Bahá’í World/Volume 29/The Year in Review

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[Page 49]

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IN REVIEW

he worldwide Bahá’í community is a Vibrant, ever—growing entity that currently comprises more than five million people in Virtually every nation and territory in the world. Bahá’ís are united by their beliefs and by the desire to share with the world the framework which they believe offers the best hope for the advancement of human civilization. Bahá’ís around the world are working both to unify and to consolidate their own communities and to improve conditions in the wider society. Internally, they strive to develop their own understanding of their Faith and to create distinctive communities. Externally, the community is concerned with being a catalyst for the progress of society and using the Bahá’í teachings as guidance for practical solutions of humanity’s problems. Overall, Bahá’ís understand that these internal and external activities are inextricably linked, as the development of local Bahá’í communities enhances their ability to assist others, and in turn their work for the benefit of mankind is an assistance to the wider community. This article surveys events and activities of Bahá’ís around the world during the period between Riḍván 2000 and Riḍván 2001.

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The sheer number of activities prevents this article from being comprehensive either topically 0r geographically. Instead, it aims to provide a glimpse of the constantly evolving breadth and scope of Bahá’í activities, and perhaps to offer insight into the challenges of building a global community.

Advancement of Women

Bahá’ís View the equality of women and men as essential to the success of society, with each gender having the responsibility to uplift and assist the other. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá articulated this principle in His statement, “The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly... Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of Virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be.”1

This concept was the inspiration for the Equal Wings program, which centers around training modules designed to instruct participants in the means by which gender equality can be realized. The training modules were introduced to the African continent through a series of seminars for men and women con ducted in 2000.

' ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selectionsfiflom the Writings of ‘Abdu ’l—Bahd (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 302.

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In Sierra Leone, members of the Auxiliary Boards, the National Spiritual Assembly, the National Teaching Committee, and the Equal Wings program coordinator were among the nearly 30 participants in a one-day “Vision Conference” held in Freetown in August 2000. The group discussed the guidelines for the institute, with emphasis on the institute’s role in increasing the human resources in the country by ensuring the role of women in community activities and fostering their participation in all levels of society. Participants also examined aspects of Bahá’í life such as the development of study circles, children’s classes, youth activities, Nineteen Day F easts, and the means for teaching the Bahá’í Faith and consolidating existing communities.

Mohamed Adams, coordinator of the Equal Wings program, gave an overview of the program, in which he explained its purpose and highlighted the fact that women are an important part of the human resources of the Bahá’í community. The conference ended with the participants drawing up an action plan for renewed support of the institute and the Equal Wings program.

Another Equal Wings training program was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 7 to 11 April. The five-day course was organized by the National Bahá’í Women’s Committee in collaboration with the Office of Social and Economic Development. It was conducted by two members of the Continental Board of

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Counsellors, Lee Lee Loh Ludher from Malaysia and Lally Warren from Botswana, and was attended by Bahá’ís from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Elsewhere in Africa, Equal Wings training programs were held in Ghana, Niger, and Zambia, with representatives from 23 countries participating in the various training seminars.

In addition to large regional initiatives, Bahá’ís participated in other conferences such as the celebration of International Women’s Day in Harare, Zimbabwe. More than one thousand people, including government ministers, representatives from various non-governmental organizations, and members of many religions, gathered to commemorate the day on 8 March 2001. Bahá’ís distributed two hundred copies of the statement by the Bahá’í International Community (BIC) entitled Women and the Peace Process, and one hundred copies of a pamphlet produced by the National Spiritual Assembly about the equality of women and men. Part of the BIC’s statement was later reprinted in a local newspaper under the heading “A Message of Peace.”

The Bahá’í Office for the Advancement of Women in Malaysia was involved in a variety of events to commemorate “Wanita 2000,” a Women’s Day celebration on 26 and 27 August. The Bahá’í youth of Malaysia organized and performed an hour—long program of dramatic presentations and dances on the theme of equality of women. Bahá’ís also joined the NGO “soapboxes.” Sessions were presented in the shadow of Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers, before crowds of two thousand or more people. Another part of the initiative involved a two-day conference on 17 and 18 August, in which Bahá’ís also participated. The conference discussed proposals for the country’s Eighth Malaysian Plan and Women’s Development Action Plan. The Bahá’ís also presented a copy of Advancement of Women: A Bahá’í' Perspective, by Janet and Peter Khan, to the prime minister of Malaysia.

And in Guam, the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs organized and sponsored another event focused on promoting the equality of men and women: the third annual Global Unity Symposium, held on 8 April 2001. A panel of experts gave presentations

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on various aspects of the theme of equality, including Senator Joanne Marie Salas Brown, of Guam’s legislature; Dr. George Kallingal, professor of education at the University of Guam; Dr. Thomas Shieh; and J ayne F lores, a journalist for the Pacific Daily News. Dr. Kirk Johnson, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Guam, presented Bahá’í perspectives on the issue. Participants included a number of educators, students, and other members of the wider community. Bahá’í literature relevant to the subject was made available to all.

Bahá’í' yol‘ltl? running coastto-Coast in the 7 . ” ‘ _

United States to ' promote racial harmony

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“Spirit Run. ”

Race Unity The Bahá’í Faith teaches that all people are equal, and Bahá’ís strive to eliminate prejudices that create separations between people based on race, creed, or culture. Far from seeking a uniform whole, though, Bahá’í communities are encouraged to integrate the cultures and heritage of the vast palette of humanity. The Bahá’í community, which has members from more than two thousand ethnic and tribal backgrounds, seeks to create a unified planet, one which is free from racial prejudice and realizes Baha’u’llah’s statement that “the earth be regarded as one country and one home.”2

3 Baha’u’llah, Tablets ofBahci ’u ’lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 127.

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In the United States, a message of racial harmony in the form of a three-month, three-thousand-mile run from Seattle, Washington, to New York City began at dawn on 29 May 2000. Titled the “Spirit Run,” it involved nine runners, all Bahá’í youth of different ethnic backgrounds, who collectively ran 54 miles each day in an effort aimed at teaching the Bahá’í Faith to Native Americans. In the evenings, the runners held meetings about the Bahá’í Faith in stops along their cross-country journey. They emphasized the Faith’s doctrines of racial unity and offered themselves—youth from African-American, Caucasian, East Asian, Hispanic, Native American, and Persian backgrounds—as an active model of unity in diversity.

