The American Bahá’í/Volume 14/Issue 4/Text

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[Page 1]April 1983

The American Bahá’í

Fund shortfall poses year-end challenge to community

The Fund chart through the month of Mulk shown in this issue (Page 5) clearly illustrates one of the year-end challenges facing the American Bahá’í community.

The end of the fiscal year (April 28) is only a few days away, and our National Fund is in trouble. Very little time remains in which to act!

FACTS

1. Contributions to the National Fund decreased considerably during Mulk. This is unusual and alarming because this is the time of year when contributions are normally on the increase.

2. The shortfall in contributions as of March 2 totaled nearly $800,000. This means we would need to receive about $1 million in April alone to win our yearly goal.

3. This shortfall has placed the National Spiritual Assembly in an extremely difficult position. Because contributions are historically greater at the end of a fiscal year, many bills are scheduled to be paid at this time, as is the bulk of our allocation to the Bahá’í International Fund. These payments are now in jeopardy.

4. Even in the face of a worsening shortage of contributions, the National Spiritual Assembly has managed to meet and even accelerate its scheduled loan payments to the bank so far this year.

The amount owed to outside agencies has been reduced from a high of $900,000 in June 1981 to a present balance of $360,000. The steady and encouraging progress made in repaying this debt will suffer a sharp reversal if contributions do not increase dramatically during April.

5. Every month, about 5,000 believers in the U.S. contribute to See FUNDS Page 5

Iran executions spur immediate response by National Assembly

DISTRESSED ANNOUNCE EXECUTION BY HANGING ON 12 MARCH TWO INNOCENT FRIENDS SHIRAZ YADU’LLAH MAHMUDNIZHAD AND RAHMATU’LLAH VAFA’I. THIS HEINOUS CRIME PERPETRATED ON MORROW PASSAGE RESOLUTION UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION EXPRESSING CONCERN VIOLATION FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS AND REQUESTING SECRETARY GENERAL CONTINUE EFFORTS SAFEGUARD RIGHTS BAHÁ’ÍS IRAN. REQUEST APPEAL CONSCIENCE GOVERNMENT LEADERS, PUBLIC, EXERT EFFORTS PREVENT SUCH ACTS DEFIANCE BY PRESENT REGIME IRAN.

SUPPLICATING DIVINE THRESHOLD DELIVERANCE BRETHREN IRAN BRAVELY FACING INTENSE CRUELTIES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE MARCH 14, 1983

The National Spiritual Assembly, responding immediately to this distressing news from the World Centre, sent a letter on March 14 to selected Local Spiritual Assemblies requesting that they:

1. CONTACT personally, by letter or telephone, prominent See RESPONSE Page 10

Fifth annual Corinne True Awards are presented

Nearly 200 Bahá’ís and their guests gathered Monday evening, March 7, at the Bahá’í House of Worship for a special celebration that marked the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the project to build the House of Worship.

“It was at a 1903 meeting of the Chicago House of Spirituality, forerunner of that community’s Spiritual Assembly, that the project was conceived,” says Bruce Whitmore, manager of the Bahá’í House of Worship.

“A LETTER from a Persian Bahá’í told of plans to build the first House of Worship in Russia. This news so thrilled the Chicago Bahá’ís that they wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that same evening asking for permission to build a similar structure in Chicago.

“Little did they realize that it would take half a century to reach their goal.”

The 80th anniversary observance was coupled with the fifth annual presentation of the Corinne True Awards for Meritorious Service at the House of Worship.

In the past five years more than 200 individuals have received the award, which was established to honor Bahá’ís who have rendered significant volunteer services to the operation of the House of Worship.

“The award was named in memory of the Hand of the Cause of God Corinne Knight True,” says Mr. Whitmore, “because of her many years of struggle and devoted service to promote the Temple project.”

SINCE the ceremony was held during the Fast, it began with a light supper served at sunset.

Throughout the meal, guests were treated to music provided by an ensemble consisting of Mary Jane Porter (violin), Richard Hill (piano) and Terrill Hayes (oboe).

One of the highlights of the program was a new slide presentation, developed by the House of Worship Activities Office, of Corinne True’s first pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1907.

At that time she carried a petition to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá signed by almost 800 Bahá’ís in the U.S. and Canada who pledged their support to the Temple project.

The soundtrack for the slide presentation featured Mrs. True herself, and was edited from a taped interview conducted 32 years ago by the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears when Mrs. True was 90 years old.

ALSO included in the program was a talk by Mr. Whitmore on the Chicago meeting of March 7, 1903, and a recorder duet by Warren Kime and Susan McCandless. See AWARDS Page 3

Shown are 30 of the 44 recipients of the fifth annual Corinne True Awards for Meritorious Service at the Bahá’í House of Worship. The awards, named in honor of the Hand of the Cause of God Corinne True, were presented March 7 during a ceremony at the House of Worship that was attended by nearly 200 Bahá’ís and their guests. The presenters were Mrs. True’s daughter, Miss Edna True (third from left), Ouida Coley (left), a member of the House of Worship Activities Committee, and Bruce Whitmore (second from left), secretary of the Activities Committee and manager of the Bahá’í House of Worship.

Index

Viewpoint	2
Letters	3
The Funds	5
Youth News	6-7
Publications	8-9
Teaching	10-11
Goals Committee	12-13
Race Unity	14-15, 23
Classifieds	16
Native Americans	17
Persian	18
The Media	19
Education	20-21
Spanish	22
Membership & Records	24-25
National Convention	26
In Memoriam	27

Original copies of newspaper articles sought

Recently many articles about the Faith have appeared in newspapers throughout the country. The National Assembly is grateful to those of you who have been sending them in.

It would be helpful to have the entire original newspaper page containing the article (at least five copies, if possible) rather than just the article itself or a photocopy.

Groundwork laid for campaign to support Bahá’í radio station at Gregory Institute

Representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly, the National Teaching Committee, the National Treasurer’s Office, the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, and NSA Properties Inc. met March 9-10 at the Bahá’í National Center to lay the groundwork for a fund-raising campaign designed to help make the first Bahá’í radio station in North America a reality.

PARTICIPATING in the planning session, which was called by the National Spiritual Assembly, were Dr. Magdalene M. Carney, assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, See RADIO Page 4

The development of North America’s first Bahá’í radio station and of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, where the new station is to be located, was discussed during a meeting March 9-10 at the Bahá’í National Center in Wilmette. Present at the meeting were (left to right) Robert Wilson, secretary of the National Teaching Committee; Stephen Jackson, assistant to the National Treasurer; Dr. Magdalene M. Carney, assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly; Dr. Alberta Deas, administrator of the Gregory Institute and secretary of the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee; and Sirouss Bináei, manager of NSA Properties Inc. [Page 2]

Feast letter

Setbacks serve to aid growth of Cause

Dear Friends:

The National Spiritual Assembly wishes every one of you a happy and joyous Naw-Rúz.

The Bahá’í world has passed through a difficult year marked by persecution, loss, suffering and pain. In the land of its birth the Faith has withstood an assault unparalleled since the days of the Dawn-breakers.

YET, IN SPITE OF all the setbacks, the Cause has continued to grow and to win new victories on every continent of the globe.

This irresistible progress was symbolized by the move of the Universal House of Justice into its permanent building in the heart of Mount Carmel. It was evinced in the steady efforts toward the achievement of the goals of the Seven Year Plan; but most of all, it was manifest in the renewal of the indomitable spirit that guarantees the ultimate triumph of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

The National Spiritual Assembly shares with you its hope and prayer that the coming year may be another year of heroism, sacrifice, dedication and success in the proud annals of the American Bahá’í community.

With loving greetings and best wishes,

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States

The Bahá’í community of El Cerrito, California, observed United Nations Day last October by presenting a Bahá’í book to Mrs. Jean Siri, the mayor of El Cerrito. During a city council meeting, the mayor proclaimed October 24 UN Day in the city and presented a copy of the proclamation to the Bahá’ís. Shown here (left to right) are Jaleh Kilpatrick, Gordon Jackson, Mayor Siri, Thomas Kilpatrick.

Olean, New York, plans women's conference in July

The Spiritual Assembly of Olean, New York, is sponsoring a Bahá’í women's conference July 1-3.

Presenters will include Dr. Jane Faily, a psychologist and member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada; Dr. Ann Schoonmaker, a family therapist from Eliot, Maine; and Melinda Armstrong, editor of "Spiritual Mothering."

The conference cost including room and board will be about $35. For information, or to submit ideas or proposals for workshops and sessions, please write to Dorothy Hai, Olean, NY 14760, or telephone 716-372-7021.

Bahá’í women will lead way to true ‘equality’

"Peer pressure" has many faces. We seriously examine this subject with Bahá’í youth, yet sometimes fall victim to it ourselves.

The media are filled with stories of "super-women" who have it all: terrific careers, terrific children, terrific baby-sitters, and terrific husbands who help them over-achieve.

IT ISN’T easy to remain unaffected by these stories, but are they really true?

We must remember that these women, our "peers," are searching for the fundamental focus of their lives. As Bahá’ís, we have that focus.

Bahá’ís are true feminists. Táhirih suffered martyrdom in the cause of the emancipation of women.

If we meditate on the Bahá’í teachings we can see over and over again the greatness of our station. If we meditate on the teachings we can also see that our greatness stems from an understanding of our role as mothers and teachers of the generations to follow.

It is interesting to note that the quotations from the Writings we cited in the first of these two articles refer to the "mother" and not the "father." The current fashion of "daddy-house-husband" apparently isn't the same thing in the nurturing of children.

WHEN ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited London He met with many of the prominent suffragettes of the period:

"When that most famous of all the suffragettes, Mrs. Pankhurst, visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and referred to Him as a 'prophet,' He said with a broad smile: ‘Oh, no! I am a man like you.’ A number of suffragettes, who called on Him on another occasion, were strongly advised to desist from violence, and to observe moderation. That was His counsel at all times." (‘Abdu’l-Bahá by Hasan Balyúzí, p. 347)

Mrs. Pankhurst was a famous woman in her day, and she helped equality. Today a woman such as greatly in woman's fight for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court is famous. Billie Jean King is famous in sports; Gloria Steinem and Helen Gurley Brown are not only famous, but through their magazines have influenced the thinking and behavior of modern women.

Today's feminism is expressed in many ways: high achievement in a "man's world," sexual aggressiveness, permissiveness, promiscuity, homosexuality.

"For the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His melody with their own ears." (Bahá’u’lláh, The Tablet of Ahmad)

With the appearance of Bahá’u’lláh in the world, many forces were released through the power of His Revelation.

The equality of men and women will be established in this day. Women all over the world are striding forward and overcoming all sorts of obstacles.

This is the second of two articles on "True Feminism: The Bahá’í Approach" by Pat Tyler Kinney of Leonia, New Jersey.

BAHÁ’Í women will lead the way as long as we keep our priorities in line, confident that women have a unique purpose in the world.

The women's movement is only one of many modern "movements" that reflect Bahá’í ideals. There are many organizations working to foster harmony between the black and white races, a principle Bahá’ís believe in. Yet in the Faith we have a unique example of this belief: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself performed the first Bahá’í wedding between a black man and a white woman.

Many fine organizations work to promote world peace. In time of war, some individuals will go to jail rather than bear arms.

Bahá’ís too believe in world peace, but our actions are balanced by loyalty to a duly constituted government. We will serve if called upon, sometimes being killed but never killing our fellow human beings.

We march to a different drummer, and as long as we remember that we will lead the parade. In supporting the cause of women's rights, we must not be followers because we are leaders.

"THE MOTHER is the first teacher of the child. For children, at the beginning of life, are fresh and tender as a young twig, and can be trained in any fashion you desire.

"If you rear the child to grow straight, he will grow straight, in perfect symmetry. It is clear that the mother is the first teacher and that it is she who establisheth the character and conduct of the child.

"Wherefore, O ye loving mothers, know ye that in God's sight, the best of all ways to worship Him is to educate the children and train them in all the perfections of humankind, and no nobler deed than this can be imagined..." (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Bahá’í Education: A Compilation, p. 48)

So many of us have become Bahá’ís as adults. We have learned so many lessons the wrong way and had to re-learn them from a Bahá’í perspective.

We are thankful that our children have been given the knowledge of Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation. To spend a few years getting our children started on the right road should not make us feel less "liberated" or less "equal."

"The task of bringing up a Bahá’í child, as emphasized time and again in the Bahá’í writings, is the chief responsibility of the mother, whose unique privilege is indeed to create in her home such conditions as would be conducive to both his material and spiritual welfare and advancement.

"The training which a child first receives through his mother constitutes the strongest foundation for his future development, and it should therefore be the paramount concern of your wife... to endeavor from now imparting to her newborn son such spiritual training as would enable him later on to fully assume and adequately discharge all the responsibilities and duties of Bahá’í life." (From a letter dated November 16, 1939, written to an individual believer on behalf of Shoghi Effendi and quoted in Bahá’í Education: A Compilation, p. 66)

The first Spiritual Assembly of Glen Rock, New Jersey, was formed by joint declaration last October 15. Its members are (seated left to right) Vance Remick, Saradj Avaregan (treasurer), Firouzeh Avaregan (chairman), Ray Pflueger, and (standing left to right) Norma Gimlin (corresponding secretary), Joyce Remick (recording secretary), Shahn Borhanian, Kavous Monadjemi (vice-chairman), Joanne Pflueger. [Page 3]

Some other views on mankind’s ‘cousinhood’

To the Editor: I was shocked and amazed at the myopia evidenced in a letter that appeared in the February issue of The American Bahá’í which tried to refute the theory that all living humans may be 50th cousins by dragging in the notion of a “pure race.”

No serious current anthropologist, much less biochemist, believes that such an entity as a “pure race” has existed on earth since a very long time ago.

HUMAN history and prehistory are replete with examples and suggestions of racial mixing and inbreeding.

On a molecular level, it is a startling fact that while there are many structures throughout the animal kingdom for hemoglobin, the essential chemical compound of the blood, one and only one of these structures exists in the blood of all persons.

Perhaps most important are the many statements by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the effect that in origin, as well as intent, mankind is one, and that physical differences occurred later.

The letter’s real “zinger,” however, was saved for the final paragraph, which suggested (none too subtly) that the unification of mankind could best be accomplished after the elimination of Caucasians.

Race prejudice, while no stranger to the white race, is by no means confined to it. In many parts of the world even neighboring peoples harbor mutual animosity and superstition.

Prejudice, in whatever form, is a universal example of one of the “animalistic” tendencies that Bahá’u’lláh is trying to teach all mankind to overcome, whatever the shape or degree of the calamity He prophesied it is facing.

Philip H. Costa Lubbock, Texas

To the Editor: Antoinette Isaac’s letter (February) about races is an amazing construction of fantasies presented as “facts.”

Since it appeared in a Bahá’í publication, the record should be set straight.

I AM not familiar with the data or ratios presented in the letter, but I do know that Ms. Isaac’s assumptions cannot be substantiated, as they are based on erroneous premises.

First, from the most recent scientific knowledge of genetics, biochemistry, paleontology and medicine, the concept of “races” is unscientific.

That concept is a misconception carried over from early anthropology, convenient only to justify the prejudices of people and institutions in this country.

If we wish to speak of “race,” we should realize that there is only one human race issued from only one genetic pool which originated millions of years ago in Africa.

These early African ancestors emigrated east and north. The subsequent variety in pigmentation and bone structure was conditioned by climatic changes and evolved through natural selection.

Besides the original African-negroid stock, the oldest ethnic variation is the Asian Indo-Mongoloid stock, and that’s it.

SUCH a thing as a “pure race” has never existed on earth, and there is no need for future “interracial” marriages to develop our universal “cousinhood,” because the entire human race branched out from the original dual Afro/Asian genetic pool. We all belong to that family tree.

For example, Polynesians, Chinese, Eskimos and all Native Americans are direct descendants of their Mongoloid ancestors.

A well-known proof of universal cousinhood is provided by human blood. Blood types know no ethnic or color barriers.

