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Bahá’í News

May 1979

Bahá’í Year 136

239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America

Allan L. Ward

[Page 0] In the last six months attacks have been launched against Iran’s Bahá’í community, the largest religious minority in the country.

Over 500 homes have been razed or burned down

More than 1,000 people are homeless

Orchards have been seized, depriving farmers of their livelihood

A clinic run by Bahá’ís was dynamited

Bahá’í centers in dozens of towns have been invaded, records and literature confiscated

Individuals and families have been threatened, beaten, and in several cases driven to mosques and forced to recant their faith

Several Bahá’ís have been murdered

Threats have been made to demolish the house of the Báb, a shrine in Shiráz sacred to Bahá’ís all over the world

The house where Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, was born in Teheran has been repeatedly raided and is now occupied by armed men

A number of Moslem leaders have been inflaming popular passions by calling Bahá’ís heretics and traitors

Echoing such sentiments, Mansour Farhang of Sacramento State University, appearing on the public television network in the United States on February 8, accused the Bahá’ís of perpetrating crimes against the Iranian nation

As happens in all persecutions and pogroms, the perpetrators blame the victims

Since its beginning over a century ago, the Bahá’í Faith has been viciously attacked by the most bigoted elements of Islamic society.

Well over 20,000 men, women, and children have been martyred for their faith

WHY THE ATTACK ON BAHÁ’ÍS?

The Bahá’ís believe that:

Divine revelation is progressive and did not cease with Mohammed;

Bahá’u’lláh is the messenger of God for this age;

All religions are one in essence;

It is everyone’s duty independently to search after truth;

Men and women have equal rights;

Everyone has the right to education;

Mankind is one;

Poverty must be eliminated and wealth limited;

Wars must cease.

The Bahá’í community has no clergy.

It is governed by freely elected Assemblies.

The Bahá’í community is non-political.

It shuns partisanship and works for reconciliation and brotherhood.

The Bahá’í community is law-abiding. It is firmly opposed to all violence.

American Bahá’ís in some 7,000 localities across the nation raise their voices in protest against the cruel and senseless oppression that their Iranian co-religionists have suffered for so long and continue to suffer.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES
Wilmette, Illinois

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Contents

239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America
An excerpt from a remarkable new book by Allan L. Ward	2
Teaching in Nimba County, Liberia
Personal memories of an exciting trip to the country’s interior	8
Around the world
News from Bahá’í communities in every corner of the globe	15

Cover

More than 20 years of painstaking research into ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to the United States in 1912 are reflected in Dr. Allan L. Ward’s exciting and illuminating new book, 239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America. One of the best-remembered aspects of that historic visit is the Unity Feast in New Jersey, an event that is recalled in an excerpt from the book that begins on Page 2 of this issue.

Change of address should be reported directly to Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates: one year, U.S. $8; two years, U.S. $15. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091.Copyright © 1979, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Bahá’í News is published monthly for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A.

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239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America

(The following article is excerpted from Dr. Allan L. Ward’s new book, 239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America, just published by the U.S. Bahá’i Publishing Trust. The book is a day-by-day account of the Master’s travels in the United States and Canada in 1912. Dr. Ward, an associate professor in the Department of Speech at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, is widely known for his lectures on the life and travels of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.—Ed.)

•

Chapter 9
New Jersey: The Unity Feast*

‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in Montclair, New Jersey, on Friday, June 21, staying in a house He had rented in advance. Most of His time was occupied in talking with the people who came to see Him. On Sunday morning, June 23, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the Bahá’ís more of the history of the Faith. As He came into the living room where the people were gathered, He said to one of the incoming friends, “You are always smiling.” Mr. Frank E. Osborne replied, “Surely our faces should reflect happiness in this presence.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied, “Yes!—This is the day of Bahá’u’lláh; the age of the Blessed Perfection; the cycle of the Greatest Name. If you do not smile now, for what time will you await and what greater happiness could you expect?”¹

That same day Juliet Thompson and Lua Getsinger brought the proofs of Mrs. Kasebier’s photographs for the Master to see. They were sitting on the closed-in front porch in the afternoon with a number of the friends. Juliet recalled, in an undated entry in her diary:

I showed Him the proofs of the pictures, then spoke of Mrs. Kasebier—who had seen Him only once, when she photographed Him.

“She said she would like to live near You, my Lord.” He laughed. “She doesn’t want to live near Me. She only

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wants a good time!” Then He grew serious. “To live near Me,” He said, “one must have My aims and objects. Do you remember the rich young man who wanted to live near Christ, and when he learned what it cost to live near Him—that it meant to give away all his possessions and take up across and follow Christ—then,” the Master laughed, “he fled away!”