The Run was initiated by Arthur Fernandez-Scarberry, who is of Choctaw descent and was inspired by the overwhelming need for a message of racial unity. “Every step is a prayer,” he said of the journey. The youth and their entourage—a small motorcade that accompanied them in their trek—lived together for the three months of the run, frequently engaging in “talking circles,” in which the runners discussed their problems and challenges or shared their joy using the Bahá’í principle of consultation combined with the Native American practice of passing a “talking stick,” which designates one speaker at a time and is passed around to ensure that everyone is given equal opportunity to contribute.

The run ended on 9 August, International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, when the team arrived in New York City. The runners were recognized in the United Nations General Assembly during the opening ceremonies of the Day and were invited to participate in a consultation on indigenous children and youth. The runners were also involved in an all-day consultation at the United Nations in preparation for the 2001 World Conference against Racism, which sought to formulate suggestions on issues of concern to indigenous peoples within the context of the conference’s draft agenda.

Celebration of indigenous culture was also a key aspect of a CD launch in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada, on 9 September. The CD features selections of Bahá’í sacred writings set to music and translated into six languages spoken by the Dene

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people in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The release of the CD was the latest phase of a project launched four years ago by Canada’s National Spiritual Assembly to make recordings of Bahá’í scriptures available to Native Canadians in their own languages.

The meeting was held at K’atl’odeeche, the Hay River Dene Band Reserve, and opened with a drum prayer offered by local drummers and a traditional feeding of the fire ceremony. Ms. Susan Lyons, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada, presented a copy of the CD on behalf of the Bahá’ís of Canada to Chief Pat Martel of the Hay River Dene Band, and other guests also received copies of the CD. The Bahá’ís served a traditional meal to the approximately one hundred participants. After receiving the gift, Chief Martel addressed the gathering at length, in his own language, speaking about the power of prayer and its universality, regardless of its source.

Indigenous Bahá’ís in Bolivia are working in their communities to promote education in areas where it was formerly unavailable. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Puka Puka in the Chuquisaca area established a Bahá’í school called Unidad de 105 Pueblos (Unity of Peoples), to provide the tribal communities with an opportunity for education. Until 1997 there were only two grades with two teachers in Puka Puka, and children who went to school elsewhere were discriminated against because of their identity and culture. In 1998 the Puka Puka Assembly decided to establish a private school, starting with the fifth grade of primary school and three grades of middle school. They were also able to build two classrooms and two houses for teachers. In 1999 the first year of middle school was added to the curriculum, and in 2000 a second year was added. The Local Spiritual Assembly is currently assisting with financing the school by selling products produced by the Bahá’í community, but the school aims to become fully self—sufficient by 2007.

Social and Economic Development

Baha’u’llah wrote to the His followers, “Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations

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on its exigencies and requirements.”3 At its heart, the Bahá’í Faith is concerned with promoting the welfare of human society, and by participating in social and economic development activities, the Bahá’í community seeks to assist in increasing capacity and building resources while making contributions to the physical conditions of those around them.

Bahá’ís in Buryatia, Russia, are tackling the difficult situation of rising rates of alcoholism, drug use, and AIDS among youth in this Siberian republic. AIDS-related deaths have increased dramatically in Buryatia in recent years—an indication of the general moral crisis afflicting much of the region. As a means to combat the physical problems and their spiritual and moral causes, Bahá’ís created the Youth Center for Social Initiatives. The program aims to promote healthy lifestyles among youth and to train teachers and other specialists to do prevention work with them.

The Youth Center is an extension of the Young Lions social proj ect, a Bahá’í proj ect for youth that provides alternative activities, training in moral leadership, and popular social activities for the youth of the Ulan-Ude region. The program’s emphasis is on creating a basis for individual growth and self—fulfillment through community service, recognizing that prevention work is only effective When accompanied by a sustainable, morals-based system.

3 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1994), p. 213.

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Oxanna Dorzhieva, director of the Youth Center, identified its principal concerns as “the development of young people’s awareness of their personal dignity and the need for spiritual independence, development of a volunteer movement for prevention work, training of teachers and other specialists in prevention education, and cultivation of a positive lifestyle among youth and teenagers.”

Local officials in Ivolga approached the Young Lions for assistance in organizing prevention activities for the whole region, where rates of drug use among youth and of alcohol and drug-related crime have sharply increased in recent years. The Youth Center also works to develop regional, national, and international collaboration in prevention work, seminars, and workshops on moral leadership, the prevention of AIDS, and substance abuse. Further, the Center is working with specialists from the AIDS Center of Buryatia to create a program for youth that will include materials on moral education, to be presented to education ministers for use in schools in the region.

Dealing with the difficulties of youth was also the aim in Swindon, United Kingdom, where the ten-week Swindon Twelve t0 Eighteen Program (STEP) began on 20 February 2001, designed specifically for teenagers with problems such as low self—esteem and depression. The STEP program is sponsored by Swindon’s

PaI/‘ticipants in a dental health Class organized

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Health Authority, which has encouraged the development of the “Tranquility Zones” that led to the implementation of STEP.

For the past three years, the Bahá’í community in Swindon, in the United Kingdom, has been operating Tranquility Zones. The program, organized and operated by the Bahá’í Projects Office, provides the people of Swindon with a place where they can “recharge” spiritually. The Zones involve a setting of candlelight, fresh flowers, and accompanying music and inspiring readings, all intended as a means of spiritual upliftment. An average of 30—40 people attend each session, seven of which run every two weeks.

The proj ects gained international attention in March 2001 , when the BBC’s World Service ran a 15-minute profile of the Tranquility Zone projects. The Borough Council for Healthy Living has encouraged the creation of permanent Zones for use by the people of Swindon and has included the project in a pamphlet on stress prevention which was distiibuted to local schools.

In Samoa, another project initiated by the Bahá’ís is focusing on a very different problem—and uses humor as an essential ingredient in the effort. On 16 October 2000, World Food Day, Samoa’s first television series dedicated to a healthy diet, “0 1e Kuka Samoa,” was launched at the residence of the New Zealand high commissioner. Well-known Samoan comedian Sumeo, alias “0 1e King Kuka,” stars as a master chef in the television cooking program, aired weekly on TV—Samoa.

The Samoan Bahá’í Charitable Trust for Social and Economic Development produces the show in collaboration with the Samoan Nutrition Center. Other partners include the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa, New Zealand Official Development Assistance (NZODA), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the FAO Pacific Regional Office, UNICEF, the Samoan government’s Health Department, and Television Samoa Corporation.

