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| Bahá’í News | October 1979 | Bahá’í Year 136 |
Írán: the crisis continues
- To All National Spiritual Assemblies
- Dear Bahá’í Friends,
- The Universal House of Justice requests that you convey the following announcement to the friends within your area of jurisdiction.
- JOYFULLY ANNOUNCE APPOINTMENT COUNSELLOR ANNELIESE BOPP TO MEMBERSHIP INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE.
Contents[edit]
Pioneers |
|
House of Justice offers guidelines on vital element of Plan | 2 |
Írán |
|
Member of Supreme Body visits U.S., Europe to explain crisis | 3 |
Counsellors |
|
House of Justice announces terms to be of five-year duration | 4 |
Science |
|
In New York, Bahá’ís sponsor panel discussion on technology | 5 |
Mabel Hyde Paine |
|
A brief tribute to an exemplary and talented early believer | 6 |
Bolivia |
|
In South America, an active Bahá’í community moves forward | 9 |
Around the world |
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News from Bahá’í communities in every corner of the globe | 10 |
Cover
H. Borrah Kavelin, a member of the Universal House of Justice, visited North America and Europe this summer as an emissary from the Supreme Institution of the Faith, pointing out to the friends that the present crisis in Írán is a spiritual ordeal that tests the character of the believers everywhere in the world. Mr. Kavelin’s visit was the first of this nature by a member of the Universal House of Justice, and underscores the need for a sacrificial response by the friends to help redeem the suffering of their beleaguered fellow-believers in the Cradle of the Faith. A report of Mr. Kavelin’s visit appears on Page 3.
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[Page 2]
To all National Spiritual Assemblies
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
One of the objectives of the Seven Year Plan is the continued settlement of pioneers in needed areas and the movement of traveling teachers. We have been asked by the Universal House of Justice to share with you its advice on these vital tasks.
The House of Justice feels that, while ultimate decisions regarding the selection of pioneers and traveling teachers and the manner in which their services are to be utilized remain, of course, in the hands of National Spiritual Assemblies, a closer degree of communication with Boards of Counsellors in these matters should be maintained.
For example, the number of pioneers and traveling teachers to foreign lands which a National Spiritual Assembly can supply during the current year and every subsequent year of the Plan; the degree of dependence of a National community on outside workers and, if needed, how many and from which countries; and when necessary the evaluation of the services of certain pioneers, are among issues that every National Spiritual Assembly can usefully discuss with the Counsellors in its zone. The House of Justice is sure that such consultations would most certainly be conducive to excellent results.
On a different level, a National Spiritual Assembly may need assistance from Continental Pioneer Committees in the movement of pioneers to their posts or in the coordination of visits by traveling teachers.
In order to obtain the best results from the collaboration of these Committees, it is important that information and views be exchanged with them speedily and efficiently. The House of Justice feels that it is highly desirable for each National Spiritual Assembly to make arrangements for Continental Pioneer Committees to deal directly with agencies of National Spiritual Assemblies responsible for pioneers and traveling teachers.
When a decision is taken in this regard, the name and address of the correspondent or correspondents should be immediately conveyed to the Continental Pioneer Committee concerned.
The Universal House of Justice assures you of its loving prayers as you exert yourselves to fulfill the goals and tasks ahead.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
‘... our hearts turn to our beleaguered brethren Cradle Faith ...’[edit]
H. Borrah Kavelin, a member of the Universal House of Justice, greets some of the friends from the New York City area who were present for his talk in New York on June 24.
H. Borrah Kavelin, a member of the Universal House of Justice, visited key cities in North America and Europe this summer as a special emissary from the Supreme Body to explain fully the circumstances surrounding the current crisis in Írán and the imperative necessity for a sacrificial response to that crisis by Bahá’ís everywhere in the world.
In a cablegram announcing Mr. Kavelin’s visit, the Universal House of Justice said:
“In the wake of joyous world-wide celebration victories Five Year Plan our hearts turn to our beleaguered brethren Cradle Faith, to deepening crisis International Fund and its special impact on challenges facing Bahá’í world in opening two-year phase Seven Year Plan.”
“We deem it highly fitting and worthy,” the Supreme Body added, “that this program be launched in the much-loved community called by the beloved Master ‘Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh’ and named by Shoghi Effendi ‘principal builders and defenders of a mighty Order.’ ”
Mr. Kavelin’s visit—the first by a member of the Universal House of Justice to North America and Europe on a mission of this nature—began in Wilmette, Illinois, where he met with Bahá’ís from the Chicago area at the National College of Education, less than a mile from the Bahá’í House of Worship.