“Among the disciples of the Báb,” He continued, “were two: His amanuensis and a firm believer. On the eve of the Báb’s martyrdom the firm believer prayed, ‘Oh let me die with You!’ The amanuensis said: ‘What shall I do?’

“ ‘What shall I do,’ ” mocked the Master. “ ‘What do you want me to do?’ The disciple died with the Báb, his head on the breast of the Báb, and their bodies were mingled in death. The other died in prison anyway, but think of the difference in their stations!

“There was another martyr,” continued the Master after a moment, “Mírzá Abdu’lláh of Shíráz.” Then He told us that Mírzá Abdu’lláh had been in the Presence of Bahá’u’lláh only once, “But he so loved the Blessed Beauty that he could not resist following Him to Ṭihrán ...

Mirza Abdu’lláh reached Ṭihrán in the midst of that bloodiest of massacres ... Bahá’u’lláh had been cast into a dungeon. There, in that foul cellar He sat, weighted down by “The Devil’s Chain”—eleven disciples sitting with Him, bound by the same chain. In it were set iron collars which were fastened around the neck by iron pins. Every day a disciple was slaughtered and none knew when his turn would come. The first intimation he had of his immediate death was when the jailer took out the iron pin from his collar.

Mírzá Abdu’lláh entered Ṭihrán and inquired of the guard at the gate “where Bahá’u’lláh resided.” “We will take you to Him,” said the guard. And some men took Abdu’lláh to the dungeon and chained him to Bahá’u’lláh.

“So,” the Master said, “he found his Beloved again!” One day the jailer came into the dungeon and took the pin

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from Mírzá Abdu’lláh’s collar.

“Then,” said the Master, “Mírzá Abdu’lláh stepped joyfully forward. First, he kissed the feet of the Blessed Beauty—and then—”

The Master’s whole aspect suddenly changed. It was as though the spirit of the martyr had entered into Him. With that God-like head erect, snapping His fingers high in the air, beating out a drum-like rhythm with His foot till we could hardly endure the vibrations set up, He triumphantly sang “The Martyr’s Song.”

“I have come again, I have come again,

By way of Shiraz I have come again!

With the wine-cup in My hand!

Such is the madness of Love!”

“And thus,” ended “Abdu’l-Bahá, “singing and dancing he went to his death—and a hundred executioners fell on him! And later his parents came to Bahá’u’lláh, praising God that their son had given his life in the Path of God.”...

The Master sank back into His chair. Tears swelled in my eyes, blurring everything ... A smile of exultation played on His lips. So low that it sounded like an echo He hummed the Martyr’s Song.

The rest of the week ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent in instructing the friends and visitors who flocked to His doors in Montclair and in making a brief trip to Newark. After early morning prayers ‘Abdu’l-Bahá usually went to the market Himself to purchase food for the day; He managed most of the meals Himself, especially if guests were present, as there usually were.

After He breakfasted at Mr. Charles Edsall’s home on Wednesday, June 26, and returned to His house, He found several of the ladies who had come down from New York hard at work washing dishes and cleaning floors. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laughed and said, “Look! How the power of the Blessed Beauty works!”

In Newark, on Thursday, as they walked through the park, the Persian friends were aware of passersby staring at the unusual scene of the American friends following in reverence after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. On Friday, when He took a group of the friends by streetcar to the park in Montclair, He led them to the empty bandstand, and seated them saying, “factious persons ... are trying to imprison Me again on My return to the Holy Land.” When the friends suggested it would be better for Him not to return, He replied, “My source is the Holy Threshold, and my return, too, is to the same. Had it not been for His aid and assistance, would these people sitting on your right and left have had any care for you and Me? ... What are we and why are we showered with these favors? Where is Persia and where is America?...”

He then walked to a nearby hotel, and two ladies, seeing Him, asked to be introduced and proceeded to ask Him about the history and teachings of the Faith. When they said that He seemed to be extremely wealthy, He responded, “My riches are of the Kingdom and not of this world ... Although I have nothing, yet I am richer than all the world.” A couple passing by stopped to listen and joined the conversation. They gave their names to Mr. Edsall so they could be invited to meetings.

Mahmúd noted, that day, “He [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] used to say, ‘Had I sufficient rest and repose and a little relaxation of thought you would have seen how the hearts would have been attracted and the souls set aglow.’ ”

It was not, however, His talks on spiritual development that found their way into the New York Times on Sunday. In an article headed, “PROPHET’S DASH FOR TRAIN: Abdul Baha in Spectacular Rush from Montclair,” the Times reported:

Special to the New York Times / Montclair, N.J., June 29—The departure of Abdul Baha, leader of the Bahaist

On the previous page, ‘Abdu'l-Bahá at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, August 1912.