A spokesman for the Bahá’í Charitable Trust outlined the program’s intent as increasing consumption of nutritious foods, particularly locally produced fruits and vegetables. A cookbook produced with the assistance of FAO and NZODA and featuring the

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recipes used in the show was released with the show’s debut. Although it is designed for a general audience, the program is specifically aimed at improving the diet of children in the area. The show, broadcast in the Samoan language, also features interviews with local celebrities and sports figures.

The use of the media in development is also key in other areas. Bahá’í radio programs and stations have long been a means of educating and edifying the public. Now, the Bahá’í community in Chad, in conjunction with the Association for the Protection of the Environment and of Nature, has established Radio Brakoss, “Community Radio for Development.” The station’s main objectives are training, providing information, and contributing to the development of the rural population of Chad. The station’s proposed goal is development that encompasses parallel growth between material, economic, and spiritual means.

The station’s daily twelve-hour broadcast has two major sections. The Bahá’ís provide a six-hour section of the program known as Antenne Lumiére, which offers music, prayers, and spiritual readings, many of which come from the Bahá’í teachings. The second part of the program focuses on more social development and is aimed primarily at the rural population of Chad. It informs listeners about such issues as the rights of women and children and their importance in overall society, education, health, and agriculture, and it offers news of the world.

Education

For Bahá’ís, education, especially of children, is a means for contributing to an “ever-advancing civilization.” The Bahá’í teachings emphasize the importance of education in the various arts and sciences, but also emphasize education in morality and spirituality—without these, education is incomplete. Throughout the world, Bahá’í schools are combining the principles of spiritual and moral education with traditional educational disciplines.

In Australia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Canada, and the United States, Bahá’í communities are making use of the “Virtues Project” to instill these values in children. The project is based on five strategies, or Spiritual life-skills, which are tools for

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creating a “culture of character.” The project uses Bahá’í principles as its basis and incorporates spiritual concepts from other religions. During the International Year of the Family, the UN Secretariat and World Conference for Cities and Corporations endorsed it as “a model program for families of all cultures.” The Virtues Proj ect has received prestigious awards and extensive media coverage for its impact.

Moral training is not limited to children, however. The Human Plenitude Program in Brazil is collaborating with the Ministry of Education in the “Education for Justice” project, which was inaugurated in J une 2000. The proj ect aims to provide moral leadership training for up to six thousand legal professionals, including judges and prosecutors who work with youth.

Bahá’í education projects also focus on creating schools and formal education programs, and many are in rural areas, where access to education is often limited. The Unity in Diversity Foundation in Indonesia initiated a project entitled “Educating Children in Remote Villages” to establish seven educational centers within two years on the Mentawi Islands. Over the next four years, these centers will serve 540 children. Graduates of the Foundation’s earlier program “Empowering Youth in Child Education” are training and educating the Village children. The project is being conducted in collaboration with the Department of Education, Elementary Schools Division.

"1 Participants,

R Speakers, and facilitators Of 1 a workshop on moral leadership held in Yaoundé,

_' ‘ Cameroon, in , March, 200].

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[Page 61]F ori COI'ISICZI’III'IIQSCLI (right), coordinator of the Royaumant Process project “Pramoting Positive M essa ges through the Media, ” presents infomzation about the prqject t0 the u president QfRomal-tia, 7 : Emil C onstantinescu. A /

Indigenous peoples are also a point of focus for Bahá’í educational initiatives. In Bolivia, the National Spiritual Assembly’s Environmental Studies Center has established an early education program in a number ofAymara and Quechua areas. The programs are targeted at parents to help them initiate spiritual training and assist with literacy in their children. Nearly two hundred children are participating.

During 2000—01, Bahá’í-inspired curricular materials focusing on moral education were introduced for use in public schools in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi, the Philippines, and Venezuela, and new materials were provided to schools as part of the existing religious education program in Brazil. Programs for training school teachers were carried out in Honduras, Kazakhstan, and BosniaHerzegovina. Moral education activities in public schools are currently being carried out by Bahá’ís in more than 25 countries.

The curriculum development unit of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Education included the Bahá’í Faith as part of religious study in secondary schools in the country. Both the syllabus and the texts from which the syllabus was devised were developed by Bahá’ís.

In Ethopia, Dr. Fisseha Eshetu, a member of the Bahá’í community in that country, was recognized for his contribution to education. Dr. Eshetu was one of four young men and women who received a Global Young Entrepreneur award at the seventh World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, held at the World Trade Center in New York from 28 August to 1 September 2000. The

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Summit focuses on those who creatively contribute to enterprise and who share their prosperity, and it seeks to offer young entrepreneurs opportunities for access to venture capital, global markets, and international joint ventures, in the belief that developing the private sector is a key component for achieving social progress and equitable globalization.

Dr. Eshetu is the president of Unity College, the first private college to be accredited by the Ethiopian Ministry of Education. It was officially inaugurated in March 1998, and after only two years of operation, eight thousand students were enrolled, making it the second—largest institution of higher education in the country, after Addis Ababa University. The school offers courses in accounting, business administration, marketing, personnel management, hotel management and hospitality, and language training in Amharic, English, and Arabic. The college is already self—sustaining and there are plans to upgrade it to a full-fledged university by 2004. Dr. Eshetu is committed to providing scholarships to ten thousand women from poor families and already has partial commitments from donor organizations. In September 2000 the college launched a daily, non-political newspaper with a circulation of ten thousand, focusing on social development. It also launched an educational radio program that airs for 20 minutes six days a week.

Arts

Baha’u’llah wrote: “the true worth of artists and craftsmen should be appreciated, for they advance the affairs of mankind. Just as the foundations of religion are made firm through the Law of God, the means of livelihood depend upon those who are engaged in arts and crafts.”4 Many Bahá’í artists throughout the world are attempting to use their arts to demonstrate and elucidate the essence of the Faith. They use artistic means not only for express ing their Faith, but also as a means to inform others, inspired by Baha’u’llah’s words.

4 Baha’u’llah, cited in “The Arts,” Compilation of Compilations, Vol. 1 (Maryborough, Victoria: Bahá’í Publications Australia, 1991), p. 3.

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Artists Robin White and Leba Toki working with tapa, a bark cloth,

°“‘"_ aw in their studio in £53 Canberra,

Australia.

