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| Bahá’í News | October 1990 | Bahá’í Year 147 |
The Hand of the Cause of God
H. Collis Featherstone: 1913-1990
DEEPLY GRIEVED ANNOUNCE PASSING VALIANT HAND CAUSE GOD COLLIS FEATHERSTONE WHILE VISITING KATHMANDU, NEPAL, COURSE EXTENSIVE JOURNEY ASIA.
HIS NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS STAUNCH, FEARLESS DEFENDER COVENANT, HIS UNCEASING COMMITMENT PROPAGATION CAUSE ALL PARTS WORLD, ESPECIALLY PACIFIC REGION, HIS UNREMITTING PERSEVERANCE FOSTERING ESTABLISHMENT LOCAL, NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER, HIS EXEMPLARY DEVOTION TO WRITINGS FAITH, HIS OUTSTANDING PERSONAL QUALITIES UNSWERVING LOYALTY, ENTHUSIASM, ZEAL AND DEDICATION, DISTINGUISH HIS MANIFOLD SERVICES THROUGHOUT MANY DECADES.
OFFERING PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES BOUNTIFUL REWARDS HIS RADIANT SOUL ABHÁ KINGDOM. ADVISE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HOLD BEFITTING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS, PARTICULARLY IN MASHRIQU’L-ADHKÁRS, RECOGNITION HIS MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENTS.
OCTOBER 1, 1990
Bahá’í News[edit]
After 65 years of continuous service, Bahá’í News publishes last issue | 1 |
Tribute to the late Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone | 2 |
A synopsis of messages about the Arc and Terraces on Mount Carmel | 4 |
A Russian film crew works on completing a feature-length film on Faith | 7 |
South Carolina’s Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute hosts Peace Fest ’90 | 8 |
More than 40 Bahá’ís attend first Sino-American Women’s Conference | 10 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 12 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly 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 the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Management Information Systems, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within the U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside the U.S.: one year, $14; two years, 24$. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment in U.S. dollars must accompany the order. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1990, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
| In 1925, when the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, expressed the hope that Bahá’í News would become “the foremost Bahá’í Journal of the world,” it was one of only a handful of Bahá’í newsletters published anywhere. To achieve that goal, the Guardian said, “it must combine the essential qualities of accuracy, readability, thoroughness, dignity and wisdom. It should become a great factor in promoting understanding, providing information on Bahá’í activity, both local and foreign, in stimulating interest, in combating evil influences, and in upholding and safeguarding the institutions of the Cause. It should be made as representative as possible, should be replete with news, up-to-date in its information, and should arouse the keenest interest among believers and admirers alike in every corner of the globe.”
Bahá’í News has now fulfilled its world-wide mission to proclaim and disperse the glad tidings of the growth and triumph of the Cause of God. As we move confidently into the fourth epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, already marked by unparalleled progress and opportunities, we note with considerable pride what has been accomplished since Bahá’í News first appeared in December 1924, and with unalloyed pleasure the large number of high-quality publications that have followed in its footsteps and are now well-prepared to carry forward the important work of informing and inspiring the friends in every land and leading the Cause to newer and higher plateaus of victory. It is with these heart-stirring changes in mind that the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States has decided to end publication of Bahá’í News with this issue and devote its resources more fully to the publication of its own national newspaper, The American Bahá’í. Those readers who have paid subscriptions into 1991 will soon receive notice from Bahá’í Subscriber Service as to the amount of their refund. Subscribers may choose to accept the refund, donate that amount to the National or International Bahá’í Fund, or transfer their subscriptions to The American Bahá’í, World Order or Brilliant Star magazine. We know that you have treasured and will greatly miss Bahá’í News. Our own sense of loss is no less acute. We will miss the joy and the excitement of producing it, as well as the contact, however indirect, it gave us with the worldwide Bahá’í community. But our spirits are buoyed by the knowledge that many of you will remain with us as readers of The American Bahá’í. To you we pledge our efforts to maintain the high standards of quality and integrity enunciated by the Guardian, established by our predecessors at Bahá’í News and, we hope, upheld during our tenure of service to the Bahá’í world through the pages of the magazine.—The editors |
In memoriam[edit]
A loving tribute to Mr. Featherstone[edit]
The following biographical tribute to the Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone, who died September 29 while visiting Kathmandu, Nepal, was researched and written by Graham Hassall on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia, and is reprinted from the October 1990 issue of The Australian Bahá’í Bulletin.
The Bahá’í world is mourning the loss of Collis Featherstone, a treasured Hand of the Cause of God, following a heart attack in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 29. He joins the distinguished company of fellow Hands of the Cause including John Esslemont, Keith Ransom-Kehler, Martha Root, Clara and Hyde Dunn, Dorothy Baker, A.Q. Faizí, Rahmátu’lláh Muhájir, Leroy Ioas, Paul Haney and Ugo Giachery who died far from their native lands in the path of service to the Cause.
For the Bahá’ís of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, particularly, the passing of Collis Featherstone marks a further stage in the closure of the period of their origins and early establishment—a period to which he contributed so profoundly. Born at Quorn, in the state of South Australia, on May 13, 1913, Harold Collis Featherstone and his wife, Madge, were introduced to the Faith about 1944 by Bertha Dobbins. They became Bahá’ís in that year and were among the first “young people” to enter in the Adelaide community.