The only blood problem for people who wish to marry is also world-wide: Rhesus factors incompatibility. This is the reason for a mandatory blood test prior to marriage in Western countries, to provide newlyweds with information about their Rh situation if they want to have healthy children.

Second, there is no such thing as a Caucasian race.

THE TERM “Caucasian” applies strictly to the inhabitants of Caucasia, the Russian area of the Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian.

These Caucasians are made up of at least four ethnic groups. The word “Caucasian” as applied to the so-called “white” race is a fallacy based on an 18th century error. This is explained in Webster’s Dictionary, College Edition, in this way:

“Caucasian (so named in 1795 by the German anthropologist Johann Blumenbach, who erroneously thought that the original home of the hypothetical Indo-Europeans was the Caucasus...”

The Encyclopedia Britannica uses “Caucasoid” which stems from the same error.

It is hard to believe that people and institutions in America are still clinging blindly to this obvious nonsense that can only serve to perpetuate racism.

I personally refuse to call myself a Caucasian. When filling out a form mentioning race I write “human.” If ethnic information is necessary I write “European.”

SINCE the 1960s many blacks in America have called themselves Afro-Americans. Perhaps we white Bahá’ís should begin using the term “Euro-American” when ethnic information is needed. This is what so-called whites are rather than “Caucasian.”

The various European ethnic groups which constitute the “white” race are various mixtures of Afro-Asian stock. It is known that Cro-Magnon Man of France had cousins in Northern and Eastern countries as well as close Negroid relatives on the Riviera some 3,000 years ago.

As Bahá’ís, members of a world religion based on the oneness of mankind, we should be especially well-informed about the origins of the human race and not perpetuate traditional American misconceptions that amount to superstitions since they are not valid outside this country.

Ms. Isaac’s assessment of “interracial” marriage is also incorrect. There have been interracial unions with Europeans in the Americas since the 15th century, and “interracial” marriages have been welcome in Europe since prehistoric times.

In fact, Europe and probably Ms. Isaac would not exist without them.

One final point: There are no valid prophecies announcing the destruction of Europe or North America. That is pure science fiction!

Eliane A. Hopson New York City, New York

The American Bahá’í 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 Bahá’í, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

To the Editor: Confusing genetics and genealogy is a common mistake and easily understandable.

In her letter to the editor (February), Antoinette Isaac appears to have done just that. A single example could clear the air.

WHILE I WAS stationed in Vietnam, I very nearly married a woman who was Vietnamese and Cambodian. Had I done so, her grandfather would have been related to me by marriage, even though he may never have married outside his tribal bounds.

My wife’s relatives would become my relatives without ever once disturbing the gene pool.

Further, since there were quite a number of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam, mainly in the “Cholon” section of Saigon, it is conceivable that I could have become related to some of them.

It must be remembered that, once we come outside the immediate family, many of our relatives are acquired through marriage.

It doesn’t take much extrapolation to see that if everyone in Vietnam can reasonably be 10th cousins, and if some of them are ethnic Chinese, I would have become 50th cousin to a lot of Chinese I never had contact with.

THEN, through my hypothetical wife’s Cambodian families, I would be related also to people throughout the South Pacific, since the Malay peninsula was a jumping-off point for that migration.

Already, in my hypothetical family, to 10th cousin level, I would have relations from, say, Cathay to the South Pacific, without as much as a ripple in their genetic pools!

Imagine, if you will, someone of Puerto Rican-Choctaw-African mixture marrying the same woman. This is hardly beyond the pale.

People in many disparate parts of the globe would instantly become related through marriage!

I would suggest to Ms. Isaac that she refer again to those pages in The Seven Mysteries of Life. Guy Murchie eloquently sets out both the exceptions, and the exceptions to the exceptions, to those rules.

With all due respect to Ms. Isaac, the author, and those he quotes, have done their homework.

Also, I would remind her of the scriptures. As one of the proofs of our own Faith, we cite the three wives of Abraham. That’s not a fable, it is reality.

God has “made all humanity from the same original parents.” That statement by Bahá’u’lláh alone suffices to point out that we are related.

And among our relations, cousinhood might be preferred over brotherhood. After all, brothers fight all the time, whereas cousins see each other just often enough to know each other, but not often enough to really fight.

I would hope that, rather than wait for a nearly total obliteration of these populations, we would do our part to alleviate the impending disaster. “But for the elect, those days would not have been shortened.”

Martin R. Flick San Mateo, California

To the Editor: I am concerned about a statement by Antoinette Isaac in her letter (February) about the Caucasian race being “eliminated” by the destruction of Europe and North America.

To my knowledge, this prophecy is alluded to only in pilgrims’ notes and not in any published Bahá’í text.

Most Bahá’ís know of and can see the trend toward some kind of drastic change to come before the Lesser Peace. The Guardian alluded to wars and natural disasters, but we do not know specifically what will happen.

Many American Bahá’ís read the letters column each month with great interest. I feel that a statement about the elimination of the Caucasian race and the destruction of two continents may frighten and alarm many readers.

If we, as American Bahá’ís, feel that we are doomed to be “eliminated,” this will sap the strength and vitality we strive to hold onto.

If it were true that Europe and North America were to be destroyed, there would need to be some earnest preparation. It does not seem to me that we would be directed to teach, become home-front pioneers, and open new localities if the institutions of the Faith did not believe that there would be places left in North... See LETTERS Page 28

Awards

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Awards were presented this year to 44 individuals and one Bahá’í community.

Miss Edna True, the daughter of Corinne True and a former member of the Continental Board of Counsellors and the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, made the presentation.

Among the recipients were three Bahá’í youth and four individuals who guided at the House of Worship more than 40 times last year.

This imaginative float entered by the Bahá’ís of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in a parade marking the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. in January won a first place trophy and was covered in both local newspapers and on one television news program which, they report, ‘featured our float as if it represented the entire parade.’ [Page 4]

the champion builders

NELLIE STEVISON FRENCH

For Nellie Stevison French, service to the Cause of God included overseas pioneering that resulted in her being named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh; international travel teaching; membership on the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, a continental teaching committee, and the first U.S. pioneer committee; and editing and translating Bahá’í publications.

BORN October 19, 1868, in Peoria, Illinois, she became a Bahá’í in 1897 after studying the Faith with Dr. Ibrahim Khayru’lláh, a Bahá’í who had come to the U.S. from Beirut.

She had learned French and Italian during a four-year stay in Italy where she took voice lessons, but scarlet fever permanently damaged her vocal chords, ending her dream of a musical career.

Nellie married a childhood companion, Stuart Whitney French, in 1894. In 1900 they moved to Bisbee, Arizona, and in 1918 to Pasadena, California.

During Riḍván 1921 Mrs. French made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where her dedication to the Cause was reaffirmed and strengthened.

From 1930 to 1946 she served as chairman of the editorial committee for The Bahá’í World during which time she assembled materials for Volumes IV-X of that publication. She also translated Bahá’í literature into French and Italian for publication in those languages.

IN 1931 Mrs. French made permanent Braille plates for Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era and the Kitáb-i-Íqán.

For several years she wrote a column for the Pasadena Star-News entitled “The Loom of Reality.”

Mrs. French served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S. and Canada from 1928-37 and was chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles...

See FRENCH Page 28

S. Dakota resolution backs Bahá’í cause in Iran

Early in March, both houses of the South Dakota state legislature approved a resolution “requesting the Congress of the United States to continue its efforts to halt the persecution of the Bahá’í minority in Iran.”

THIS historic occasion, marking the third time that a state legislature has passed such a resolution (Illinois was the first in 1979, and California approved a similar measure last year), came about through the efforts of the Spiritual Assembly of Pierre to show the video tape of U.S. Congressional hearings on the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran to members of the South Dakota legislature.

On February 2, the Assembly obtained a room in the basement of the state capitol building and sent formal invitations to every member of the legislature to attend the viewing.

Although none of the legislators was able to come, one of them, Rep. Donald Ham, the Speaker of the House, sent his legislative aide.

On the morning after the showing, Rep. Ham’s aide telephoned Lee Rhine, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Pierre, to say that Rep. Ham was quite interested in the situation in Iran.

The Speaker suggested, said his aide, that the Assembly try to get one of the legislators from the Pierre area to sponsor a resolution. He added, however, that if none of the local lawmakers would sponsor it, he (Rep. Ham) would.

REP. Benny Gross of Onida subsequently agreed to sponsor the resolution, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Tarrel Miller.

Rep. Miller, a Mennonite minister who oversees 60 congregations in North and South Dakota, does not represent the Pierre district but is an outspoken champion of human rights.

On February 24 the resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives and referred to its Committee on State Affairs. A hearing was set for February 28.

Barbara Rudolph, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board and chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Vermillion, and Kourosh Nikoui, an Iranian student at the University of South Dakota at Vermillion, traveled to Pierre for the hearing.

In all, there were about 40 to 50 people at the hearing which consisted of about 20 minutes of testimony and questions.

After the testimony was heard, the Committee on State Affairs voted unanimously to send the resolution to the House with a recommendation to pass it.

ON MARCH 2 the resolution was approved by the full House, and on March 4 it passed the Senate.

The Spiritual Assembly of Pierre reports that passage of the resolution has led to many unprecedented teaching and proclamation opportunities in that area.

Besides all of the South Dakota legislators, who have been given considerable information about the Faith, many others at the state capitol have been made aware of it—aides, pages, secretaries, legislative assistants and others, as well as those in the gallery who came to see the session.

In addition, the Bahá’ís in Brookings met with their legislators at a public meeting to encourage their support and were able to share information about the Faith with some 50 other people.

Immediately after the passage of the resolution, news releases were sent by the Bahá’ís to every newspaper, radio station and television station in South Dakota (about 165 in all).

Follow-up on that has just begun, but as of mid-March several radio stations had offered time, one of them a full half-hour interview, to discuss the plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

And all of the newspapers contacted up to that time said they would publish the news release.

The following resolution was passed by the House of Representatives of the state of South Dakota on March 2, 1983, and by the state Senate on March 4, 1983: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Requesting the Congress of the United States to continue its efforts to halt the persecution of the Bahá’í minority in Iran. WHEREAS, over three hundred Bahá’ís are currently imprisoned or have disappeared; and WHEREAS, approximately one hundred twenty-five Bahá’ís have been executed in Iran since 1978; and WHEREAS, twenty-two Bahá’ís have been sentenced to death in Shiraz; and WHEREAS, during its session last year, the United Nations Human Rights Commission directed the Secretary-General of the United Nations to take steps to halt the persecution of the Bahá’í minority in Iran; and WHEREAS, the government of the United States has protested the persistent violations of human rights directed against the Bahá’í community by the Iranian authorities: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Fifty-eighth Legislature of the state of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the United States continue its support of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and its efforts to halt the persecution of the Bahá’í minority in Iran; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the state of South Dakota send copies of this document to each member of the South Dakota congressional delegation, the President of the United States, the Bahá’í International Community and the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Pierre.

Radio

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Assembly; Robert Wilson, secretary of the National Teaching Committee; Stephen Jackson, assistant to the National Treasurer; Dr. Alberta Deas, administrator of the Louis Gregory Institute and secretary of the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee; and Sirouss Binaei, manager of NSA Properties Inc.

Their consultation focused on the future development of both the proposed new radio station in South Carolina and the Louis Gregory Institute and on the implementation of the nationwide fund-raising campaign whose goal will be to make such development possible.

Formal announcement of the campaign is to be made during the 74th Bahá’í National Convention which will be held May 26-29 at the McCormick Inn in Chicago.

Also discussed were ways in which the first Bahá’í radio station can help in teaching and consolidation work and with the general needs of the people of South Carolina, both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í.

In less than a month, Dr. Deas reported, the friends in South Carolina have raised some $3,000 toward construction of the new station, which will be located at the Gregory Institute near Hemingway and heard throughout the eastern and central areas of the state.

In a letter dated February 2, the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada expressed its excitement over the soon-to-be-launched project, saying, “We are almost as delighted as you must be with the historic step you are taking to open North America’s first Bahá’í radio station in South Carolina.”

Article praises new Oregon Assembly

An article about the formation of the first Spiritual Assembly of The Dalles, Oregon, appeared last December 2 in The Dalles Weekly Reminder.

The article, which said the Assembly formation was an “historic day” for The Dalles, was written by the newspaper’s editor, Wil Finney, who had read The Promulgation of Universal Peace and expressed his amazement upon learning of the existence of the Faith.

The Parsons mansion in Washington, D.C., where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed during His three visits to that city in 1912 and where He spoke on many occasions, has been put up for sale by its present owner, the American Psychiatric Association. The historic building, located near DuPont Circle in an enclave of embassies of smaller nations, and an adjoining office used as a museum and library by the APA are to be sold for $3.5 million. While the price is somewhat high in comparison to our present budget, the National Spiritual Assembly cherishes the hope that the property will someday belong to the Faith. [Page 5]

Fund helps send pioneers around the world

This is the last in a six-part series on how monies contributed to the National Fund are used. Since the National Fund is, as described by Shoghi Effendi, the bedrock on which all our activities rest, its ability to support these manifold activities depends on the sacrificial and regular contributions of the believers. This series is intended to provide the American Bahá’í community with a fresh look at the wide range of activities that are supported by the National Fund.

“Oh, how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad tidings of this Revelation ... ” (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 16)

With these words, Bahá’u’lláh expressed His wish to fulfill personally a task which, as a special blessing, He has left to His followers to perform.

The privilege of pioneering—of following in the path of the Apostles of Christ—has been ours since the first followers of the Báb arose to carry the Message of the Cause of God to other countries.

PIONEERING is fundamental to carrying out the mission given to us by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Tablets of the Divine Plan. It requires believers who are willing to make their homes in foreign countries.

The challenges and hardships faced by those who have forsaken all that is familiar to them are many—often including the difficulty of finding a means of livelihood.

Since the time of the first organized plans for pioneering, the National Fund has provided a basis of support, whether temporary or long-standing, for those pioneers who cannot fully support themselves:

• Pioneers at their posts since the Ten Year Crusade (1953-63) will receive a total of $10,500 this year in deputization funds.
• Pioneers at their posts since the Nine Year Plan (1964-73) will receive a total of $14,500 this year, which will help support four pioneers.
• Pioneers at their posts since the Five Year Plan (1974-79) will receive a total of $24,000 this year. Most of them require supplemental deputization funds until they can secure permanent employment.
• Last year, $46,000 went to help the newest pioneers who have responded to the call during the Seven Year Plan. The needs fluctuate yearly, depending on the situation.
• During the present year of the Seven Year Plan, $55,000 will have been spent to help pioneers at their posts. Funds to provide assistance for transportation came to $41,000 last year, when many goals were received and pioneers had to be sent immediately.

In sum, only 20 individuals and/or families now receive ongoing help from the National Fund to remain at their posts.

THE International Goals Committee office repeatedly emphasizes that pioneering can be costly for those who arise. Were it not for the pioneers’ generosity, our pioneering goals could not be met, because the pioneers do so much on their own.

Realistically, however, there are those expenses which the committee cannot foresee, nor the individuals bear themselves:

• Most pioneers cannot afford the increased costs of health insurance abroad. Medical expenses for emergency treatment sometimes become necessary for the pioneer, and are then paid by the National Fund.
• Since the war in the Falkland Islands, remaining there has become more difficult. If, for example, a pioneer family must return to the U.S. it would cost at least $8,000 for transportation and moving expenses for a family of four.
• 205 international traveling teachers (including 20 youth) have been sent out within the last 10 months. Traveling teachers are encouraged to be self-supporting, but this is not always the case.

The Universal House of Justice requested that the International Goals Committee send a French-speaking teacher to Gabon. After a long search, such a teacher was found—but it will cost more than $5,000 for that person’s transportation and living expenses during a three-month teaching project. And this request must be fulfilled.

THE International Goals Committee staff at the Bahá’í National Center includes the executive secretary, two pioneer consultants, one traveling teacher consultant, an administrative assistant and an administrative aide.