To express the essential truths of their Faith, artists Robin White of New Zealand and Leba Toki of Fiji opened an exhibit of collaborative works at the Helen Maxwell Gallery in Canberra, Australia, which was displayed for one month in October and November 2000. Their works offer a portrait of harmony, blending Western and Fijian artistic traditions. They use the metaphor of tea, a symbol common to English and Indian culture and which has been incorporated into Fijian culture, to demonstrate the coming together of people in a convivial atmosphere. Ms. White called the month-long exhibit “a way of demonstrating the potential for people from very different cultural backgrounds to work together in harmony, in a positive and creative manner.”

Not only the subj ect matter, but also the materials of the art are meant to represent diversity. Tapa, a Fijian bark cloth, was chosen as the medium because it is inseparably associated with indigenous Fijian and other Pacific Island cultures, which “aimed at suggesting the possibility of one culture embracing, in a positive way, features of other cultures,” said Ms. White. In recognition of this goal, the set of three tapa have been titled “Cakacakavata,” which means “working together.” The set has been purchased by the National Gallery of Australia.

The high commissioner of New Zealand, Simon Murdoch, and the counsellor of the F ijian High Commission, Akuila Waradi, attended the 20 October opening of the exhibit. Mr. Waradi spoke during the brief formal portion of the opening, and he expressed

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his pleasure at having the opportunity to View artwork that was the product of collaboration and called the work “very different and very beautiful.”

Hoping to foster children’s enthusiasm for artistic endeavors, Bahá’ís in New York City instituted the Children’s Theater Company program in that city. Activities include rehearsals and classes in drama, art projects, dance, and musical theater. The main objective is to illustrate Bahá’í principles through the artsincluding racial harmony, unity in diversity, oneness of God, and conflict resolution. More than fifty children between the ages of four and twelve, most of whom are not Bahá’ís, gather weekly at the New York Bahá’í center to prepare, rehearse, and perform skits meant to illustrate these principles.

The children rehearse their skits and hold performances every two months in a l40—seat auditorium, with each season’s theme based on commemorative days designated by the United Nations. The CTC was also selected by UNICEF to perform at the conference on the State of the World’s Children at the United Nations building in New York in December 2000. More than two hundred dignitaries and leaders from all over the world attended the conference, including Queen Noor of J ordan, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, US senator Hillary Clinton, and UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy.

The Bahá’í community of New York City offers its local Bahá’í center as a gallery for month-long displays of the artwork produced by children in the program. The display garnered news coverage in newspapers and on television in New York, and the two women who founded the Children’s Theater Company were voted “New Yorkers of the Week” by a local television station. The producers of Sesame Street Children’s Television also approached them to make nine segments featuring the Children’s Theater program to be aired nationally as part of the Sesame Street program.

On 5 February 2001 , the feature film Serenades, written and directed by Iranian—born Bahá’í Mojgan Khádem, had its world premiere at the Perth International Arts Festival in Australia. The film is set in the Australian outback in the 1890s, at a time when

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German Lutheran missionaries were trying to bring Chn'stianity to Australia’s Aboriginal people. It tells the story of a young woman of Afghan and Aboriginal background who struggles against a forced marriage after the death of her mother.

Ms. Khádem credited this quotation from Baha’u’llah as inspiration for the story:

What “oppression” is greater than that which hath been recounted? What “oppression” is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it? For opinions have sorely differed, and the ways unto the attainment of God have multiplied.5

The words, she says, “made it very clear what my film needed to be about. It needed to be about oppression, and what that oppression meant. At the center of that idea was an Aboriginal girl who felt this grave oppression that Baha’u’llah speaks about, where she looks everywhere for God, but she can’t find Him.”

The film is Ms. Khádem’s first feature, and it was shot on location in the South Australian outback. The film’s star, Alice Haines, was also making her feature debut. Costar Aden Young, producer Sandra Levy, and director of photography Russell Boyd each have extensive lists of films to their credit. The movie will be released throughout the country in May 2001.

In the United Kingdom, Bahá’í composer Denver Morgan used the words of Baha’u’llah as inspiration for his musical composition “RidVan—the New Dawn Oratorio.” The National Chamber Orchestra of Wales, under conductor Martin Pring, and Cardiff’s Ardwyn Singers, under musical director Helena Braithwaite, performed the world premiere of the piece on 25 March 2001 in the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea. The libretto for the 90-minute oratorio was the Riclvan Tablet of Baha’u’llah, which was set to music for solo singers, choir, and orchestra. On the night of the premiere, every member of the audience, choir,

5 Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-lqan (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 31.

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and orchestra, and each soloist received a copy of a presentation booklet of the Riḍván Tablet.

Mr. Morgan, a member of the British Academy of Composers and Song Writers, stated: “All of the musicians [who performed at the premiere] have been in the forefront of the development of new and innovative musical works, and their collaboration with a Bahá’í composer is an important breakthrough in the acceptance of the

Patrick Dawson (Bahá’í'), DN Puri (Sikh), AN Pandeya (Hindu), and Janice Johnston (Religious Society Of F riends)

at an interfaith devaz‘z'onal meeting at the Bahá’í' center in Dublin, Ireland, in Aug 11512000.

Interfaith Activities ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s edict “prefer all religionists before yourselves”6 has had a strong impact on Bahá’í communities throughout the world. Bahá’ís have experienced religious persecution since the birth of their Faith in the mid-nineteenth century and are acutely aware that religion should be a means for the unity of mankind, not for its division. This, combined with the Bahá’í belief in the fundamental verity of all the world’s major religions, makes the Bahá’ís vocal proponents of interreligious activities.

Bahá’ís, in their search for unity among the religions, focus on similarities and points of congruence, such as prayer. Bahá’í communities around the globe organized interfaith prayer meetings in homes, schools, and community centers in response to a

6 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l—Bahd during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912, rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1995), p. 453.

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call by the United Nations for people everywhere to observe a Day of Prayer for World Peace as the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders opened on 28 August 2000. The Summit brought together more than one thousand spiritual and religious leaders representing every maj or world religion in an effort to “forge a partnership of peace.”7

A delegation representing the Bahá’í International Community attended the Summit meetings, as Bahá’í communities around the world joined in prayer meetings in places such as Mauritius, where the National Spiritual Assembly invited representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim communities to a prayer gathering at the Bahá’í Institute in Belle Rose. The event was covered by the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation radio and television services.

