Annual Ministry Report 2020 - ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry

Annual Ministry Report 2020

ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry

International Society for Krsna Consciousness

Founder-Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Education & Training

          Training Courses

  • Gita for Everyone (outreach and training)
  • ISKCON Disciple Course
  • Bhakti Marriage
  • Vaisnava Life Counselling
  • Bhakti-vriksha Training

Website & Email

Activities by the Co-ministers:

Co-minister Jayapataka Swami

  • Virtually visiting areas in his GBC jurisdiction, meeting the local leaders and receiving reports
  • Direction on CDM’s presentations and involvement in 2020 ISKCON Leaders Sanga (ILS).
  • Gave Presentations on Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s Marketing Model of the Holy Name at ILS 2020
  • Created secretariat for CDM to enhance communications between ministers, managers and staff members.
  • Research on children’s programs amongst successful congregations, aiming at producing a generic model to encourage more participation of ISKCON congregations and support Krsna consciousness engagement for children.
  • Regular meetings with CDM coordinators to promote congregational training and expansion of services: emphasis on online training and furthering the congregational preachers’ network to facilitate training and support. 
  • Development of the system of survey for Bhakti-vriksha 
  • Supervision of CDM’s overall annual operation (financial, research, training and promotion).
  • Received,discussed and gave feedback on quarterly reports from the CDM office.
  • Communicating with Nama-hatta media office in Mayapur inspiring their preaching programs, guiding online promotion and expansion. 
  • Developed the Damodara App so that devotees could upload their scores of lamps offering through the app.
  • Promoting CDM programs through his personal app and also inspiring devotees to wake up for mangala-arati, read Srila Prabhupada’s books and perform sadhana.
  • Inspired the devotees to observe Purushottama Month; created a website where 1200 people registered

Co-minister Kaunteya das

“I have been in Mayapur since the end of March 2020, offering online presentations, seminars or individual attention to devotees in the USA, Latin America, Africa, Russia, Middle East, etc. 

A significant development has been the design, organization and implementation of the one-year course for congregational group leaders in China (“Every Devotee Is a Project”) as a collaboration between the GBC College and the ISKCON China leadership (with direct involvement of the GBCs, Giridhari Maharaja and Chandrashekhara Prabhu). I presented several online lessons. 

Due to saving time and energy by not traveling, I wrote three books on varnasrama: “Varnasrama Illuminations,” “How to Mess up Varnasrama,” and “Varnasrama for the Twenty-first Century.” These books address several misconceptions that, if not addressed, can cause seriously detrimental effects on our congregational and social development worldwide. The first book is available (for free) at: 

Free Book: Varnasrama Illuminations

I also started a Facebook page on the subject: Real Varnasrama.”

Bhakti-vriksha Coach Prema Padmini Devi Dasi

  • Daily morning classes on CC, CB, Brihad Bhagavatamrita etc. for devotees in Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
  • Weekly two classes for Russian devotees on CC, SB, BG, Bhakti-vriksha and strategic planning. Mainly training for leaders.
  • Leadership training classes for Bhakti-vriksha leaders from UK, Gurgaon, Baroda, Chennai and Toronto.
  • Had a Bhakti-vriksha festival for 3 days – for different Yatras – in which HH Jayapataka Swami and HH Lokanath Maharaja spoke. Also, Seva Svarupa Das was a special guest speaker. This was hosted by the Surat Temple.
  • Gave classes for devotees in Africa, USA, Mathuradesh, Kanhaiyadesh.
  • Conducted an 18-day Bg course for new people. Also engaged other leaders to do so.
  • Held festivals, Damodar programs, quiz programs on Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita and other subjects.
  • Got sponsorships to distribute Bhagavad-gita freely to poorer people.

Iksvaku Das:

Presentation in Perth, Australia

‘Our Vaisnava Parampara’ – A discussion on the glories of the parampara acaryas on the altar (5 sessions):

  • Srila Prabhupada’s Life and Legacy
    • The achievements of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
    • The Deep Devotion of Gaura Kisora das Babaji
    • Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura – The Congregational Pioneer
    • eThe Emperor of the Vaisnavas – Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji
  • ‘The Magnificence of the Vaisnava Holy Places; Mayapur – Puri & Vrindavan’. A presentation of the importance of the main places of Vaisnava pilgrimage in line of Sri Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada’s examples and preaching.
  • ‘Srila Prabhupada’s Holy Places’- Where was he born; which temples did he establish; how many continents and countries he visited. An insightful discussion of the holy places that Srila Prabhupada created around the world in establishing his ISKCON Society.
  • ‘The Glories of the Six Goswamis’ – A description of each in six sessions.

Presentation in Guayaquil – Ecuador

Online course on Bhakti Home; 31 participants.

