Bahá’í News/Issue 418/Text
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| No. 418 | BAHA’I YEAR 122 | JANUARY, 1966 |
Recent photograph of the House of Worship in Kampala, Uganda
The Mayans of Yucatan Welcome Teachings[edit]
The Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, established first among the Mayan peoples in the States of Yucatan and Campeche, has extended across the Peninsula to the Territory of Quintana Roo and its beautiful tropical Islands of Cozumel and Mujeres.
The renowned civilization of the ancient Mayans draws increasingly the visits of scientists and travelers from all over the world to view its magnificent ruins. However, it is in the myriad Mayan villages which compose the entire country population (that is to say rural areas) in the Peninsula, where one sees the dawn of the realization of the true destiny of these peoples, a destiny which, under the Banner of Bahá’u’lláh, will even excel their former achievements.
Almost three years have passed since the first pioneers, Mrs. Edna Ford and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Foster, and a short time later Dr. and Mrs. Alejandro Cervantes, arrived. During these three years the work has been singularly blessed by visits from Hand of the Cause, Dr. Ugo Giachery, accompanied by Mrs. Giachery, and, in the past year that of Dr. Ramatullah Muhajer.
Mrs. Edna Ford, pioneer, returning from one of her
multiple journeys on foot to the Mayan villages accompanied by Don. Wilfrido Farfan, first Mayan Bahá’í
teacher in Muna, Yucatan. The torrid heat of Yucatan
and its torrential rains are no obstacle.
Throughout the three years many have come to
assist. Mrs. Ford has remained as a permanent pioneer, walking miles over rocky roads in rain and
intense heat day in and day out to help the new Bahá’í
communities. The work has also been greatly assisted
in the last year by the Auxiliary Board Member,
Artemus Lamb and Mrs. Lamb, who have lived on the
property of the “Instituto Cultural Bahá’í — Martha
Root,” among the Mayan friends in the village of
Muna, Yucatán. Mr. and Mrs. George Neuzil drove
from the State of Wisconsin to spend several months
and Mrs. Valeria Nichols, more recently, has settled in
the area to help with the work.
The Institute has now become a living and vital part of the teaching work for the entire area and is famous in the villages which are the homes of the Bahá’í teachers trained there. Even non-Bahá’ís desire to attend the sessions.
Don Jorge Coronado, first Mayan member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico with Doña Matilde
Mena, on his left, the first Mayan woman to graduate
as a teacher, and Srta. Marina from Xcumya.
Through the courtesy of the National Spiritual Assembly of Guatemala, its member, Alberto Landau,
was loaned to supervise the construction of the Institute. The original plan and design was drawn up by
Samuel Burafato, member of the National Spiritual
Assembly of Mexico and Dr. Alejandro Cervantes,
another member of the Assembly, again journeyed to
Yucatán to help in the initiation of the construction
work.
The Institute serves regionally as the center of preparation of Mayan teachers and Teaching Conferences. It plays an important role in the local activities of the Bahá’í Community of Muna which includes children
View from the roadway in front of the Institute Cultural
Bahá’í-Marta Root, Muna, Yucatan. The Ives Annex
forms the “L” on the left.
[Page 3]
and youth classes, the celebration of the Nineteen Day
Feasts, the commemoration of Bahá’í Holy Days, weddings, Bahá’í social gatherings and public meetings.
The Mayan teachers who recently graduated from the teacher’s training courses are taking an active part in the work, accompanying more experienced ones on teaching trips, attracting new believers in their own villages, assisting in the opening up of new centers to the Faith and going in pairs to teach in unopened localities of their own choosing. Extensive traveling includes visits to the Territory of Quintana Roo, Isla Mujeres and the State of Campeche as well as to the twenty-eight Bahá’í Centers in Yucatán.
After many months of trips to the Territory of Quintana Roo, the village of Dzula and the town of Filipe Carrillo Puerto have been opened to the Faith. The spiritual conquest is limited only by the lack of sufficient pioneers and teachers to take the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to these spiritually receptive people.
Funeral of First Samoan Believer Becomes Public Proclamation of Faith[edit]
A funeral service for the first Samoan believer, Sailala Tamasese, who passed away in Apia on September 25, became what was perhaps the most significant public proclamation of the Faith in Samoa to date. Members of the Cabinet, chiefs, clergy and members of the Royal Tamasese family were present to hear Bahá’í tribute paid to this descendant of the Royal Tamasese family who was a staunch soldier of Bahá’u’lláh. For eight years he taught the Faith openly and continuously through the country in the face of much opposition and pressure from chiefs and clergy.