With the Seven Year Plan barely under way, said Mr. Kavelin, the worldwide Bahá’í family has been crippled by the inability of one of its members to function.
“We are a family,” he said. “And if a member of our family is crippled, what are we to do about it? Can we allow them to bear this burden by themselves?”
Mr. Kavelin spoke eloquently of the recent political upheavals in Írán that have left many Bahá’ís homeless, stripped them of their possessions and means of livelihood, and seen most Bahá’í properties including Holy Places, cemeteries and private businesses seized by the revolutionary government.
Before the revolution in Írán, said Mr. Kavelin, that country’s Bahá’í community had committed itself to supplying 60 per cent of the funds for the World Centre’s budget, as well as 90 per cent of the funds for construction of the permanent Seat of the Universal House of Justice.
With the situation in Írán worsening every day, Mr. Kavelin urged every follower of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh to “search his heart and decide what his spiritual priorities are to be.”
During the first two years of the Seven Year Plan, he explained, the World Centre needs a minimum of $20 million to carry out the work that must be done to meet the goals of the Seven Year Plan.
That work includes completion of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice on Mount Carmel, construction work on the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs in India and Samoa, restoration of the House of ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá, and monies to support those National Spiritual Assemblies that must rely on financial assistance from the Universal House of Justice.
With the Íránian Bahá’í community “in a state of paralysis, financially,” said Mr. Kavelin, it is up to the rest of the Bahá’í family to make up for this critical loss.
The present crisis, he emphasized time and again in his talks in North America and Europe, is not financial but spiritual. “God has providentially put us to the test,” he said, adding that our response to the present challenge will determine in large measure the future course of events not only in the Bahá’í community, but throughout a troubled world that is destined one day to look to the Bahá’ís for guidance and support as the present order collapses.
The personal sacrifices made each day by the friends in Írán, said Mr. Kavelin, are reminiscent of the heroes and heroines who established the Faith in that country. “Their greatest ordeal, their greatest agony,” he said, “is not the suffering they are undergoing, but the fact that they are unable to fulfill their commitment to the Universal House of Justice.”
“The Supreme Body,” he added, “is confident that the friends everywhere will arise to demonstrate that we truly are one Bahá’í family, united, and that we will make any sacrifice to redeem the ordeal now being suffered by our beloved friends in the Cradle of the Faith.”
From Illinois, Mr. Kavelin visited several cities on the East and West Coasts of the U.S. before continuing on to Canada, Alaska and Europe.
House of Justice: Counsellors to serve for five-year terms[edit]
In a letter to the Bahá’ís of the world dated June 24, 1968, the Universal House of Justice announced the establishment of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, explained their relationship to other administrative institutions of the Faith, and said members of the Boards would serve “for a term, or terms, the length of which will be determined and announced at a later date...”
Furthermore, Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice states: “The term of office of a Counsellor, the number of Counsellors on each Board, and the boundaries of the zone in which each Board of Counsellors shall operate, shall be decided by the Universal House of Justice.”
The House of Justice has now decided that the term of service for Counsellors will be five years. The announcement was made in a cablegram to all National Spiritual Assemblies dated June 29, 1979:
“MOMENT PROPITIOUS ANNOUNCE DURATION TERMS SERVICE MEMBERS CONTINENTAL BOARDS COUNSELLORS AS ANTICIPATED IN ANNOUNCEMENT ESTABLISHMENT THAT INSTITUTION AND IN CONSTITUTION UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. DECISION NOW TAKEN THAT TERMS WILL BE OF FIVE YEARS STARTING DAY COVENANT 26 NOVEMBER 1980. SUPPLICATING ANCIENT BEAUTY DIVINE BLESSINGS DEVELOPMENT THIS ESSENTIAL INSTITUTION BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER. UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE.”
The initial announcement of the formation of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was made by the Universal House of Justice on June 21, 1968, in a cablegram to all National Spiritual Assemblies:
“REJOICE ANNOUNCE MOMENTOUS DECISION ESTABLISH ELEVEN CONTINENTAL BOARDS COUNSELLORS PROTECTION PROPAGATION FAITH THREE EACH FOR AFRICA AMERICAS ASIA ONE EACH FOR AUSTRALASIA EUROPE STOP ADOPTION THIS SIGNIFICANT STEP FOLLOWING CONSULTATION WITH HANDS CAUSE GOD ENSURES EXTENSION FUTURE APPOINTED FUNCTIONS THEIR INSTITUTION...”
In its letter of June 24, 1968, the Universal House of Justice outlined the duties and responsibilities of the Boards of Counsellors to include “directing the Auxiliary Boards in their respective areas, consulting and collaborating with National Spiritual Assemblies, and keeping the Hands of the Cause and the Universal House of Justice informed concerning the conditions of the Cause in their areas.”
