Dearest Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our most heartfelt and humble obeisances. All glories to you on this divine day of
your appearance!
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
We are humbled to have this opportunity to be able to express our heartfelt gratitude to you on
this most auspicious occasion of your appearance.
Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda, for giving us the path of bhakti and for establishing ISKCON, a
home in which we all can live. During your pastimes on this planet, you provided us with amazing
wealth in the form of your books, lectures, articles, letters, personal teachings, and interactions.
You introduced the Western world to the teachings of Lord Caitanya, festivals, kīrtana, philosophy,
Deity worship, prasādam, and so much more. As the years pass, we continue to realize more and
more how precious this gift is that you have so mercifully given us.
On behalf of your disciples, granddisciples, and followers here at ISKCON Hillsboro/Portland,
we humbly offer you a short description of the activities that devotees have been working on for
your pleasure and the pleasure of our beloved Deities, Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Śacīnandana! Please continue
to bless us, so we may all remain in your service.
Our devotees have been working together on book distribution, as well as ensuring that your
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is available in hotel rooms. A number of devotees have facilitated local
weekly bhakti-vriksha groups (online and in-person), Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam classes,
as well as Bhakti-śāstrī studies. Every morning and evening, devotees join a call where your books
are read together. It has been so wonderful to see the devotional enthusiasm of our yātrā increase
by associating with you in the form of your books!
We have welcomed many newly initiated devotees and new congregation members. The devo-
tee community has been blossoming, and everyone serves together in a spirit of joy, encourage-
ment, and cooperation. The weekly Sunday Love Feast program, as established by you, is held, as
well as programs on all festival days.
We have a very enthusiastic youth group who engage in kīrtana at every opportunity, and
our youngest devotees continue to share with one another and everyone else what they learn in
Sunday School. At every festival we try to have single-minded focus on the saṅkīrtana of the holy
name, and we encourage everyone to join in the singing for the pleasure of the Lord, as per your
example.
We have enlivening festivals, including two wonderful Ratha-yātrās in prime locations. So
many new people are able to join in the chanting of the holy name. Many plates of prasādam are
distributed, and many of your books are distributed as well. Our Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī festival
continues to attract thousands of people, with books, prasādam, dramas, kīrtana, and dance. We
observe an annual Deity welcoming ceremony, where devotees gather to lovingly make beautiful
flower outfits and accessories for our Deities and to shower Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Śacīnandana with rose
petals – a Portland specialty, since this is called the “Rose City.”
Devotees have come together to develop a drama team, and their performances of the Lord’s
pastimes capture everyone’s hearts. Amazingly, young teenagers are writing heartfelt scripts after
reading your descriptions of the Lord’s pastimes. We hold these dramas on a monthly basis, and
the entire community looks forward to seeing them with great excitement.
You will also be happy to know that by your compassionate instructions, weekly prasādam dis-
tribution to the homeless community continues in the Portland downtown area. We started it at
the beginning of the COVID pandemic and continue it still. People look forward to receiving this
special form of the Lord’s mercy.
Inspired by the beauty of our Deities, Śrī Śrī Nitāi-Śacīnandana, devotees have formed a deco-
ration team that makes darshan of the Deities a feast for our eyes on a weekly basis as well as at
festivals. We have been fortunate to welcome new full-time pūjārīs, trained in the holy dhāmas,
who kindly teach the rest of us more aspects of Deity worship. Inspired by their encouragement,
devotees have also started sewing and crocheting groups so that more outfits can be offered to our
Deities.
Śrīla Prabhupāda, from your example of extending Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone, we have
developed a wider social media presence. Our content across social media platforms has been
enhanced by our new website, which is welcoming and informative for newcomers as well as for
practicing devotees. We are also using other social media to rapidly reach out to the community
beyond our small group, to attract them to what your Society has to offer them. Our devotees
have dramatically enhanced the attractiveness of the content by forming a talented audiovisual
devotee team.
We aspire to always engage in your service to the best of our abilities. We pray for the continu-
ous flow of your mercy and thus to become worthy of serving you in a pleasing manner. On this
auspicious occasion, we ask humbly for your blessings so that our community can continue to
reciprocate in gratitude to your earnest and ceaseless efforts to uplift everyone.
Thank you for giving every second of your earthly presence for our benefit!
Your aspiring, loving servants at ISKCON Hillsboro/Portland