“I am a Bahá’í and I always will be!” said Sailala Tamasese shortly before his passing, and his wife and family were faithful to his trust in making certain that he was given a Bahá’í funeral.
Because of his Faith, the listeners were told by Niu Tuataga (Auxiliary Board member), the royal name of Tamasese would live on for many centuries to come, even as the apostles of old. The station of Bahá’u’lláh and His fundamental teachings, including the concept of life after death, was presented through readings and prayers by Sione Malifa, vice-chairman of the assembly, and Lilian Ala’i, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
This courageous servant of Bahá’u’lláh was, in passing, enabled to pay eloquent and powerful testimony to his beloved Faith, even as he served steadfastly while on this earth. Bahá’ís around the world will add their prayers to those of the friends in Samoa, in gratitude for the life of Sailala Tamasese.
First Conference of the Hands of the Cause for Africa,
their Board members, and members of two National
Spiritual Assemblies of Africa held in Salisbury, Rhodesia in September. Hands of the Cause Enoch Olinga
and John Robarts are in the front row, third from left
and third from right respectively.
Conference Called by Hands in Africa[edit]
During the weekend of September 3-5 the Bahá’ís of Salisbury witnessed the first of three conferences being called by the Hands of the Cause in Africa to discuss and consult on means of closer coordination and cooperation between the institution of the Hands and their Board members, and the National Spiritual Assemblies. The other two conferences are to be held in Monrovia, Liberia and Nairobi, Kenya.
Two of the Hands from Africa, Enoch Olinga and John A. Robarts attended. Musa Banani sent loving greetings by telegraph. Twenty-six people were present including eight members of the South and West African Assembly, eight from the South Central African Assembly and six Auxiliary Board members from the two regions. All sessions were held at the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Salisbury. A review of where each region stood in relation to its goals in the Nine Year Plan showed that there was a lack of productive activity in both regions and much work is to be done if these goals are to be achieved.
The conference provided an excellent opportunity for the National Assembly of South Central Africa to meet and consult with its parent National Assembly of South and West Africa on various subjects common to both regions. Besides the conference sessions, time was taken for each national assembly to meet and take up its own business, as well as for the Hands and their Board members to meet for discussion of their own problems.
The friends left the conference with the fervent wish of all that the work in the southern part of Africa would now gain momentum so that the goals of the Nine Year Plan would be achieved.
First Annual Bahá’í Summer School of Hawaii held at
Waianae July 31-August 8, 1965. Paul Thiele acted as
co-ordinator and Mrs. Nila Sewell was registrar. A
variety of courses was offered including one on Bahá’í
Law by Mrs. Bea Rinde.
The Heart and Qiblih of the Bahá’í World[edit]
Last month, on page 2, BAHÁ’Í NEWS carried the cabled announcement from the Universal House of Justice about the final cleansing of the Qiblih of the Bahá’í World of the last remains of the Covenant-breakers. The commentary mentioned briefly the historic steps undertaken by the beloved Guardian toward this objective during his lifetime. The following additional information is now offered for the benefit of the Bahá’ís who will soon make the pilgrimage to this hallowed spot and for others who wish to familiarize themselves with the relative location of the areas mentioned in the cablegram.
In his message to the Bahá’í World on June 11, 1952 the Guardian referred to the authorization granted by the high government officials of the State of Israel for the demolition of a dilapidated house belonging to the Covenant-breakers situated next to the Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Public access to the heart of the Qiblih of the Bahá’í World is now made possible,” he announced, “through traversing the sacred precincts leading successively to the Holy Court and the outer and inner sanctuaries of the Blessed Threshold of the Holy of Holies.”
The “sacred precincts” referred to in this message are the properties of the Faith in Bahjí, including the Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh to the east of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the gardens and landscaping surrounding the Shrine.
The “Holy Court” is the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas, which consists of the landscaping and formal gardens providing a befitting approach to the Shrine as well as to the Mansion. This is sometimes referred to in the writings of the Guardian as the outer sanctuary of the Shrine. The Covenant-breakers owned property inside the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas, consisting of a ruined building next to the Mansion. During the last year of the Guardian’s life the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas was finally purified from the contamination of these Covenant-breakers through their evacuation under an expropriation order obtained from the Israeli Government. Shortly after the passing of the Guardian the building was itself demolished.