The Auxiliary Boards for protection and propagation, the letter went on to say, “will henceforth report to the Continental Boards of Counsellors who will appoint or replace members of the Auxiliary Boards as circumstances may require.”
The Hands of the Cause of God, the Universal House of Justice explained, “have the prerogative and obligation to consult with the Continental Boards of Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies on any subject which in their view affects the interests of the Cause.”
Bahá’ís sponsor panel discussion on science, technology for development[edit]
The Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States co-sponsored a panel discussion June 12 on “The Human Factor in Science and Technology for Development.”
The program was planned as a contribution to the important issues that were to be discussed at the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, held in Vienna, Austria, in August.
The distinguished group of panelists at the June meeting in New York City included Dr. Klaus-Heinrich Standke, director of the UN Office for Science and Technology; Jurg Mahner, an anthropologist and Special Fellow at the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); John Edmonds, program engineering and architecture adviser for the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development; and Susan Berge, an economic forecaster with a private U.S. firm.
The moderator was Dr. Robert Rosenfeld, a research chemist at Eastman-Kodak Company in Rochester, New York.
While all the panelists focused on the subject of the program, Dr. Standke and Mr. Mahner also discussed some of the approaches to be taken at the UN Conference in Vienna.
Mr. Edmonds and Miss Berge, the Bahá’í participants, presented a Bahá’í approach to the use of science and technology to further human well-being and happiness.
The audience responded warmly to the provocative observations of the panelists, and many expressed appreciation to the Bahá’ís for exploring the significance of the human factor, an element often neglected in the utilization of science and technology for the economic and social growth of all countries.
Copies of a special Bahá’í paper prepared for the Vienna conference, entitled “Science and Technology for Human Advancement,” were distributed during the panel discussion.
The Bahá’í International Community was to take part in the Vienna conference and in a parallel non-governmental organizations (NGO) forum.
A part of the audience that was present for a public meeting last June 12 in New York City on ‘The Human Factor in Science and Technology for Development.’ The meeting was co-sponsored by the Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.
Dr. Will C. van den Hoonaard (left), alternate representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations, addresses the audience during a public meeting June 12 in New York City on ‘The Human Factor in Science and Technology for Development,’ co-sponsored by the Bahá’í International Community and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Others in the photo (left to right) are Dr. K-H. Standke, director of the United Nations Office of Science and Technology for Development; Jurg Mahner, special fellow, UN Institute for Training and Research; John Edmonds, an engineer; and Susan Berge, an economist. Mr. Edmonds and Miss Berge are Bahá’ís.
Mabel Hyde Paine[edit]
- (The following tribute to Mrs. Mabel Hyde Paine of Urbana, Illinois, was written by Garreta H. Busey. Miss Busey, who was born in Urbana and lived there most of her life, was a well-known writer and teacher who once served on the editorial staffs of World Order magazine, Bahá’í News and The Bahá’í World, and was for many years a member of the National Literature Reviewing Committee. Miss Busey passed away in October 1976).
[Page 7]
Mabel Hyde Paine was one of those Bahá’ís who are like strong
foundation stones to the communities they help to form. Her
spiritual qualities, deep faith, courage and perseverance,
thoroughness, and ability to rise above personalities were not
only manifested in her personal life, but flowed into the administrative life of her community and helped it grow steadily in
knowledge and obedience.
There are some people whom the Bahá’í Faith changes completely. In others, it illumines and perfects those capacities with which, by inheritance and training, they already are endowed and directs them to their greatest usefulness in the service of God. Mabel Paine came to the Bahá’í Faith with a sound family background, a brilliant and well-trained mind, a disciplined conscience, and great spiritual aspiration.
She was born December 7, 1877, in Rockville, Connecticut, of a family that had come to New England in the early 1600’s. Her father, who had become pastor of the Congregational Church in Rockville a few years before her birth, must have been a man of great capacity, for at one time he was asked to stand in the pulpit for Henry Ward Beecher, in the absence of that celebrated preacher. He died when Mabel was two years old, leaving his wife and five children with no source of income. Her mother supported the family by taking in boarders.
Mrs. Hyde had attended Mt. Holyoke College in its early days, and the importance attached to a good education in that family is shown by the fact that, in spite of lack of money, four of her children, girls as well as boys, were graduated from excellent colleges: Yale, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley. One of these was Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, loved by many Bahá’ís for her work at the Louhelen Bahá’í school in Michigan.
