The American Bahá’í/Volume 12/Issue 6/Text

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‘The real treasury of man is his knowledge.'—Baha’u'llah

dune 1981

American

an ahal

Among the honored guests at the 72nd National Baha'i Convention were (left to right) the Hand of the

Cause Hard of the Cau: Ala'i; and Charles Wolcott, a member

of God Shu'a‘u'llah

of the Universal Hot of Justice.

3 more martyrs in Iran

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 BAHA’I 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 BAHA'IS 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 BAHA’U’LLAH MAY 29 BESEECH

ING DIVINE PROTECTION BELEAGUERED FRIENDS IRAN.

Universal House of Justice May 4; 1981

72nd Convention launches second phase of Plan

Nearly 1,700 Baha'is from across the country gathered April 30-May 3 at the 72nd National Convention to elect the National Spiritual Assembly, celebrate the victories of the opening phase of the Seven Year Plan, and launch the threeyear second phase of the Plan with a heightened realization that “together we grow.”

The Convention was blessed by the presence and participation of two of the Hands of the Cause of

God, Shu‘a‘u'llah Ala’i and Zikrullah Khadem, and of Charles Wolcott, a member of the Universal House of Justice.

OTHER GUESTS at the Convention included Counsellor Velma Sherrill; Chester Lee, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong; four members of the newly elected National Spiritual Assembly of Bermuda; two former members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Laos, and Stephen

All: systems are ‘go’ for first Continental Youth Conference

Several thousand Baha'i youth from Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, Mexico and the U.S. and their guests are expected to gather July 25 in Kansas City, Missouri, for the first Continental Baha'i Youth Conference ever held in North America.

The historic conference, sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly and planned by its National Youth Committee, will feature keynote addresses by Hands of the Cause of God, members of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas, and mem

What’s inside

WOMEN’S Mid-Decade Dialogue is held at the Louis Gregory Institute in South Carolina. Page 2

THE ANNUAL report of the National Treasurer's Office. Page 5

SEPTEMBER study session on The Promised Day Is Come to be sponsored by the National Education Committee. Page 9

NEARLY all statistical goals of the first phase of the Seven Year Plan are won. Page 11

THE SPIRITUAL Assembly of Phoenix, Arizona, celebratés its 50th anniversary. Page 14

TWO COMPLETE pages for Spanish-speaking believers. Pages 24 and 25 ©

bers of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA are addresses by and consultation among the youth themselves; a diverse program of entertainment; an art auction and jog-a-thon; a public concert and fireside featuring well known Baha’ entertainers; a cultural night (bring your native costumes); and a quality preschool program for children five years old and under coupled with parent-training workshops for youth and young adults on such subjects as the handicapped child; proper nutrition; spiritual mothering, and the role of the father.

A wide variety of workshops of special interest to young people

Please See YOUTH Page 28

Complete text of the National

Spiritual Assembly's annual report, Page 4.

Waite, principal of the Rabbani

Baha'i School in India.

The mood of buoyant optimism that pervaded the annual gathering was tempered by the disquieting news that three more members of the Persian Baha'i community had been executed in Shiraz even as members of the National Spiritual Assembly were holding a pre-Con vention press conference to focus the attention of U.S. news media on the campaign of persecution being carried out against the friends in the Cradle of the Faith.

The immediate result of this sobering news was a heightened resolve on the part of everyone present to win even greater victories for the Cause in the remaining years of the Seven Year Plan to help redeem the sacrifices of the beleaguered Baha'i community of Iran.

In its annual report to the Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly pointed to the successful completion of nearly every goal of the first two-year phase of the Plan.

The only statistical goal that remained to be won was the forma tion of 1,650 Local Spiritual Assemblies during the Ridvan period.

The National Teaching CommitPlease See RHYTHM Page 22

Funds set to aid India, Samoa Temples

CONTRACTS HOUSES WORSHIP SAMOA SATISFACTORILY PROGRESSING PRESAGING STEADY ADVANCE CONSTRUCTION WORK YEAR AHEAD. JOYFULLY ANNOUNCE OPENING IN HOLY

INDIA

BRANCE.

LAND TWO FUNDS ONE DEDICATED EACH TEMPLE. CALL ON FRIENDS EVERYWHERE OFFER CON.

TRIBUTIONS SUPPORT VITAL FUNDS ENSURE UNINTERRUPTED CONSTRUCTION TWO NOBLE EDIFICED DAWNING POINTS GOD’S REMEM The Universal House of Justice April 6, 1984

Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum speaks to 1,000 believers on visit to Virginia

The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Ruhiyyih Khanum spoke to about 1,000 believers April 11 in Falls Church, Virginia.

The “informal family meeting” was attended by Baha'is from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

$6 million budget is announced

At the 72nd Baha'i National Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly presented to the assembled delegates and guests its plans for a $6 million budget for the coming year.

Notable increases occur in the areas of teaching, proclamation, and fixed expenses. Inflation was cited as a major reason for the increase.

Contributions last year totaled $4.6 million. The new budget rep: reséfts a 30 per cent increase from last year’s level of giving.

The National Spiritual Assembly urges all Assemblies, Groups and individual buiievers to take this increase into consideration when planning future contributions to the National Fund.

THE HAND of the Cause was introduced to the audience by Dr. Dwight W. Allen, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly

She touched on a wide variety of topics prompted, she said, by her observations of Baha'is.

Among these were the purpose of the Administrative Order and its relation to teaching; the attitudes toward new “‘mass-taught”’ Baha'is; misconceptions about the nature of sacrifice, and a tendency among some believers to feel that being unbusinesslike and impractical is the same as being spiritual and detached; and the manifest evils of a materialistic civilization, as evidenced among American pio: neers

Ruhiyyih Khanum, who has been traveling almost constantly since leaving Haifa last June, was in the US. briefly on a personal visit when her appearance at George Mason High School in Falls Church

was arranged by the local Baha'i community.

The Hand of the Cause reminded the friends that Shoghi Effendi ‘said the purpose of the Administrative Order is to teach the Faith.

She observed that some Baha'is apparently consider administration not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself.

NOTING THAT some Baha'is do not regard people who embrace the Faith quickly as being Baha'is in the true sense of the word, she offered this response:

“It seems to me that if we are going to have people enter under the shadow of Baha'u'llah in this Dispensation, and if we are going to get on with the world order which is. based on something that is for society, then we have to have vast numbers of people become Baha'is.

Please See MEETING Page 2

"ea ana aD NMG MRO OR NE SAA NR ONS PONY OBE DIN TEER RSMAS ST ARE EA AS OR MEE RA NS RR EI

[Page 2]The American Baha’é

A Women's Mid-Decade Dialogue was held April 3-5 at the Louis G. Gregory Baha’ Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina.

The dialogue was a result of the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women and the parallel non-governmental forum held last

Meeting

Continued From Page 1

“They are going to have to become Bahalis...by just some kind of a ‘click’ that they think is right, and then we have to do the educating and the deepening.”

Speaking of the negative effects of materialism on American pioneers abroad, Ruhiyyih Khanum compared them to shellfish who have been stripped of their material “shell” and find themselves vulnerable to “what used to be reality.”

The trivial use of the telephone, she said, is an evidence of “one of the diseases of civilization. It's a terrible, terrible waste of time.”

A question-and-answer period followed her prepared remarks, after which Ruhiyyin Khanum visited briefly with children in the nursery.

Following her visit to the U.S., the Hand of the Cause traveled to Bermuda where she represented the Universal House of Justice at the convention at which the first National Spiritual Assembly of Bermuda was established.

She, and her traveling companion, Violette Nakhjavani, will visit a number of other countries before returning to Haifa in August or Sep: tember.

To redeem mankind

“Your aim is the redemption of mankind from its godlessness, its ignorance, its confusion and conflict. You will succeed, as those before you succeeded, by sacrifice to the Casue of God. The deeds and services required of you now, will shine in the future, even as those of your spiritual predecessors shine today and will forever shine in the annals of the Cause.” (Messages from the Universal House of Justice: 1968-1973, p. 56)

The American Baha’i (USPS 042-430)

Published monthly by the National Spiritual

‘Assombly of the Band's of the United States,

596 Sheridan oad, Wilmette, IL. 60091

Second class postage paid at Wilmott, IL

Editor: Jack Bowers

Associate Editor: David E. Ogron

The American Baha'i welcomes nows, letters and other items of interest from individuals and the various institutions of the Faith. Arti

cles should be written in a clear and concise manner; black and white glossy photos should’ be included whenever possible.

Ploase address all materials to The Editor, 1 @, IL 60091 Copyright ©1981 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A

July in Copenhagen, Denmark.

THAT CONFERENCE aroused so much interest among women in the U.S. that a number of national women's organizations decided to initiate plans for a follow-up dialogue in this country.

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 participants at the Copenhagen

Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue held at Gregory Institute in S. Carolina

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 ina number of cities in the U.S.—in large and small communities, both urban and rural.

Through its representative at the United Nations, Mrs. Nancy Mondschein, the National Spiritual Assembly made arrangements with Ms. Roshan Billimoria, coordinator of the Women's MidDecade Dialogue and a member of the YWCA's national board of di Please See WOMEN’S Page 6

assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, speaks {0 participants in the Women’s Mid:Decade Dialogue at

the Louis Gregory Institute in South Carolina about the role of women in eduction, employment and health.

3rd annual Corinne True Awards given :

Three Baha'i communities and 33. individuals who volunteered their time to serve at the Baha'i House of Worship during the past year received the third annual Corinne True Awards for Meritorious Service during a special program April 18 in Foundation Hall at the House of Worship.

Edna M. True, for whose mother the award is named, presented each of the recipients with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the House of Worship Activities Committee.

THE BAHA'I communities of Evanston, Rockford and Wilmette, Illinois, were honored for their help in providing guides at the Temple on a regular basis and for supplying volunteers to officiate at Baha'i weddings at the House of Worship.

This year, for the first time, children were among the recipients of the award.

Ten-year-old Kelsey Taylor of Glencoe, Illinois, was recognized for his volunteer work in the House

Twelve-year-old Laurie D’Andrade of Wilmette, Illinois, and 10-year-old Kel: sey Taylor of Glencoe, lilinois, are the first. children to receive the Corinne True Award for service at the Baha'i House of Worship. Laurie's award recognizes her guiding at the Temple and her participation in the House of Worship's choir, while Kelsey's award honors his service in the House of Worship Activities Office

Thirty-three individuals. and three Baha'i communities were honored April 18 with the third annual Corinne True Awards for Meritorious Service

«of Worship Activities Office, while

12-year-old Laurie ‘D’Andrade of Wilmette was honored for her participation in the Baha'i choir and for her frequent guiding at the Temple.

The first Corinne True Awards were presented in 1979 to 47 individuals chosen for their many contributions to the House of Worship over the years.

Last year’s awards were given to 29 individuals and two Baha'i communities.

The award ceremony this year included a presentation on the history of the Baha'i House of Worship by Bruce Whitmore, secretary of the House of Worship Activities Committee, and music by four students from Northwestern University in Evanston.

GWEN CLAYBORNE, a member of the House of Worship Activities Office staff, read a poem, "The Bell of the Temple,” that was written by an early believer. She was accom: panied by pianist Valerie Smith of Wilmette.

The Hand of the Cause of God Corinne True, in whose memory the award is given, was a guiding force behind the construction of the House of Worship during a 50-year period that began in 1903 with a re presented during a special program at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wil: mette. The awards were presented by Edna M. True (sixth from right). The

quest to ‘Abdu'l-Baha that the friends in the Chicago area be allowed to build the Temple and ended in 1953 with its public dedication.

Mrs. True, who died in 1961 at

award is named for Miss True’s mother, the Hand of the Cause of God Corinne Knight True.

the age of 99, served as financial secretary of the national executive board that oversaw the building's construction, and inspired great interest in the project through her worldwide correspondence.

Apart from its more businesslike aspects, the 72nd National Baha'i Convention was a great place to see old friends and make new ones—and to take a good close look at a friend's credentials, as this young guest is doing. This year's Convention was held at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wil metie and the McCormick Inn in Chicago

Teaching Fever Is CONTAGIOUS! — have YOU Caught the Fever Yet?

[Page 3]

LETTERS

dune 1981

Fast is a time to channel new energies to

To the Editor:

The fast is a time of spiritual renewal throughout the Baha’i world.

Prayer and fasting generate the recognition of our spiritual and physical dependency on the mercy of God in all things. It is a time when we become increasingly aware of the bounties and mercies bestowed upon us.

THE BAHA'IS of Beaumont, Texas, cannot cease wondering at the bounties made manifest during the past several months, the most recent being the arrival of Chester Lee, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong, on a visit to the U.S.

On March 12, Mr. Lee began a five-day stay in Beaumont. With his help we were able to make many of our goals a reality.

The Vietnamese Teaching Committee of Beaumont, whose formation had been delayed, is now functioning. Its first meeting was held Naw-Ruz evening.

With the help of Dr. David Morris, a Baha'i in Silsbee, Texas, Mr. Lee was able to meet with Dr. Nguyen Chau, executive director of the Beaumont-based refugee resettlement program, to discuss possible ways to help in the location of Baha'i refugees.

Mr. Lee's obvious dedication to the Cause and his rigorous schedule during the short time we shared together was a cause for reflection.

With countless thousands of refugees in camps around the world, with poverty and dangers present in almost every country, with disease, hunger and spiritual decay epidemic, how can we rest, even for a moment, knowing as we do that the only cure for these maladies lies in teaching the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

As we have just experienced the rejuvenating power of the fast, let us channel these new energies into. teaching the Cause.

We wish to express our deep ap preciation to all those who have aided our community through their time, efforts, patience and perseverance in their service to the Cause of God.

Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is

of Beaumont, Texas

To the Editor:

It seems to me that the American Baha'i community is at an impasse.

We have a multitude of books and pamphlets. We have Plans and plans for the Plans. We have

guidelines and mandates, by-laws and reports, all of which are meant to help us accomplish our goals.

Perhaps if we attended Feasts, consulted together, taught the Faith, raised our children, prayed and fasted with our hearts, we would be able to overcome the impasse.

After all, isn’t it our hearts wherein Baha'u'llah resides?

“O Son of Dust! All that is in heaven and earth | have ordained for thee, except the human heart, which | have made the habitation of My beauty and glory; yet thou didst give My home and dwelling to another than Me; and whenever the manifestation of My holiness sought His own abode, a stranger found He there, and, homeless, hastened unto the sanctuary of the Beloved. Notwithstanding | have concealed thy secret and desired not thy shame.” (Hidden Words, Persian, No. 27)

Nancy Yavrom, Citrus Heights, California

To the Editor:

We have watched with interest and appreciation as the letters to The American Baha’i have begun to stimulate discussion and provide a forum for valuable debate on issues that affect all Baha'is, and we submit the following suggestion in the spirit of frank and loving consultation.

Our community and our Assembly have viewed with some trepidation the seeming trend in the American Baha'i community toward exclusive, expensive dinners and other gatherings.

ALTHOUGH events of this nature Can be quite well done, are sometimes beneficial as fund-raisers, and often are fun and uplifting, we feel that moderation is needed in their frequency.

In Southern California alone during the past Baha'i year it has been possible to spend several hundred dollars just attending these gala affairs.

Most have not been fund-raisers, either, so the large sums of money that are spent leave the Baha'is, never to return.

~ Also, these events have the unfortunate side effect of excluding the less affluent members of the Baha'i community, especially when held so often.

We would like to suggest that consultation take place concerning alternatives to the proliferation of these events, and hope that this

The American Baha'i welcomes

letters to the editor on any subject of general interest. Letters should be as brief as possible, and are subject to editing for length and style. Please address letters to The Editor, The American Baha'i, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.

letter may serve as a springboard for the holding of more gatherings that better reflect the spirit of universality and economic justice that our Faith so beautifully up holds. Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’ of Newport Beach, California

To the Editor:

When Dr. Muhajir came to this country two years ago, he suggested several times that the American Baha'is were too “administratively-oriented.”

If the American Baha'i community is to become the cradle of the Baha'i administrative order, what can Dr. Muhdjir have meant?

IN MY EXPERIENCE as a

member of Local Spiritual Assem- _

blies and committees, | have repeatedly gained the impression that Baha'i administration has become a mental straitjacket.

When new and creative ideas are suggested, the first response is often to evaluate them in terms of the administrative guidelines, not in terms of whether the idea will contribute to advancing the Faith or solving a particular problem.

This strategy of discussing an idea only in terms of its conformance with current Baha'i guidelines seems to contradict the spirit of Shoghi Effendi’s admonition that “all these administrative activities ... are but means to an end, and should be regarded as direct instruments for the propagation of the Baha'i Faith.” (Principles of Baha'i Administration, p. 2)

In fact, it is my feeling that a fear of violating the guidelines actually stifles a great deal of creativity and

initiative in Baha'i individuals, Groups, Assemblies, and com: mittees.

Rather than stifling creativity, the administrative order should be “serving only as an instrument to facilitate the flow of the spirit of the Faith out into the world.” (Principles of Baha'i Administration, p. 2)

| think there are several reasons why we have become more con

Waukesha Baha

The Baha'i community of Waukesha, Wisconsin, recently presented its “Family of the Year” award to the William and Janet Nicholson family of Waukesha.

The Nicholsons, who have two children, were given a handsome plaque at a luncheon held March 21.

Nineteen families were nominated for the award by various civic organizations, churches and individuals in Waukesha County.

All the nominated families were

honored and presented with certificates of recognition at the luncheon, which was attended by 110 people—41 of whom were nonBaha'is.

The judges were Paul Vrakas, former mayor of Waukesha; Dr. Cornelius Houk, head of the department of religion at Carroll College in Waukesha; and Dr. Khalil Khavari, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who is a Baha'i.

Jim Beasley, a Baha’i who is bet 's give ‘Family of Year’ award

_ter known to the public as Jack

Lee, a radio announcer in the Milwaukee area, emceed the award program.

Jerry Johnson, a Baha'i from Shorewood, Wisconsin, provided a musical presentation that involved the audience in singing humorous songs he had written about families.

A special logo for the award and certificates was designed by Karen Washatko, a Baha'i from Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

cerned with the means than the ends.

FIRST, | HAVE noticed a tendency to think that there is only one best way to organize and accomplish Baha'i administration in all communities.

This idea violates the Baha'i principle of unity in diversity. Within the broad framework of the administrative order, different communities should be encouraged to be creative in developing new approaches. Uniformity is impractical and undesirable to achieve.

Second, in seeking to be obedient to the administrative order, we should not lapse into the tendency to always postpone taking any action until so directed by the appropriate administrative body, or to think that for every administrative problem there is one predetermined policy or procedure to solve it.

Rather, Baha'i administration is better viewed as a creative, dynamic, problem-solving process that is directed both by the basic Baha'i principles and by the situation at hand.

Taking a “cookbook” approach will result in administration that is sterile, rigid, unthinking and inefficient.

Finally, | believe there is frequent confusion about Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies.

the.’

Cause

‘THE WORD “guidelines” implies suggestions and guides, not laws, rules or regulations. Although a number of laws are included in the Guidelines, much of this publication consists of possible methods of improving various aspects of Baha'i communities.

Rather than being seen as the ‘only way or even the best way, many sections in the book should be interpreted as one way of solving a problem.

Baha'i administration should represent a dynamic balance between caution and audacity, tradition and innovation, individual initiative and administrative guidance, and continuity and change.

Administrative bodies should evaluate themselves first and foremost by the extent to which they “facilitate the flow of the spirit of the Faith out into the world.

Edward E. Bartlett Homewood, Atabama To the Editor:

We've noticed that on any Baha'i map of the U.S. there are vast bare spots between the larger cities where most Baha'is live.

We would like to suggest that many Baha'is would enjoy the bounties that come from homefront pioneering in the thousands of smaller towns across the country.

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[Page 4]NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The American Bahai

Annual report of the National Spiritual Assembly

The complete text of the annual report of the National Spiritual Assembly:

The turbulent events marking the year 137 thrust the American Baha'i community within reach of many victories as the first phase of the Seven Year Plan approached its end.

The immediate consequences of these events also brightened the prospects for success during the impending second phase of the Plan.

AT THE VERY CENTER of the consciousness of the community as it pursued its objectives was the ever-present impact of the continuing crisis in Iran.

The intensification of the cruel

hardships imposed upon our steadfast brethren in Iran, the sharp i crease in the number of those martyred, drove the American believers to depths of agony which through the alchemy of faith induced the spirit of courage and determination, reflected in the incalculable proclamation of the Faith through all forms of mass communications media and in the unprecedented support of the National Baha’ Fund. For the first time the Fund met its contributions goal for 10 consecutive Baha'i months, an achievement that warded off a material crisis that had become dangerously acute during the slump of the summer months.

While it would render the report too long to convey all the highlights of this unusual year, the following cannot go unnoted:

• The death of two of the Hands

of the Cause of God, A. Q. Faizi and Adelbert Mihischlegel, bringing to five the number of the “Chief Stewards of Bahd’u'llah’s embryonic

who have

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died during the first phase of the Plan, at once distressed and quickened the community.

These. irretrievable losses were to place a new value on the already inestimable services of the Hands of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem, John Robarts and William Sears as they continued their loving nurture of the community.

• THE WELCOME visits of

Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum imparted solace and excitement to the hearts of the believers who flocked to hear her in California during December and in the Washington, D.C., area during April.

• The changes in the Institution

of the Continental Boards of Counsellors which placed the United States community within the sphere of influence of the Board for all the Americas were to register their immediate positive effects when, in February, 10 members of the newly constituted 16-member Board of Counsellors came together with members of our National Spiritual Assembly for the inaugural consultations of these two senior Institutions.

• The holding on September 27

of a memorial service in the House of Worship for the seven martyrs of Yazd, supported by hundreds of simultaneous memorials throughout the country, aroused wide attention to the plight of the beloved friends in Iran. Attended by members of the general public, these events generated a flood of publicity, which became a hallmark of this year’s achievements.

• The Native American Council

held in Wilmette last July, the fruit of the collaboration of the Baha'i communities of Alaska, Canada and the United States that brought the representatives of more than 50 tribes together under the dome of the holiest Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, was so visually spectacular, so Spiritually dynamic, so procedurally unique as to inspire in the minds of those who experienced it the making of legends.

Nothing like this had ever happened before, and the immediate results in terms of the increased enrollments on Indian Reservations augured well for the eventual fulfillment of ‘Abdu'l-Baha’s hopes for the indigenous Americans.

The successful hosting by the Louis Gregory Institute, in cooperation with the United Nations Women's Mid-Decade Dialogue, of four distinguished women—a doctor from Colombia, a magistrate from Ghana, a Maori psychologist from New Zealand and an educational -planner from Sri Lanka—boosted the prestige of the Faith in the eyes of the United Nations and signalized the attainment of a new phase in the relationships of the South Carolina Baha'i community to significant organizations and important persons.

The Seven Year Plan

The signs of victory were abundant as the Ridvan Festival approached.

We did well in the international field. The goal calling for 76 pioneers was completed. The National

Spiritual Assembly of Bermuda was established this Ridvan and all other related goals were won.

THE FALKLAND Islands, to which four pioneers were sent, experienced some growth and the Strengthening visit of a traveling teacher.