Left, with a group of Bahá’ís in Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1912.

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cult, from Montclair to-day was attended by excitement. Abdul Baha and a retinue of ten fez-wearing Persians had been staying at 11 Bradford Place for several weeks. Arrangements were made for the departure of the aged prophet to-day for West Englewood ... Several members of his retinue left for the Lackawanna station in advance of their leader.

When train time came, Abdul Baha was not in sight. He had been delayed. The baggage of the Persians was aboard the train, and as it moved away they appealed to the trainmen in several Oriental languages to defer the departure for a few minutes. Several of the excited followers of the prophet, when they realized that the train was leaving, jumped to the platforms. One of them, in swinging his arms about, accidently (sic) or otherwise, pulled the bell rope. At the same instant, by a strange coincidence, Abdul Baha hove in sight in an automobile. To add to the excitement a Persian accidentally knocked off the conductor’s hat. The train came to a halt, and Abdul Baha leaped from the automobile and was hustled aboard the coach by his friends.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá left Montclair at 8:30 A.M. on Saturday, June 29, and, after transfering to four different streetcars, arrived at Roy Wilhelm’s home in West Englewood, New Jersey. This was the large outdoor gathering—the Unity Feast—to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had invited the friends before He left New York. He rested as the friends arrived and sat in a circle in the shade of the large trees. Then He spoke to individuals as He walked among them. Addressing the entire group He said, “This is a new Day and this hour is a new Hour in which we have come together ... True Bahai meetings are the mirrors of the kingdom wherein images of the Supreme Concourse are reflected ... First, you must become united and agreed among yourselves ...”²

When He had finished, the meal was ready; but just as it was announced, thunder was heard, and large raindrops began to fall. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked to the road, taking a chair, and several friends grouped around Him. As He sat, His face turned upward, a strong wind began to blow, the clouds began to disperse, and the sun shown through. Then He rose and walked back into the grove. After the meal of Persian food ‘Abdu’l-Bahá anointed the two hundred fifty guests with attar of roses. After dark, as the friends sat on the lawn with candles, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke, ending as He walked into the darkness, “Peace be with you. I will pray for you.”³

On Sunday morning, June 30, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left for the home of Mr. Topakyan, the Persian Consul General, in Morristown. On His way there He stopped in Englewood at the home of the minister who had come to see Him the day before. After talking a few minutes, He continued His trip to Morristown. Concerning the afternoon activities, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s translator, Dr. Amin Faríd, wrote:

The Consul-General of Persia, Topakyan, gave a barbecue in honor of Abdul-Baha and his Persian suite, at his delightful summer home and garden at Morristown, New Jersey. The journey was accomplished in an automobile from the home of Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm, in West Englewood, through beautiful meadows of New Jersey, and the whole day was spent most pleasantly at the Persian consulate, which is a building in the garden built after the old style of Persian architecture. Among the guests were some prominent men from New York and some society folk to interview him on all sorts of questions. He spoke that forenoon to those persons on the advance of materialism and its evil attendants or concomitants. The dinner was entirely Oriental in character, a barbecue a la Perse.⁴

On returning to New York that night, Mahmúd recalled, “the Blessed One did not allow us to prepare supper. After partaking of a little bread and watermelon, He went to bed.”

Far left, visiting Mr. Topakyan, the Persian Consul General, Morristown, New Jersey, June 30, 1912.

Left, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the Unity Feast, West Englewood, New Jersey, June 29, 1912.

1. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Discourses by Abdul Baha Abbas during His Visit to the United States in 1912, [rev. ed.] in 1 vol. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1943), p. 205.
2. Ibid., pp. 208-10.
3. Diary of Juliet Thompson, National Bahá’í Archives, Wilmette, Ill., entry for June 29, 1912.
4. Dr. Ameen U. Fareed, “Barbecue in Honor of Abdul Baha,” Star of the West, 3, no. 11 (Sept. 27, 1912), 8.

• Reprinted by permission from 239 Days: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America. Copyright © 1979 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.

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Traveling and Teaching in Nimba County

(Mrs. Jene Bellows of Skokie, Illinois, who represented the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly last December at the West African Bahá’í Women’s Conference in Monrovia, Liberia, has written the following account of a teaching trip to Nimba County, Liberia, that was undertaken after the conference.—Ed.)

