Dear Friends of the Mission,
I welcome your kindness, which always accompanies our missionary work here in Calcutta. I apologize for not having written to you for quite some time. This period, we are expecting the arrival of the monsoons, which are often devastating but at the same time beneficial because, thanks to them, rice, which is the main food in India, grows to fruition.
The crisis in Greece has had –without exaggeration– a dramatic impact on us. No matter how strong your faith is in God’s love and providence, when you are responsible for so many souls, it is only human not to feel anxiety and insecurity. I constantly have to make calculations to see whether we will be able to meet our basic needs. I have reduced the staff team to the bare minimum. As a result, the workload is immense. 24 hours in a day is not enough, and I sincerely apologize for not being able to respond to my correspondence, thus disappointing kind-hearted people, good friends and brothers.
We have, of course, joyful things happening, too. In this life, joys and sorrows go side by side. Nine of our girls who have finished their studies are now working in our English school. My dream is to leave the school in Orthodox hands. Otherwise, without an Orthodox testimony and perspective, we deviate from our purpose and we fail to accomplish it.
Some of our girls have got married, two to Orthodox young men, and we had a joyful atmosphere with the weddings at the orphanage. Glory to God for all things!
The dream for our farm took one small step forward with the completion of the surrounding wall thanks to a donation from Trikala. So we now have our own fish from the lake, without the fear of getting it stolen by our neighbors. We have also planted vegetables in an effort to reduce food costs as much as possible. Missions must become economically self-sufficient. Unfortunately, we had not foreseen this before, when we had more donations…
Now I come to the donations from the Orthodox Missionary Fraternity, for which I am deeply grateful. Above all, I would like to thank you for your understanding because, despite my silence, you are still helping Mission in India without minding which person ministers to the Mission’s needs, and this does you great credit and is something that differentiates your Fraternity from the others.
May God keep you in good health and always bless your labors and your work. Please remember us in your prayers.
With deep gratitude & love in Christ
Sister Nektaria
