Beloved brothers and sisters,

Please let me start this message by blessing you in Christ’s Name from Boise, Idaho. +God love and protect you, grant you strength for every good work, answer all your petitions unto Salvation and reward you with eternal joy!

I’m writing not only to bless you from afar but to invite you to join the Decani Monastery Relief Fund’s December fund-raiser. Our goal? To provide 100 Christmas pork roasts for Serbian Orthodox families in the provinces of Kosovo and Metohija. These families live under routine religious persecution and oppression in those areas. Their ability to provide for their families is severely hampered, and funds are tight. 

The Serbians celebrate Christ’s Birth on January 7. One hundred dollars ($100) will buy a large pork roast that will feed a family of four for one week. 

Right now, the DMRF is focusing on the five weeks of December to accomplish this goal. 

We’d like to make it simple for you to set aside $100 during this month to bring joy to an Orthodox Christian family without resources. Please take one envelope—mark it “Serbia,” and place one $20 bill inside, one time a week, beginning this week. By month-end, you will have saved enough to provide a festal roast for an Orthodox Christian family that lacks means.  

To enjoy a festal meal with meat in these provinces means so much to the people there. The children are already asking their parents, “Will there be meat for Christmas?”

Hardship and Christian persecution in these provinces keep many families without meat except twice a year—at Christmas and Pascha. The benevolence of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund provides festal roasts and is a highlight of each season. 

Have you ever wondered who funds the DMRF? Well, people like you! Many individual gifts make up the bulk of the funds we provide to sustain the Christian populace throughout the year and offer the festal roasts for Christmas and Pascha.

I never cease to be amazed by the kind-hearted generosity of the Christians who receive appeal letters to sustain and bless the Orthodox Christians of Kosovo and Metohija. Twice yearly, my heart is kindled as I make a plea for special food assistance for the holidays. I look forward to the day when it no longer is necessary, but for now, it still is.

Can you help us bless the 100 Serbian families who genuinely need food assistance this season? Will you start with one envelope and insert one $20 bill this week and one each week after that? By the end of December, you’ll have set aside enough to buy one generous pork roast for a Serbian Orthodox family that could not otherwise afford one. A joyous gift—a gift that cannot be repaid—except by God Himself.

I believe you and others will take it to heart and respond. And I believe God Who sees all things will reward your stewardship. He is committed to His people! This is why there are still Christians living in Kosovo and Metohija. They are people of strong faith! And you help keep them viable and hopeful in God’s love and provision for them.

Now, during winter, life is especially harsh. It is often brutally cold and dark during the season. Let’s do what we can to bring light and love to these dear people!

All offerings of love for our Serbian brethren are most welcome and appreciated! The amount you give is not an issue. One roast, more roasts, part of a roast–God knows.

Here is where to send your gift this season: 

• Donate via Paypal (use the link at www.thedecanifund.org)

           OR

• Send a check payable to:

Decani Monastery Relief Fund
2618 West Bannock Street
Boise, ID  83706

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund is a 501c3 tax-exempt charity and issues receipts for donations made.  Please be sure your gift reaches us no later than December 31, 2019 so we can receipt your gift for this tax year.

God love and bless you!  Peace to you and peace to your soul!

Humbly in our Lord Jesus Christ,

+Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes

President of the Decani Monastery Relief Fund

Contact information: cell phone 208-860-2479  Email: father@serfes.org