A Request for Help with Winter Provisions

Dear Friends of New Stjenik, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

                

Winter is drawing near with ever quicker steps. The hay is in and the wood is being collected, chopped and stacked. The last crops have been harvested from the garden-skete and the two sisters who live there during the growing season have returned to the monastery for the winter, bringing the cows and the donkey which were also there enjoying the better pastures. 

 Many fresh crops from the skete appear at the dinner table a month ago, but now all that remains – beets, carrots,potatoes, tomatoes (green and red), onions, garlic, peppers, and cabbage, has been tucked away into the cellar for the coming winter. Some things we simply pack carefully so that they stay dry, while others we can or pickle.  We prize our crops from the garden as we know exactly where they came from and are not chemically treated; nonetheless, for some necessary foods, a greater amount is required that what we ourselves can produce.  For example, to make it through the winter, typically we need at least 700 kilos of potatoes, 300 of cabbage, 100 of onion, a ton of flour, 200 liters of oil (mostly for oil lamps), canned fish, rice, and 150 kg of grain meal for the animals.  Those are only a few of the necessities - of course we need not only foodstuffs, but medicines and all other household items, detergent, dish soap, batteries, candles, food for our dogs which we must have because of the local wolves, etc - which we must carefully collect this month before the serious snows begin to fall and the roads become impassible. Fuel for the entire winter, for the snowmobile, tractor, and gas generator (now necessary especially because of the water pump) are also vital for surviving the winter and just as difficult to pay for.

Every year thanks to your help we have survived winter in the mountains, and we ask you as always, to help contribute financially for our winter provisions.  All donations can be sent by bank transfer with these instructions (bank instructions for transfers from abroad are towards the bottom of the page).

Please accept our sincere thanks and gratitude in advance for your help for our beloved monastery. 

Faithfully Yours in Christ,

The New Stjenik Sisterhood