A Methodist Reverend Appreciates Srila Prabhupada's Books

[Vijaya Baladeva das]

One late Friday afternoon we received a call from Reverend Ntombe, the
leader of one of the Methodist churches in Pretoria. He said, "I was
told you are from a society that is giving books to libraries. Could
you
donate some books for our church library?" The reverend went on to
explain that he was starting a library for his church's congregation
and
wanted as many quality books as possible. That sounded like a really
nice thing for a religious leader to do.

He explained that a member of his congregation is a librarian in one
of
the community libraries where we had earlier donated books, and that
he
had gotten our number from her. That was truly inspiring to hear: in
her
own way this librarian was helping Srila Prabhupada's book
distribution.
Hari Bol!

But still we had some doubts: Had the reverend seen the books? Did he
know that we were Hare Krishnas? We knew that usually Christians are
not
inclined to take our books, what to speak of a reverend?!

Sensing our concern, he assured us: ñI want my congregation to learn
about all religions -- Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. All paths lead
to
the same God. The only difference is that we Christians believe that
Jesus is the only way, while other religions have their own path."

We took the opportunity to present a brief summary of Vaisnavism,
explaining that the books are based on the Vedic teachings from India,
which are thousands of years old, and that they had been translated
into
English by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and that they
encompass
the essence of the teachings of all paths D namely, love of Godhead.
His
enthusiasm remained intact, and so, thinking that this must be Srila
Prabhupada's arrangement, we decided to go for it.

We arranged a time and place to meet the reverend near his church. He
was quite warm and welcoming, and when we handed him the Medium Set of
books -- the /Bhagavad-gita/, Krsna Book, Science of Self-Realization,
and ten to fifteen small books -- he smiled gratefully and said, "Hare
Krishna. I am grateful for these books. They will benefit our
congregation, and I will also read them."

A week later we called the reverend to follow up. He said that though
he
hadnÍt had a chance to read the books yet, they were being catalogued
and would soon be put on the library shelves. His last words were "If
you have more such books, please bring them." Srila Prabhupada Ki
Jaya!

Your servants,
Bhakta Hemant & Bhaktin Aditi
ISKCON Pretoria, South Africa