Bahá’í News/Issue 499/Text
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| No. 499 | BAHA’I YEAR 129 | OCTOBER, 1972 |
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa
Glimpsing Early Bahá’í Pilgrimages[edit]
Introduction
The flow of pilgrims from around the world to the Bahá’í holy places in Haifa and ‘Akká is mounting. Yet many accounts of early pilgrimages are almost inaccessible to most of these travelers. These early visits were so full of inspiration and love, warmth and wonder that it seems fitting to pull together a little of what was then experienced and felt. Insights into the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refresh and prepare the Bahá’í for modern-day holy pilgrimage. Too, they inspire all Bahá’ís “to live the life”.
It must at the outset be understood that these accounts are “in the class of pilgrim’s notes”. The words attributed to the Master may not be completely authentic, but they catch His message and spirit. Regarded in this light, Shoghi Effendi permitted the use of “pilgrim’s notes”.
What follows are only selections of early accounts. This is not intended to be an exhaustive study.
Who can know how many pilgrims poured in from the
East and from the West during the Master’s ministry?
And who can know their influence? A few writings now
must suffice to paint an impression of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
that majestic Man of God, Who desired only to be God’s
Servant, but Who Himself was so loved that His followers went gladly forth to do His bidding.
They found Him in His prison-home in ‘Akká, a home reached after going through “the inner court where the fountain plays and roses bloom all the year.” (Knock and It Shall Be Opened Unto You, M.J.M., p. 14) They searched Him out in Tiberias, a town where Jesus walked. During a sojourn in Alexandria, Egypt, He Himself went to the hotel of Louis Gregory and granted him interview after interview, receiving him “with great affection.” (A Heavenly Vista, The Pilgrimage of Louis G. Gregory, Louis G. Gregory, p. 27.) And when He was no longer held prisoner and took up residence in Haifa, He was again found by eager pilgrims, young and old alike.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá once told an early pilgrim that “each believer has a certain time when he should make the desired visit, each having a certain work to do for the progress of the Cause.” (Notes Taken at Acca, Corinne True, p. 18) This believer learned that “There are two kinds of visits—one in which the person comes very thirsty and the water will taste very sweet to him; the other in which the person is not thirsty and the water will be bitter.” (Ibid. p. 28) In addition there is the temporal visit, which must come to an end, and that which is spiritual and does not terminate. “The temporal visit has no effect unless it be the spiritual also.” (Ibid. p. 31.)
Pilgrimage Began in the Days of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
Centuries before the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, the Arabian Prophet uttered these words: “Blessed the man that hath visited ‘Akká, and blessed he that hath visited the visitor of ‘Akká.” Bahá’u’lláh confirmed these words—words which could not be understood for centuries. Muḥammad said, too, that “A month in ‘Akká is better than a thousand years elsewhere.” (Note Bahá’í Holy Places at the World Centre, The Universal House of Justice, p. 10.)
During Bahá’u’lláh’s confinement in the Most Great Prison in ‘Akká, visitors were not permitted. “Several of the Bahá’ís of Írán came all the way on foot for the purpose of seeing their beloved Leader, but were refused admittance within the city walls. They used to go to a place on the plain outside the third moat, from which they could see the windows of Bahá’u’lláh’s quarters. He would show Himself to them at one of the windows and after gazing on Him from afar, they would weep and return to their homes, fired with new zeal for sacrifice and service.” (Ibid, p. 6)
Conditions changed after Bahá’u’lláh was permitted to leave the barracks. While He was yet in ‘Akká an Egyptian merchant, affluent and afire with God’s latest message, desired to visit Him. Abdel Kerim wrote for permission to go on pilgrimage. He must have been greatly surprised when the reply arrived: he might go on pilgrimage but only after all his debts were paid.
He had been in business for many years. His caravans crossed the desert with precious cargo. He had quite naturally been interested in expanding his business, but now his consuming interest was to “owe no man anything.” It followed that when he received a payment, instead of investing it for further gain, he paid off a debt. This continued for five years when at last he was debt-free.
His business shrank. No longer did “love of wealth” consume him. When all his debts were paid, he had only enough to keep his family going in his absence and to pay for deck passage on a ship bound for Haifa.
Formerly he would have traveled first-class. Now he had neither bed nor warm stateroom. Never mind! He was going to see Bahá’u’lláh. As he crossed the gangplank, his shawl slipped into the water. The night would be chilly, but his heart was glad and he felt “alive with prayer.”
Bahá’u’lláh informed His family that He was expecting an honored guest. A carriage was sent to Haifa to pick up the merchant, but the attendant received no description of this very special guest. As the passengers disembarked, he watched them very carefully—surely he would recognize someone so distinguished. But the passengers appeared quite ordinary and in due time he returned to ‘Akká with word that Bahá’u’lláh’s visitor had not arrived.
The merchant had expected to be met. No money remained to hire a carriage. Bitterly disappointed, he seated himself on a bench, feeling forlorn and destitute.
Bahá’u’lláh knew that His distinguished guest had arrived even though he had not been recognized. This time He sent ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who recognized in the twilight
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“the disappointed figure huddled upon the bench”.
Quickly, the Master introduced Himself and explained what had happened. Then He asked him if he would like to go to ‘Akká that very night or if he would prefer to wait until morning.
The merchant had already spent hours in prayer in preparation for his meeting with Bahá’u’lláh. But he found that bitterness had now come into his heart because he had felt so forgotten and alone upon his arrival in Haifa. He had even begun to wonder about the very station of Bahá’u’lláh. For what had he given up his fortune? He was in torment.
Now in the presence of this welcome and gentle Man doubts and suspicions ebbed out of his soul, but he felt the need of hours of prayer to feel ready spiritually to meet God’s Emissary.
As the story is told, ‘Abbás Effendi knew instinctively that His new friend would not wish to seek a hotel at His expense, so finding that he preferred to wait until morning for the journey to ‘Akká, He unbuttoned the long cloak that enveloped Him, seated Himself beside the pilgrim, and wrapped both in its ample folds. So they passed the night praying together, lost in that ecstasy of prayer that brings realization.
The next morning they proceeded toward the prison-city of ‘Akká. At long last the Egyptian appeared before Bahá’u’lláh with a glad heart, purified through five years of testing. (The Oriental Rose, Mary Hanford Ford, pp. 94-99)
Early Pilgrimages before World War I[edit]
Pilgrimages from the West to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká and Haifa began before the turn of the century. America had just begun to hear about the Bahá’í Faith. “It was on September 23, 1893, a little over a year after Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension, that, in a paper written by Reverend Henry H. Jessup, D.D., Director of Presbyterian Missionary Operations in North Syria, and read by Reverend George A. Ford of Syria, at the World Parliament of Religion, held in Chicago, in connection with the Columbian Exposition, commemorating the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America, it was announced that ‘a famous Persian Sage,’ ‘The Bábí Saint,’ had died recently in ‘Akká, and that two years previous to His ascension ‘a Cambridge scholar’ had visited Him, to whom He had expressed ‘sentiments so noble, so Christ-like’ that the author of the paper, in his ‘closing words,’ wished to share them with his audience.” (God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 256.)
“He is the Master”[edit]
In 1898 philanthropist Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, the wife of Senator George F. Hearst, organized a group of pilgrims who made their way to the prison-city. In a letter she later made testimony: “ ‘Those three days were the most memorable days of my life ... The Master I will not attempt to describe: I will only state that I believe with all my heart that He is the Master, and my greatest blessing in this world is that I have been privileged to be in His presence, and look upon His sanctified face ... Without a doubt ‘Abbás Effendi is the Messiah of this day and generation, and we need not look for another.’ ” (Ibid. p. 258) In her enthusiasm and devotion to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, she, as so many others, mistook the Master for the Prophet Himself. This, of course, He never claimed to be.
“A Heart White as Snow”[edit]
Mr. Robert Turner, the butler of Mrs. Hearst, distinguished himself by being the first Western Negro to become a Bahá’í. May Maxwell recalled later that “on the morning of our arrival, after we had refreshed ourselves, the Master summoned us all to Him in a long room overlooking the Mediterranean. He sat in silence gazing out of the window, then looking up He asked if all were present. Seeing that one of the believers was absent, He said, ‘Where is Robert?’ ... In a moment Robert’s radiant face appeared in the doorway and the Master rose to greet him, bidding him be seated, and said, ‘... your Lord loves you. God gave you a black skin, but a heart white as snow.’ ” (An Early Pilgrimage, May Maxwell, p. 20) “Such was the tenacity of his faith that even the subsequent estrangement of his beloved mistress from the Cause she had spontaneously embraced failed to becloud its radiance, or to lessen the intensity of the emotions which the loving-kindness showered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon him had excited in his breast.” (God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 259.)
Only the Mention of God[edit]
May Bolles (Maxwell) was one of those fortunate fifteen pilgrims welcomed in the prison-city at that time. She recorded her experiences in An Early Pilgrimage—a divine love story.
In the Holy Land whose very air was “laden with the perfume of roses and orange blossoms”, she found ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Whose love and wisdom penetrated her very soul. In ‘Akká the Holy Family had vacated their own rooms that the pilgrims might be comfortable. Early mornings the Master would inquire about their happiness and health, and at night He wished them “beautiful dreams” and a good rest.
