ISKCON Prison Ministry's blog

By the mercy of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and my Guru Maharaja, I received the inspiration to serve the ISKCON Prison Ministry. On Vyasa-puja day, while chanting myjapa, the inspiration came to me to serve in the prison ministry. Interestingly enough, at that time I didn't even know the prison ministry existed.
I researched the internet, saw on the web site a request from IPM for volunteer pen pals. I thought this was an easy service, one I would enjoy and could do from the comfort of my home and in my

In May 2012, a Chaplain from El-Paso, Texas, Steven Cottingham, emailed me in the hope of getting some books for the inmates he served. He said,
“My name is Steven. I serve in 5 jails, 3 federal prisons, and 2 state prisons and there are people asking for books in each of these institutions. What I do is place books in each institution’s Religious Services library, so it is cost-effective that way. Do you have books we could have?”

Ever hear the phrase, “The long arm of the law”? Most of you probably have. But just in case you haven’t, this phrase refers to the tendency for legal authorities to always, “Get their man”. Well in my experience Lord Krishna’s “arm” is much longer than the law, and He has extended it through His beloved representative Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada’s faithful servants, to reach out to devotees in every circumstance of life.

Closing a year of ecstatic preaching and opening a new one is very exciting. More opportunities to serve the sweet lotus feet of Prabhupada and Krsna!
This year I am hoping for more volunteers to correspond with the many inmates reaching out for support and guidance. Below is some more nectar from the inmates as well as an overview of the activities of IPM in 2012.

New Inmate Letter Excerpts

How I came to Krsna
by Bhakta Ben

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.

Dear Maharaja
Please accept my respectful obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Al glories to you!

Please let me inform you about the latest news regarding the donation of Srila Prabhupada's books in the prison libraries of the Republic of Croatia.

Hare Krsna dear devotees,

Hare Krsna dear devotees!

It's my great pleasure to present a new addition to the IPM website; article about prison preaching programs outside USA!

Here is the link you can follow to read the 3 articles just added: http://www.iskconprisonministry.us/taxonomy/term/68

Be sure to click on the titles or on "read more" so you can see all the pictures included.

Thank you all for your amazing support!

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Hare Krsna, dear devotees!