The committee presently has 1,514 pioneers in the field, and is working to place another 1,900 individuals and families who have volunteered to pioneer—a total caseload of nearly 3,500.

Following are several regular office expenses that are incurred in the process of placing pioneers at their posts:

• The staff holds six Pioneer Training Institutes each year. Most are held at the National Center in Wilmette, in which case the costs can be held to a minimum because of the generosity of the local Bahá’ís who provide housing.

However, institutes are also held elsewhere to make it easier for many to attend—for example, at the Bosch Bahá’í School in California—in which case the costs of a weekend at the school plus air fare for the staff must be met.

So important is attendance at these institutes to prepare pioneers to stay at their posts that the committee will pay the expenses for prospective pioneers when there is no other way for them to attend.

• The Goals Committee issues a quarterly newsletter, The Pioneer Post, which is an important tool for keeping in touch with the pioneers and for allowing the pioneers to share the news of personal joys and teaching victories.

• As can be imagined, frequent contact with prospective pioneers can be vital. Telephone expenses exceed $500 a month as the staff makes arrangements for the many posts to be filled.

THE responsibility for carrying the Faith to other countries is one that has been placed on every believer.

“All must participate,” Shoghi See PIONEERS Page 11

Anyone who is interested in international pioneering or international traveling teaching should contact the International Goals Committee at the Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091. Those who are able to deputize a pioneer are encouraged to do so. Contributions sent through the Bahá’í Funds in the U.S. are tax-deductible. It is recommended that money for deputization be earmarked in a check made out to the National Bahá’í Fund and forwarded to the International Goals Committee. The instructions should include the pioneer’s name and post if the money is for a specific person; otherwise, the committee is pleased to receive non-specified gifts so that they can assist those in greatest need. The committee then makes sure that funds are sent regularly, by the most efficient and safest method, and that the contributor receives a receipt from the National Bahá’í Fund. Please address correspondence regarding deputization to the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Somethxng to thxnk about

My typewriter xs a later model, and really works well except for one thxng—one of the keys does not work. X should be content wxth the fact that there are 43 other keys functxonxng properly, but xt stxll bothers me. Sometxmes X thxnk my Bahá’í communxty xs lxke my typewrxter—most of the people are functxonxng, but there xs one mxssxng. Wxth only one person not functxonxng there xs somethxng wrong and xt affects the rest. X mxss seexng everyone at Feast, and X long for the day when we wxll have Unxversal Partxcxpatxon xn the Fund. All thxs typewrxter needs xs someone to come fxx xt xn order to functxon properly. But the Bahá’í communxty must rely on every member to functxon—exercxsxng thexr responsxbxlxtxes as bearers of the Name of God xn thxs day. And all xt takes xs a lxttle xndxvxdual xnxtxatxve. Xf you thxnk you are not a key person, thxnk of my typewrxter and remember each and every one of us xs a key person. We must all functxon together to work properly. (Wxth thanks to NTR Judxth Afsahx for the xdea!)

National Bahá’í Fund INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION

Dominion—Mulk 139 B.E. Goal: 20,000 individuals. Current: 5131.

CONTRIBUTIONS YEAR-TO-DATE TOTALS

Challenge for growth—$421,000 Minimum needs—$341,000 Received: $264,706 Shortfall: $797,361 Minimum goal: $6,480,000

Funds

Continued From Page 1

the National Fund. The health of the Fund is not their responsibility; rather, it is the sacred obligation of every faithful Bahá’í.

If it were left to those who are already contributing to win the goal, each one would need to contribute about $200 over his regular monthly contribution within the next few days. How much more equitable and inspiring it would be to see every believer arise in the next few days to shoulder his responsibility toward the Fund.

“Every Bahá’í, no matter how poor, must realize what a grave responsibility he has to shoulder in this connection, and should have confidence that his spiritual progress as a Believer in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh will largely depend upon the measure in which he proves, in deeds, his readiness to support materially the Divine institutions of His Faith.” (Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Funds and Contributions, p. 14)

A TIME FOR ACTION

The National Spiritual Assembly is calling the American Bahá’í community to united action!

All individuals and communities are asked to carefully and prayerfully consider the seriousness of this situation, examine their priorities, and make those sacrifices that are necessary to strengthen the Divine institution of the National Fund—the bedrock of all other activities.

The minimum needs of the Fund are $6,480,000. Are we falling far short. Will you help? [Page 6]

YOUTH NEWS

Youth recounts ‘exciting’ trip to Uganda, Kenya

Roy Steiner, a Bahá’í youth attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, recently returned from a four-month trip to Uganda and Kenya as part of a Junior Semester Abroad program offered by the university.

Upon his return, Roy wrote:

“THE MOST exciting and rewarding part of this stay was a teaching trip on the coast of Kenya in which I participated. It was incredible.

“There were over 25 Bahá’ís on the project—most youth, from six countries, and we camped in tents by a school. Every day my group would drive off in a jeep and go from village to village teaching the Faith.

“During the project, more than 2,000 people became aware of the Faith and 138 declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. I shall never forget sitting outside those mud huts while chickens and baby goats played around my feet and I explained the Teachings to those wonderful people. It was the first time I have ever felt the Divine Assistance pouring down upon me.

“The most thrilling aspect of my trip to Africa was meeting the African Bahá’ís. It wasn’t the ‘this is a nice club’ type of understanding that I’ve come across elsewhere.

“They were Bahá’ís and they knew they were living in a New Age. I was constantly impressed by the depth of knowledge of these Kenyan believers.

“I would not hesitate to recommend to all Bahá’í college students taking a semester abroad. There are many such programs, and I received full credit as well as financial aid. The Third World really needs Bahá’í traveling teachers!”

The National Youth Committee suggests that anyone considering such a program contact the authorities at their college to find out what kinds of programs are available. Youth are also encouraged to contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 as their plans are finalized so that contact can be made with the Bahá’ís in the country to be visited and so that each youth serving in this special capacity can be counted toward the goal of international traveling teachers for the current phase of the Seven Year Plan.

Bahá’í National Center Office Hours
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central Time) Monday—Friday
Phone 312-869-9039

Being ‘only’ Bahá’í youth rewarding, frustrating

The National Youth Committee is pleased to present the first in a new series of articles that will be appearing on the Youth Pages of The American Bahá’í. The focus of these articles is on those who embraced the Faith as youth but were not raised in Bahá’í homes. They are being presented so that all of us, whether from Bahá’í families or not, will have a greater understanding about teaching members of our own generation and some of the special joys and tests of being the sole Bahá’í in one’s family.

This first article was written by Gail Radley who embraced the Faith as a youth. She is the author of Zahra’s Search, recently published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, as well as other books for children. Gail has two children, is married to a Bahá’í, and she and her family live in Virginia.

• * *

I became a Bahá’í at age 15, although there were no other Bahá’ís in my family.

As I was the only youth in the Arlington, Virginia, community at the time, there was great excitement over my declaration.

A PARTY was held in my honor after Bahá’í school and the friends’ gifts were the beginning of my Bahá’í library.

I cannot even recall telling my parents of my decision, so uneventful a moment it was. They considered themselves Unitarians and humanists and had no particular religious aspirations for me, except that I reflect many of the qualities that they and the Bahá’ís hold dear.

They knew, of course, of my interest in the Faith. They had met my Bahá’í friends and commented favorably about them.

They had attended several firesides to learn about the Faith and, I’m sure, to satisfy themselves that it was a good thing.

They even came to my declaration party, and I remember my father smiling politely when one of the friends told him expansively that I had just progressed a couple of thousand years!

AFTER that, I began to settle down with the Faith as a personal endeavor.

My parents remained supportive, allowing me to attend Feasts and other meetings, take Holy Days off from school, and even travel to the Intercontinental Conference in Wilmette.

It was rather satisfying to me as a teen-ager striving for independence to have my own arena of activity and friends. But there was another feeling of sadness and frustration that I couldn’t really share, on a deep level, the Faith that had come to mean so much to me.

So much in my upbringing had enabled me to be open to the Faith, and yet the parents who had raised me could not embrace it. I felt at times that I had to make them see the truth of this Cause.

I have often heard the debate over whether it is “better” to find the Faith on your own or to be born to a Bahá’í family. Those from Bahá’í families say they missed out on the excitement of discovery. But as a youth from a non-Bahá’í family, I could never take that view.

WOULD NOT Bahá’u’lláh have instructed parents not to teach children about the Faith if that excitement of discovery was so important?

In a sense, because Bahá’u’lláh requires an individual, mature commitment to His Cause, we are all invited to “discover” the Faith as having personal significance and meaning.

But to be born in a Bahá’í family offers a certain groundedness, a stability that helps you to stand firm against the tests that are particular to the teen years. It is bred into you from your earliest years.

What security! Those of us from non-Bahá’í families generally have more behaviors and even mind-sets to change.

That is something I felt acutely as a youth. We are told that the best way to teach is by example, to show the transforming power of the Faith.

Living in a non-Bahá’í home, I was especially conscious of the effects of my actions on my parents. And although my parents never berated me for failing to live up to the Faith I had accepted, I felt as if I was being constantly watched.

I WAS impatient and wanted to wake up one morning as “spiritual,” thus demonstrating to everyone the beauty of the Cause.

It took a while for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s counsel to sink in: that one becomes spiritual “little by little, day by day.”

A Bahá’í friend once told me that a Bahá’í isn’t necessarily one “who’s gotten there—he’s just agreed to go!” Looking back, I realize that it is not so important that your non-Bahá’í family see what you are, as what you are aspiring to.

And no matter what you do or don’t do, there may just be some important people in your life who never can accept the Bahá’í Faith.

You cannot make your family Bahá’í. Even Bahá’u’lláh wasn’t able to make his. You simply present it, as a gift to a king or queen, and never, especially in these times, discount the value of friends of the Faith.

1983 Archives Institute scheduled July 20-24

The National Bahá’í Archives Committee is planning to hold its 1983 Archives Institute July 20-24 at the Bahá’í National Center in Wilmette, Illinois.

Those who are interested in attending the institute should submit to the National Bahá’í Archives Committee by May 15 a brief statement of their background and why they would like to attend the institute.

The institute is designed to introduce Bahá’ís interested in the archival field to the nature and functions of a Bahá’í archives.

Attendance is limited to eight persons, and each participant is responsible for his or her own expenses and housing.

Please address requests to the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Bahá’í student given leadership award at Massachusetts’ Mt. Holyoke College

Rosemary Graham, a Bahá’í youth from Hemingway, South Carolina, received a Student Leadership Award during ceremonies opening the second semester at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

The award recognizes her outstanding qualities of leadership and service to the college and its surrounding community.

Miss Graham presently serves as Residence Hall president, is a member of the Housing Committee and a performer with the Shades of Expression Performing Arts Company at the school.

During her sophomore year, she was involved with the Third World Pre-Med Society and was a student adviser and campus fire chief.

She also is active in Mount Holyoke’s campus Bahá’í Association.

The Bahá’í Club at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, marched with this banner last October in the university’s annual Homecoming parade whose theme was ‘Fall Festival.’ Shown (left to right) are Judy Gigliotti, Sohail Shahzad, Michele Amini, Fariba Bahari, Swati Ojha, Joyce Wise, Meisha Wilson, Azita Nezhad. Not pictured are club members Shellja Ojha, Kaywan Nezhad and Kathy Hardwick.

Teaching to be focus of institute in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

The Spiritual Assembly of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, is sponsoring a Spring Institute June 17-19 at Elizabethtown College.

The institute’s theme is “The Gift of Teaching.”

Speakers and their topics include Auxiliary Board members Robert Harris (The Gift of Teaching) and Javidukht Khadem (Reaching the Leaders of Thought); Sandy Ward (Utilizing the Media in Teaching); Nancy Songer, a former pioneer to the Caroline Islands and Ecuador (Pioneering); and Dr. Hooshmand Taraz, a member of the Regional Spanish Teaching Committee for the Northeastern States (Teaching Minorities).

There will be a special conference-within-a-conference for youth, coordinated classes for children, and a nursery.

“Harvest,” a group specializing in chamber music, will entertain throughout the weekend.

Registrations are due by May 15. The cost (including board Friday and Saturday and meals from Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch) are $40 for adults ages 9 and up, and $20 for children ages 3-8. There is no charge for infants under 3.

The registration fee is one-half of the total fee. Ten per cent is non-refundable.

Commuter costs are $2.85 for breakfast, $3.75 for lunch and $4.85 for dinner. Facilities fee is $2.50.

Commuters needn’t send money but should let the registrar know which meals they will be eating.

For more information or an application form, write to George Brehman, registrar, Bahá’í Spring Institute, P.O. Box 50, Elizabethtown, PA 17022, or telephone 717-367-6965. [Page 7]

Commentary

Youth can help nurture pre-teens’ faith

One of the hallmarks of the Bahá’í Faith is service. Each of us, as members of this precious Cause, is encouraged to perform deeds of service to humanity. These deeds can take the form of organized service projects or can be as simple as helping a friend in need.

THE WRITINGS of the Faith are filled with inspiration on the attitude of service. In The Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh counsels, “Holy words and pure and goodly deeds ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of glory ...” (Persian, No. 69), and “Of all men the most negligent is he that disputeth idly and seeketh to advance himself over his brother. Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.” (Persian, No. 5).

One of the ways in which each of us can be of service is to focus some energies of love and service on that often-overlooked Bahá’í ... “the pre-youth.” These are those important Bahá’ís who sometimes fall into a gap between programs for children or youth.

During their early teens, these Bahá’ís are generally full of enthusiasm for the Faith, and yet have few outlets in which to channel their energies.

Many of us may recall feeling “too old” for children’s classes and yet “uncomfortable” with older youth and adults. All of a sudden, having reached the age of spiritual maturity at 15, we are looked upon with fresh eyes by the Bahá’í community, and the response can often be one of misunderstanding or hesitation on the part of the teen.

Many of these “cluttered emotions” might be avoided if, rather than ignoring the pre-youth, we were to channel a little love and care their way.

RATHER THAN categorizing them in a limbo position in the Bahá’í community, extra steps should be taken to include them, to create programs of interest for them, to help them translate their energies into deeds of service to the Cause.

Each of us, adults and youth, has a role to play in nurturing these special Bahá’ís and in helping them seal their commitment to the Faith. How about if each of us took on a younger-youth buddy?

The kinds of service we could offer are endless. Making sure they have a ride to the Feast, asking them to help speak at a fireside (and coaching them as necessary), helping them with studies, both Bahá’í and scholastic ... all of these ideas (and many others) would be well-received as deeds of service to these often-overlooked young Bahá’ís.

Many of us have had, throughout our lives, a mentor or special friend to whom we could turn for advice and guidance. Often we have patterned our career choices, our qualities, our mannerisms, after these individuals.

In helping younger youth, we can be taking on the position of a mentor—a position of guidance and counsel and one that carries with it a responsibility for careful action and wisdom in our choice of words and actions. In short, the mentor grows at the same time!

When we look back on the years of being 12 to 14, and the personal and challenging tests we faced, we can well appreciate how welcome an older and loving friend would have been.

Perhaps it is time for us as older youth and adults in the American Bahá’í community to reach out and be of service to a younger Bahá’í, thereby assuring his commitment while confirming ours.

The picturesque Austrian village of Innsbruck will be the site this July 23-27 of a European Bahá’í Youth Conference sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe. Between 1,000 and 1,500 Bahá’í youth and their guests are expected to attend the conference whose theme is ‘Set Aglow the Hearts.’ Many countries already are making plans for teaching activities on the way to and from Innsbruck, a scenic village in the heart of the Tyrolean Alps that has twice been the site of the Winter Olympics. Those who are interested in attending should contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

National Youth Committee launches cross-country campaign of prayer

At its most recent meeting in February, the National Youth Committee decided to launch a special campaign of prayer across the country.

“We felt that the campaign would be an effective way for all the youth in America to ask for assistance in teaching the Faith to their peers,” said Albert Huerta, chairman of the committee.