And there, for three precious days and nights, they heard nothing “but the mention of God.” Never elsewhere had she seen such happiness nor heard so much laughter. The Master wanted no tears. At one time the tearful were asked to weep no more for His sake. Only when all were fully composed would He teach the friends.
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May Bolles Maxwell
Hand of the Cause William Sutherland Maxwell
“Then He said: ‘Pray that your hearts may be cut
from yourselves and from the world, that you may be
confirmed by the Holy Spirit and filled with the fire of
the love of God.’ ” (p. 39) “ ‘... I say unto you that anyone who will rise up in the Cause of God at this time shall be filled with the spirit of God, and that He will send His hosts from heaven to help you, and that nothing shall be impossible to you if you have faith. And now I give you a commandment which shall be for a covenant between you and Me—that ye have faith; that your faith be steadfast as a rock that no storms can move, that nothing can disturb, and that it endure through all things even to the end.... As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be. This is the balance—this is the balance—this is the balance.’ ” (p.
40)
She had the inestimable privilege of seeing the portraits of both Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb. Whereupon in poignant voice the Master said, “ ‘Another commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another even as I love you. Great mercy and blessings are promised to the people of your land, but on one condition: that their hearts are filled with the fire of love, that they live in perfect kindness and harmony like one soul in different bodies. If they fail in this condition the great blessings will be deferred. Never forget this; look at one another with the eye of perfection; look at Me, follow Me, be as I am; take no thought for yourselves or your lives, whether ye eat or whether ye sleep, whether ye are comfortable, whether ye are well or ill, whether ye are with friends or foes, whether ye receive praise or blame; for all of these things ye must care not at all. Look at Me and be as I am; ye must die to yourselves and to the world, so shall ye be born again and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Behold a candle how it gives its light. It weeps its life away drop by drop in order to give forth its flame of light.’ ” (pp. 41-42)
Spiritual and physical life stood in sharp contrast. The Master told an American, who felt orphaned due to unbelieving parents, that “ ‘Material relationship is nothing, it bears no eternal fruits. You are the child of God and of the Kingdom and the ties of the flesh are nothing, but the ties of the spirit are all.’ ” (p. 31)
Nourished by the Love of God[edit]
She was to hear that the food man eats was of no importance as its effect endured but a short time. But the food of the spirit was life to the soul and its effects would endure eternally. She heard Him tell the touching “story of the hermit”. Bahá’u’lláh “was traveling from one place to another with His followers” and “He passed through a lonely country where, at some little distance from the highway, a hermit lived alone in a cave. He was a holy man, and having heard that Our Lord, Bahá’u’lláh, would pass that way, he watched eagerly for His approach. When the Manifestation arrived at that spot the hermit knelt down and kissed the dust before His feet, and said to Him: ‘Oh, my Lord, I am a poor man living alone in a cave nearby; but henceforth I shall account myself the happiest of mortals if Thou wilt but come for a moment to my cave and bless it by Thy Presence.’ Then Bahá’u’lláh told the man that He would come, not for a moment but for three days, and He bade His followers cast their tents, and await His return. The poor man was so overcome with joy and gratitude that he was speechless, and led the way in humble silence to his lowly dwelling in a rock. There the Glorious One sat with him, talking to him and teaching him, and toward evening the man bethought himself that he had nothing to offer his great Guest but some dry meat and some dark bread, and water from a spring nearby. Not knowing what to do he threw himself at the feet of his Lord and confessed his dilemma. Bahá’u’lláh comforted him and by a word bade him fetch the meat and bread and water; then the Lord of the universe partook of this frugal repast with joy and fragrance as though it had been a banquet, and during the three days of His visit they ate only of this food which seemed to the poor hermit the most delicious he had ever eaten. Bahá’u’lláh declared that He had never been more nobly entertained nor received greater hospitality and love. ‘This,’ explained the Master, when He had finished the story, ‘shows us how little man requires when he is nourished by the sweetest of all foods—the love of God.’ ” (pp. 22-24.)
The Law of Love[edit]
May Maxwell came to realize that every word and every act of the Master’s had meaning and purpose. The pilgrim party was invited to meet Him “under the cedar trees on Mount Carmel where He had been in the habit of sitting with Bahá’u’lláh.” She recalled that “On Sunday morning we awakened with the joy and hope of the meeting on Mount Carmel. The Master arrived quite early and after looking at me, touching my head and counting my pulse, still holding my hand He said to the believers present: ‘There will be no meeting on Mount Carmel to-day ... we could not go and leave one of the beloved of God alone and sick. We could none of us be happy unless all the beloved were happy.’ We were astonished. That anything so important as this meeting in that blessed spot should be cancelled because one person was ill and could not go seemed incredible. It was so contrary to all ordinary habits of thought and action, so different from the life of the world where daily events and material circumstances are supreme in importance that it gave us a genuine shock of surprise, and in that shock the foundations of the old order began to totter and fall. The Master’s words had opened wide the door of God’s Kingdom and given us a vision of that infinite world whose only law is love. This was but one of many times that we saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá place above every other consideration the love and kindness, the sympathy and compassion due to every soul. Indeed, as we look back upon that blessed time spent in His presence we understand that the object of our pilgrimage was to learn for the first time on earth what love is, to witness its light in every face, to feel its burning heat in every heart and to become ourselves enkindled with this divine flame from the Sun of Truth, the Essence of whose being is love.”
But this very love could both warm and purify. With beautiful humility and candor, she recounts the Master’s silent lesson:
To Speak No Evil[edit]
“We had learned that to be with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was all life, joy and blessedness. We were to learn also that His Presence is a purifying fire. The pilgrimage to the Holy City is naught but a crucible in which the souls are tried; where the gold is purified and the dross is consumed. It did not seem possible that anything but love could ever again animate our words and actions.
“Yet that very afternoon, in my room with two of the believers, I spoke against a brother in the truth, finding fault with him, and giving vent to the evil in my own heart by my words. While we were still sitting together, our Master, who had been visiting the poor and sick, returned, and immediately sent for my spiritual mother, Lua, who was with us. He told her that during His absence one of His servants had spoken unkindly of another, and that it grieved His heart that the believers should not love one another or that they should speak against any soul. Then He charged her not to speak of it but to pray.
“A little later we all went to supper, and my hard heart was unconscious of its error, until, as my eyes sought the beloved face of my Master, I met His gaze, so full of gentleness and compassion that I was smitten to the heart. For in some marvelous way His eyes spoke to me; in the pure and perfect mirror I saw my wretched self and burst into tears. He took no notice of me for a while and everyone kindly continued with the supper while I sat in His dear Presence washing away some of my sins in tears.
“After a few moments He turned and smiled on me and spoke my name several times as though He were calling me to Him. In an instant such sweet happiness pervaded my soul, my heart was comforted with such
Hand of the Cause Louis G. Gregory
infinite hope, that I knew He would cleanse me of all my
sins.” (An Early Pilgrimage, May Maxwell, pp. 25-6.—adapted)
The Role of the Manifestations[edit]
“In 1909, May and Sutherland Maxwell made a pilgrimage together to the Prison City of ‘Akká, to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Sutherland was not yet a convinced Bahá’í. One day at table, he said to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘The Christians worship God through Christ; my wife worships God through You; but I worship Him direct.’
“ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá smiled and said: ‘Where is He?’
“ ‘Why, God is everywhere,’ replied Sutherland.
“ ‘Everywhere is nowhere,’ said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He then went on to demonstrate that such worship was worship of a figment of the imagination and had no reality; we must worship God through something tangible and real to us, hence the rôle of the Manifestations. Sutherland bowed his head in acceptance. The real seed of his faith germinated from that hour. The way this faith grew in him was a beautiful thing.” (“Bahá’í World,” Vol. XII, p. 658.)
Lua Getsinger—spiritual mother of both Mrs. Hearst and May Bolles (Maxwell)—was also in that late 1898 pilgrim party. For the following eighteen years she returned time and again to ‘Akká and Haifa. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá entrusted her with vital teaching missions. And constantly He taught her in the path of divine love.
Be Firm in Purpose[edit]
During one of her visits to the Orient the Master told her, “Thou must be firm and unshakable in thy purpose, and never, never let any outward circumstances worry thee. I am sending thee to India to accomplish certain definite results. Thou must enter that country with a never-failing spirituality, a radiant faith, an eternal enthusiasm, an inextinguishable fire, a solid conviction, in order that thou mayest achieve those services for which I am sending thee. Let not thy heart be troubled. If thou goest away with this unchanging condition of invariability of inner state, thou shalt see the doors of confirmation open before thy face, thy life will be a crown of heavenly roses, and thou shalt find thyself in the highest station of triumph.
“Strive day and night to attain to this exalted state. Look at me! Thou dost not know a thousandth part of the
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difficulties and seemingly unsurmountable passes that
rise daily before my eyes. I do not heed them; I am
walking in my chosen highway....” (Star of the West, Vol. IV, No. 12, p. 208.)
She grew impatient to grow spiritually. Impetuous in nature, she wanted instant perfection with which to better serve ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. But the Master taught her that she could not stand that—perfection is a slowly evolving process.