•

When my mother, Rose Gronsund, and I left the United States to attend the West African Bahá’í Women’s Conference in Liberia, it was with the shared conviction that the trip was foreordained. We hadn’t planned to go to Africa. The opportunity presented itself more as an idea than a possibility. There were too many obstacles to overcome. So we approached the prospect of going with an attitude of “if it’s meant to be it will happen”—and we were on our way!

Many Bahá’ís have traveled to Africa, and often. But this was our first time and we were filled with anticipation. Could it really be happening? Africa! A magic name, a magic continent already rich in Bahá’í history.

When I think of Liberia and the Bahá’ís there, vivid colors —bright and warm—flash in a kaleidoscope of pictures in my mind. I want to share the feelings as well as the facts, but I ask myself if I can understand, let alone describe, the special spirit of the friends we met, their dedication, loving hearts and generous hospitality.

Those of us who stayed on to teach after the conference met with the National Assembly of Liberia and received our assignments. It was noon when Hoda and Heshmat Naddafi, Ranjit Singh Bal and I left Monrovia for the interior of Liberia.

Bal and I were to assist with consolidating the new communities that had recently sprung up in Nimba County, an area of Liberia bordering on Guinea. Hoda and Heshmat, young newlywed pioneers who had recently arrived from Iran, live in Sannequellie, the Nimba County seat. They, along with three native Bahá’í youth of that region, had found many new believers in the villages and formed several Assemblies.

If this teaching trip was a new experience for me, it opened a whole new world to Bal! Bal and I first met on the conference grounds. It was a sunny morning. Several of the friends were gathered under a huge shade tree during a break in the sessions. I, assuming they were all Bahá’ís, spoke of my plan to go directly from the conference into the interior to teach the Faith. Bal offered to join me. As we talked I realized that he wasn’t a Bahá’í, or at least he was not an enrolled Bahá’í, for every word he said assured me he was one of those souls that Bahá’u’lláh had prepared for His Cause. It was just a matter of clearly giving him the Message.

I remember telling Bal that if he believed enough to want to teach the Faith, he believed enough to join us. How his eyes sparkled when he said, “Of course, I am a Bahá’í, and I will go with you!” After we deepened on the Teachings he told me of his background.

Bal is a high school chemistry teacher in Monrovia. Previously a Sikh (Hindu), he had recently come to Liberia from India. He had long since left behind the Sikh customs and traditions. Always a believer in unity and the oneness of mankind, he had now found the way to work for his belief. The formalities over, we made our travel plans.

It takes more than six hours by taxi to reach Sannequellie, over miles and miles of gritty red dust and ruts. Rubber trees march in rows in every direction as far as the eye can see. Our team passed through villages named Kakata, Tumutu, Totota and Tetata. Fortunately the traffic was minimal, for every time we met an oncoming car we had to close the windows to keep from choking on the red dust. At times we would catch up to a slow-moving vehicle. With no space to pass, we’d follow for miles with the windows closed, perspiration running down our faces. But the trip was a delight! There is no feeling to compare with the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh! The prayers had been said, we had our guidelines from the institutions, and we knew that whatever happened from that moment on, we were in the mainstream of the Covenant. All would go according to God’s Plan. This was true freedom!

We stopped at a village for a watermelon break, visited pioneers, and arrived in Sannequellie late in the afternoon. Hoda and Heshmat live in a small room in the government-owned guest house. With no trouble, accommodations were found for all of us. We were to leave for the villages early the next morning.

That evening we worked out our plans and packed our provisions. We each carried a sheet, towel, mosquito netting, blanket (for it’s cold in the high country at night) and other necessities. Warned that the village food could make us ill (the village water

[Page 9] comes from the rivers, and our “civilized” stomachs would not be able to handle it), we carried cheese, bread and water. Erickson Napeh, one of the youth who had brought the Faith to the villages, was to be our interpreter.

After prayers and a substantial breakfast, prepared by Heshmat on a single burner kerosene stove, we walked into the center of town to the “parking station” in search of a taxi, truck or anything that might be going in our direction. It was hot and noisy, and I was grateful to be wearing a long African dress; it kept the flies off my legs.

As time passed, tired of standing, I sat next to a young native woman also waiting for a ride. We began to talk. She told me about her school and her family and I told her about Bahá’u’lláh, His Mission, and our mission to her part of the world. She eagerly asked questions. Then I asked her name. “Yah,” she said. “Yah is my name!” “What a special name!” I said, and told her of the Greatest Name. “Ya-Bahá’ul-Abhá,” I said, and Yah repeated it. We hugged each other and laughed! How happy we were! Then my new-found friend asked how she could become a Bahá’í. We made an appointment to meet at Hoda and Heshmat’s house after our return from the villages, and it was time to leave for Tiehyee.