The desperate poverty of Mabel’s childhood schooled her in hardship and gave her a great sense of responsibility. She was a serious girl. Later she said that she had worried a great deal, small as she was, for fear that there might not be enough money to pay the rent.
After her graduation from high school (at the head of her class), she taught in a country school to earn money to go to college. With scholarship help, she was able to enter Wellesley College, but after a few weeks she had to return home and give up all study because of an attack of typhoid fever. Faced with the task of beginning again, she persevered. Again she taught school and re-entered Wellesley, from which she was graduated in 1902.
To appreciate more fully with what mental capacity Mabel was endowed, a capacity she later devoted wholeheartedly to the Bahá’í Faith, it is interesting to look into a number of letters which she preserved, signed by celebrated teachers known to all Wellesley women: Katherine Lee Bates, Sophie C. Hart, Margarethe Mueller, Charles Lowell Young, and Ellen Fitz Pendleton.
Professor Bates commented on her exactness and “her unusual brilliancy of mind and strength of character.” Professor Young wrote the following, which throws light on her acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith and the kind of work she did for it: “Her progress was almost extraordinary; yet there was nothing about it of the merely clever or superficially brilliant. It came, rather, of solid attainments, of the most intense and absorbing interest in her subject-matter, and the most serious effort to come to clearness with herself about it. She grew steadily toward an unusual originality and independence of thought, and a rare power of handling facts in the mass, as well as in detail. Her work always gave earnest of still further growth.” More than fifty years later this statement might be applied almost exactly to Mabel Paine’s Bahá’í life, with the essential addition of her deep devotion to Bahá’u’lláh, to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and to the Guardian.
- ‘In September 1920 ... she visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa, and for the rest of her life she was to share with the Urbana friends the great deepening and confirming Power that was poured out on her there.’
For all her seriousness, Mabel had a quick sense of humor. Her eyes would light up with merriment and appreciation of anything witty, and she was not above laughing at herself. In a group of reminiscing friends she told with amusement of the first time she had gone buggy riding with a certain young man. She brought some reading matter along and remarked: “If we get bored with each other, we can read this.” That young man, who later became her husband, said that he definitely was not bored.
She was married, in 1908, to Ellery Burton Paine, of the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Illinois, and came to live in Urbana, which was to be her home until the end of her life. Her marriage was a singularly happy and harmonious one. Once when she asked the Guardian whether she ought to put her husband’s happiness or the Faith first, he answered, “Both,” and this she was able to do, for Professor Paine was to say , “I cannot imagine two people who ever lived more happily together.” Their tastes were similar and there was a great love between them. Professor Paine’s ideals were always in close harmony with the Bahá’í ideals, and he had a deep respect for his wife’s devotion. He remained until his death a firm friend of the Faith and of the Bahá’ís.
It was in Urbana that Mabel Paine first heard the Bahá’í Message. In writing to one of her friends about the Bahá’í history of Urbana, she said: “My memory begins with Mrs. Getsinger’s (about 1912) and Mr. Remey’s (1913) speaking at the Unity Club.” She attended classes on “The Art of Living” and on Bible study from a Bahá’í point of view, which were conducted by Albert Vail, then minister of the Unitarian Church. In 1915 she became a Bahá’í and began her long service to the Cause.
In September 1920, with her daughter, Sylvia, she visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa, and for the rest of her life she was to share with the Urbana friends the great deepening and confirming Power that was poured out on her there. Indeed, that young community was blessed by the number of its members who visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at this time, or had visited Him earlier: Marie Hopper, the Mattoon family, and Anna Kunz, all contributed a sense of closeness to the Master, and later to the Guardian, that went into the very blood and bones of the community. Mabel Paine and Sylvia made another pilgrimage to Haifa in 1931, this time to see the Guardian. One could always feel, when she mentioned the Guardian or recited the prayers for him, the great depth of her love.
[Page 8]
After returning from her pilgrimage to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, she made
a teaching trip to Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. She enjoyed
this very much, but ill health prevented her from going on with
this kind of teaching. During the first quarter-century of her
marriage, she had three major operations, and much of the time
was unable to go out much or be very active physically, but she
used her enforced leisure for a thorough study of the Bahá’í
Writings, bringing to it all the mental acumen she had shown in
college. She became, indeed, a Bahá’í scholar. If any of us
wanted to know, at any time, where to find a certain quotation, we
had only to ask Mabel Paine and she could tell us almost at once.
She wrote articles for “Star of the West” and later for the Bahá’í magazine under its various names, served on national editorial committees, and was for years a member of the Reviewing Committee. I worked with her on Bahá’í World and on the World Order editorial committee and know the industry, the patience, and the conscientious thought she devoted to the work, part of which was drudgery. Perhaps she is best known now as the compiler of The Divine Art of Living, a book that is unique as an introduction to the Faith and as a source of meditation for Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís alike.