Pereira – Colombia

Introductory course (GFE), ‘La Ciencia de la Autorrealizacion’.

               Ongoing

  • “Gita For Everyone”  live video on Mayapur TV channel and Facebook ‘ISKCON Congregation’
  • “Gita For Everyone” to different Bhakti-vrikshas in Perth and online every Sunday Feast for devotees and guests.

                 Pilot presentations on “Entering Srimad         Bhagavatam” delivered at Perth temple

Activities in North America:

  • Austin, Texas weekend workshop on congregation development.
  •  Sacramento, California: online weekend workshop on congregation development. 
  • Various sessions on the Bhagavad-gita for over 1200 devotees  and also completed the entire Srimad Bhagavatam.
  • During the Purushottama Month did 112 home programs worldwide over Zoom. Also, during Purushottama month, conducted live Virtual Parikrama sessions of Sri Navadvipa Dham, Sri Jagannath Puri Dham, Lord Caitanya’s South India Yatra and Himalayan Yatra.
  • During Kartik month, did 126 home programs worldwide over Zoom. During the entire Kartik month, virtual parikrama of the 84 Krosas of Sri Vrindavan Dham – Sri Vraja Mandala Parikrama.
  • Practical sessions like Japa Workshop and Grihastha Workshops.
  • Currently sessions on Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Caitanya Bhagavata and Caitanya Mangala – a comprehensive series on the life of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, combining these literatures. 
  • Congregation development workshop to the Bhakti Community Circle initiative by ISKCON Silicon Valley, under the guidance of HG Vaisesika Prabhu. Online follow-up groups with corporate America and expanding into Latin America as well. 

Programs

Purushottama Month

Introduced the new “Website for Purushottama Month 2020” www.purusottamamonth.com

In it devotees count the number of lamps offered, how many hours of Krsna Katha listened, the books distributed, and how many extra rounds they chanted.

1.095 devotees registered and submitted their results:

  • Daily extra Japa – 53.968 Number of Extra Rounds Chanted
  • Book Reading – 5.034 hours
  • Lecture Hearing – 7.387 hours
  • Number of Lamps Offered – 38.771
  • Krsna Katha – 2.281 hours

Damodara Month

  • Improved the App that was created last year for collecting reports from devotees on number of lamps offered. It was translated into Russian, Mandarin and Spanish. We added social share button for devotees to easily share with their contacts on social media.
  • Created videos on how to make and offer ghee lamps  to Lord Damodara in 6 languages – English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, French and Portuguese and shared them via FB, website and “Lamp a Day” App.
  • Created a WhatsApp group with over 60 global coordinators to share ideas on how to do the Damodara Outreach program this year with all the restrictions due to the pandemic.
  • Interviewed Malaysian yatra devotees who entered into the Malaysian book of records for the biggest number of lamps offered simultaneously on virtual platform (6.538 participants)
  • Were interviewed by GBC Strategic Planning Team to promote the Damodara Outreach Program and the app to a wider audience.
  • Organized launch ceremony in Mayapur on 1st day of Damodara month.
  • Throughout the month published inspirational and educational materials on CDM FB pages and website regarding the significance of observing Damodara month as well as sharing it with public
  • Through the App we received reports from 24 countries, 99 cities and 116 devotees.
  • 1.795.680 offered lamps were reported on the app.

Social Media

We have 6 Facebook pages:

  • ISKCON Congregation – increased followers from 15,292 (Jan) to 15,954 (Dec)
  • ISKCON CDM Youth Service – increased followers from 1406 (Jan) to 2117 (Dec)
  • ISKCON Congregation Children Services – increased followers from 588 (Jan) to 3112 (Dec)
  • Congregacion ISKCON (Spanish) –  increased followers from 633 (Jan) to 914 (Dec)
  • ISKCON Bhakti-vriksa (10,361 followers)
  • Bhakti Vriksha Sudamerica (Spanish) – increased followers from 9100 (Jan) to 10,327 (Dec)
  • As our postings increased and became consistent we increased our websites sales.
  • One live video weekly – through Mayapur TV. (Gita for Everyone – By Iksvaku Prabhu)
  • A minimum of 3 FB postings are done daily
  • We are covering 14 different topics in our weekly FB posts:
    Promotion of our courses – Gita For Everyone, ISKCON Disciple Course, Bhakti Marriage, Vaishnava Life Counselling (New Topic);l Articles – Parenting, Marriage, Nrsimhadeva pastimes; Festivals; CDM Activities, Videos – Congregational Training, Harinams, Book Distribution etc. Excerpts from our books – Nectar of Congregation Preaching, Bhakti-vriksha Manual, The Real Business, Holy Jail (ISKCON Prison Ministry)

Video Production

Our CDM videos are promoted weekly on our media outlets and sent to our subscribers and followers (over 4000 people). As a result of these team efforts there is an increment in devotees registering on the ISKCON Disciple Course (IDC) and Bhakti Marriage courses; in our web sales and traffic and in the number of new subscribers.