“THE Writings tell us,” he added, “that the Supreme Concourse will rush to our aid if we seek their assistance, so the National Youth Committee has set up a prayer schedule so that youth from across the country will be praying for the aid of the Concourse at the same time each day.”

The schedule is quite simple. Youth in the Eastern time zone are asked to pray at 9 p.m., while youth in the Central zone pray at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, youth in the Mountain zone are asked to say a prayer at 7 p.m. and in the Pacific time zone, the time is 6 p.m.

To make the impact even greater, the committee suggests that youth all say the same prayer.

The prayer, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, appears on pages 174-175 of the new prayer book:

“O God, my God! Aid Thou Thy trusted servants to have loving and tender hearts. Help them to spread, amongst all the nations of the earth, the light of guidance that cometh from the Company on high. Verily, Thou art the Strong, the Powerful, the Mighty, the All-Subduing, the Ever-Giving. Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Gentle, the Tender, the Most Bountiful.”

“It is the hope of the Youth Committee that youth will wholeheartedly support this prayer campaign,” said Mr. Huerta, “and that it will bear many fruits in the teaching work that each of us is committed to do for the growth and triumph of the Faith.”

Bahá’í Club at U. of South Florida fetes Black Emphasis Month at public meeting

On February 22, the Bahá’í Club at the University of South Florida in Tampa commemorated Black Emphasis Month on campus with a public meeting.

Dr. John Hatcher, a Bahá’í who is a member of the faculty at USF, was the keynote speaker, presenting a talk about the life and works of the late Bahá’í poet Robert Hayden.

Copies of World Order magazine’s tribute to Mr. Hayden and To Move the World, the biography of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory, were presented to the president of the school’s Black Student Union, to a professor in the Afro Studies Department, and to the director of library relations.

Following the formal meeting, three students who happened by and stopped to inquire about the “Bahá’í” sign on the door were invited in for an impromptu fireside.

The Bahá’í Club at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, recently set up a display table in the school’s student center. A large number of pamphlets were offered to students along with pens that had the words ‘Bahá’í Faith: Uniting the World One Heart at a Time’ and a phone number to call for more information engraved on them. Shown at the table, which was for the most part unmanned, are Swati Ojha (left) and Brent Reed.

PREPUBLICATION OFFER FOR GUIDELINES FOR BAHÁ’Í ARCHIVES

Price is $6.50 up to May 1, 1983, and $7.50 after May 1

The Guidelines for Bahá’í Archives (72 pages) covers in detail the organization and functioning of a Bahá’í archives. It is highly suitable for larger communities faced with the need to organize a local archives.

Name___________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________

City_______________________________________ State__________ Zip______

Order form with payment should be sent to: National Bahá’í Archives Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091. [Page 8]

PUBLICATIONS

The Creative Word— The history and teachings: prerequisites to successful service to the Cause

God Passes By

Tales of triumph! Stories of love and happiness, vision and strength! Epic victories gained, greater victories yet to come! Tears and laughter! Family portraits! Roots for all mankind! Such is God Passes By, and more.

Over and over, Shoghi Effendi has linked the study of the Bahá’í teachings and the history of the Faith and has made a “thorough study” of both a “prerequisite” for a “successful career of service to the Bahá’í Faith.” But how can you get past the dry-as-dust history lessons from school days?

Make the study of God Passes By a family or study group or community project—but with a different twist.

A new biography of Martha Root is being released at the National Convention. In preparation, assign one person to find what Shoghi Effendi has to say about the “archetype of Bahá’í itinerant teachers” and the “foremost Hand of the Cause of God.” Then have that person share his findings with the rest of the group. Pages 386 through 394 will get you started.

You would like to participate in the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the House of Worship in Wilmette, and the 80th anniversary of its inception, but you live in Seattle, or Orlando, or Tucson? Ask another person to read about the precious moments associated with the Temple and bring the story to life. Page 348 is a good place to begin; the index will help you to find other details.

Does the history of the Faith suddenly sound less ominous? Somewhat possible? Even exciting? Work your way through the year—and the book—by looking up in God Passes By (HC, Cat. No. 108-010, $12.50; SC, Cat. No. 108-011, $6.50) historical details noted on the Hawaiian Bahá’í History Calendar (Cat. No. 769-081, $4.50). You will find that one episode leads to another ... and another. History is people, and tales of triumph, stories of love and happiness, victories won, and victories to come. History is your family.

Library Presentation Package available from Trust

The Library Presentation Package, a new component of the Rhythm of Growth program, is now available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, according to Larry Bucknell, general manager.

The new library package, which costs $30, contains the hardcover edition of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Some Answered Questions, and Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, all excellent basic additions to any public, private, college or university library.

The National Teaching ‎Committe Committee‎, in a letter mailed in February to all Local Spiritual Assemblies, is asking that the three books be placed in libraries throughout the U.S. and made available for inquirers and seekers.

Trust must receive new authorization forms for librarians at Riḍván 1983

At Riḍván 1983 each Bahá’í librarian, however new or seasoned, must file with the Bahá’í Publishing Trust a new librarian authorization form signed by his or her Local Spiritual Assembly or Bahá’í Group.

This year the forms are being mailed to all Local Spiritual Assemblies with materials relating to the Riḍván elections.

The authorization form allows the Local Assembly or Group to affirm the fact that the person appointed as librarian is empowered to order materials on the community’s account with the Publishing Trust.

It also indicates that the community accepts financial responsibility for whatever is ordered.

Librarians who do not file an authorization form by June 1 will be presumed not to want an account with the Publishing Trust and will not be able to charge orders and will not receive the librarian’s discount.

If you have not yet received a new authorization form, please call the Bahá’í Publishing Trust at 800-323-1880, or write to the Trust at 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.

If you have the form, please have your Local Spiritual Assembly or Group fill it out at Riḍván and mail it to the Publishing Trust’s address.

Our great privilege National Bahá’í Fund Wilmette, IL 60091

Notes . . . from the Publishing Trust

Price Change Greatest Name Emblems Prices on 8 x 10 inch Greatest Name emblems stamped in gold or silver on white stock have been reduced from $3 to $1. (Gold, Cat. No. 864-010, $1; silver, Cat. No. 864-009, $1)

Take Note Bahá’í Prayers, Deluxe Leather Edition As this is being written, stock on the deluxe leather edition of Bahá’í Prayers has dropped to 700 copies. The limited leather edition will not be reprinted. Get your copy while there is still time. (Bahá’í Prayers, leather, Cat. No. 315-072, $15)

The Light of Bahá’u’lláh The price on the new printing of The Light of Bahá’u’lláh has been reduced to $2.50 (a savings of $1). The popular book has been printed on light-weight, inexpensive paper. The savings are being passed on to you. (Cat. No. 332-074, $2.50)

Forthcoming Bahá’í Publishing Trust Catalog A catalog with descriptions and photographs of most titles carried by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust is now in preparation. Watch for future announcements on availability.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá Lithographs, set of seven A new selection of 7 lithographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, all suitable for framing, and in a variety of sizes, will soon be available. Some of the poses are formal, some informal. All have been chosen to make available photographs of the Master that have not been available in the recent past. Watch for details.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá Lithograph, 10 1/2 x 15 inches A majestic three-quarter-length formal portrait of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suitable for homes and Bahá’í Centers is also in preparation. Watch The American Bahá’í for details.

Softcover edition of To Move the World A softcover edition of To Move the World, Gayle Morrison’s popular biography of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory and the story of the advancement of racial unity in America is due to be released at the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention.

Pocket-sized edition of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh A pocket-sized edition of Gleanings, featuring a handsome flexible cover, will make its debut at the National Convention in late May. Plan now to use it in summer teaching and proclamation events.

Bahá’í Publishing Trust 415 LINDEN AVENUE WILMETTE, IL 60091

Titles from Around the World

BIC—Bahá’í International Community GR—George Ronald WO—World Order NS—Neville Spearman HC—Hardcover SC—Softcover

Iran’s Secret Pogrom Geoffrey Nash’s journalistic account reviews the history of the persecution of Persian Bahá’ís, Bahá’í beliefs, present-day persecutions, and the sad possibilities for the future of the ‎Bahá’í’s Bahá’ís‎ in Iran. (NS) (SC, Cat. No. 332-093, $5.50)

The Bahá’ís in Iran: A Report on the Persecution of a Religious Minority Excellent for proclamation—the Bahá’í International Community’s white paper on the systematic nature of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, together with the fake charges, international reaction, media coverage, and many official documents. (BIC) (SC, Cat. No. 555-100, $3)

World Order, Spring 1982 (Human Rights Testimony) Contains written testimony presented before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations. Timeless—and perfect for presentations to dignitaries in your community. (WO) (SC, Cat. No. 555-163, $3)

A Crown of Beauty Eunice Braun’s engaging introduction to the history and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith amply illustrated with photographs and drawings of Bahá’í Holy Places and administrative buildings in Israel. (GR) (HC, Cat. No. 332-097, $14.75; SC, Cat. No. 332-098, $9.75)

The Sunshine Tree Tales from around the world retold by Wendy Heller. Includes parents’ and teachers’ guide. (GR) (HC, Cat. No. 352-088, $9.75; SC, Cat. No. 352-089, $4.75)

Door of Hope: A Century of the Bahá’í Faith in the Holy Land David S. Ruhe’s new book designed for pilgrims and visitors to the Bahá’í Holy Places and World Centre of the Faith. Richly illustrated with photographs and drawings. (GR) (HC, Cat. No. 332-099, $18.75; SC, Cat. No. 332-100, $9.75)

Use the order form below to order any of the titles listed on this page or in the Publishing Trust price list published in the February issue of The American Bahá’í. (Orders for forthcoming titles cannot be accepted until prices and stock numbers are announced. Watch for details.) Cash orders must be accompanied by a check or money order for the full amount (including 10 per cent for postage and handling, minimum $1.50).

Credit card orders are accepted by phone (1-800-323-1880) and by mail; a VISA or MasterCard account number and expiration date must be included. Send orders to the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Coupon for Ordering from the Publishing Trust

Qty.	Book	Price
__	God Passes By, HC	$12.50
__	God Passes By, SC	$6.50
__	Greatest Name, gold	$1.00
__	Greatest Name, silver	$1.00
__	Bahá’í Prayers, leather	$15.00
__	Light of Bahá’u’lláh, SC	$2.50
__	Iran’s Secret Pogrom, SC	$5.50
__	The Bahá’ís in Iran, SC	$3.00
__	World Order, Spring 1982	$3.00
__	Bahá’í History Calendar	$4.50
__	Crown of Beauty, HC	$14.75
__	Crown of Beauty, SC	$9.75
__	Door of Hope, HC	$18.75
__	Door of Hope, SC	$9.75
__	The Sunshine Tree, HC	$9.75
__	The Sunshine Tree, SC	$4.75

Enclosed is my check or money order for $ ____ (including 10 per cent for postage and handling, minimum $1.50).

Charge to: ($10.00 minimum order)

Visa ____________________ Card expires ____

MC ____________________ Card expires ____

Name ________________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City ____________ State ____ Zip ________

(All orders are NET—no discounts. No charges on librarians’ accounts accepted. Credit card orders accepted by phone: 1-800-323-1880.)

Bahá’í Publishing Trust 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091

(Do not order forthcoming titles. Details coming next month.) TAB 4/83 Prices valid only in 48 contiguous states of the United States [Page 9]

Leopard, frog enliven 2 new children's books

When B.J. (short for Bernadette Juliana) Frigby—a green frog with bulgy eyes and black splotches—sets out to learn the languages of the other animals in the forest, she finds that communication can have its perils. But she also finds that learning the languages of others has its rewards—among them friendship, cooperation and unity.

SUCH are the themes of a splendid new book for 6 to 11 year olds, B.J. and the Language of the Woodland, written by Alvin N. Deibert.

The book will be released at the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention, according to Dr. Betty J. Fisher, general editor of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

Parents and teachers will find that B.J.’s exploits, told in seven chapters, lend themselves readily to story-telling sessions and to discussions about many topics: peer pressure, excelling, perseverance, cooperation, unity, genuine friendship.

The fine, black-and-white illustrations by Carol Joy go directly to the heart. They are sure to delight children and adults alike.

Another new children’s book, The Spotlessly Leopard, written and illustrated by Winifred Barnum Newman, also is certain to provoke much thought and discussion about values and about the importance of accepting oneself.

For the magnificent tawny, black-spotted leopard has to learn the hard way how important it is to be content simply with being his own special self.

Mrs. Newman’s detailed, whimsical but pointed illustrations add an extra dimension to The Spotlessly Leopard (as they did to The Secret in the Garden) and are sure to provide added enjoyment to the story of the leopard, reading after reading.

Both The Spotlessly Leopard and B.J. and the Language of the Woodland will be available at the National Convention and immediately thereafter from all local Bahá’í librarians and from the Publishing Trust. Watch for further details.

New biography paints a loving portrait of staunch Martha Root

The first full-length biography of the Hand of the Cause of God Martha Root will be released at the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention.

Written by M.R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold contains some 500 pages and more than 70 photographs.

IT CHRONICLES the life and travels of one whom Shoghi Effendi characterized as the “foremost Hand which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s will has raised up (in the) first Bahá’í century.”

One can only reflect in awe at the prodigious energies and achievements of Martha Root, the tireless servant of Bahá’u’lláh, who labored selflessly for more than 20 years in the vanguard of international teaching.

Traveling with Miss Root, you will marvel at her stamina, and weep at the pain of her illnesses as her world-encircling enterprise unfolds.

Martha Root tells the astounding story of a successful journalist from Pittsburgh who, after accepting the Bahá’í Faith in 1909, devoted the rest of her life to spreading its teachings throughout every continent on earth.

During four extensive trips between 1918 and 1939 she spoke to hundreds of audiences and reached millions of people through her newspaper articles and pioneering radio broadcasts.

Martha Root’s friends and acquaintances included common people as well as kings and queens, princes and maharajas, scholars and prominent world leaders—among them President Thomas Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, Queen Marie of Rumania, Nobel prize-winning Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, American labor organizer Eugene V. Debs, and Esperantist Lydia Zamenhof.

MARTHA Root’s work was a wholehearted response to the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Charter of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the worldwide promulgation of the Bahá’í Faith.

Praise for her selfless efforts

MARTHA ROOT

LEOPARD written and illustrated by WINIFRED BARNUM NEWMAN

At large Convention bookstore

B.J.and the Language of the Woodland written by ALVIN N. DEIBERT illustrated by CAROL JOY

Many new titles ready for release

A large, attractive and well-stocked bookstore is being planned for the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention in May, according to Larry Bucknell, general manager of the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

The bookstore will feature a number of new titles from the U.S. Publishing Trust including a novel about Táhirih (for all ages), two new books for 7 to 11 year olds, and a full-length biography of the Hand of the Cause of God Martha Root (for details see articles on this page).

The Publishing Trust also plans to have available:

• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Lithographs, set of seven.
• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Lithograph, 10 1/2x15 inches.
• A pocket-sized edition of Gleanings.
• A softcover edition of To Move the World.
• compilation (181 pp.) of selections from the Writings of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
• Six new postcards of the Wilmette House of Worship, including spring and sunset views, the gardens, dome, and more.

The National Convention bookstore also has on order a wide selection of titles from publishers around the world. These include:

British Publishing Trust

• Inspiring the Heart, a small collection of the public addresses and notes of conversations taken down when the Master visited London in 1911 and 1912. Includes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s first public address.
• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, a collection of the public addresses and notes of conversations taken down when the Master visited London in 1911 and 1912.
• Faith for Every Man, an attractive compilation of extracts from the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the themes of God and creation, man’s reality, the Manifestation of God and religion, laws and ordinances, unity, and Christianity and other faiths.

Lovely, audacious Ţáhirih lives again in new novel

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have lived in the time of Christ? Have you wondered how you would have felt to find yourself among the first followers of the Báb?

From Behind the Veil, Kathleen Jemison Demas’ new novel about Táhirih, will bring alive the excitement those first disciples experienced and make you relive the wonder you experienced when you became a Bahá’í.