“Serve Thy Fellow Man”[edit]
One day when Lua was in ‘Akká to see the Master, “He said to her, that He was too busy today to call upon a friend of His who was very ill and poor and He wished her to go in His place. Take him food and care for him as I have been doing, he concluded. He told her where this man was to be found and she went gladly, proud that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá should trust her with this mission.
“She returned quickly. ‘Master,’ she exclaimed, ‘Surely you cannot realize to what a terrible place you sent me. I almost fainted from the awful stench, the filthy rooms, the degrading condition of that man and his house. I fled lest I contract some terrible disease.’
“Sadly and sternly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regarded her. ‘Dost thou desire to serve God,’ He said, ‘serve thy fellow man for in him dost thou see the image and likeness of God.’ He told her to go back to this man’s house. If it is filthy she should clean it; if this brother of yours is dirty, bathe him; if he is hungry, feed him. Do not return until this is done. Many times had He done this for him and cannot she serve him once?” (Portals to Freedom, Howard Colby Ives, pp. 84-85.)
Her passion for her Faith and her love for the Master knew no bounds. The physical world became less important to her as she grew in spirituality. Her very dress changed before her early death in 1916. She abandoned her old finery. Instead she always wore a conservative blue outfit. During her last years, she lived only in and for the world of the spirit.
“Endure people even when they are unendurable!”[edit]
Stanwood Cobb, teacher at Robert College, Constantinople in 1908 went to Egypt for his midyear vacation. While in Cairo, whom should he run into on the steps of the Shephard Hotel but Lua Getsinger, this devoted follower of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Cobb had arranged to go on a trip up the Nile, she was on her way to see the Prisoner in ‘Akká. She urged him to join her, saying that she had standing permission to take anyone with her.
With candor and intimacy he has recorded his first pilgrimage: “My first meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was bewildering. We were ushered into a long study, lighted by large French windows at the farther end. I saw a large desk there, but no person sitting at it. Only a radiance of light. As we approached the end of the room, a majestic figure in Oriental garb became evident to me. It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
“Lua Getsinger, with the devotion of a Mary Magdalene, fell to her knees and fervently kissed His robe. But what was I to do? I am not one who can act insincerely. Should I merely shake hands with Him? As I stood in hesitation ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, fully realizing my predicament, saved me from it by taking me in His arms and embracing me.
“ ‘You are welcome!’ ” He said.
“Every evening at dinner ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who did not eat at that time, helped to serve us. He went around from guest to guest, putting more food upon the plates. This is the height of Oriental hospitality, to serve an honored guest with one’s own hands.
“When the meal was over, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would give us a brief talk on spiritual themes. I regret I have not a memory sufficient to recall all that He said. But I do recall two of these messages of spiritual wisdom.
“ ‘It is not enough to wish to do good. The wish should be followed by action. What would you think of a mother who said, ‘How I love you, my babe!’—yet did not give it milk? Or of a penniless man, who said, ‘I am going to found a great university!’ ”
“On another occasion He spoke of the need for loving patience in the face of aggravating behavior on the part of others.
‘One might say, ‘Well, I will endure such-and-such a person so long as he is endurable.’ But Bahá’ís must endure people even when they are unendurable!’
“Three extraordinary qualities which characterized all of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s utterances were to be found in these two brief conversations: His supreme logic; His delightful sense of humor; and the inspiring buoyancy with which He gave forth solemn pronouncements.
“For instance, when He said, ‘But Bahá’ís must endure people even when they are unendurable,’ He did not look at us solemnly as if appointing us to an arduous and difficult task. Rather, He beamed upon us delightfully, as if to suggest what a joy to us it would be to act in this way!
“I want to emphasize this important point—the joyousness with which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always depicted the spiritual life as He enjoined it upon us. And why not? Is man’s spiritual life not in reality more joyous than any other kind of life that he can lead?
“This philosophy of joy was the keynote of all of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teaching. ‘Are you happy?’ was His frequent greeting to his visitors. ‘Be happy!’
“Those who were unhappy (and who of us are not at times!) would weep at this. And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would smile as if to say, ‘Yes, weep on. Beyond the tears is sunshine.’
“And sometimes He would wipe away with His own hands the tears from their wet cheeks, and they would leave His presence transfigured.” (BAHÁ’Í NEWS, July 1962, p. 5)
(To be continued)
Mass Teaching in the Hawaiian Islands[edit]
Some highlights of the mass teaching and consolidation project of the Bahá’ís in the Hawaiian Islands include:
A Unity Feast in Waimea which brought together about a dozen new believers, and one in North Kohala where a Bahá’í couple recently moved to help form the Local Spiritual Assembly. They were able to take a new believer who speaks three Filipino dialects out teaching with them.
In the North Hilo area, ten young men rode their bicycles over thirty miles to see a showing of the Bahá’í movies. All of them enrolled!
On the last night of our teaching effort in the Puna Community, a team of Bahá’ís attracted everyone present to enroll—two ladies from Germany who now live in Hawaii, an older Portuguese man, one Hawaiian girl, and three young men who had arrived only forty-eight hours before, sailing from the coast of California to Hilo on a nineteen-foot schooner, “The Destitute.” The sailors said they were no longer destitute. After a twenty-eight day journey across the ocean, the three young men accepted a portion of that “boundless treasure” which Bahá’u’lláh offers to all who seek it.
Since the project started six weeks ago, over 300 people have enlisted under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh.
New Assembly in Guinea—A Great Victory[edit]
Because of a special political situation, Guinea in West Africa seemed to be an inaccessible fortress. Friends from Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, etc., had all tried to enter it but all had failed. Yet this was a Nine Year Plan goal that a Local Spiritual Assembly be formed there. The National Spiritual Assembly of West Africa considered a possibility that teaching on the border near Guinea might lead to an Assembly in the country. Mr. Jamshid Fanaiyan was commissioned to make the effort.
Mr. Fanaiyan made many trips to a small Liberian town on the border and sometimes returned on foot, after hours of walking. The people of this town were noted for their mistreatment of missionaries sent to them, or their indifference to religion. Surprisingly enough, some of the residents enthusiastically embraced the Faith. Little by little the number became sufficient for an Assembly to be formed. During the course of teaching activities it was discovered that four of the newly-enrolled Bahá’ís were from Guinea. As the news of the new Faith spread on both sides of the border it reached the government officials. Soldiers were sent to question the new Bahá’ís of Guinea.
To the Bahá’ís, it seemed the door was about to close. Mr. Fanaiyan spent many nights near the border praying about the situation. However, the friends in Guinea were firm and their numbers increased. One early morning the friends came, one by one, to the house of the Chief, who is a Bahá’í. They closed the door and formed the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Guinea.
Vietnam Youth Conference[edit]
A Bahá’í Youth Conference was held in Can-Tho, Vietnam, the Capital of the Western Provinces, on July 8 and 9, 1972. Present at this Conference were Auxiliary Board member Nguyen Van Loi and seventy Bahá’í youth from the West. “The Role of Youth in the Faith” was the topic discussed.
The banners in the photos read: “Welcome to the Auxiliary Board member, Representative of the National Assembly and Youth Delegates.” “The Bahá’í Youth follow the example of sacrifice of His Holiness the Báb.”
THE GREAT SAFARI[edit]
of Hand of the Cause Rúḥíyyih Khánum[edit]
Part nine
At the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Victoria Amatu’l-Bahá was
warmly received and welcomed by some of the National
Spiritual Assembly members and many local believers.
In her talk she said that one of the most beautiful and
outstanding characteristics of the African people is
their compassion and love for children. She pointed out
that in nearly every home an African family is sheltering, feeding and educating one or more children who do
not belong to them. This characteristic is so strong,
Rúḥíyyih Khánum pointed out, that after the passage of
centuries the descendants of Africans carried off to the
Western Hemisphere still do this, although it is almost
unheard of among white people in the United States.
This is a precious and beautiful quality in the African
way of life.
She then suggested that the Local Spiritual Assembly of Victoria, which is the mother Assembly of the Cameroon Republic, should adopt nearby villages and towns as places to create daughter Spiritual Assemblies, visit these areas regularly, nourish them with the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and help them to mature and form their own Assemblies.
The most important event of our stay in Victoria was the celebration of the United Nation’s Day sponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Victoria. This was held at the Presbyterian Youth Center and attended by a large number of people. Besides Amatu’l-Bahá there were four other speakers, each connected in some way with work of the United Nations. This was followed by a reception given by one of the American pioneers in her home attended by the distinguished speakers and many other guests. While in Victoria Rúḥíyyih Khánum paid a courtesy call on the Senior District Officer. She also spoke on “The Role of Youth in Society” to a large number of students in one of the Government Schools called the Council School.
In a very well attended and successful meeting in Tiko, a town about sixteen miles from Victoria, Amatu’l-Bahá spoke on the purpose of the Bahá’í Faith and various teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
In Buea[edit]
On October 25th we left Victoria and drove to the seat of the Government in Western Cameroon, the town of
Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Violette Nakhjaváni luncheoning
with His Excellency Mr. Solomon Tandeng Muna, Vice-President and Prime Minister of West Cameroon.