In Ireland, representatives of several of the world’s major faiths gathered at the Bahá’í center in Dublin on 28 August to participate in a devotional program of extracts from Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Sikh, and Zoroastrian sacred texts. After the devotional program, tea was served and the representatives of the various religions learned about each other’s faiths and traditions in an atmosphere of goodwill. Irish Bahá’ís sponsored similar events in Cavan, Fingal (a suburb of Dublin), Sligo, Shannon, and Waterford.

In Cote d’Ivoire, the Bahá’ís of Abidjan and Dabou invited animist, Catholic, J ewish, and Muslim representatives to pray for peace at the Cocody Bahá’í Center on 28 August 2000. The Ivorian Ministry of Communication also sent a representative, and the invitation to the event was broadcast on national radio and on the national television evening news, and printed in four articles in the main national newspapers. There were readings from the Bible, the Qur’án, and the Bahá’í scriptures, followed by statements on world peace by the various religious representatives. Similar events were held in the cities of Danané and Bouaké.

7 See article on pp. 87—93 for more about the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.

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The Bahá’ís of Dominica hosted a prayer gathering in an auditorium at the University of the West Indies Center in Roseau, where prayers from 13 religions were read, ending with an excerpt from the Bahá’í statement The Promise of World Peace.

In India, the State Bahá’í Council of Sikkim organized a prayer gathering at the Hotel Rendezvous in Gangtok on 28 August. The governor of Sikkim, Choudhary Randhir Singh, attended along with representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, J ain, and Sikh communities. News of the gathering was carried on the Sikkim cable television and in several local and regional newspapers.

In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Bahá’ís held a devotional gathering at the Bahá’í community center in Port Blair and invited representatives of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities to chant and recite prayers for world peace. About 60 people attended, and the event was covered by local newspapers and announced on the local bulletin of All India Radio.

In Thailand, the Santitham School, a Bahá’í-run primary school in Yasothon, held a gathering of about 250 students, teachers, and staff to pray for world peace on 31 August 2000. Three Buddhist monks, two Muslim representatives, and three Catholic nuns were invited to share their prayers with the students, with the provincial education officer and the director of the District Education Office also in attendance. Local radio and television stations covered the event.

Other prayer gatherings were held at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama City, Panama, at the Bahá’í center in Luanda, Angola, and at the Bahá’í center in Montevideo, Uruguay.

December 2000 saw the culmination of a year—long initiative in Norway dedicated to promoting dialogue among faith communities in the country. On 11 December, King Harald V met with participants in the national interfaith dialogue effort to discuss the results of their interactions and discussions. The king had also been the guest of honor at the launching of the interfaith project in 1999, which saw the creation of six dialogue groups on issues of religious freedom; family life; cohabitation, sexuality and equality;

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environmental issues; Violence and non—Violence; and religious and values education.

Meeting with the king were two members of Norway’s Commission on Human Values, the coordinator of the Cooperation Council for Religions and Life-stance Communities, and representatives from the Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, and Muslim religions. Britt Strandlie Thoresen, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Norway, represented the Bahá’í Faith at the meeting. “In the year since we launched this effort,” she said, “we have formed bonds of fellowship and understanding among Norway’s various faith communities, which we hope will contribute to an atmosphere that welcomes diversity in our increasingly multicultural country.”

The interfaith dialogue project was sponsored by Norway’s Commission on Human Values and the Cooperation Council for Religions and Life-stance Communities, one of Norway’s principal interfaith organizations. The Commission on Human Values was appointed in J anuary 1998 with a three-year mandate to “contribute to a broad mobilization for human values and socio-ethics,” to “enhance positive joint values, and strengthen the responsibility for the environment and community,” and “to work against indifference, and promote personal responsibility, participation and democracy.” Because the mandate of the Commission expired at the end of December 2000, the Cooperation Council for Religious and

Bahá’í's in C 010mb0, Sri Lanka, inffont Of the Bahá’í'owned Vishina Nz'ketan Peace " 1' * Center.

[Page 70]T113 Bahá’í WORLD

Life—stance Communities will take on the task of carrying forward the dialogues.

Another body that offers a prominent voice for religious cooperation is Uganda’s Always Be Tolerant Organization (ABETO). ABETO, in collaboration with the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs in Uganda, held a workshop on 16 September 2000 on the need for tolerance between religious communities. The workshop was attended by religious leaders from various faith communities within Uganda. Miria Maternbe, the Ugandan minister of Ethics and Integrity, attended the workshop as the keynote speaker. She addressed the need for collaboration among the religious leaders, saying that achieving religious tolerance was squarely in their hands. Each community offered statements that addressed the separations between the various faiths. Judith Eiyo read the Bahá’í statement “Religious Tolerance: The Bahá’í Community Viewpoint,” a copy of which was distributed to each workshop participant.

Involvement in the Life of Society

Bahá’ís are actively involved in public outreach, desiring to share with the world the spiritual principles and ideals that they believe will bring peace to the world and unity to its peoples. Bahá’ís work extensively with the United Nations and other international organizations, and strive to contribute to the discourse of society by participating in activities and dialogues with governments and

jiéf Adelegation Of Bahd ’l’S 3* presenting the book Forever in Bloom t0 the president of ' India (center), »» ~‘ during a visit on

18 July 2000.

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leaders of thought. These include meetings with public officials and government ministers, and public presentations elucidating the position of the Bahá’í Faith and its relevance, and demonstrating to the public how the Bahá’í teachings can be used for the advancement of civilization.

By far the largest of these forums in the past year was in Hannover, Germany, at Expo 2000, where an estimated five hundred thousand people Visited the Bahá’í exhibit between June and October 2000. The 170-square-meter exhibit, sponsored by the Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly Of the Bahá’ís of Germany, featured development projects in Colombia, Kenya, and Eastern Europe that illustrate the importance of grassroots capacity-building, the advancement of women, and moral and spiritual values in the process of social and economic development. The exhibit was designed to resemble a lotus flower, with three-meter—high acrylic glass “petals” in a semi—circular arrangement around a central space for reflection and contemplation. It was located opposite the entrance in the Global House—an area designated as a forum and meeting place for organizations and policy-makers interested in sustainable development and the Agenda 2] process. Several Bahá’í development projects were the subject of in-depth presentations in the seminar room of the Global House.