Mabel Hyde, in her youth, must have been impressed by Christ’s admonition, “Be ye perfect,” for throughout her life she showed a great longing for perfection. In her home she tried to keep perfect order, and her husband told how she used to try to make perfect bread. To him it seemed perfect, but she could never be quite satisfied with it.
So it was in spiritual matters. Her daughter writes: “In her quiet way, she stuck to whatever she thought right and saw it through to completion. Nothing ever seemed to upset her daily routine, which included prayer, reading, meditation, and then an hour or so desk work on whatever writing project was under way... I remember years ago, when I was quite a young child, how, before going to a Feast or Bahá’í gathering, Mother would go up to her room and pray.” Again she writes: “One of the ways Mother helped me most was in showing how one can rise above personalities. She really was above gossip, and if she ever discussed a person with me, it was in such a way as to increase my love for that person.”
Her insistence on perfection showed itself in her editorial work, in her teaching, and in her administrative service. She was often troubled by careless writing submitted for publication, for she wished the Cause to be represented only by the best. One could always rely on the accuracy of her work, and to read proof with her was to know what it is to be exact.
In teaching the Faith, she was especially good at preparing new believers for membership. She was careful that they should know the basic teachings well and be quite ready to accept them. She was rather retiring by nature and preferred not to do a great deal of public speaking, but she would never refuse to do anything that might further the Cause. Her talks were always clear, thought-provoking, and impressive with their strong spirit of sincere devotion. When she made her last talk, she was really too weak to stand, but, having undertaken to do this thing for Bahá’u’lláh, she carried it through to the end.
In spite of the undoubted importance of her literary and editorial work for the Faith, I think that one of Mabel Paine’s greatest contributions was administrative. She was a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Urbana from its formation, in 1920, until her last illness, in 1955. She was many times its chairman, always one of its officers, and several times a delegate to the National Convention.
In that period when the letters of Shoghi Effendi, now published in Bahá’í Administration, were being received in America, Mabel Paine, and that rather remarkable group of believers who were her colleagues, mastered these letters and set about conscientiously to put them into practice. With her exact knowledge, her perseverance in what she believed to be right, and her insistence on perfection, in the administration of the community as well as in her private life, she was a great influence in making the community function in the way outlined by the Guardian. “But is it the Bahá’í way?” she would often ask in consultation, and she could always point to a passage in the Writings to help solve a problem.
Her support of Bahá’í institutions was steadfast in every way, especially by means of the Fund. Her contribution was always regular and generous to the point of sacrifice. She had the good fortune to begin her Bahá’í life in the Apostolic age, to serve through the 25 years of the formation of the Administrative Order in America, to see the dedication of the Temple, and the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade. She died on August 15, 1955.
Bahá’u’lláh has said that he who quickens one soul in this Cause is like one quickening all the servants. When one remembers the number of well-grounded believers that have gone out from Urbana, one might almost conclude that, if we strengthen on Bahá’í community, we strengthen them all. And it is to Mabel Paine’s everlasting credit that, without thought of praise for herself or personal recognition, she so used her qualities, merging them with those of her fellow-workers, as to build a strong Bahá’í community. In this, and in many individual Bahá’ís, her character lives on.
As to her soul, in a letter to her daughter written by Leroy Ioas on behalf of the Guardian, he says:
“The beloved Guardian deeply values the long and devoted services of your mother in the pathway of the Cause of God. She has ascended to the Abhá Kingdom and is now receiving a rich reward, from the Master whom she served so efficiently and so diligently.”
Bolivia[edit]
In the heart of South America, a growing Bahá’í community carries forward God’s Plan
Many of the friends who attended Bolivia’s national Bahá’í Conference on the Seven Year Plan last April 30 pledged to help fulfill specific goals during the initial two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan.
Top left: Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Bolivia for 1979-80 are (standing left to right) Germán Rivera; Pamaléon Zola, vice chairman; Valentin Quispe; Eshraghollah Ouladi, secretary-treasurer; Gregorio Llanque; and (seated left to right) Isidro Jackakollo; Ehsanollah Rezvani, chairman; Yolanda Pulley; Stephen Pulley, recording secretary. Bottom left: About 50 Bahá’ís attended a national Deepening Institute for Traveling Teachers last May 28-June 1 in La Paz, Bolivia. The institute was designed to prepare traveling teachers to help strengthen and consolidate many of the country’s 1,100 communities that have Local Spiritual Assemblies. Below: Delegates to the 19th National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Bolivia held April 27-29, 1979.