Buea. The distance from Victoria to Buea is only twenty-three miles, but one climbs from sea level to 3000 feet on
the slopes of famous Mount Cameroon, the highest
mountain in West Africa. Buea is often enveloped in
clouds and is cool, green and beautiful. On the following
day Amatu’l-Bahá was received by Mr. Solomon Tandeng Muna, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic
of Cameroon and the Prime Minister of West Cameroon.
For nearly half an hour Rúḥíyyih Khánum, Counsellor
Dr. Mehdi Samandari, Mrs. Zora Banks and I had a very
friendly and pleasant visit with him. As she was leaving
Amatu’l-Bahá told him with deep sincerity that the
greatest compliment anyone could pay to his people and
his continent was the fact that two white women, mostly
travelling all alone, had come from East to West Africa
and were now, after driving over 21,000 miles, recrossing
the continent. She said it is easy to pay compliments
with your lips, for, after all, you can say anything and
not mean it, but this a witness in acts, not words, to the
fact that we have found we have nothing to fear. If we
arrive in a village at night the villagers will be kind to
us and shelter us. If the car breaks down a truck driver
or motorist will stop and help us. So we have nothing to
fear—but men with guns! She said she was afraid of
them in any country of the world! These words had a
visible effect on His Excellency and he said he wished to
invite us two ladies to lunch to meet his wife. Unfortunately the day we went to the Lodge, the home of Mr.
Muna, his wife had not yet returned from a visit to
Bamenda but his son and his charming daughter-in-law
had lunch with us. The son is a brilliant lawyer, a
graduate of the Bar in London. During this luncheon
Rúḥíyyih Khánum was able to further explain some of
the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and especially the important teaching of strict obedience to government enjoined by Bahá’u’lláh Himself upon all His followers.
While in Buea Rúḥíyyih Khánum had an hour-long radio interview as well as a press conference attended by the head of the Government Information Agency and several reporters. She also gave an introductory talk on the Bahá’í Faith at a government primary school where the headmaster is a devoted Bahá’í. At the end of her talk he told the children that he too was a Bahá’í and they could come to him for further information and to ask questions—a thing he had surely never done before this occasion! On a Sunday the Bahá’ís of Buea had a very nice meeting in the local Council Hall to receive and welcome Rúḥíyyih Khánum. Several of the friends from Victoria were present. After her talk a delicious meal of many varieties of Cameroonian food as well as fruit and nuts was served to us all. On our last evening in Buea some of the very active Bahá’í friends came to visit Rúḥíyyih Khánum and we had a long talk on many aspects of the Faith.
In and Around Douala[edit]
On November 2nd we left West Cameroon and drove from Buea to the port city of Douala, where we spent a week during which Amatu’l-Bahá was received by the Senior District Officer and had an excellent half hour interview on radio Douala in French. The head of this department, who himself interviewed Rúḥíyyih Khánum, said he had heard about the Faith many years ago
[Page 9]
in Paris. At the Nineteen Day Feast, on the eve of
November 4th, beloved Rúḥíyyih Khánum spoke very
intimately and informally to the gathering of Bahá’ís on
the life of our beloved Guardian, on his sufferings and
his victories. At this meeting we met another of the
Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, Samuel Njiki, who had opened
the French Cameroon and established the Faith in this
city of Douala in 1954. There are several very deep and
knowledgeable Bahá’ís in that community and as a result
of this the questions they asked Amatu’l-Bahá were
profound. One of the friends said that in the Kítáb-i-Íqán, Bahá’u’lláh says words to this effect that many a
saint in his last moment falls to the depth of disgrace
and many a sinner at the time of yielding up his soul is
clothed with the robe of faith and forgiveness. “What is
the meaning of this and how can we protect our souls
from such downfall and disgrace?” He further asked,
“For example, if one day I forget or neglect to say my
Obligatory Prayer and on that very day I die, does this
mean that I have died in a state of disgrace and lost my
faith?” Amatu’l-Bahá answered this in her usual way of
deep tolerance and compassion: She said: “I don’t think
such small negligences are the cause of the withdrawal
of the Grace of God. We read in the teachings that the
Mercy of God exceedeth His Justice.” She went on to
tell, how her mother used to say one should, every single
day of one’s life, pray for the protection and preservation of one’s soul, as no one can be sure of one’s own end.
She said her own answer to this, which had troubled her
for many years, had been to try to serve the Cause
continuously day by day, with as pure a motive as she
could, trying to give to the Faith of God as much as she
could. She believed each of us should keep our eyes on
this objective, advancing step by step and praying for
the Mercy and Grace of God to be given us at the end.
The acceptance or rejection of our deeds is not in our
hands but rests with God and we should learn not to
worry too much about it, but to constantly strive to do
our best as surely this will count at the end of each
person’s life. During our stay in Douala we were able to
meet the dear friends there a number of times.
Fourteen miles from Douala, in the village of Bonamaumbe Amatu’l-Bahá was warmly received by the Bahá’ís and their friends. One of the many joys of travelling and teaching in Africa is to hear the simple and logical proofs and answers the African Bahá’ís themselves give. In this village an argumentative, fanatical Christian asked Rúḥíyyih Khánum many foolish questions and hardly bothered to listen to her answers, then one of the local Bahá’ís, in his quiet and dignified way, said “Look my friend, if you had received the news that a very distinguished guest such as this lady was coming to stay in your house what would you do? You would first of all throw all the junk out of your house, clean it, sweep it and prepare it to receive your guest. Now it is the same with this wonderful Message of Bahá’u’lláh, unless you clean up your heart to make room to receive this Message there is no place for it!” In the closing remarks the Chairman of the Local Assembly, who acted as the translator at this meeting, said with deep humility these beautiful words: “If we fall on our bended knees every moment of our lives and thank God for having blessed us with the recognition of His Manifestation, Bahá’u’lláh, in this day, we have not thanked Him enough, for He has chosen us from amongst many.” That same day we also visited the village of Sodiko, where a Local Assembly was formed last year.
In Yaounde[edit]
In the period of almost two weeks we stayed in Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon was packed with activities and every moment of Amatu’l-Bahá’s time was used to advantage to help proclaim the Faith. We were the guests of a devoted Persian pioneer family whose home became the center of many meetings. Unfortunately the President of the Republic was away and therefore unable to receive Rúḥíyyih Khánum. Among her engagements, however, was a very successful radio interview in English and a lively press conference during which she was bombarded with many challenging questions.
She spoke at two colleges, the Lycee Technique C.E.S. and the Ecole Normale Superieure, her subject at both being the “Role of Youth in Society”. During the question and answer period in the Ecole Normale one of the students asked: “If in Africa we want to concentrate on moral values and neglect the material values where would we be in this race of technological development in the world? We are already so far behind the West that we can not waste time thinking of anything else except catching up with the white man.” Amatu’l-Bahá said, “Supposing you are in a small African canoe, paddling along and far away you see a beautiful big white ship, blazing with electric lights and big and impressive and deluxe. You would long to abandon your canoe and board that beautiful big boat. But if you were told that on that boat there is no water, but plague and pestilence and the people are dying of thirst, would you still wish to exchange your canoe for that boat?” The young man laughed, for he saw the point quickly enough, and sat down satisfied with the answer.
In trying to depict the state of our civilization today, Rúḥíyyih Khánum gave another example: She said: “Civilization is like a horse and man the rider; the rider must be in full control of his horse and guide the horse
Amatu’l-Bahá with some of the Douala believers and pioneers, East Cameroon.
[Page 10]
Amatu’l-Bahá’s public address at the University of
Cameroon. Counsellor Dr. Mehdi Samandari is recording
the words of the Chairman, Dr. Ndam Njoya, Professor
of Law at the University.
along its way. Today the horse has gone wild and is
dominating its rider and carrying him towards a precipice and disaster.”
Amatu’l-Bahá also spoke at a public meeting held at the University of Cameroon, attended by over 100 people, on the “Spiritual Destiny of Africa”. I remember the night before this meeting someone questioned the wisdom of allowing the audience a period of questions after the meeting. We were told that the university students are very turbulent, negative, and ready to start unpleasant scenes, especially on a subject such as this. This made us all a bit nervous but as in the invitation a period of questions and answers was mentioned, nothing could be done about it. However, Amatu’l-Bahá, in the beautiful, sincere and absolutely honest way in which she always speaks charmed her audience in such a vivid way that at the end of the meeting there was not only no feeling of belligerence but a deep and peaceful atmosphere of unity and friendship filled the hall. This was so obvious that several of the non-Bahá’í guests remarked on it. The Chairman of this meeting, Dr. Ndam Njoya, is a young and very distinguished Professor of Law who studied in France and married his French wife there. He is also a Doctor of Law and teaches at the University. He is head of the School of Diplomacy at the university and a most charming man, a Moslem, of insight and tolerance. With deep feeling he told Rúḥíyyih Khánum: “Tonight you have solved many of my inner problems and answered many of my un-asked questions.”
