Bahá’í News/Issue 604/Text

←Previous

Bahá’í News Issue 604

Next→

Proofread onceReturn to PDF view

[Page -1]

Bahá’í News

July 1981

Bahá’í Year 138

Bermuda holds first National Convention

[Page 0]

---

WITH SADDENED HEARTS ANNOUNCE MARTYRDOM THREE MORE HEROES CRADLE FAITH WHO SURRENDERED LIVES AS THEIR LAST OFFERING SACRED THRESHOLD. YADULLAH VAHDAT, IHSANULLAH MIHDIZADIH, SATTAR KHUSHKHU, ALL THREE MEMBERS BAHÁ’Í INSTITUTIONS, WERE EXECUTED IN SHIRAZ BY FIRING SQUAD ON NIGHT APRIL 29 BY ORDER ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY COURT SHIRAZ AND WITH APPROVAL HIGH COURT JUSTICE TEHERAN. VERDICT SHIRAZ COURT PUBLISHED ALL MAJOR NEWSPAPERS IRAN SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS USUAL FALSE CHARGES GIVING DISTORTED IMAGE ACTIVITIES BAHÁ’ÍS MISREPRESENTING THEM AS ZIONISTS IMPERIALIST AGENTS PROMOTERS GODLESSNESS ENEMIES ISLAM.

UNDAUNTED BY THIS FRESH OUTBREAK ANIMOSITY AGAINST THEM STAUNCH FRIENDS CRADLE FAITH PREPARING THEMSELVES WITH JOY UNFOLDMENT THEIR GLORIOUS DESTINY, CONFIDENT PRECIOUS LIVES THEY ARE OFFERING ALTAR SACRIFICE WILL GALVANIZE BELIEVERS EVERY LAND INSPIRE THEM REDOUBLE THEIR DEVOTED EXERTIONS IN SERVITUDE BELOVED FAITH.

SUMMON FRIENDS EVERY COUNTRY HOLD SPECIAL PRAYERS DURING NIGHT AND DAY OF ASCENSION BAHÁ’U’LLÁH MAY 29 BESEECHING DIVINE PROTECTION BELEAGUERED FRIENDS IRAN.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
MAY 4, 1981

---

[Page 1]

Contents

Bermuda
National Spiritual Assembly elected at island’s 1st convention	2
Dialogue
Louis Gregory Institute hosts international women’s program	4
Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir
The Bahá’ís of India remember the beloved Hand of the Cause	6
Bahá’í Week
A successful proclamation is held in Trinidad and Tobago	10
Around the world
News from Bahá’í communities in every corner of the globe	12

Cover

On April 24-26, Bahá’ís from Bermuda gathered at the Bermudiana Hotel in Hamilton for the historic first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Bermuda. Among the participants were the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum; Continental Counsellor Sarah M. Pereira; and Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the parent National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. A complete report of the Bermuda Convention begins on Page 2.

Change of address should be reported directly to Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates: one year, U.S. $8; two years, U.S. $15. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1981, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A.

[Page 2]

BERMUDA

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum an honored guest at island’s first National Convention

About 150 Bahá’ís gathered April 24-26 in the presence of the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum at the Bermudiana Hotel in Hamilton, Bermuda, for the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Bermuda.

Also present on this historic occasion were Continental Counsellor Sarah M. Pereira; Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States; and Auxiliary Board member Adrienne Reeves.

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, who represented the Universal House of Justice at the Convention, read the message

[Page 3] from the Supreme Body to the Bahá’ís of Bermuda in which they were called upon to “face the future with optimism and courage” and to “resolve to undertake wholeheartedly and vigorously the achievement of the tasks which lie ahead during the next three-year phase of the Seven Year Plan.”

Also read was the message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world outlining the specific tasks to be accomplished during the second phase of the Plan.

On Saturday the delegates elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Bermuda. Its members are:

Georgia M. Sanchez, chairman; Leighton Rochester, vice-chairman; Valerie Richmond, secretary; B.W. Jordy Walker, treasurer; Elizabeth Thomas, assistant secretary; Lloyd Williams; Mary Walker; Frank Esposito; and Hilda Harford.

The previous evening, the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly was the host at a reception for delegates, special visitors, and officials of the Bermudian community. The Hon. J. David Gibbons, premier of Bermuda, was represented at the reception by his wife, Mrs. Lully Gibbons.

Among the highlights of this memorable Convention was a presentation of the film “The Pilgrimage,” which was written and narrated by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum.

A message from the Convention was sent to Katherine McLaughlin, the Auxiliary Board member for protection assigned to Bermuda, who was too ill to attend.

Dr. Pereira read the message to the Convention from the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas, while Mr. Mitchell called the Convention to order on behalf of the parent U.S. National Spiritual Assembly and presided until Convention officers were elected.

Dr. Reeves was the speaker at a non-delegate session that was held during the election of the National Assembly.

Those attending the Convention contributed $1,500.00 to help support the new National Spiritual Assembly of Bermuda.

Members of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Bermuda elected at Riḍván are (standing left to right) Lloyd Williams; Mary Walker; Leighton Rochester, vice-chairman; Hilda Harford; Frank Esposito, and (seated left to right) Elizabeth Thomas, assistant secretary; Valerie Richmond, secretary; Georgia M. Sanchez, chairman; B.W. Jordy Walker, treasurer.

