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Grhasta Couples Needed for Mentoring Work
By Praharana dasi for the Grhasta Vision Team
Posted Nov. 25, 2004

The Grhasta Vision Team is a group of North American devotees who work as professional counselors. We have been working together for almost two years and have put together a number of initiatives designed to strengthen, enliven, and support Vaishnavas serving in the grhasta ashram. We have the support and blessings of the ISKCON North American Spiritual Strategic Planning Council.

These initiatives are now ready to roll out across the United States and Canada. We are looking for enthusiastic grhasta couples to work with us as local partners. We welcome you to become involved. Your involvement is absolutely necessary to our success.

Mentor Program: Grhasta couples are invited to become mentors for newly married couples or couples having difficulty in their marriages. Mentors have been married at least eight years, are devotees in good standing, are committed to their marital relationship, and enjoy friendly and caring interaction with others. Mentoring strengthens families and communities. It creates a culture of respect and friendship between older and younger couples, and is a potent and valuable preaching tool. Other religious groups have found great success in their mentoring programs. We provide excellent training, ongoing support, and networking for mentor couples.

Marriage Training: We have put together a three-day marriage-training course: Strengthening the Bonds that Free Us. We need many teachers. This course is most effective if taught by a mature grhasta couple, but we are open to training other presenters. Teachers must have taken the VTE (Vaishnava Training and Education) teacher training course. Our goal is to present this course in every community. We will teach you how to effectively present this important and enlivening marriage-training course. Teacher and student manuals have been prepared. VTE teacher training sessions are also being arranged.

Covenant: We are promoting a Vaishnava Marriage Covenant within our North American temples. This covenant is a document signed by temple leaders and GBCs and expresses their commitment to promoting healthy, spiritually based marriages within their communities. We need grhasta couples to work with their local management to make this commitment a reality. Temple managers can’t do this alone. Local activities might include promoting the Mentor Program; making sure the marriage training course is taught; finding professional pre-marriage counseling in your area; starting support groups for householders, women, or young people; and organizing social events where devotees can get together and feel like part of a community. Your activities will be reported on our website to inspire and enthuse others.

Enlivening Srila Prabhupada’s grhasta family is certainly a most rewarding and spiritually fulfilling service. Strong families and communities will mean a strong ISKCON. Please become part of our team and become a grhasta preacher in your area. There are many ways in which you can be involved.

Please contact us at gvisionteam@yahoo.com for more information. Our website is http://www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org/.

We are looking forward to hearing from you. All glories to Srila Prabhupada’s grhasta family!

Your servants on the Grhasta Vision Team

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