Nearly 250 Bahá’í volunteers served at the exhibit, joining in the opportunity to present the Bahá’í grassroots efforts to achieve what the Bahá’í International Community describes as “dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth.” The spiritual teachings of the Faith, the idea of global expansion within the framework of an administrative system, and the activities of the Bahá’í International Community worldwide attracted great attention.

Elsewhere in Europe, representatives of the Bahá’í International Community, the National Spiritual Assemblies of the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and several other Bahá’í agencies participated in the Geneva 2000 Summit for Social Development from 25 to 30 June 2000. The opening of the Summit on 25 June,

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Mam‘jeh Roosta (right), academic director of the Bahd ’z'—run N121" University in Bolivia, receiving an award‘ from i the Bolivian minister of Education, Tito H02 a’e Vila, 0n 3 0 June 2000.

. 3F

which was broadcast on CNN, included the reading of a Bahá’í prayer. The event included a special session of the UN General Assembly to review progress made since the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen and a parallel NGO Forum which brought together some four thousand representatives of civil society.

The Bahá’í International Community, the European Bahá’í Business Forum, and the European Bahá’í Youth Council all had displays and sponsored seminars at the NGO event, on themes ranging from racial integration to science, religion, and development. The European Bahá’í Business Forum sponsored six different sessions addressing the themes of values in business, women entrepreneurs, microfinance and human development, ethics and entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, and the role of business in promoting human prosperity. One session was featured in the Earth Times daily newspaper produced at the Geneva event.

Bahá’ís in England had an opportunity to share a holy day celebration with close to thirty thousand people when London’s Millennium Dome hosted a “Bahá’í Day” on 21 October 2000. More than two thousand Bahá’ís from around the United Kingdom came to the Dome to commemorate the Birth of the Bab, a festive occasion marking the birth of the Prophet-Herald of the Faith.

The Bahá’ís presented a diverse program of artistic performances and entertainment, both on the main stage and in the

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Dome’s entrance hall, including juggling, clog dancing, a string quartet, singers, a Ceilidh band, dancers, and a steel band. An exhibit about the Faith just inside the main entrance, an arts and crafts area for children, and a Tranquility Zone for prayer and meditation were also part of the celebration.

In the Faith Zone, which was one of the Dome’s permanent exhibits, excerpts from the Bahá’í scriptures were displayed on tall pillars along with those of other faiths coexisting in Britain, including the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Zoroastrian religions.

Since its completion in 1986, the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India, has become one of the world’s most prominent physical symbols of the Bahá’í Faith. The building, also known as “the Lotus Temple” because of its distinctive lotusshaped design, with concrete “petals” sheathed in marble, has been a source of international interest and praise, and receives an average of three and a half million Visitors every year, recently surpassing the Taj Mahal as the most Visited building in the world.

The temple has always welcomed dignitaries, tourists, and travelers, but 2000 marked the first Visit of a head of state on an official Visit. The president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Visited the House of Worship on 29 October along with his family. Also accompanying the president was a delegation of about 30 Icelandic dignitaries, including the foreign minister and his wife. They were met by the secretary-general of the National Spiritual Assembly of India, Ramnik Shah, the general manager of the House of Worship, Shahin J avid, and a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Asia, Zena Sorabjee. The Icelandic delegation also included a Bahá’í, Vilhjalmur Gudmundsson, who is director of market development for the Trade Council of Iceland.

On 19 April 2001 the Indian temple received an official Visit from Jens Stolberg, prime minister of Norway. Mr. Stolberg and his delegation were given a reception, brief tour, and explanation of the building’s design and function. The Norwegian delegation

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was also briefed on the collaboration between the Bahá’ís and the Norwegian development agency NORAD.

In Brazil, a ceremony on 19 September 2000 saw soil samples from 26 nations deposited in the hourglass-shaped Peace Monument in Rio de J aneiro. The monument now contains soil from nearly 150 countries and stands as a representation of the oneness of humanity and the global cooperation needed to achieve lasting peace. Built by the Bahá’í International Community and the Bahá’í community of Brazil in 1992 for the Earth Summit and designed by the renowned Brazilian sculptor Siron Franco, the five-meter—high concrete and ceramic monument is located near the site of the 1992 Global NGO Forum. Forty-two nations contributed soil to the monument at its inauguration on 14 June 1992, held as one of the closing ceremonies of the Earth Summit and Global Forum, and the remaining soil samples have been collected throughout the years since, With many of them coming from sacred sites. Etched on the four sides of the monument’s upper pyramid is a quotation from Baha’u’llah displayed in English, Portuguese, Chinese, and Terena, an indigenous language of Brazil: “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” The final deposits of soil passed through the hands of a human chain to the top of the monument, where a street child, who happened to be passing by at that moment, placed it in the monument.

Community Development

Just as individuals are counseled by the Bahá’í teachings to “acquire the attributes of spiritual and material perfection,”8 so must they collectively pursue the same goals for the more than two hundred communities in countries and territories throughout the world. There is an awareness that the communities, like the people who compose them, need to attend to their growth and development—to promote creativity, build capacity, and develop distinctive social patterns.

8 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, lst pocket ed. (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 35.

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Bahd ’I'S in Belarus with documents certifying the Official registration OfIhe country's National Spiritual Assembly.

As a celebration of its own growth, on 26 November 2000 the Bahá’í community of Malaysia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Faith in that country. The Bahá’ís hosted a commemorative dinner in Kuala Lumpur, which was attended by more than six hundred people. The venue for the event was decorated with colorful banners and displays of the Bahá’í sacred writings. The guest of honor was the deputy minister of National Unity and Social Development, Dr. Tiki Lafe, and Dr. John F ozdar, son of the first Bahá’ís to settle in Malaysia, spoke about the early days of the Faith there. The evening included prayers read in four languages with choral accompaniment, and presentations by children and youth of Bahá’í songs and dances. A booklet, “Celebrating 50 Years of the Bahá’í Faith in Malaysia,” was produced for the event and given to all participants.

Another significant step in the development of national communities is the recognition of their national administrative bodies, the National Spiritual Assemblies, by their countries’ governments. Such registration and incorporation allows the Bahá’ís to enjoy the same freedoms and protections as their coreligionists.

In Belarus, a country where the Bahá’í Faith has been legal only since the collapse of the Soviet regime, the National Spiritual Assembly was registered with the government on 29 August 2000. In a ceremony the following day, the chairman of the State Committee for Religious Affairs presented a certificate of registration to one of the first Bahá’ís in Belarus, National Assembly member Agata Shpakovskaya.