[Page 4]

DIALOGUE

The Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina is host to a three-day Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue that includes outstanding women from four countries

As a result of the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women and the parallel Non-Governmental Forum held last July in Copenhagen, Denmark, a Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue was held April 3-5 at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina.

The Copenhagen conference aroused so much interest among women in the United States that a number of national women’s organizations decided to initiate plans for a follow-up dialogue.

The purpose of the dialogue was to introduce the issues discussed at the Copenhagen conference—employment, health, and education—to a broad cross section of women in the U.S. and to help them develop their capacity to understand the international dimensions of those issues.

An international team of resource persons was chosen from among participants at the Copenhagen conference. The team included women from various countries who could share their professional and community-based experience and insights with their American counterparts.

The dialogue was to be held in a number of cities—in large and small communities, both urban and rural.

Through its representative at the United Nations, the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly made arrangements with the coordinator of the Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue to use the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina as one of the sites for the dialogue.

The Institute proved to be an ideal choice: it is in the Deep South (one of the regions the resource team especially wanted to visit) and provides ready access to rural communities nearby.

With the help and guidance of the National Office of Public Affairs and the National Teaching Committee, Dr. Alberta Deas, the director of the Gregory Institute, made the necessary arrangements for the dialogue.

Dr. Deas contacted the interested local chapters of the National Council of Negro Women, and together they planned the program for the upcoming event, concentrating on involving a large number of local women from a variety of backgrounds, levels of education, and cultures.

The international team of women arrived March 20 in New York City for a brief orientation and preliminary meetings with the dialogue planning board, whose members represented a dozen national organizations with specific interests in women and their needs.

The National Spiritual Assembly’s UN representative, Mrs. Nancy Mondschein, acting on its behalf, served as a facilitator throughout the orientation process.

At the close of the orientation program, the participants were divided into two groups of four women each, one of which was scheduled to visit the Gregory Institute. The members of that team were:

• Donna Awatere, a Maori psychologist and journalist from Auckland, New Zealand, who specializes in the problems of minority women and their families and abused children.
• Evelyn Amarteifio, a juvenile court magistrate from Accra, Ghana, who also serves as general secretary of the Ghana Association of Women and is a national YWCA board director.
• Vinitha Jayasinghe, director of the Women’s Bureau she helped establish in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She headed the Sri Lanka delegation to the Copenhagen conference and is author of a UNICEF-sponsored study of child care activities.
• Luz-Helena Sanchez of Bogota, Colombia, a

[Page 5] Dr. Alberta Deas (center), administrator of the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute, welcomes guests and explains the purpose of the Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue that was held April 3-5 at the Institute.

physician whose work with a women’s family service agency and a preventive mental health care program for women have won her much acclaim in her country.

The first evening of the dialogue included a special southern-style dinner for the four guests. Also attending were Dr. Magdalene M. Carney, assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, and Ms. Elham Jazab, representing the Office of Public Affairs.

After the dinner the women were escorted to a reception in their honor, and met with Bahá’ís of the surrounding area.

The dialogue began in earnest Saturday morning at the homes of four women in communities near the Gregory Institute.

The women at these dialogues came from a variety of social and cultural strata, from professions ranging from computer programmers and health care specialists to teachers, nurses, and homemakers, and from black, white and Oriental backgrounds.

These “personalized” exchanges gave the international visitors a more intimate view of the lives of the women in that area, and gave the participants an opportunity to benefit from cross-cultural experiences, gain a deeper appreciation of their own areas, and take stock of their resources.

In the afternoon, the resource team returned to the Gregory Institute for a general dialogue open to all interested women and men.

That evening, local civic leaders were invited to a special banquet at which Dr. Carney spoke about the important role of women in this age, and each of the four overseas visitors brought greetings from her country.

On Sunday, the four women, accompanied by Dr. Carney, Dr. Deas, and Mrs. Mondschein, flew to Washington, D.C., to meet with coordinators in the other areas in which dialogues were held for a program assessment and a closing workshop.

At this session Dr. Carney was invited by all eight international participants to visit their respective countries.

They also requested that their UN representatives in the U.S. write to the Bahá’ís in their respective countries and put them in contact with their women’s groups.

Perhaps the most poignant expression of the success of the dialogue at the Louis Gregory Institute was the one made by the women who participated in that dialogue.

The team began its report in Washington with this statement: “In Sacramento, California, they gave us the key to the city. In Atlanta, Georgia, they made us honorary citizens. In Hemingway, South Carolina, they gave us their hearts, and we will take them home.”

Participants from overseas in the Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue held April 3-5 at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina were (left to right) Evelyn Amarteifio from Accra, Ghana; Donna Awatere from New Zealand; Vinitha Jayasinghe from Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Luz-Helena Sanchez from Bogota, Colombia.

[Page 6]

DR. MUHÁJIR

The Hand of the Cause of God is lovingly remembered by the Bahá’í community of India to which he always felt a special closeness during his years of service

(The following article is reprinted from Bahá’í News India, November 1979-January 1980.)

•

He was to have come to India! His air ticket was booked to Bombay.

But at a conference of Counsellors and representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly and Bahá’í community of Ecuador last December in Quito, the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir suddenly felt the need for air. He left the conference hall, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

Shortly afterward he was rushed to a hospital, and within 15 minutes of his arrival there his spirit had left this world.