Their physical vigor and spiritual energy vitalized the Adelaide Bahá’ís, just as Shoghi Effendi had hoped, and the Featherstone home in Albert Park soon became the focus of much teaching activity. In October 1945, Shoghi Effendi wrote to Collis and Madge his hope that the Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh might “bless and reinforce” their efforts, and aid them to “obtain a clearer understanding of the essentials of His Faith, and to advance its best interests, and contribute to the consolidation of its God-given institutions.” At Riḍván 1946 the Featherstones helped establish the Woodville local Spiritual Assembly, the first such Assembly to be formed aside from that for the city of Adelaide.
From 1948, when Collis was first elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand, national Bahá’í responsibilities were added to those at local and regional levels; and with the commencement of the Ten Year World Crusade in April 1953, his international services rapidly multiplied. Collis and Madge were among the Australian contingent at the New Delhi conference called by Shoghi Effendi to launch the Crusade in Asia and the Pacific, and their pilgrimage, undertaken after the conference, produced bountiful consequences for the Pacific Bahá’í
... Collis was the driving force behind the Asian Teaching Committee, which had been established ... to assist the Crusade pioneers throughout the Pacific.
communities as much as for the Featherstones themselves. In addition to their having the unique privilege of meeting and conversing with Shoghi Effendi, their pilgrimage allowed the Guardian to meet the man to whom he felt inspired in October 1957 to cable the words “ANNOUNCE YOUR ELEVATION RANK HAND CAUSE CONFIDENT NEW HONOR WILL ENABLE YOU RISE GREATER HEIGHTS SERVICE BELOVED FAITH. SHOGHI.”
But first, three frenetic years intervened. In 1954 Shoghi Effendi established “Auxiliary Boards” to assist the Hands of the Cause, and Clara Dunn, acting swiftly at the National Convention in 1954, appointed Collis Featherstone and Thelma Perks as the first two Auxiliary Board members for Australasia. Australian pioneers were departing for virgin and consolidation goals in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and the Featherstones—like several other young couples—although constrained from also departing to distant goals by the need to care for their families, were able to contribute significantly to the administration of regional expansion. As Auxiliary Board members, Collis and Thelma helped Clara Dunn in her duties, often writing reports to the Guardian on her behalf. In addition to continued service on the National Assembly, Collis was the driving force behind the Asian Teaching Committee, which had been established by the National Assembly to assist the Crusade pioneers throughout the Pacific. The committee’s newsletter, “Koala News,” came to be treasured by the pioneers as a source of encouragement, and of the latest messages from Shoghi Effendi. An important message that arrived in Adelaide during the day would be typed out by Madge, and rushed to the post office by Collis for posting before midnight. Both Collis and Thelma began to travel frequently to visit pioneers in the Pacific area and the first Pacific Island Bahá’ís. To do so, Collis had to rearrange his business affairs (he had risen through employment with an engineering company to become its co-owner) so as to allow himself greater freedom for travel.
Shortly after the shock of his appointment as a Hand of the Cause in October 1957, Collis received the devastating news of Shoghi Effendi’s untimely passing. It was then that the Hands’ role as “chief stewards” of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World Order conferred on Collis, as on the entire
[Page 3]
The Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone and his
wife, Madge, are pictured with some of the friends at a refugee camp in Thailand during their tour of Southeast Asia in 1989. Mr. Featherstone was taken ill while visiting Nepal
in September and passed away on September 29 in Kathmandu.
institution of the Hands of the Cause, supreme and grave responsibilities for the protection and upliftment of the Cause of God. Collis traveled to Haifa with Clara Dunn for the first convocation of the Hands, and shared with the other Hands the anguish that accompanied the realization that Shoghi Effendi had not left a will, and that their own institution had consequently ended (since only the Guardian was empowered by the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to appoint further Hands of the Cause of God). Upon completion of an extensive search of the Writings concerning the formation of the Universal House of Justice and the institution of the Hands of the Cause, the Hands announced after their 1959 conclave that the Universal House of Justice would be both elected and established on Mount Carmel at Riḍván 1963. The Hands ruled themselves ineligible for election to the supreme institution, and Collis resigned in September 1962 from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia.
During the Nine Year Plan and afterward, the work of the Hands of the Cause increased dramatically. Collis maintained an 18-member Auxiliary Board (nine for propagation, nine for protection), spread throughout the Pacific, until that function was assumed by a three-member Continental Board of Counsellors for Australasia, first appointed in 1968. After the Universal House of Justice shared with Collis in 1976 its hope that he could devote all his time and energy to Bahá’í duties, he sold his business interest and the Featherstones moved to Rockhampton in Queensland, from where his international duties continued to the last. While he traveled on all continents in the service of the Cause of God, he often expressed his special love for the Bahá’í communities of the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. In a multitude of cultures, his special relationship with the Bahá’ís was wholly reciprocated. His visits to remote villages, under the most arduous circumstances of climate, food, transportation and accommodation, nearly always accompanied by Madge, endure in their memories.
Who can adequately portray the unique qualities of such a man? He exemplified spirit in action. He was holy, active and practical, pure and radiant. He possessed authority, he inspired confidence, he showed love. He had the power of attraction. He had no peer in this region. Only future generations will realize the fullness of his achievements. Across almost three decades he represented the Universal House of Justice at such significant Bahá’í events as the dedication of Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs, the formation of new National Spiritual Assemblies, and the convening of international conferences; on many occasions he negotiated with heads of state and governments to secure the protection or the rights of Bahá’í communities; on equally numerous occasions he visited government and religious leaders as special representative of the Universal House of Justice. The Australian Bahá’ís extend their condolences to Collis’ wife, Madge, to their children, Margaret, Joan, Kay, Mariette and Geoffrey, and their families.