The “outer sanctuary” more specifically also refers to the small court with a small gate, a portico and few steps leading to the entrance door of the inner sanctuary of the Shrine. (See the photograph of the entrance to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh on the cover page of BAHÁ’Í NEWS for November, 1965.)
The “inner sanctuary” is the roofed area consisting of a beautiful central garden, the surrounding paths of which are covered with rugs, and where the privileged pilgrims and visitors stand in prayer and view the “Blessed Threshold” and “the Holy of Holies,” where lies interred, in the words of the Guardian, “the holiest dust the earth ever received into its bosom.” It is at the entrance door of this inner sanctuary that the Guardian decided to deposit the Roll of Honor bearing the names of the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh. (See Message of May 28, 1953, Messages to the Bahá’í World, page 49.) Within this inner sanctuary in one of the two rooms adjacent and to the east of the Holy of Holies had been buried the remains of Mírzá Ḍiyá’u’lláh who died in the early years of the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at a time when the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh was not entirely under the control of the Master. It should be recalled that the present structure known today as the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh was at that time a dwelling-place. It was in the “northernmost room” of this house that the sacred remains of the Blessed Perfection were interred. (See God Passes By, page 222.)
It is the final transfer of the body of this Covenant-breaker from the holy precincts that is announced to the Bahá’í World from the Universal House of Justice.
NOTE: The message from the Universal House of Justice concerning the final cleansing of the Qiblih of the Bahá’í World was received in Wilmette, Illinois on the one hundred and forty-eighth anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
On the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh speaking to a packed audience of over 400 persons, Mr. Dang-Binh, vice chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’ís of Vietnam stated that world order will not be established by arbitrary or magical acts, but through painful transition from youth to manhood, the elimination of obsolete passions and prejudice and the development of world consciousness.
A Visit to Persia[edit]
(continued)
Editorial Note: This is another in a series of articles written by Guy Murchie from his diary kept on his journey to Iran in 1964 and printed with the permission of the Universal House of Justice. The photos were taken by Mr. Murchie.
March 27 —
Isfáhán[edit]
Iṣfáhán was, until about a century ago, not only the most central but by all odds the largest city of Persia, and it still basks in the memory of Sháh ‘Abbás the Great of the early 17th century who made it his capital. It is a city of beautiful turquoise mosques and trees and waterways, many of its boulevards having small, flowing canals on both sides as well as four continuous rows of trees that local Bahá’ís call “the flowering of the Báb’s Cause” and that consist mostly of planes and poplars with here and there a pine, ash or cypress. This naturally gives it something of a pleasant garden atmosphere if you don’t mind the dust and traffic or the hundreds of drooping telephone wires.
A camel caravan on a road to Ṭihrán from Iṣfáhán.
To the visiting Bahá’í the most interesting places are
the houses where the Báb stayed during His months in
the city and the homes and graves of the immortal
martyrs. An especially interesting place, therefore, is
the magnificent home of the famous martyr brothers of
Iṣfáhán, Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥasan and Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥusayn, in
which the Báb was also a guest. After visiting the
exquisite marble tomb of these merchant heroes who
died for their Faith in 1879, we made our way through
the muddy streets and past the camel pens of the
bazaar and devious byways full of displayed wares to
the secret and unpretentious doorway that led to the
imposing courtyard and mansion built by their wealthy
father and where they lived as citizens of the highest
reputation all their days. Taking off our wet shoes, we
walked through handsome hallways, up steep stairs
and through room after room with plaster moldings,
large elaborate mosaics, hand carved panels and great
The Tomb of the renowned martyred brothers of Iṣfáhán.
windows with thousands of tiny glass panes between
muntins of delicate wood. Then finally to an extensive
basement of vaulted brick, ventilated for cooling in
summer, where the Báb had remained in seclusion for
many days in 1846.
Yazd—Home of the Seven Martyrs[edit]
My interpreter and I went to Yazd on a crowded bus from Iṣfáhán, the city of trees, and it took six hours of bouncing over a rough gravel road as we sped eastward over the Great Salt Desert which is flat, dusty and buff-colored in the foreground, sometimes with sparse brown grass or sage clumps, white in the distance with a background of lavender mountains against a gray blue sky. I am told there are sand dunes up to 700 feet high on this desert, some of them star-shaped as seen from the sky.