Caroline Smith, a young American woman, had often thought about the fortunate first disciples of Christ. Through strange but fortuitous circumstances, she finds herself living a part of history she thought would never be repeated. in ominous?

She becomes not only a member of Táhirih’s household but an intimate of Táhirih as that remarkable woman seeks—and finds—the promised Qá’im.

The outline of Táhirih’s life is familiar. She is, as Shoghi Effendi wrote, “a poetess... of distinguished birth, of bewitching charm, of captivating eloquence, indomitable in spirit, unorthodox in her views, audacious in her acts.”

Táhirih is remembered for having been one of the first 18 persons—and the only woman—to recognize the Báb, the Promised One expected by Shi’ih Muslims; for her heroic championing of the new religion; for casting aside her veil as a symbol of a new day that would bring equality to all women and men.

What you will find most astonishing is that From Behind the Veil is not dry-as-dust history. This fresh retelling of Táhirih’s life evokes what it is like to encounter that which is more real than the physical objects about you, whether it be 2,000 years ago, 140 years ago, or yesterday—of what it is like, however briefly, to see, but not from behind a veil.

From Behind the Veil will be available at the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention bookstore and immediately afterward from Bahá’í librarians and the Bahá’í Publishing Trust. Watch for details. [Page 10]

The homefront pioneer

John H. Wilcott, homefront pioneer from Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Kendall, Montana from 1910 until his death in 1963.

The first priority that the National Teaching Committee has set for homefront pioneers is to move into mass-taught areas to do consolidation work.

We would like to feature one such pioneer in this column who has been in touch with our office regarding her efforts.

ALICE Lovejoy is a retired school teacher who has been a homefront pioneer for four years in King City, California.

When she first moved there, she found a non-functioning Assembly. Shortly afterward, the friends began to meet as a Group and now are beginning to function as an Assembly.

The community had a successful Ayyám-i-Há party this year with gifts for the children and a piñata. They are planning a Naw-Rúz celebration that would attract seekers as well as deepen the believers in the community. They also host a Bahá’í display ‎ever every‎ year at a local fair.

Mrs. Lovejoy feels that the greatest success in consolidation has come by building friendships with the believers and nurturing them in the love of God, which also attracts new souls to the Cause.

She regularly visits the believers and invites them to activities in her home. English classes are available at the local schools, but she offers advanced classes in her home.

SHE IS working on getting scholarships to the Bosch Bahá’í School for people in her community. She feels it is important that they meet other Bahá’ís and receive deepening from someone other than herself.

She hopes to hold Bosch-like deepening classes in her home after enough people have experienced going to the Bosch school.

The Bahá’ís bring others for her to teach. She always asks them what they have already told them about the Faith and then teaches the seekers in a joint effort with the Bahá’í that has brought them to her.

This kind of homefront pioneer is surely needed to help advance the Cause in this country. It is also

See HOMEFRONT Page 11

Teaching victories depend on cooperative effort

Fundamental to all teaching plans and programs is that the individual believer must arise to serve.

Without the individual arising, the goals set by the Universal House of Justice cannot be won.

LOCAL Spiritual Assemblies have been asked by the National Teaching Committee to put teaching first on their agendas.

Where this has been done, in Feasts and Assembly meetings, we have drawn closer to filling our spiritual need to teach and to concentrate more fully on this most important avenue to our spiritual growth.

Winning specific goals is only one measure of our teaching work. In arising to win these goals, we have been tirelessly assisted throughout the year by the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants.

The Auxiliary Board members meet the friends at the grassroots level, inspire and encourage them to arise and secure the teaching goals.

The task ahead is great. In a letter dated March 31, 1945, Shoghi Effendi wrote:

“Indeed to bring this Message to mankind in its darkest hour of need is the paramount duty of every believer. All the agony, suffering, privation and spiritual blindness afflicting people today everywhere in the world, to a greater or lesser degree, is because they are unaware of, or indifferent to, the Remedy God has sent them.

“Only those who are aware of it can carry its healing knowledge to others, so that each Bahá’í has an inescapable and sacred duty to perform.”

It is through the efforts of the Board members that many of the goals have been won.

The Continental Board of Counsellors, the National Spiritual Assembly and the National Teaching Committee have worked closely together this year to identify and win the extension teaching goals, save jeopardized Assemblies, and support the local communities in their teaching efforts.

THE CLOSE collaboration of these institutions has helped galvanize our national teaching effort and the resulting victories are at hand.

In making its plans for the coming year, the National Teaching Committee will continue to seek the advice and support of the Board of Counsellors and guidance from the National Spiritual Assembly.

The Spiritual Assembly of Redmond, Washington, is now incorporated. Assembly members are (standing left to right) Manouchehr Moattar, Adams Bushnell, Linda Stevens, Christa Wickrama, Peter Christis, and (seated left to right) Molookeh Moattar, Maryam Aghdassi, Ethelbert Neukirchen, Tahereh Farid.

South Carolina urgently needs pioneers to settle in many towns, rural areas

The South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee is looking for families to pioneer in towns and rural areas in South Carolina, especially in the eastern part of the state.

The population in these areas varies from 5,000 to 45,000. Listed here are some of the towns to be considered. Additional goal towns will be added later:

Bennettsville	Florence
Dillon	Mullins
Marion	Myrtle Beach
North Myrtle Beach	Conway
Lake City	Pamplico

Strong families will be able to help us to create clusters around a nucleus of Bahá’ís in several towns who will then begin to function administratively. The weather in South Carolina is good, the spirit is high, and the love for Bahá’u’lláh flows from heart to heart.

For more information write to the secretary, South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee, c/o Louis Gregory Institute, Route 2, Box 71, Hemingway, SC 29534, or phone 803-558-5093.

Bahá’ís in Aberdeen, Washington, are shown giving balloons to passersby at a shopping mall during a music festival in February. Each balloon had attached to its string an invitation to learn more about the Faith and a phone number to call. Nearly 800 balloons were given away, and many pamphlets were taken from a nearby room. The event was publicized in the newspaper, on posters, and on a lighted bank sign.

Response

Continued From Page 1

persons in the area of their jurisdiction (the mayor, members of the municipal council or board of aldermen, newspaper editors, state legislators, and those who are prominent in education, business, science or the arts), explaining to them the situation and urging them to make public statements and to write letters to members of the U.S. Congress protesting the executions and demanding that the judicial murder of Bahá’ís in Iran cease.

2. Contact civic organizations, church groups and business concerns who have in the past shown interest in humanitarian causes, inform them of the situation and ask whether they would be willing to make statements denouncing the executions and asking that the lives of other Bahá’ís be spared.

3. Request that college clubs under their jurisdiction initiate campaigns that would result in letters being sent to U.S. congressmen by students and faculty.

4. Contact newspapers, radio and television stations, inform them of the executions and urge them to make the story known.

5. Encourage individual Bahá’ís to write letters to the editors of local newspapers, giving the facts and expressing their opinions about the hangings and the probability of more executions.

The latest executions in Shiraz followed by four days the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Commission expressing its “profound concern” for the welfare of Iran’s 300,000 Bahá’ís and calling upon the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to safeguard their basic human rights.

THE TWO Bahá’ís who were hanged are among 22 in Shiraz whose death sentences were upheld in February by Iran’s Supreme Court.

Earlier in March, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, testifying before the House Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, appealed to Iran to “heed the voice of world opinion” and refrain from executing the 22 condemned Bahá’ís in Shiraz.

In a second cable from the World Centre, dated March 15, the Universal House of Justice disclosed that a third Bahá’í, Mrs. Tuba Za’irpur, was also hanged in Shiraz and was buried with her companions in the Bahá’í cemetery there by prison guards who did not notify the families of the executions.

On March 10, the Parliament of Europe passed its third resolution supporting Iran’s Bahá’ís, in which it urged Iran to suspend the death sentences already handed down and to halt all manner of violence and discrimination against the Bahá’ís in that country.

In addition to selected Local Spiritual Assemblies, the National Assembly’s letter of March 14 was sent to all Bahá’í media committees with instructions to bring its contents to the attention of Assemblies in their areas and to discuss with those Assemblies the proper approaches to take ‎is in‎ disseminating information about the tragic events in Iran to the media and others. [Page 11]

Teaching Committee charts course for 1984

The National Teaching Committee is making plans now for Riḍván 1984 in an attempt to set the direction for next year so no precious time will be lost.

The committee is interested in raising its vision to the end of the Seven Year Plan so that we can go forward systematically, assured of success.

SOME of the many highlights to look forward to are:

• Special conferences in the goal states of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York, and in the District of Columbia. The focus of these conferences will be teaching, proclamation, expansion and consolidation.
• Identification of 40 cities as minority teaching centers. These Bahá’í communities will be encouraged to develop action-oriented teaching plans to reach significant minority groups in their areas. They will work closely with the Regional Asian Teaching Committee and the Regional Hispanic Teaching Committee.
• Development of a booklet for forming and maintaining active Bahá’í Groups. The booklet is tentatively titled The Solid Foundation—the Bahá’í Group.
• The identification of more than 200 cities to produce homefront pioneers. These Bahá’í communities will be asked to supply one or more homefront pioneers to settle in specific goal areas, with priority being given to settling in “mass-taught” areas, saving or forming a Local Spiritual Assembly, strengthening a Bahá’í Group, or opening a locality.
• Publication of newly revised guidelines for District Teaching Committees including chapters on teaching the masses, hosting District Conventions, the relationship to Local Spiritual Assemblies, and more.
• Continued correspondence with isolated believers and strong support for small Groups.
• Closer working relationships with Local Assemblies on their extension teaching goals.

We are moving from strength to strength. Our goals for next year are built on the anticipation of our victories this year.

Every Bahá’í teaches the Faith, and every Bahá’í is a resource. The progress of the Cause is built upon the heroic efforts of those individuals who arise to serve.

Pioneers

Continued From Page 5

Effendi is quoted in The Priceless Pearl as saying about pioneering.

In like manner, the Universal House of Justice has written: “The duties of teaching and pioneering are enjoined upon all believers.” (From a letter dated February 7, 1965, to the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly)

For those who are unable to pioneer, Bahá’u’lláh has provided the option of appointing another in his stead.

Shoghi Effendi stated, “Should they find it impossible to take advantage of so rare and sacred a privilege, let them, mindful of the words of Bahá’u’lláh, determine, each according to the means at his or her disposal, to appoint a deputy who, on that believer’s behalf, will arise and carry out so noble an enterprise.” (The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 55)

OUR national community also has been charged with the collective responsibility to place pioneers in specific goal countries. Our continued success in this field of endeavor will depend on our ability, through the National Fund, to offer the financial support necessary for this work.

The International Goals Committee has received funds this year from several sources other than its budget. Pioneers who go out on tourist visas are required to purchase round-trip tickets to prove their ability to return to the U.S. When they find employment and receive work visas, these pioneers can send the return portion of the ticket to the committee as a refund.

Small temporary loans often are made, and a number of these which were made over the last few years were repaid this year.

Although support from these sources was strong this year, the Goals Committee cannot count on such extra amounts next year, and must rely on a healthy National Fund for its budget.

One year ago, during a similar period of difficulty in the condition of the National Fund, a pioneer in Europe, who had gone out during the Ten Year Crusade, wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly, wondering if perhaps she should return from her post. She was concerned that the Fund would no longer be able to provide the $200 a month she was receiving as deputization.

Of course, the National Assembly assured this devoted pioneer, who has been at her post for more than 25 years, that her support was not in jeopardy.

In fact, the National Assembly would never turn aside from its moral obligation to help sustain those American pioneers who have scattered far and wide to make this world another world.

More than an individual responsibility, the pioneering task given to the American Bahá’í community by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is divine in origin, and compels us all to dedicate ourselves to the completion of this spiritual destiny. Every Bahá’í can participate in the glorious service of pioneering by helping to provide a strong National Fund.

We can never forget that, as the Universal House of Justice has told us, “Upon our efforts depend in very large measure the fate of humanity.” (Wellspring of Guidance, p. 120)

Traveling teachers continue to assist homefront efforts

Traveling teachers continue to visit extension goals, give firesides, and help in teaching.

The traveling teachers are assigned by the National Teaching Committee to work primarily with larger Groups, and we are assured of further Assembly formations this Riḍván through their efforts.

Individual Bahá’ís can also arise to travel and teach, offering their services to their District Teaching Committee to visit isolated believers and Groups and to give firesides.

There are no special teachers in the Bahá’í Faith. Everyone is a teacher of the Cause of God.

The beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, says, “We have no special teachers in this Cause. Everyone is a potential teacher. He has only to use what God has given him and thus prove that he is faithful to his trust.”

Those individuals trained as traveling teachers have deepened their knowledge and understanding of the Faith through study of The Advent of Divine Justice and Tablets of the Divine Plan.

The goals of the traveling teachers are to create love and unity wherever they go, to support the friends in their teaching efforts, and to participate when requested.

St. Charles sets second annual Institute in May

The second annual St. Charles Teaching Institute will be held May 14-15 at the Memorial Arts Building of Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri.

The institute, sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of St. Charles City, will include classes for children ages 2-12 and a Saturday evening social presented by the Bahá’í youth of Missouri.

The conference cost is $4 per person, $6 per family.

Speakers and their topics: Robert Wilson (travel teaching), Shirley Lee (teaching through the media), Don Suftko (teaching and the Fund), Bob Postlethwaite (teaching by example), and Mildred Birkett (teaching and the Covenant).

For information, contact Linda Brucker, Institute coordinator, 1598 Willow Creek Dr., St. Charles, MO 63301. Phone 314-724-1174.

LaVern Schroepfer (left), a Bahá’í from Antigo, Wisconsin, is shown during a recent presentation of the books The Advent of Divine Justice and Call to the Nations and other Bahá’í literature to Russell Strubel, administrator of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The books were to be placed in the hospital’s library.

Homefront

Continued From Page 10

good training for international pioneering.

We have also heard this month from pioneers who are either isolated believers or working in Groups. Jeanne Ellig of Ellsworth, Wisconsin, defines homefront pioneering in a small town:

Dear Friends: Homefront pioneering is:

• being in a small town of about 2,500 people in Wisconsin
• having the nearest Bahá’í community 50 miles away
• receiving numerous opportunities to teach the Faith
• making friends with a kind neighbor who invited me to join the Homemakers Club whose members asked me to share my experiences in Colombia (where I pioneered) and who learned that I am a Bahá’í
• answering the question “Why did you name your child Vahid?” at the laundromat
• showing slides to the Senior Citizens Group and getting to know some beautiful souls
• traveling a long distance to renew the spiritual bond with our fellow Bahá’ís at conferences, special deepenings, and Holy Days
• saying many, many prayers and asking God to assist us.

Jeanne Ellig Ellsworth, Wisconsin

Our isolated believers continue to respond with news of their activities. Their dedication is inspiring.

Dear Friends: Thank you for the warm letter to isolated believers. In your letter you requested information about activities which have advanced the Cause of God in my area (Piedmont, California). Some of them are:

• Proclamation. October 1982, invited neighbors to home viewing of the video tape of Congressional hearings.
• December 1982. Presentation to the Piedmont paper of World Order magazine.
• December 1982. Distributed pamphlets at Piedmont grocery store.
• January 1983. A press release about World Religion Day appeared in the Piedmont-Oakland Bulletin newspaper. Also, a display ad appeared in the Piedmont paper which reaches every home in the city.
• Teaching. Door-to-door teaching once a month (seven times to date).
• Firesides. One every 19 days and at the convenience of seekers.
• Consultation. Bounty of talking with previous isolated believer in Piedmont area concerning teaching approaches and needs.

These activities were carried out with much love and help from the nearby Oakland community and the Auxiliary Board members for propagation.

Also, Piedmont has been involved in teaching events in Oakland and proclamation in Berkeley and Alameda.