How like orphans we yearn for his presence! How often had we been caught in our own little problems, unable to see beyond—and then he would come with a vision so big, with his deep feeling that the Cause must reach out to the waiting millions, and all the problems would melt away like mist before the sunrise. The friends would instinctively arise, recognizing the deep and sincere conviction of this loving and humble Hand of the Cause.

The closing years of the Ten Year Crusade saw the awakening of the Cause in India. In 1958 Dr. Muhájir spoke to the friends at the Devlali Summer School about the experiences of mass conversion in the Mentawei Islands of Indonesia.

The National Spiritual Assembly of India, inspired by his words, felt it necessary to establish a few simple village schools as a base for mass teaching. Let us trace what happened next in the words of Mr. H. Fatheazam, who was secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly at that time:

“... One such school had been opened two or three years ago in another district of the same State (Madhya Pradesh). One of the achievements of the school was that a teacher from among these simple people was trained to open another school of the same kind in his own village. Thus that village, Samgimanda, became the seat of our second school among the masses, and also the site of our second Spiritual Assembly formed in 1960 in the mass teaching campaign.

“Suddenly we received news that the revered Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhájir, whose encouragement and guidance had led to the National Assembly’s stress on the importance of teaching the masses, was coming to Bombay. Fortunately, two members of the National Assembly, together with Mr. and Mrs. M.A. Faizi, experienced teachers of the Cause, were in Madhya Pradesh. When they learned of Dr. Muhájir’s desire to hold a conference for the masses, they sent word to the Spiritual Assembly of Samgimanda and a conference was arranged there within 48 hours.

“When the Bahá’ís started for Samgimanda on foot and in bullock carts, they did not know what awaited them. A number of villagers came out several miles to greet their guests. By firing gunshots, they proclaimed in their traditional way that important and respected guests were coming to the village. Groups of women chanted welcoming songs and hymns. Amid the beating of drums, the booming guns and devotional songs, cries of ‘Alláh’u’Abhá’ were heard. Children of the Bahá’í school, more than 60 in number, lined up to receive the Hand of the Cause.

“The conference was publicized within a few hours and drew more than 300 people. In spite of severe

[Page 7] cold, it continued until well past midnight. The Message of God was so attractive, soul-stirring and inspiring that everyone sat spellbound. Representatives from neighboring villages would not leave until they were assured by the Bahá’ís that someone would come to their village to deliver the Message there.

Chain reaction

“A group of Bahá’ís, organized by Dr. Muhájir, was dispatched to various villages. After a few days, while the National Spiritual Assembly was in session in the presence of Dr. Muhájir in Bombay, the news came that about 300 people had embraced the Faith. From the beginning of February a chain reaction had set in. Every few days a conference would be organized by the new believers in their own villages. The number of participants would range from 300 to 800; the result of each conference would be 100 to 200 declarations.

“Again, each newly declared Bahá’í, on returning to his home village, would want another conference held there for his own people. ‘Why shouldn’t my people,’ he would say, ‘receive the Light of God? Why should they not become Bahá’ís too?’ And he is right. Why should they not have the opportunity to receive the glad tidings of Bahá’u’lláh? How to meet these demands is a question that is not easy to answer. However, this is the Cause of God, and Bahá’u’lláh Himself will surely solve this problem.”

Mrs. Shirin Boman and R.N. Shah were with the Faizis in Indore when the phone call came from Mr. Fatheazam in New Delhi that Dr. Muhájir was coming and had requested a conference. The team was proceeding at that time to Kwetiyapani village where the first Bahá’í school had been established. They asked Dr. Vajdi to take Dr. Muhájir to Samgimanda and arrange a conference. Meanwhile, in Kwetiyapani, the group invited some of the Bahá’ís, including tribal leaders, and proceeded to Samgimanda.

There, in a simple and direct presentation of the Cause, Dr. Muhájir invited the villagers to embrace the Faith if they believed in Bahá’u’lláh. Everyone from that village and nearby expressed a wish to become Bahá’ís. The group took some paper and received signatures and (mostly) thumb prints under a statement that the declarant accepted Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for this age.

In that far away village, amidst mud huts, Dr. Muhájir sat in a rough chair with a broken table in front of him and received declarations. More than 100 people declared their belief that day.

Thus was begun, under the guidance of our beloved Dr. Muhájir, the process of entry by troops in India. Within two years, between February 1961 and February 1963, the number of believers in India rose from 850 to 65,355; Assemblies increased from 58 to 675, Groups from 35 to 1,342, and a steady process of growth and development ensued.

Development meant acquiring new capacities.

THE HAND OF THE CAUSE OF GOD RAḤMATU’LLÁH MUHÁJIR

Again, in each crisis of growth, the guiding hand of beloved Dr. Muhájir was there to help carry the community through.

In his subsequent visit to India, in October 1961, the historic Dhar Conference was convened—the first all-India mass teaching conference. Many village Bahá’ís as well as the friends from Bombay, Poona, Panchgani, Sholapur, Mysore, Bangalore, and the States of Gujarat, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh came to the conference, held some 20 miles from Indore.

Although it was wet and cold, the conference was memorable. From it, mass teaching was carried on to other states. Soon the masses were responding in Sholapur, Mysore, Dang, Bangalore, Gwalior, Rewa, Satna, Nasik and Devlali.