Although no discernible progress was made in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the pioneer in Providenciales remained steadfast. ‘

The 1,914 applications for pioneering and the 779 for traveling teaching received by the Interna: tional Goals Committee, the 13 pioneering institutes attended by 468 persons were strong indications of the serious attention given to international pioneering by the American believers and also evinced the positive influence of the committee's prodigious efforts during the first phase of the Plan.

On the homefront, the statistical objectives seemed assured for the most part.

Already before Ridvan the g of raising the number of loc where Baha'is reside to 7,200.and of ensuring the adoption of extension teaching goals by at least 700 Local Assemblies were exceeded.

With the 1,495 Local Assemblies existing at Naw-Ruz and the existing 400 Groups of seven or more persons, the goal of achieving 1,650 Local Assemblies seemed perfectly attainable. *

THE TEACHING WORK among the minorities scaled new heights as the goal of 35 Local Assemblies on Indian Reservations seemed surpassable by the end of the year, as the number of Indian believers and the localities where they reside substantially increased, as the teaching work among the Spanishspeaking people brought remarkable results in California, New Mexico and Texas in particular.

An instance of this success was the enrollment of 1,200 in California’s Central District No. 1 in a period of just 12 weeks. The adoption of teaching projects along the border with Mexico produced gratifying results.

Success in the teaching of Southeast Asians in San Diego last summer seemed to send vibrations throughout the country that aroused a sleeping giant.

Thereafter, Southeast Asian believers were found to exist in a score of communities and the prospects for growth represented by the apparent readiness of many other Southeast Asians to enroll prompted the National Teaching Committee to appoint four regional teaching committees to concentrate on reaching the peoples from this background.

Though the communities in California, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York aimed at it they did not double their numbers?

The activities of the National Education Committee were a powerful stimulus to the efforts of the believers and local communities to “follow ever more faithfully the Baha’i way of life.”

Charles Wolcott, a member of the Universal House of Justice, paid a lov: ing tribute to Edna True during the

Through study tapes, the extension to 17 states of the Personal Transformation Program and the fostering of weekend conferences and institutes, the committee provided a variety of approaches to achieving this lofty objective.

THESE ACTIVITIES were appreciably complemented by the untiring efforts of the Auxiliary Board members in conducting conferences designed to stimulate the believers to deepen their commitment to the Covenant.

Furthermore, the actions of the Education Committee to provide child education resources to local communities were intensified, while a “curriculum guide” for child education neared completion.

‘A Baha'i Parent Program was introduced to the community, and a series of six “mini-courses” were developed to assist Assemblies to improve their functioning.

The youth were the object of the special attention of a reinforced National Youth Committee, which in addition to launching a national youth plan at the District Conventions and conducting seven regional conferences, laid the groundwork for the continental youth conference to be held in Kan‘sas City, Missouri, next July.

With the arrival last September of our new Public Affairs Officer, Parks Scott, the proclamation activities took on a new intensity.

In the wake of the crisis in Iran, press briefings were conducted by the National Secretary and Public Affairs Officer in a number of important ies, including Atlanta, Birmingham, Denver, New Orleans, Seattle, Washington, D.C.; in every instance extensive publicity resulted.

SIGNIFICANT outcomes of these briefings were nationwide broadcasts of interviews with the Secretary on National Public Radio and the ABC Radio network, and a half-hour worldwide broadcast on the Voice of America.

A number of other accomplishments through the Public Affairs Office were destined to have far-reaching effects: (1) In

72nd National Baha'i Convention in Chicago.

conjunction with Hill and Knowlton, our public relations counsel, the Public Affairs Office developed a multi-media slide presentation which employs the means of interviews with nine Baha’is to state the purposes of the Baha'i Faith and to portray the salutary influence of the Faith on the lives of people in different walks of life.

(2) “Fireside Playhouse,” a series of 13 half-hour radio dramas, was produced and offered to radio stations in March. Thus far 200 stations have asked to use the series.

(3) The second 13-part series of the “Jeff Reynolds Show” was completed.

(4) A press kit and a proclamation handbook were produced.

(5) A number of existing media committees throughout the country were reinforced or reactivated. Moreover, the Public Affairs Office collaborated with Prism Productions in holding a media conference in San Fernando, Calit nia, last January. An outcome of the conference was the formation of a group to produce media materials.

Our publishing activities took on a new verve with the appointment last August of John Bustard as General Manager of the Publishing Trust.

THE TRUST’S many productions this year include a new edition of Some Answered Questions, a new compilation of letters from the Universal House of Justice on the Continental Boards of Counsellors, and a reprint of the first 12 volumes of The Baha’i World.

A seminar for authors of children's literature sponsored by the Trust last September stimulated the production of new children’s materials.

The Secret in the Garden, a children’s title, won an Angel Award from Religion in Media, a non-profit organization that promotes religion in media programming. The children’s album Come and Sing was also nominated for the Angel Award.

Concerning the periodicals,

Please See ANNUAL Page 23

[Page 5]

THE FUNDS

dune 1981

To the Delegates Gathered at the 1981 National Baha'i Convention Dear Baha'i Friends:

The fiscal year 1980-81 has been a year of challenges and victories for the National Fund.

For the first time in 20 years we surpassed our annual contributions goal, and the number of believers contributing directly to the Fund nearly doubled.

THESE VICTORIES are due in part to the spirit of sacrifice released within the American Baha'i community by the heroic example of the martyrs of Iran.

In spite of the progress we made in many areas this year, the National Fund is currently in a position of severe cash shortage.

This unfavorable cash position comes at a time when the needs of the Cause make it necessary to call for the greatest contributions goal increase in our history.

Therefore, the coming year will present an even greater challenge than we faced last year, and will require an increased spirit of devotion and sacrifice if the American Baha'i community is to regain a position of financial strength.

The year ahead will bring us to the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf. During this time, the Office of the Treasurer will relate episodes from the life of Bahiyyih Khdénum so that we can learn more about the attributes she manifested and strive to emulate her many examples of love and self-sacrifice.

It is to her that we dedicate our efforts during the coming year as we renew this promise made by a sorrow-stricken Guardian after her passing:

“we pledge ourselves, before the mercy-seat of thy glorious Father, to hand on ...to generations yet unborn, the glory of that tradition of which thou hast been its most brilliant exemplar.”

With loving Baha'i greetings,

National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States

PARTICIPATION

The average number of individual believers contributing directly to the National Fund increased sharply this year, making a jump of 26 per cent over last year.

A total of about 2,850 individuals now contribute each month. The growth in participation in giving to the National Fund for the first twoyear phase of the Seven Year Plan almost matched the participation increase for the entire Five Year Plan.

Neonat tana Fund rl Barsepaten (Cerny nara

+ Ree

72°73 74 75 76 7 78 79 "80 '81

The monthly average of Assemblies contributing to the National Fund increased slightly from 680 last year to 685 this year.

Participation figures for Local Assemblies have remained about the same for the past six years. Next year, National Treasurer's Representatives will meet with Local Assemblies 'in an effort to increase their participation.

atone! tab Ford —tasety Parton rn mon

CONTRIBUTIONS ” ” ” ” *

There was a substantial increase in contributions to the National Fund this year. For the first time since 1960 the annual contributions goal was surpassed.

This year's goal was $4.25 million. A total of $4.6 million was received, an increase of 27 per cent

above the contributions of $3.6 million last year.

Contributions from individuals grew from $1.83 million last year to $2.6 million—an increase of 44 per cent.

Contributions from Assemblies and Groups were up 16 per cent, from $1.77 million to $2 million.

7 8 Tee

REVENUE ND EX EXPENSES

Total revenue from contributions, estate bequests and other sources is estimated at $5 million. This was the amount budgeted at the beginning of the year.

Although estates and other income fell short of anticipated levels, contributions over the annual goal made up for the shortfall.

Expenses were also budgeted at $5 million. About $5.15 million was spent.

The balance between revenue and expenses resulted in an estimated deficit of $150,000—or about 3 per cent of the total budget.

The National Spiritual Assembly decided that in future years the annual budget will be met through contributions alone, with estates and other income being set aside for capital projects.

ational Bah Fund. Rarvene ans Expantes

73

7% 77 78 79 8% 81

Many believers found the coupons distributed last November “In Memory of the Martyrs ...” to be a helpful reminder to contribute regularly to the National Fund.

The National Spiritual Assembly is now providing a special packet of National Fund envelopes for use throughout the coming year that will serve the same purpose.

THE NEW MATERIALS will help the friends establish a regular pattern of giving, and will also expand the base of individual support for the National Fund—two fundamental areas upon which the strength of the Fund rests.

The packet contains 20 preaddressed envelopes with the names and dates of the Baha'i months. It is being provided for the convenience of the believers, and its use is left strictly to the dis

National Fund envelopes

The packets have been distributed to Local Assemblies and Groups to make them available to individual believers.

Isolated believers received a complimentary copy directly

available

through the mail.

If for any reason a community needs more packets, or an individual has not received one, please use the accompanying coupon to place an order.

ENVELOPE PACKET COUPON

Office of the Treasurer Bahá’i National Center Wilmette, IL 60091

C1 Please send me an envelope packet for my personal use during

the coming year.

O Please send

packets for the use of our Community.

Name (or Community): BahaiID#:__ Address: oe City/State: ZIP:

PLANNED GIVING

The Planned Giving Program has had continued success in its second year. More than 2,600 believers receive the quarterly newsletter, Guidelines to Planned Giving.

This program is designed to assist individuals who wish to make special gifts to the Fund of accumulated assets such as ‘stocks, real estate, life insurance, appreciated property, etc. Helpful information provided this year included ways to minimize income taxes and the importance of writing a will.

FUND EDUCATION ~

The major vehicles for Fund education include the monthly Treasurer’s letters, The American Baha'i, and the National Treasurer's Representative program. Materials available from NTRs include: Deepening programs:

• The Mystery of Sacrifice: an introduction to the topic of sacrifice.

• The Secret of Wealth: personal

resource management (family finance).

• The Surest Way: The Baha'i re

Challenges, victories highlight Treasurer’s report

sponse to materialism in America.

• Baha'i Treasurers’ Workshops:

the duties and functions of the local Treasurer.

Filmstrips and Tapes:

• A Call to Remembrance: an

inspiring account of the life and sufferings of Baha'u'llah.

• Rich Ones on Earth: a brief

sketch of the lives of the Hands of the Cause of God Martha Root and Amelia Collins.

• The Greatest Undertaking: a

stirring look at the construction of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.

• Material Man: an exploration of

the relationship between man’s material and spiritual natures.

• The Spirit of Sacrifice: an inspirational talk by Auxiliary Board

member Nat Rutstein.

Our newest special material, a pamphlet entitled “The Fund: An Orientation for New Believers,” is now part of the new believers’ welcoming packet.

Soon to be released is a twohour deepening program for the NTRs on the “Rhythm of Growth” and the Baha'i Fund.

The Baha'i community of Pomona, California, was given a ‘17th Year Plaque’ by fair officials at the opening of the Los Angeles County Fair held last September 26-October 12 in Pomona.

The plaque recognizes the 17 years in which the Baha'i booth has appeared

in building No. 7.at the fair. Last year’s fair set an all-time attendance record of more than 1,350,000. The Baha'is of Pomona sponsor the booth, helped by the 60 Baha'i Groups in Southern California District No. 1

Proper term for beneficiary

A number of believers have asked about the proper designation for naming the National Spiritual Assembly as a beneficiary in their wills.

To provide a bequest of real property for the use of the National Spiritual Assembly, describe the beneficiary in these terms:

“The Trustees of the National Baha'i Administrative Body Elected by the Baha'is of the

United States and Known as the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, whose headquarters are located in the Village of Wilmette, Cook County, Illinois.”

The National Spiritual Assembly would appreciate receiving a copy for its confidential files of all wills in which it is named a direct beneficiary.

Recipe for a very happy Naw-Ruz

Naw-Ruz was an especially joyous occasion for the Baha'i community of New Berlin, Wisconsin, this year.

Terri Byrne, a woman who has

five years, phoned the chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of New Berlin that morning to request an enroliment card.

Writes the Assembly: “What a

cretion of each Baha'i. : been investigating the Faith for way to end the fast!

[Page 6]

Continued From Page 2

rectors, to use the Louis Gregory Institute 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 a rural community.

WITH THE HELP and guidance of the Office of Public Affairs and the National Teaching Committee office, Dr. Alberta Deas, director of the Gregory Institute, made the necessary arrangements for the dialogue.

Dr. Deas contacted the local chapters of the National Council of Negro Women, who had expressed an interest in becoming involved in the dialogue, and together they planned the program for the upcoming event, concentrating on involving a large number of local women with a variety of backgrounds, levels of education, and cultures.

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

Mrs. Mondschein, representing the National Spiritual Assembly, acted 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 team was assigned to Phoenix, Arizona, and Dallas, Texas, while the other was to visit Sacramento, California; Atlanta, Georgia, and the Gregory Institute in Hemingway.

ON THEIR ARRIVAL April 3 in Florence, South Carolina, the international visitors were greeted at the airport by the mayor of the city, members of the National Council of Negro Women and its Florence Bethune Chapter, as well as by Dr. Deas and her assistant, Sharyn Mcintyre, representing the Gregory Institute.

Their arrival was covered by the local press, radio and television.

The women represented four countries:

• Donna Awatere is a Maori

psychologist and journalist from Auckland, New Zealand, who specializes in the problems of minority women and abused children and their families.

• Evelyn Amarteifio, a juvenile

court magistrate from Accra, Ghana, also serves as general secretary of the Ghana Association of Women and is a national YWCA board member.

• Vinitha Jayasinghe is director

of the Women’s Bureau she helped develop 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 Bo.

gota, Colombia, is a physician whose work with a women's family service agency and a preventive mental health program for women have won.her much acclaim in her country.

THE FIRST EVENING of the dia: logue featured a special southern style dinner for the four guests.

Others present included Dr. Magdalene M. Carney, assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly; Mrs. Mondschein; Dr. Deas and her assistant; and Ms. Elham Jazab, representing the Baha’i Office of Public Affairs.

After the dinner the four women were escorted to a reception in their honor, and met with Baha'is in the surrounding area.

The dialogue began in earnest Saturday at the homes of four local women—two in Florence, one in Kingstree, and one in Hemingway.

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” dialogues gave the international visitors a more intimate. view of the lives of the women in that area, and gave the dialogue participants an opportunity to benefit from cross-cultural experiences, gain a deeper appreciation of their own area, 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 dialogue covered topics from juvenile delinquency to abused children to mental health care for women, along with the more tra

Dr. Alberta Deas ministrator of the Louis G.. Gregory Baha'i Institute, welcomes guests and

(center), ad Women’s Mid-Decade Dialogue held

ditional problems of child care, education, health and. employment.

That evening, civic and community leaders from the area 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.

After the banquet, the local chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and its Florence Bethune chapter presented a program of entertainment that included local gospel choirs, singers, and jazz musicians performing for the more than 100 people who attended.

‘On Sunday, the four women, accompanied by Dr. Carney, Dr. Deas, Mrs. Mondschein, and some of the local participants, flew to Washington, D.C., to meet with other local coordinators of the five dialogue communities for a program assessment and a closing workshop.

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

They also requested that their UNIU.S. representative write to the Baha'is 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.”

explains the purpose of the Women's Mid-Decade Dialogue that was held April 3-5 at the Institute.

Statement is corrected

The editors apologize for an error in the following statement on Page 23 of the April 1981 issue of The American Baha'i: “In June 1973 the Universal House of Justice created the International Teaching Centre, located in Haifa, with a membership that includes the members of the House of Justice, the Hands of the Cause of

God residing in the Holy Land, and three Counsellors, one of whom is Mr. Dunbar.”

All of the Hands of the Cause of God are members of the International Teaching Centre, whereas the members of the Universal House of Justice are not. We regret the error.

Participants from overseas in the Women's Mid:Decade Dialogue held April 3-5 at the Louis Gregory Baha'i Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina, were (left to right) Evelyn Amarteitio, a juvenile court magis trate from Accra, Ghana; Donna Awa

tere, a community psychologist and counselor with the New Zealand Department of Education in Auckland; Vinitha Jayasinghe, director of the Women’s Bureau in Colombo, Sri Lan ka; and Luz-Helena Sanchez, a physi cian from Bogota, Colombia

Tablecloth great

‘ice-breaker’

at Skokie, Illinois, firesides

People who attend community firesides im Skokie, Illinois, for the first time can be absolutely certain they are making a lasting impression.

That's because they sign the tablecloth.

“It’s a great ice-breaker,” says Jene Bellows who hosts the Friday evening firesides in her home.

GUESTS ARE ushered into the den where they are given a special needlepoint drawing pen and asked to sign anywhere on the linen tablecloth

The surprising invitation, coupled with the display of many other signatures, always starts a lively conversation, says Mrs. Bellows.

It also helps the first-time guests feel more relaxed and at home.

Mrs. Bellows or one of the other believers later makes each new signature more permanent by embroidering it over with colored thread.

The tablecloth that Mrs. Bellows started using for autographs in 1977 now displays the names of many new believers, as well as those/of Marguerite Sears, wife of the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears; one former member of the National Spiritual Assembly, and members in recent years of the National Teaching Committee.

Although the community firesides in Skokie are well attended and have seen several declarations in past months, Mrs. Bellows does not ascribe their success to the tablecloth.

“The real secret of having a successful fireside,” she says, “lies in projecting a feeling of warmth and love.”

Community members help carry out the firesides by providing refreshments and staying afterward to help clean up.

“Without that kind of loving help and cooperation,” says Mrs. Bellows, “no fireside would be a success, no matter how many tablecloths we had.”

Mrs. Jene Bellows with the autographed tablecloth that has added

spice to community ftiresides in Skokie, Illinois.

[a Sg SSS SSS SSS SESS

[Page 7]YOUTH NEWS

dune 1981

Workshops planned as part of Youth Conference

“Going to Kanses City... Kangas City, Here We Come!”

One of the more interesting features being developed for the Continental Youth Conference in Kansas City is a series of workshops on a variety of topics of special interest to Baha'i youth.

Four workshop sessions will be held during the conference and attendees will have a choice of 24 workshop subjects from which to choose.

Among presented:

• “Developing Effective Communication Skills” (by Dr. Allan

Ward of Little Rock, Arkansas).

• “Teaching All Strata of Society” (by Charles and Sandi Bullock

of Henderson, North Carolina, and Fereydoun Jalali of Fort Valley, Georgia).

‘Baha'i Scholarship” (by Saeid Khadevian of Los Angeles, California).

• “Pioneering” (by Douglas and

Dana Allen of Brighton, Massachusetts).

• “Career Planning” (by Robert

Kim-Farley of San Francisco, California),

the subjects to be

Many workshops will be presented by panels of Baha'is who have been asked to present subjects of importance to youth.

Included are panel discussions on “District Youth Committees,” “Developing Creative Talent and Ability,” “Travel Teaching,” and “Youth—An Example to Society.”

In addition, many of the national committees are preparing workshops that are related to their particular mandates.

The National Education Committee is planning a series on parenting, and the Race Unity Committee will hold a workshop on prejudice.

The Office of Persian Affairs is planning a session for Persian Baha'i youth on adapting to the American culture.

The National Youth Committee has planned special firesides to be held during the workshop sessions

so that the seekers attending the conference will have an opportunity to present their questions about the Faith.

The firesides are to be conducted by three Baha'i youth: Paul Khavari of Bayside, Wisconsin; Marcelle LaVine of Kansas City, and Dan Haghighi of Rocky River, Ohio.

The National Youth Committee is planning to hold an art show and sale at the Continental Youth Conference.

Artists and collectors are encouraged to bring their works to the conference where a display and silent auction of the items will be held.

Proceeds from the sale will be donated to the National Baha'i Fund. All items for sale should be submitted with a minimum price.

Friday night is Cultural Night at the Youth Conference. Everyone is encouraged to bring his native costume to wear to this event.

It is expected that, with the diversity of youth registering for the conference, this evening program will be a true rose-garden of cultural and national backgrounds!

Don't forget to submit your entry in the National Youth Committee's essay contest that is being held in conjunction with the Youth Conference.

Details were given in the May issue of The American

Guidelines revised, youth club growth accelerates

All around the country, the Baha'i youth are beginning to form local youth clubs.

What is a local youth club?

At the onset of the Five Year Plan, the National Spiritual Assembly called for the formation of such clubs “specifically designed to provide youth with a peer group of social support (that would) reinforce the orientation of youth to the Baha'i way of life ...”

Several years later, the success of this effort can readily be seen in areas where functioning clubs have been developed and maintained under the loving guidance of Local Spiritual Assemblies.

The Baha'i National Youth Com. mittee has recently revised the guidelines for these local youth clubs and is presently engaged in a

On January 10, a group of Baha’i youth and pre-youth gave a half-hour presentation on the Faith on a local television station in Colorado Springs, Colorado. An explanation of pro

gressive revelation and an informal panel discussion were sandwiched around a 30-second TV spot on the ‘unity of mankind.’ Shown here (left to

tight) are Monir Khanjani, Erik Fallahi, Lyn Brayton, Dawn Ellen Dotson, An dishe Samandari, Camille Brayton, Shannon Johnson, Jordon Johnson, Nalys Samandari, Roya Bauman. One ‘of the young men who videotaped the show (entitled ‘Involvement’) was interested in the Faith and later attend: ed a fireside.

campaign to establish as many clubs as possible across the U.S.

“These clubs provide a positive peer group for Baha'i youth in the local community ... a haven of support and a refuge from the decadent society in which they are daily immersed,” says Charles Cornwell, secretary of the National Youth Committee.

“By developing a strong support for applying the Teachings of the Faith and building positive spiritual habits,” he adds, “these clubs are also attracting non-Baha’i youth to the Cause.”

The National Youth Committee, says Mr. Cornwell, “is eager to assist in the formation of these clubs and would love to hear from those Spiritual Assemblies that are willing to sponsor such a club in their area.”

If you would like to help form a local youth club in your area, please write to the National Youth Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Pacific youth meeting postponed for a year

The Greater Pacific Baha'i Youth Conference, which was to have been held in Suva, Fiji, in August 1981, has been postponed until August 1982.

The conference was postponed to give the various National Spiritual Assemblies, especially in the Pacific, and Youth Committees more time to budget and to send representatives, and also to allow more time for the planning of auxiliary teaching conferences and local teaching projects so that the friends from other areas can obtain maximum benefit from their visit to the islands.

Baha'i ... and for those of you who missed them:

• the theme of the contest is

“The Force of the New Age.”

• the deadline for receipt of entries is June 15.

• entries should not exceed 750

words and should be sent to the National Youth Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

• all entries will be judged in

The Radisson-Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, site of the first

three categories based on the ages of contestants: 10-14, 15-18, and 19-21 years.

Prizes are a $50 scholarship to a Baha'i school (first prize), a $30 scholarship (second prize), and a $20 scholarship (third prize).

Prizes will be awarded in each age category, and winners will be announced at the Continental Youth Conference.

ALY,

Fee aed

Continental Baha'i Youth Conference.

Mr. Khadem to be at Conference

The Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem will be one of the featured speakers at the Continental Baha'i Youth Conference July 2-5 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Other conference highlights will include a special Sunday morning presentation by members of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas.

