India

INDIA

In danger many times Dear friends of the Mission, poor people are not even counted

Rejoice in the Lord always! among the victims.... the situation

I finally manage to find a little is tragic. time to write to you and convey Fortunately, all our children are to you images of grief from India. well as they are completely isolated. The coronavirus is on the rise. The No visits, no support staff coming. orphanages are in the red zone The children do all the work with many cases and deaths. The themselves. situation is out of control. With Food supply seems like a millions of homeless people on the marathon, but with God’s help, we sidewalks, under bridges and in are doing well. Our children do not camps without basic hygiene rules, stay hungry. one would not expect anything Schools are closed. Lessons better. Due to this long lockdown, are done online, but with many millions of day laborers have been difficulties, electricity is constantly left without a job and are literally cut off, telephones and computers starving to death and dying. These cannot be charged, and internet

connection is poor, especially in our area outside Calcutta.

And as if the virus and the lockdown were not enough, a cyclone swept and destroyed everything in Calcutta. We were not excluded from the disaster. A lot of trees that were full of fruit for our children were uprooted, downspouts broke, and with the windows closed the fury of the wind broke the windowpanes, so we got flooded in the dead of night and were left without electricity. The solar water heaters and water tanks were all dismantled, broken, blown off by the wind; God knows where they “landed”. An unspeakable disaster indeed, but we praise God that we are all safe and sound as 100 souls were lost in Calcutta that terrible night of May 20-21. The damage caused as well as the human suffering are incalculable. All these years that I have been in India, I have never seen such a disastrous cyclone before.

Needless to say, things are not easy in India. Transport, services, post offices, stores, everything has been closed from mid-March until August 30. So until then, no visas can be issued, nor are there any flights to Calcutta. I hope

by September the situation has returned to normal so that I can travel back to Greece. May God help and may everything will go as planned.

God’s love puts us through many trials and tribulations. What can I say? Whatever God sends, whether good or bad, is welcome. May the name of the Lord be blessed and may He have mercy upon us through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the Saints.

From here, I am in daily contact with India and coordinate the work. Unfortunately in the Monastery the internet is not good and I have a hard time. I am also trying to reply to hundreds of unanswered emails, which in India I did not even have the time to read, and attach donation receipts. Missionary work never stops....

Finally, I would like once again to express my deep gratitude for the love and the continued support of your Fraternity, despite the fact that due to my heavy workload, the adverse circumstances and lack of time, I have failed to respond promptly to correspondence and to sending articles and photos.

Please convey my thanks to the friends and donors of the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity. Remember us in your prayers! Wishing in the Lord,

Sister Nectaria