From the beginning, Dr. Muhájir worried about how this rapid expansion could be coupled with consolidation. He stressed how important it was to train the believers. Thus it was that he spearheaded the purchase of the first Bahá’í Teaching Institute at Indore.

Sense of belonging

At the Samgimanda conference, Dr. Muhájir had spoken of the need to create a sense of belonging in the hearts of the villagers. We should have village Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, he said, put up by the villagers themselves, and establish schools for educating the children. As a result of his remarks village schools

[Page 8] were established, and this impulse led eventually to the establishment of the Rabbani School for children. This school, having passed through many trials and vicissitudes, is now operating on a sound footing.

Many of the friends in India recall that Dr. Muhájir urged from his earliest days there the establishment of an education fund. This fund, now in operation, will use the interest earned on capital to run the Bahá’í educational institutions.

When the Hand of the Cause returned to India in October 1961 for the Dhar Conference, there were already 3,300 new believers in less than six months of teaching. He foresaw the need for continuous deepening, and began immediately the search for a suitable building to house a Teaching Institute. Eventually, he found the building that is now the Faizi Institute, near Indore. As the process of mass teaching continued, the Gwalior Teaching Institute at Susera, the Devlali and Mysore Institutes, as well as the Sholapur Center were bought.

Dr. Muhájir was a great advocate of close collaboration between Board members and administrative institutions of the Faith. At his suggestion, the National Assembly began to invite Board members for consultation, and with the establishment of the Board of Counsellors, this collaboration has grown.

In 1967, he was instrumental in bringing the first pioneers to India from Malaysia. The following year, he began the flow of student pioneers from Írán to India, the Philippines and South East Asia. Many of the friends will remember his purchase and use of “The World of Learning” and “Study Opportunities Abroad”—two UNESCO publications—for encouraging student pioneers.

Dr. Muhájir chats with some of the friends during one of his many visits to India in the early 1970s.

Also in 1967, Dr. Muhájir consulted with the National Spiritual Assembly and helped arrange a conference of newspaper editors and sub-editors from all over the country—a Bahá’í seminar on the press. Dr. Muhájir’s vision was large—he looked for every avenue that would take the Faith to the multitudes, whether in the village or in the city.

In 1971 Dr. Muhájir was in Delhi at the time of the first West Asia Youth Conference. As many youths had arrived before the event, Dr. Muhájir called them together and encouraged them to go and teach in Delhi. It was a Sunday, and the teams gathered that evening to relate their experiences. The next morning, they went to the colleges of Delhi University, where the response of the students was dramatic. The Hand of the Cause had urged them not to rely on prearranged lectures, but to go instead to the cafeterias and other places and, in a dignified and pleasant manner, introduce themselves as Bahá’ís. They should emphasize, he said, that the Faith has an administrative order to which one must be obedient. That evening, when the teams returned, they related that some students and faculty had accepted the Faith. In the three days before the opening of the conference, about 700 students were enrolled. As a result of that experience, student teaching became a regular feature of the National Youth Committee—whether through proclamation or some other event.

Realizing the tremendous role the Publishing Trust could play in teaching, Dr. Muhájir encouraged the National Assembly to evolve a publications plan in all languages—a plan that included translations and printing and reprinting of older titles. Each state would be responsible for its local language publications under the Publishing Trust. Mrs. Iran Muhájir helped strengthen the Trust’s program, while her husband’s far-sightedness and encouragement made the Trust an effective back-up machinery in the mass teaching work.

It was Dr. Muhájir who first conceived the idea of a simple, attractive pamphlet (folder) with a detachable post-paid reply card for inquirers to indicate whether they wished to attend Bahá’í meetings, accept literature, receive Bahá’í visitors, or declare their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. These pamphlets became a part of the proclamation program, while in Delhi a separate Proclamation Department was established. Dr. Muhájir also was responsible for initiating a Bahá’í Correspondence Course.

Traveling through Africa in 1972, the Hand of the Cause was struck by the urgent need to rush immediate help to the countries that were far behind in reaching the goals of the Nine Year Plan. In response to that need, he proposed that large numbers of traveling teachers be brought to those countries from Írán, India, Malaysia and the Philippines to help in the teaching work, a proposal that was approved by the Universal House of Justice. How Bahá’u’lláh blessed the efforts of those teachers in Africa is now a part of

[Page 9] The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir was a participant in many schools and conferences in India. He was scheduled to return there early in 1980 before his untimely death while on a teaching trip to South America.

Bahá’í history. Help was literally air-lifted to those struggling countries, enabling the goals to be won.

At the Hong Kong International Conference, Dr. Muhájir brought many countries together in collaboration. Contributions for jeeps, publishing materials, and many other activities were pledged, and the conference achieved practical results, one of which was the holding of an All Asian Women’s Conference in New Delhi in 1977, which, more than anything else, helped raise the consciousness of Bahá’í communities in India regarding the crucial role of women in the Faith.

Dr. Muhájir’s last major contribution in India was the setting up of projects in a collaborative effort between India and Malaysia through the South India Project that revitalized the southern area of the country and laid the groundwork for further growth. He visited India in September 1978, a year after the start of the project, and toured the entire country, this time beginning a major teaching project in East India.