Members of the U.S. National

Spiritual Assembly also are scheduled to speak during the conference along with youth representatives of the Alaskan,

Canadian and Mexican Baha'i communities. The programs will include

keynote speakers from the United States Baha'i youth community, and a special presentation by the Race Unity Committee.

\outtn Hotline.

Youth Committee redesigns, renames monthly news bulletin to U.S. youth

The National Youth Committee has redesigned its monthly news bulletin that is sent to all registered Baha'i youth in the U.S.

The new bulletin has been renamed “Youth Hotline.” It is published by the Youth Committee to keep youth up-to-date on activities in the U.S. youth community.

“We've found the bulletin to be an effective tool for communicating and sharing ideas,” says Dawn Haghighi, a member of the Na tional Youth Committee. “We expect that the new format will be even more appealing to yout!

While the “Youth Hotline” is aimed primarily at Baha'i youth, the National Youth Committee i happy to send it to other Baha'is (both pre-youth and post-youth) as well as to Spiritual Assemblies.

Requests for copies should be directed to the National Youth Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

The committee also welcomes ideas for articles, and is especially interested in receiving sketches, drawings and cartoons for reproduction in the bulletin

National Center has new number

The National Spiritual Assembly wishes to remind the friends that the new telephone number for the Baha’i National Center and Baha'i House of Worship is 312-869-9039. Please address correspondence to the Baha’i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

[Page 8]

EDUCATION |

The American Bahai

The second annual Spanish weekend—“La Comuni de Dios, La Comunidad Baha'i" —was. held April 4-5 at the Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine.

All classes and programs were presented in Spanish. Participants represented such countries as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the U.S.

THE CLASSES were “The Role of the Faith in Our Daily Lives” (given by Gustavo Correa); “Life After Death” (by Susan Nossa); “The Education of Children” (by Jorge

Alabama Summer Institute

Dates: August 7-9.

Location: Montevallo University, Montevallo, Alabama.

Contact: Mrs. Joyce Kendall,

_ _ Huntsville, AL 35803; 205-723-2560. Arizona

Dates: July 26-August 1.

Location: Arizona Church Conference Center, Prescott, Arizona.

Registrar: Ms. Pamela Hawley, a - ____, Glendale, AZ 95301; 602-931-1305.

Bosch (California)

Dates: June 20-September 10 (12 sessions).

Location: John and Louise Bosch Baha'i School, 500 Comstock Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.

Registrar: Mrs. Jeremy Phillips, 500 Comstock Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; 408-423-3387.

Southern California

Dates: August 28-September 1.

Theme: Centers of Baha'i Inspiration.

Location: Pilgrim Pines Camp, Yucaipa, California.

RegiStrar: Gerald Healy,

Encinitas, CA 92024; 714-436-9914. Colorado East

Dates: July 5-July 11.

Theme: Dawnbreaking 138 8.€.

Location:Quaker Ridge Camp, Woodland Park, Colorado.

Registrar: Donald Brayton, P.O. Box 1033, Woodland Park, CO 80863; 303-687-3351. (Registration deadline: June 15.)

Conifer Hill (Colorado)

Dates: July 6-15, July 24-30, August 7-13 (work/study); July 17-23 (family camp); July 31-August 6 (children’s camp).

Theme: Redeeming the Sacrifices of the Martyrs.

Location: 12 miles west of Lyons, Colorado, on Colorado Highway 7 and four miles back into the mountains.

Registrar: Mrs. Josephine Fleming, ; Evergreen, CO 80439; 303-674-4344. Florida South

Dates: July 27-August 2.

Theme: Baha'i—Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

Location: Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Nossa), and “Unity in Diversity” (by Susan Maranon).

An evening program on Baha'i teaching experiences was led by pioneers to Central and South America. Also presented was a slide program in Spanish, “Meditation on the Manifestation of God.””

Many people, including Green Acre staff members, said they had never before experienced such a ‘spirit at the school.

The results of the weekend were inspiring. Two people—Miguel Castro from Puerto Rico and Jose Esquivel of Costa Rica—declared

Education Commitiee’s list of Baha’i Summer Schools

Registrar: Richard Evertz, Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida; 305-772-2936.

Theme: The Peerless Day.

Location: Peru State University, Peru, Nebraska.

Registrar: Dave Clark, [ . Omaha, NE 68123; 402-291-0275.

Green Acre (Maine)

D. june 27-September 7.

Theme: “Programs That Will Guide and Reinforce the Efforts of the Friends in the Path of Service.”

Location: Green Acre Baha'i School, Eliot, Maine.

Registrar: Green Acre Baha'i School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903; 207-439-0019.

Green Lake Conference (Wisconsin) Dates: September 18-20. Location: American Baptist Assembly, Green Lake, Wisconsin. Registrar: American Baptist Assembly, Green Lake, WI 54941; 414-294-3323.

Idaho

Dates: June 17-21.

Location: Camp Sawtooth, Sun Valley, Idaho.

Contact: Max Newlin, Massacre Rocks State Park, American Falls, 1D 83211; 208-548-2677.

Kentucky

Dates: July 9-12.

Theme: Preparing for the New Era.

Location: Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky. Registrar: Dean Rector,

Morehead, KY 40351; 606-784-4354.

Louhelen (Michigan)

Dates: May 23-25; June 3-6.

Theme: Life Styles in the Baha'i Community; The Spiritual Destiny of America.

Location: Lansing School District, Environmental Education Center, Wayland, Michigan.

Registrar: Mary Bukowski,

- New Baltimore, MI 48047; 313-725-0846.

Minnesota Dates: July 26-August 1.

Please See SCHOOLS Page 9

Second annual Spanish weekend held at Green Acre Baha’i School in Maine

their belief in Baha'u'llah, while the Nossa family made known their plans to pioneer to Colombia.

It was announced during the sessions that a “World Unity Festival” would be held at Green Acre during the July 4th weekend.

Inspired by the success of recent teaching efforts in California, plans were formulated to teach Spanish-speaking people in the New England area in the hope of greatly increasing their numbers there.

The first project was held April 25-26 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Chitdten enjoy outdoor recreation during the second annual ‘Spanish

Weekend’ April 4-5 at the Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine.

Committee appointments important to Local Spiritual Assembly’s progress

This is the fourth in a series of articles on the development of Local Spiritual Assemblies prepared by the National Education Committee. This month's topic is the appointment of local committees.

1. Why is it necessary for Local Spiritual Assemblies to appoint committees?

The Guardian, in referring to the many duties of Local Assemblies, wrote, “In whatsoever locality the Cause has sufficiently expanded, and in order to insure efficiency and avoid confusion, each of these manifold functions will have to be referred to a special Committee, re‘sponsible to that Assembly, elected by it from among the friends in that locality, and upon whose work the Assembly will have to exercise constant and general supervision.” (Baha'i Administration, p. 39)

2. Is there a general guideline Assemblies might wish to follow when appointing committees?

“Assemblies are inclined to make committee appointments on the basis of personality or on an individual’s willingness to accept responsibility; both are important considerations but insufficient to guarantee the successful performance of the task. ... in assigning tasks to be completed, we should take advantage of whatever Knowledge and experience are present in the community. If knowledge and experience are lacking, training will be necessary.” (The Development of Local Spiritual Assemblies, p. 210)

3. Are Assembly members exempt from serving on local committees?

Shoghi Effendi writes, “Those who are best fitted for the specific work assigned to the committees should be elected, irrespective of their membership on either national or local Assemblies.” (Principles of Baha'i Administration, p. 50)

4. Can youth be appointed to committees?

The Guardian, through his secretary, stated, “...there is no reason why they (youth) should not serve the Cause on various com:

oat a

mittees as all committees, national or local, are subordinate to Assemblies and their members are not elected but appointed, and appointed by Assemblies. We have many devoted and talented young believers who can be of great assistance to the Cause even though not yet legally of age.” (Baha'i News No. 74, p. 1)

5. Is it permissible for a local committee to appoint a subcommittee under its jurisdiction and guidance?

The Guardian has written, “The local Spiritual Assembly cannot delegate to any one of the local committees the authority to exercise any control or supervision over any other committee or body which it has itself appointed. All local committees are directly and solely responsible to the local Assembly which alone can exercise the power of supervision over them.” (Principles of Baha'i Administra

tion, p. 51) 6. Should committees be reappointed each year?

The Universal House of Justice has written, “As regards the appointment of committees on a yearly basis, we refer to the Guardian’s instructions on page 141 of Baha'i Administration that ‘...the renewal, the membership, and functions... should be reconsidered separately each year by the incoming National ASsembly. ...’ Individuals appointed to commit: tees should identify themselves with functions and objectives which normally extend beyond the term of their appointment. Just as members of the National Assembly relate themselves to goals of the ... Plan, members of Local Assemblies and committees should do likewise, so that a single dynamic spirit may animate the important work for which each Assembly or committee is responsible.” (From a letter dated January 23, 1967, to a National Spiritual Assembly)

(Additional information on the appointment of local committees can be found in Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies and The Development of Local Spiritual Assemblies, available through the Baha'i Publishing Trust.)

Believers participate in science fair

The Baha'i community of the unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, participated with 70 other local organizations in supporting the 22nd annual Northwestern New Mexico Regional Science and Engineering Fair held March 21 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The fair attracted 350 high school and junior high school entrants who won $40,000 in awards and prizes.

The Baha'is, using the criterion of “the harmony of science and religion,” recognized two students, a teacher, and a high schoo! science department with certificates and cash awards totaling $125.

In addition, each winner received a letter of congratulations from the Spiritual Assembly of Bernalillo County.

Not only were the Faith and its award criterion mentioned on the award certificates and in the congratulatory letters, they were also mentioned at the awards ceremony, printed in the official science fair booklet, and reported in the local newspaper's front page article about the fair.

The Fund Is the Life-Blood of the Faith 112 Linden Avenue, ‘Wilmette, 1L 60091

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[Page 9]

EDUCATION

dune 1981

‘Promised Day Is Come’ focus of study session

The Promised Day Is Come is to be the focus of a September study session that is scheduled for distribution in early August to Spiritual Assemblies and Groups of five or more.

This is the fourth in a continuing series of national study programs prepared by the National Education Committee.

THE PROMISED DAY Is Come was written in 1941 by Shoghi Effendi as a long letter addressed to the Baha'is of the West and was subsequently published in book form.

In it, thé Guardian reveals in forceful and stirring language the meaning of the turmoil and suffer_ing of the present age.

“A tempest,” he proclaims, “unprecedented in its violence ...is at present sweeping the face of the earth.” (The Promised Day Is Come, Baha'i Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, 1980, p. 111)

He characterizes the ordeals afflicting the world as ‘a judgment of God pronounced against the peoples of the earth, who, for a century, have refused to recognize the One Whose advent had been promised by all religions ...”

The Guardian also shows in clear and reassuring terms how the present difficulties are “not only a retributory and destructive fire, but a disciplinary and creative process, whose aim is the salvation, through unification, of the entire planet.”

In studying The Promised Day Is Come, it can be seen how Baha'u'llah issued both a sum: mons and a warning to the kings and rulers of the age.

THE GUARDIAN shows how

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their heedlessness, and in some cases their utter contempt, for the Message of Baha'u'llah has contributed to present world conditions.

Shoghi Effendi characterizes several of these kings and rulers, and quotes from Baha’u'llah’s Tablets to them to show the consequences they suffered because they did not respond to His divine call.

However dark and difficult the times ahead may become, there is comfort and confidence to be drawn from the Guardian’s firm assurance that “God's purpose is none other than to usher in...the

Great, the Golden Age of a long-divided, long-afflicted humanity.’

The believers are also assured that the World Order of Baha'u'llah that they are laboring so diligently to advance “will serve as a pattern and a nucleus of that world commonwealth which is the sure, the inevitable destiny of the peoples and nations of the earth.”

The National Education Committee encourages the friends individually to read and study The Promised Day Is Come during the summer so that they can become familiar with the material before it is studied and discussed by communities across the country this

Vocabulary quiz is prepared to help study ‘Promised Day’

The National Education Committee has prepared the following vocabulary quiz to help the friends become farhiliar with some of the more challenging words used in The Promised Day Is Come.

Simply choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the word in the question. Correct answers are shown on Page 26 along with the actual sentences in which the Guardian used each word. Good luck!

VOCABULARY QUIZ

1. Chastisement. (a) baptism; (b) punishment; (c) forgiveness; (d) purity

“2. Unregenerate. (a) decaying; (b) spiritually unchanged; (c) reborn; (@) unafraid

3. Retributory. (a) part of a cas: tle; (b) punishing; (c) river; (d) vibration

4. Extirpate. (a) exterminate; (b) waste; (c) assist; (d) mention

5. Respited. (a) hated; (b) punish:

ed; (c) reprieved; (d) abandoned

6. Ecclesiastical. (a) mystical; (b) spiritual; (c) pertaining to the church; (d) antagonistic

7. Recipients. (a) beggars; (b) exalted ones; (c) visionaries; (d) receivers

8. Admonitions. (a) visitations; (b) proverbs; (c) reprimands; (d) peasants

9. Expatiated. (a) fatigued; (b) erased; (c) made complicated; (d) elaborated

10. Preeminent. (a) supreme; (b) futuristic; (c) previous; (d) dignified

11. Precepts. (a) surgical tools; (b) premonitions; (c) principles; (d) visions

12. Proscribed. (a) outlawed; (b) encircled; (c) written; (d) medicinal

13. Conflagration. (a) crowd; (b) arrangement; (c) fire; (d) extension

14. Potentates. (a) enriches; (b) rulers; (c) wizards; (d) energizes

15. Mitigation. (a) alleviation; (b) accusation; (c) appeal; (d) anger

fall.

It is hoped that this study session may inspire an unprecedented level of individual and group deepening, as the friends strive together to understand more clearly the problems that beset them in these difficult and distracting times.

A THOROUGH study of The Promised Day Is Come can help each believer to see the world more clearly and to better appreciate the task that Baha'u'llah has set before him.

With this understanding in his heart and Baha’u'lldn’s blessing on his efforts, each Baha'i will be able

to discharge more effectively his duty as described by the Guardian in the concluding paragraph of The Promised Day Is Come:

“Ours rather the duty, however confused the scene, however dismal the present outlook, however circumscribed the resources we dispose of, to labor serenely, confidently and unremittingly to lend our share of assistance, in whichever way circumstances may enable us, to the operation of the forces which as marshaled and directed by Baha'u'llah, are leading humanity out of the valley of misery and shame to the loftiest summits of power and glory.”

Schools

Continued From Page &

Theme: Building the Baha'i Community—Drawing Upon Each Other's Strengths.

Location: Frontenac Methodist Bible Camp, Frontenac, Minnesota.

Contact: Ron Hick,

Minneapolis, MN 55406; _

Montana Dates: July 19-25. Theme: The Seven Year Plan, a Blueprint for Growth and Strength. Location: Billings Lion's Club Camp, Red Lodge, Montana. Registrar: Diana Virostko, P.O.

Box 4754, Helena, MT 59601; 406-443-1061. New York

Dates: August 8-16.

Theme: The — Dawn breakers—Past and Present. Location: Oakwood School,

Poughkeepsie, New York. Registrar: Ronald Tomanio,

Children’s classes booming east of Seattle

For the past two years regular classes for children up to 15 years of age have been held for com: munities in the area of Bellevue, Washington, under the auspices of the Eastside Children’s Committee.

The classes, with eight teachers and a present enrollment of 40 children, serve nearly 20 Baha’i communities immediately east of Seattle.

THE EASTSIDE Children’s Committee was established in March 1979. At that time it was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Bellevue. In September 1980 the sponsorship was assumed by the Spiritual Assembly of Kirkland, Washington.

The. five-member committee received training from a National Education Committee representative, and classes were begun in September 1979.

The two-hour sessions are held every other week in six adjoining classrooms at Bellevue Community College.

Each school “term” lasts for two months or more, with breaks plan ned during the interim periods.

A Parent Association Committee was formed, also in September 1980, by parents who were interested in educating themselves while the children were attending classes.

Forty children up to age 15 frommnear ly 20 Baha'i communities east of Seattle, Washington, attend regular children’s classes under the auspices of the Eastside Children's Committee,

These sessions are devoted to topics relevant to Baha'i life, parenting, and child rearing. Today, professional guests are often invited to help explore vital areas of interest to parents.

formed two years ago by the Spiritual Assembly of Bellevue and sponsored since September 1980 by the Spiritual Assembly of Kirkland.

», Beacon, NY 12508; | I North Carolina Dates: July 12-18. Theme: Bringing to Birth a World Whose Splendor Will Outshine Our

Brightest Visions, Our Highest Hopes. Location: Pembroke State

University, Pembroke, North Carolina. Registrar: Celeste Hicks, _ _ » NC 28110; 704-289-6274.

Oregon West Dates: July 9:12. Theme: In His Holy Presence. Registrar: James Smith, 1077 Gilbert Drive, Lebanon, OR 97355.

Texas Dates: August 1-7 (tentative). Location: Bridgeport Conference Center, Bridgeport, Texas. For information: James Collins, Duncanville, TX 75116; 214-296-4214.

Washington East ates: July 12-18 (for youth ages 12-24); August 23-29, Theme: From Gnats to Eagles; Lifetime of Service. ‘ Location: Camp Delaney, Washington (youth camp); Camp Wooten, Umatila National Forest, Washingtot Registrar: Fred Laws, P.O. Box 249, Wapato, WA 98951; 208-843-2035.

Washington West

Dates: May 23-25 (adults only, 18 and over); August 9-14.

Location: Fort Worden, Washington (adult session); Seabeck, Washington.

Registrar: Cynthia Walcott,

Sumner, WA

» 93930; 206-863-8403.

Wisconsin

Dates: July 6-10.

Theme: Living Sacrifice.

Location: Camp Byron, Brownsville, Wisconsin. ‘

Registrar: Or. Darius Shahrokh,

Fond du

Lac, WI 54935; 414-921-3434.

PLEASE NOTE: All Summer Schools are required to check the Baha'i credentials of Persians seeking to attend. The Persian friends are urged to cooperate by making doubly sure they have a current Baha'i identification card with them when registering at a school.

[Page 10]

TEACHING

The American Baha'i

Hong Kong visitor boosts Asian teaching effort

Chester Lee, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong, was in the U.S. on a business trip in March and April and visited Southeast Asian believers in a number of Baha'i communities at the request of the National Teaching Committee.

His cross-country trip included visits to New York City; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Houston, Dallas, Beaumont, Orange and Lufkin, Texas; San Diego and Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.

HE ALSO VISITED the Baha'i communities in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.

Mr. Lee, a Chinese who was born in Vietnam, has pioneered to Cambodia and Laos.

He served on the first Spiritual Assembly of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and spent 18 months in pris‘on in that country for being a Baha'i. In Laos he was a member of the National Spiritual Assembly.

“When 1 was on the plane en route to the United States,” says Mr. Lee, “I was thinking that | had many things to say to the Indochinese people here.

“Later, however, | found that | had more to tell the Anglo believers.” ~

As arule, he says, Asians do not investigate something out of sim:

CHESTER LEE

ple curiosity:

“They don’t investigate the Faith as Western people do for two reasons. First, there are no good books in the West in their languages that would attract them; and second, there is no language in the West that they can fully understand.

“SO WE MUST reach them by ‘visual’ means rather than by ‘aural.’ Living the Baha'i life is what will attract Asians to the Faith.”

Mr. Lee stresses the importance of unity as a means of attracting the hearts of the Southeast Asians.

Many of the non-Baha’is from that area whom he encountered in the U.S., he says, noticed that the American believers were very close to him, and were surprised to learn that Mr. Lee hadn't met them before.

“This attracted them to the Faith very much,” he says.

If Southeast Asians aren't reached with the Message of Baha'u'llah, he predicts, they may be drawn toward criminal elements.

“They have seen cruelty and barbarism,” he says, “and cannot be as sweet as people who haven't had such experiences. They need someone to show them sweetness.”

So far, he observes, none of the refugees from Southeast Asia, even those with material means, have a feeling of belonging.

“THEY DO NOT have an atmosphere to make them feel comfortable here,” says Mr. Lee. “This is a barrier. Language is another barrier, as is climate. That is why it is so necessary to show them genuine warmth and friendship.”

Mr. Lee says he noticed that some non-Baha'i Vietnamese immigrants become easily angered, something that seldom happened in Vietnam.

During his visit some Southeast Asians told him of the many difficulties they have experienced as refugees, and confided that the inhuman cruelties they had witnessed before arriving in the U.S. had greatly reduced the value they now place on their own lives.

“Some may commit crimes,” he says, “because they do not consider their lives of value due to their negative experiences as refugees.

Mr. Lee advises the friends to

Error in April editorial is noted

The editors wish to correct an error in the editorial, “A new phase of the Divine Plan,” on Page 2 of the April 1981 issue.

Paragraph three reads: “The Seven Year Plan on which we are embarked is the tenth and final part of the divinely propelled process that began 6,000 years ago at the dawn of the Adamic Cycle.”

Actually, the Seven Year Plan is only a part of the tenth and final phase of the process. The ninth part ended with the completion of the Ten Year Crusade in 1963 and the tenth part, Shoghi Effendi wrote, will witness the penetration of the light of God's Revelation, “in the course of numerous

» crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of Baha’u'llah’s Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the light of God’s triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet.” (Messages to the Baha’i World, 1950-1957, p.

155—Revised edition, 1971)

Chester Lee (at right in front row), chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong, attended a picnic in March with American and

use special care and patience in dealing with Cambodians, as they have suffered much more than many refugees from other countries. )

He says he told the Asians, Baha'is and non-Baha’is, not to think about whether they will be able to return to their countries in two or three years.

“Don't feel you've lost your home,” he said to them. “This is also your home. If you had been born in America, your home would be here. The most important thing is to be happy.”

HE SUGGESTS that American believers be natural and not overly solicitous to Asian guests who their homes. Asians notice when Americans act this way, he says, and feel embarrassed and uncomfortable in such an unnatural situation.

Green Acre sets conference on Baha’i marriage

The Green Acre Baha'i School in. Eliot, Maine, will present a special institute July 6-10 entitled “Concepts of Baha'i Marriage.”

The institute, to be conducted by William L.H. Roberts, will include presentations by a number of people on various topics designed to Provoke thought, stimulate discussions, and encourage study of marriage.

Mr. Roberts is a Clinical psychologist whose practice in South Hadley Massachusetts, includes family and group psychotherapy.

This institute will be held separately from regular Green Acre classes. It is open to 15 to 30 people who must be able to attend the entire session.

Participants need not be married. Advance registration is required.

Vietnamese Baha'is and their guests in Beaumont, Texas, Mr. Lee, who was in the U.S. on business, visited

Southeast Asians also notice when Americans are teaching other Americans, he says, and this helps attract them to the Faith. ‘our duty is to live a Baha'i life,” he says, “and to teach actively among your own people whether there are Vietnamese coming over or not.”

One way in which to involve Asian believers in their new community, he says, is to ask them to share their talents and skills by taking responsibility for some aspect of the community work.

“In Asia,” says Mr. Lee, “we try to increase a believer's activity in the community by asking him or

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Southeast Asian Bahd'is in several communities at the request of the Na: tional Teaching Committee.

her in a loving way to take responsibility for a task that can easily be done.”

The friends in the U.S., he says, shouldn't feel that they can't teach Asians because they don’t know them.