Much love, Claudette Varnado Piedmont, California [Page 12]

Overseas teaching projects abound

Throughout the history of the Faith, traveling teachers have been given a leading role in the urgent task of promoting the Cause of God.

The Letters of the Living, appointed by the Báb, were sent abroad throughout Persia and the surrounding areas with the sole task of promulgating His Message. Time and again, Bahá’u’lláh sent the believers on missions to teach in foreign lands.

In the Tablets of the Divine Plan, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá exhorted the friends to “...carry the fame of the Cause of God to the East and to the West and spread the Glad Tidings of the appearance of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts throughout the five continents of the world.”

The beloved Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have repeatedly urged the friends to travel internationally for the purpose of teaching the Faith.

There are many opportunities this summer for Bahá’ís to serve their sister communities overseas. Those of you who wish to travel in the summer should consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly, to inform them of your plans and to receive their guidance, and then write to the International Goals Committee, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Begin now to set aside the necessary funds, bearing in mind that funds are needed for transportation, housing and daily living expenses, as hospitality is not always available in the countries you visit.

The International Goals Committee is eager to be of assistance to those planning to travel abroad, and encourages the friends to “arise for the triumph of His Cause.”

Summer Projects and Activities for 1983

Country	Language	Date	Project
Dominica	English	August 8-13	Combined summer school and teaching project in a village community.
St. Lucia	English	August 15-20	Combined summer school and teaching project in a village community.
St. Vincent	English	August 22-27	Combined summer school and teaching project in a village community.
Grenada	English	August 29-September 3	Combined summer school and teaching project in a village community.
Guatemala	Spanish	July-August	Would like a teaching team to help them win their goals.
Alaska	All languages	June 24-26	Bahá’í International Youth Conference.
Austria (Innsbruck)	All languages	July 23-27	European Bahá’í Youth Conference sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors in Europe.
France	French	July-August	Summer teaching campaign. The National Spiritual Assembly welcomes the assistance of traveling teachers with a good knowledge of French or with artistic talents that could be used to teach the Faith.
Spain	Spanish	July 21-25 August 11-15	National Summer Schools.
Denmark	Danish/English	July 9-16	Summer school at Liselund, Moen.
Ireland	English	August 20-28	Bahá’í summer school.

There are many wonderful opportunities to teach in these areas and the need is great. For more detailed information please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

I am interested in the __________________________________ project or activity

Name __________________________________ Bahá’í I.D. number ________________

Address _________________________________ City __________ State _____________

Zip Code ____________ Telephone (home) ____________ Work ____________

Bahá’í National Center Office Hours 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central Time) Monday—Friday Phone 312-869-9039

Both counted when couples contribute

The Office of the Treasurer reminds couples who contribute to the National Fund using a joint checking account that each will be counted among the individuals giving if both names and their respective I.D. numbers are included.

Receipts will be returned with “Mr. and Mrs. __________” and one I.D. number. This designation shows that two individuals have been counted. The computer is programmed to print one I.D. number per receipt, so we are unable to comply with the many requests that we have received for both numbers to be shown.

More than 600 attend dedication of Anis Zunuzi School in Haiti

The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum plants an orange tree during inauguration ceremonies last October 20 for the Anis Zunuzi Bahá’í School in Lilavois, Haiti.

About 600 people including the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum and many local dignitaries were present last October 20, the anniversary of the Birth of the Báb, for the inauguration of the Anis Zunuzi Bahá’í School in ‎Lilavoix Lilavois‎, Haiti, about seven miles south of Port-au-Prince, the capital city.

PARTICIPATING IN THE ceremonies were a representative of the government of President Duvalier; the mayor of nearby La Croix de Bouquets; two local ministers of education; and a Canadian ambassador.

Among the many Bahá’ís who attended were three members of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas—Dr. Farzam Arbab of Colombia, Mrs. Carmen de Burafato of Mexico, and Mrs. Ruth Pringle of Panama.

Also present were the school’s architect, Dr. Iraj Majzub of Miami, Florida; Mrs. Mahmehr Golestaneh, the artist who designed a tile mural in the courtyard of the school that depicts the martyrdom of the Báb; and Mrs. Lea Nys, a traveling teacher from Belgium who served as master of ceremonies for the inauguration.

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum participated in flag-raising and ribbon-cutting ceremonies and helped plant an orange tree on the school grounds.

Afterward, the audience moved indoors for speeches by the Hand of the Cause, local officials, and Hans Jurgen Thimm, a German-born Bahá’í pioneer who is headmaster of the school.

Everyone was then served refreshments and entertained by a marching band in the school courtyard.

THE ANIS Zunuzi School, whose entire cost of around $300,000 was donated by a Bahá’í couple in Belgium, presently holds classes at the kindergarten and elementary levels.

Plans are being made for a number of trade courses perhaps to include bee-keeping, sewing, woodworking, welding, agriculture and other skills.

A tutoring program has begun in which local youths are trained as tutors and return to their villages to set up classes in basic reading, writing and trade skills.

As a part of their regular studies, children at the school have a class in religion, once a week, that includes lessons about all of the world’s religions, taught from a Bahá’í perspective.

There is also a Bahá’í children’s class at the school on Sunday afternoons, and an adult deepening class held once each week.

These classes are taught by Mattie Thimm, the wife of the headmaster, who also teaches three Bahá’í children’s classes each week in villages in the area, helped by local youth. For some of the children, these classes are the only education they receive.

The Anis Zunuzi school has become a powerful influence in the lives of the people nearby, bringing work to many during its construction, fresh water and electricity to the village, and perhaps the most precious gift of all—the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.—Jeannie H. Robinson

Bahá’í stars in play

Ameria Caruthers, a member of the Bahá’í community of Little Rock, Arkansas, was one of the stars of the Little Rock Community Theatre’s recent production of the Broadway play “Purlie.”

In a newspaper review of the play, Miss Caruthers is described as “hilariously charming” in her role as a kitchen maid named Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins.

The reviewer goes on to say that she “generally steals large portions of the show whenever she’s on stage.” [Page 13]

Questions, answers about traveling teaching

Looking more closely at the concept of traveling teachers, the International Goals Committee answers some of the most commonly raised questions about international traveling teaching.

What is the purpose of traveling teachers?

The Universal House of Justice states that the aim of the traveling teacher is to reinforce “the efforts of those who are laboring so valiantly to expand and consolidate the Bahá’í communities.” It is stated in the Seven Year Plan that “the interchange of pioneers and traveling teachers, which contributes so importantly to the unity of the Bahá’í world and to a true understanding of the oneness of mankind, must continue, especially between neighboring lands.”

Wouldn’t it be more useful to concentrate on strengthening our goal areas with permanent Bahá’ís instead of this itinerant variety?

We must certainly concentrate on establishing strong communities but if the traveling teachers are channeled into teaching activities in our sister communities they will strengthen those communities as well as the bonds that link them to Bahá’ís elsewhere. This flow of movement is reviving, strengthening, refreshing and spiritually stimulating.

Do you need to have some special talents to undertake a traveling teaching trip?

Not at all. There have been traveling teachers this year as ordinary as Bahá’ís on business trips or vacations. The International Goals Committee urges every Bahá’í to consider every trip outside the country as a possible teaching trip.

So, in fact, anyone could become a traveling teacher by visiting Bahá’í communities overseas?

Yes, insofar as the desire, the will, the initiative of the individual is concerned. But remember, the desire can only be directed, and the initiative confirmed, when we turn to the Institutions.

Do you mean we can’t just get up and go? We must first contact the International Goals Committee?

This is often a very simple process and can only be beneficial. As the House of Justice writes, it is “well considered efforts” that we need, not haphazard fireworks that dissipate our resources.

The application process for an international traveling teaching trip begins when an individual contacts the International Goals Committee about his trip to another country. The committee then requests information from his Local Spiritual Assembly or District Teaching Committee to learn about his skills, talents and abilities.

The National Spiritual Assembly is notified of his plans, and he or she is then introduced by cable or letter to the National Assembly within whose jurisdiction the trip will be taken.

To help that National Assembly plan teaching activities for the traveler, it is informed of his skills and talents. The traveler is given the address of that institution and is encouraged to correspond directly for more details about the trip.

Upon his return to the U.S., the traveling teacher should send a report of his trip to the International Goals Committee.

When we combine the zest and energy of our personal response to the call for traveling teachers with the guiding and protective coordination of the administrative bodies of the Faith, we find, because we are obeying the directives of the Universal House of Justice, that the “hosts of success” literally surround us and crown our hopes. Whenever this magnetic process has been followed the results have been rich.

Communities that have been blessed by the visit of a traveling teacher often write and say: “This kind of visit is always a bounty and an inspiration to our community. It tends to broaden our perspective of the Faith. Thank you for directing to us these beautiful friends.”

And the teachers find that they are equally enriched, and feel they have been the ones most blessed.

This is the way we can all respond to the call of the Universal House of Justice to “swell to a mighty river” the invigorating motion of traveling teachers across the globe.

This is the way we can respond to the exhortation of Bahá’u’lláh Himself and become “the soft flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men.” This is one of the ways in which we can become “a river of life eternal” to His loved ones.

August 20-28 dates for Ireland's school

The 1983 Bahá’í Summer School in Ireland will be held August 20-28 at the Kings Hospital School near the capital city, Dublin.

For information or to register, please contact the Summer School Registrar, 24 Burlington Road, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Bahá’í author’s new book chronicles history of Texas’ Southwest Airlines

Winifred Barnum Newman, a Bahá’í from San Antonio, Texas, has authored a new children’s book entitled Gumwrappers and Goggles.

The 48-page book, whose story centers around the efforts of a “slightly plump” little airplane to fly, is actually a light-hearted account of the early struggles of Texas-based Southwest Airlines.

Mrs. Newman, who wrote and illustrated the book, is well known to Bahá’ís through publication of an earlier book, The Secret in the Garden.

That book, released in 1980 by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, was the winner of an international Angel Award from Los Angeles-based Religion in Media.

At the National Convention in May, the Publishing Trust plans to release Mrs. Newman’s latest book, The Spotlessly Leopard, which she also wrote and illustrated.

This time the teacher was the one surprised!

“O Lord, increase my astonishment at Thee!”

The above quotation from The Seven Valleys serves as a perfect illustration of the following true story:

Once upon a time a call went out for Bahá’ís to go to Jamaica during the summer to help consolidate that community.

ONE OF THOSE who volunteered to spend his summer vacation doing this work was Donald Newby.

After two rewarding weeks in Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas, Mr. Newby traveled to Maypen, a suburb of Kingston, where he stayed at the home of a local Bahá’í whose place was a headquarters for pioneers.

It was there that he met another young man who was to accompany him on his teaching trip.

To their surprise, they were given the use of a small white van, the gift of three Bahá’ís from South Florida. The van would be ideal for use on the island’s many narrow, winding, mountainous roads.

Happily loading the van with their teaching materials, including a guitar and slide projector, several sets of Bahá’í slides and some groceries, they set out on their trip.

THEY traveled from village to village, attending many meetings both large and small.

After several weeks, Mr. Newby and his friend found that there was still another village about 40 miles farther into the interior where their lists showed that a family of Bahá’ís was living.

On arriving there, they found that the family had gone to another village to do marketing and to visit.

They decided, however, to hold a public meeting and to remain in the village until the following day.

News of their arrival was carried everywhere, and the meeting was scheduled to be held under some large trees in the center of the village.

WHAT happened next makes one realize why traveling teachers and pioneers are enthralled with the bounties that descend when they arise to teach the Faith.

An elderly woman with a bright, shining face approached Mr. Newby excitedly and said, “I have something to tell you. I have been expecting you!”

“How could you have known?” he replied. “We didn’t realize until this morning that we were coming here.”

“I knew you were coming soon,” the woman said. “You see; many months ago I was sitting on the mountainside near my cabin watching black storm clouds roll up from two directions at once.

“They almost touched, and then they parted and between them I saw the picture of a man with a beautiful face, a long white beard and hair, and a white turban on his head.

“HE said to me, ‘Soon two white men will come here from across the sea. They will be driving a small white van and when they come they will tell you how all the people of the world can live in peace together. Their white van will bring them over the mountains on a long journey to get here.’”

Mr. Newby smiled broadly as he pulled a picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from his wallet. “Is this the man you saw?” he asked.

“Yes, that is the man,” she replied, “and I knew you were coming! But what took you so long?”

Native American Bahá’í a ‘cultural ambassador’

Kevin Locke, a Lakota Sioux Indian from Vermillion, South Dakota, who gives performances of Native American culture all over the world, will soon be participating in a cultural exchange program in Marseille, France, at the request of the French Festival Committee.

THIS will be the sixth trip to Europe for similar purposes for Mr. Locke, who also has performed in Australia, Spain and nine African countries.

While he is on tour, Mr. Locke always manages to draw attention to the Faith.

Discussions with members of the audience following his performances of traditional Lakota music and dance, he says, often include mention of the Faith.

In Marseille, he will have a Bahá’í booth on display at the festival.

Mr. Locke is the only living practitioner of the Lakota “courtship flute,” an instrument that is used exclusively for love songs, and is one of the few men in the country today who can perform the “hoop dance” with 30 hoops.

At home in South Dakota, he lives a traditional Indian life with his wife and three children, although his traveling often separates them.

MR. LOCKE says he feels the unique contribution to mankind of American Indians lies in the spiritual strength of their traditional culture.

“If we are to be of any worth, as native people, to mankind,” he says, “I believe that a few of us must nurture the spiritual roots which give rise to these exemplary values.”

Recently, in recognition of Mr. Locke’s work, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe appointed him its cultural representative, a position once held by the legendary chief Sitting Bull.

KEVIN LOCKE

Dance fest set

The Regional Asian and Hispanic Teaching Committee is sponsoring an “International Dance Festival” May 21 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the New York City Bahá’í Center.

A variety of Asian and Hispanic dances will be presented. [Page 14]

THE MOST CHALLENGING ISSUE

This is a six week deepening for the cultural discovery between two people with a step by step process shown below. There will be a Seattle conference in June on “THE MOST CHALLENGING ISSUE.”

Infancy		Adolescence		Maturity
WEEK 1	WEEK 2	WEEK 3	WEEK 4	WEEK 5	WEEK 6
A. BONDING Reducing 1st meeting tensions. Casual talk. Express enthusiasm for the Dyad Project. 1. Select prayers and contemplate them. 2. Review ground rules (See rules, 8th column). 3. Responsible sharing: light biographic backgrounds.	A. BONDING	A. BONDING	A. BONDING	A. BONDING	A. DEEPEN on Resource No. 16 p 164
B. DEEPENING On the spiritual foundation of “The Most Challenging Issue” Study Resource No. 5, p 69-70, 97-126; and Resource No. 2 p 148-9 How do these apply to me?	B. DEEPENING I. Study Resource No. 11 ch. 9 p 52-7 and No. 10 (all) and No. 4 p 28-31. II. Q: How does this material apply to me?	B. DEEPENING on the Spiritual Foundation of The Most Challenging Issue I. Study “The Most Challenging Issue” p 31-4 and Resource No. 6, p 533; and Resource No. 6, p 112-3, 75-6. II. How does the deepening material apply to me?	B. DEEPENING I. Study Resource No. 2, p 257-8 and Resource No. 3 p 351 (Double Crusade...) II. How does the material apply to me?	B. DEEPENING on the spiritual foundation of the Most Challenging Issue. I. Read Resource No. 1 p 36-7 and No. 12 p 42-5; and all of No. 7; and No. 8 p 29 and No. 9. Q: How do these apply to me?	10 min RECONVENE
COFFEE BREAK III. Read Resource No. 3, p 369 (“I now assure thee...”)	III. Resource No. 3, p 369 “I now assure thee...”	III. Resource No. 3, p. 369 (“I now assure thee...”)	Resource No. 3 p 369 (“I now assure thee...”)	Resource No. 3 p 369 (“I now assure thee...”)	Participants are now applying Resource No. 14 p 130 (signs of this). C. Study “To Move the World” outline 1-82 AB p 12-13.
C. PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL APPLICATION I. Set up 2 field trips which create multi-cultural learning experience. Ex.: Visit multi-cultural art/museum display. Visit one another’s home. Share ethnic foods. Expose each other to positive aspects of each other’s cultural backgrounds. (Avoid stereotyping).	C. PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL APPLICATION I. Attend one of 2 planned field trips. II. Reconvene: pray, meditate. 1. Share experience honestly: A. What it meant to me. B. How can I relate/not relate to this experience. Recommitment to the workshop.	C. PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL APPLICATION I. Attend last field trip. II. Reconvene: pray and meditate. Answer how it applies? 10 min. III. Resource No. 3, p 369 (“I now assure thee...”)	C. PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL APPLICATIONS I. Study Resource No. 6 p 92, last para. 1. Share early experiences of race/culture/religious differences. 2. Your feelings about them. 3. Experiences in the NOW that evoke same feeling. Acknowledge positive feelings towards each, or thanks for sharing insights/experiences.	C. PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL APPLICATION I. Read Resource No. 13 para 3. II. Choose to attend one: Ethnic church, ethnic celebration. Give a “fireside” on the Most Challenging Issue. III. (1) Get copy of “To Move the World” and (2) Study outline 10/82 American Bahá’í (3) Bring above and support person to...
CALL SUPPORT PERSON	CALL SUPPORT PERSON	CALL SUPPORT PERSON	CALL SUPPORT PERSON	CALL SUPPORT PERSON

PURPOSE To provide a living exercise for the elimination of racial prejudice.