In March 1979 Dr. Muhájir was in India again, and undertook an extensive tour of the projects in the South and other areas, reaching Calcutta in April. Although physically exhausted, he phoned Delhi each day to determine whether the new Seven Year Plan had been received, then convened a meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly immediately upon receipt of the document. As he read through the Plan in Delhi, he was a changed man—full of energy and vitality. He helped the National Assembly formulate its response to the Plan, then left for Bangladesh and the Far East.

On the second day of the last National Convention (1979), the gathering was electrified to see Dr. Muhájir suddenly appear there. He called on the friends from every State to formulate their own projects for a new push toward expansion/consolidation.

Immediately after the Convention, the Counsellors had convened a meeting of all Auxiliary Board members to study the Seven Year Plan. At that meeting the Hand of the Cause presented the teaching plans worked out earlier by the representatives from the provinces in response to his request. In two hours, there was explanation and encouragement for the vital arm of the Auxiliary Board to lend support to these plans.

The ocean of the Indian masses seemed to evoke a response in Dr. Muhájir’s heart. He longed to open the floodgates for their entry into the Cause of the Lord of Hosts. And how hard he tried!

Dr. Muhájir felt very close to the National Spiritual Assembly of India, and however frail an instrument we as a community were for God’s purpose for the masses, the magic of his presence unfailingly rallied us. When he appeared, all our problems suddenly appeared petty. How we miss him now!

He had wanted Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Leh in Ladakh in the extreme north, in Kanya Kumari in the southernmost end of the country, and in Kalimpong, the gateway to the northeast. God willing, we will achieve all these goals.

Dr. Muhájir inspired contributions for the continuation of the South and East India Projects, then one afternoon he flew westward to the Holy Land. Months later, he telephoned from Brazil to ask that someone be sent to Trinidad to help with the teaching there, and closed with this question: “How many Bahá’ís are there in India now?”

He arranged the plans and bade us farewell. May his spirit always rejoice. May his soul in the Kingdom know just how much we love him and miss his physical presence.

[Page 10]

BAHÁ’Í WEEK

A festive Naw-Rúz celebration inaugurates a week of proclamation and teaching activities sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Trinidad and Tobago

More than 200 people, Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís, gathered March 21 at the National-Bahá’í Center in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to usher in the new Bahá’í year and to inaugurate “Bahá’í Week” in Trinidad and Tobago.

The week-long proclamation event was publicized on radio, in newspapers, and by eye-catching banners hung across streets at various high volume traffic locations in Port of Spain and Scarborough, Trinidad, and at Crown Point Airport on Tobago. Banners bearing the caption “Bahá’í Week March 21-28, 1981 ... The Bahá’í Faith: Security for a Failing World” were seen by many and were the topic of numerous conversations.

A Bahá’í exhibit displayed at the University of the West Indies during the week prior to the seven-day proclamation remained in place during the proclamation itself.

Special guests at a public meeting March 21 at the National Center to give Bahá’í Week an enthusiastic start included Auxiliary Board member Laurence Coward; the Hon. George Neehall, mayor of Port of Spain; Senators Hamilton Holder and Muriel Donawa McDavidson; Sir Arthur McShine, vice-president of the senate; and the Rev. Ken Cadette, director of

Samuel Lancaster, a member of the Bahá’í community of Port of Spain, Trinidad, addresses the audience during a Naw-Rúz observance March 21 at the National Bahá’í Center that inaugurated ‘Bahá’í Week,’ a series of proclamation activities in Trinidad and Tobago.

[Page 11] the television program “Religious Unity.”

Following a welcoming address by the chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Trinidad and Tobago, Mayor Neehall expressed his desire “to bring you greetings and give you God’s blessings at the beginning of your New Year.”

During his remarks, Sen. Holder referred to the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, asking his audience to “say a silent prayer to Almighty God so that He may give the entire Faith and its organization the strength and the grace to bear up with the tribulation and look forward perhaps to a brighter future.”

Sen. McDavidson quoted the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on unity in diversity, adding that “the Bahá’í Faith seems to provide the cement that can fuse the diverse peoples and races of the world into one human family by the insistence of the prophet Bahá’u’lláh on the oneness of mankind and the essential unity of religion. Every aspect of its teachings and activities has as its aim unity in diversity.”

The members of the National Spiritual Assembly accepted special gifts offered to that institution, after which the Naw-Rúz celebration that launched Bahá’í Week concluded with a potluck dinner.

Throughout the week, movies were shown for visitors to the National Bahá’í Center in Port of Spain. References to Bahá’í Week were broadcast and appeared in print during the week. One TV station carried an interview on the significance of Naw-Rúz, and a radio station broadcast an interview with a Bahá’í about the week’s events and the persecution of the believers in Iran.

A fireside March 28, arranged and served by the Palmyra Bahá’í community, attracted nearly 200 seekers and was a fitting conclusion to Bahá’í Week activities.

A special guest at that fireside was Shamsi Sedaghat, a visitor from the Bahamas, who was in large measure responsible for the establishment of the Bahá’í community in Palmyra Village and was a prime mover in the construction of its Bahá’í Center.

Some of the more than 200 Bahá’ís and their guests who attended a Naw-Rúz observance March 21 at the National Bahá’í Center in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that launched ‘Bahá’í Week’ in Trinidad and Tobago.

