic Monastery
Orthodox holy sites in the Western part of Kosovo are still under
heavy military protection, particularly after the riots in March 2004 when 30 churches and monasteries were destroyed in two days. Since the end of Kosovo war 150 Orthodox shrines have been either completely destroyed or seriously damaged by local Kosovo Albanian extremists. |