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A similar event on 9 October 2000 saw the incorporation of the Bahá’í community of the Canary Islands. The Spanish government recognized the body as an Associative Religious Entity in the Registry of Religious Entities of the Ministry of Justice.

On 17 September 2000, Bahá’ís William Collins and SM Waris Hamadani presented 13 different editions of the Kitab-iAqdas to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The editions represent many of the currently available translations of Baha’u’llah’s book of laws, which is also known as the “Most Holy Book.” The languages presented include the book’s native Arabic (which appeared in 2000 in its first authorized version), along with Danish, Dutch, English, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Thai, and Urdu. The first authorized English edition of the book was issued in 1992, on the one hundredth anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s passing. Many members of the Library staff were on hand for the presentation, with Helen Poe accepting the books on behalf of the Library of Congress. A short talk was given by Mr. Collins, who works at the Library, about the Bahá’í Faith and the significance of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, including a brief account of the history of its writing and the subjects it addresses. Mr. Hamadani spoke briefly about translating the book into Urdu, a process which took approximately 18 months; it was published in 1997. Bulgarian, French, and German translations of the book have since been donated to the Library.

Bahd ’I'S William Collins (far left) and Wallis Hamadani

r (secondfrom right)

7 presenting copies Qf'the Kitáb-i-Aqdas t0 the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

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C hildren

and youth ‘7 participants at a summer school in Catania, Sicily, in September 2000.

\' [{Js '

Bahá’ís are also attempting to deepen their understanding of the laws of Bahá’u’lláh by studying the Kitáb-i-Aqdas within their own communities, in order to better reflect the ideals set forth in it. To this end, participants from around Pakistan gathered at the Bahá’í center in Islamabad from 23 to 25 June 2000 to participate in the first program offered by the Academy of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which has been established to focus on in—depth study of the Most Holy Book and to support research on its laws and ordinances.

Muhammad Ashraf Ali, joint secretary of Pakistan’s Federal Ministry of Minorities, participated in the program and during the official inauguration of the Academy unveiled a glass ornament on which was engraved the opening paragraph of the Kitáb-iAqdas in both Arabic and English. After the ceremony, Mr. Ali addressed the audience, saying: “It has been memorable for me to represent the government of Pakistan in so blessed a gathering where participants from every nook and corner of the country have come to study the Most Sacred Book of the Bahá’í religion. I hope, as you have made such a beautiful display of all the divine scriptures of the world, one day we will see all the followers of the religions united on one single platform.”

Bahá’í and non—Bahá’í scholars presented research papers on various religions, broadening the Academy’s study program beyond the single book to incorporate elements of other religious

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traditions. There were also presentations on the significance of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, both within the Faith and in the spectrum of holy texts. The offerings provided the participants with both a new Vision and practical techniques for their study of the book.

Youth

Youth, who collectively represent the future of human society, are given special emphasis in the Bahá’í Faith. Called upon to serve the Faith through their energy and enthusiasm, Bahá’í youth hope to rise to meet the expectations set forth by Baha’u’llah in His statement, “Blessed is he who in the prime of his youth and the heyday of his life will arise to serve the Cause of the Lord.”9

Bahá’í youth workshops promote the Faith through music, arts, and dances that embody Bahá’í themes and ideas. The Bahá’í youth workshop of Oahu, Hawaii, with members from the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Kauai, arrived in Tonga in July 2000 for a three-and-a-half—week tour. During its stay, the workshop performed 36 times for approximately eleven thousand people—ll percent of the total Tongan population. More than eight thousand members of the audience were students. Previously, the Tongan workshop, Pacific Flame, had only been allowed to perform in one school.

In Macedonia, the Theatrical Youth of Macedonia launched a project inspired by a training seminar on “Promoting Positive Messages Through the Media: The Happy Hippo Show” held there recently in the framework of the Royaumont Process on stability and good neighborliness in southeastern Europe. The interactive dialogue for youth was launched on 3 May 2000, with the goals of using the Happy Hippo format in schools and youth cultural centers, filming programs for a television documentary, and publishing information on the positive messages of the show in various languages. The organization has already conducted programs in 24 towns, Visiting two to three schools in each town and involving up to six hundred youth in each program.

9 Baha’u’llah, cited in “Youth: A Compilation,” Compilation ofCompilations, Vol. 2 (Maryborough, Victoria: Bahá’í Publications Australia, 1991), p. 415.

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Children

and youth performing at an Asian Bahá’í' youth conference in Karachi, ‘ " Pakistan,

in July 2000.

Guyana’s “Youth Can Move the World” proj ect, funded by the Varqa Foundation in collaboration with UNICEF and the Ministry of Youth and Sport for Guyana, saw 350 youth participating in a seven-day training program. Afterwards, between September 2000 and August 2001, 60 youth groups were functioning regularly with more than one thousand youth participating in an integrated program of study and service to the community. The one-year program covers issues of special importance to youth, including drug use, domestic Violence, literacy, gender equality, discrimination and prejudice, and protection of the environment. Another key element deals with the promotion of transformation in both individuals and communities. As part of the second phase of the program, participants present what they have learned in schools, community centers, and youth clubs throughout the country. Materials used in the course include scripture from the major religions in Guyana, namely the Bahá’í Faith, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

Some of the main forums in which Bahá’í youth gather to share their enthusiasm for their Faith and create strategies of action are youth conferences like the First Latin American Youth Congress in Santiago, Chile, where some 650 youth from 25 countries gathered in J anuary 1998. In 2000, five more International Congresses were held, with one in Paraguay in J anuary, and others in Ecuador, El Salvador, Canada, and the Dominican Republic in July and August. Thousands of youth from dozens of countries

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gathered at these Congresses, which serve as the focal point for a growing phenomenon known as the Bahá’í Youth Movement. The youth in the Movement are dedicated to discovering both practical and spiritual solutions to the challenges facing the world, and to becoming catalysts for spiritual transformation. They aim to reach the hearts of humanity by sharing the message of the Bahá’í teachings, which they believe is solely capable of healing humanity. The youth also work toward these goals through grassroots programs such as the Youth Leadership Proj ect for the Common Good in Bolivia, which trains high school students in moral leadership, team building, and consultation. The project garnered the attention of government agencies in several countiies where the Congresses were held, and spawned initiatives for similar projects in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and six islands of the Caribbean. In the Marshall Islands, “Share a Basket Overflowing with the Words of Baha’u’llah” was the theme of the youth conference held on Majuro on 25 and 26 June 2000. Nearly one hundred young Bahá’ís from Fiji, Hawaii, Kiribati, the Marianas, the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu participated in the event. The inspiration for the theme was the Marshallese custom of having a basket overflowing with food from which anyone can partake. In order to share the teachings of Baha’u’llah, the youth prepared quotations from the Bahá’í writings about subjects that best suit the attributes and

Children studying about the Bdb and Bahá’u’lláh in a class in Crown Haven, Abaco, Bahamas.