In several firesides Amatu’l-Bahá was able to meet with a large number of close contacts and friends of the Faith and lively discussions continued till the late hours of the night. On more than one occasion Rúḥíyyih Khánum met with the Bahá’ís of Yaounde and nourished them with her wealth of knowledge and abounding love. In his words of welcome and gratitude for the presence of the beloved guest a young Bahá’í student from the university said this: “Bahá’u’lláh in the Hidden Words says: ‘Love me that I may love thee, if thou lovest Me not My love can in nowise reach thee’. We loved Him and so to show His love for us in return He has send you to us”. On the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh which was celebrated in the home of one of the Cameroonian Bahá’ís Amatu’l-Bahá spoke of the life, the words and the sorrows of the Blessed Perfection. She shared with us some of those gem-like incidents which she had heard from the beloved Guardian or the members of his family about the personality of Bahá’u’lláh, how He would call the members of His family after dinner sometimes and say, “Now it is time for laughing”; or His tenderness and love for children. The last meeting Rúḥíyyih Khánum had with the friends in Yaounde was a dinner she personally gave for them in the home of the pioneers where we stayed. It was a joyous occasion.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum, pioneers and some local believers meeting in the village of Obala, East Cameroon.
[Page 11]
During this stay in Yaounde we visited two communities situated in other towns: In Mbalmayo, where
there are no Bahá’ís, but good prospects for developing
the teaching work, Rúḥíyyih Khánum spoke in the Town
Hall to an eager and receptive audience of over 200
people. As an example of the relationship of the Bahá’í
Faith to other religions she pointed to the walls of the
hall, saying: “Imagine that wall was built by Christ and
we call it Christianity. That wall was built by Muḥammad and we call it Islam. That one was built by Moses
and we call it the Jewish Faith. That one was built by
Buddha and we call it Buddhism. Now Bahá’u’lláh has
come with His Revelation and He has added the roof to
this building, but in so doing He has neither condemned
nor destroyed any of the walls already erected, which
are good walls. He has only united them under the roof
of His Universal Teachings for this new age in which we
are living which needs new answers to its problems. Her
audience was so thrilled by this example that a roar of
approval went up and thunderous clapping filled the hall.
Thirty-five miles south of Yaounde in the town of Obala Amatu’l-Bahá met with the Bahá’ís in one of their homes in the morning and spoke to them on the importance of teaching and spreading the Cause of God. Later on during the day she spoke to a larger group of the Bahá’ís in what is called the “Pioneer Village” and its village hall is named “Carmel”. The names were too significant to me not to mention them here. There are a number of these experimental villages set up by the government, helped and guided by special agricultural advisors from Israel. We found a great receptivity among these villagers toward the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
Amatu’l-Bahá’s third talk on that day was at a public meeting held in the Town Hall in Obala, where over eighty people attended and listened to the Message of God, asking many interesting questions at the end of her talk.
The devoted young French pioneer, the only European pioneer in all Gabon, flew to Yaounde to be with Rúḥíyyih Khánum over the week-end and was able to attend a number of meetings with us and hear her speak. It was especially nice to meet him because as things turned out there was no representative of Congo Brazzaville in the Cameroon and so we could not get a visa to that country and therefore gave up going to Gabon as well, as to go and return to Cameroon would have taken too much time. This was a great disappointment to us as it ruled out both of these countries we had long anticipated visiting.
The Cargo Boat for Zaïre[edit]
Our very happy tour of East Cameroon, which lasted
almost a month, and which had followed our equally
enjoyable one in West Cameroon, which was almost as
long, ended on December 1 in Douala, when we with the
Land Rover boarded a Lloyd Triestino cargo boat called
the “Piave” and set sail for Matadi in the Republic of
Zaïre (formerly Congo Kinshasa). With great regret we
bade goodbye to the African member of the National
Assembly and the two American pioneers who had come
to see us off. Our ship stopped two days to load and
unload in the small port of Lobito, in Angola—the
twenty-first country visited by us on this long tour of
Africa. We were fortunate enough to get acquainted
with a sweet girl from Luanda and spend some time
with her and to speak about the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
We took her back to our ship and Rúḥíyyih Khánum
gave her an inscribed copy of her book Prescription for Living and our addresses in case she wished to follow it
up. We were not only fortunate to find this young woman, who volunteered to translate for us, (as we were
hopelessly lost in trying to make ourselves understood,
no one seemed to know a word of anything but Portuguese) but considered ourselves blessed in having been
able to at least mention the Cause to one person in that
country and leave a Bahá’í book behind in Angola.
On board “Piave”
December 7th 1971.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum speaking to the Bahá’ís in the village of Bonamaumbe, East Cameroon.
PIONEER TRAINING[edit]
Almost 200 American Bahá’ís, mostly youth and young adults, volunteered to give their summer to Bahá’u’lláh and travel-teach in other countries. In Europe and in Latin America, projects were planned and National Assemblies awaited the arrival of these troops who would assist in completing the remaining goals of the Nine Year Plan, working with native believers.
Special training sessions were held in Green Acre, Maine and in Puebla, Mexico at which the friends received instruction and guidance regarding teaching, adjustment to other cultures and, in Mexico, some practical experience teaching in the nearby villages. These four-day training sessions proved to be invaluable aids to the projects as the participants found themselves better prepared to serve and remarked that many times they faced tests and difficulties which would have discouraged them had it not been for the training they had received.
Basic to both sessions were classes on the Covenant and Quality of Bahá’í Life. In Green Acre, teachers included members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and its International Goals Committee. In Mexico, members of the National Teaching Committee and the Teaching Committee of the South taught the attendees about Latin American culture. A special in-depth intensive Spanish course was also held in Mexico and many who were not yet fluent were able to communicate in a basic way after these classes.
Songs and fellowship accompanied the sessions and many wonderful results came about because of the efforts expended by these dedicated souls this summer.
A special “Pioneer Emphasis Week”, held at Davison Bahá’í School, drew Bahá’ís from all over the country who were anxious to gather information on pioneering and the goals remaining to be filled for the Nine Year Plan. Workshop classes were conducted by individuals who had pioneered to various areas in the world and much information was exchanged. Almost 100 percent of the attendees made firm commitments to pioneer, either before next Riḍván or shortly after. This invaluable opportunity for learning and sharing will be made available to the friends again in the near future.
Group attending Pioneer Emphasis Week at Davison Bahá’í School.
[Page 13]
Group attending the Summer Projects Training Institute held at Puebla, Mexico, for those who were to serve in Latin America.
The group attending the Summer Projects Training Session held in Green Acre in July 1972 for those volunteering for Europe.
Soldiers of Light Brave Dark Jungles[edit]
Gisela and Arnold Zonneveld with two of their children in front of the home they built in El Beni, Bolivia.
Pioneering sometimes brings opportunities for heroic
self-sacrifice and high drama which escape the reader
when mere statistics are reported.
Arnold and Gisela Zonneveld, of Dutch and German backgrounds, respectively, with three of their children moved to the “middle of nowhere” in the vast Departamento of El Beni, Bolivia. In the north, almost on the Brazilian frontier is pioneer Stephen Ross and in the South in the city of Trinidad lives Jack Burwell. These four pioneers are holding the territory of El Beni which has two local Assemblies of more than 600 established in Bolivia this past Riḍván. These pioneers are in lonely places far from the mainstream of Bahá’í activity and can seldom see the other friends.
The Zonnevelds last fall moved to Jaciaquiri, Province of Itañez, El Beni Departamento, Bolivia. They immediately got busy building a home of native materials, clearing the ground for a garden, buying horses for transportation.
In the meanwhile Gisela’s mother, Ursula Von Brunn, Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, took care of her grandchildren in the city of Cochabamba until the parents were ready for the children to come to their new wilderness home.
Travel from a Bolivian city to the Zonneveld home is first by “meat plane”; seatless and uncomfortable. These planes bring meat from the ranches to the cities and make unscheduled return flights. Then alighting from the plane, one takes an ox-cart for several hours. On a recent flight after the children had landed safely, the plane took off again and lost an engine!
The Zonnevelds enthusiastically teach the Faith, although out of touch with the National Spiritual Assembly, the National Teaching Committee and even Gisela’s mother for weeks at a time. Teaching continues in spite of bouts with high fevers, malaria, and other complaints, plus the fact that Arnold sometimes can barely speak above a whisper.
Travel is by horseback; once Gisela on her horse had to swim a river to get to a new teaching location. Six-year old Hilmer also rides although he is a tiny figure astride a giant horse. When river conditions are favorable, sometimes travel-teaching can be done by boat.
The main object of some trips was to meet the Siriono Indians. First it is necessary to understand the background of these people. In the nineteen-forties, thousands of this tribe left their mountain homes, strong and healthy, to work on the extensive holdings of rich landholders who have kept them in a state of peonage ever since, and have not paid them wages for twenty years. These same owners act as the local authorities in a condition of lawlessness reminiscent of the “Wild West”. The tribe has little recourse to justice. When the Sirionos try to supplement their meagre diet through hunting the landlords claim the game, except for turtles and monkeys. Many of the tribe are diseased, receive virtually no medical treatment, and only a small number have survived.
[Page 15]
First Bahá’ís of Jaciaquiri, Province of Itañez Department of Beni, Bolivia: Sr. Hipólito Atiárez with his wife, Rosa, and two children.
The Zonnevelds are deeply moved by the plight of the
Sirionos. They had to row for hours in a small boat to
reach them. Arnold and Gisela were made welcome in
a Siriono home and after a number of hours of giving the
Message, the entire group present accepted the Faith.
The Zonnevelds had already met the proprietor and his son, Don Federico, and took the occasion to speak to the son about the sad condition of the Siriono tribe. This young man agreed to go with them to the district police and promised to assist the tribe.