This was the dry season. During the rainy season torrential rains batter Liberia with no let-up. This goes on for weeks and even the good roads give way. The corrugated road to Tiehyee was no exception. We traveled in a pick-up truck, jammed together with other travelers, hip bones rubbing against hip bones. With no room for arms to hang down at the sides, we held onto bars supporting the roof. Speed was at a premium as we crept over log bridges, worked our way around deep crevasses, and climbed through forests, finally to emerge on the flat plain of Tiehyee.

The truck left us in a haze of dust. We didn’t have to wait long. Curious people began to gather. We smiled. They smiled. We reached out our hands to those nearest us—and then I heard “Alláh’u’Abhá!” Erickson introduced me to the vice chairman of the Spiritual Assembly, who immediately set out to find us lodging.

Everywhere we went I was struck by the beauty of being greeted with “Alláh’u’Abhá!” From the moment we were met at the airport to the moment of our departure we heard the greeting on every side. It served to deepen our awareness of what it can

Top, the author, Jene Bellows (right) with a seeker named Yah waiting for transportation to the interior of Liberia. Above, Hoda and Heshmat Naddafi, pioneers to Sannequellie, in Nimba County, Liberia, and new believer Ranjit Singh Bal (left to right) share a watermelon break.

[Page 10] Top, a morning meeting in the village of Tiehyee, Liberia. Ranjit Singh Bal is seated at the left (back to camera); to his right is Bahá’í youth Erickson Napeh. Above, a deepening in Tiehyee. The man in the center wearing a hat is the village chief who was addressing the Bahá’ís.

mean to live in a Bahá’í society. We belonged. We fit in. We were at home wherever we went and our numbers seemed greater than they actually were.

Our small party—Bal, Erickson and I—expanded as we walked through Tiehyee. Like the Pied Piper we gathered the children. Mr. Matala, the chairman of the Local Assembly, welcomed us to his home, and Gono, one of his three wives, gave me her bed. The village houses are built of mud bricks. Some of the larger buildings have corrugated metal roofs, and some of the roofs are thatched—made of palm fronds and branches. The Matala house was especially grand, with several rooms for sleeping and one central sitting room. Wooden benches and six-inch high stools served as furniture. The cooking was done outside.

Gono helped me rig the mosquito netting over the bed and we spread my sheet on the straw mattress. All this had to be accomplished quickly, or time would slip away and it would be difficult to arrange in the dark of night.

We had been told that immediately upon arrival in the villages we would be offered baths. How welcome and necessary! Gono, who had quietly taken me in hand the moment I arrived at her house, escorted me to the bath house, a circle of sticks nearly chin high, with a narrow entrance. There in the center she placed a huge bucket of steaming water and offered me a lappa—a two-yard length of cloth that serves many purposes in village life. Knotted around the waist, it is a skirt. It is a wrapping for bundles to be carried on the head, a sling to tie baby to the back, and, in this case, a shower curtain! After Gono, using sign language, had explained the details of privacy in the village, and assured herself that the lappa did, indeed, cover the opening to the bath house, she squatted nearby as guard. But not until we had giggled together about my height! The bath house walls were just barely adequate.

Most of the men and women work on the farm lands until sundown, so the village was nearly deserted. That afternoon Gono, the children, and a few other Bahá’í women gathered around us for a deepening class. Because of the bad roads, not

[Page 11] many Bahá’í teachers had been to visit them, and the Assembly had not yet met. While we talked together and answered questions, we discussed the need to celebrate the Feast every 19 days. “But,” they asked, “we have no prayers in our language. How can we pray?” Bal set to work making a wall calendar while Erickson translated the “Remover of Difficulties.” And we prayed together.

Meetings begin late in the villages. The women must prepare the evening meal after returning from a long day in the fields. This is no simple chore. The water is carried from the river, and kassaba root, previously pared, boiled and laboriously pounded into a pulpy mass, is cooked into a stew over an open fire. The “stove” is made of three rocks placed in a triangle upon which an iron kettle is balanced. We were offered their food, but explained that we had brought our own, since we had come as uninvited guests.

At each of the meetings men, women and children gathered. James and Barclay, two young men from Sannequellie, arrived in time to help teach songs learned at the conference. The friends asked many questions and were most interested in the marriage laws. This gave us an opportunity to speak of the equality of men and women. The men were reminded that they should help the women with the children and relieve them of some of their physical burden so they could have time to be educated.

The chief of the village attended one meeting. He listened as we talked of the duties of the Spiritual Assembly and showed he understood the concepts. When we were asked when we would build a Center for them, the chief said the Bahá’ís must prove themselves. They must make their own decisions in their meetings and build their own Center, he said.