World Centre[edit]
Messages about the Arc and terraces[edit]
“With feelings of profound joy announce to followers of Bahá’u’lláh in every land that on morning of twenty-third May, one hundred and forty-six years after the Declaration of the Báb, work on the extension terraces commenced....Call upon friends every land rally support this sacred enterprise now inseparably linked with Arc Project express befittingly their awareness magnitude bounty conferred upon mankind by ministry and sacrifice Blessed Báb, demonstrate their commitment to Bahá’u’lláh’s call in Tablet of Carmel to establish upon that Mountain Seat God’s Throne and fulfill, through their generous contributions, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s and Shoghi Effendi’s vision of efflorescence mighty institutions Faith on Mountain of the Lord.”1
The Mountain of the Lord[edit]
“Nigh on one hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh walked on God’s Holy Mountain and revealed the Tablet of Carmel, the Charter of the World Centre of His Faith, calling into being the metropolis of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Through decades of oppression and expansion, persecution and emancipation, His followers have successfully labored to carry His message to the remotest regions of the earth, to erect the structure of His Administrative Order, and to proclaim to mankind the divinely prescribed cure for all its ills....
“On this same Mount Carmel ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with infinite pains, raised the Mausoleum of the Báb on the spot chosen by His Father, and laid to rest within its heart the sacred remains of the Prophet Herald of the Faith, establishing a Spiritual Centre of immeasur-
‘Five closely related projects demand our attention: the erection of the three remaining buildings on the Arc and, added now to these, the construction of the terraces of the Shrine of the Báb and the extension of the International Archives Building.’
able significance. In accordance with the same divine command, Shoghi Effendi embellished the Shrine with an exquisite shell and then, under its protecting wing, began the construction of the Administrative Centre of the Faith, to comprise five buildings in a harmonious style of architecture, standing on a far-flung Arc centering on the Monuments of the Greatest Holy Leaf, her Mother and Brother. The first of these five buildings, the International Archives, was completed in the beloved Guardian’s lifetime. The second, the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, now stands at the apex of the Arc. Plans for the remaining three were prepared in fulfillment of a goal of the Seven Year Plan.
| This article, “The Terraces and the Arc,” is reprinted from the Bahá’í Journal of the United Kingdom, Volume 7, No. 5 (August 1990). |
“Five closely related projects demand our attention: the erection of the three remaining buildings on the Arc and, added now to these, the construction of the terraces of the Shrine of the Báb and the extension of the International Archives building.”2
The Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb[edit]
“The great work of constructing the terraces, landscaping and their surroundings, and erecting the remaining buildings of the Arc will bring into being a vastly augmented World Centre structure which will be capable of meeting the challenges of coming centuries and of the tremendous growth of the Bahá’í community which the beloved Guardian has told us to expect. Already we see the effect of the spiritual energies which the completion of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice has released, and the new impulse this has given to the advancement of the Faith. Who can gauge what transformations will be effected as a result of the completion of each successive stage of this great enterprise? The Faith advances, not at a uniform rate, but in vast surges, precipitated by the alternation of crisis and victory. In a passage written on July 18, 1953, in the early months of the Ten Year Crusade, Shoghi Effendi, referring to the vital need to ensure through the teaching work a ‘steady flow’ of ‘fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the Lord of Hosts,’ stated that this flow would ‘presage and hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, will witness the entry by troops of people of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world.’ This day the Bahá’í world has already seen in Africa, the Pacific, in Asia and in Latin America, and this process of entry by troops must, in the present plan, be augmented and spread to other countries for, as the Guardian stated in this same letter, it ‘will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.’ This is the time for which we must now prepare ourselves; this is the hour whose coming it is our task to hasten.
“At this climacteric of human history, we are called upon to rise up in
[Page 5]
sacrificial endeavor, our eyes on the
awe-inspiring responsibilities which
such developments will place upon Bahá’í institutions and individual believers in every land, and our hearts filled
with unshakeable confidence in the
guiding Hand of the Founder of our
Faith. That our Beloved Lord will
arouse His followers in every land to a
mighty united effort is our ardent
prayer at the Sacred Threshold.”3
The Pilgrim Path[edit]
“This beautiful and majestic path, which extends from the Shrine of the Báb to the city of Haifa, in line with the greatest avenue of that blessed city, which is adorned with trees and verdant plants and illumined with bright lights, which is the object of the admiration of the people of this region and a source of joy and pride to the authorities in this land, will subsequently be converted, as foreshadowed by the Centre of the Covenant, into the Highway of the Kings and Rulers of the World.
“These mighty embodiments of kingly power, humble pilgrims to the Sanctuary of the Lord, will upon their arrival in the Holy Land, first proceed to the Plain of ‘Akká, there to visit and circumambulate the Qiblih of the people of Bahá, the Point around which circle in adoration the Concourse on High. They will then make their way to this august and venerated city, and climb the slopes of Mount Carmel. With the utmost rapture, ardor and devotion, they will hasten toward this Sacred Spot and, with reverence and submissiveness, humility and lowliness, ascend these terraces to approach the luminous precincts of the sanctified and holy Shrine. Reaching the threshold of the Sanctuary of Grandeur, they will cast their crowns upon the ground, prostrate themselves to kiss its fragrant earth and, circling around its hallowed arcade, call out ‘Here am I, here am I, O Thou Who art the Exalted, the Most Exalted One!’, and recite in tones of fervent supplication the perspicuous Verses of the Tablet of Carmel.