Around the World[edit]
United States[edit]
Three Hands of the Cause of God—Dhikru’lláh Khádem, John Robarts and William Sears—were present last July 28 for an historic meeting between the Continental Board of Counsellors in North America and its Auxiliary Boards and the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and several of its committees. The day-long meeting focused on strategies for winning the goals of the initial two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S. and several of its committees accepted an invitation to meet Saturday, July 28, with the Continental Board of Counsellors in North America and its Auxiliary Boards to discuss strategies for the initial two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan.
The historic day-long meeting was blessed by the presence of three Hands of the Cause of God: Dhikru’lláh Khádem, John Robarts and William Sears.
Also present was Counsellor Aziz Yazdi, a member of the International Teaching Centre in Haifa, Israel.
Committees represented were the National Teaching Committee, National Education Committee, International Goals Committee, and the Office of the Treasurer.
The meeting produced a deeper awareness of the importance of the closest possible collaboration between the senior institutions of the Faith in North America.
It also afforded the National Spiritual Assembly an opportunity to share with the Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members its broad plan for winning the expansion and consolidation goals set forth by the Universal House of Justice for the opening phase of the Seven Year Plan.
The key element in that plan is systematic, phased growth within the U.S. Bahá’í community, which, in the words of the National Spiritual Assembly, “yields greater and more lasting results than spasmodic, ill-conceived campaigns no matter how many resources are brought to their aid.”
An all-Native American Local Spiritual Assembly at White Mesa, Utah, and four Assemblies in Colorado, all formed in July, are among the results of an intensive teaching campaign designed to bring about large-scale enrollments in the so-called “four corners” area that forms the boundary between the Southwestern states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Teaching simply and directly, mostly in one-to-one situations, the friends in this four-state area have won significant victories for the Cause during the campaign that started earlier this year. In June, Assemblies were formed on the Shiprock Navajo and Jicarillo Apache Reservations in New Mexico.
As a result of heightened interstate and interdistrict cooperation, 136 people, mostly Native Americans or Spanish-speaking, embraced the Cause of God in the four states in a two-month period that began in mid-May.
The initial teaching effort was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of the Southern Ute Reservation in Western Colorado.
Later, teams from several communities were joined by Bahá’í youth from as far away as Louisiana and New York State for teaching in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, most of whose residents are Spanish-speaking.
By the second week in July, Assemblies had been formed in the agricultural communities of San Luis, Fort Garland, and Center, Colorado. A fourth Assembly was established in Argosa Springs, Colorado.
In Center, there were 17 enrollments in two days. One of the new believers is a Mayan Indian from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Swaziland[edit]
A Bahá’í from Írán was one of two speakers last Easter Sunday, April 15, at the dedication of an interdenominational Christian church at Lobamba, the Kraal (“home” or “seat”) of the Indlovukazi (Queen Mother) of Swaziland and site of the Swazi House of Parliament. More than 10,000 people attended the ceremony.
His Majesty Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland for more than 60 years, sponsored an annual Easter celebration to help create unity among the many Christian denominations in that country.
Her Royal Highness Princess Geinaphi, a daughter of the King, was one of the first people in Swaziland to embrace the Faith. She insisted that the government include a Bahá’í speaker on the program, and arranged for Dr. M. Ahmadi to speak, with Benjamin Dlamini, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland, his interpreter.
Dr. Ahmadi’s talk, which consisted mostly of passages from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh on the high station of kingship, ended with these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“All nations and kindreds will become a single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonisms, the hostility of races and peoples, differences among nations will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race, and will become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland, which is the planet itself.”
Dr. Ahmadi then presented to His Majesty a prayer for unity, beautifully lettered and illuminated by Mrs. Mary Jane Rostami and framed for hanging in the church.
On Tuesday, April 17, the influential English-language newspaper, the Times of Swaziland, carried a front-page article and photos of the celebration. The article quoted in detail from Dr. Ahmadi’s address.
His Majesty Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland for 60 years, receives an illuminated Bahá’í prayer for unity from Dr. M. Ahmadi, a Bahá’í from Írán who was one of two principal speakers last April 15 at the dedication of an interdenominational church at Lobamba, Swaziland. More than 10,000 people attended the event.
Togo[edit]
The Bahá’í National Center in Lomé, Togo, was the scene July 8-9 of consultation between the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, the National Spiritual Assembly of Togo, and eight members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Benin.
Among the immediate results of the meeting were a series of joint border teaching campaigns and a pledge of continued close cooperation between the two West African nations.
Thirty Togolese believers joined Dr. Muhájir and the National Spiritual Assembly in discussing Togo’s teaching strategy for the initial two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan.