Yazd is a city of towers built of sandy mud the color of the desert and has some 65,000 inhabitants. It is said to have been founded as a sort of desert concentration camp where Alexander the Great kept prisoners captured in this part of Persia, and by the 19th century A.D. it had become the leading center of the nation’s silk industry* but has hardly yet felt any influence of the 20th century. It reveals its age in the ubiquitous wind-blown walls of mud, some more than half eaten away by the rasping sand storms. There seem to be few birds here beyond hawks, crows and sparrows, but camels are common in the streets, plodding ponderously on their splayed sand-shoe hoofs and odd caravans of laden cattle thread the mazelike alleys. In fact I saw a boy riding a heifer, sitting atop a big load of grain,
*Shaykh Ahmad wrote most of his books in Yazd in the pre-dawn of Bahá’í history.
[Page 6]
Public Square of Yazd where one of the martyrdoms took place. Two Múllás are walking by at the right.
guiding her with a rope through a hole in her nose.
There are few dogs, but cats scuttle through the dusty
lanes or gaze lynxlike up at you from restaurant floors,
hoping patiently for at least a crust of bread from tea-drinking, raw-onion-chewing patrons arguing vainly,
beads in hand, about their brittle problems.
The Bahá’ís of Yazd have a large Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds with well-tended gardens and a wide view of the city from the roof, revealing its distinctive feature of numerous ventilating towers described by Prof. E. G. Browne in 1888 in his A Year Among the Persians and still important for cooling water reservoirs and summer sleeping cellars. Beyond a few salty dunes in the distance one can see snowy mountains, while in the foreground one’s eye catches a black flag fluttering on a high pole above a structure being built just beyond the Hazira gate. This will be a mosque and local Bahá’ís surmise that it was put there to counteract the influence of our growing “heresy.”
Among the martyrs’ graves shown us in a brief tour of the city was a particularly sacred burial spot: the well where the bodies of the famed “seven Martyrs of Yazd” were dumped in 1890 after they had been judicially condemned as Bahá’ís by the city government and each man handed over to a separate group of executioners to be tortured and killed as they wished in public squares and markets. Later I was led by a cautious Bahá’í, walking 100 feet ahead (to avoid seeming associated with a camera-wielding foreigner), to most of the seven places of martyrdom, some of them inside the vast covered bazaar full of merchants and bustling people in the center of the city. After the mutilated bodies showed no more signs of life, we were told, they were dragged by their feet in a proud procession through the main streets, then by a route unchanged in three quarters of a century out to the appointed well for disposal. An artisan was drying adobe bricks at one place in that road, spreading them out in the sun just as has been done for thousands of years. The holy well is still unmarked to avoid provoking local mullas, the Muslim “priests” who continue to be very suspicious and belligerent toward Bahá’ís here, but the surrounding land is owned by believers who have made it into a beautiful rose and pine garden.
NOTE: The story of the Báb’s sojourn in Isfáhán is given in the Dawn-Breakers pp. 199-216. Pictures of the famous brothers who were
martyred in Isfáhán are in Bahá’í World, vol. X p. 24. See also God Passes By pp. 200-202 for the story of these martyrdoms, as well as
those of the seven believers of Yazd.
View of Yazd from the roof of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds.
Some Bahá’ís from Grenada Windward Islands, with friends at a Conference picnic on October 10, 1965.
Approximately eighty youth of Southern California attended “Youth Victory Day” September 26 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Quigley in Beverly Hills.
Bahá’ís Celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary of the United Nations[edit]
Both BAHÁ’Í NEWS and the Bahá’í United Nations Committee are gratified with the arrival of many enthusiastic and inspiring reports from such widely separated places as California, Puerto Rico and New Hampshire. These testify to the fact that the Bahá’ís found many ways in which to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations in October 1965. Groups as well as local spiritual assemblies showed initiative and creativity. Both small beginnings and large endeavors merit praise.
Bahá’ís have discovered the United Nations Association of the United States of America. The UNA is a product of a recent merger of The American Association for the United Nations and The United States Committee for the United Nations. It is independent and non-partisan. Its “50,000 individual members and over 100 major national voluntary organizations” are bound together in a great desire to work for justice, freedom and peace. On the national level, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U.S. is one of its affiliated member organizations and was recently represented at its biennial convention. Cooperation on the local level is proving mutually beneficial. The UNA chapters, scattered over the country, will prove ever more capable of supplying good speakers on the U.N. for Bahá’í meetings.