“Thereafter they will walk over the spacious lawns and through the wondrous gardens of this sublime and holy spot, this garden of the Exalted Paradise, will inhale its fragrant scents and taste of its choice and luscious fruits. They will, with tearful eyes and burning hearts, call to mind the pain and suffering, each affliction and calamity, the duress, imprisonment and martyrdom which befell that Wronged One of the world, will behold, with their own eyes, on every hand in this exalted Spot, the glory of Carmel and the evidences of the compelling might and greatness, the invincibility, the all-encompassing dominion of the Conqueror of the worlds, and will praise and glorify the Lord of Carmel.”4
The International Bahá’í Archives[edit]
“The raising of this Edifice (the International Bahá’í Archives) will in turn herald the construction, in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of several other structures, which will serve as the administrative seats of such divinely appointed institutions as the Guardianship, the Hands of the Cause, and the Universal House of Justice. These Edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc, and following a harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting-places of the Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her sex in the Bahá’í Dispensation, of her Brother, offered up as a ransom by Bahá’u’lláh for the quickening of the world and its unification, and of their Mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen ‘consort in all the worlds of God.’ The ultimate completion of this stupendous undertaking will mark the culmination of the development of a world-wide divinely appointed Administrative Order whose beginnings may be traced as far back as the concluding years of the Heroic Age of the Faith.
“This vast and irresistible process, unexampled in the spiritual history of mankind, and which will synchronize with two no less significant developments—the establishment of the Lesser Peace and the evolution of Bahá’í national and local institutions—the one outside and the other within the Bahá’í world—will attain its final consummation, in the Golden Age of the Faith, through the raising of the standard of the Most Great Peace, and the emergence, in the plenitude of its power and glory, of the focal Centre of the agencies constituting the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. The final establishment of this seat of the future Bahá’í World Commonwealth will signalize at once the proclamation of the sovereignty of the Founder of our Faith and the advent of the Kingdom of the Father repeatedly lauded and promised by Jesus Christ.”5
The Consecrated Spot[edit]
“It must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the
[Page 6]
future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár which will
be reared on its flank, is destined to
evolve into the focal centre of those
world-shaking, world-embracing,
world-directing administrative institutions, ordained by Bahá’u’lláh and anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and which
are to function in consonance with the
principles that govern the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. Then, and
then only, will this momentous prophecy which illuminates the concluding
passages of the Tablet of Carmel be
fulfilled: ‘Ere long will God sail His
Ark upon thee (Carmel), and will
manifest the people of Bahá who have
been mentioned in the Book of Names.’
“To attempt to visualize, even in its barest outline, the glory that must envelop these institutions, to essay even a tentative and partial description of their character or the manner of their operation, or to trace however inadequately the course of events leading to their rise and eventual establishment is far beyond my own capacity and power. Suffice it to say that at this troubled stage in world history the association of these three incomparably precious souls who, next to the three Central Figures of our Faith, tower in rank above the vast multitude of the heroes, Letters, martyrs, hands, teachers, and administrators of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, in such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative Centre, is in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land which, geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, some of the brightest gems of that World Order now shaping in the womb of this travailing age.
“For such as might undertake, in the days to come, the meritorious and highly enviable pilgrimage to these blessed shrines, as well as for the benefit of the less privileged who, aware of the greatness of their virtue and the pre-eminence of their lineage, desire to commune with their spirits, and to strive to acquire an added insight into the glory of their position, and to follow in their footsteps, let these testimonies written by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá be their inspiration and guidance in their noble quest....”6
REFERENCES
- Universal House of Justice, message of May 24, 1990, to all National Spiritual Assemblies.
- Universal House of Justice, letter of August 31, 1987, to the followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the world.
- Universal House of Justice, “The Mountain of the Lord.”
- Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated Naw-Rúz 108 B.E. to the friends in the East, translated from the Persian.
- Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World, pp. 74-75.
- Shoghi Effendi, Guidance for Today and Tomorrow, pp. 71-72.
United States[edit]
Soviets preparing film on Faith[edit]
On September 23 a five-member Soviet film crew recorded a worship service in the Auditorium of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. The crew, from Rus-film, an agency formed by the Soviet government to produce a series of films about religions in the Soviet Union, is preparing a full-length documentary film on the Faith that is to be shown in theatres throughout the country. Rus-film has already been to Alaska, Wilmette and the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina, and plans to visit each of the seven Bahá’í Houses of Worship. While in Wilmette, Rus-film also filmed a concert featuring Seals and Crofts, Dan Seals, and the combined House of Worship and Tennessee Bahá’í Choirs under the direction of Tom Price. The film is being made with the blessing and co-operation of the Universal House of Justice which has script approval. It is estimated that as many as 60 percent of those living in the Soviet Union will see the completed film.
United States[edit]
Gregory Institute hosts Peace Fest ’90[edit]
More than 500 Bahá’ís and their guests from South Carolina and other Southeastern states stomped and swayed to the sounds of gospel music, Bahá’í singers, and straight-ahead big band jazz September 21-23 at Peace Fest ’90, the fifth annual festival hosted by the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway.
The various events making up this year’s festival, featuring musical talent from all over the country, were staged throughout the Hemingway area. Included were a performance by the 18-member Peace Fest Orchestra led by saxophonist Marvin (Doc) Holladay; a Gospel Jubilee with many of the area’s most popular groups; and music by the Bahá’í duo “Swan.”
Truitt White, director of the Gregory Institute, described the Peace Fest as “a forum for creative thought centering on peace, a unifying cultural celebration, and an opportunity for fellowship and spiritual sharing.
“The main purpose,” he said, “is to focus attention on the importance of individual and collective efforts in establishing peace: in the family, community, nation and, ultimately, the world.”
An important part of this is the recognition of those who have made outstanding contributions in the field of “peacemaking.”
Honored with this year’s Peace Award, given to an individual or group in recognition of significant contributions to progress and peace, was 91-year-old Modjeska Simkins of Columbia, South Carolina.