Don Federico did not meet them, as promised, when the Zonnevelds were ready to start in the boat for the six-hour return trip. They wondered if the landowner’s son had decided to go by horseback—only an hour’s journey. But they felt restless and concerned and after saying the prayer “Remover of Difficulties” decided to return to the Siriono home. While talking there, Don Federico made a dramatic entrance—with a rifle. Arnold and Gisela had been forewarned that the landlord’s wife had told her son “If you don’t kill him, I will” yet, Arnold calmly faced the threatener saying “Bahá’ís have no fear because we believe that life after death is more beautiful than here.” At this, Don Federico put down his rifle, mumbling something about it was his custom to carry arms. The Zonnevelds realized they could easily have been ambushed and killed, not a rare happening in this section.
The landlord lost no time in notifying them they must leave, which the pioneers did, but not before enlisting a good friend who, with Don Federico and some of the Sirionos, went to see the district police. The Zonnevelds insisted the Sirionos be allowed to tell their story in private to the district authority, without interference from Don Federico. When the situation was clear, permission to travel and work wherever they liked, in freedom, was given the Sirionos in a written document, impressive to Don Federico. The parting of Arnold and Gisela from the landlord was peaceable—with the promises of the pioneers to assist another of the landlord’s sons to overcome stammering.
On the return trip Gisela developed a high fever and chills so she was unable to row and Arnold handled the oars alone, even though he had become ill himself. They were able to stop in a small place for medical treatment and recuperation before continuing home.
The Zonnevelds wrote: “We could live for several weeks at a time with these Indian friends but we feel we cannot form an Assembly yet until they are truly free. We beg your prayers in their behalf.”
On a three-week teaching trip they opened six new localities, brought in twenty-two adults, seven youth and seven children. Among these was a young alert Guarayo tribesman.
These pioneers, in spite of all their difficulties, have brought into the Faith about a hundred believers, including members of the Baures, Siriono, Yanaigua, Chiquitana and Guarayo tribes, none of which is of the Quechua and Aymara people who are most numerous among Bolivian believers. The Local Assembly was formed in Jaciaquiri at Riḍván.
Bahá’í News—Forty Years Ago[edit]
Believers who have given special thought to the Guardian’s references to the importance of non-participation in political matters are requested to note the following excerpts from a Tablet revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Spiritual Assembly of Mashad, Persia, during the year 1910:
In these days the banner of political dissension and revolution is raised throughout Persia. Every part is afflicted with disturbance and each district is in the grasp of turmoil. All the people are in the utmost confusion. But, praise be to God, the friends of God did not mix with any of the political affairs, neither did they interfere with the plans of either party. They were the friends of all parties and kind to every one, inviting all to unity and concord, which is the fundamental basis of progress and civilization. They did not utter a word, neither did they offend any one; they made no complaint against any one; but they praised and glorified the unity and concord of the world of humanity. Therefore they were protected and preserved. Whosoever acted otherwise became afflicted with great calamity.
To the National Spiritual Assembly: “Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler is now with us in Haifa and in a few days will start for Persia. She rendered wonderful services in both Australia and India and Shoghi Effendi trusts that she will do the same in Persia. One of the things the Guardian has asked her to do is to obtain the permission of the authorities to bring Bahá’í literature into Persia. This is a very difficult task but it is also so important that Shoghi Effendi feels we ought to attempt it.”
On the next page, we read a copy of a letter sent to the National Spiritual Assembly by Mrs. Ransom-Kehler: “On August 15, I saw his Highness Teymourtash (Court Minister, Teheran) and received from him the direct, unqualified assurance that Bahá’í literature would be admitted into Persia and permitted to circulate.”
In “News from Other Lands” we learn of public meetings addressed by Mrs. Ransom-Kehler at the Brahmo Samaj and the Theosophical Society of Rangoon. Also she addressed public meetings in Mandalay, Benares, Lucknow, Alighar, Amritsar and Lahore, and was welcomed in the universities in Benares.
She visited Poona for three days. “For each succeeding lecture the hall engaged chanced to be larger than
THE MOST MIGHTY BRANCH OF GOD[edit]
A BOOK REVIEW
‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Hand of the Cause of God H. M. Balyuzi; Publisher, George Ronald, London; copyright 1971, hard back, 559 pages, $5.00.
No description can measure up to the theme of a life
which transcended every barrier to its total fulfillment.
It lies beyond the range of assessment because every
event in the life of the Son of Bahá’u’lláh carries a major
accent.
This is evident. Yet these words stand testimony, also to the monumental humility of Hand of the Cause of God Hasan Balyuzi, whose own great gifts and whose family’s hereditary links with the blessed Báb are completely withdrawn from our notice in this detailed and definitive biography of the Center of the Covenant of God.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá is a work of nearly 500 pages, far more than a chronological record, not alone because many intimate details are cited, many sources referred to, in “the language of Revelation,” that have hitherto been closed to us in the West; it is also a volume of unique teaching as well as of deepening value.
Mr. Balyuzi cites very substantially from the major discourses and also from informal talks that the Master gave while in the United States and elsewhere and he quotes extensively from The Diary of Mirzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání who accompanied the Most Great Branch upon His travels to the western world and recorded these events (published in Bombay, 1914 and 1921). Also quoted are excerpts from the narrative of Hájí Mirzá Haydar-‘Alí, including a priceless report of the advice of Bahá’u’lláh Himself upon how to teach:
... whatever a person says, hollow and product of vain imaginings and a parrot-like repetition of somebody else’s views though it may be, one ought to let it pass. One should not engage in disputation ... One ought to say: right, admitted, but look at the matter in this other way and judge for yourself ... The other person will listen, will not seek to answer back.... because he comes to realize that the purpose has not been to engage him in verbal battle and to gain mastery over him.
The Most Great Branch gives a willing ear to any manner of senseless talk, to such an extent that the other person says to himself: He is trying to learn from me. Then, gradually, by such means as the other person cannot perceive, He gives him insight and understanding.
Another aspect, most valuable historically, no less than deep heart-stirring, remembering the “unmitigated obscurity”1 of the Cause of God in those earliest days, is the record of the earliest believers in the West: in Paris, Switzerland, England; in the United States, Germany. Coming from backgrounds both high and low, encountering the Faith by means trivial, miraculous and sometimes wholly unknown (Mrs. Scaramucci, p. 526 note 58), these heroic souls, “... the angels” mentioned in the Tablets of the Divine Plan (and this particular Tablet is included in an Appendix), but for whom not one of us, today, would be blessed with the supreme bounty of belief: of Thornton Chase; of Lua Getsinger, Horace Holley; May Bolles (later Maxwell); of Lady Blomfield; Thomas Breakwell; of the Dunns, spiritual parents of an entire continent; and “that star-servant of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh2, Martha Root.”
No less absorbing is the account of the earliest pilgrimages; of the erection of the sacred sepulchre of the Báb; and of the overwhelming effect, upon pilgrims and visitors, of the Master’s daily service to the ‘Akká poor.
Equally profound is the record of the impression He made, during His travels, upon the wealthy, the eminent, the learned, the proud; and upon some of those mighty whom already a mysterious Providence had cast from their high place by reason of their opposition to the Faith of God.
The style is concise and easy to grasp; never weighing us down with the immense amount of precise fact the book contains. We read entranced. A number of rare photographs embellish the clearly set-out text; the index is almost a model of what any index should be. The bibliography is similarly comprehensive.
This is a book to which one may return for continual refreshment, for continual encouragement and inspiration to serve the Cause. As a text for Summer School courses it is worthy of the highest place. As a handbook for teaching it is unique in that it contains, at one and the same time, the matter and the manner in which this may be best presented with supreme effect.
Mr. Balyuzi brings us almost as close as words may to this Mystery; and his narrative may also be counted as indispensable preliminary reading before visiting the World Center of the Faith and the Master’s Shrine.
If this book does not present us with any “explanation” of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we may take this very fact as evidence of the author’s success. Why? Let us turn to his opening and closing words, in meditation:
- “Here is a life, abundant, spacious, immeasurable. It cannot be adequately described. It cannot be encompassed.”
- “ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Mystery of God. Who, then, can portray Him?”
- Notes:
- 1. The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 12
- 2. Messages to America 1932-46, Shoghi Effendi, p. 39
(Continued from page 15)
that of the previous day and yet it proved too small to hold all those who had come to hear her.”
In Persia the “Association of the Bahá’í Youth”, planned to “manage a Bahá’í Club and prepare the means of progress for Bahá’í youth, mentally, physically and spiritually” and reported 240 members.
“For the first time in the history of the Cause in ‘Iráq a public address was given before non-believers. The Y.M.C.A., a British organization in Baghdad, expressed a desire that Dr. Aflatum, Vice-Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of ‘Iráq address it.... The meeting was a signal success.
“The minutes of the Council of the League of Nations, declaring the urgency of expropriating the House (of Bahá’u’lláh), were duly published by the local press (‘Iráq).... This mention and publicity, which could not be attained by the efforts of even hundreds of teachers, is certainly due to this crisis which proved to be an unbounded blessing in disguise.”