A representative from the Flint, Michigan, Public Library gives acceptance speech for the U.N. flag presented by the Bahá’ís of Flint.
The Bahá’í Community of Flint, Michigan presented
a 3' by 5' UN flag, staff and standard to the Flint Public
Library at a public meeting. Engraved on a brass plate
attached to the standard were these words: “Presented
to the Flint Public Library by the Flint Bahá’í Community Oct. 17, 1965.” Several members of the local
UNA, in which the Bahá’í Community has group membership, came to the meeting. One UNA member said
that no other religious or other organization in town,
with the exception of the UNA itself, was as dedicated
to the UN as were the Bahá’ís. A printed card was
handed out, bearing Bahá’í quotations and beginning,
“We, the People of the Bahá’í World Faith ... knowing
The Mayor of Hamburg Village, New York presents to
Mrs. Jane Czerniejewski a Distinguished Service Award
in appreciation of the public service to United Nations.
all too well that prejudice, injustice, and war must be
eradicated, join all mankind in support of the peaceful
and humanitarian efforts of the United Nations!
Bahá’u’lláh ... wrote ... ‘Cleave unto that which
draweth you together and uniteth you.’ ”
Among the larger endeavors was San Francisco, California. Bahá’ís brought together some 200 people in the Harding Theatre for an elaborate program including dancers, a guitarist and a speaker. With only one-eighth of those present Bahá’ís, the guest book proved most useful. Salt Lake City, Utah, joined by the Salt Lake County Bahá’ís, had a festive time at a pot-luck luncheon with international dishes; a UNICEF movie, “Hungry Angels”; various groups in national costumes, dancing and singing; and, of course, a Bahá’í speaker. The combined Bahá’í Centers in Dade County, Florida invited as special guests foreign students in native costumes from the University of Miami. The friends were eager for an easy mingling of people, rather than inactive participation. Display tables with dolls of all nations, Mexican pottery, Norwegian art and a UN exhibit kept the large crowd moving before they heard an excellent Bahá’í talk and participated in learning songs of other lands. Bahá’í literature was warmly received. Fort Worth, Texas had a three-part program: 1. Program with a short UN tape, a prayer, songs by children, remarks. 2. An international buffet. 3. Displays showing international aspects of the Bahá’í
A few of those who gathered at the Holiday Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, to observe U.N. Day.
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Some of those who attended the United Nations Day meeting held at the Bahá’í Cabin at Teaneck, New Jersey.
The wonderful spirit always present at this blessed place where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked added to the significance
of this occasion of the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.
Faith and the United Nations. In Hamburg, New York a
large buffet luncheon meeting heard a panel of five
youth speak on the structure of the UN, humanitarian
aspects, NGO contributions, strengths and weaknesses
of the UN and finally Bahá’í recommendations for the
success of the UN. New York City’s two-part program
featured a panel of eight Bahá’ís born in various
countries, who spoke on the purpose and development
of the UN and its various branches and agencies. Invitations showing pictures of Bahá’í Houses of Worship
had been sent to individuals, organizations and
churches.
Noteworthy gatherings were held in many other cities. Nashville, Tennessee was delighted that the Holiday Inn, where the meeting was held, gave unrequested publicity. On the marquee was printed “Welcome Bahá’í World Faith.” In Fargo, North Dakota foreign students attending three area colleges were invited to an international costume party to celebrate the twentieth birthday of the UN. While the evening was purely social, Bahá’í books were displayed and many Bahá’í pamphlets were taken. In Yakima, Washington the president of the local UNA took part in a panel. North Hempstead Township, New York combined in a meeting international desserts from 9 countries, a flag display, folk music and a Bahá’í talk. At Eugene, Oregon two communities combined to sponsor an international folk dance at the University of Oregon campus. Bahá’ís with folk dancing experience planned and executed the event. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lionel Gonzales, a Bahá’í working in the UN secretariat, illustrated the evolutionary nature of the United Nations. First it spoke of “backward nations,” later of “underdeveloped nations,” finally of “less developed nations” and now of “developing nations.”
Bahá’ís have given trees and helped issue an ICY proclamation. The Pueblo, Colorado Bahá’ís are giving a flowering crabapple tree, which is to be planted in the spring outside the new McClelland Public Library. This gift is in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the UN. A brass plate will be embedded near the tree saying, “Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye with one another with the utmost love and unity.” In Greensboro, North Carolina the mayor was present when the Bahá’ís dedicated a 7-foot UN Peace Tree to the city. At Antelope J.D., California two Bahá’ís assisted the honorary mayor issue a proclamation declaring 1965 to be International Cooperation Year.