We asked the Spiritual Assembly to meet. The male members went into the house, but the women stayed behind. When we told the women that they, too, as members of the Assembly, must attend the meeting and offer their thoughts in consultation, they joined the others, only to return in 15 minutes! “How can we hold the Feast when we don’t have prayers or Writings in our language?” was again their appropriate question.

The time came to leave Tiehyee, and Barclay volunteered to stay behind. The young men had translated the Remover of Difficulties, the short obligatory prayer and a children’s prayer. Barclay would teach the words to the friends; it was a beginning.

Top, women and children in the village of Gorton pounding the kassaba root, a staple of the Liberian diet. Above, Erickson Napeh and Ranjit Singh Bal (left to right) who accompanied the author on her teaching trip to the interior of Liberia.

[Page 12] Top, a group of Bahá’ís crosses one of the many log bridges that span rivers and streams in Liberia’s interior. Above, Ranjit Singh Bal (third from left) and the author (to his left) surrounded by smiling Bahá’ís at a deepening at the Bahá’í Center in the village of Gorton.

We left behind seven new believers.

When I think back to our days spent in the villages, my thoughts turn to feelings. I feel the warmth of the hospitality and the sincere appreciation that we had come to visit them. I feel the many warm handshakes we exchanged—first the grasp of the hand, the firm shake that always ended with a snapped finger. And I think of Gono and feel her love. Gono and I were truly sisters. She told me of her daughter who had died at childbirth the week before. This had kept her from attending the conference. She offered to sleep near me in case I needed her, and when we left the village to walk through the bush to Gorton, she followed us. I turned and saw her standing there and went to her. There were tears in her eyes, and we hugged, this tiny frail lady and I.

To reach Gorton, the next village to be visited, we walked through the bush and crossed the river several times, balancing on footbridges one or two logs in width; there were no hand railings—this was not easy! The boys carried my cameras in case I fell in the water. I enjoyed their polite teasing. Concerned that I might not be physically up to handling the trip, they kept saying, “We’re nearly there!” After about an hour and a half we began to see signs that we were at last approaching Gorton.

The Bahá’í Faith had been in Gorton for about three months. The community is active and strong. The Center is immaculate. Pictures of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Shrines adorn the white-washed walls. Most of the Nimba women who attended the conference came from Gorton. When we entered the village we heard choruses of “Allah’u’Abhá!” Children rushed to greet us, the men came with outstretched hands. Bringing up the rear were the women, walking slowly in their stately fashion, their faces wreathed in smiles. Again we were at home.

It wasn’t long before I learned the reason for the maturity of this community. Shortly after the teaching had taken place in Gorton, missionaries from a Christian church arrived and told the friends that Bahá’u’lláh is the anti-Christ. The friends, new to the Faith and frail, became afraid and turned away. But Cooper Baymie had been elected to the new Spiritual Assembly. He felt it was his responsibility to find out the truth, and he remembered the pictures of the Temples and Shrines he had seen before his declaration. With this in his mind, he set out for Monrovia to discover the

[Page 13] facts. It was a long journey. Eight hours by car, if one has a car. Cooper visited the Bahá’í Center there, and asked his questions. Assured that Bahá’u’lláh is the Promised One, he returned to Gorton, and soon all the believers had returned to the Faith.

The missionaries came again to Gorton, many of them, from all over Nimba County. They sent many people to talk to Cooper to try and change his mind—certain that if they could turn him away, they would turn the others away as well.

Later, Cooper told me what had happened. He said, “I told them I am a Bahá’í. I will listen about any religion, but I will not leave the Bahá’í Faith and join the Christian religion because the Christians fight one another.” Finally, the pastor himself came to see him. “Young man,” he said, “why do you so much love the Bahá’í Faith?” Cooper answered, “Because Bahá’u’lláh is not against anything. The Bahá’ís don’t criticize anything. So many of your members come here, but they fight each other ... and they say bad things. The Christians have deacons, pastors, priests—single people who talk all the time. You take the collections and love only your own members.” The pastor replied, “The faith you are in is not a religion. There are many liars.” Then Cooper ended his story. “I told him, ‘Pastor, I will not become a Christian. I have found the right place to go. Allah’u’Abhá.’ And the pastor went away.”

That night the village turned out in force for the meeting. The Center couldn’t hold the crowd. When the friends raised their voices to sing “The Bahá’ís of Gorton—We Are All One,” the bass voices of the men underlined the trill of the women and children and the sound filled the night.