“You can only know them through Bahá’u'lláh,” he says, “and through His Teachings. This is what gave me the courage to come to the U.S. People call it “travel-teaching,’ but | call myself a “travel-learnet

“Make Asians your closest friends,” says Mr. Lee. “There is no reason why an American cannot teach an Asian.”

[Page 11]TEACHING

dune 1981

Friends arise in effort to win goals of Plan’s opening phase

Baha'is throughout the U.S. have

arisen once again in an effort to _

achieve the goals placed before the American Baha'i community by the Universal House of Justice for the first phase of the Seven Year Plan.

Day by day, as the closing moments of the two-year phase approached, a new spirit of dedication and service seemed to per meate the community, as the National Teaching Committee office was flooded with calls of teaching success.

THE FIRST of these victories came last summer with the formation of the Spiritual Assembly of ; the Lummi Indian Reservation in

U.S.-Mexico border teaching in Ojinaga, Mexico, resulted in 30 declarations in a five-day period last De: ‘ember. Since that time 25 other resi dents of Ojinaga. which is about 230

Washington state. Occurring shortly after the sec: ond North American Baha'i Native Council last July in Wilmette, and aided by the efforts of the “Trail of Light” teaching team, the formation of that Assembly brought the number of Assemblies on Indian Reservations in the U.S. to 35.

With several additional formations since, the goal of 35 has not only been accomplished but surpassed.

Naw-Rdz, the Baha'i new year and the beginning of spring, marked the completion of the next goal.

It was during that time that St. Joseph,” Missouri, reported the adoption of Savannah as its goal,

miles southeast of El Paso, Texas,

have declared their belief in Baha'u'llah, and the first Spiritual ‘Assembly of Ojinaga was formed in February.

thus increasing the number of Assemblies with extension teaching goals to 700.

That number continues to increase as Local Spiritual Assemblies throughout the country sys: tematically work to carry on the further expansion of the Cause to all parts of the continental U.S.

THE COUNTDOWN to April 20 continued as the National Teaching Committee office received more phone calls and letters reporting victories and the outstanding goals neared completion.

The localities goal was the next to be won. For several days the number of localities where Baha'is reside fluctuated near the goal of 7,200, keeping everyone in suspense.

Finally, on April 16—five days before Ridvan—the number rose above 7,200 to stay. As of the end of April, the number of localities open to the Faith in the U.S. was 7,233.

The remaining goal to be met was to increase the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies to 1,650.

Early projections showed the Assembly goal to be well within reach. There were more than 400 Groups of seven or more (200 of which had nine or more adults) with the potential to form an Assembly. Of these, 199 did form Assemblies at Ridvan.

Adding this to the figure of 1,496 Assemblies that were in existence prior to April 20 indicated a potential total of 1,695—a clear victory. But in the final tally, 90 Assemblies were lost, leaving a total of 1,605.

A positive point to be realized, however, is the substantial number of new and restored Assemblies formed between Ridvan 1980 and 1981 (241).

It was through the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly and its committees; the encouragement, inspiration and loving assistance of the Continental Board of Counsellors, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants; and the leadership and direction of Local Spiritual Assemblies, that the the Baha'is arose, individually and collectively, to secure those goals that were accomplished.

Border Teaching Conference held in Mexico

Ninety-three Baha'is from the U.S. and Mexico participated April 45 in a Border Teaching Conference in Juarez, Mexico, that was sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas and its Auxiliary Boards.

Among those present were Counsellor Fred Schechter and Auxiliary Board members Ernest Bruss and Nancy Phillips from the U.S. and Lucia Haley and Arturo Serrano from Mexico.

THE TWO-DAY gathering was arranged by the Spiritual Assembly of El Paso, Texas, and had as its

theme “New Vistas of Cooperation: A Conference to Ignite New Believers and to Re-animate the Old.”

The significance of the conference was underscored by the recent restructuring of zones for the Continental Boards of Counsellors by the Universal House of Justice.

The new and wider area of jurisdiction for Counsellors in the Americas brought together Auxiliary Board members and their assistants from both the U.S. and Mexico.

The bi-lingual border conference

included workshops in English and Spanish on the use of prayer during tests and difficulties, and on building greater cooperation in border teaching activities:

Spanish-speaking participants included believers from Phoenix, Arizona, and from Mexico.

One new believer from Ojinaga, Mexico, was at the conference, representing his local community which formed its first Spiritual Assembly in February following teaching visits by Baha'is from the Southern New Mexico-West Texas District that began last December:

Members of the National Teaching Committee staff and Secretary Rose Lopez (standing) map last-minute

plans and coordinate strategy before the Ridvan elections. The staff worked

long and hard to help assure the successful completion of the teaching goals for the opening phase of the Seven Year Plan.

Shown are some of the Baha'is who participated in recent teaching and consolidation efforts in and around Harvey and Blue Island, Illinois. The

Illinois campaign a success

“Project Muhdjir,”a recent teaching effort in Harvey, Illinois, sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of Northern Illinois No. 2, raised the number of adult believers in that city from six to 16.

Two youth also became Baha'is during the campaign which was begun the weekend of February 68.

On March 1, a teaching/consolidation program at which more than 20 people were present including four of the new believers in Harvey

campaign was sponsored by the Teaching Committee of Northern Illinois District No. 2.

resulted in three declarations.

In early March, the teaching effort shifted to Blue Island (which had five adult Baha'is).

Five declarations (including one youth) were reported by mid-April in Blue Island along with one in nearby Markham.

Among those who participated in the teaching effort were Soo Fouts, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, and Charles Young, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board.

Fernando Huerta of San Gabriel California, began his duties in May staff coordinator of minority teachir at the National Tea

pioneered to” Bolivia during the Five Year Plan and served in that country as an Auxiliary Board member. He also has served on the Spiritual Assembly of San Gabriel.

[Page 12]IGC:

PIONEERING |

The American Bahá’{

12

World NEWS

Successful proclamation and teaching events were planned and carried out in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador during a recent visit to those Central American countries by the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum ...

At least 94 people were enrolled in the Faith during a teaching campaign last November and December in six Departments (Provinces) of Guatemala ...

The persecution of Baha'is in Iran has aroused the interest of many newsaper and magazine editors in The Netherlands. Since it has started using a more personal aproach to the press, the National Spiritual Assembly of The Netherlands notes that the media now respond more quickly, frequently and accurately to news of the Baha'i community ...

An illustrated full-page article expressing sorrow and indignation over the persecution of Baha'is in iran appeared January 3 in “Die Welt,” a newspaper in Germany whose circulation is more than 350,000 ...

More than 30 women from various parts of Bangladesh, India, Iran, Malaysia and Italy. attended the second Bangladesh National Baha'i Women's Conference held February -20-22 at the National Haziratu’l-Quds in Dacca...

Seventy Baha'is from the border areas of Guinea, Liberia and the Ivory Coast met last December 25-28 in Danané, Ivory Coast, for a border teaching conference ...

Test broadcasts from the recently completed building designed to house the facilities for “Radio Baha’i of Lake Titicaca” near Puno, Peru, were expected to begin during Ridvan. The building is generally similar in appearance to those planned for other locations in the western hemisphere ...

The deputy prime minister of Swaziland and that country’s UN Development Program representative were guest speakers last December 10 at a Human Rights Day observance at the Baha'i National Center in Mbabane ..

More than 40 Baha'is including new indigenois believers from the isolated Diriomito goal area of Nicaragua and pioneers from Colombia, Iran and the U.S. attended a teaching institute last September in Diria, Nicaragua ...

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Pioneer goals set for Plan’s 2nd phase

Pioneer goals for the first year of the second phase of the Seven Year Plan, announced at the 72nd Baha'i National Convention, have been assigned to the entire world by the Universal House of Justice.

Since the list of goals does not include assignments for specific National Spiritual Assemblies, the Supreme Body is encouraging the friends everywhere to arise and fill the posts.

THE TOTAL number of goals specified is 279. Historically, the U.S. Baha'i community has always been privileged to assume a lion’s share of the task of sending pioneers to other countries.

This community has been able to send out almost 200 pioneers each year, although only ‘about one-fourth of them have filled specific goals given to our country.

Now we are gratefully witnessing the steady advancement and maturity of our world community as more and more countries are becoming strong enough to send out their own pioneers.

In these uncertain times, we do not know at what point any particular nation will be deterred from contributing to that steady stream of pioneers called for by the Universal House of Justice. 7

For this reason, the friends in the U.S. will no doubt arise speedily to maintain their primacy in the international field.

The International Goals Committee ardently hopes that the believers in this country will assume the responsibility for filling at least half of the goals assigned to the worldwide Baha'i community for the coming year.

THE BELOVED Guardian repeatedly praised the efforts of the pioneers, and constantly reminded the American Baha'i community of

its exalted station:

“What other community has produced pioneers combining to such a degree the essential qualities of audacity, of consecration, of tenacity, of self-renunciation, and unstinted devotion, that have prompted them to abandon their homes, and forsake their all, and scatter over the surface of the globe, and hoist in its uttermost corners the triumphant banner of Baha'u'llah?” (The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 7)

At another time, Shoghi Effendi wrote this:

“To the band of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, who have forsaken their homes, who have scattered far and wide, who have willingly sacrificed their comfort, their health and even their lives for the prosecution of this Plan ...1 myself, as well as the entire Baha'i world, owe a debt of gratitude that no one can measure or describe. To the sacrifices they have made, to the courage they have so consistently shown, to the fidelity they have so remarkably displayed, to the resourcefulness, the discipline, the constancy and devotion they have so abundantly demonstrated, future generations viewing the magnitude of their |abors in their proper perspective, will no doubt pay adequate tribute—a tribute no less ardent and well-deserved than the recognition extended by the present-day builders of the World Order of Baha'u'llah to the Dawn-breakers, whose shining deeds have signalized the birth of the Heroic Age of His Faith.” (Messages to America, p. 70)

There are only 10 months left in which to add our share of pioneers to the total of 279. Will one of those pioneers be you?

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONSOLIDATION PROJECT BELIZE August 1-31, 1981

Orientation: Belmopan

Language: English, except for one town, which uses Spanish Coordinator: National Teaching Committee of Belize

Pur

Minimum Stay: Two weeks

pose: To strengthen existing communities by teams going to six or seven different towns. Teams will be formed in Belize after their arrival

Cost: From Miami, $190 round trip; from New Orleans, $266 round trip

(plus food)

Information: Write to the International Goals Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039

Caribbewn

Sew

WORLD PIONEER GOALS

AFRICA

(P) Angola

(F) Benin

(E) Bophuthatswana (E) Botswana

(F) Burundi

(P) Cape Verde Is. (F) Chad

(F) Comoro Islands (F) Congo

(F) Djibouti

(Q) Equatorial Guinea (F) Gabon

(E) Gambia

(E) Ghana

(F) Guinea

(P) Guinea Bissau (E) Lesotho

(E) Liberia

(F) Madagascar

(E) Malawi

(F) Mali

(F) Mauritania

(A) (F) (S) Morocco (E) Namibia

(E) Sierra Leone

(F) Somalia . (E) So. & West Africa (A) (E) Sudan

(E) Tanzania

(F) Togo

(E) Transkei

(F) Tunisia

(E) Uganda

(F) Zaire

(E) Zambia

SaOANMEAAONONNNNSENNNNNNNYNNONNANNN

8x3

AMERICAS

(E) Barbados

(S) Bolivia

(8) Colombia

(S) Dominican Republic (F) French Antilles

(S) Guatemala

(F) Haiti

(E) Jamaica

(E) Leeward Islands:

(S) Paraguay

(S) Puerto Rico

(D) (F) Surinam/Fr. Guiana (E) Trinidad/Tobago

(S) Uruguay

ONADASNAGMANSAN

(8) Venezuela (B) Virgin Islands (E) Windward Islands

ASIA

(C) (E) Hong Kong (K) Korea

(E) (C) Macao

(E) Nepal

(E) Sikkim

(E) Sri Lanka

(E) (1) Thailand

AUSTRALASIA

(E) Cook Islands

(E) Fiji lsiands

(E) Kiribati

(F) Loyalty Islands

(E) Mariana Islands (F) Marquesas.s.

(E) Marshall Islands (F) New Caledonia

(E) Niue

(E) Palau

(E) Papua New Guinea (E) Samoa

(F) Society Islands

(E) Solomon Islands (E) Truk

(F) Tuamotu Archipelago (E) Tuvalu

(F) (E) Vanuatu

(E) Yap

EUROPE

(Gr) (E) Cyprus (Dn) Denmark (Fn) Finland

TOTAL PIONEERS

LANGUAGE KEY A-Arabic C-Chinese Dn-Danish D-Dutch E-English S-Spanish

F-French Fn-Finnish Gr-Greek K-Korean

T-Thai

P-Portuguese

BieGebok

lao asaonedeins4annano

279

The International Goals Committee National Baha'i Convention April

had this attractive booth at the 72nd

30-May 3.in Chicago.

[Page 13]IGC: PIONEERING

dune 1981

U.S. pioneers in Seven Year Plan who are still at posts number 347

resented as follows:

Alabama, 2; Arizona, 6; Colorado, 4; Connecticut, 2; Florida, 9; Georgia, 3; Idaho, 2; Indiana, 4; lowa, 7; Kansas, 2.

Kentucky, 2; Louisiana, 1; Maine, 4; Maryland, 10; Michigan, 9; Minnesota, 4; Missouri, 1; Montana, 2; Nevada, 3; New Hampshire, 3.

New Jersey, 1; New Mexico, 5; New York, 10; North Carolina, 12; North Dakota, 1; Ohio, 4; Oklahoma, 3; Oregon, 8; Pennsylvania, 3.

South Carolina, 9; South Dakota, 2; Utah, 4; Vermont, 2; Virginia, 10;

Pioneers from the U.S. who went to other lands during the first phase of the Seven Year Plan and were still at their posts at Ridvan numbered 347.

A map was prepared by the International Goals Committee for the 72nd Baha'i National Convention that showed the states from which these pioneers originated.

California led the field with 74 pioneers. Texas was next with 40, * Illinois had 30, and the relatively small state of Massachusetts was next with 16.

The rest of the states were rep

Washington, 12; Wisconsin, 11; District of Columbia, 3.

Only eight states were not represented internationally during the first phase of the Plan. They were Arkansas, Delaware, Mississippi, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Two pioneers went to Tanzania from Malaysia at the request of the International Goals Committee, two went to Uganda from Kenya, and another filled a U.S. goal from India.

Goals Committee staff members Judi Bryant (left) and Susie Simerly check the map showing the states from:

which Baha'i pioneers left the U.S. during the first phase of the Seven Year Plan.

Business travelers asked to write

The“tnternational Goals Committee is interested in hearing from individuals who travel internationally on business.

The committee is compiling a resource list of individuals who have an opportunity to travel overseas frequently, and asks these businessmen and women to send in this form: x;

FREQUENT TRIPS ABROAD Name Address none: tome 72 Work Sa eaee

Countries visited

Foreign languages spoken

Mail form to: International Goals Committee, Baha’i National Center, ‘Wilmette, IL 60091

INTERNATIONAL SUMMER TEACHING PROJECT

GUATEMALA July and August 1981

Where: The towns of Zacapa and Coban

What: Teaching and consolidation

Language: Spanish, but fluency is not absolutely necessary

Orientation: Guatemala City

‘Sponsors: The National Spiritual Assembly of Guatemala and the U.S. International Goals Committee

Information: Write to the International Goals Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039

OS een

Caribbean Sea

coLomeia

Baha’ is named Georgia’s top

_ social worker

Ken Jasnau, a Bahd’i from Milledgeville, Georgia, has been named Social Worker of the Year for 1981 by the Georgia state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Mr. Jasnau has been president of the Georgia Conference on Social Welfare, twice president of the Georgia Gerontology Society, and is immediate past president of the Georgia state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

He is also the elected representative to Delegate Assembly, the national governing body of the professional association, which meets in November in Philadelphia.

As district director for the Division of Family and Children Services of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Mr. Jasnau is responsible for supervising the delivery of human services in 14 counties in central Georgia.

Mr. Jasnau, who was enrolled in the Faith in April 1980 with his wife, Sandy, was recently appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly to serve on the new Georgia Baha'i Schools Committee.

ceeven0. ISLAKOS

KEN JASNAU

Soo Fouts (second from left), a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, participated in a recent teaching/consolidation effort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, with Baha'i youth and pre-youth (left to right) Randall Pleasant (age 15) of Little Rock, and Helen Danesh (13) and John Danesh (14) of Norman, Oklahoma, who rode a bus for 10 hours to reach Pine Bluff.

Baha'i Carib Indians of the Sandy Bay community on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent gathered to elect a dele gate to the convention that elected the first National Spiritual Assembly of

. re om the Windward Islands during Ridvan 1981. The photo was taken by Jeff Ramey, a traveling teacher from West Virginia.

Island of St. Vincent is seat of Windward Islands Assembly

By JEFF RAMEY

St. Vincent, a Caribbean island * ‘only 17 miles long, became the seat of the new National Spiritual Assembly of the Windward Islands during Ridvan 1981.

Seventeen years ago, St. Vincent first. received the Message of Baha'u'llah, Many hearts responded.

The task was great and the laborers few, but the work continued. The Faith has spread, and there are now 1,000 registered Baha'is on the island.

The Baha'is of St. Vincent recently purchased a site, Ness

Cottage, to be the seat of the new National Assembly.

St. Vincent is a lovely volcanic land that juts out of the Caribbean almost due west of Barbados. English is the only language spoken there, and the island itself gained its independence from Great Britain only two years ago.

The local people are black, peaceful, and quite friendly. They are open and receptive to teaching.

There is an urgent need for consolidation on St. Vincent, which is sometimes difficult due to poor transportation. There are many victories yet to be won there.

[Page 14]The American Baha’i

Personal

ee

Name: Carol Carrington

Community: West Hollywood, California

Occupation: Actress/comedienne

Background: As a child growing up in Toronto, Canada, Carol Carrington dreamed of becoming an actress. Some years later that dream came true in a most unusual way.

After expressing to a friend who worked at Toronto's Workshop Productions her desire to act, Miss Carrington was contacted, hired and given a leading role by a director who had heard her laughter one evening when she was in the audience and was impressed by it!

That role led to another in Chicago 7 Circus, a play she helped ‘write that toured Nova Scotia and played off-Broadway in New York City. While in New, York Miss Carrington enrolled in Eli Rill’s Actors Studio where she was seen by Douglas McGrath who asked her to audition for a part in the play, The Owl and the Pussycat. Miss Carrington won the part and later married Mr. McGrath.

She and her husband moved to California where Carol did some commercials, then landed a part in a television movie of the week, The Cage Without a Key. Since then she has appeared in three other movies of the week: The Long Journey Back; Lovey—Circle of the Children, Part 3; and Follow the North Star.

Her other television credits clude Wonder Woman, Eight Is Enough, The San Pedro Beach Bums, The Collaborators, The Righteous Apples, and Ki Colombo.

Her film appearances include The Hollywood Strangler, The Last Detail, Chicago 7 Circus, and FaceOff.

Two years ago Miss Carrington began doing stand-up comedy, which she writes herself, and was a regular at the Comedy Sfore until the end of 1980. She now performs at various clubs in the HollywoodLos Angeles area.

‘As a Baha'i, Miss Carrington has served for three years on the Spiritual Assembly of West Hollywood. She has participated in teaching trips to small towns in Southern California and Mexicali, Mexico, and to Indian Reservations. in February 1980 she went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Her hobbies include swimming, ice skating, sewing, knitting, painting, and “studying people.”

Phoenix Assembly observes 50th year

ON OCCASION FIFTIETH AN

NIVERSARY FORMATION YOUR ASSEMBLY WE SEND YOU OUR WARMEST GREETINGS AND LOVING CONGRATULATIONS ON SO SIGNIFICANT A MILESTONE IN DEVELOPMENT PHOENIX BAHA'I COMMUNITY. THE VIGOR AND STAUNCH RESOLVE YOUR ESTEEMED COMMUNITY DISPLAYS IN ITS PURSUIT OF THE ONENESS OF MANKIND AND THE HIGH MORAL STANDARDS YOU STRIVE TO UPHOLD ARE POTENT EXAMPLES TO YOUR SISTER COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHWESTERN REGION. IN THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS MAY YOU REAP EVEN MORE ABUNDANT PROSPERITY THAN YOUR EFFORTS HAVE THUS FAR ENGENDERED. MAY YOU WITNESS GREAT LEAPS FORWARD IN DEVELOPMENT BAHA'| COMMUNITY LIFE SO THAT AS HUMANITY PASSES THROUGH TURBULENT TRANSITIONAL YEARS TO ITS DESTINED GOAL OF UNITY, YOUR COMMUNITY WILL ACHIEVE RENOWN THROUGHOUT REGION AS BEACON OF LIGHT HARBOR OF HOPE CENTER OF CALM AND

STABILITY. National Spiritual Assembly March 12, 1981

More than 60 Baha'is attended an authentic Persian dinner last Decem: ber 13 at the Baha'i Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Proceeds from’ the din: ner were to be used to purchase and install a new tile floor in the recently

More than 175 people including the Hand of the Cause of God Shu‘a'u'llah Ala’i_ participated March 14 in a proclamation event marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Spiritual Assembly of Phoenix, Arizona.

The program and open house at the recently acquired Baha'i Center in Phoenix drew Baha'is and their guests from Phoenix, 10 other Baha'i communities, and from California, Colorado, Indiana and even Panama.

AMONG THE OTHER partici pants was Auxiliary Board member Nancy Phillips.

The guest speaker was Lisa Janti of Delmar, California, who spoke about Baha'i principles and described the Faith's growth at the local, national and international levels.

The Baha'i community of Phoenix traces its origin to 1917 when Edward and Amanda Ruppers, a Baha'i couple from Chicago, settled there.

The Ruppers’ house guests during those early years included the Hands of the Cause of God Amelia Collins, Louis Gregory, Leroy loas and Corinne True.

acquired Center. The ‘chefs’ who prepared the meal were (left to right) Mahboob Rezvani, Caro! Dastin, and Shahin. Hormozi, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Phoenix

Baha’i speech contest winner

Deborah Chicurel, a recently enrolled Baha'i who is a stddent at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, has won first place in a public speaking contest at the university using as her theme “Realistic Possibilities for World Peace,” based on her perceptions as a Baha'i.

She won first place in the same contest a year ago, again basing her talk on Baha'i principles (she was investigating the Faith at that

time).

The five Baha'is at UNC-Asheville were asked recently to participate in a radio program, "Religion and Philosophy,” broadcast by the campus FM station.

Two of the friends taped two 30-minute segments in a questionand-answer format. The station manager was so pleased that he planned to rebroadcast them at a later date.

UNICEF to send Children’s Day kit

During late June and early July, all Local Spiritual Assembiies and District Teaching Committees will receive a 1981 UNICEF kit and other special materials for Universal Children’s Day, October 5, from the U.S. Committee for UNICEF.

This is a joint endeavor of the U.S. Baha'i Office at the UN and the U.S. Committee for UNICEF.

The theme of Universal Children’s Day 1981 is “First

Things First—Fighting Child Disabilities with Clean Water.”