Activity has come from rural areas and groups. The rural community of Verde Valley, Arizona remembered to honor UN Day. The Socorro, New Mexico group worked with the Tech International Club on an impressive program. The Clayton, Missouri group, with help from Webster Groves, sponsored its first large public meeting on the occasion of UN Day. Even the mayor was present.
Children have made their contributions. Their voices were heard in folk singing in Socorro, New Mexico. In Waterloo, Iowa the children of the community participated in a skit, “World Peace,” with three races represented. The Bahá’í group of Whittier J.D., California participated in a UNA sponsored UN Day program called “A Child and a Song.” Members helped appeal to the churches to gather the children’s choirs into a combined junior choir of different faiths with Negro, Oriental and Caucasian children. Nearly 500 voices sang to raise funds for the Freedom from Hunger program. Nipo Strongheart, a Bahá’í of the Yakima tribe, interpreted the Lord’s Prayer in Indian sign language. Individual Bahá’ís donated new music, “It’s a Small World” (Disney) and “Let There Be Peace on Earth” (Sy and Jill Miller).
Bahá’ís have gone beyond the doors of the Bahá’í-sponsored gathering. Niagara Falls, New York presented yet another program with its color-slide taped lecture, “United Nations — Capital of Our World,” this time to a junior high school in Hamburg. Our “NGOs,” past and present, have gone out to speak. Mrs. Lee Blackwell spoke to approximately 900 students at the Lincoln High School in Marrero, Louisiana; Mrs. Annamarie Honnold to a League of Women Voters study group and to a Media (Pennsylvania) Fellowship House luncheon.
Prayers, films, booths, the book review and the service project have been used. Temple City, California had an evening of prayer for the continuing work of the UN. In Duchess County, New York a public meeting was divided between a UNA speaker and a Prayer for Peace Service at which prayers were offered from the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem, American Indian and Bahá’í Faiths. Films were used in San Juan, Puerto Rico (“The Hat”), Portsmouth, New Hampshire (“Overture” and “Fable for Friendship”) and Peoria, Illinois (“UN Charter”). At Columbus, Ohio the Bahá’ís
[Page 9]
felt that having a booth at the UN Festival was more
successful than having a meeting. For two days they
gave away hundreds of Bahá’í pamphlets and mimeographed prayers and gathered signatures in their guest
book, hoping to use them for a follow-up meeting.
The Brookhaven Township, New York group had a booth, “One World — One Family,” at the Three Village Port Jefferson UN Day Festival. They were listed on the program. In Palo Alto, California a report was made on Clark M. Eichelberger’s new book, UN — The First Twenty Years. The Ipswich, Massachusetts Bahá’ís decided to have a service project instead of a formal meeting. They set up a UN and UNICEF store in the front window of a local newspaper office. This they manned for a week for 7½ hours a day. Much was sold and the Bahá’í Peace Program was offered as well as UN publications.
Awards played their role. At the buffet luncheon in Hamburg, New York the mayor, one of the honored guests, presented Mrs. Jane Czerniejewski with the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of her public service as Hamburg’s UN coordinator. The UNA of Los Angeles gave the Youth Group of the Bahá’í Local Assembly a Certificate of Commendation for exemplary volunteer service. In Wichita, Kansas the Local Assembly once again presented its annual Bahá’í-UN award to the person who gave outstanding support to the UN in the past year.
There has been some very outstanding newspaper publicity. Excellent letters to the editor appeared in Key West, Florida and Urbana, Ohio. The Bahá’ís of Snohomish County District No. 1, Washington ran a small insert which said simply this:
- WE SUPPORT THE UNITED NATIONS
- Bahá’ís of Snohomish County
- “So powerful is unity’s light that
- It can illumine the whole earth.”
- —BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
The Niagara Falls, New York, Gazette carried quotations from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. One ad included a Bahá’í prayer. In the Miami, Florida, Herald the Bahá’ís saluted the United Nations. In large, bold type the San Francisco, California Bahá’ís asked, “Do you uphold the UN? Bahá’ís do!”
The Bahá’ís of Gallup, New Mexico honored the UN for a week with a variety of activities, which included an art exhibit with paintings from children of other lands, a tea with other groups, contacting churches to help with UNICEF’s “trick or treat”, a poetry reading night and a talk.