Later, we deepened on the Five Year Plan and its relationship to the Covenant. The questions and answers stimulated ideas, and soon we were in consultation. They spoke of their plans and their needs. There was no room for doubt. The believers in Gorton know what it means to be a Bahá’í. Before we left their village they showed us land they had set aside to build an even larger Center, told us of their section of farm land dedicated to the Fund, and apologized that they meet only four times a week for prayers: Wednesday night, Friday night and twice on Sunday!

The meeting came to an end. Quietly, the friends made their way back to their houses. Small kerosene lanterns made barely discernible spots of light in the dark night. I followed the custom, and once inside my room, closed the wooden shutters over the glassless windows, to keep out the night creatures—but not until I

Top, one of the Bahá’ís in Gorton who attended the West African Bahá’í Women’s Conference in Monrovia and was among those who invited the author to undertake a teaching trip to Nimba County. Above, Bahá’ís Erickson Napeh (left) and Cooper Baymie in the village of Gorton.

[Page 14] had taken one last look at the shapes of the village, round and square houses silhouetted against the star-filled night. Soon all the sounds faded away and the village was wrapped in quiet. Occasionally a snore was heard, a dog barked at an imagined intruder, or a baby’s cry echoed across the compound. The air was so still I could hear the mother’s soothing voice, and then all was quiet again.

The first morning sounds warned us of approaching day. Long before dawn breaks, the rooster starts his raucous song, his friends waken and join the chorus—goats bleat, chickens chuckle and cluck, pigs root and scuff against the house walls. The voices of the women are the next heard, along with the clang of pots and pans. The acrid smell of wood smoke, ever present in the villages, gains strength in the morning air. There is no more sleeping. The village is alive and day has begun.

Aching bones testified to my night-long search for a spot of ease on the straw-covered pallet that served as a mattress. No point in trying to extend the night. Shivering in the cool, dewladen morning air, I opened the shutters. The window picture- framed the view—dawn mist over low mountains, a family squatting around a fire, huddled in blankets, sharing the morning meal. Somehow it all seemed so private, and for a moment I felt like an intruder. Then came a soft scratching sound at my door. Someone quietly placed a huge papaya, a knife, and an enameled bowl for seeds and peelings next to the entrance. Breakfast! I felt welcome, and welcomed the new day.

Our final stop in Nimba County was Kinnon, close to the border of Guinea. Again the atmosphere was different. We felt very remote in Kinnon. To get there we traveled over roads that were practically impassable, merely paths through the bush. We arrived at dusk, and by the time housing arrangements were made, baths finished, meals prepared and consumed, it was quite late.

The meetings in Kinnon followed the same pattern. Songs, discussions of the need for translations of the Writings, and immediate concerns with Bahá’í laws and teachings. Always we talked of the blacks in the United States, descended from the same ancestors as the villagers. We spoke of the Bahá’ís in the deep south, and those who are not yet Bahá’ís. When we explained that the photographs we were taking would be used to teach the Faith to their relatives in the United States, descendants of slaves taken in chains from Africa, they applauded.

The author (second from right) and other Bahá’í teachers relax with children in the village of Gorton.

As always, the meetings closed with loving smiles. As always, we told them of the Teachings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regarding hospitality and thanked them for their loving example. Eight more villagers joined the Faith in Kinnon.

Our return trip was uneventful. Bal and I left James at a fork in the road where he set out for yet another village to continue his mission for the National Assembly. Erickson came with us to Sannequellie. Yah came to find us at Hoda and Heshmat’s, and everything was complete. We said our good-byes and, happy-sad, left for Monrovia.

Is it presumptuous to say I felt close to Bahá’u’lláh there? Over and over my heart sang the words, “Armed with the power of Thy Name, nothing can ever hurt me. With Thy love in my heart, all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me.”

It took many hours to reach Monrovia. We were stopped several times by the police, dropped passengers along the way, and picked up others. Perhaps because it was Sunday, it was a day for accidents. We saw several, and as we approached the city, our taxi collided with one in front of us—both cars were demolished, but no one was hurt! And I remembered the words of Bahá’u’lláh I had been singing all day. Nothing could harm us! We still had work to do!

A new Assembly was formed in Mount Barclay the night we returned from Nimba. Our last night in the country we joined the National Assembly members and Hilda Robinson, a Bahá’í from Tuskegee, Alabama, in a ceremony to dedicate property for a new Bahá’í Center in the suburbs of Monrovia. Every day, and every night, there is work to do, as the Faith moves steadily forward in Liberia.