Dr. Muhájir warmly praised Benin’s national campaign in which each believer creates his or her personal extension teaching project by teaching in villages where he or she has relatives.
In outlining ways in which this teaching method can be expanded, Dr. Muhájir urged the believers to do their part to help transform Africa into what the beloved Guardian promised would be the first Bahá’í continent.
Australia[edit]
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dedication of its Bahá’í Center by the Hands of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Akbar Furútan and A.Q. Faizí, the Bahá’í community of Sutherland Shire, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, presented a copy of Tokens From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh to the Shire president, Jean Manuel, M.B.E. Shown at the presentation on December 27, 1978, are (left to right) Madge Painter and Nell Dekker of the Sutherland Shire Bahá’í community; Miss Diana Oliver, Shire librarian; and Councillor Manuel.
Ken Robinson, an Australian believer and pioneer to Thailand, addresses some of the more than 250 youth and adults who attended the 10th Australian Bahá’í Youth Conference at Monash University, Melbourne, during the Victoria Teaching Campaign last January.
A large-scale teaching campaign was held during the entire month of January 1979 in Victoria, Australia.
Planned by the National Goals Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia, the campaign included a wide variety of activities in the cities of Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Morwell.
The Bahá’í music groups, “Galimaufery” and “1844,” gave concerts. There were wood sculpture exhibits by Bahá’í and United Nations films.
Cooking demonstrations, picnics, and recreational outings were designed to provide an atmosphere in which the friends could attract seekers, befriend them, introduce them to the Faith and invite them to firesides that were held almost every evening.
The Goals Committee reports that the large amount of publicity “was definitely the success of the campaign,” with estimates of the amount of free coverage running into many hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of dollars.
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An area of dense bushes and shrubs has been cleared from in front of the Bahá’í House of Worship near Sydney, Australia, as the first stage in an ‘open vistas’ concept that will give visitors an uninterrupted view of the building from the gateway entrance on the Mona Vale Road. The gum trees in the foreground are to be uprooted and the area replanted with grass, small plants and shrubs.
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the West Pilbara, in Western Australia, was elected Saturday, December 16, 1978.
The new Assembly was the fifth to be established in an “Aboriginal area” of Australia, and the 99th in the country’s Five Year Plan goal of 100.
Soon afterward, the spiritual Assembly of Albury, New South Wales, was formed, fulfilling Australia’s Assembly goal.
A four-member team from Perth, Western Australia, drove to Onslow, a 24-hour trip, to help arrange the Assembly election in the West Pilbara. Onslow is the principal town in that area, which is larger in size than the whole of England.
Two Auxiliary Board members, 16 assistants to the Auxiliary Board, and their spouses were among those who attended a special institute February 24-25 at the Bahá’í School in Yerrinbool, Australia.
The institute, organized by Auxiliary Board member Bizhan Vahdat and patterned after a similar gathering held in Hawaii, included sessions on the duties and responsibilities of assistants to the Auxiliary Board, relationships between the Auxiliary Board and its assistants, deepening methods, working with Assemblies and individuals, and workshops involving mock Spiritual Assembly meetings.
Basil Manolatos, a South African of Greek descent, helped fulfill one of Australia’s Five Year Plan goals last January and February when he undertook the first teaching trip in that country aimed specifically at its Greek-speaking population, whose numbers are the highest in any country outside of Greece itself. Mr. Manolatos’ month-long visit took him to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Mildure where he was introduced to seekers at small, informal gatherings.
Canary Islands[edit]
A recent groundswell of teaching activity in the pueblo of Telde, Grand Canary Island, has been led by nine Bahá’í youth whose efforts are spilling over into nearby villages.
There were a few Bahá’í youth already in Telde when Robert Esposito, his wife and seven small children pioneered there recently. Soon they were joined by more pioneers, two families from Persia, and enthusiasm mounted. By the end of the Five Year Plan, enough local people had declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh to assure the formation of Telde’s first Spiritual Assembly.
Last June, 60 of the friends attended a teaching conference at which there were several declarations.
The friends in Telde are developing programs to assist isolated believers, and plan to sponsor more conferences. They are also organizing activities on two of the neighboring islands, each of which has only one believer.
Spain[edit]
At Naw-Rúz, the Bahá’í community of Oveida, Spain, raised a large banner in the street to proclaim the Faith. Posters and flowers were placed under it, and flowers and pamphlets were given to seekers. A photo of the exhibit appeared in the local newspaper the following day, and Bahá’ís were interviewed on radio.