No doubt there will a lively follow-up across the country. The Bahá’ís of Duluth, Minnesota even plan a UNA membership drive, which will put them in contact with many people. Surely both the Bahá’ís and the UN have gained countless friends for the extensive program has been friendly, entertaining, informative, challenging and inspiring.
U.N. Day Exhibits. Upper left
and counter clockwise: Nashville, Tennessee; Peoria, Illinois
(two); Brookhaven Township,
New York; Teaneck, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; Clayton,
Missouri; Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Historic Deep South Institute Held in Mississippi[edit]
On the shores of the great Gulf of Mexico at Waveland, Mississippi, an unprecedented Deep South Institute was held Thanksgiving weekend, November 25-28 — its theme “Dawnbreakers of the New World Order.”
Sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Jackson, Mississippi, the Institute brought together distinguished Hand of the Cause Zikr’u’lláh Khádem, Auxiliary Board Members Curtis Kelsey, Jack McCants, William Tucker, and National Teaching Committee member, Jane McCants, as representative of the National Spiritual Assembly, to conduct the program for this momentous occasion. It was the first of its kind in the history of the American Bahá’í Community and the first to actively involve all the Institutions of the New World Order in the United States. Its significance cannot be properly evaluated at present, but no doubt future history will mark it as an event from which emanated a new spiritual upsurge of teaching in the Southern States.
The first day of the Institute was given over to registration and a get-acquainted session. That evening, beloved Hand of the Cause, Mr. Khádem, and Auxiliary Board Member, Mr. Kelsey, spoke on the “Day of the Covenant” giving its meaning and significance. Mr. Kelsey told some delightful stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, after which the friends were presented by Mr. Khádem with a golden ribbon bearing the message: “The Beloved of all hearts, Shoghi Effendi, is surely calling us On High for Universal Participation called for by the Supreme Body of the Faith, the Universal House of Justice. The time is short!” Mr. Kelsey presented each with a joyful photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The second day opened with Mr. Khádem recounting remarkable stories of historical value in the progress and development of the Faith. His explanations of prophetic verses in the Holy Qur’án and Old and New Testaments were most illuminating. He advised the friends to make an effort to study and comprehend the Glorious Book of Muḥammed.
Mr. Jack McCants presented a brief but comprehensive historical account of the Covenant of God and the sacrifices made by the Prophets and their followers to establish God’s Religion in the hearts of men.
Dr. William Tucker offered very practical ways and means for winning the goals of the Nine Year Plan. His remarks were directed to each and every Bahá’í of all ages and backgrounds.
Mrs. Jane McCants gave an impassioned and inspiring talk on the 1965 Riḍván Message of the Universal House of Justice. She cited the example of Badí, that heroic, humble youth who stood on the rock until he could present the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to the Sháh, the implication being that were the friends to follow his example of steadfastness and devotion many victories could be shared in 1967 at the celebration of the Centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s proclamation of His Messages to the kings and rulers of the world.
That evening, Mr. Khádem talked more about the Master, the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice and showed a film of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America in 1912, thereby bringing those gathered closer to the Center of the Covenant.
The third day was a continuation of the two previous days, carrying forward the spirit of “the love of God ... stirred with higher waves,” which had been generated by the love and inspiration of the participants in the program. Highlighting this day was the commemoration early the next morning (1:00 A.M.) of the Forty-fourth Anniversary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Mr. Curtis Kelsey, who was in Haifa at the time and one of the last persons to visit him shortly before His passing, shared with those gathered his remarkable reminiscences of that event.
All who attended this Institute were truly inspired and counted themselves privileged to have been a part of it. Several national and cultural heritages were represented, those in attendance including an African student and an American Indian. Approximately one hundred forty adults and youth from fifteen states and two foreign countries shared the benefits and bounties of this blessed event.
On arrival at the Alabama State Convention, held at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham, Alabama, the friends were greeted by a large billboard proclaiming the event. After lunch the group assembled under this sign for photographs demonstrating to wide-eyed passers-by that the Bahá’í principle of unity can function even in the heart of Birmingham, Alabama.
[Page 11]
Teaching Conference of the
Bahá’ís of Eliot, Maine held at
the Fellowship House at Green
Acre on the weekend of October
8-10 and led by Mrs. Terah C.
Smith. This was the third such
teaching conference to be held
at Eliot recently.