We will never forget those precious days there, the pioneers who shared their homes and hearts with us—James, Erickson, the Naddafis who brought the Faith to Nimba County—and the beautiful believers in the villages. Nor will we forget Bal, the new believer who, upon finding a new Light, wasted no time in bringing it to others.

[Page 15]

Around the World

Thailand

“Arise for Victory” was the theme of a National Teaching Conference held last January 20-21 in Bang Pra, Sriracha, Thailand.

A highlight of the conference came when the 30 friends who were able to attend learned that Thailand’s Five Year Plan goal for new localities had been exceeded by 35.

The conference was preceded by a Unity Feast hosted by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bangkok.

The themes of conference sessions included “The Mystery of Sacrifice,” “The Courage to Teach,” and “What Bahá’í Means to an Individual.”

Following a discussion of Thailand’s remaining Five Year Plan goals, 12 believers arose to teach and went immediately into the field.

Believers assemble for an outdoor class during the National Teaching Conference held last January 20-21 at Bang Pra, Thailand.

Kenya

One hundred people attended a ceremony November 12, the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, to dedicate the Bahá’í Center of Mombasa in southern Kenya. The guest of honor for the occasion was Mr. Muhoya, provincial education officer for the Mombasa area.

Two Bahá’ís spoke, and Mr. Muhoya gave a short address, officially opening the Center. Refreshments were served as the guests toured the new building, which was decorated with special displays for the occasion.

Many of the guests at the dedication ceremony were representatives of other Bahá’í communities in the coastal region of Kenya.

[Page 16]

Portugal

The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir presided at a two-day teaching conference last November 25-26 at the National Bahá’í Center in Lisbon, Portugal.

More than 80 believers attended the conference which was organized in a few days after news of Dr. Muhájir’s visit was received.

While Dr. Muhájir was overjoyed to learn that the Portuguese friends had won all of the country’s Five Year Plan goals, he reminded them that the Plan wasn’t over yet and that many victories could yet be won.

Following consultation among the friends, the members of the National Spiritual Assembly and Dr. Muhájir, a “Five Month Plan” was drawn up and accepted by the National Spiritual Assembly.

The Plan was designed to harness the energy and enthusiasm generated by the conference and use it through the remaining five months of the Five Year Plan to consolidate the victories won and increase the number of Bahá’ís in each community.

The following message was sent from the conference to the Universal House of Justice:

“Hand Cause Dr. Muhájir two Auxiliary Board members assembled with 70 friends launched five-month plan teaching, consolidation involving minorities. Formation 30 local teaching committees, 10 new believers each locality, two travel teaching groups inside Spanish frontier, uplifted instant, whole-hearted acceptance. Supplicate prayers.” National Spiritual Assembly Portugal

The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir (right) addresses a teaching conference in Lisbon, Portugal, assisted by translator Eduardo Santo. Below, more than 80 members of Portugal’s Bahá’í community attended a two-day conference last November in Lisbon at which the friends had the bounty of conferring with the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir (standing with arms folded, third from the right in the third row).

[Page 17]

Burma

The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Zaloadgy, Burma. The Assembly was elected in February 1978, shortly after a visit by Mrs. Marguerite Birger that resulted in 35 enrollments in that previously unopened community. Mrs. Birger, from Collinsville, Illinois, was a member of an international Bahá’í teaching team in Thailand in January 1978 when she was asked by the Continental Board of Counsellors in South East Asia to spend a week in Burma. She was the first foreigner ever to visit the village of Zaloadgy.

Canada

The spirit at Curve Lake Indian Reserve had begun to decline when Bahá’í activities ended. A non-Bahá’í, serving as social services director for 122 Indian tribes in Ontario, Canada, was worried. One day she found herself praying that the Bahá’ís would return to the reserve again.

That same day, she answered a knock at her door to find a group of Bahá’ís. They had come to ask assistance in arranging a joint celebration of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh with the Curve Lake community and Bahá’ís on the Tyendinaga Reserve.

The five Bahá’ís still living at Curve Lake, as well as three more people who had expressed a desire to become Bahá’ís, joined in the ceremony that included prayers in the Ojibway, Cree and English languages.

The chief of the Reserve has offered the community hall for further Bahá’í firesides and children’s classes, and the Curve Lake Bahá’ís have planned a series of activities that will include visits to other Reservations and active participation in the teaching work in the area.

Chile

In December, Chile attained its Five Year Plan goal of establishing a Local Spiritual Assembly in every province when a new Assembly was established on Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernándes group in the Pacific Ocean.

That victory, together with the re-establishment of two Assemblies on Chiloe Island in the Southern Archipelago and a new Assembly in Puerto Aysen, was the result of a determined teaching program.