[Page 12]

Around the world

British West Indies

Errol Martin, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward and Virgin Islands (second from left), presents a volume of The Bahá’í World to His Excellency David Dale, governor of Montserrat, British West Indies, during an inter-island teaching project last September that was sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward and Virgin Islands. Present for the meeting with the governor were Auxiliary Board member Shirley Yarbough (left), National Spiritual Assembly member Doris Francis (second from right) and Auxiliary Board member Roy Massey. The believers discussed various aspects of the Faith during their hour-long meeting with Governor Dale.

United States

The final resting place of Robert Turner, the first black person to become a Bahá’í in the West, has been located and identified with a gravestone placed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S.

The burial place is in Colma, California, just south of the San Francisco city limits.

Mr. Turner, who was a butler employed by Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, was among the first group of 14 pilgrims from the West to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká in late 1898 and early 1899. Among the other participants in that historic journey, organized by Mrs. Hearst, were Lua Getsinger and May Bolles (Maxwell).

Mr. Turner was born in Virginia on October 15, 1855 or 1856. He learned of the Faith from Edward and Lua Getsinger who had visited Mrs. Hearst in California.

Italy

In response to an invitation from the city of Milan, the Bahá’í community of Italy presented a series of six lectures on the Faith during January and February. The title of the series was “The Bahá’í Faith: A New Religion or a Proposal for the Solutions of the Problems of Today?”

Continental Counsellor Leo Niederreiter presented a lecture on “The Bahá’í Faith and Science” to an audience of approximately 200. Another presentation by a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Italy described Bahá’í solutions to present-day social and moral problems.

Other lectures in the series outlined the Faith’s history and its relationship to the religions of the Orient and to politics.

The National Spiritual Assembly of Italy reports that the presentations have produced excellent results and constitute an important step in the achievement of the National Assembly’s goal of making “a special effort to foster cordial relations with leaders of thought and authorities.”

[Page 13]

Caroline Islands

Richard Benson, a Continental Counsellor for Australasia who has been pioneering in that part of the world for 15 years, was unanimously confirmed January 19 as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Counsellor Benson’s appointment was reported on the front page of The National Union, the official publication of the Federated States of Micronesia.

“With the addition of Judge Benson,” states the article, “we can rest assured that our first Supreme Court will be nobly manned, will serve us well and do honour to the name of justice.”

Counsellor Benson has expressed his intention to stay on the high court only until a qualified Micronesian can take his place. He pledged to help develop and train Micronesian citizens for future judicial leadership.

The front-page article on Judge Benson’s appointment concludes: “His conduct on the bench, his scholarship, his integrity and his overall professionalism are regarded as beyond reproach ... the nominee’s personal character, too, is unassailable—he being described by one witness as a ‘gentleman in the truest sense of the word.’ ”

Zimbabwe

The Hand of the Cause of God John Robarts was present March 22 for the dedication of the new local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds at Templeton Ranch, Mtoroshanga, Zimbabwe.

Funds for this Bahá’í Center were raised by the women of Templeton Ranch Compound who baked small cakes and sold them to workers at a nearby mine. The building, which is large enough to accommodate up to 50 people, was built by four Bahá’í men.

The dedication ceremony included the reading of prayers, a brief address by Mr. Robarts, and singing. The Spiritual Assembly of Templeton Ranch was presented with gifts from the Continental Board of Counsellors, the National Spiritual Assembly of Zimbabwe, visiting believers from Zambia, and the Rose Garden Bahá’í community near Salisbury. One gift for the new Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, a rendering of the Greatest Name, arrived by air from the United States.

The program was followed by the serving of food that had been prepared in large iron kettles placed on open fires.

The Hand of the Cause of God John Robarts (left) and a group of local believers participate in the dedication of the new Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Templeton Ranch, Zimbabwe, on March 22. The thatched-roof structure was built by four Bahá’í men and can accommodate up to 50 people. Funds for the building were raised by local Bahá’í women who baked and sold small cakes.

Chile

A total of 56 adults, four youth and 19 children declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh last September during a trip by three traveling teachers to Arica and 10 other communities in the northernmost sector of Chile.

The settling of a pioneer in the goal city of Arica, Chile, has made it possible for traveling teachers to reach these remote communities. During the teaching trip last September, five communities were opened to the Faith while new enrollments and deepening sessions were reported in the other communities visited.

“It was a trip that was beautiful in every respect,” wrote one of the Bahá’ís. “The Aymara are people who have had access to education. Almost all know how to read and write, and they accept the Faith with their hearts as well as with their minds.”

Central African Republic

Auxiliary Board member Albert Lincoln and five members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Central African Republic were received by the nation’s president and his ministers during a New Year’s reception for all religious groups at the presidential palace.

A Bahá’í prayer for unity was read, and the president shook hands with each of the six believers.

[Page 14]

Hawaii

Delegates to the Bahá’í National Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 24-26, gathered for this group photograph. All 57 delegates voted in the election of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands.

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands elected at the National Convention in April are (left to right) Tony Pelle, vice-chairman; Tracy Hamilton, chairman; Elizabeth Hollinger, secretary; S. Pattabi Raman; Duane Troxel; Elizabeth Habermann, recorder; Brad Hollinger, treasurer; Craig Quick, and Gary Morrison.

Germany

An illustrated full-page article expressing sorrow and indignation at the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran appeared January 3 in “Die Welt,” a German newspaper with a circulation of more than 350,000.