Benin[edit]
Four members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Benin and Auxiliary Board member Frederic Hodonou were among those who attended a weekend teaching and deepening institute July 14-15 at the Bahá’í National Center. The event was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Cotonou.
Twenty-four believers attended the institute including two from the neighboring country of Togo and four from Benin’s Oueme Province.
Following the institute, four of the friends from Cotonou visited their sister community, Godomey, for an evening of prayers, songs and deepening with about 50 of the believers there. Plans were made to begin Godomey’s children’s classes and to show films about the Faith.
Since April there have been more than 100 declarations in Godomey. Six nearby villages also have been opened to the Faith.
Three days after the institute at Cotonou, children’s classes were begun in the town of Abomey. Children’s classes also have been started in Bohicon, Cotonou, Porto-Novo, and Dowa.
Sweden[edit]
Melinda Alpaugh and Enge Bolin entertain during a conference last December at Enköping, Sweden, where that country’s newest Local Spiritual Assembly has since been formed.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Umeå, Sweden, has begun broadcasting its own local radio programs. Sonny Mauree is shown here during the first broadcast May 11 of the bi-weekly 15-minute programs. The Swedish Minister of Education was present for the first broadcast, and was presented a copy of ‘The Spiritual Revolution.’
The first Spiritual Assembly of Luleå, Sweden, formed last April, is one of four Local Assemblies formed that month during an upsurge of teaching inspired by a great many Swedish believers, including entire families, who arose to become homefront pioneers in the closing days of the Five Year Plan. At Riḍván, Sweden had 21 Local Spiritual Assemblies, only one short of the country’s Five Year Plan goal. Luleå’s is the northernmost Assembly in Sweden.
New Hebrides[edit]
The visit of four black American Bahá’ís to New Hebrides from January 6-20 resulted in excellent proclamation and publicity for the Faith.
The team, consisting of James Isham, Darral Pugh, June Ritter and Mark Sisson, visited the islands of Santo, Malekula, Efate and Tanna.
Team members taught the Faith through simple and direct talks, using songs and the music of drums, flute and organ to convey Bahá’u’lláh’s Message of love and unity.
Everywhere, people’s hearts were warmed by the team’s happiness and vitality. Radio New Hebrides broadcast news of the team’s progress and recorded an excellent interview with Mark Sisson.
Attendance at the first week’s meetings ranged from 30 to 150; in nearly every case, the majority of the audience was non-Bahá’í.
During the second week, three team members went to Tanna while the fourth, Mark Sisson, stayed behind to participate in the National Youth Conference at Vila. He also spoke at a large fireside on Fila Island.
In Tanna, the team gave seven public talks and one deepening session in five days, visiting Lenakel, Lowyaru, Greenhill, Whitesands, Sulphur Bay, Port Resolution and Nazareth.
The best response, according to the team’s report, came at Lowyaru where some 200 people attended. There was one declaration.
When the team arrived in the village of Sulphur Bay, they found that the American flag had been raised and everyone had lined up to salute them.
The final night of the team’s stay in New Hebrides was also the last night of the National Youth Conference. A public meeting and farewell dance were held at the Bahá’í Center in Vila. It was attended by at least 90 adults, half of whom were not Bahá’ís. There were two declarations.
Mauritius[edit]
The National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Mauritius was held April 28-May 16 with two members of the Continental Board of Counsellor, 67 delegates and 141 other believers attending.
Ivory Coast/Mali[edit]
Bahá’ís from Ivory Coast and Mali, Africa, held their largest Summer School ever last December at the National Institute in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
More than 100 believers from Ivory Coast and Mali were present last December at the National Institute in Bouake, Ivory Coast, for the largest Bahá’í Summer School ever held by the two West African countries.
Friends from as far away as Upper Volta came to the school and enjoyed classes on the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, the Covenant, the institutions of the Faith, prayer, teaching, Bahá’í laws, the history and role of Bahá’í women, and the importance of “living the life.”
Children’s classes also were held during the Summer School. A Bahá’í bookstore was open each day, and there was a special recreation period during which the friends played soccer, went for walks, or simply socialized. A public meeting held one evening attracted many people from nearby localities.
More women than ever before participated in the Summer School. Many of them left afterward to attend the West African Bahá’í Women’s Conference in Monrovia, Liberia.
Hawaii[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Hawaiin Islands was elected at the annual National Convention in Honolulu on April 27-29. Assembly members are (left to right) Craig Quick; Elizabeth Haberman, recording secretary; Duane Troxel; Anthony Pelle, vice-chairman; Brad Hollinger, treasurer; Elizabeth Hollinger, corresponding secretary; Manuel Marcial; Gary Morrison; Tracy Hamilton, chairman.