Mrs. Simkins, a long-time community activist, was instrumental in organizing the South Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1940s and ’50s.
The recipient of the Ambassador Award, given annually to a person or group from northeastern South Carolina for exemplary community service, was Marjorie McIver, a local school administrator who is well-known for her work with area youth.
“91-year-old Modjeska Simkins of Columbia, South Carolina, receives the 1990 Bahá’í Peace Award from Counsellor William Roberts.
WLGI Radio Bahá’í carried a live broadcast of Friday evening’s Gospel Jubilee at Hemingway’s Mitcheom Community Center, inviting area residents to attend.
More than 500 did, and enjoyed several hours of inspiring music by a dozen of the area’s best choirs and soloists.
WLGI also broadcast the Saturday evening Peace Concert and awards ceremony from McCown Auditorium in Conway.
The concert opened with a performance by “Swan” (Bahá’ís Kingsley and Suzanne) from Griffin, Georgia.
Counsellor for the Americas William Roberts then presented the Peace Award to Mrs. Simkins, and Mrs. McIver received the Ambassador Award on behalf of the Gregory Institute from Margene Nelson-Willis, a Bahá’í from Hemingway.
The highlight, as usual, was a dynamic performance by the Peace Fest Orchestra which included in its program three compositions written especially for Peace Fest ’90: “Enoch Olinga,” by saxophonist Roger Hogan; “City of Man,” by trumpeter Warren Kime; and “Sweetness and Light,” by Mr. Holladay.
The orchestra was joined for this performance by vocalist Wendy Rose of San Francisco.
Members of the Peace Fest Orchestra also gave a free concert for students and faculty at a vocational/technical center in Conway.
On Sunday morning an interfaith worship service was held at the Louis Gregory Institute.
Following the devotions, Counsellor
[Page 9]
Saxophonist Marvin (Doc) Holladay,
leader of the Peace Fest Orchestra,
trades his usual baritone to solo on the
bass saxophone during the Peace Fest
’90 concert in Conway, South Carolina. This year’s festival marked the
Fifth consecutive yearly appearance by
the orchestra, composed of top-flight
jazz musicians from all over the U.S.
Above: The Peace Fest Orchestra’s
lead trumpeter, George Graham, takes
a solo turn. Below: The orchestra onstage at the Peace Fest concert with another member of the trumpet section, Warren Kime, soloing. About 500
people attended this year’s concert and
awards ceremony in Conway.
Wilma Ellis, director-general of the Bahá’í International Community in New York City, addressed the gathering, referring to the Faith as “a new chapter in the Book of God” and stressing the value of intercultural experiences to children growing up in today’s society.
Other speakers Sunday morning included Alberta Deas, a member of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, and Mrs. McIver, who spoke about her work with young people in South Carolina.
In the week prior to the Peace Fest, WLGI Radio Bahá’í was given a certificate of recognition by the Horry (County) Cultural Arts Council for outstanding media service.
China[edit]
Bahá’ís at Beijing Women’s Conference[edit]
More than 40 Bahá’ís from several countries were among approximately 500 Chinese and American women who met June 25-28 in Beijing to exchange ideas during the first Sino-American Conference on Women’s Issues.
Two Chinese and two American speakers opened the conference at the historic Great Hall of the People. This monumental opening was shown on Chinese television and covered in newspapers.
Vice Premier Wu Xue Qian and Secretary-General Luo Gan attended the welcoming banquet, also held in the Great Hall of the People.
Chinese delegates from 30 provinces including federation leaders, researchers and women leaders from all strata of society participated with women from 38 American states, Canada, Suriname and Taiwan. Several Bahá’ís resident in China also attended.
Juana C. Conrad, a member of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly who served on the conference steering committee, said the conference was two years in preparation and, as experienced, far exceeded her highest expectations.
Katharine Bigelow of the National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of External Affairs also served on the steering committee as an ad hoc member.
Of the 64 papers presented at the conference in workshop sessions, six were by Bahá’ís. It should come as no surprise to those acquainted with the Chinese culture that the Bahá’í principles were readily accepted by those in attendance. The Bahá’í presenters were:
- Dr. Homa Mahmoudi, “International Women Executives and Their Personal Relationships.”
- Dianne C. Bohannon, “Women in Management and Administration: An Imperative for World Prosperity.”
- Ding Jo Hsia Currie, “The Role of
The goal of the conference was to provide a forum for sharing research, information and ideas on four key issues related to women: education and training; employment and career advancement; family and child care; and health and well-being.
- Mothers as First Educators of Children: East and West.”
- Dr. Mona Grieser, “Well-Being: A Communicable Disease.”
- Farzaneh (Fafar) Guillebeaux, “Internalized Oppression of Women.”
- Dr. Nahid Sobhani, “Infant/Child Care.”
The goal of the conference was to provide a forum for sharing research, information and ideas on four key issues related to women: education and training; employment and career advancement; family and child care; and health and well-being.
The value of this format was clear to Bahá’ís who observed the eagerness with which the Chinese and American women listened to the research and information shared by one another.
The Chinese reacted to the social trends in American society, particularly those reflecting the breakdown of order and loss of religious values, with great alarm.
By contrast, Bahá’í principles, when shared, were enthusiastically received.
On the last day of the conference Dawn Haghighi, a Bahá’í who is a lawyer in Chicago, presented a summary of the Family and Child Care workshops to the entire assemblage of participants.
She ended her remarks with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement regarding men and women as two wings of a bird, and identified the quotation as coming from the Bahá’í Writings.