The writer, Harald Vocke, who clearly has a great love for Iran and its culture, describes Edward Granville Browne’s fascination with the early history of the Faith.

In his article Mr. Vocke speaks of the burning love for God that impelled the martyrs of that age to welcome death in His path and shows how this self-sacrificing spirit lives again in the Bahá’ís of the present day.

The article concludes: “It would be easy for the Bahá’ís of Persia to leave the path of love and tolerance ... But they are ready to die for their Faith. Their plight affects us directly.

“The credibility of western democracy in the Persia of the future will depend upon our sympathy for these guiltless victims ... When will Europe finally understand the cry of the persecuted Bahá’ís?”

Australia

The Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone (second from left in front row) and the seven Counsellors who comprise the recently-appointed Continental Board of Counsellors for Australasia posed for this group photograph during their inaugural meeting in January at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Sydney, Australia. They are (front row left to right) Ben Ayala, Mr. Featherstone, Tinai Hancock, Lisiata Maka, and (back row left to right) Suhayl ‘Ala’í, Dr. Peter Khan, Richard Benson, and Owen Battrick.

[Page 15]

Canada

Canada’s National Teaching Committee reports a recent breakthrough in ethnic teaching that coincides with the increased persecution of believers in Iran.

A recent teaching project in Vancouver, British Columbia, resulted in the enrollment of 15 Sikhs originally from India and a member of the Doukhobor minority that immigrated from Russia to Canada.

Thirteen Vietnamese people entered the Faith in Nanaimo, British Columbia. A Laotian family helped strengthen a Spiritual Assembly in Newfoundland.

In Saskatoon, the Bahá’í community held a supper for 30 Vietnamese refugees. The speaker was a Vietnamese believer from Regina, Saskatchewan, who explained the Faith with a teaching book. Nine Vietnamese then declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

Five Vietnamese entered the Faith in January in Sannich, British Columbia. Winnipeg and Niagara-on-the-Lake have also reported new Southeast Asian believers who entered Canada through refugee sponsorship programs.

__________

The Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá visited Bahá’í communities in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, last November. Three hundred believers gathered in Vancouver, British Columbia, to hear the Hand of the Cause speak about the importance of developing a personal teaching plan. He also described the “victories which come with self-discipline.”

While in Vancouver, Dr. Varqá spoke to Bahá’í youth at a special meeting arranged for them. He told the youth that their role can be a crucial one in the development of the Cause in pioneering, teaching and child education.

The Hand of the Cause addressed a group of 50 believers from distant locations who gathered in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Dr. Varqá spoke to another audience of 100 believers in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on November 7.

The Canadian Bahá’í community now has recognition as a sponsoring body for refugees. Local Assemblies have been briefed on the sponsorship program that is now in its start-up phase.

__________

The Canadian International Development Agency has made a funding grant to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada to support the work of Radio Bahá’í in Otavalo, Ecuador. This is the first time that C.I.D.A. funds have been granted for a Bahá’í project.

Radio Bahá’í, opened in 1975 and located in the center of the indigenous Quechua area of Ecuador, is owned and operated by the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador.

Thailand

Jamshed K. Fozdar, a Bahá’í author from Sri Lanka (left), presents a copy of his book, Buddha Maitrya-Amitabha Has Appeared, to His Excellency Dr. Thanat Khoman, deputy prime minister of Thailand, during their meeting last February in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Khoman has known of the Faith for many years, having spoken at a Bahá’í-sponsored World Religion Day observance in the early 1950s when he was Thailand’s foreign minister.

El Salvador

Two hundred-fifty people from 30 localities in El Salvador and from neighboring Costa Rica and Guatemala attended a summer school held last December 30-January 4 at the Polytechnical Institute in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.

Auxiliary Board member Rodrigo Tomás conducted classes on The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, The Reality of Man, and soul, mind and spirit.

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of El Salvador and its National Teaching Committee presented additional subjects including the Seven Year Plan, prayer and fasting, and the Bahá’í education of children.

The five-day school schedule also included music, recreation and a talent show. At the conclusion of the summer school, ten participants including one entire family declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

[Page 16]

Papua New Guinea

Deepening institutes were held last November and December in three provinces of Papua New Guinea.

Participants at the deepening institute in Lae made the two-day journey from Kimbe to Lae via ship. Sessions at the two-day meeting, organized by the Spiritual Assemblies of Lae and Talasea, were conducted on progressive revelation, Bahá’í history, the Spiritual Assembly, and Bahá’í laws.

Residents of 15 villages attended the institute held November 14-16 in Sogeri in the central province of Papua. They made teaching and consolidation plans and discussed typical village problems.

Two members of the Auxiliary Board participated in the institute held December 20-21 in Popondetta that was attended by approximately 20 believers from 10 villages. It was the first deepening institute ever held in that area. One participant who has been a Bahá’í for seven years said that he had never, until then, really understood the Faith.

Similar deepening institutes are being planned in Papua New Guinea.

Greece

This group of Greek Bahá’í youth and their non-Bahá’í guests participated in the second youth winter school in Patra, Greece, during the last week of December 1980. Auxiliary Board member Harold Bogie was one of the participants.

Malawi

Eighty people in four goal districts of Malawi embraced the Faith in January through the efforts of two traveling teachers from Europe and a local Bahá’í.

