January 05, 2007

KiM Info Newsletter 05-01-07

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR CHILDREN IN KOSOVO

The Miracle of the Shoes for Kosovo

On behalf of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund USA
By Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes, President

Beloved In Christ Our Lord,
Christ is Born!  A blessed New Year!

May the great peace and joy of our Lord God always be with you!

Shoes for children in Kosovo
Bishop Teodosije with children in Prekovce village

As many of you know, I visited Kosovo in September 2006 in my role as president of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund USA. Together with Bishop Teodosije and Father Andrej, I visited many homes and schools in the mountainous region outside Pristina. I found at that time that the shoes I had brought with me from America needed to be replaced and so, as I was leaving Kosovo, I asked the Bishop where I could purchase a pair of new shoes. When we stopped at a shoemaker's shop in one of the nearby towns, the kind owner of the shop gave me the shoes as a gift, asking only that I would remember their newly departed son, Dushan, in my prayers. Of course I assured the family of my prayers for their son who had recently been killed in an automobile accident.

While I was in the shoe store, the owner also asked what he and his workers might do to help the Decani Monastery Relief Fund.  When I mentioned that many of the children whose homes and schools we had recently visited in the region lacked shoes, the owner and employees of the shop were eager to provide these children with appropriate shoes for the coming winter.

The Bishop then proceeded to obtain the shoe sizes of the children in two different school districts in the region so the shoe maker's employees could make shoes for them.  Sizes were obtained for over 200 children.  The shop's employees stayed an additional two hours every evening for the next couple of weeks, making the children’s new shoes. The Bishop was assured the cost of materials would be low and the employees' time and labor was being donated at no cost, on behalf of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund.

So "the miracle of the shoes" was that over 200 children whose families would not have been able to afford to purchase new shoes for them were able to obtain the appropriate winter shoes they needed.  For this great blessing we would like to express our deepest thanks to everyone who freely donated their time and labor to make the shoes as well as to all who have donated to the Decani Monastery Relief Fund so that we could purchase the materials used in making the shoes!

The children of both school districts ecstatically greeted Bishop Teodosije when he arrived with their new shoes!  Pictures of the children are included here so you can see their happy faces as they receive their new shoes.  The schools are in the villages of Bostane and Prekovci, both located in the mountainous rural region of Kosovo.

Providing much needed assistance to the desperately struggling people and families of Kosovo and Metohija is what the Decani Monastery Relief Fund is all about. By reaching out and caring for these oppressed souls, by materially supporting them in their efforts just to survive, we demonstrate our Christian love and also support them spiritually.

But the struggle to survive continues in Kosovo and Metohija.  Many people are still homeless; many still lack sufficient food; many cannot afford fuel to heat their homes during the winter months; many have inadequate clothing; many lack access to health services and cannot purchase needed medications.  Their needs remain great; the Fund is their only source of assistance and support. 

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is now attempting to make it possible for the Soup Kitchen in Prekovci to purchase a much needed second-hand truck that would enable them to expand delivery of food to the homeless and desperately impoverished people living throughout the immediate area and beyond— to families living in the mountains outside the town.  These people often completely lack food or money with which to purchase enough to feed their families.  The terrain is not easy to negotiate in an ordinary car: only a small 4-wheel drive can get the food to them, especially in the winter months when weather conditions cause the access roads to become slippery from snow and mud.  The used truck available for purchase will cost $15,000.  Any donation you can make toward this purchase would be a great blessing for these many souls who so badly need assistance with obtaining even the most basic food for themselves and their children.

Please send whatever donation you can, designated "for the Truck Fund" at the homeless shelter in Prehovci, Kosovo to:

Decani Monastery Relief Fund
C/O Very Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
2618 West Bannock Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
USA

P.S.  I am greatly pleased to report that our fund recently received a most generous donation totaling $3,000 to be used to enable the homeless shelter in Prekovci to purchase a new commercial restaurant oven. Truly this is a great blessing for the shelter which previously had only a small, old and altogether inadequate oven in which to prepare enough meals to meet the growing demand from the destitute people of the community.

I am also very pleased to report that late last week the Decani Monastery Relief Fund sent $10,000.00 to His Grace, Bishop Teodosije, to help with the needs of the people in the region of Kosovo and Metohija.  During this Nativity season, the Good Bishop is traveling about the region offering further assistance to many men, women, and children in desperate need.

My humble thanks to each of you who have helped our Fund.  May our Lord God always bless you!

You may be assured of my prayers for you always!

Thank you.
Peace to your soul!
Humbly in Christ our Lord,

+Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
President of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund USA

PHOTO GALLERY
Distribution of shoes for children in Kosovo