College Club Visits Temple[edit]
The Bahá’í College Club of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, brought their friends to Wilmette on October 31 for a visit to the House of Worship and Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds. Arriving about noon they enjoyed a potluck lunch and social hour with the North Shore Bahá’í Youth Club, followed by a visit to the Ḥaẓíra where they had a spontaneous songfest. They attended the devotional service at the Temple, heard a short talk by Mrs. Margaret Ruhe and had an opportunity to visit the beautiful grounds of the House of Worship. All seemed delighted with this opportunity for acquainting their friends with the national Center of the Faith in Wilmette and the chance to share in the Bahá’í spirit of warmth and fellowship.
News Briefs[edit]
The Finnish Bahá’ís News Bulletin has announced the purchase of land for a temple site for Finland, as of October 1, 1965. The Universal House of Justice cabled the NSA of Finland as follows: “Delighted news accomplishment goal Temple site, further evidence numerically small highly promising devoted Finnish Bahá’í community.”
The local Assembly of Sacramento Municipal Court District in Carmichael, California celebrated the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh with a Persian potluck supper giving believers and their friends an opportunity to enjoy the spirit of Bahá’í fellowship on this happy anniversary. Over thirty attended the gathering which was held in a home in a goal area of the California Victory Plan.
In Peoria Heights, Illinois, the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh was observed with a public meeting in a downtown building. Mr. Farhang Alai spoke to the audience of about forty, stressing the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. A spirited question period during the social hour following the talk. There was excellent newspaper publicity.
Local Assembly of South King County second Commission District, Washington, incorporated June 15,
1965. Left to right, rear: W. Richard Johnke, Opal L.
Conner, Elizabeth J. Harris, Ede McCollum, Jack Tingstad. Front: M. Sue Tingstad, Douglas Harris, Magdalen
Brace, Carolyn Christiansen.
[Page 12]
David Villasenor, noted Bahá’í artist of Pasadena, California (center) reproduced in fiberglass the Aztec stone
calendar discovered in Mexico dating back to the
middle 1400’s. It is called the “Stone of the Sun.” Mr.
Villasenor was commissioned to make this reproduction
for the Los Angeles County Museum. It stands twelve
feet high, weighs about 600 pounds and took more than
ten months to complete. Shown with Mr. Villasenor is
Lic. Luis Echeverris, Secretary of the Interior of Mexico, and Ernest E. Debs, Supervisor of Los Angeles
Third District.
Visitors to Alaska State Fair Learn of Faith[edit]
One of the most successful public proclamations of the Faith ever held in Alaska took place during the State Fair held in Palmer over Labor Day weekend. The Matanuska Valley Local Assembly, assisted by Palmer and Spenard friends, staffed the booth. Interesting discussions were held, over eight hundred pieces of literature were presented to interested people, and 31,000 attendees at the fair were exposed to the Bahá’í Faith in four days.
A New Way of Publicizing the Faith[edit]
Two Bahá’ís, George and Lori Neuzil, managers of a motel at Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, have started this summer a plan of replacing the Gideon Bibles, usually put in hotel rooms with copies of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. Each book was accompanied by a notice to the effect that it was there for information only, there being no desire to force these thoughts or incur obligation. The results at the end of the summer showed that all copies of the book had been read, at least in part, seven copies having been taken away. About 100 free pamphlets were taken from the display racks in the front office.
BAHA'I IN THE NEWS[edit]
The new, fourth edition [1966-67] of Who’s Who of American Women makes mention of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust and Bahá’í News in connection with the listed biography of Mrs. Eunice Braun, as the managing director and international news editor respectively. The information has also been scheduled for inclusion in the forthcoming edition of Who’s Who in the Midwest.
Calendar of Events[edit]
- FEASTS
- January 19—Sultán (Sovereignty)
- February 7—Mulk (Dominion)
- WORLD RELIGION DAY
- January 16—Religion Comes of Age
- U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS
- February 11-13
- March 25-27
Baha’i House of Worship[edit]
- Weekdays
- 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Auditorium only)
- Sundays and Holidays
- 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Entire building)
- Sundays
- 3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
- Sunday, January 16
- 4:15 p.m.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee: Mrs. Sylvia Parmelee, Managing Editor; Mrs. Eunice Braun, International Editor; Miss Charlotte Linfoot, National Spiritual Assembly Representative.
Material must be received by the twentieth of the second month preceding date of issue. Address: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A. 60091.
Change of address should be reported directly to National Bahá’í Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