During their latest two-week visit to Malawi, the Bahá’ís from Italy and Germany met with district commissioners and school headmasters.

A new believer in Mchinji, Malawi, told the traveling teachers that he had been praying for years to find the Faith. Another new Bahá’í asked why the visitors had not brought the Message of Bahá’u’lláh earlier.

The Netherlands

Four hundred-fifty believers including more than 120 children and youth participated in the Dutch winter school at Oost-Kapelle on the North Sea coast last December 27-January 3.

Betty Reed, a Continental Counsellor for Europe, spoke on the topics: “Why and how should we teach?”, “What is deepening?” and “Bahá’í youth, the hope for the future.”

Children’s classes were held for 10 age groups between 3 and 12 years of age with 90 children participating in classes prepared by the Children’s Teaching Committee. Thirty youngsters between the ages of 12 and 15 had their own program as did the 40 youth between the ages of 15 and 18.

Classes for children and youth are an outstanding element of Bahá’í schools in The Netherlands and have inspired the holding of regular classes throughout the country during the year. Two dedicated Bahá’í school committees insure that schools act as a catalyst in the Dutch Bahá’í community.

[Page 17]

India

The Message of Bahá’u’lláh was taken to 95 communities throughout the State of Punjab, India, during a two and one-half month traveling teaching trip by Salisa Kermani of Poona, India. Mrs. Kermani began her travels last November 10.

Mrs. Kermani’s fluency in Hindi made possible many contacts with women and village residents who cannot otherwise communicate directly with traveling teachers. She spoke at dozens of schools and colleges.

After she had spent 15 days in Jammu, Kashmir, the friends there would not let Mrs. Kermani depart. They even changed the date of her departure ticket. That same day, reported Mrs. Kermani, “we were able to establish two Local Spiritual Assemblies and another group was able to establish yet one more Local Spiritual Assembly ... so three Assemblies were established.”

Mrs. Kermani addressed an audience of 200 people in Firozpur, Punjab, on the border of India and Pakistan. Later, following her participation in a prayer meeting in a Hindu temple, Mrs. Kermani was invited to speak about the Faith at a secondary girl’s school with an enrollment of 600. Following that talk, the principal of the school declared her belief in Bahá’u’lláh and joined Mrs. Kermani for traveling teaching.

__________

An important recent development in the five-year-old New Era High School Rural Development Project at Panchgani, India, has been the recognition of Bahá’í morality classes by district education authorities.

The development project in Krishna Valley, some 2,500 feet below the Bahá’í-operated New Era High School, has concentrated on raising living standards through education of villagers and training in agriculture, livestock raising, family health, nutrition, and welfare.

Bahá’í classes are held for 250 children in the Chikhi School. In another school in Dhawli Village, continuous classes are held for all of the 50 students. In both schools children know Bahá’í prayers and something of the history of the Faith and Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. A direct outcome of the moral education program has been the acceptance of the Faith by 80 per cent of the residents of this village, one of the poorest in the valley. The Rural Development Project’s new focus is to create a model community in this predominantly Bahá’í village with the Spiritual Assembly channeling spiritual, economic and social programs. The emphasis will be on fostering the basic socio-economic unit—the family. Youth leadership training will be an important consideration.

Progress on the ancillary building of the Mother Temple of the Indian sub-continent at New Delhi can be seen in this photograph taken January 15. Reinforcement of the walls and the scaffolding for the roof slab are visible.

Bahá’í assistance to rural industry is the aim of the New Era Institute of Rural Technology that opened training classes in February 1980 at Panchgani, India, on land made available by the New Era High School.

The area to be served by the new Institute, located 65 miles northwest of Poona, India, near a town of 50,000, takes in 100 villages with an average population of 1,000 per village.

The Institute provides short, intensive courses in various skills offered on a “learning-while-earning” basis; technical assistance to local residents setting up small industries; and information from publications on similar work being carried out elsewhere. The Institute has a staff of three.

Nigeria

Thirty-six believers from Oyo, Benin, Ewara and Lagos states in Nigeria participated in a Naw-Rúz celebration in Ife, Nigeria, that culminated with a regional teaching conference March 22 at Ife University.

Auxiliary Board member Kiser Barnes presented some ideas on ways to teach women. Jeff Gruber, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Nigeria, presented a summary of the three-year second phase of the Seven Year Plan during which the friends enthusiastically applauded the announcement of each of the goals.

Two regional newspapers described the Bahá’í Naw-Rúz observance. Radio Oyo broadcast “happy new year” wishes to the Bahá’ís several times on Naw-Rúz.

Conference participants attended a Naw-Rúz luncheon at the university. Later, they traveled to the nearby village of Oluwada to help clear the land around that community’s Bahá’í Center.

Colombia

Four thousand, seven hundred-nineteen people in six areas of Colombia declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh in January.

The 10-day teaching effort was directed by the National Spiritual Assembly of Colombia and involved 60 believers who worked actively to achieve the impressive result.

[Page 18] Some Answered Questions: New Cloth and Paper Editions!

A cherished collection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s utterances
described by Shoghi Effendi as “priceless explanations”
of such topics as the Manifestations of God,
Christian doctrines, and fundamental aspects
of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Cloth. Catalog no. 106-037-10. $11.00
Paper. Catalog no. 106-038-10. $ 4.00

Bahai Publishing Trust
523 Green Bay Road/Wilmette, IL 60091