Three African Presidents Receive Bahá’í Writings[edit]
July 26 is a special day for Liberians. It is the Day of Independence of their country. This year the people and government of Liberia celebrated the 125th Anniversary of Independence in Nimba County.
Upon the recommendation of the National Public Information Committee, the National Spiritual Assembly of West Africa agreed to ask one of the members of the committee, Mr. Jamshid Fanaiyan, as he was traveling to Nimba that week, to explore the possibilities of their participation on the program in collaboration with the Local Spiritual Assembly of that area. This festival presented an unequalled opportunity to proclaim the Faith to Liberian President Tolbert and his special guests, President Sekou Toure of Guinea and S. I. Koroma, Vice-President of Sierra Leone, as well as the thousands of visitors who were expected to attend.
The friends decided to present Bahá’í Writings to the Presidents and to have a booth for displaying Bahá’í literature.
The big day came, but the plan for presenting the gifts could not be carried out because of the strict schedule already established by protocol.
When Bahá’ís heard President Sekou Toure of Guinea say “The leaders of today must be just and uncorrupt” they could not bear the thought of failing to present him with The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh. Again, the Chief of Protocol came and whispered to the waiting Bahá’ís that it was impossible to present their gifts because the program had already extended over its scheduled time. Then too, it was time for the friends to leave for their homes while transportation was still available, realizing that all day long they had been frustrated in making their presentations of Bahá’í literature.
But, Miss Georgia Sanchez, National Spiritual Assembly Secretary, remained and with all her heart and soul, prayed for the assistance of God in fulfilling her mission. Suddenly at about 10:30 p.m. off the stage came the President, greeting the various dignitaries in the audience. Finally he stopped at the table just in front of Miss Sanchez. The power of Bahá’u’lláh prevailed!
All the Presidents are heavily guarded, and particularly President Sekou Toure of Guinea, whose life is in constant danger. Miss Sanchez succeeded in introducing herself on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of West Africa, and handed over all the gifts to President Tolbert who in turn, immediately passed them to his guest, President Sekou Toure and the Honorable S.I. Koroma. The special aides took the gifts, returned to the stage and examined them, after which they were given back to the Presidents.
The National Spiritual Assembly was especially pleased that the volume The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh was received with an expression of thanks from the President of Guinea, as that country is the only African country which Bahá’í pioneers, until now, have been unable to enter. The occasion was a spiritual triumph. Bahá’ís of Africa pray that the Creative Words will sink into the hearts of those officials who have now received the message of Bahá’u’lláh.
Freetown, Sierra Leone Week-End School[edit]
Thirty-seven friends from all over Sierra Leone and some from Liberia joined the Freetown Bahá’ís for a week-end School on May 13-14, 1972. It was also attended by Counsellor H. Ardikani and Auxiliary Board member Mr. M. Kebdani, whose participation added to the loving atmosphere.
Mrs. H. Vera Edwards conducted a class on “The Institution of the Hands of the Cause;” Mrs. Georgia Sanchez, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, on “Bahá’í Administration”; Mrs. Susan Koucheckzedah, Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly on “The Work of the Local Spiritual Assemblies”; Auxiliary Board member Mr. Shidan Koucheckzedah on “The History of the Faith”; and Counsellor Mr. Kebdani on “Social Laws and Teachings.” At the end of the sessions a test was given.
The evenings were spent in informal discussions. From the questions asked, it was evident that the new believers had gained remarkable insight and enthusiasm.
The Local Assembly of Sierra Leone used the occasion to present Bahá’í books to their Library Board. The National Public Information Representative sent an article to the leading newspaper, The Daily Mail. It was later learned that the following Sunday, the Minister of Education made visits to various churches requesting them to publish more reading materials to enrich the knowledge of religions.
Week-End School in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Many of the friends had to leave before this photograph was taken.
News of Zaïre by Pioneer[edit]
John Newport, pioneer to Zaïre, visited the Wilmette House of Worship and the Bahá’í News editorial office while on a visit to the United States. He had just come from South Carolina and was en route to a summer school in the west. One purpose was to obtain samples of literature suitable for translation into the Zaïre version of Swahili which would be of greatest usefulness on his return.
Newport was enthusiastic over the Bahá’ís finally being recognized by the Government after years of patient and painstaking effort. Dr. Navidi, well-known international lawyer, in occasional trips spent one and one-half years in the endeavor. Dr. Amin Jazab, personal physician to the President, was influential in the final
Delegates arriving for Convention at the Center in
Bukavu at the end of July. Recognition was given to the
Faith by the Government on June 9, and immediately
after it was decided, with permission from The Universal
House of Justice, to hold the Convention.
Kigongon friends singing a welcome to the visiting pioneer John Newport, who took the photo.
achievement. Assured of Bahá’í policy of loyalty to the
government, the President sent back this advice:
“Bahá’ís should show their Faith through actions rather
than words.”
Upon receiving recognition, the Convention was called at the last of July, and the new National Spiritual Assembly was elected.
Goals by Riḍván are 1,000 Assemblies in Zaïre, with 3,000 localities where Bahá’ís reside. At the time of Convention, there were 350 Assemblies. Pioneer Newport believes suitable literature will contribute greatly to achieving these goal and is enthusiastic about the new, simplified booklet The Trusted Ones of God: The Local Spiritual Assembly.
Members of the Kivu Provincial Teaching Committee.
There are about 26,000 Bahá’ís in this Zaire Province
and about 3,000 in the rest of the country. This was before permission to teach was received by the Government. John Newport, pioneer, is the tallest.
Hand-in-Hand Project in Kendal, Westmorland, England[edit]
Kendal will never be the same again. We have entered a new dimension and a new phase in our teaching activity. The Faith has been growing steadily here since the pioneers opened the town in the summer of 1966, but it has now made a sudden leap forward. It has the chance to demonstrate, as never before, its ability to unite all kinds of people, to solve their problems and to heal their sicknesses.
The team arrived here on July 15 and stayed for two weeks. Much preliminary prayer and detailed organization had already gone into the project. We did a prayer walk round Kendal after the celebration of the Martyrdom of the Báb on July 9th, using mostly the prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá beginning “O Mustagháth!” and on July 12 we all met and prayed individually every night at 9:00 p.m. for our contacts (by name), the goals of the Nine Year Plan, the York and Kendal projects and the extension teaching goals, including one in this area. The organization covered the manning of the Town Center and the home for firesides, and we ensured that there was always at least one adult member of the community on duty.
During the fortnight we had regular consultation between the team and the officers of the Local Spiritual Assembly and the whole community. More than once the Local Spiritual Assembly witnessed the unexpected help and bounties which come when the community is united and abides by its decisions.
One instance of this was in connection with the Town Center. Determined and lengthy efforts failed to find one, so in the end the home for firesides (Ingleside, the Hellabys’ home) became both, rolled into one, and was available from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (and sometimes later!). The first week there was a heat wave, and the team was able to use a small park near the river as their unofficial Town Center; here they sat and played and sang and attracted people, and here they were interviewed by a reporter and photographer from the Westmorland Gazette. The accompanying photograph appeared in that paper at the end of the second week.
The team was accommodated by various members of the community, but all had their evening meal at Ingleside. During the daytime some of them went into the town in order to talk to people, either in the streets or in cafes and other places. They also had one or two interesting encounters with an evangelical youth club in the town.
We had, during the fortnight, a Unity Feast and consultation briefing session the night the team arrived, and two public meetings. For the first, the speaker was Mrs. Marion Hofman in the Town Hall. The second speaker was Philip Hainsworth. All other evenings we had something on at Ingleside; either we showed the film “It’s Just the Beginning”, or a slide show with taped commentary on the Bahá’í Faith, prepared by Madeline Hellaby, and sometimes both together in different rooms! When the weather was good, people could sit outside in the evenings, and the strains of guitar music and Bahá’í songs could be heard under the trees most nights until it rained on the middle Sunday. And what a storm that was! All had gone from a picnic in the park when there was a clap of thunder, the heavens opened and it poured and flashed and banged for four hours. On the last night there was a social, beginning with an entertainment organized by Dave Brown, in which most members of the team and local community took part.
The results were four declarations, two young men and two youth (boys). But the long-term results cannot be assessed, and as was said at the beginning we have now entered a new phase—an exciting challenge to the Local Spiritual Assembly to work out an entirely new teaching and deepening program!
Hand-in-Hand Project in Kendal, Westmorland, England.
Left to right: Robert, a Swedish boy (non Bahá’í) who
discovered the team in York and followed them to
Kendal; Richard Hainsworth; Ted Williams; John Bell
of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.; Estelle Massing; Dave
Brown and Richmond McCluer of Winona, Minnesota.
In front is Stephen Foster, Bahá’í child of Kendal.
(Courtesy of the Westmorland Gazette.)
Uganda Youth[edit]
Uganda youth are enthusiastic and active we learn from letters from Zylpha O. Mapp and the newsletter published by the National Spiritual Assembly. Florence Olinga, daughter of Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga, is now a student at the Tororo Girls’ School and brings more and more students for firesides at the flat of pioneer Mrs. Mapp.