This year UNICEF is using a direct quote from the Baha'i Writings in the Children’s Day kit.

Observance of this special occasion presents a wonderful opportunity for the American Baha’i community to continue its successful activities for children by focusing attention on the needs of all the world’s children.

Some of the older members: of the Phoenix Baha'i community who were honored during the anniversary celebration include fourth generation Baha'is.

From the Faith's earliest years in Phoenix, the believers there have carried the Message of Baha'u'llah to such nearby communities as Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, North Maricopa County, Buckeye, Avondale, and Tolleson.

In 1962, the Phoenix community was instrumental in organizing a Baha'i conference on the Navajo Indian Reservation at Pine Springs, Arizona.

That conference led to the formation of the first Spiritual Assem: bly on the Reservation and, more recently, to the formation of four other Reservation Assemblies.

The anniversary program included. musical performances and a dedication of the new Baha'i Center. Refreshments were served by the youth.

y Mondschein; the represen tative of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly .to the United Nations Economic and Social Council ECOSOC) acted June 5 to the

cutive Committee of of UN Represen 2s, Council of O1 zations, UN tion of the U.

ommittee directs the activit

n 600 non-governmental or janizations at the UN. ‘This rep: resents another step forward in the recognition of the contributions of the American Baha'i community to the

goals expressed in the UN charter, says Mrs. Mondschein. :

David Villasenor of Glendora, Califor nia, displays one of the many Indian sand paintings he has rendered dur

ing his years of studying and improv ing the ancient art.

Painter David Villasenor profiled in public television documentary

David Villasefor, an internationally known sand painter, sculptor, and historian of the art and culture of the Indians of the Americas, is featured in a half-hour episode of “American Perspective: Another View,” a series of 10 documentaries that present positive profiles of Americans of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

The series premiered in April and May on public television stations across the country.

Mr. Villasefior, a member of the Baha'i community of Glendora, California, is profiled in “David Villaseftor: Sand Painter,” which recognizes his unique contribution in reviving and improving the ancient Indian art of sand painting.

His interest in the important cultural and artistic significance of the sand paintings of the American Indians led him more than 35 years ago to develop a method of permanent sand painting in an effort to help the Indian people preserve a dying art

A wood carver and sculptor since his youth, Mr. Villasefor has carved everything from 3-inch high, detailed animals to a 9-foot statue of the great Cherokee Indian chief Sequoia, which took nearly 10 years to complete.

Among his more impressive works are three full-scale replicas of the Aztec calendar that is displayed in. the Anthropological Museum of Mexico in Mexico City.

{a SSS SSSR ETOCS TO RS RC a RS TY

| | | [Page 15]

NATIONAL CENTER

June 1981

15

Activities Committee sets programs, greets visitors

From that point of light,’ said ‘Abdu'l-Baha, referring to the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, “the spirit of teaching, spreading the Cause of God and promoting the teachings. of God, will permeate to all parts of the world.” (God Passes By, p. 351)

Even before the dedication of the Temple, Shoghi Effendi stated that “..this great ‘Silent Teacher’ of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, it may be confidently asserted, has contributed to the diffusion of the knowledge of His Faith and teachings in a measure which no other single agency, operating within the framework of its Administrative Order, has even remotely approached.” (ibid.)

LAST YEAR, 193,270 visitors from nearly every.country and territory in the world came to the House of Worship on the shores of Lake Michigan north of Chicago.

“In too many cases, however, people leave without knowing as much as we could impart to them about the fundamentals of the Faith,” says Bruce Whitmore, secretary of the House of Worship Activities Committee and manager of its office at the House of Worship.

“We still have not fully comprehended how to effectively capitalize on the unique teaching situation created by the mere presence of the ‘silent teacher,’ says Mr. Whitmore.

The challenge, he says, is to present the Faith in a simplified and direct manner that includes-the fundamentals, history, and teachings while also résponding to the special interests of individual visitors.

“The: Guardian has set some very high standards for guides and teachers at the House of Worship,” says Mr. Whitmore. “One of our primary goals is to make some significant strides toward reaching those standards.”

Mr. Whitmore and his four-member staff are responsible for recruiting and training guides at the Temple, planning and presenting special, programs and services,

scheduling and conducting group tours, organizing and conducting the annual Special Visit programs, making arrangements for weddings at the Temple, publishing newsletters for Baha'i communities in the area, and providing local media with ‘news of public programs at the House of Worship.

SEVERAL significant steps are being taken to develop the unique teaching opportunities presented by the House of Worship.

One of these is a two-year coordinated teaching program being developed by the Activities Committee.

A second will be the remodeling in the near future of the downstairs Visitors Center (Foundation Hall).

The project will feature a modern museum:style display system that focuses more directly on telling visitors that “this Message is for you,” says Mr. Whitmore.

Other elements include a new 50-seat auditorium, a research |ibrary, a children’s activity center, and a large, open area with trees and a garden that will be used for firesides as well as a place where guides can talk at length with visitors.

One advantage of the new design, says Mr. Whitmore, is that “we'll be able to continue to welcome the public even when a special Baha'i program is in progress. It's now often necessary to close the Visitors Center during special programs such as National Conventions.”

THE PHYSICAL remodeling work, he says, is being accom: panied by the redesigning of information and materials presented to visitors,

New signs at the entrance to Foundation Hall will encourage visitors to enter the Visitors Center downstairs, and a new seven-minute audio-visual program for visitors is about to be introduced.

Audio-visual programs, display text and brochures are being carefully coordinated, says Mr. Whitmore, so that visitors can gain a

The Baha'is of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, commemorated World Religion Day by sponsoring a book display January 10-February 9 at the Cedarburg Public Library. Included in the display were Holy Books and symbols of various religions, placards. with information

about seven religions (including the Faith), and information about World Religion Day. Three of the books used in the display—Baha'i World Faith, Warriors of the Rainbow, and The God of Buddha—were /ater donated to the public library.

Bruce Whitmore (center), secretary of the House of Worship Activities Com: mittee and manager of its office at the

clearer understanding of the Faith and can see it as something of interest and importance to themselves.

Compelling programs for visitors, knowledgeable guides, and supportive physical surroundings are important ingredients in the plans of the House of Worship Activities Committee.

Gwen Clayborne, one of the Activities Office staff members, spends much of her day at the House of Worship interacting with visitors.

She conducts many group tours that have previously been arranged through the Activities Office, as well as the occasional unplanned arrivals of busloads of visitors.

Mrs. Clayborne, who enjoys meeting the visitors from all parts of the world, says guiding at the House of Worship is “an ongoing spiritual experience.

“MORE AND MORE people are interested in the Faith and not just the building,” she says.

The House of Worship is operated more than 4,600 hours each year by nearly 900 volunteers including guides, speakers, chairpersons, devotional program readers, members of subcommittees, and task forces.

There are more than 1,000 guiding shifts each year requiring at least 2,570 volunteer positions. Recruiting and training guides at the Temple is the responsibility of staff member David Rodriguez.

it is important, he says, for guides to become sensitive to visitors’ levels of receptivity. Answers to questions from visitors that are too fast, too complicated or too brief can quickly end a conversation between a visitor and guide.

“A question about the shape of the dome, for example, can lead to a discusion of the Faith or stop right there,” says Mr. Rodriguez.

The guide's sensitivity to the visitor is the key, hé says, adding that “people can develop this sen House of Worship, confers with com: mittee staff members (left to right)

sitivity with experience.”

IN ARRANGING for devotional programs, Holy Day observances, workshops, memorial services, public meetings and other gatherings at the House of Worship, Gazzal Towfiq looks after all the necessary facilities, makes certain that an appropriate program has been planned, and that the meetings take place smoothly.

The Activities Committee has several task forces and subcommittees including those for children's activities, the choir, garden “firesides,” devotional programs, hospitality, public meetings, Persian devotional programs, and dawn prayers.

Miss Towfiq helps these groups of volunteers, communicating with them regularly and acting as an intermediary between them and the Activities Committee.

Like the other staff members in the Activities Office, she has more than one area of responsibility.

For example, she frequently helps the many college students who ask for references to help them write papers about the Faith or the Temple. Because she speaks several languages, Miss Towfiq is able to communicate with many of the foreign visitors to the House of Worship in their native tongue.

Staff member Michael Carr finds planning and coordinating the annual Special Visit programs offered each summer very satisfying.

BAHA'IS from all over the U. interacting with each other, Says, generates a special spirit.

“It's a high point, spiritually,” says Mr. Carr, “not only for the visitors but for me and the other staff members involved in the program.”

Mr. Carr also is responsible for assisting’ with preparations for weddings, interviewing Baha'i and non-Baha’i couples who wish to be married at the House of Worship.

Last year, he says, there were 38 weddings at the Temple. Twenty of those involved non-Baha’i couples.

In addition, Mr. Carr writes ar

David Rodriguez, Gazzal - Towlig, Gwen Clayborne and Michael Carr.

ticles for local newspapers about public programs at the House of Worship and produces Baha'i House of Worship Activities Committee bulletins, plus a newsletter for area Baha'i communities, articles for The American Bah: a newsletter for believers who guide at the House of Worship.

Allittle more than a year ago, the Activities Office began sending a special “gift of love” from the House of Worship to Spiritual Assemblies throughout the country.

After roses have been used at the House of Worship for decoration during Holy Day observances, Miss Towfiq carefully dries the flowers.

THE DRIED rose petals are sent to the Assemblies with a letter of love and an invitation to visit the House of Worship.

So far, says Mr. Whitmore, about 500 Spiritual Assemblies have been sent this special token of love.

The House of Worship Activities Office also co-sponsors meetings at the Temple with various Baha’i communities in the Wilmette area.

One recent example, says Mr. Whitmore, was an “after hours” tour of and historical presentation on the Temple that was arranged for the historical society of a nearby city.

The meeting was arranged through the Spiritual Assembly of that city working with the Activities Office.

“We're also encouraging Baha'i communities to visit the House of Worship as communities,” says Mr. Whitmore, who has just completed a book about the history of the Temple that is to be published by the Baha'i Publishing Trust.

“One of our greatest challenges,” he says, “lies in discovering the many possibilities for using the House of Worship as a vehicle for teaching, and then figuring out how to implement those ideas.”

[Page 16]PUBLICATIONS

The American Baha'i

Abdul-Bahi

‘Some Answered Questions’ valuable resource in dialogue with Christians

Part of the great appeal of Some Answered Questions (Catalog No. 106-037-10, cloth, $11) lies in ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s discourses on passages in the Old and New Testaments and a variety of Christian subjects. They comprise a valuable resource for Baha'is in discussing the Faith with Christians.

‘Abdu'l-Baha provides a detailed analysis of verses in the Book of Daniel to show how its prophecies point to Christ, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah.

HE EXAMINES the Book of Isaiah to demonstrate how its prophecies are partly fulfilled by Christ, but more fully relate to Baha'u'llah in their predictions of universal peace, the unity of religions, and the oneness of mankind.

The Gospel of St. John is used by ‘Abdu'l-Baha to elucidate the true meaning of the Resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ.

He refers to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans to illustrate the reasons a Prophet abrogates the laws of previous dispensations and establishes new ones.

The Master quotes from the

Gospels of Matthew and Mark to explain how the same qualities and perfections, but not the same potentialities, “return” in each of the Manifestations.

George Townshend, commenting on the biblically oriented chapters in Some Answered Questions, remarks that ‘Abdu'l-Baha’s exposition of these subjects “is reminiscent of the Gospel itself. Here is the same certainty and spontaneity of utterance... the same simplicity and clearness, the same gentleness and fearlessness, the same power, the same intense spirituality, the same all-surrendering love for God ...”

These qualities are evident when ‘Abdu'l-Baha clarifies the misunderstandings surrounding such subjects as the Trinity, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the symbolism of bread and wine, and the story of Adam and Eve.

His lessons are the antidote to the literal-mindedness and misinterpretation that caused doctrinal disputes almost immediately after Christ's ascension.

Some Answered Questions not only provides a source of Baha'i

Cassette tapes make learning easy, inspirational

If you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of Baha'i literature you've promised yourself you will read, the following cassette tapes now available from the Publishing Trust may provide some direction—and some inspiration.

These tapes give us the opportunity to enjoy the insights and humor of a number of the Hands of the Cause of God as we increase ‘our knowledge of the history and institutions of the Faith.

LEGACIES of Service (Catalog No. 831-054-10, set of five cassettes, $30) is a series of five tapes that offer us the bounty of words and wisdom of the Hands of the Cause of God.

Are You Happy? (Catalog No. 831-052-10, $7) is the intriguing question asked by the Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga as he begins his talk on the art of acquiring the spiritual quality of happiness. He also shares insights on teaching and mass conversion and recounts anecdotes of people and events encountered in his travels.

In My Only Desire... Was to Serve His Cause (Catalog No. 831-051-10, $7), the Hand of the

Cause Agnes Alexander tells of the change in her life effected by her acceptance of the Faith. She also relates stories of her historic pioneering services in Japan and Korea and her experiences with other early western Baha'is.

In His Presence (Catalog No. 830-099-10, $7) is the Hand of the Cause Taraz’ullah Samandari’s description of his meeting with Baha'u'llah at the Mansion of Bahji in 1892.

The Hand of the Cause Leroy loas offers a glimpse of Shoghi Effendi’s spiritual strength as he met the overwhelming daily burdens of the Guardianship in his talk, In the Days of the Guardian (Catalog No. 831-050-10, $7).

Finally, in The Triumph of His Cause (Catalog No. 831-053-10, $6), the Hand of the Cause Hasan M. Balyuzi presents an historical perspective of the Ten Year World Crusade and offers guidelines from the writings of the Guardian for winning the goals of the Plans still before us.

Two other Hands of the Cause of God—Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih

Khanum and William Sears—are

Order early for Convention bookstore

District Convention is an ideal occasion for setting up a Baha'i bookstore. Librarians who plan to

do so should send in their orders to °

the Publishing Trust Distribution Center no later than August 1 so that they will be certain to receive their materials in time for this year’s District Conventions on October 4.

Remember that the elimination of RUSH orders means that all

orders will be processed in the order in which they are received. Therefore, you must send in your order well in advance of District Convention to assure delivery on time.

Make sure your District Convention bookstore is a success. Please send in your order no later than August 1. The Publishing Trust will greatly appreciate your assistance.

The

Continental

9 Counselors:

Its Role a Station

featured in a number of cassette tapes now back in stock.

In Shoghi Effendi: Guardian of the Baha'i Faith (Catalog No. 831-003-10, $8.50), the Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum offers a sensitive portrait of the Guardian: his painstaking precision: as a writer and translator; his unwavering perseverance in everything he did; his joy on hearing of the progress of the Cause; and the importance of his writings in the unfoldment of Baha’u'llah's World Order. Within the context of her memories of Shoghi Effendi, she also considers such topics as tests and difculties, pioneering, Covenant: breaking, and the privilege of becoming a Bah:

In The Role of Baha’i Youth in Today’s World (Catalog No. 831-001-10, $8.50), Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum discusses how youth can best relate to the political movements, social changes, and morality of this age according to the standards of Baha'u'llah. Her talk concludes with a questionand-answer session on a variety of significant issues.

SHOGHI EFFENDL ¢ Juan

OTe Baht Faith

The Hand of the Cause William Sears is featured on four study and deepening tapes that are conversational in tone and well suited for individual or group use.

The Majesty and Greatness of the Divinely Ordained Local Spiritual Assembly (Catalog No. 830-036-10, $7) offers a wealth of information and insight on the Local Spiritual Assembly.

The Significance of CovenantBreaking (Catalog No. 830-091-10, $7) is a discussion of Baha'i teachings regarding Covenant-breaking.

Prophecies Fulfilled by the Coming of Baha'u'llah (Catalog No. 830-004-10, set of three cassettes, $18) provides a step-by-step analysis of Jewish and Christian prophecies in the Old and New Testaments and a survey of prophecies of other religions to show how they

were all fulfilled by the coming of

Baha'u'llah.

The Continental Board of Counselors: Its Role and Station (Catalog No. 830-036-10, $7) is a valuable aid to the new Continental

Please See CASSETTES Page 26

answers to seekers’ questions; it also makes absorbing reading.

The revised and expanded index to this new edition will make it easy for you to locate subjects or phrases.

In addition, the 1981 “Publisher's Foreword” includes a brief introduction to the Faith, making this edition especially suitable for placement in public libraries.

To order your copy of Some Anwered Questions, see your Baha'i community librarian or use the order form on Page 4 of the Publishing Trust’s Mini-Catalog in this issue of The American Baha’.

Place order early for ‘Special Event’

Days materials

Are you ready for World Peace Day? Universal Children’s Day? Human Rights Day?

A number of these “Special Event Days” are coming up, starting in September, offering many opportunities for teaching and proclaiming the Faith.

In the Mini-Catalog in this issue (Page 4) the Publishing Trust has suggested some books and pamphlets that can be used to support your teaching activities.

The question is, will you be able to receive them in time?

The answer is yes, IF you allow enough time for your order to be received and processed and for the materials to be sent to you.

To help you plan ahead, the Publishing Trust is providing a list of Special Event Days and the suggested deadlines for ordering materials:

World Peace Day, September 20: please send in your order no later than July 8.

Universal Children’s Day, October 1: please send in your order no later than July 18.

United Nations Day, October 24: please send in your order no later than August 11.

United Nations Human Rights Day, December 10: please send in your order no later than September 26.

World Religion Day, January 18, 1982: please send in your order no later than November 5.

Race Unity Day, June 14, 1982: please send in your order no later than April 1.

Since RUSH orders will no longer be accepted, following this schedule will prevent a great deal of uncertainty and aggravation for both you and the Publishing Trust, and will allow you to make the most of these Special Event Days in spreading the Teachings of Baha'u'llah.

Hurry!

Order Materials Now for Special Event Days! The Baha'i Publishing Trust 523 Green Bay Road Wilmette, IL 60091

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[Page 17]PUBLICATIONS

June 1981

New film offers National Assembly’s ‘Rhythm of Growth’ theme for Plan

Among the highlights of the 72nd Baha'i National Convention was the presentation of a 16mm animated film, “The Rhythm of Growth,” which reflects the National Spiritual Assembly's over-all theme for the last five years of the Seven Year Plan.

“The Rhythm of Growth” will be available from the Baha'i Publishing Trust in mid-June for use by Baha'i communities in the U.S. Communities will be able to purchase or rent the film.

DETAILS on ordering and renting the film will be sent to community librarians and sales representatives as soon as they are available. Additional information will appear in the July issue of The

American Bah:

“The Rhythm of Growth” film, through four-color animation and informal discussion, presents the pattern of rhythmic alternation—expansion and consolidation—essential to the growth of any healthy organism, in this case the Baha’ Faith.

The rhythmic beat set by the National Spiritual Assembly involves the growth and development of the Baha'i community from one to five; from a Group of five to nine; froma Local Spiritual Assembly to a community of 15; andxgom a community of 15 with an incorporated Assembly to a community of 30 or more.

The film features an animated “cell” that illustrates the process of growth and consolidation, facilitated by knowing what the institutions of the Faith expect of him and his fellow “cells” (Baha'is) at each stage of growth.

A “Rhythm of Growth” song, composed and sung by Susan Engle, further reinforces the plan of systematic growth and consolidation

The film, “The Rhythm of Growth,” was written for the National Spiritual Assembly by Dr. Daniel C. Jordan, animated by Louise Taylor, and produced by Gil Muro. It will be distributed by the Baha'i Publishing Trust.

Biography of poetess Tahirih is reprinted by Kalimat Press

Few Baha'is know that a biography of the early Babi heroine, Tahirih, was written by another great woman of the Faith, Martha Root.

This volume, long unavailable, has now been reprinted in a revised edition by Kalimat Press.

Entitled the Pure, the book has been corrected for errors and includes an introductory essay by Marzieh Gail.

Miss Root was so interested in Tahirih’s life of devotion and sacrifice that she traveled to Iran in 1930 to learn more about her. Tahirih the Pure is the result of that research.

Mrs. Gail's fascinating preface

introduces the reader to Tahirih and to Martha Root, whom she knew personally.

The book is illustrated with 13 photos and drawings including several new photos of its author.

Tahirih the Pure is not available from the Baha'i Publishing Trust, but may be ordered directly from Kalimat Press, 10889 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 270, Los Angeles, CA 90045 (retail price: $7.95).

Kalimat Press, a small publishing company owned and operated by Baha'is in Southern California, is oriented exclusively toward the publication of Baha’i-related materials.

‘Rhythm of Growth’ catalog released

To support the National Spiritual Assembly's “Rhythm of Growth” program, adopted as the theme for the last five years of the Seven Year Plan, the Baha'i Publishing Trust released at the 72nd National Convention a “Rhythm of Growth” catalog.

The catalog appears as a pullout insert in this issue of The American Baha’i. It is also being mailed to Baha'i librarians throughout the U.S.

THE PACKAGES of materials included in the catalog are designed to help every Baha’ contribute to the expansion and consolidation of the Baha'i community at whatever stage he finds himself.

Hence there are packages designed for individuals, for Groups of five or more, for members of Local Spiritual Assemblies, for communities of 15, and for those with 30 or more members.

The packages for each stage of growth (one, five, nine, 15, 30-plus) are also designed to accommodate the budgets of the friends by permitting the gradual building of libraries—individual, community and public.

An individual believer, for example, can build a “core library” in three steps. He (or his friends or Local Spiritual Assembly) can start a basic library for only $11—a $4 savings over the same items priced individually.

The first package of materials contains a prayer book and The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah to put the Creative Word in the new believer's hands and to help him ‘strengthen his relationship to the Faith through prayer and the study of Baha’u'llah’s Writings.

The Deepening Packet for New Believers will help him study in depth the essentials of Baha'i belief. A calendar will connect him with the rhythm of Baha'i community life, including Feasts and Holy Days, and a series of booklets (The Seven Year Plan, The Baha’i Faith, and Each One Teach One) will acquaint the new believer with local, national and worldwide teaching aims and set him on the rewarding path of contributing to

the teaching work.

TWO ADDITIONAL packages of materials will then enable an individual to complete a core library.

Members of Groups can also purchase, in three packages, materials that are designed to help them organize themselves as a Group and to prepare for Assembly status.

Stage Nine in the Rhythm of Growth catalog is designed to help members of Local Spiritual Assemblies accumulate, again in three steps, materials that will enable them to discharge their duties more effectively.

When a community reaches 15, the Rhythm of Growth catalog will

provide guidance on building a

community library, which might include all materials for Stages One, Five and Nine, as well as Stage 15.

Communities of 30 or more are encouraged to place books in local libraries.

Packages have been especially designed for presentation to public libraries, two: and four-year college libraries, university libraries, and seminary libraries.

There is also a package of

materials for the children’s section of public libraries.

THE INTRODUCTION to the Rhythm of Growth catalog, written by the National Spiritual Assembly, explains how the use of books and other publications can contribute to the rhythmic growth and consolidation of the community.

It also emphasizes that the books chosen for the catalog are merely a starting place for the study of the Writings.

The approach suggested by the catalog “is not to put anyone ona rigid schedule but simply to inspire everyone with a display of our riches as Baha'is and to stimulate their use more systematically to create a strong rhythmic pulse that can be felt in a balanced interplay between expansion and consolidation at all levels throughout the community.”

