Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to you! All glories to you! All glories to you!
On behalf of the devotees and well-wishers of the Red Deer center, we offer our heartfelt gratitude and reverence to you. Though separated by time and circumstance, your presence is deeply felt in every sincere attempt to serve your mission. This small center stands as a reflection of your boundless compassion – a place where your teachings continue to illuminate hearts and guide lives.
We remember with deep appreciation the immense challenges you endured for the benefit of all souls. At an advanced age, you undertook the perilous journey across the ocean, alone and with little material support, carrying only your unshakable faith in Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the order of your spiritual master. The difficulties you faced upon arriving in a foreign land – uncertainty, poverty, cultural barriers, and physical hardship – would have discouraged even the strongest among us.
Yet, you persevered with determination, humility, and complete dependence on Kṛṣṇa. Your struggles were not for yourself, but for us – for generations who would come long after, seeking meaning, shelter, and spiritual truth. Because of your sacrifice, the holy names are now chanted, sacred texts are distributed worldwide, and countless lives have been transformed.
Here in Red Deer, we aspire to serve as instruments in your mission. Though small and still developing, this center is our offering to you. We pray for your guidance and blessings so that it may grow into a vibrant spiritual home – where people can gather, learn, chant, and reconnect with their eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Please empower us with sincerity, cooperation, and steadiness so that we may overcome our own limitations and work together in a spirit of service. Let this center become a place that reflects your vision – rooted in devotion, guided by philosophy, and alive with compassion.
We are eternally indebted to you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Kindly bless us so that we may always remember that we are your servants and that our only purpose is to assist, however imperfectly, in fulfilling your divine mission.
Your aspiring servants,
The devotees at ISKCON Red Deer