Two youth from Teso, Toby Epyeru and Ben Ekoot, conducted a traveling institute in Dokolo County, Lango for two days, January 9 and 10, 1972, and on each of these days, there were twelve in attendance. They also carried the institute to the following villages in Lango: Kangai, Agwata, Kwera, Adwoki and Batta. Many old believers came and several new friends made their declarations.
Traveling institutes were conducted by a small band of believers at Gulu. Donna Taylor at the Gulu Bahá’í Institute wrote:
“I’ve just returned from Atiak and leave for West Nile on the midnight train tomorrow. I will reach Pakwach before dawn, wait for daybreak then walk to town. We can’t go at night because there are too many elephants around. Sometimes I’m ‘pedalling’ or ‘footing’ or getting rides on buses or trains. The bicycle put on nineteen miles just after I got it and found a lot of waiting souls in out of-way places.”
Study classes in Teso have begun at Aciisa, conducted by Grace Olinga on Bahá’í principles and Toby Epyeru on Bahá’í History. The youth are keen and ask many questions. They are often joined by adults, with around twenty-five people as an average in attendance.
The visit of Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhájir inspired the youth to open up nineteen new localities for the Faith and to plan a series of three youth conferences.
CONVENTION IN ARGENTINA[edit]
Delegates and observers at the twelfth National Convention for Argentina.
National Spiritual Assembly of Argentina for 1972-73.
Seated, left to right: Miguel Paniagua, Dolores de Caballero, Angelica de Costas, Cayetano Liardo. Standing:
Carlos Talenti, Ziaollah Vojdani, Shahpoor Saeed, Osvaldo Costas, David Baral.
Counsellors’ Institute, Guanacaste, Costa Rica[edit]
The Continental Board of Counsellors is holding a series of deepening institutes in strategic points in each country of Central America where the greatest number of Bahá’ís can be gathered. Usually these institutes are only of one or two days duration as the people cannot leave their homes and work for a longer period.
The first institute for the year for Costa Rica was held on July 16, in the village of Nambi, in the agricultural area of Guanacaste where there are over thirty Local Assemblies in the making. Attendance was but thirty. Classes were given by resident Counsellor Artemus Lamb and three native believers, two of whom are part of a team of four youth from the Capital area who spent the prior week in Nambi.
Although attendance was small, a wonderful spirit of understanding, love and happiness kept growing throughout the sessions which burst forth at the closing with a series of spontaneous speeches of joy and gratitude. One elderly man said with tears in his eyes and shining face “Now I really understand and although I am too old to do much, I am going to teach my children and grandchildren.”
Group who participated in the Institute. Counsellor Artemus Lamb took the picture.
[Page 22]
Ringsaker Bahá’í Summer School, Norway, with Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga and his wife in the first row, center.
NORWEGIAN SUMMER SCHOOL[edit]
The Norwegian Bahá’í Summer School, held from July 1 to 7, at Ringsaker High School was pronounced the most successful ever with a splendid program and with the best attendance of over 130. Two Hands of the Cause of God, Dr. Ugo Giachery, and Enoch Olinga, each with his wife, Dorothy Ferraby of the Board of Counsellors for Europe and two Auxiliary Board members, Mrs. Modesta Hvide and Mrs. Gerd Strand, brought great inspiration to all.
The American youth, who came to participate in “Operation 129, Europe and America Hand-in-Hand”, were a great source of rejoicing with their singing and clapping under the leadership of their co-ordinator, Shirley Yarbrough from Florida, U.S.A. After three days at the School the American and Norwegian youth left for the goal cities of Tromsö and Bodö—over the Arctic Circle,—and Lillehammer and Ås in Southern Norway. Before their departure, however, all the youth descended on Lillehammer, the nearest city, and for the entire day advertised the public meeting to be held there that evening. This effort, indeed, filled the hall to capacity and those interested were invited to the School and the next evening for a program and refreshments. During the activities of the youth, older Bahá’ís held a vigil of prayer for twenty-four hours, with the total result of many visitors from the area attending the School the next evening, and two declarations, one from Lillehammer and one from Svolvaer!
After years of effort Norway had its first television interview on July 26th and this came at a most opportune time to assist the youth in the goal cities, and in fact, Bahá’ís over the great length of this country to propagate our beloved Faith. Publicity has followed this event and has brought a new impetus to teaching activity, which should bring the victory in achievement of the goals of the Nine Year Plan for Norway.
Holger Hagan, co-ordinator for Norwegian Youth and Shirley Yarbrough, co-ordinator for American Youth in Norway.
ALASKA REPORTS[edit]
Youth Activities[edit]
Strong youth groups were formed in Anchorage, Spenard and Petersburg, and more youth activities have begun in Fairbanks and Kenai where large numbers of young people have enrolled.
Students missed no opportunity for promoting the Cause of God, making the Faith the topic of essays in English courses and talks in speech classes. Books were placed in high school libraries and the movie, “It’s Just the Beginning,” was shown in a number of schools. In Juneau a Bahá’í team presented programs to all elementary schools which resulted in a letter of thanks and praise from the Assistant Superintendent of the Juneau School District.
The University of Alaska campus at Fairbanks was the scene of a number of activities including a successful week-long proclamation when a display booth was set up and firesides held nightly. Articles on the Faith appeared in the campus newspaper and interviews were aired over the Campus FM Station.
During the year, youth participated in travel-teaching programs to a number of areas, including Bethel, Kodiak, Cordova, Kenai, Nenana and Wrangell. Young people also played an important role in Massive Encounter and Proclamation Projects.
State Fair[edit]
Around 1300 pieces of literature were distributed at the Matanuska Valley Assembly booth at the State Fair near Palmer. Some Assemblies maintain literature racks in depots, airports and other public buildings.
Massive Encounter[edit]
All members of the Field Army worked together in Ft. Yukon and when the Encounter was completed in that community, they were assigned to smaller teams for teaching in the remaining villages. By fanning out in small teams, the entire Yukon Basin was covered in just over a month. When Massive Encounter was finished in the Yukon Basin, there were Bahá’ís in every village but one. In the tiny village of Gold Camp, every one enrolled.
In mid-November over forty believers gathered in the Haines-Klukwan area for a three-day spiritual preparation followed by assignment to teams to begin Massive Encounter in Southeast. They travelled by two chartered boats (both captains enrolled in the Faith), ferry and plane, and swept southward through the panhandle and into Northern British Columbia taking the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to virtually every town, village, logging camp and cannery site in Southeast Alaska. As a result, every single community large enough to be noted on a map and many places too small to be found on any map had Bahá’ís resident in them.
National Spiritual Assembly members, Anchorage and Spenard Local Assembly members joined the teams in seeking out “waiting souls” ... The result: Over 400 waiting souls were found. These live mostly in the Anchorage area with a sprinkling of perhaps thirty-five new souls in Spenard.
Perhaps of greatest importance is the fact that Massive Encounter made possible winning and surpassing the most difficult Nine Year Plan Goals, goals which seemed beyond our grasp only a few short years ago.
American youth in Norway participating in “Operation 129, Europe-America, Hand-in-Hand.”
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Members of the new National Spiritual Assembly of
Norway. Left to right; front: Gudrun Øfstegaard, Treasurer; Amelia Bowman; Elna Lodrup, Secretary; Liss
Hegge; Counsellor Eric Blumenthal. Top row: Ernst
Holm; Gunnar Iange-Nielsen, Vice-Chairman; Harald
Thiis; Dr. Hushang Ra’fat, Chairman; Holger Hagan,
Recording Secretary.
Dutch Summer School[edit]
Over two hundred Bahá’ís, representing about fifteen countries, attended the Dutch Summer School held from July 8 to 15, 1972 in Heeze, in the south-east part of the country. Situated on a picturesque lake surrounded by woods, the location was an inspiration.
The spirit soared with the commemoration of the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb, held the second day after opening. A befitting and majestic observance movingly portrayed the life of the Martyr-Prophet. Included were beautiful devotional readings with music, quickening the love and reverence of all assembled.
Classes were held regularly in morning, afternoon and evening and were well attended. Native believers, pioneers and guest speakers participated. Continental Counsellor Miss Bopp related recent news of the numerous triumphs achieved in various European countries. She presented four classes, highly informative and comprehensive, among her topics being “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh,” “The Administration,” and also the development of the Faith in relation to the United Nations.
Other classes offered varied yet connecting themes: “The Life of Bahá’u’lláh,” “Writings of Bahá’u’lláh”, “The Sufferings of the Manifestations”, “History of Persia in the Time of the Báb”, “Bahá’í Prophecies”, “The Soul”, “Outstanding Bahá’í Women”, “The Role of the Woman in the Bahá’í Community”, etc. Workshop on the topics of “Bahá’í Life” and “Finding Your True Self” were highly developed and related present-day thought to the Bahá’í viewpoints.
Children’s classes were held and care for the youngest was provided. Two separate age groups of children offered colorful programs for the last evening of school, reciting prayers and singing Bahá’í songs.
The daily round of activities was interspersed with slide programs. A twenty-four hour prayer chain was offered for the attainment of goals. Pioneers volunteering to serve in the goal cities were hailed with joy. Three souls publicly acknowledged their faith in Bahá’u’lláh.
By midweek, a high point was reached at the celebration of the Feast of Kalimát. A special feature that evening was the dance portrayal by a Finnish Bahá’í, Raja, a gifted ballerina.
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