The Rhythm of Growth catalog concludes with a listing of all the materials in it (a handy curriculum for organizing study classes) and an order blank.

Please allow at least 30 days for delivery of materials ordered from the Rhythm of Growth catalog.

Publishing Trust discontinues processing of ‘RUSH’ orders

One of the recent policy changes at the Baha'i Publishing Trust has been the elimination of RUSH orders.

This change was made because the processing of RUSH orders caused too great a delay in the processing of normal orders.

The Publishing Trust felt that this practice was unfair to those who planned ahead for events and sent in their orders well in advance of the time the materials were needed.

This change will most affect those who need Baha'i materials by a certain date.

To be sure of receiving your materials in time, please plan to send in your order at least two and onehalf months before the required

date.

The extra time will act as a safeguard for you in case of difficulties with your order, such as errors in payment, incorrectly listed stock numbers, or delays in mailing.

Remember, planning ahead now is worth two and one-half months of peace of mind!

Time Is Fleeting! Order Now for Special Event Days and District Convention! The Baha’i Publishing Trust 523 Green Bay Road Wilmette, IL 60091

| re RS SDE EET ESE EDO SBE MT ES SSE ET

[Page 18]CLASSIFIEDS

The American Baha’i

18

CLASSIFIED notices in The American Baha'i are printed free of charge as a service to the Baha'i community. Notices are limited to items relating to the Faith; no commercial or personal messages can be accepted for publication.

THE NATIONAL Education Committee is looking for back issues of Child’s Way magazine and its forerunner, The Child's Way. The committee is trying to complete several sets of both magazines for libraries at the Bosch and Green Acre Baha'i Schools, the National Education Committee Office, and the Child's Way editorial committee's resource file. If you can help, please drop a note to the National Education Committee clo the Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, indicating the issues you have to share.

THE BAHA'I community of Pine Ridge-West Indian Reservation in South Dakota needs. deepened Baha’is to come and spend some time helping to consolidate and expand the community. Accommodations can be arranged for traveling teachers, but people who would be able to settle there are especially needed. There is a hospital in Pine Ridge that needs physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and lab personnel. There aré also a number of schools in the area. If you are interested in a challenge, please contact the Spiritual Assembly of Pine Ridge-West, Box 904, Pine Ridge, SD 57770, or phone 605-867-5652.

PIONEERING opportunity in Botswana. Technical assistance for the government of Botswana is needed for a long-term fuel energy project. A physical scientiest and social scientist are required. For more information please contact the Infernational Goals Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

WANTED: Communication with - other Baha'is who are parents of developmentally disabled children. As a parent of a 3-year-old child with Down's syndrome, | would like to set up a network for sharing the latest medical/educational/scientific advances that would help us to assure that our children attain their highest potential. Another purpose of such an information network would be to provide a support system that could be called upon in the event such a child is born in your community. If you are interested in this project, please write to Katherine Stege, - Kaleva, MI

49645, or phone 616-362-3815.

IRVING, Texas, a growing area in the. Southwest, has good jobs, good schools, and plenty of good housing but needs several more Baha'is, especially members of minority groups. For relocation information or other help, please write to the Spiritual Assembly of Irving, P.O. Box 3851, Irving, TX 75061, or phone 214-252-8973.

THE INSTITUTE for International Education (IIE) is starting a new pilot program, RISE (Register for International Service in Education), which may be of interest to pros

possible employment abroad. RISE is a computer-based referral service that matches teaching, research, and consulting assignments in other countries to the qualifications of registered scholars, post-secondary teachers, and other educational specialists such as librarians and computer experts. Assignments may be as short as several weeks or as long as several years. Opportunities are most numerous in underdeveloped countries, and in gevelopment-related fields such as agriculture, economics, engineering, business administration, the sciences, health, and English as a second language. There is a $35 registra tion fee which keeps your application current for two years. For more information about the program, write to RISE, Institute for Interna: tional Education, 809 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

TRAVELING TEACHING oppor tunity in Haiti, A medium-sized house is available to rent, JuneOctober. $400 a month will cover rent, food, utilities, maid, and other expenses. Ideal for a married cou: ple. For more information please

contact the International Goals Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

WOULD YOU like to become a real “urban cowboy” or ‘cowgirl’? Then come homefront pioneering to Stephenville, Texas! Stephen: ville, in central Texas, has a small Baha'i Group whose plans include reaching Assembly status in the near future. It also has a 3,000-student university specializing in agriculture and business that is part of the Texas A&M system, So courses can easily be transferred to other institutions. If you thought the West ended with Time-Life books, you need to come look at Stephenville! If you have any questions, please write to the Baha'i Group of Stephenville, Box 7105, Tarleton Station, Stephenville, TX 76402, or phone 817-968-9420 or 817-968-8274.

1 OWN a large house in northwestern South Carolina and would like to let a Baha'i use a large upstairs room for storage. The rent is $35 a month which will be donated to the National Baha'i Fund. Contact Donna Landau,

SC 29651, or phone 803-877-0563.

TAKE THEM OUT to the ball game in Quintana Roo, Mexico! U.S. pioneer there needs a couple who can set up a Little League baseball team and perhaps start Brownie or Cub Scout groups at her school. Parents in the area are quite interested, and if the groups are successful there may be opportunities to start such groups in other nearby towns. For more infor

• mation please contact the Interna

tional Goals Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

BECOME a homefront pioneer to Traverse City, a goal area in beautiful northwestern Michigan. A sportsman's paradise on a bay with hills for skiing and woods for hiking, Traverse City has a community college and many cultural activities. Jobs are hard to find, but there is a need for auto mechanics

location for retired persons. There is a possibility for a single woman to live with another single Baha'i woman for reasonable rent. There are many young people (singles and couples) in the area. If you'd like to help turn a small but dedicated Group into a Spiritual Assembly, please write to Darcy Lewis, + MI 49684, or phone 616-946-4285.

WANTED to complete collections: Baha'i News, Baha'i National Review, and U.S. supplement to Baha'i News. Will trade my duplicate and unwanted copies for yours on a one-to-one basis. Please send lists of available and desired publications to Ira Graffman,

, Silver

Spring, MD 20910. ©

GAINESVILLE, Texas, a city of 13,000 on the north central Texas plain, needs deepened Baha'is or Baha'i families to help consolidate mass taught believers from earlier teaching campaigns. The city offers a good location about 60 miles north of Dallas-Fort Worth, a twoyear college, and a small hospital. There are oil-related industries and many small manufacturing concerns. The Baha'i community of Denton is offering its assistance to anyone who wishes to explore the homefront pioneering opportunities in north central Texas. For more. information please phone 817-566-3558 or 817-387-0668.

THREE MORE adult Baha’is and the Florence, Colorado, community can hold an election and form its Assembly. A workipartnership on a sharing basis is available for an individual or couple interested in the holistic healing arts, education, or scientific research in the area of holistic health at Commonweal

Letters

Continued From Page 3

JUST IMAGINE ha the distinction of being the first Baha'i ever to live in a town! Already there are many places where it is not possible to be the first Baha'i.

If the country is the world of the soul and the city the world of the body, why don’t more Baha'is leave the crowded cities and go where they can breathe and teach?

During the Ten Year Crusade the Guardian wrote:

“A veritable exodus from the large cities where a considerable number of believers have, over a period of years, congregated ...and where... the progress of the Faith has been retarded, must signalize the inauguration of this most intensive and challenging phase of the Crusade ...”

Isn't that just as true today? We still can't believe the number of people who come to us and ask about the Faith.

When we lived near a city we had to knock our heads against the wall, and still no one wanted to listen!

Here in the country, people have the time to listen and a genuine interest in spiritual matters. But don't take our word for it. See for yourself.

Richard and Brenda Snyder Fillmore, New York

Life Improvement, a non-profit research center. Commonweal has its own building and most of the equipment necessary for self-help health services and research. The Florence community has an enthusiastic and loving welcome waiting for you. If interested, please write to Dessamary Black,

won , CO 81226, ‘or phone 403-784-6748.

DO YOU NEED creative, energetic Baha'is who are good with their hands? A young Baha'i couple plan to sell their Florida home and relocate in the North. Looking for 5-10 acres and a farmhouse in a rural area with access to a vocational school and/or college. Seeking cool summers, cold winters, moderate humidity and reasonable real estate costs. Please write to David and Margaret Heuman, —

Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33516.

PIONEER seeks skilled teachers. to give accelerated lessons in airplane flying and advanced photog: raphy. Time: July-September 1981. Place: preferably the Chicago area. Also seeking information from experienced persons about (1) IBM Selectric repair and maintenance; (2) practical uses of solar energy; (3) rust-resistant wind generators; (4) home design (solar energy efficient); (5) latest information on cars: powered by means other than gasoline; and (6) farming on coral atolls. Please write to Elizabeth Anderson, P.O. Box 746, Majuro, Marshall Isands 96960.

FOR SALE: 35 acres next to the Conifer Hill Baha'i School in Boulder County (Colorado) in the Colorado Rockies. The parcel is not suitable for subdivision. Terms arranged, with owner carrying mortgage. For information write to Rose Jean Harris, Sterling, CO 80751, 303-522-0927.

or phone

NEW PALTZ, New York, needs Baha'is to help its aspiring community attain Assembly status. New Paltz, situated in a pastoral setting 80 miles north of New York City, is a community blessed by a visit from the Master in 1912. Its excellent educational system includes a state university. There are many employment opportunities nearby. For more information please contact Christine Krug Boese, _

New Paltz, NY 12561, or phone 914-255-0949.

THE 1981 Baha'i Summer School for Ireland will be held August 9-22 at the Newtown School, Waterford, Ireland. Inquiries should be addressed to the Summer School

Registrar, clo 41 Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.

WANTED: another Baha'i to help. teach the Faith in Sterling, Colorado, a small town with a good junior college, a meat plant, and ‘other farm: and ranch-related jobs about 2 1/2 hours from the mountains. For more information please write to Rose Jean Harris,

CO 80751, or phone 303-522-0927.

Support the Cause

“The world situation is so confused and moral issues which were once clear have become so! mixed up with selfish and battling factions, that the best way Baha'is can serve the highest interests of their country and the cause of true salvation for the world, is to sacrifice their political pursuits and affiliations and wholeheartedly and fully support the divine system of Baha’u'llah.”” (Messages from the Universal House of Justice: 1968-1973, p. 47)

TAB-S-6/81-1

Find out in The Promised Day Is Come, Shoghi Effendi’s eloquent and forceful analysis of the crises of our age.

Get your copy now in preparation for the informative study tape on this momentous work, soon to be released by the National Education Committee.

Why did... ‘Abdu'l-Bahd refer to Bahd‘u'llah’s Tablets to the rulers of the earth as “a miracle’?

How did... mankind's rejection of Baha’u'llah lead

to worldwide moral, — political, and economic turmoil?

6

pective pioneers as a source of and too! and dye workers. A good

[Page 19]

The American Baha'i

dune 1981

Personal PROFILE

Name: Manucher J. Javid

Community: Madison, Wisconsin

Occupation: Neurosurgeon

Background: Dr. Javid, professor and chairman of the Division of Neurological Surgery at the University of Wisconsin, is one of only 10 neurosurgeons in the world who belong to the prestigious Xeiron Society, formed in 1980 to recognize those physicians who have made significant contributions to this field of medicine.

Even during his childhood in Tehran, Dr. Javid recalls that he wanted to be a doctor and help the sick. After arriving in the U.S. at the age of 22, he attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, later completing his internship and residencies in Chicago and Boston. In 1953 he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine.

Six years later Dr. Javid received the first of many honors’ for his contributions to neurosurgery that culminated in a recent invitation to him to become a founding member of the Xeiron Society. Among other accomplishments, he was recognized for introducing the clinical use of urea for the reduction of intracranial pressure in neurosurgery.

His honors for this contribution alone include those from the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association of America, the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin itself.

Or. Javid is listed in Who's Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who’s Who in Science, Who's Who in American Education, American Men of Medicine, Leaders of American Science, and many other biographical reference works.

Dr. Javid's Baha'i activities include his service as a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Madison, Wisconsin, as well as former membership on the Spiritual Assembly of Boston, Massachusetts. He has lectured at Baha'i Summer Schools and served as a member of the National Baha'i Youth Committee and the District Teaching Committee for the New England states.

Dr. Javid and his wife, Lida, have four children.

His hobbies include the study of Persian history and the history of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity and Islam. He also enjoys gardening and bicycling.

The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears sent this two-sided poster from

Africa as his message of love and in Spiration to the friends at the 72nd

Baha'i National Convention in Chi: cago.

Asian guests at the 72nd Baha'i Na tional Convention © se about Bahai teaching exper clude (left to right) Alb

t. Maryland. n Teach:

and is a member of th ing Committee: Lao former member of the Spiritual Assembly of Laos

California. of about

and

in. Sat Diego. jose father tl 30.000 Hmong p

nester Lee Spiritua

who now lives i

Fla. communities raise $3,300 for Fund

The Baha'i communities of Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties raised $3,300 for the National Fund at an Ayyam-i-Ha “Children of the Rainbow” fair February 28 in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Among the items donated, displayed and sold at the fair were “unity rings” and rainbow wall hangings; handcrafted fund boxes, dolls, kitchen items, plaques, handbags, etc.; balloons; decorative plants; used books and records; and even fossils.

Other features included a bean bag toss, fish pond, cake walk, wet sponge throw, white elephant sale, face painting, palm readings, a clown, a raffle for a Baha'i theme quilt, and a child care village.

And there was the Rainbow Cate, a delightful place where people found refreshments and had a chance to get together.

At day's end, the goal of $2,100 ($300 for each color of the rainbow) was easily surpassed.

42 attend N. Mexico workshop

Forty-two people, some of whom were non-Baha’is, attended a daylong workshop whose theme was creating positive attitudes in children that was held February 1 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The workshop, sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was conducted by Janet Herbst, a Baha'i from Ganado, Arizona, who is a school teacher.

Miss Herbst developed the program from Baha'i principles and

Sobotta Hammersen

Histology

Young people found the 72nd Baha'i National Convention educational as

has used it with success in dealing as a teacher with hard-to-handle children.

Her lucid and interesting presentation was reinforced by visual aids and cooperative games.

Miss Herbst is available for similar workshops in other Baha'i communities. Those who desire more information may write to the Spiritual Assembly of Bernalilio County, or to Miss Herbst directly through the Spiritual Assembly of Ganado Chapter, Arizona.

well as fun in a well-planned series of children’s classes.

[Page 20]PERSIAN PAGE

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[Page 22]NATIONAL CONVENTION

The American Baha’

‘Rhythm of Growth’ Convention high spot

Continued From Page 1

tee reported that the goal was within reach with more than 1,600 Assemblies having been formed and others yet to be heard from.

Of the 171 delegates elected at last year’s District Conventions, 144 voted in person and 21 by mail. Six delegates did not vote.

THOSE ELECTED to serve as members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the coming year were Dorothy W. Nelson, James F. Nelson, Soo Fouts, Glenford E. Mitchell, Daniel C. Jordan, Magdalene M. Carney, Firuz Kazemzadeh, Franklin Kahn and Dwight W. Allen.

The election was followed Sunday morning by news that Franklin Kahn had resigned from the National Assembly for reasons of health.

A by-election was called im: mediately, and Wilma Brady of New York City was elected to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Kahn's resignation.

Dr. Brady has served for the past year as a member of the National Teaching Committee.

Those who attended the Convention, held this year at the McCormick Inn in Chicago, contributed more than $13,000 in cash to the National Fund and another $2,400 in donated items.

In addition, nearly $8,000 was given to support the reconstruction of the Louhelen Baha'i School in

Above: Children at the Convention gathered in Lincoln Park to hear Stories of ‘Abdu'l-Baha from 84-year old Elfie Lundberg of Wilmette who

Michigan, and a gift of $25,000 was pledged to help establish a Baha'i radio station in Chile.

The National Education Committee was responsible for planning and coordinating a comprehensive program to accommodate the more than 180 children at this year’s Convention.

A special message was sent from the Convention on behalf of the American Baha'i community to the mothers of murdered and missing black children in Atlanta, Georgia.

THE MESSAGE reads: “We, the 2,000 Baha'is in attendance at the 72nd National Convention of the Baha'is of the United States, wish to express our deep concern and sympathy over the recent tragic loss of children in the Atlanta community, and to assure you of our love.

“Your children are as our own children the hope for the future of our country. As Baha'is we believe that those souls who suffer at the hands of oppressors receive a special recompense from God in the next world.

“Our prayers are that this tragedy will soon end and that the precious lives your children have surrendered will unleash a spirit that will unite Americans of all races and backgrounds so that together we can work to eliminate such atrocities.”

Other highlights of the 72nd Convention included:

walked in that park with the Master in 1912. Below: A delegate makes a point during consultation at the Con

vention,

• The presentation of a 16mm

animated film, “The Rhythm of Growth,” reflecting the over-all theme chosen by the National Spiritual Assembly for the final five years of the Seven Year Plan.

• The proposal by the National

Spiritual Assembly and overwhelming support by the delegates of a $6 million budget for 1981-82.

• THE ANNOUNCEMENT by the

National Assembly in its annual report that for the first time ever the monthly contributions goal was surpassed for 10 consecutive months, and by the Office of the Treasurer in its report that the yearly goal was not only won for the first time in 20 years but was exceeded by nearly $350,000.

• A slide presentation prepared

by the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada depicting the history of persecution of the Faith in Iran.

• An observance of the Twelfth

Day of Ridvan that included talks by General Ala’i and Mr. Khadem. It was followed by a presentation of the new film, “The Pilgrimage,” narrated by the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’lBaha Ruhiyyih Khanum.

• Special presentations on the

Louhelen Baha'i School reconstruction project and the. Southwest Baha’i Institute in Arizona.

• Brief reports Saturday evening

by representatives of the National Teaching Committee, National Education Committee, Race Unity Committee, International Goals Committee, National Youth Committee, and Baha’i Publishing Trust.

Following their presentations, the committee representatives were joined on stage by Mr. Khadem, Counsellor Sherrill, every Auxiliary Board member and assistant to the Auxiliary Board who was present, and other members of the national committees as a large banner was unfurled that read, “Together We Grow...We Grow Together.”

THAT THEME was carried forward in the delightful film, “The Rhythm of Growth,” in which the idea of systematic and regular expansion and consolidation of the Baha'i community is expressed in song and animation using a “cell” as its central figure.

The Convention was closed Sunday morning with an address by Mr. Wolcott, a former member and secretary of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly who was attending a Convention in this country for the first time in 20 years.

Emphasizing to the friends that he was speaking only as an individual Baha'i and not as a member of the Supreme Body, Mr. Wolcott called for a vigorous effort to eliminate from the Baha'i community the stultifying effects of what he called the “three c's" —color, caste and culture.

He singled out Baha'i youth for special praise, adding this advice to Local Spiritual Assemblies: “If you do not call on Baha'i youth to help you, your cause is lost.”

Addressing himself to the “calamity” spoken of in the Writings, Mr. Wolcott reminded his audience that the beloved Guardian said it would be lessened in its intensity by the number of Baha'is in the world.

Therefore, he said, “our first responsibility is to teach the Faith of God to every human being.”

Mr. Wolcott closed by paying a loving tribute to Edna True whom he called to the stage to stand by his side as he spoke of her many years of devoted service to the Cause.

On Friday, news was received via telephone of the latest martyrdoms in Iran. The three

Please See CONVENTION Page 23

Top: Charles Wolcott, Edna True em brace. Above right: The Convention bookstore was a busy place. Above: Shuttle buses took delegates and guests to the House of Worship.

Below left: On arriving there, the friends went to the auditorium for prayers. Below: Judge James F. Nelson speaks at a pre-Convention press conference.

[Page 23]

NATIONAL CONVENTION

June 1981

Convention

Continued From Page 22 Baha'is—Yad'u'llah Vahdat, Ihsan'u'llah Mihdizadih, and Sattar Khushkhu—were executed by a government firing squad in Shiraz.

Only 40 mourners were allowed to attend the burial, as Iranian officials feared a repetition of the outpouring of grief that attended the death in January of Dr. Manuchihr Hakim, a world-renowned physician who was assassinated in his clinic by unknown gunmen.

Thousands of Iranians, Baha'is and non-Baha'is, had expressed their sorrow by attending the funeral of Dr. Hakim.

The latest martyrdoms came almost at the moment that members’ of the National Spiritual Assembly were holding a press conference in Chicago to express the growing concern of the American community about the wave of terror and persecution leveled against the Baha’is in Iran.

The press conference was attended by representatives of local news media in Chicago and by areporter from The New York Times, which earlier in the week had printed an editorial about the Iranian situation entitled “Iran's Newest Victims.”

In that editorial, The Times stated for the first time that the Faith “has evolved into an independent world religion.”

The formal opening of the 72nd Na

Left: A deleg National Sx

asts his vote for the Assembly. Above:

Annual report of the National Spiritual Assembly

Continued From Page 4

Child’s Way maintained its publishing schedule and showed marked improvement in its editorial and aesthetic content.

With the appearance of the Spring/Summer 1981 issue now at the printers, World Order will have returned to a normal schedule.

The marked improvement of The American Baha’i this year is obvious to all who read the paper.

Several property projects demanded attention this year. Work to replace the apron of the House of Worship was begun during the year and will be completed next summer.

Preliminary steps were taken to rebuild the Louhelen School in Davison, Michigan, but lack of funds delayed actual construction. Other important projects were similarly delayed.

The 205-acre site known as Conifer Hill in Colorado was donated to the Faith by Rose Jean Harris. The building at 1233 Central Street in Evanston, Illinois, was occupied in November by offices of the Baha'i National Center.

Conclusion

The stature of the Cause is rising. Largely because of the activities associated with the Iranian situation and with our work at the United Nations, the appeal of the world-redeeming principles of the Faith is broadening.

It is of far-reaching significance that twice this year the nationally Prominent newspaper The New

dation Hall

it the House of Worship.

tional Convention took place in Foun stitutions is one of the most THE CONSISTENT performance the is of the United States

The Convention was a time for re ing old friendships and making new

York Times carried editorials about the plight of the Persian Baha'is and in one of them asserted unequivocally that the Faith is an “in: dependent world religion.”

THE OPPORTUNITIES for rapid expansion are immediate. Four indicators support this optimistic view: first, the heightened appeal of the Temple to visitors whose interest goes beyond their fascination with the unique beauty of the structure; second, the sudden attraction that the Teachings hold for Southeast Asians, who seem ready to enter the Cause by troops; third, the stir that the teaching work is creating among the Spanish-speaking peoples; and fourth, the resurgence of activity in South Carolina.

Should we immediately exploit these opportunities, it is probable that the size and diversity of the American Baha'i community would change dramatically during the next phase of the Plan.

Thus the challenge here would not only be to take advantage of good opportunities but also to cope with diversity on a large scale. It bears noting at this juncture that we have yet to be comfortable with the diversity in our community represented by the youth.

As our prospects for expansion brighten, it cannot help but be ob‘served that, regrettably, large segments of the community seem as yet to be unable to rise and teach.

This matter must be faced squarely, as must the ever-present danger of the baleful influence of a dying old order on our precious community.