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( Bahd’z's in ”1:” Laos

. 7 consulting with Continental Counsellor Lee Lee L011 Ludher about the training " institute '7 process, in a

' : workshop held

H t in July 2000.

qualities of the Pacific Islands peoples. The youth shared experiences and then read from Baha’ i writings that support each topic, told stories, and performed music, dances, and songs based on Bahá’í themes.

Training Institutes

Through the curriculums and programs of Bahá’í training institutes, Baha” 1s seek to increase the human resources of the Bahá’í community.IO Baha” IS learn systematic methods for contributing to the spiritual and administrative growth of their communities, offering service to others, expressing their faith through arts and music, and teaching the Faith to others. Institutes also address issues such as health care, literacy, and the equality of women and men—issues which relate directly to the broader society, all in an effort to enliven the spirit and enhance the abilities of the Bahá’í community.

A key aspect in the development of the training institutes has been the Ruhi curriculum, developed in Colombia and now used worldwide as a systematic means for Bahá’ís to better understand their Faith. The spiritual education of children is another essential aspect of training programs. In Colombia, the Primary School Program, dedicated to strengthening existing schools, has become the center of Bahá’í activities. There are currently 66 pre-primary

‘0 For more about training institutes, see pp. 191—99.

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Participants in a Bahá’í' training institute Class in Burkina Faso, in September 2000.

Bahá’í schools in the Guajira reglon and 14 schools in the surrounding area, with a total of thirteen hundred students enrolled in Guajira and five hundred students enrolled in other areas.

In Panama, the training institute has devised a nationwide systematic sequence of courses for children and youth to study materials that emphasize participants’ spiritual development. The program is carried out in stages appropriate to the ages of the children. To follow up, the children and youth come back together again in national and regional gatherings and are encouraged to carry out activities in their respective communities.

The National Spiritual Assembly, along with the Committee for the Bahá’í Education of Children and the National Institute Office, has also planned a systematic national program for the education of children and junior youth. The objective of this collaborative effort is to establish an official Bahá’í curriculum for Bahá’í classes. Junior youth activities are also conducted at the local, regional, and national levels. In April 2000, 724 junior youth were involved in the institute process.

During the last year, 387 people, Which constitutes 76 percent of the Bahá’í population of the Ukraine, went through Ruhi training courses as part of the institute process. Two branches of the national training institute in Kiev and Odessa worked intensely to provide courses. Currently there are 31 active study circles in

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the Ukraine, and participants are beginning to form service proj ects inspired by the institutes.

Sharing the Bahá’í Message

Of all the activities of the Bahá’í community, none is seen as more fundamentally important or meaningful than teaching the Bahá’í Faith, an undertaking which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called “the greatest of all divine bestowals.”11 For Bahá’ís, teaching is more than a mere numerical increase; it is a measure of humanity’s response to the message that they believe is the means for the advancement of the whole human race.

One of the most recent evolutions of Bahá’í teaching efforts is the development of Area Growth Programs, mandated by the Universal House of Justice, which concentrate efforts to teach the Bahá’í Faith in specific geographic areas, with the support and guidance of Bahá’í institutions. The aim of the programs is to increase the capacity of believers and communities in a region to foster a process of accelerated and sustained growth by raising up human resources for well-designed expansion and consolidation activities and by strengthening local and regional Bahá’í institutions. Between 2000 and 2001, 29 pilot Area Growth Programs were initiated in various countries.

Two pilot programs are currently under way in the Russian Federation. One program, concentrated in the Murmansk region, is carried forward mostly by youth, who have planned and carried out several teaching projects as well as a dance workshop and study circles. The other program, in the Baikal region, has served to reinvigorate the Bahá’í community and has attracted people from surrounding areas to the Faith while increasing the focus and enthusiasm of the community.

In some places, people are especially receptive to the Bahá’í teachings and embrace the Faith in large numbers. A six—month project in the area of Raj-Shahi, Bangladesh, resulted in close to six thousand people declaring their belief in Baha’u’llah. More

‘1 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Japan Will Tum Ablaze (Tokyo: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1993), p. 12.

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than a quarter of them subsequently trained in the country’s institute program, enhancing their understanding of their new Faith.

In Mongolia, 214 people became Bahá’ís in response to six teaching projects following Bahá’í summer school sessions. Nearly all of the new believers soon enrolled in institute courses. In an effort to teach the Faith to the Tsaatan (Reindeer) people, who live in Hévsgél Province, a team of Bahá’ís Visited the area and met with the main chief of the tribe, who gave permission for them to share their message. The Bahá’ís conducted two children’s classes and held a unity feast, and as a result six people enrolled in the Bahá’í community.

Use of the media to promote the Bahá’í teachings has had a tremendous impact in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Bahá’ís broadcast radio and television programs on the subjects of peace, the elimination of prejudice, consultation, prayer, family life, and children’s education. The television programs are locally produced and air weekly for a half-hour on the national television station RTCN, immediately before the news, and later in the evening on the private Channel A. Radio programming by the Bahá’ís is carried by RAGA Radio on Sunday mornings, and the broadcasts are followed widely in the capital, Kinshasa, and across the Congo

Bahd ’z’s in Gitarama, Rwanda, Singing and drumming at a Bahá’í' teaching conference.

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River in Brazzaville, the capital of the neighboring Congo Republic. After seeing one of the Bahá’í television programs about the elimination of racial and tribal prejudice, two people walked 20 kilometers to the Bahá’í center to declare their desire to become Bahá’ís.

Several government officials, including the minister of Information, the minister of Foreign Affairs, and a high-ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior, have been active supporters of the programs and have encouraged the widespread diffusion of the social and moral principles they transmit. After a program on the Bahá’í electoral process, an officer from the president’s office called the national Bahá’í center to request more information about the Bahá’í administrative system, stating that the concepts were important for the development of the country.

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