RESOURCE MATERIALS 1. Foundations of World Unity 2. Paris Talks 3. Bahá’í World Faith 4. Advent of Divine Justice 5. Promulgation of Universal Peace 6. Selections, Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 7. A Special Measure of Love 8. Compilation, Consultation 9. To Move the World 10. The Seven Year Plan 11. Power of the Covenant, Vol. III 12. World Order of Bahá’u’lláh 13. Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 14. Bahá’í Administration 15. Oct. '82 American Bahá’í 16. Mystery of God

For the Teaching Project write: Earnestine Berkey, Secretary TO MOVE THE WORLD COMM. 6265 Shady Oak Drive Albany, OR 97321

RULES OF CONDUCT I. Support Persons A. Actively listen, avoid giving answers. B. Encourage. C. Reduce tension.

DYAD 1. Participants must be of the same sex. 2. Each participant has equal status. Avoid authoritarianism. 3. Be aware of two different cultures coming together.

WE SHOULD HAVE: 1. Empathy, recognizing another’s unique qualities. 2. Open-mindedness. 3. Patience, active listening. 4. Equal sharing, each should have equal verbal participation. 5. Use of responsible language, i.e. first person, “I think, I feel.”

FEEDBACK descriptive rather than evaluative. specific rather than general. checked to insure ‎cler clear‎ communication.

INVITATION TO SUPPORT PERSON TO FORM A DYAD

ANYONE can facilitate your workshop and increase your multi-cultural awareness by:

Reading “To Move the World” by Gayle Morrison.

Visiting a neighboring Bahá’í community which has ethnic diversity and attempt to share cultural experience.

Research a contemporary minority leader.

---

• DYAD: 2 units treated as one.

DYADIC: like interchanging teacher-pupil, pupil-teacher maintaining a sociologically significant relationship. [Page 15]

CLASSIFIEDS

Classified notices in The American Bahá’í are published free of charge as a service to the Bahá’í community. Notices are limited to items relating to the Faith; no personal or commercial messages can be accepted for publication. The opportunities referred to have not been approved by the National Spiritual Assembly, and the friends should exercise their own judgment in responding to them.

THE LOUHELEN Bahá’í School Council is seeking applicants for the following summer positions: Recreation director to plan and coordinate recreational and some social activities and to help with planning programs for youth and pre-youth. Child education director to plan and coordinate children's classes and to develop curriculum plans and materials for the school's future use. Program coordinator to help with planning and running adult sessions. Librarian to staff the library and work on developing the library and archives. Maintenance/grounds assistant to help maintain and clean the buildings and to direct volunteers in grounds development. Assistant secretary/registrar to serve as registrar at sessions and to help with secretarial and clerical tasks. The Council is seeking qualified people in these areas. Married couples without children are preferred. Employment would be from mid-June (exact date will be negotiated) to Labor Day. Lodging, meals, and a weekly stipend of $50 will be provided. Although the Council would like one person per position for the entire summer, consideration will be given to qualified individuals for part of the summer. If you are interested in any of these positions, please send a letter stating your interest and a resumé of professional activities and Bahá’í service to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423. Phone 313-653-5033.

SUMMER jobs at the Green Acre Bahá’í School include those for cooks, innkeeper, registrar, librarian, directors of programs for adults, youth and children. Write for an application to the Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903.

UROLOGISTS are greatly needed for an important pioneer post. For more information please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

AM COMPLETING a book on Ethel Murray, a pioneer to the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. Need additional personal stories, experiences, pictures, slides, etc. from those who may have visited her or worked with her on the Reservation. Already have a wealth of material, but know there must be those who have additional first-hand experiences that they may wish to share. Please be assured that all material will be carefully used and promptly returned. Please let me hear from you soon. Derald Hendry, Route 3, Box 726, Morganton, NC 28655. Phone 704-443-4407.

HOMEFRONT pioneers are urgently needed to help save the jeopardized Assembly of Mahomet Township in the lovely Sangamon River valley in central Illinois. The University of Illinois is nearby, and there is ample housing in various price ranges available. Mahomet is about 150 miles from the Mother Temple of the West and claims a beautifully wooded and extensive county park. We would welcome all Bahá’ís, especially those with children. Please contact the Bahá’ís of Mahomet Township, c/o Naomi Hendricks, Mahomet, IL 61853, or phone 217-586-4284. Hospitality and introduction to the area provided during visits for inquiry.

INTERESTED in teaching Native Americans? Members of minority groups are especially welcome to pioneer and teach in Gallup, New Mexico, the "Indian capital" of the U.S. Reservations surround Gallup in all directions, and the Southwest Bahá’í Institute is close by. The Bahá’í community of Gallup, with 11 adults and its own Center, is seeking to raise its number to expand teaching projects. Gallup (population 20,000), on I-40, has three hospitals, a two-year college, and employment in medicine and teaching. For more information contact Jim or Roan Stone, Gallup, NM 87301, or phone 505-863-6701.

HOMEFRONT pioneers are needed in Albany, Americus, Macon and Valdosta, Georgia, to help re-establish lost Assemblies near these South Georgia cities. Jobs are available, and colleges or universities are located in each of these cities. For more information please contact the secretary of the South Georgia District Teaching Committee, Brunswick, GA 31520, or phone 912-264-6994 after 5 p.m. eastern time.

THE Bahá’í community of Beulah, Colorado (10 adults, nine children) needs active and enthusiastic adult Bahá’ís to maintain Assembly status and raise its number to 15. Beulah (population about 750) is a small but lovely mountain community most of whose residents commute to nearby Pueblo (26 miles) to work. A very special place to raise up the Faith! For more information contact the Spiritual Assembly of Beulah, P.O. Box 132, Beulah, CO 81023.

NESTLED between the Cascade and Siskiyou mountains in southern Oregon, about 20 miles from the California border, is the town of Talent, population 2,750 (about 25 per cent senior citizens). Talent is about seven miles south of Medford and seven miles north of Ashland, home of the world famous Oregon Shakespearean Festival. Talent has an elementary and junior high school, and there is a senior high school in nearby Phoenix. The town boasts some rather large manufacturing firms as well as several smaller businesses. One large firm is in the city's 25-acre industrial park, which the city is now trying to develop. Talent is known for its agriculture: fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries—and for its dairy and wood products. The climate is moderate, with an average temperature of 36° in January and 71° in July. If interested, please contact the Spiritual Assembly of Ashland, P.O. Box 508, Ashland, OR 97520.

OPPORTUNITIES in Zaire where pioneers are needed. Nutrition planner, cooperative training adviser, technical adviser, master mechanic. For more information please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HELP! Young, jeopardized Assembly in suburban Kansas City needs move-in Bahá’ís before Ridván elections. Close-in community offers excellent schools, parks, shops, recreational facilities, trees, rolling terrain. We're trying hard to keep the Assembly through social potlucks with non-Bahá’ís, direct mail proclamations, etc. Want to help? Contact Paula Jolly, secretary, Spiritual Assembly of Prairie Village, Prairie Village, KS 66208. Phone 913-831-4288.

HERE is your chance to become a homefront pioneer. Deepened Bahá’ís are needed to help the Assembly in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. The state offers employment in the oil industry, seasonably mild weather, and the rich culture of Native Americans. Make the move to save an Assembly. For more information contact the District Teaching Committee of Eastern Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK 74114, or phone either Soheil Farhad, 918-252-1223 or Louis Gardner, 918-745-6616.

MALTA needs pioneers who are highly qualified in medicine, tourism and hotel trades, and computers; also, those who are financially self-sufficient. The Universal House of Justice has designated Malta as a new goal of the U.S. For more information about this high priority goal, please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or telephone 312-869-9039.

OPPORTUNITY to help a small Bahá’í community reach its goal of 15 members for incorporation. A Bahá’í physician is seeking an associate in a busy ear, nose and throat practice, private office, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, a clean city of 36,000 with a well-equipped 350-bed hospital. Write to Darius Shahrokh, M.D., Fond du Lac, WI 54935, or phone 414-921-3434 (home) or 414-922-9696 (office).

DIRECTOR/TEACHER team needed to administer and teach at the International School in Ouagadougou, Upper Volta. Applications are being accepted from U.S. citizen couples for a two-year contract beginning August 1, 1983. Both must be experienced and certified in their fields of responsibility. Knowledge of computers and computer assisted instruction is essential; knowledge of French is desirable. The director would be responsible for school administration and part-time teaching. The teacher would teach full-time and help run the extracurricular afternoon program. Benefits include furnished housing, round-trip travel to and from the post, medical insurance, free tuition for depending children, and other benefits. Contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, immediately for information, or phone 312-869-9039.

WORK-STUDY positions in maintenance, kitchen and office and teaching children's classes are available this summer at the Louhelen Bahá’í School. Individuals are sought who want to work full-time during one session and come to a second session as a student at no charge. There are a limited number of openings for any particular program. Interested individuals can apply by sending a letter stating their interest in a work-study position, the sessions they would like to work and attend, and their qualifications. Letters, or requests for additional information, should be sent to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423. Phone 313-653-5033.

HAVE YOU been considering homefront pioneering? If so, here's your chance to teach the Faith and be in on the ground floor of establishing a new Assembly. Bartlesville, Oklahoma, presently has a Group, and the Bahá’ís there are eager to raise that to Assembly status. Oklahoma offers employment in the oil industry, seasonably mild weather, and the rich culture of Native Americans. Make the move and help accelerate the "rhythm of growth" in Bartlesville. For more information contact the District Teaching Committee of Eastern Oklahoma, Tulsa, OK 74114, or phone either Soheil Farhad, 918-252-1223 or Louis Gardner, 918-745-6616.

HOMEFRONT pioneer to Eastern Oregon and help save a jeopardized Assembly in La Grande. Situated in the beautiful Blue Mountains and surrounded by agricultural lands, La Grande is one of five Assemblies in all of Eastern Oregon. Deepened Bahá’ís are needed to teach and help consolidate the five-year-old Assembly. Because jobs are scarce, active, retired individuals or couples might consider La Grande as a pioneering goal. For more information write to Mrs. Laura Reed, secretary P.O. Box 1643, La Grande, OR 97850, or phone 503-963-8471.

TWO TEACHING positions are available in a Head Start kindergarten at Eastern Oregon State College Laboratory School. Requirements: B.A. or B.S. in education with specialization or experience in early childhood education. For details contact Mrs. Deenie Hollen, La Grande, OR 97850.

MOROCCO has great weather! Americans with university degrees or technical training are needed. French is the main language. There is an urgent need to fill this goal. Please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HOMEFRONT pioneer wanted for the junior college town of Tonkawa, Oklahoma. Raising Tonkawa to Assembly status and establishing a college club this year are goals of the Spiritual Assembly of Ponca City, only 15 minutes away. Since there are no facilities for Bahá’í meetings in Tonkawa, a family or individual is needed whose home could be the site for college club meetings and firesides. There are three Bahá’í students living on the campus and two others who commute. The only thing standing in the way of forming a college club is finding a meeting place. The Ponca City Assembly is prepared for a mass mailing of information about the Faith when a place for firesides is available. Newspaper publicity is also ongoing. For information about jobs, housing, etc., write to the Spiritual Assembly of Ponca City, P.O. Box 1814, Ponca City, OK 74602, or phone the secretary, Ann Oates, at 405-765-3178.

WANTED: Three homefront pioneers to help form the first Spiritual Assembly of Clarkston, Georgia, whose Group is presently made up of six adults who pioneered there and three children under three years of age. The Group is holding firesides, deepenings and children's classes. Clarkston, about 12 miles east of Atlanta, is on a major bus route, close to the Interstate highway, yet small-townish in some ways. Many apartments and houses are available. The town is quite integrated, and very family-oriented. For information or assistance, please contact Leslie Cummings, Clarkston, GA 30021, or phone 404-294-7566.

TEACHERS are needed at the American International School in Lomé, Togo, for four different positions to begin during the 1983-84 school year. Openings are available for principal, librarian, staff teachers and a physical education teacher. For information contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039. [Page 16]

At the UNITED NATIONS

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, announced in its 1982-83 report on the state of the world’s children that worldwide use of four simple, low-cost health procedures could, within 10 years, save the lives of 20,000 children a day in developing countries.

James P. Grant, the agency’s executive director, described the procedures that could revolutionize the field of child health care as: diarrhea management through rehydration therapy; immunization of children for six specific diseases; promotion of breast feeding; and parent monitoring of child growth through use of growth charts.

1. The discovery of oral rehydration therapy, says the report, is “potentially the most important medical advance in this century.”

Presently, diarrhea kills an estimated five million children a year and is the biggest single cause of death among children in the developing world.

It steals their energy, restrains their growth, and lowers resistance. UNICEF says that as many as half of all cases of malnutrition are caused not primarily by lack of food but by intestinal parasites, fever, and diarrheal infection that depresses the appetite and drains body weight.

The conventional treatment of dehydration due to diarrhea has been intravenous feeding with a saline solution in hospitals or at health centers.

The new discovery is that dehydration can be controlled by a community health worker or mother at home by feeding the child a mixture of sugar and salt dissolved in boiled and then cooled water.

THE PROPER ratio calls for eight teaspoons of sugar to one of salt in a liter of water.

For some reason, this balanced mixture is absorbed by the body’s bloodstream while other proportions of sugar and salt pass through the body unabsorbed. The water and glucose can quickly return the child’s body to balance and provide energy for his recovery.

2. The second element of the children’s revolution that is now feasible is the ability to immunize children against measles, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and tuberculosis.

These six diseases are responsible for the deaths of about five million children a year and account for one-third of all child deaths.

The growth of community organizations and an increase in the number of paraprofessionals has made widespread immunization

See CHILDREN Page 26

Four-member team teaches in northern Mexico

A four-member team composed of Navajo Bahá’ís Chester Kahn and Frankie Spencer and Reservation pioneers Elaine Phillips and Brenda Norrell undertook a teaching trip last December to northern Mexico.

The team was augmented in Cocorit, Mexico, by Ernie Lopez, a Bahá’í of Yaqui-Apache-Spanish descent, who served as translator and actively taught everyone with whom the team came in contact.

OSCAR Camarra, who pioneered as a youth with his Mayan family to northern Mexico from the Yucatán, traveled with the team through the Sierra Madres and Tarahumara country.

People from all walks of life, attracted by the diversity of the team and especially interested in the North American Indians, were eager to hear the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

From firesides in Topolobampo, Cocorit and Creel to direct teaching in Casa Grande, from prayers said in the wonderful mountain homes of the Tarahumara in Barrancas del Cobre to teaching wealthy tourists in hotels, there was never a lack of opportunity to share the Faith.