One unmistakable sign of the effect of this conference, and a source of optimism for future meetings of Bahá’ís with mainland Chinese, is the degree to which Bahá’í principles and approaches were brought forth and accepted by the plenum.
The vitality of Bahá’í principles as a non-threatening help to the well-being of China became manifest. Indeed, two of those attending the conference were moved to embrace the Faith.
The conference theme, “Holding Up Half the Sky,” was chosen by the co-sponsors, the All China Women’s Federation and Global Interactions Inc., a non-profit corporation based in Phoenix, Arizona. It refers to an old Chinese saying that denotes women’s equal share with men in the work force and the development of society.
At the closing banquet, a gift was presented to the All China Women’s Federation by the representative of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly.
The gift was a tapestry by Vicki Hu Poirier, creator of tapestries on display at the Bahá’í Houses of Worship in the U.S. and India.
It depicts the conference theme, “Holding Up Half the Sky,” and includes a quotation (rendered in Chinese characters) by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “The East and the West must unite to give to each other what is lacking. This union will bring about a true civilization, where the spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material. Receiving thus the one from the other the greatest harmony will prevail, all people will be united, a state of great perfection will be attained ...”
The tapestry shows women from the East and West cooperating to build a white jade column up to the sky. It is made of many small pieces to symbolize that even small, seemingly insignif-
[Page 11]
icant acts that women do are important
and contribute to the whole column.
The column has carved pieces of jade sewn on it to symbolize the value and purity of such acts. On the column are stitched in Chinese characters the names of a few of the attributes of women; for example, justice, virtue, goodness, talent, friendship, heart, beauty.
A peach tree in bloom in the background symbolizes that this is a spiritual springtime. At the base of the column, a Chinese grandmother explains the meaning of the column to a small Native American child who represents tribal women from both countries, America and China.
The grandmother was chosen because grandmothers are the repositories of knowledge and wisdom in society. This particular woman is also a portrait of the artist’s mother-in-law.
The tapestry will be hung in the VIP reception room of the new All China Women’s Federation building in Beijing.
Another highlight of the week’s proceedings was a reception at the residence in Beijing of U.S. Ambassador Lilley for all the American delegates and some Chinese delegates.
Before and after the conference itself many Bahá’ís attended pre- or post-conference exchanges to other parts of China.
This tapestry by Vicki Hu Poirier was presented on behalf of the Faith to the All China Women’s Federation at the close of the first Sino-American Women’s Conference held last June 25-28 in Beijing. Mrs. Poirier has also created tapestries for the Bahá’í Houses of Worship in the United States and India.
The world[edit]
Construction of Arc’s terraces begins[edit]
On the morning of May 23, the Hands of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and ‘Alí Akbar Furútan, the members of the Universal House of Justice and the International Teaching Centre, and Fariburz Sahba, manager of the Mount Carmel projects, gathered for prayers at the Shrine of the Báb.
Afterward, Glenford Mitchell, a member of the Universal House of Justice, emphasized the historical significance of the day, pointing out that 146 years ago the One before Whose Shrine they now stood had inaugurated a new era in the history of mankind, and that the Mountain of God will in future witness monumental establishments created in His honor.
On that same day, the House of Justice announced that work on the construction of the terraces around the Shrine of the Báb would commence.
Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum expressed her delight that whatever was visualized by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and arranged by Shoghi Effendi was now being implemented by the Universal House of Justice, and she emphasized how important it is for the Bahá’ís to see the continuity in the administration of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Mr. Sahba explained that the construction of the terraces would begin with repairing and strengthening the existing retaining walls of the first level below the Shrine.
Afterward, the eastern side will be extended to make it symmetrical with the western terrace.
Panama[edit]
Young Eduardo Torez presents Bahá’í books to Ada de Gordon, Panama’s minister of education. Eduardo’s older brother presented her with a copy of ‘The Promise of World Peace.’ After meeting with a Bahá’í delegation for two hours, Mrs. de Gordon asked that the Bahá’í community present their literacy project to officials in the Ministry of Education.
Correction[edit]
On page 3 of the September issue of Bahá’í News, a line correction was inadvertently misplaced, obscuring a part of the next-to-last paragraph in the article on the election, infallibility, and authority of the Universal House of Justice. The paragraph should read as follows:
“The third group of queries raised by the friends concerns details of functioning of the Universal House of Justice in the absence of the Guardian, particularly the matter of expulsion of members of the House of Justice. Such questions will be clarified in the Constitution of the House of Justice, the formulation of which is a goal of the Nine Year Plan. Meanwhile, the friends are informed that any member committing a “sin injurious to the common weal” may be expelled from membership of the House of Justice by a majority vote of the House itself. Should any member, God forbid, be guilty of breaking the Covenant, the matter would be investigated by the Hands of the Cause of God, and the Covenant-breaker would be expelled by decision of the Hands of the Cause of God residing in the Holy Land, subject to the approval of the House of Justice, as in the case of any other believer. The decision of the Hands in such a case would be announced to the Bahá’í world by the Universal House of Justice.”
Uganda[edit]
These villagers in Nakinu, Uganda, are studying to become primary health care workers. Their teacher, Margaret Ogembo (standing), is a Bahá’í. After completing the course of study, they will go into the villages in the area to immunize children against diseases and to teach the people the rudiments of primary health care. The program, considered to be one of the most effective of its kind in Africa, is sponsored by the Bahá’í Office of Social and Economic Development in Uganda.
Australia[edit]
A nine-day “Mankind Is One” Institute was held last April in Queensland, Australia. Sixty-four people attended the event including friends from three Aboriginal reserves and a sizable number of children, pre-youth and youth.