We continue to regularly film interviews with Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and other senior devotees, about topics related to the practice and preaching of Krsna Consciousness according to the needs of our congregations.

  • H.H. Bhakti Caitanya Swami
  • H.H. Bhakti Vigna Vinasa Narasimha Swami
  • H.H. Bhakti Marga Swami
  • H.H. Bhakti Dhira Damodar Swami
  • H.G. Sarva-drik Prabhu
  • H.G. Srivas Prabhu
  • H.G. Jivanatha Prabhu

• We created promotional videos for;

  • 1 video for Purusottama Month.
  •  8 videos for Damodara month (5 Different language English, Spanish, Russian, French and Portuguese) 
  • 4 videos for Bhakti Marriage.
  • 4 videos for Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s appearance and disappearance day  
  • We are also filming regularly videos to keep our subscribers updated on our different activities; also, a special Sri Nrsimhadeva Puja Video.  

• In total we have produced 34 videos since the last report.

Bhakti Steps

We are developing a dedicated website for Bhakti Steps. We are in the process of integrating data from number of yatras on multiple continents.

Children Services


Our main social media channel of communication is Facebook and we achieved our yearly goals of growing our audience and creating a live community where parents, teachers and children can interact, find resources, get inspiration, motivate others, give and receive support, etc.

Festival Kits

At the end of July HH Jayapataka Maharaja inspired us to create festival kits and other programs with online sangas. These may include puppet show, dramas, recipes, arts and crafts, songs and help to prepare children for the celebration. We produced kits for:

  • Nrsimha Caturdasi
  • Ratha Yatra.
  • Jhulan Yatra
  • Balarama Purnima
  • Janmastami (250 downloads)
  • Srila Prabhupada’s Appearance Day (184 downloads)
  • Radhastami (440 downloads)
  • Purusottama Challenge (1200 registrations)
  • Damodara Fun Month (400 registrations)

Social Network

  • FB fan page: 3039 Likes (1671 more than last report), 3367 followers (1900 more).
  • We maintain regular posts in which we provide not only activities for children but also important information for parents and educators, such as articles and quotes on raising children in Krsna consciousness.
  • FB Group: 2872 members.
  • The idea of this group is to build an interactive community around our page in which everyone can share, inspire and get inspiration with other parents/devotees’ activities.
  • It grew very fast; we realized how much we needed this space for interaction.
  • The live kirtans are being streamed through this channel.
  • Twitter: We created an account in August. So far, we got 293 visits and 50 followers.
  • Instagram: Increased to 900 followers (480 more than previous report)
  • Website: We received 12,400 visitors (12 times more than in previous period) from 94 different countries. (55 new more countries are following us). We received our first donations through our “donate” section
  • Mailing: We created a Mailchimp account that we use to inform our subscribers about upcoming activities


Books and Publications

Becoming Your Devotee: Part 1. Learn – Bhakti – Fun”: 

  • 525 copies sold: 

Staff Members

  • Seva Svarupa das: General Manager
  • Iksvaku das: course creator and teacher.
  • Vrindavana Caitanya das: office secretary
  • Anuradha Mataji: accountant
  • Sumalini Lalita Mataji: social media
  • Prajojana Prema Mataji: fundraising and subscriptions
  • Milan Madhav das: content creator
  • Amrita Gourangi Mataji:  Damodara Month coordinator
  • Mathura Lilesvari Mataji: communications
  • Vignanasana Govinda Das: Bhakti Steps coordinator
  • Sucarita Jahnava: subscriptions
  • Ganatosita Mataji: video production
  • Adidevi: Subscriptions
  • Visvatmadeva das:  web architect
  • Eka Gauranga das: webmaster
  • Isvara Gauracandra das: web shop
  • Raganuga Gaura das: Bhakti Home coordinator
  • Daru Brahman das: accounts
  • Karuna Bharita Mataji: Children Services
  • Gaurangi Gandarvika Mataji: Children Services
  • Acintya Priya Mataji: Children Services

Appeal to the GBC

Earlier, until 2018, the GBC used to grant CDM a sum of 2 Lakh rupees annually. In 2019, it was reduced to 1.5 Lakhs. For 2020, although the GBC had approved 1.5 Lakhs, for the Covid-19 outbreak, we received only 1 lakh. We appeal to the GBC to grant us some more funds in order to expand and maintain our outreach projects.

Your servants at the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry

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