It is in these particular respects that the wholesome influence of the Institution of the Continental Board of Counsellors through its Auxiliary Boards and their assistants can provide the necessary lift from the inertia that threatens in ‘some places to deaden the spirit of the Cause. For if we do not teach, we cannot win the prize; if we do not live the life, all will come to naught.

THE BUSINESS of the Faith grows more complex and demanding, but the administration is ready to cope with it.

The maturing of the Baha'i in

ones. Right: The friends were most in terested in the progress of the

Togetherness’ was evident among adults and children alike at the 72nd

heartening signs of the times. Here are institutions whose future is assured if they will adhere to the pattern laid down by the Master Architect of the Age.

The move of most of the National Center offices to the Evanston building has already fostered much coordination and cohesion of the National administration. .

Local Spiritual Assemblies making use of the Local Spiritual Assembly Development Program are showing great improvement in their functioning.

The redefining this year of the work of the District Teaching Committees, as the institutions at the grassroots adjusted to the requirements of successful collaboration with the Auxiliary Boards, is already producing good results,

The successful functioning of the administration also depends upon the human and material resources available to it. We must solve the question of the financial needs of the Faith.

Louhelen School reconstruction pro: ject.

Convention held April 30-May 3 at Chicago's McCormick Inn.

of the Fund during the latter part of the last year was a living testimony to the spirit of devotion animating the friends.

Unfortunately, there are yet outstanding projects for which funds must be found. Not the least of these is the rebuilding of the Louhelen School, a project considered by the National Spiritual Assembly to be necessary to the success of the Seven Year Plan in the United States.

A more mature community faces more serious times. Our endowments are great, our spirits high, ‘our prospects bright.

If we can remember that the community nonetheless is not immune to the decadence that surrounds it, we will protect ourselves with the armor of the Covenant and, holding firmly to the Word of God, foster the Baha'i way of life. For to the extent that we live the life, we will be assured of our identity as a new people and be prepared to face whatever God has willed for us.

[Page 24]PAGINA HISPANA

The American Baha’{

Historica y gloriosa reunion

ALEGREMENTE INFORMAMOS EFECTIVA AFECTUOSA CONSULTA TODO EL DIA SESION CONJUN Unidos

TA 21 FEBRERO CONSEJEROS ARBAB, BURAFATO, COWAN, GARDNER, KING, LAMB, PAVON,

PEREIRA, SCHECHTER, SHERRILL Y TODOS MIEMBROS ASAMBLEA ESPIRITUAL NACIONAL. LIBRE INTERCAMBIO IDEAS AUGURA BIEN CONTINUA SIGNIFICANTE COLABORACION CUMPLIMIENTO METAS SEGUNDA FASE PLAN. RESULTADO INMEDIATO FUE ACUERDO ESTABLECER COMITE INCLUYENDO CUATRO CONSEJEROS CUATRO MIEMBROS AEN PARA EXPLORAR PROCESOS LOGRAR EXPANSION Y CONSOLIDACION SIMULTANEAS HACIA AUMENTO SIN PRECEDENTE NUMEROS ADHERENTES FE RECONOCIDOS. SUPLICAMOS

VUESTRAS ORACIONES. AFECTUOSAMENTE. Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros Américas

Una histdérica primera reunién entre 10 miembros del Cuerpo Continental de Consejeros para las Américas y los nueve miembros de la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los Estados Unidos fue celebrada el 21 de Febrero en Wilmette, IIlinois.

Los Consejeros vinieron de Norte América, Centro América y Sud América. Nunca antes habian reunido Consejeros de tan amplia area geografica con la Asamblea

Espiritual Nacional.

EL CUERPO de Consejeros para las Américas fue creado por la Casa Universal de Justicia en Noviembre pasado cuando designéd a Consejeros para periodos de cinco afios y realineé las zonas geograficas, combinado en una las anteriores zonas de Norte, Centro y Sud América.

La reunién de un dia de duracion en el Haziratu'l-Quds Nacional

y Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los Estados

Febrero 23, 1981

CONTENTOS RESULTADO REUNION DE DIEZ CONSEJEROS TODOS MIEMBROS VUESTRA ASAMBLEA. APROBAR PLENAMENTE PLAN ESTABLECER EQUIPO CONJUNTO EXPLORAR MEDIOS CONECTAR DEPOSITO DE RECURSOS COMUNIDAD BAHA'I SINCERO APOYO PROYECTOS LOGRAR METAS SEGUNDA FASE. CENTRO INTERNACIONAL DE ENSENANZA SE UNE NOSOTROS EN FERVIENTES. ORACIONES EXITO SUS ESFUERZOS. FAVOR COMPARTIR CUERPO CONSEJEROS AMERICAS.

AMERICANA ATRAER

Casa Universal de Justicia Febrero 24, 1981

siguié a las devociones matinales por miembros de las dos instituciones en la Casa de Adoracién Baha’.

El tema principal de discusién fue el interés expresado por miembros de los cuerpos, que las comunidades locales Baha'is tomen plena ventaja de todo lo que ha sido aprendido en las Américas acerca de los procesos gemelos de expansién y consolidacién.

Baha’u'llah y el estandard de paz y hermandad universal

Baha'u'llah es la Gran Manifestacién de Dios, Cuyo advenimiento ha sido predicho por todas las Manifestaciones del pasado. Las religiones divinas de todas las épocas van en la misma direcci6n y tienen lamisma meta: La Fe Baha'i. Son como muchos rios que desembocan en el océano. Cada rio os solitario no como el vasto y poderoso mar, porque el océano es el lugar de reunién de todos esos rios. En la comunidad Baha'i, seguidores de todas las religiones se han unificado. A pesar de que ellos provienen de los cuatro rincones del mundo, han enlazado las manos en una gran Hermandad, una Fe comin.

Nadie sino una Manifestacién de Dios se hubiera atrevido a dirigirse a los que la apresaron, como un rey se dirige a sus vasallos.

Baha'u'llah izé el Estandarte de la paz universal y de hermandad desde Su prisién y a pesar de que todo el mundo se hallaba en Su contra, logré la victoria sobre todos, como Dios habia prometido, en Su suefio. El mensaje de Baha'u'llah influyd los corazones de miles de personas, y muchos de ellos dieron sus vidas por Su causa. A través del poder de la Palabra de Dios y de los sacrificios de Sus seguidores, ahora centenares de miles de personas, que una vez estuvieron divididas bajo diferentes nombres, se han hecho miembros de una sola familia.

El mensaje de Baha'u'llah se esparcidé por las diferentes partes del mundo desde la Tierra Santa como se habia sido predicho en los Libros Sagrados del pasado.

Para los judiios es la Tierra Prometida, de donde la Ley de Dios ira otra vez a todo el mundo. Los cristianos y musulmanes también tienen maravillosas profecias acerca de Tierra Santa la que ha sido su Tierra Santa por muchos siglos. Desde el tiempo en que Baha'u'llah fué exiliado a ‘Akka, la Tierra Santa de las religiones del pasado se ha convertido en el Centro Mundial de la Fe Baha'i.

Principios “Una vida casta y santa debe ser el principio que gobierne el proceder y la conducta de todos los Baha'is tanto en sus relaciones sociales con los miembros de su propia comunidad, como en su contacto con el mundo entero.” (Shoghi Effendi escribe en El Advenimiento de la Justicia Divina, p. 47)

El Guardian continua: “Tal vida casta y santa, con sus implicaciones de modestia, pureza, temperancia, decencia y mentalidad clara, comprende no menos que el ejercicio da la moderacién en todo lo que concierne al vestido, lenguaje, entretenimiento y todos

que goviernan la conducta social

los pasatiempos artisticos y literarios. Esta exige la vigilancia diaria en el control de nuestros deseos carnales o inclinaciones corruptas. Requiere el abandono de una conducta frivola, con su excesivo apego a los placeres triviales y con frecuencia, erréneamente dirigidos.

“Requiere la total abstinencia de toda bebida alcohdlica, del opio y de drogas similares que forman habito. Condena a la prostitucién del arte y la literatura, las practicas del nudismo y del matrimonio en compafierismo, la infidelidad en las relaciones matrimoniales y

Medio para la salvacion

La proclamacién de la Unidad de la Humanidad—la piedra angular principal del dominio todo comprehensivo de Baha’u'llah—no puede ser comparado bajo ninguna circunstancia con tales expresiones de piadosa esperanza como las que han sido expresadas en el pasado...implica a la vez ul advertencia y una promesa—una advertencia, que en ella yace el unico medio para la salvacion de un mundo profundamente sufriente, una promesa, que su realizacion esta a la mano. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 47)

Prejudicio, sea religioso, racial, patridtico o politico en su origen y aspecto es el destructor de los fundamentos humanos y opuesto a los mandatos de Dios. Dios ha enviado Sus Profetas con el unico propdsito de crear amor y unidad en el mundo de los corazones humanos. Todos los libros celestiales son la palabra escrita de amor ...No deberia haber desunién de razas o division nacional entre la humanidad ...Ha sido decretado por Dios en este dia que estos prejudicios y diferencias deberan dejarse de lado. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 310)

La prolacién de Dios en una lampara, cuya luz son estas palabras: Sois frutos de un solo arbol y las hojas de una sola rama. Proceded el uno con el otro con maximo amor y armonia, con amistad y compaiierismo. Aquél, quien es el Sol de la Verdad, es mi testigo! Tan potente es la luz de la unidad, que puede iluminar toda la tierra. El Dios unico y vardadero, quien conoce todas las co: atestigua El mismo la verdad de estas palabras.

Esforzaos para que alcancéis esta transcendente y muy sublime posicién, posicién que puede asegurar la proteccién y seguridad de toda la humanidad. Esta meta supera todas las demas metas y esta piracion es la reina de todas las aspiraciones. (Baha’u'llah, Epistola al Hijo del Lobo, p. 13)

toda forma de promiscuidad, de facil intimidad y de vicios sexuales. Esta no puede tolerar ninguna avenencia con las teorias, las normas, los habitos y los excesos de una época decadente. Por el contrario, ésta trata de demostrar por medio de la fuerza dinamica de su ejemplo, el caracter pernicioso de

“Las Ensefianzas Baha'is en

ésta materia, | cual es de vital imdemandas, la perversidad de tales _portancia y acerca de la cual hay habitos y el caracter sacrilego de tal amplia divergencia de opitales excesos.” niones, son muy claras y enfaticas.”” De cuando en cuando se le pregunta a la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional si se puede pedir a un miembro de la Asamblea Espiritual Local que se ausente de la parte de la reunién de Asambiea en la cual se consultaria un problema y en el cual, él esta involucrado.

La Casa Universal de Justicia, en una carta a la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de los Estados Unidos, fechada el 23 de Abril de 1964, escribid lo siguiente con respecto a esta materia:

“Concerniente a la pregunta de

tales teorias, la falsedad de tales normas, la frivolidad de tales

En una carta a través de su secretario, el Guardian escribié en Septiembre 5 de 1938:

Los Baha'is arriban a la 72da Convencion Baha'i Nacional.

Uso del Mas Grande Nombre

El simbolo de le Mas Grande Nombre es un simbolo sagrado de la Fé Baha’i.

El uso de este simbolo es protegido legalmente para uso Baha’! apropiado bajo la registracién de marcas por la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional a través de la Oficina de Patentes de Estados Unidos.

A causa del significado del Simbolo, se debe exhibir solamente en Centros Baha'is u hogares y generalmente no deberia ser usado en conexién con fotos

publicitarias, es decir, fotos que aparecen en medios noticieros.

Se ha notado que algunas comunidades y Grupos han usado el simbolo en fotos noticieras para identificar las personas en la foto como Baha'is.

El simbolo de el Mas Grande Nombre no debe usarse para exhibiciones en ferias, o exposiciones en vitrinas acerca de la Fé.

Ademas, el simbolo no debe ser utilizado en programas, o en literatura que se da.

la presencia de un miembro de una Asamblea durante la discusién de su problema personal, todos los miembros de una Asamblea Espiritual tienen el derecho y el deber de participar en todas reuniones de la Asamblea. La Asamblea no puede pedir a un miembro que se ausente de una reunién de Asamblea llamada en debida forma.

“Si una Asamblea, que no es consciente de esta instruccién, decidiera de otro modo, el miembro debe no obstante, obedecer a la Asamblea. Si él siente a conciencia que se ha hecho una injusticia, su recurso seria apelar la decisién de la Asamblea.””

Nueva direccion

La Asamblea Espiritual Nacional desea a a los amigos que el nuevo numero de teléfono para el Centro Nacional Baha’i y la Casa de Adoracién es: 312-869-9039. Por favor dirigir correspondencia a Baha’i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

| SOE SPSS SPS PS A A SSAC RTE EE SE SS TE,

[Page 25]

PAGINA HISPANA |

dune 1981

Green Acre presenta clases en castellano

El 4 y 5 de Abril, se llevd a cabo el segundo fin de semana hispano anual en Green Acre. Llegaron 21 adultos y 8 niflos, representando los paises de Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, México, Puerto Rico, Brasil, Portugal, y los EEUU.

Hubo una gran realizados totalmente en espafol. El encargado de los programas, el Sr. Dick Grover, comenté6 de que raramente se siente tanto espiritu en las sesiones de Green Acre.

LAS CLASES trataron los siguientes temas: El Papel de la Fe en Nuestra Vida Diaria, dada por Gustavo Correa; La Vida despues de la Muerte, por Susan Nossa; la Educacion de los Niflos, por Jorge Nossa; la Unidad en Diversidad, por Susan Marafién.

La participacion en las discusiones fue muy animada de parte

de todos. El fin de samana dio muchos resultados: dos personas

declararon su fe en Baha'u'llah, Miguel Castro de Puerto Rico, y José Esquivel de Costa Rica.

La familia Nossa se comprometié de ir de pioneros a Colombia. Para el programa de Green Acre, el fin de semana del Cuarto de Julio fue designado para una conferencia entitulada “Un- Solo Mundo,” en la cual se espera la participacion de la comunidad hispana ademas de otros grupos.

antes eschucharon ias de la entrada de muchos nuevos Baha'is de habla hispana en la area de San Francisco, y aceptaron el desafio, formaron planes para ensefiar en Worcester, Massachusetts, el fin de semana de 25 y 26 de Abril, con la esperanza de empezar la entrada en Ia Fe en grandes numeros entre la comunidad hispana de Nueva Inglaterra.

Sugerencias Para Educar a los Nifios

Durante la discusion de la “Educacién de los Nifios,” se formé una lista de sugerencias de como podemos ensefiar la Fe a nuestros nifios todos los dias:

1. Hablar de la Fe durante o después de la cena, en la mesa.

2. Al llegar del trabajo, apagar la television, sentarse con los nifios, y dibujar y hablar con ellos acerca de cualidades espirituales.

3. Respetarles a _ los padres—saludarles al llegar a la casa, por ejemplo.

4. Decirles o cantarles una “Palabra Oculta” al levantarse o a dormirse.

5. Abrazar a los nifios.

6. Orar por los nifios todos los dias.

7, Pedirles a los nifios, que recen por uno durante el ayuno, o durante una prueba o tarea dificil.

8. Usar las actitudes de premio y

Aldrededor del mundo

‘Sri Lanka

Numerosas personas declararon Su fe en Baha'u'llah durante una reciente pyoclamacién publica de nueve dias en el Haziratu'l-Quds en Colombo, Sri Lanka, lo que atrajo una‘ corriente continua de centenares de visitantes de formacién cristiana, hindu, musulmana y zoroasi ina.

La recepcién en el Centro Baha'i, que incluy6 exposiciones de literatura Baha'i y carteles ademas de charlas por los creyentes, fue iniciado con palab

ras del coordinador y secretario de la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de Sri Lanka. Oradores en la ceremonia de inauguracién de la proclamacién incluyeron al secretario permanente del Ministerio de Asuntos Culturales.

El evento de una semana de duracién y que fue extendido por dos dias adicionales, recibié amplia publicidad en los diarios y en la radio. Varios visitantes al Centro Baha'i asistieron a reunjones como resultado de los esfuerzos de la proclamacién.

de castigo para cultivar las accione buenas en los nifios, pero no usar castigo fisico.

9. Hacer que participen los nifios en las fiestas y reuniones Baha'is; que preparen coros, dramas, bailes folcléricos, con mucha _anticipacién, y anunciarles de antemano.

10. Estimular a los nifios en la direccion de sus talentos o inclinaciones, y cultivar estos talentos dentro de actividades Baha'is.

11. Hacer funciones y clases Baha'is especiales para los nifos.

12. Dar clases de como educar a los nifios en un ambiente Baha'i a la comunidad y a los padres de familia.

13. Escojer y desarrollar el ambiente en que vamos a criar a nuestros nifios.

14. Oir las opiniones de los nifios, y....

15. Explicar a los nifios por qué no pueden hacer algo, o por qué se hacen ciertas cosas.

Amigos Latinos unidos y fel

ces en Green Acre.

Muy exitosa campana de ensenanza se logran cuatro nuevas Asambleas

Por el tercer afio consecutivo, el Comite de Distrito de Ensefanza para el Sur de New México y Oeste de Texas planificé y llevé a cabo una exitosa campafia de ensefianza durante los dias festivos de Diciembre.

Los resultados de 12 dias de ensefianza en la frontera incluyeron cuatro nuevas Asambleas, nueve localidades abiertas a la Fe y 121 enrolamientos.

EN ADICION a estas victorias, otras tres comunidades tienen bastantes Baha'is para formar sus Asambieas.

Esto fue logrado por tres a cinco equipos (siete a diez personas) de ensefanza.

El resultado excedi6 la am: biciosa meta del Comite de Ensefanza de formar cuatro nuevas Asambleas, abrir tres localidades, fortalecer otros Grupos y asegurar por lo menos 100 enrolamientos.

La campafa se iniciéd con una Conferencia en un fin de semana en Carlsbad, New México, conducida por el Miembro de Cuerpo Auxiliar Sr. Ernest Bruss, quien guio a los amigos a traves de una serie de actividades que requerian la participacién activa de todos los presentes.

Despues de una reunion hogarefia en una tarde de Sabado, una sefiora declaré su Fe en Baha’u'lláh y prontamente se unid a los equipos de ensefanza.

Luego de algunas instrucciones, el Domingo en la tarde se enviaron dos equipos a Las Cruces, a cuatro horas en auto de Carlsbad.

San Miguel y Rincon, comunidades rurales a una hora de Las Cruces, fueron metas de primera prioridad para la formacién de Asambleas.

Miguel, reuniéd y formé su Asamblea en dos dias, dedicando sus esfuerzos a la Asamblea Espiritual Nacional de Iran,

Ese equipo luego se unié al otro equipo en Rincdn, donde al final del dia habian siete declaraciones, un numero significante ya que la ensefanza ahi fue dedicada a los Siete Martires de Yazd.

La Asamblea en Rincon fue formada al dia siguiente, con la eleccién ya lista, a la puesta de sol del 24 de Diciembre.

En Lovington, a dos horas al este de Carlsbad y la tercera localidad meta para una Asam: blea, hubieron ocho declaraciones durante la semana, elevando el numero de creyentes a 13.

El Viernes 27 de Diciembre, mientras dos equipos ensefaron en Pequefias comunidades cerca de Carisbad, otro equipo tomé un viaje de tres horas a Alpine, Texas, justo al otro lado de Ia frontera de dos condados no ablertos, en el sector de Texas Oeste del Distrito.

Después de abrir Marfa el equipo pidid permiso para viajar 90 millas al sur de Alpine a las comunidades fronterizas no abiertas de Presidio, Texas, y Ojinaga, México.

En tres dias de ensefanza ahi, éste equipo de dos creyentes viajando 180 millas cada dia, encontraron 25 almas que declararon ‘su Fe en Baha'u'llah.

LUEGO, dos equipos mas se juntaron al primero y después de dos dias adicionales de ensefanza hubieron 30 declaraciones en Ojinaga y 21 en Presidio.

Dos Baha'is de Denver, Colorado, quienes viajaron 800 millas para participar, fueron enviados 100 millas mas al sur a Van Horn, Texas, a dos horas al este de El Paso, donde se habia radicado un pionero.

numero de creyentes en Van Horn fue elevado a 15 y el dos de Enero se formé ahi la cuarta Asamblea de 1a campafia.

Mientras tanto, dos dias de ensefianza en Alpine por dos equipos, resultaron en 12 declaraciones, incluyendo nueve aldultos, preparando el camino para la formacién de su Asamblea en un futuro cercano.

En e] Sabado final del proyecto, dos equipos al regreso a sus hogares abrieron dos localidades en el area de EI Paso incluyendo la Reservacién Tigua.

Aquellos que participaron en el Proyecto fueron:

New Mexico Norte—Chris Cholas, Belen; Dorie Scher, Jemez Springs; Sharon Smith, Grants.

New Mexico Sur y Texas Oeste—Sara Simon y Mary Lou Holland, Carlsbad; Tim Mullen, Las Cruces; Richard y Margaret Gurinsky, Mescalero; Liz Welch, Van “Horn; Oscar Arrambide, Susan Hill, Sergio Ortiz y Mahnaz Rowhanian, EI Paso.

Colorado—Joan Hoover y Judy Courtwright, Denver.

lowa—Kim Odiase, Ames. Louisiana—Mehnoosh Zaeri, Broussard. Texas—Shirley Ibsen, Alpine.

QUE HAY DE NUEVO EN SU COMUNIDAD?

“La Pagina Hispana” es para todos los amigos de habla hispana ty el némero esta creciendo! Si Ud. © su grupo tiene alguna noticia sobre ensefianza, una fiesta que han celebrado, o cualquier actividad que desean compartir con todos los Baha'is hispanos, enviela a:

jational Center Wilmette, IL 60091

Los niflos Baha'is también participan’ en la Convencion Baha'i Nacional. UN EQUIPO ensefiando en San En tres dias de ensefanza el

[Page 26]

The American Baha'i

26

in The American Baha’i

More than 600 Baha'is from the U.S,, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands set sail aboard the S.S. New Bahama Star for the historic Baha'i Oceanic Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, one of eight Continental and Oceanic Conferences called for by the Universal House of Justice to stimulate teaching and proclamation efforts designed to win the goals of the Nine Year Plan.

In Jamaica, the friends are joined by more than 500 other Baha'is representing nearly every country in Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean including many new believers from Jamaica itself where advance teams have enrolled more than 1,000 Baha'is in the weeks preceding the conference.

Participants at the conference, held May 21-23, include the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem, representing the Universal House of Justice, and the Hand of the Cause John Robarts from Canada.

The Hands of the Cause talk via a special telephone hook-up with participants at the South Pacific Oceanic Conference in Suva, Fiji.

Among the speakers at the Caribbean Conference is His Excellency Sir Clifford Campbell, the governor-general of Jamaica. ,

In response to a call from the Universal House of Justice, 90 believers at the Jamaica Conference volunteer to serve as pioneers or traveling teachers.

More than 15 crew members of the New Bahama Star become Baha’is during the cruise to and from Jamaica ...

The Spiritual Assembly of Jackson, Mississippi, plays host to a well-attended statewide “unity gathering” at a local park...

Hooper Dunbar, a Continental Counsellor for South America, begins a six-week trip to Indian Reservations in the Southwestern U.S. and the northern Plains area, bringing a mesage of love from the indigenous believers in South America. y

Counsellor Dunbar visits Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne, Assiniboine, Chippewa, Blackfeet, Flathead, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Navajo and Apache Reservations while native believers in South America offer prayers for his journey.

