FOOD FOR LIFE AND DISTRIBUTION OF PRASAD IN KHARKIV.
Hare Krishna, please accept my obeisances. Many people ask me how things are in Kharkov, as devotees. I wanted to talk about the Food of Life and the distribution of prasadam during the war. An amazing example of service and what we can do in all cities. When the war began, when the bombs flew, many thousands of people began to live in the subway and basements, saving their lives. Many of them did not eat or drink anything for several days. In the metro, people live with children, dogs, cats and are very scared. Someone’s apartment was broken, someone’s relatives died, someone went to war, someone is just hiding. It is very difficult to buy something in stores, it is difficult to withdraw money, and it is even dangerous to go out into the street. Devotees began to cook and distribute to bomb shelters. In this difficult period, when they see Hare Krishna, see the service of devotees - people are infinitely grateful and their opinion towards Hare Krishna changes dramatically. In the metro, sometimes hundreds of people applaud, many chant Hare Krishna, and no one snorts and refuses, as was often the case in peacetime. People say, “Hare Krishna are our saviors.” Now two kitchens and two teams of devotees cook from morning until evening, and then they distribute it all together. Many devotees have left the city, but many remain and continue their service. People take prasadam with great gratitude and with tears in their eyes. Now the difficulty with the purchase of products. Devotees travel to various wholesale depots to buy, often very dangerous. There are lines in the shops and there is little to buy. I communicate with the devotees in Varshan every day. For the first couple of days they were at home when they bombed, then they began to say that they could no longer and wanted to feed people. Then they took the food that we had for the winter and prepared something, and then they began to cook and distribute it every day along with other devotees. A Vaisnava’s heart cannot live in peace when others are suffering. Before the start of the war, Harinam was held in Kharkov every day for 10 years and prasadam was distributed about 3-4 times a week. Recently, two teams have been distributing prasadam - the devotees cooked at the temple and we at Varshan. Prasad was distributed during Harinama several times a week. Now also - the devotees cook in the temple and on Varshan. At the same time, cooking is going on in two large kitchens, so that hundreds of breads and hundreds of liters of khichri will be distributed together later. It manages to feed about 700 people a day. Prepared from morning to evening. When I call them, I sometimes try to make them rest, because someone’s heart began to hurt, someone gets gassed, because there is no exhaust … Many devotees come to the temple and everyone does what they can. After all the cooking, everyone is loaded onto the bus and goes to distribute to different places in the subway. Now is the most important time for service and preaching. Everyone needs to join forces. This world is a very complex place and everything is there except for Krishna Consciousness. Now we need help in everything - in cooking, distribution, help with food, fuel, finances and prayer. The devotees will be very grateful for the help. Write - we will tell you how you can help (messengers on the number - 380669648521) The devotees who are now serving in hot spots are the greatest mercy and good fortune, a golden time for preaching and serving the world. People are now undergoing a paradigm shift and many are beginning to think about the meaning of life and God. I ended up on the side of this particular form of grace as there was a harinama tour in Russia at that time and now a tour in India. Mercy in another form. The Lord has different plans for each of us, sometimes we are scattered in different parts of the planet and cities, but we all do a common thing, and especially now we need to unite our efforts and do what everyone can. The quality of the photo is not very good, as they do not allow taking pictures in the subway. Your servant, Sandhya-avatar das