Annual Ministry Report 2011 - ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry

Annual Ministry Report 2011

ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2011

Seminars

Gaura Purnima Seminars 2011

5 days seminar: Building Happy Vaishnava Communities

Introduction to Bhakti Vriksha Success Secret

a) Spiritual Basis of Bhakti Vrisksha
b) Leadership Activities
c) Family life: The Basic Unit of a Vaishnava Community

d) Spiritual Care and Secrets of success in Bhakti Vriksha

1 day seminars


a) Why Religious Movements Succeed or Fail?

b) Ten sociological Propositions and how they apply to ISKCON.

3 days seminars: Inside the Apple of Culture

a) Leaders as Cultural Engineers.

b) What Shapes the Culture of our Communities?

c) Unity and Diversity, the Ongoing Challenges.

3 days seminar: CDM Malaysia organized a Leaders’ Convention

  1. Importance of leadership in ISKCON.

  b) Krsna conscious leader may point the devotees towards Krsna as the ultimate goal.

  c) A leader is one who knows where he is going and gets other people to follow.


Bhakti Vrksa Seminars (by Vijay Venu Gopal das and Prema Padmini devi dasi

a)  May 2011 – Seminars in Moscow, Kursk, Kazan, Nizhny Novogorod.

b)  May 2011 – Bhakti Sastri course in Vallabh Vidyanagar. (Gujarat).

c) August 2011 – Seminars at Russian BV Summer Festival.

d) September 2011 – Seminars at Hyderabad and Tandur. (Andhra Pradesh)

e) September 2011 – Seminars at Black Sea Festival. (Russia)

f) September 2011 – Seminars at Trivandrum and Thrissur. (Kerala)

g). November 2011 – Seminars at Mathuradesh. (Arabian Gulf)

 h) November 2011 – Seminars at Nagpur.

Activities by the Ministers

Co-minister H. H. Jayapataka Swami:

a) Kolkata Annual Bhakti Vriksa Seminar in Mayapur with more than 1000 participants.

b) Moscow Bhakti Vriksa Festival.

c) Birminham UK Bhaktiv Vriksa Festival.

Co-minister Kaunteya das: Building Vibrant Vaisnava Communities

Below are the locations Kaunteya Prabhu visited and gave this seminar :

1- Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.

2- Mumbai (Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha Temple, Bhaktivendanta Hospital & new retreat project).

3- USA (Chicago, Illinois; Tucson & Phoenix, Arizona; St Louis, Missouri; Gita Nagari & Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanya; Towaco, New Jersey; New Vrindavana; Detroit, Michigan).

4- Guyana (three temples).

5- Middle East (Damodaradesh, Shyamdesh, Avataridesh, Srivas Angan).

6- Ghana (Accra & Winneba).

7- Togo (Lome’).

8- Ivory Coast (Abidjan).

9- Italy (Rome & Villa Vrindavana).

10- Slovenia (Ljubjana and other five localities).

Note about progress in Bangalore

We thought that we should include some information about Bangalore harmful effect of ritvik philosophy there in the last few years. Last year there were 80 groups of Bhakti Vriksa, this year, there are more than 95 Bhakti Vriksha groups and more than 400 people taking shelter and initiation in ISKCON.

Note about progress in Kolkata

Now there are 47 new Bhakti Vriksha groups made through seminars, door to door preaching and Satsanga Programes.  As of today, they have 108 Bhakti Vrikshas running all over Kolkata and surroundings. They have also created a Servant Leader Orientation Class (SLOC) for training the devotees in philosophy of Krsna consciousness and practical applications. They hold in Mayapur Dham their Bhakti Vriksa Annual convention with more than thousand devotees all members of Bhati Vriksa groups.

Expansion of the Malaysian Damodara Program

  • In Kuala Lumpur, the Damodara Program has been going on for the past 10 years.
  • Started with only 24 homes in 2001, in 2011 there were more than 5000 home programs.
  • The growth is exponential with tremendous response from public as a whole. It is a ‘feel good.
  • Program that breaks the social barrier between the mass and ISKCON.

      ISKCON Prison Ministry

Books distributed: Nearly 2000

BTGs distributed: 1540

Freedom Newsletters distributed each month: 120

Complete Prabhupada DVD library distributed: 20

Individual DVDs: 20

CDs (music and lectures): 270

Tapes: 22

Calendar: 25

Japa Malas: 80

Neckbeads: 50

MAINTAINED

The IPM website is being maintained.

The Freedom Newsletter is still put together by an ex-inmate, Bhavananda dasa, initiated by Hrdayananda Maharaja.

The IPM NEWS emails are being maintained.

10 new devotee have been/are being trained to correspond with inmates.

An IPM manual has been created to help new volunteers.

Chaplains now often contact the office through the website, requesting books to facilitate inmates who have an interest in Krsna consciousness.

Hundreds of inmates continue to practice Krsna consciousness and many share it with others by giving/lending books and also by starting programs at the chapel.

Publications

Published by the ministry

Russian and Bengali issues of Sri Godruma Kalpatavi (“The Desire-tree Grove of Godruma”) By Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura and commented by H.H. Jayapataka Swami.

New Edition of Super Sunday (Most devotees are already working hard to make the Sunday Program success. But can it be improved? By Kaunteya Das

  • 7 DVD’s Building Vibrant Vaishnava Communities.
  • 70 hours course, set of 7 DVD’s with recorded videos of seminar from Sriman Kaunteya Prabhu.

Some of the topics on these DVD’s are:

  • Why Religious Movements succeed or Fail?
  • Congregation Development Depends on Vision.
  • Five Tools for Congregation Development.
  • Unity in Diversity.


Materials in progress


• Bhakti Vriksa Manual (Second Edition)

After thirteen years we have made a new version on how to develop, maintain and improve the Bhakti Vriksa Groups.

Many devotees are sharing their experiences to create successful Bhakti Vriksa groups.

  • Hindi and Spanish Bhakti Vrisksa Manual. (Second Edition)
  • Bhagavat Gita Course.

• Aditional Sradha Kuthir Promotions Fliers and brochures explaining the importance of this system.

  • Siksa Levels Booklet on the importance of these steps on the life of new devotees.

C. Website/E-mail

New website

We have created a new website for the Ministry at www.iskconcongregation.com

New email address – cdm@pamho.net

Website in Spanish (mundonamahatta.org)


The spanish speaking devotees keep using this site to promote the congregation news and learn more about our Ministry.

YouTube channel for Ministry

http://www.youtube.com/user/iskconcongregation

With 72 videos in English and Spanish by Kaunteya Das who shares different ideas in how to

 expand the congregation development. Last year we had 662 views.

Ebooks

We are happy to have nine of our books in a e-book version. This has allowed us to rich more devotees around the world where our physical books are not available. We have shopping carts that allow us to sell our books and DVD’s in an easy and safe way. The Ministry has experienced a welcoming response with our Pay pall account by the devotees who feel more secure while shopping on our site.

New Facebook page

(https://www.facebook.com/iskconcongregation)

This networking tool is allowing us to have daily contact with several devotees around the world. The devotee in charge of communications post daily articles about congregation development and news about the temples and congregation groups we are in contact . There are currently 12 Congregation Pages on Facebook from congregations around the world.

Communication

  • Began correspondence with temple authorities and active preachers to create an awareness of our resources in an attempt to support their efforts.

Facilitate a communication channel between the temples and preaching centers around the world to share successful experiences and application of our resources.

  • Collecting scores from temples, to ascertain trends in congregational development in ISKCON and to acknowledge outdenting achievements.
  • Requesting nominations from GBC members for devotees who have made an exceptional contribution to congregational development.
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