The institute began with a discussion of progressive revelation and the relationship between the Aboriginal belief in “the Dreamtime” and the spiritual progress of mankind. Included was lively consultation that led to the declaration of belief in the Faith by two Aborigines.
Workshops covered such topics as the Covenant, the Central Figures of the Faith, Bahá’í administration, and Bahá’í laws.
During the workshop on Bahá’í administration a mock “Assembly” was elected. The group, realizing that illiteracy might be a factor, learned to hold an election by placing stones; all sat in a circle with eyes closed, singing “Alláh’u’Abhá,” while each took his turn walking outside the circle, placing stones behind others to indicate his choices.
The newly elected “Assembly” then consulted on a variety of issues on which a real Assembly might have to deliberate.
Before the close of the institute there were four new believers including the first Aboriginal gold-medal winner at the recent Commonwealth Games.
The success of the institute can be measured also by the fact that participants left with a renewed ambition to teach the Cause, several even asking for stacks of enrollment cards to take home with them.
Also, one of the Groups joyously restored at Riḍván the local Assembly it had lost some years before.
Nigeria[edit]
The Rosenberg/Abeokuta Teaching Campaign held in August in the heart of the Yoruba-speaking area of Nigeria is reportedly the most successful teaching effort ever held in that country.
During the two-week campaign, 715 people were enrolled as Bahá’ís and 26 local Spiritual Assemblies were formed. Part of the excitement over this large number of new believers lies in the fact that fully half of them are women.
In nearly every village, large numbers of people accepted the Faith and a local Spiritual Assembly was formed. These new believers are so attracted to the Cause that they begged the friends to revisit them soon to help deepen them in the Teachings.
Eastern Europe[edit]
As of August, there were about 480 Bahá’ís in Romania including 70 to 80 in Bucharest. During the first seven days of a month-long tour by the Spanish music group Dulcamara, 62 people became Bahá’ís.
In the Soviet Union, two new local Spiritual Assemblies have been formed—in Kiev (where membership has grown from zero to about 30 since last March) and Ulan-Ude, which now has about 20 adult Bahá’ís and “many youth.”
During a recent teaching campaign in Bulgaria, 11 people declared their faith in Bahá’u’lláh. And in Warsaw, Poland, the Bahá’ís are making plans to purchase a building to use as a Center.
The Netherlands[edit]
A Bahá’í Youth Teaching Project was held last December 23-27 in the town of Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. More than 25 young people from seven countries took part.
Five hundred balloons that read “World Peace Is Inevitable” were given to children on the streets near where the Bahá’ís had set up a booth in the busy Christmas market. On Christmas day, the Bahá’ís visited several churches, presenting the priests with copies of the peace statement.
Venezuela[edit]
Three representatives of the Bahá’í International Community attended a United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) conference May 2-11 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Receptions held in association with the conference made it possible for the Bahá’ís to meet several officials from the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of whom offered his help for future contacts with the ministry. During the conference, representatives of all non-governmental organizations met to discuss the formation of an association of NGOs in Venezuela. The proposal was adopted, and on May 10 representatives of each NGO signed a Declaration of Intent to form the organization. Afterward, the National Spiritual Assembly of Venezuela invited all NGO representatives to a reception where they met members of the Bahá’í community of Caracas.
Since the conference, the newly formed NGO Association has held two meetings, at the most recent of which its members decided to follow the Bahá’í practice of electing officers without campaigns or nominations.
Transkei[edit]
Pictured are many of those who took part in a tree-planting ceremony in honor of Earth Day 1990 following this year’s Bahá’í National Convention in Transkei.
Cuba[edit]
Esperantist Bahá’ís from 10 countries gathered July 14-28 in Havana, Cuba’s Palace of Conventions for the 75th Universal Esperanto Congress.
Among those attending were Counsellor for Europe Agnes Ghaznavi and Auxiliary Board members Marta Formoso, Bijan Ghaznavi and Teresa McGregor.
The Bahá’ís held two activities at the Congress. Ms. McGregor was invited to speak about the teaching work among the Mayas of Yucatán, Mexico. When she had finished, two Esperantists declared their intention to study the Faith because, they said, they were “already Bahá’ís.”
Brazil’s Bahá’í delegate, Davis Queiroz, and one member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Cuba visited the offices of Prensa Latina, the Cuban press agency, and presented Bahá’í literature including the peace statement and Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.
About 120 Cuban Esperantists accepted Bahá’í literature, and four of them declared themselves Bahá’ís.
Canada[edit]
More than 150 young people attended a Bahá’í International Youth Conference held August 3-5 at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Also taking part were two Counsellors, two members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, and two Auxiliary Board members.
A message from the conference reported significant participation of native and non-Bahá’í youth. During the event, four young people declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh.
Guyana[edit]
Two Bahá’ís from the U.S. traveled and taught last February and March in Guyana, making musical and dramatic presentations in the heart of the country.
Donna Kime and Ann Arp, both from the Chicago area, were able to coordinate their talents with the efforts of two youth, Jai Persaud of Guyana and Bahiyyih Phillips, a Bahá’í from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, who is completing a year of service in Guyana.
After thanking the group, the headmaster at one school at which they performed asked, “Is it not so, that the Bahá’í Faith is the only hope for the world?”
Ms. Kime also directed and performed in a two-hour musical proclamation that drew nearly 400 people, most of whom were not Bahá’ís.
Other highlights included three radio interviews, a weekend workshop on music and drama in service to the Faith, and a stop-over in Trinidad where they performed for 100 faculty members at the university and were interviewed twice on radio.
