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     AS YEAR 2012 is coming to a close, I am reflecting on all the service rendered to Lord Krsna by the prison ministry, and I feel very grateful to all who have been involved in pleasing the Lord in this way.

            In preparing more excerpts from inmates’ letters to share with the devotee community, I had to go over the ones that haven’t been published yet. Although a majority of them are from letters I have received in the course of the year, reading them again was as refreshing and inspiring to read as the first time around. I felt the same eagerness to drink this very unique nectar.

            The realizations of the inmates taking up Krsna consciousness for the first time, or pursuing it after many years of dedicated practice, have a depth that undeniably touches me to the core, as I am sure it touches all of the devotees’ compassionate hearts.

            I am thrilled to be able to share the nectar of the Sankirtan movement with all of you. Lord Caitanya’s mission to reach out to the most unfortunate is manifesting in this prison ministry, as wave after wave of suffering souls have their hearts transformed and purified.

            Srila Prabhupada’s powerful books are the “bombs” that break open the walls of incarceration for hundreds of inmates every year, year after year.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll find on the website:

 Realizing I can change my karma is a tremendous relief</strong>

“I am writing to inform you of my receipt of the Bhagavad-Gita. Many thanks for this blessing and this gift.  I have already learned from it! I was always under the impression that my karma was a permanent situation, now just realizing I can change my personal karma is a tremendous relief. I also now have a better understanding of my position in not only this yet all my lives.”

Charles McIlwain

Susanville, CA

I am accepting what I am reading as Absolute Truth</strong>

 “I acquired your address from a book I’ve been analyzing titled: Bhagavad-gita As It Is. I am accepting what I am reading as Absolute Truth. I would like to know more but don’t know where to start. The things mentioned in the Gita are very enlightening. I would love to begin my devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but I need guidance. The odds of me encountering a spiritual master here are slim to none. I need help. I want to know Vedic wisdom. Please accept my words as genuine interest and contact me as soon as you can.”

Andre Dillard

Daytona Beach, FL

“Don’t trip - I gotcha.” </strong>  

“I’m going to use Caitanya’s blessings and share the wonders of KC with everyone on my row, so it’s important to receive BTG’s as I think it’s Krsna Consciousness’s best missionary tool…..

     All I can say is WOW. Last night, the final indignity North Las Vegas Detention Center subjected me to was making me roll up (pack) with 5 minutes’ notice and force me to wait in a cold holding cell for 12 hours… Well, FINALLY my chance to chant Japa and sing Kirtan. For the first time since being a devotee (I’m ashamed to say) I chanted a full 16 rounds, out loud, hearing His sacred names reverberating off the cement cinderblock. It made the 12 most uncomfortable hours (without medication; they removed it again from me) melt away. I chanted with as little fruitive desire as I could. I knew I just needed to chant for Krsna to serve Him, like He tells us in the last chapter of the Bhavagad-gita - to paraphrase: “Don’t trip - I gotcha.”

Richard Chase

North Las Vegas, Nevada

For the rest of this nectar, please go to: http://www.iskconprisonministry.us/node/118

      ISKCON Prison Ministry is teamwork; it takes the cooperation of many devotees in order to keep IPM running for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.

             I want to express my profound appreciation and gratitude to:

• Guruprada Dasa (Ontario, Canada) for donating the stamps to mail the Freedom Newsletter to 120 inmates monthly, for year 2011 and 2012
• Mr. Kamlesh Patel and Peggy Ordonez for donating a desktop.
• A devotee, who desire to be anonymous, for donating a wireless printer/scanner
• Mahamaya Dasi for donating her monitor and laptop.
• Mr. Bharani for covering the annual Blue Host cost for the website.
• Hari Kirtan dasa, for helping with the website maintenance.
• Our regular monthly donors who make this program possible; Bhavananda dasa; Jitarati dasa; Ankur Sethi dasa; Shashi Raina dasa; Dina Sharana dasa; Kalindi dasi; Stava Mala dasa and Rene Waisvisz
• The one-time, or intermittent donors (of laksmi, books, or other services) whose support is also crucial to IPM: Bhakta Andrew; Madhu Kiran; Radha-Jivan dasa; Madhuha dasa; Vinode Vani dasi; Jeff Cornia; Natasha Jagarnath; Melissa Wells; Ravi Jadhaw; Bhakta Jerry; Thomas Doliner; Ananga Manjari (from Australia); Nitin Kumar; Bayahari dasa; Karthikeyan Selvan; Ram Metha; Nityananda dasa; Harinam Press

And last, but not least!

• The many dedicated IPM volunteers: Candramauli Swami; Candra dasa; Candrasekhara dasa; Nandini Radha dasi; Bhranti dasi; Akhilananda dasa; Sarva Drk dasa; Bhakta Kevin; Balabhadra dasa; Bhakta Andrew; Dandavats dasa; Ganga-gati dasi; Pavana-Gaura-Gopal dasa; Govindanandini dasi; Janudvipa dasa; Mrgendra dasa; Nandarani dasi; Daru Brahma dasa; Pradyumna dasa; Nidra dasi; Ram Tulasi dasa; Saktipati dasa; Srutadeva dasa, Sri Hanuman dasa;  and a volunteer who prefers to remain anonymous, but to whom I am very indebted (you know who you are! J)

                If I forgot anyone, please forgive my lapse and know that I am thankful to anyone who is helping with IPM in any way.

Service opportunity !

Bi-monthly, 190 inmates receive a copy of Back to Godhead magazine, which is a very important aspect of their spiritual development (read the testimonial below).

            At the moment, the postage to send 95 magazines is covered by one generous donor (who wish to remain anonymous), but we still need someone to donate the postage for the other 95 inmates. It comes to $100 a month.

            Will you be the fortunate person to sponsor the BTG postage for 95 inmates this year?

            It comes to $100 a month. You may want to sponsor that whole amount, or part of it.

            If Krsna is inspiring you to be that sponsor, please contact Bhakti-lata at: 

IskconPrisonMinistry@gmail.com or 352-575-0458

In the words of inmate Bhakta Charles:

            "I received the Jan/Feb issue of Back to Godhead which was sent to me and I wanted to write and thank you and everyone else who made it possible for me to receive a new issue. I have been a member of ISKCON for about two years now and some of my pen pals have sent me back issues of BTG and I thoroughly enjoy the magazine. I would subscribe to the magazine, but I just don't have the funds available, so being able to receive a fresh copy is a treat. Then again, any copy I receive is new and fresh to me and I read and re-read every copy several times, before I set them out for others to read, in the hopes that maybe others will join me in the quest for Krsna realization." Bhakta Charles

If you want to receive IPM NEWS, our monthly electronic newsletter, please send us an e-mail with “Subscribe to IPM NEWS” in the subject line.

ISKCON Prison Ministry

PO Box 2676

Alachua, FL  32616-2676

IskconPrisonMinistry@gmail.com

www.iskconprisonministry.org

352-575-0458