The message they send via Mr. Dunbar expresses the hope that Indian believers in this country will become strengthened and grow in numbers so that they can arise and fulfill the great destiny promised the Indian peoples by ‘Abdu'l-Baha ...

Don't Delay! Order Now for District Convention! The Baha'i Publishing Trust 523 Green Bay Road Wilmette, IL 60091

Ken Michalove (left foreground), the city manager of Asheville, North Caro: lina, is congratulated by city officials after receiving the third annual Human Rights Award last December 7 trom the Spiritual Assemblies of

Asheville and Buncombe County. At the far left is Auxiliary Board member Dr. William Tucker of Asheville; at the right is keynote speaker Dr. Jane Faily of Ottawa, Canada.

Asheville, North Carolina, gives 3rd annual Human Rights Award

About 100 people including the mayor of Asheville, North Carolina, and four members of the city council attended the third annual Human Rights Award banquet last December 7 sponsored by the Spiritual Assemblies of Asheville and Buncombe County.

This year's recipient was Ken Michalove, the city manager of Asheville, who was recognized for a firm commitment to human rights that is manifested in his outStanding public service to alt the citizens of Asheville and Buncombe County.

THE ANNUAL award banquet commemorates United Nations Human Rights Day.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Jane Faily, a clinical psychologist who is chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Ottawa, Canada.

Michael Hughey, a member of

the Asheville Baha'i community, served as chairman of the meeting. Mr. Michalove's award was presented by Mary Eury, a Baha'i youth from Buncombe County.

The banquet was well covered by the local newspaper and was included in the evening news on local television.

Further publicity was generated when Mr. Michalove’s award was mentioned in an issue of the regional government magazine, Southern City.

In addition, the Asheville paper carried a feature article about Dr. Faily’s address on December 6 toa meeting of the Western North Carolina chapter of the United Nations Association. ,

The article was written by the paper's editorial page editor, who is president of the UN Association chapter.

Cassettes

Continued From Page 16

Boards of Counselors compilation in emphasizing the value of that institution in the progress of the Faith.

Another tape that should be used with the Continental Boards of Counselors compilation is A Moment with the Institution of the Continental Board of Counselors (Catalog No. 831-076-10, $7), a presentation by Counsellor Edna True and four members of the Auxiliary Board that contains priceless reminiscences of the Master and early U.S. believers, inspirational guidance for teaching and pioneering, and practical advice on handling opposition to the Faith.

An ideal tape for children is Stories from “The Dawn-Breakers”

(Catalog No. 831-025-10, set of four cassettes, $25) in which Mr. Sears offers dramatic accounts of the heroism of the Bab and of the Babi martyrs to a group of children in this series of stories adapted from the book of the same name.

These tapes are excellent for both personal study and group discussion. To order any of them, see your Baha'i community librarian or use the handy order form on Page 4 of the Mini-Catalog in this issue of The American Baha'i.

Coming soon...

“The Champion-Builders”— profiles of stalwart early believers who helped build the Administrative Order in the U.S.

Watch for it in The American Bal

Answers to vocabulary quiz for study session

VOCABULARY QUIZ ANSWERS:

1. (b) Punishment. “Know ye of a certainty that if.ye turn not back from that which ye have committed, chastisement will overtake you ‘on every side

2. (b) Spiritually unchanged. “God, the Vigilant, the Just, the Loving, the All-Wise Ordainer, can, in this supreme Dispensation, neither allow the sins of an unregenerate humanity, whether of omission or commission, go unpunished, nor will He be willing to abandon His children to their fate, and refuse them that culminating and blissful stage in their long, their slow and painful evolution throughout the ages, which is at once their inalienable right and their true destiny.” (p. 4)

3. (b) Punishing. “This judgment of God, as viewed by those who have recognized Baha'u'llah as His Mouthpiece and His greatest Messenger on earth, is both a retributory calamity and an act of holy and supreme discipline.” (p. 4)

4. (a) Exterminate. “Nor did the deliberate and mischievous misrepresentations of its fundamental teachings, its aims and purposes, its hopes and aspirations, its institutions and activities, suffice to stay the hand of the oppressor and the calumniator, who sought by every means in their power to abolish its name and extirpate its system.” (p. 7)

5. (c) Reprieved. “For a whole century God has respited mankind, that it might acknowledge the Founder of such a Revelation, espouse His Cause, proclaim His greatness, and establish His Order.” (p. 6)

6. (c) Pertaining to the church. “It would be no exaggeration to say that in most of the countries of the European and Asiatic Continents absolutism, on the one hand, and complete subservience to ecclesiastical hierarchies, on the other, were still the outstanding features of the political and religious life of the masses.” (p. 19)

7. (db) Receivers. “It should not be forgotten that it was the kings of the earth and the world’s religious leaders who, above all other categories of men, were made the direct recipients of the Message proclaimed by both the Bab and Baha'u'llah.” (p. 19)

8. (c) Reprimands. “It was they (the kings) who were deliberately addressed in numerous and historic Tablets, who were summoned to respond to the Call of God, and to whom were directed, in clear and forcible language, the appeals, the admonitions and warnings of A persecuted Messengers.” (p. 1

9. (d) Elaborated. “Small wonder that they (the Bab and Baha'u'llah) should have taken the pains to unroll before their (the. rulers’) eyes the truths of Their respective Revelations, and should have expatiated on their woes and suffer-. ings.” (p. 19)

10. (a) Supreme. “Where are the preeminent exponents, whether of

the arts or sciences, with the exception of a few isolated cases, who have lifted a finger, or whispered a word of commendation, in either the defense or the praise of a Faith that has conferred upon the world so priceless a benefit, that has suffered so long and grievously, and which enshrines within its shell so enthralling a promise for a world so woefully battered, so manifestly bankrupt?” (p. 14)

11. (c) Principles. “The first signalizes the death-pangs of an” order, effete and godless, that has stubbornly refused, despite the signs and portents of a century-old Revelation, to attune its processes to the precepts and ideals which that Heaven-sent Faith proffered it.” (@. 17)

12. (a) Outlawed. “Was He (Baha'u'llah) not the One Who by assuming the actual leadership of a proscribed and harassed sect exposed Himself, and His kindred, and His possessions, and His rank, and His reputation to the grave perils, the bloody assaults, the general spoliation and furious defamations of both government and people?” (p. 10)

13. (c) Fire. “How insistently did He (‘Abdu'l-Baha) forshadow the impending chaos, the approaching upheavals, the universal conflagration which, in the concluding years of His life, had only begun to reveal the measure of its force and the significance of its impact on human society.” (p. 15)

14. (b).Rulers. “Was He not—He for Whom the Bab had suffered and died in such tragic circumstances—made, for nearly half a century and under the domination of the two most powerful potentates of the East, the object of a systematic and concerted conspiracy which, in its effects and duration, is scarcely paralelled in the annals of previous religions?” (p. 9)

15. (a) Alleviation. “Though ignorant of how far it (this titanic upheaval) will reach, they (the followers of Baha'u'llah) clearly recog: nize its genesis, are aware of its direction, acknowledge its necessity, observe confidently its mysterious processes, ardently pray for the mitigation of its severity, intelligently labor to assuage its fury, and anticipate, with undimmed vision, the consummation of the fears and the hopes it must necessarily engender.” (p. 4)

Conference set

The third annual Massanetta Springs Conference in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia will be held over the Labor Day weekend.

It was previously thought that the conference might not be held due to difficulty in securing the conference center.

The conference opens Friday evening, September 4, and ends that Sunday. Pre-registration information will soon be sent to Assemblies.

Look for further details about the conference in future issues of The American Baha’.

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[Page 27]

The American Baha’i

dune 1981 2 jf

KINDLY CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY KATHELYNEA KELLUM AND ASSURANCE FERVENT PRAYERS PROGRESS SOUL DISTINGUISHED JOURNALIST DAVID KELLUM FOR MANY YEARS STRONG PILLAR CAUSE CHI CAGO COMMUNITY. Universal House of Justice March 22, 1981

WE ARE DEEPLY SADDENED BY THE PASSING OF DAVID KELLUM WHOSE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS AS A JOURNALIST AND HUMANITARIAN WERE SURPASSED ONLY BY HIS LONG YEARS OF DEVOTED SERVICES AT THE MOTHER TEMPLE OF THE WEST AND HIS STAUNCH CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE CHICAGO BAHA'I COMMUNITY. HE WILL BE LOVINGLY AND GRATEFULLY REMEMBERED, AS WILL YOU, IN OUR FERVENT PRAYERS WHEN THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY GATHER IN THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND. MAY HIS ILLUMINED SOUL EVER ADVANCE THROUGHOUT THE WORLDS OF

"National Spiritual Assembly March 23, 1981

David W. Kellum, a member of the Baha'i community of Chicago, Mlinois, since 1964 and an editor and reporter for the Chicago Daily Defender for about 30 years, died March 20 at the age of 77.

Mr. Kellum, a native of Greenville, Mississippi, attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism before joining the Defender as a copy editor in 1923.

The following year he founded Chicago's: nationally-famous Bud Billiken Day parade and picnic,

David W. Kellum, prominent Chicago believer, dead at 77

ot POS DAVID W. KELLUM

(Photo courtesy of the Chicago Defender)

sponsored by the Defender, and soon became known to untold thousands of people as Bud Billiken.

The Bud Billiken Club was form: ed by Mr. Kellum as a means of curbing delinquency and improving citizenship/ and goog pill among young people. He devoted most of his life to molding youngsters into good citizens.

Mr. Kellum left the Defender in 1953 and founded the Kellum Employment Agency in Chicago.

After accepting the Faith in 1964, Mr. Kellum served as chairman’ and vice-chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Chicago.

Besides his wife, Kathelynea, Mr. Kellum is survived by a son, James D. Kellum, and one granddaughter.

Foundation Hall at the Baha'i House of Worship became an animated motion picture studio during the Febtuary filming of ‘The Rhythm of Growth’, a new 16mm film that des: cribes the National Spiritual Assembly’s over-all plan for systematic ex: pansion and consolidation of the Faith

during the second phase of the Seven Year Plan. The narrators are profes sional announcers Louise Hunt of Mil: waukee, Wisconsin, and Ernest Perry of Chicago. The animated film, pre

viewed at the 1980 National Convention, was shown in its entirety at the 72nd National Convention this year.

SER SR RTE AN ERC TSE ESET ES I SE A AE I

Accession: 1st step in archival control

This is the second in a four-part ives written Archives

Committee.

Accessioning: Accessioning is the process of gaining initial physical and intellectual control over a collection when it first arrives in the archives.

The archivist must know what he has and where it is at all times. Physical control means that the archivist can locate a collection at a moment's notice.

INTELLECTUAL control furnishes the archivist, or archives committee, information about the nature of the new collection: the type of records, their content, their range of dates, and their physical condition.

When a collection arrives, the archivist should fill out an accession sheet, listing the donor, accession number, title of collection, brief description of contents, dates, restrictions if any, and quantity.

Three copies of the accession sheet are made—the first to be filed by accession number, the second by name of donor, and the third to remain with the collection. A receipt or deed of gift should be given to the donor.

Processing: Processing a collection means putting the collection into its final arrangement so that it will be ready for researchers to use.

Often the arrangement of the collection when it arrives at the archives is sufficient and no changes are needed, but sometimes the collection arrives in disarray or its arrangement would make it difficult for researchers to find items.

IN SUCH CASES the archivist may want to make changes in the original order of the collection.

Once the final arrangement is decided upon, the archivist puts the papers into acid-free folders and boxes. The folders are labeled

in pencil with a description of their .

contents and placed in boxes according to the desired arrangement.

Labels listing the collection title, collection number, and box number are placed on the boxes. During processing all paper clips and rubber bands are removed as they can damage paper.

Also, non-manuscript items, such as relics, periodicals, books, photographs, tapes, films, and disc records should be separated and separate files set up for them, as they require somewhat different physical handling and description.

Original letters — from ‘Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi should also be separated from the

Correction

The appearance of Frederick U. Redding’s name in the “In Memoriam” column (March 1981) was an error. Mr. Redding is alive and well and an active member of the Baha'i community of California.

Our sincere apology for the error.

Alameda, .

collection, photocopied, and the originals sent to the National Baha'i Archives if possible.

All archives should use acid-free folders if possible, but the size of the acid-free boxes in which the folders are stored may vary.

‘Small archives, especially those in private homes and those that are subject to frequent moves as archivists change, should store their records in record storage boxes, each of which holds about a cubic foot of records.

These are sturdy and can easily be carried or stacked on top of one

another. In addition, they can hold both letter- and legal-sized folders, as well as most other kinds of archival materials.

Archives that have more permanent quarters, such as a room in a Baha'i Center, should use document boxes, which are smaller than record storage boxes and are easier for the researcher to handle.

For more information on the ong ation and maintenance of a Baha'i archives please write to the National Baha'i Archives Committee, Baha'i National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

In memoriam

Stacy Adams Bakersfield, Calif. Date Unknown

Mrs. Thelma Allison Inglewood, Calif February 27, 1981

Rahim Baba’i Riverside, Calif. March 15, 1981

William Bagwell Roswell, New Mexico March 29, 1981

Robert Browner Gainesville, Ga. March 14, 1981

Mrs, Essie E. Cannon Vinings, Georgia February 12, 1981

Alvin Columbus Morton, Minnesota Date Unknown

Claude Cooper Lake City, S.C. November 1980

Miss Noverlean Cooper Lake City, S.C. March 15, 1981

Mrs. Olive Craig Edgemont, California December 29, 1980

Clarence C. Creager Madison, Wisconsin December 26, 1980

Mrs. Eula May Davis Lufkin, Texas Date Unknown

Mrs. Florence Fisher Troy, Michigan March 31, 1981

Mrs. Lizzie Holden Madison, Alabama February 1980

Raymond Huston Naples, Florida Date Unknown

Mrs. Jeanne Jeffers La Guna Nigue, Calif. Date Unknown

Joe Jefferson Madison, Alabama Date Unknown

William D. Jenkins Pineville, S.C. Date Unknown

Amado L. Jiminez Benson, Arizona January 1981

Mrs. Carrie Johnson Naples, Florida Date Unknown

David Johnson Las Vegas, Nevada March 17, 1981

Mrs, Julia Knoerr Oconomowoc, Wis. August 1979

Curtis Madden Bremerton, Wash. March 31, 1981

Alonzo Miller Earlsboro, Okla. Date Unknown

Mrs. Marie Nadler Miami Beach, Fla. March 31, 1981

Douglas B. Norvell Jacksonville, I December 1980

Mrs. Ollie Patterson Kershaw, S. Carolina March 22, 1981

James Ponder Naples, Florida Date Unknown

Yvonne G. Rucker Auburn, Washington March 6, 1981

Mannie Sander Naples, Florida Date Unknown

Arthur Siebert Lakewood, Ohio September 8, 1980

Mrs. Rosalee Snipes Maxton, N. Carolina December 1980

Duane Tapani Beaverton, Mich. Date Unknown

Mrs. Amelia Taylor South Hill, Virginia November 1978

Norman Thigpen Jersey City, NJ. March 29, 1981

Nancy Vorlage Duarte, California February 13, 1981

Mrs. Lillie Mae Davis Mose Moore David Walker Edison, Georgia Madison, Alabama Frederick, Okla.

May 1980 March 1981 September 1979 Daisy Eagle Mrs. Henrieta McCray John Walker Montrose, Colorado Pineville, S.C. Naples, Florida March 25, 1981 March 1981 Date Unknown Phillip Erby James McCray John Walker Springfield, Mo. Pineville, S.C. Kershaw, S. Carolina March 8, 1981 Date Unknown March 19, 1981

Charles Fauset San Francisco, Calif. January 15, 1981

Miss Olga Finke Atlanta, Georgia March 17, 1981

Virgil McKinnis Quincy, Florida Date Unknown

Martin Wilson Moncks Corner, S.C. March 2, 1981

Mrs. Ethel McLaughlin Maxton, N. Carolina January 1981

[Page 28]

Second Class Postage Paid

Baha’i garners top prize from reading association

Dr. William Diehl, coordinator of reading for special studies at the University of Georgia and a member of the Baha'i community of Clarke County, has received the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award from the International Reading Association (IRA).

IRA is one of the largest professional organizations for educators, with more than 65,000 members in 80 countries.

DR. ODIEHL’S dissertation—chosen from more than 100 entries—examines the literacy demands and abilities encountered in a range of occupations and draws some important implications for adult education and job training

programs. A portrait of Dr. Diehl and a biographical sketch will be per manently displayed at the IRA national headquarters. In the bio

• graphical sketch, and in the dissertation, the Baha'i Faith is mentioned several times.

Dr. Diehl, a graduate of Indiana University, is the author of a number of books and articles on reading and adult literacy.

In addition, he has been developing a literacy-deepening program for potential use with Baha'is in mass-taught areas, and would be happy to communicate with Baha'is who have an interest in or questions about reading or adult literacy.

Dr. Diehl’s address is 106 Clark Howell Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

Youth

Continued From Page 1

also will be held at the conference. Among the more than 20 topics to be covered are:

Youth: An Example to Society; Personal Problem-Solving; Baha'i Scholars! Preparation for Marriage; Teaching All Strata of Society; The Seven Year Plan; and Effective Communication Skills.

While the conference is. aimed primarily at Baha'i youth from Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, Mexico and the U.S., a special invitation to attend has been extended to preyouth (ages 12 to 14) and to seekers who are hosted by their Baha'i friends and who have a good understanding of the Teachings of the Faith.

A number of summer teaching Projects are being planned to follow the conference.

Included are overseas projects in such countries as Belize, Norway, Jamaica, Guatemala, and the Leeward and Virgin Islands; domestic projects in the U.S. itself; and border teaching efforts along the U.S/Canadian and U.S./Mexican borders.

For details of these projects or for registration and other information concerning the Kansas City conference, please see the youth pages in The American Baha'i or contact the National Youth Committee.

DR. WILLIAM DIEHL

At Wilmette, ea Minois June 1981 | - | Name Mis a Be ae | Moving? Miss Fullname 00 NOT use nicknames Tell us your eskonce address new address House of Space Number, Street, of Description ] Te, avold unnecessary delays in ceiving your copies ‘of The eee | (lean Bal nd your new ad- City St Zip Code i 1088 and yout mai Mail | clages your 10 number to the Of Aodress I fof Membership and Records, Baha! Rural Route, of Post Oifice Box Number nah Center, 112 Linden Avenve, 1 IL 60091, as soon as you 1 know that you are going to move and City State Zip Code | wnat your new acgress will be. We | sill eo'our best to ste that cnanges Yew Bands are processed quickly so that the Commun! WY eter, aehera ig nacean rede [eras eae Name of Local Assembly, group, oF isolated locality where this person resides i J) scomlished win al possibespeea Moving Date ! | Mailing label should accompany address change form Baha’ National Center, Wilmette, Illinois 60: | Clip along dotted line. Mailing label should accompany address change form. |

— —_

Delaware meeting hails ‘4 Baha’i Women’

More than 200 Baha'is and their guests from eight states were present April 5 at the Plaza Centre in Wilmingtoh, Delaware, for a conference entitled “Four Baha'i Women" sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of New Castle County, Delaware.

The conference dealt generally with the influence of women on the history and character of the Faith, and specifically with the contributions of four women who served the Cause during the time of the Bab, Baha'u'llah, ‘Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi:

• ° Bahiyyih Khanum, “the

Greatest Holy Leat” (whose life was chronicled by Auxiliary Board member Javidukht Khadem of Skokie, Illinois).

• The Babi poetess Tahirih (by

Dianne Nichols of Newark, Delaware).

• Lua Getsinger (by Sandra Todd

of Wilmington, Delaware).

• The Hand of the Cause of God

Dorothy Baker (by Anne Ighani of Bel Air, Maryland).

Participants came from as far away as North Dakota and Washington state. The conference was

You're never too old to accept the Message

The fact that one is never too old to accept the Message of Baha'u'llah was proved again March 26 when Elizabeth Earll of Placerville, California, declared her belief in God's Messenger for today.

Ms. Earll was born May 29, 1880, in Lincoln, England. She was only two months shy of her 101st birthday when she signed her card.

For the last four years she has lived at the Placerville Pines Convalescent Home where she came in contact with the Faith.

When it was mentioned that Ms.

“Earl could help the friends teach

the Faith from the Abha Kingdom, she replied quickly, “How. do we know I'll be there first

advertised via 2,000 flyers sent to Baha'i homes in four mid-Atlantic states and to Assemblies and District Teaching Committees in six others.

Children’s classes were conducted by Katherine Sands of New Castle County whose presentations also reflected the contributions of women to the Faith.

A highlight of the conference was a play written and acted by the children.

In the play, a girl named Dorothy falls asleep while reading the Seven Year Plan. She dreams of the importance of following the Plan to become a better Baha’i.

In the dream, Dorothy meets an (unconsolidated) scarecrow, a tin man (without the heart for teaching), and a (cowardly) lion.

These friends help her avoid the temptations of the Wicked Witch of Self and achieve an understanding of the spirit of the Plan.

The entire conference was videotaped for future use by others.

In the photo at left, Sandra Todd of Wilmington, Delaware, speaks about the Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker during a conference entitled ‘Four Baha'i Women’ held April 5m Wilmington. At right, Auxiliary Board

member Javidukht Khadem reviews the life and contributions of Bahiyyih Khaénum, ‘the Greatest Holy Leaf.’ The conference was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of New Castle County, Delaware.

Faith moves steadily forward in South Carolina news media

During one week in March the Faith was mentioned on more than 200 radio stations and in more than 160 newspapers in South Carolina, according to Elwin Howard of Columbia, chairman of the state’s Publicity Task Force.

The four-member task force, appointed by the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee, is comprised of Mr. Howard; David Gordon of Taylors; Annette Jennings of Orangeburg, and Dr. Annette Young of Easley.

Mr. Howard estimates that as many as 3.5 million. newspaper readers and seven million radio listeners in South Carolina may have read articles about the Faith or heard it mentioned on radio during the period of the fast.

The Publicity Task Force sent

news releases about the fast to 214 newspapers in the state.

Three hundred eighty-five radio stations were requested to play the song “Hummingbird” by Seals and Crofts and to dedicate it to the Baha'is who were observing their annual fast.

The task force then made spot checks in each geographical area of the state to determine the effectiveness of the campaign.

The task force is now preparing a newspaper article about the unique architectural character of the Baha'i House of Worship that is being constructed in India.

That article, accompanied by photos of the lotus-shaped Temple, will be mailed to about 200 newspapers in South Carolina.

Paper route used to proclaim Faith A Baha'i family in Orange, Vir ginia, used its family paper route to proclaim the Faith during Ayyam-iHa.

Mr. and Mrs. A.W. McNett and their three children affixed a bookmark bearing the prayer “Blessed Is the Spot” to the more than 400 newspapers on their motorized route with the following note:

“Dear Paper Route Customers,

“We are now celebrating a holiday in our religion, the Baha'i Faith. This is a special time for giving and for remembering friends.

“We'd like to to take this occasion to thank you for your business, to send you this prayer/bookmark, and to wish all of you and your families a very happy year!

“Sincerely,

‘The McNett family”

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