India[edit]
His Eminence Nikorn Praisaengpetch, ambassador of Thailand to India, is pictured during his recent visit to the Bahá’í, House of Worship at Bahapur, near New Delhi. Fascinated by the beauty of the Temple, Mr. Praisaengpetch has made several visits. With him are members of his family and the Temple guide (right).
El Salvador[edit]
Members of the Bahá’í musical group Nueva Primavera (New Springtime) perform at a variety show, which was part of an International Conference for Teaching the Bahá’í Faith at Universities, held last April 8-13 at the Jamaliyyih Bahá’í Institute in El Salvador. About 50 people from five countries attended the conference.
Zambia[edit]
In southern Zambia a former priest of a Christian church, his wife and daughter have embraced the Faith. He has served his church for some time as treasurer but said he must leave the church to serve Bahá’u’lláh.
He had four years of theological study in South Africa and the United States, and is also a teacher. He is already undertaking extensive teaching work for the Faith.
When the man received a letter from his bishop, assigning him a new responsibility, he replied that he is a Bahá’í now, and suggested that the bishop investigate Bahá’u’lláh’s Message “for your own good.”
Kiribati[edit]
The Bahá’í community of the Kiribati Islands held its first National Convention at Riḍván, electing to its first National Spiritual Assembly two indigenous women, Maureen Nakekea and Marao Teem.
Soviet Union[edit]
Renowned jazz trumpeter John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie is pictured during a concert appearance last May in Moscow. Mr. Gillespie’s visit to the Soviet Union was part of an East European media project called ‘One World Week,’ and his concert in Moscow was held under the patronage of the country’s First Lady, Raisa Gorbachev.
Paraguay[edit]
The Paraguay International Chinese Teaching Symposium, the first event of its kind in South America, was held last June 10 in Asuncion.
More than 80 people from 10 countries attended with Counsellor Shapoor Monadjem, four Auxiliary Board members, and a member of the International Chinese Teaching Committee.
During the symposium, a television crew interviewed two Bahá’ís from Costa Rica and one from Paraguay.
One result of the event was a commitment by local Bahá’ís, youth and adult, to concentrate their efforts on teaching the Faith to the Chinese.
On January 30 a floral tribute was offered at the grave of Roque Centurion Miranda, the first Paraguayan to embrace the Faith, in the Bahá’í cemetery at Lambare to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his passing.
Mr. Miranda’s two daughters, Dora and Mirna, recited prayers they had learned as children and shared memories of their father.
That evening, a memorial service was held at the National Bahá’í Center.
Papua New Guinea[edit]
Eight hundred ninety-eight new believers were reported to have been enrolled in Papua New Guinea last September, followed by 458 in October and November. The number of local Spiritual Assemblies elected in 1989 was 180. As momentum builds, the enthusiasm and determination of the friends continues to increase.
Burkina Faso[edit]
Shown are participants in a training and refresher course for primary health care workers held last May in Koalio, Burkina Faso. The course was part of an ongoing sanitation and nutrition education project sponsored by the National Social and Economic Development Committee of the Bahá’ís of Burkina Faso.
Honduras[edit]
Only eight weeks after the launching of Project Olinga at the beginning of 1990, the Bahá’ís of Honduras reported the enrollment of 1,400 new believers.
A consolidation program for the new believers includes classes for children and youth, community meetings, and study classes.
A five-day teacher training institute, attended by more than 250 Garifuna Indians, included an appearance by ‘Azíz Yazdí, who was visiting the area at that time.
Project Muhájir, launched in January 1989 in Honduras, reported more than 1,300 new believers enrolled by the end of the year. Most of these new Bahá’ís are from the Garifuna area.
More recently, Project Olinga, begun in the same area in January 1990, reports the enrollment of 300 new believers in the project’s first four days.
The project is to continue for an indefinite period and includes deepening institutes for the growing community as well as increased radio coverage about the Faith.
India[edit]
Entry by troops continues in Tamil Nadu, India, where spokesmen for the Karaikkal Teaching Campaign report that 13 volunteers, some of whom were Bahá’í youth, welcomed some 1,200 new believers into the Faith during the second week in March.
Short talks about the Bahá’í concepts of prayer, work as worship, and the oneness of mankind were broadcast recently on the All India radio station in Vihayawada. The talks were given by Auxiliary Board member G. Sambasiva Rao.
As a result, a number of letters were received from people who wish to know more about the Faith and its teachings.
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
A teaching campaign dedicated to the late Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery was held last September-December in central and southern Trinidad. The effort led to the enrollment of 750 new believers and the formation of four local Spiritual Assemblies.
Also as a result of the campaign, two children’s classes were reopened, 23 village deepenings were begun, and visits were made to elderly Bahá’ís who were given Bahá’í literature and pictures of the House of Worship in India.
Finland[edit]
Pictured in traditional Lakota Indian dress is Counsellor for the Americas Jacqueline Delahunt (left) who was visiting the recent Sami Project held in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Also pictured are Ritva Torikka (center), a Sami, and Allison Healy, a Blackfoot Indian.
Zikrullah Khadem
The Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God
With Love
by Javidukht Khadem
| by Mr. Khadem, each one illustrating the emphasis he placed on obedience to the institutions, on Bahá’í family life and unity, and on fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, and teaching.
HC $24.95 / SC $14.95 |
| AN INSPIRING BIOGRAPHY of the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem, this book is a story of love—one man’s love of God, of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith, and of his unfaltering devotion to
Shoghi Effendi. Written by Zikrullah Khadem’s wife, Javidukht Khadem, this book is a tender portrait of her husband, depicting over sixty-one years of service to the Bahá’í Faith. Also contained in the biography are essays written by the five Khadem children that capture the spirit of love and guidance given |