The people of northern Mexico are receptive and ready for the teachings of God for this Day.

Traveling sometimes by bus and sometimes in the back of trucks, the team arrived in Cocorit and held meetings with the Yaqui that consisted of prayers, songs, and discussions about the Faith.

THE YAQUI live simple lives with few modern conveniences. Among these believers are a blind man and his family and an elderly woman who speaks with a smile of the many sufferings of her long life.

After a fireside with Bahá’ís and seekers in Cocorit, the team traveled to the land of the Tarahumara tribe in the Sierra Madres.

The Tarahumara, one of the purest and gentlest tribes left in the Americas, so shy they will hardly speak, even among themselves, live in simple caves or log cabins.

These craftsmen, whose products include baskets, drums, weavings and carvings, were quite attracted to the Indian Bahá’ís.

As the team reached the 9,000 foot level, so did a tremendous snow storm. Yet Tarahumara homes in the Barrancas del Cobre area were visited, workers and tourists were found who were interested in the Faith, and many friends were made.

CREEL, the Tarahumara “capital,” is a lovely little town. Although the deep snow prevented back-packing through this country as planned, young Tarahumaras were taught in town. A family from Oregon and a local worker also attended a cultural presentation and fireside at the hotel.

The father of the family, who was quite attracted to the Faith, said his faith was renewed upon finding Bahá’ís in this remote area. The fireside lasted late into the night.

Afterward, Oscar and Ernie returned to Cocorit with plans to teach to the south of Sonora and return later to Tarahumara country to re-visit friends.

The friends from Navajoland then began their homeward journey, praying in towns along the way and street-teaching in Casa Grande.

In Arizona, they visited Bahá’ís on the Papago Reservation and a Yaqui-Papago family near Tucson.

At the Regional Youth Conference in Tucson, Chester and Frankie offered drum and gourd Navajo songs including a special song for protection of our Bahá’í brothers and sisters in Iran.

Within the space of two weeks, and with only $200 apiece, the team was able to make a circular path through northwestern Mexico.

For the team members, any effort or struggle connected with the trip faded away as they gazed into the bright, sensitive faces of the Tarahumara and saw the “sign of God” reflected in their eyes.—Brenda Norrell

Bahá’í teachers (left to right) Frankie Spencer, Elaine Phillips and Brenda Norrell share the Message of Bahá’í with a wagon driver in Casa Grande, Mexico.

Bookstore

Continued From Page 9

• The Mystery of God, a popular volume of photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and of passages from His writings.
• The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá’í Community, a 490-page compilation of messages from Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the British Isles.
• Let Thy breeze refresh them, a selection of Bahá’í prayers and Tablets for children (the same text as the U.S. Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young, but re-arranged and interspersed with four-color photographs).

German Publishing Trust

• A Gift of Love, the Hand of the Cause of God A.Q. Faizi’s personal recollections of the Greatest Holy Leaf.

Indian Publishing Trust

• The Green Years, a series of short historical sketches covering the entire Bábí period, originally written for the children’s magazine Varqá. For 6-10 year olds.

Australian Publishing Trust

• Days to Remember, an immensely useful compilation bringing together for the first time all the available information and some relevant readings on Bahá’í Holy Days and anniversaries.

New Zealand

• Concordance for Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the popular reference work by Hugh Carden.

Canada

• Bahá’í Marriage and Family Life, a hefty compilation of Bahá’í writings covering the institution of marriage, preparation for marriage, and family life.

South Africa

• Three booklets in the Golden Crown series for youth—Mullá Husayn, Táhirih, and Quddús.
• Remember My Days, the life story of Bahá’u’lláh (41 pp.) by Lowell Johnson.

Association for Bahá’í Studies

• Bahá’í Studies Notebook (Marriage and Family Life), a collection of eight essays on various aspects of marriage and the family.

George Ronald

• Door of Hope.
• The Sunshine Tree.

(See “Titles from Around the World” on page 8 for details.)

• The Imperishable Dominion, Dr. Udo Schaefer’s discussion of some of the vital issues at the heart of the present global upheaval and his solutions drawn from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
• Small quantities of all titles presently available from George Ronald will also be available at the National Convention bookstore.

Persian Literature

• A selection of more than a dozen titles in Persian will be displayed at the Persian Affairs booth at the National Convention. Bahá’ís who are fluent in Persian and English will be available to help with sales.

The bookstore at the National Convention promises to be one of the most expensive and exciting in recent years. Make plans now to visit the bookstore and to take home copies of new (and old) titles to share with the friends in your community.

Martha

Continued From Page 9

Martha Root came not only from Bahá’ís but also from Esperantists, journalists, diplomats and religious leaders the world over.

The beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, wrote that her death constituted “the heaviest blow which the teaching force throughout the entire Bahá’í world has sustained since the passing” of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Posthumously, the Guardian bestowed upon her the rank of Hand of the Cause of God.

As an initiator of translations of Bahá’í literature into many languages, as a regular participant in Esperanto and peace congresses, and as one of the first Western Bahá’í women to visit the Middle East, Martha Root wove a tapestry of love that united people everywhere she went.

TODAY her example sets the standard, and the pace, for all Bahá’ís determined to spread the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

For one clue to Martha Root’s success one can turn to her own words: “I carry the Creative Word on the basic Principles & ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s addresses in this country, and that is sufficient for me.”

Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold will provide every Bahá’í and every Bahá’í community with endless suggestions for deepenings on teaching and consolidation.

The book will be available at the National Convention and immediately afterward to all local Bahá’í librarians. Watch for details.

Bahá’í National Center Office Hours 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Central Time) Monday-Friday Phone 312-869-9039

[Page 17]

ترجمه پیام تلگرافی بیت العدل اعظم الهی مورخ ۱۴ مارچ ۱۹۸۳

با حزن و الم مداوم خبر آوردن دو نفس دیگر از یاران بیگناه جناب عبدالله محمودنژاد و جناب رحمت‌الله وفائی را در شیراز در یوم ۱۲ مارچ اعلام میداریم. این جنایت شنیع بلافاصله پس از صدور قطعنامه کمیسیون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد مبنی بر اظهار نگرانی بسبب خلع آزادی‌های اساسی و تقاضای ادامه مجاهدات دبیرکل (سازمان ملل) در جهت حفظ و صیانت حقوق بهائیان ایران انجام گرفته است...

با تضرع و ابتهال به آستان الهی استخلاص خواهران و برادران ایران را که شجاعانه در مقابل این فجایع ایستادگی مینمایند مسئلت مینمائیم.

بیت العدل اعظم

ترجمه پیام تلگرافی بیت العدل اعظم الهی مورخ ۱۵ مارچ ۱۹۸۳

در تعقیب تلکس ۱۴ مارچ خبر متألم‌آور رسیده حاکی است که امة‌الله طوبی قائم‌نشین زائرپور سحر همراه دو نفر از یاران که در پیام قبلی اطلاع داده شد بدار آویخته شده‌بودند. اجساد هر سه نفر بدون اطلاع یا حضور منسوبین توسط مامورین زندان در گلستان جاوید بخاک سپرده شده. اعدام این نفوس مقدسه حتی به خانواده‌ها اعلام نگشته بود...

بیت العدل اعظم

توضیح

یکی از یاران عزیز ایرانی از دفتر محفل روحانی ملی سوال نموده بودند که با عدم دسترسی به کتب و آثار فارسی آیا برای رفع اشکالات خود میتوانند به فضلا و دانشمندان بهائی مراجعه نمایند. در جواب توضیح داده شد سوالاتی که مربوط به اصول و مبادی امر و خط مشی و دستورالعمل‌های تشکیلات بهائی است بایستی توسط مراجع رسمی بهائی یعنی محافل روحانیه محلیه یا محفل روحانی ملی پاسخ داده شود. البته کسب فیض از محضر محققین و دانشمندان بهائی مغتنم است ولکن نظر آنان در هر حال عقیده فردی خواهد بود و سندیت ندارد. احبای عزیز میتوانند با استفاده از راهنمایی‌های ذیقیمت این یاران مطلع به نصوص مبارکه مراجعه کنند و مشکلاتشان را شخصاً رفع نمایند ولکن در مواردی که این روش به نتیجه نمیرسد استمداد از تشکیلات بهائی راه صحیح و مطمئن است.

حقوق الله

احبای عزیز میتوانند چک یا حواله بانکی مربوط به حقوق‌الله را بنام Bahá’í Huquq صادر نموده به آدرس یکی از معاونین محترم امین حقوق‌الله ارسال فرمایند.

در غرب ایالات متحده: Dr. Amin Banani Santa Monica, CA 90402

در شرق ایالات متحده: Mr. Moussa Mostaghim P.O. Box 296 Ephrata, PA 17522

دوره عالی کتاب مستطاب بیان فارسی در مدرسه بهائی لوهلن — آگست ۱۹۸۳

از ۲۱ آگست تا ۲ سپتامبر ۱۹۸۳ کلاس عالی کتاب مستطاب بیان فارسی در مدرسه لوهلن تحت نظر جناب دکتر حبیب‌الله مؤید استاد ادبیات فارسی در دانشگاه شیکاگو تشکیل خواهد شد.

این کلاس در سطح عالی دانشگاهی تدریس خواهد شد و شرکت در آن موکول به ثبت‌نام قبلی است. داوطلبان بایستی تسلط کامل بزبان فارسی داشته باشند و با ادبیات کلاسیک فارسی آشنا باشند. آشنائی بزبان عربی و سابقه تحصیلات دانشگاهی نیز لازم است.

اساس مخصوص احباء است. علاقه‌مندان میتوانند تقاضای خود را همراه با شرح سوابق تحصیلی خود تا تاریخ ۱۵ جولای به نشانی ذیل ارسال فرمایند.

Louhelen Bahá’í School 3208 South State Road Davison, Michigan 48423 313/653-5033

مخارج این دوره برای هر نفر شامل خوراک و اطاق در خوابگاه (با ۲ یا ۴ نفر در هر اطاق) ۲۴۰ دلار و در اطاقهای دونفره ۲۶۵ دلار است. مبلغ مختصری نیز برای تکثیر جزوات دریافت خواهد شد. مقدار محدودی بورس تحصیلی موجود است که به محققین نیازمند تخصیص داده خواهد شد.

این برنامه با همکاری انجمن مطالعات بهائی، لجنه امور احبای ایرانی در ایالات متحده، و شورای مدرسه بهائی لوهلن ترتیب داده شده است.

ضمناً هفته قبل از کلاس فوق یعنی از ۱۴ تا ۲۰ آگست سمیناری در زمینه ازدواج تحت نظر جناب دکتر حسین دانش استاد روانپزشکی و خانواده در دانشگاه اوتاوا، رئیس محفل روحانی ملی کانادا، و رئیس هیئت مدیره انجمن مطالعات بهائی، در لوهلن تشکیل خواهد شد. علاقه‌مندان به شرکت در این سمینار نیز میتوانند تقاضای خود را همراه با ۱۰ دلار ودیعه (غیر قابل استرداد) به آدرس فوق ارسال فرمایند. برنامه این سمینار شامل شرکت در کلاس‌ها و کارگاه‌ها و مطالعه آثار امری و غیرامری و نوشتن مقالات تحقیقی در موضوع ازدواج خواهد بود.

این طفل یکشبه ره صد ساله میرود

دوم ژانویه ۸۲ لجنه امور احبای ایرانی عزیزاً این جناب محمد گنج‌خان پور کات گشت در ماه بهمن قلبی به عالم جمال مبارک را فدا کرد و محفل که در تمام دوران زندگیش در خدمات امرش را حفظ کرده بود در این مورد محفل تقاضا مایل است... آن برکت بزرگ محفل مقدس در پایان هندوستان محترم فرمایند از ژانویه ۸۲ مجله مانی در نامه‌ای برای نمره‌ی وجه آنها را بفرستند تا بتوانیم - با تقدیم احترام - دکتر گنج‌خان پور

CRAIG COTT 3524 N.W. 11th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73120 U.S.A.

میدان خدمت

در این ایام که یاران غیور و ثابت قدم ایران با تقدیم مال و منال و راحت و آسایش و حتی جان شیرین وفاداری خود را به عهد و میثاق الهی به اثبات میرسانند و صفحات تاریخ امر الهی را با خون مطهر خود تزیین مینمایند ما که در این کشور از میدان وفا بدوریم بایستی با قیام عاشقانه به خدمت امرش کوشیم و موجبات تحکیم اساس امرالله را فراهم آوریم. از جمله میتوانیم قدمی در راه تبلیغ و یا مهاجرت برداریم و با نقل مکان از یک منطقه به منطقه دیگر محفل جدید تشکیل دهیم و یا از انحلال محفلی جلوگیری نمائیم.

طبق اطلاع واصله محفل روحانی اسمیت‌تاون واقع در ایالت نیویورک در خطر انحلال است. این شهر در منطقه لانگ‌آیلند یکی از مناطق سرسبز و زیبای ایالت نیویورک واقع شده و تا شهر نیویورک یک ساعت فاصله دارد. یکی از احبای ساکن این ناحیه که شخصاً واسطه معاملات املاک است آماده است هرگونه مساعدت و راهنمائی جهت یافتن محل اقامت مناسب برای دوستان روحانی فراهم نماید. مقتضی است جهت اطلاع بیشتر با لجنه ملی تبلیغ و یا با دفتر لجنه امور احبای ایرانی واقع در دفتر دارالانشاء محفل روحانی ملی تماس حاصل فرمایند و یا مستقیماً به آدرس و شماره تلفن ذیل مراجعه کنید.

Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Town of Brookhaven, New York Ms. Marie McNair, Secretary

East Patchogue, New York 11772 Telephone: (516) 289-2006

همچنین محفل روحانی یونیسون سیتی واقع در ایالت کالیفرنیا احتیاج به یک دبیر دارد تا از انحلال این محفل جلوگیری نماید. جهت اطلاع بیشتر مقتضی است با لجنه ملی تبلیغ و یا با دفتر لجنه امور احبای ایرانی تماس حاصل فرمایند.

یادداشت‌های زائرین

برخی از دوستان یادداشت‌های مفصلی از دوران زیارت اعتاب مقدسه و تشرف به حضور حضرت ولی عزیز امرالله، و حتی در این اواخر از بیانات حضرات ایادی امرالله مقیم ارض اقدس یا اعضاء محترم بیت العدل اعظم الهی، تهیه نموده‌اند و در جلسات عمومی و خصوصی با سایرین در میان میگذارند. همانطوریکه قبلاً نیز کراراً باستحضار رسیده است این قبیل یادداشت‌ها اگرچه برای تهیه‌کنندگان پرارزش و برای سایرین جالب است ولکن سندیت ندارد و تکثیر و انتشار آنها صلاح نیست. واضح است که این یادداشت‌ها استنباط زائرین از بیانات حضرت ولی امرالله است نه عین بیانات مبارکه و ممکن است مقصود هیکل مبارک کاملاً مفهوم نشده باشد. نشر و توزیع این قبیل نوشته‌ها و بحث و مذاکره درباره آنها نه تنها مخالف میل مولای مهربان و بیت العدل اعظم و محفل روحانی ملی است غالباً موجب سوءتفاهم و حتی نگرانی و اضطراب در بین یاران میشود. پس چه بهتر که احبای الهی وقت خود را صرف مطالعه آثار و الواح مبارکه و توقیعات منبعه حضرت ولی امرالله و دستخط‌های بیت العدل اعظم نمایند و از این منابع موثقه کسب فیض و ارشاد و هدایت فرمایند.

‘ANDALIB

7200 LESLIE STREET, THORNHILL ONTARIO, CANADA L3T 2A1

تقاضای اشتراک مجله‌ی اندلیب

اینجانب ........................... ساکن ........................... آدرس را ارسال فرمائید: ...........................

لطفاً از سه نوع حق اشتراک که در زیر درج گردیده یکی را با علامت X مشخص فرمایند. [] مبلغ ... دلار برای سه شماره سالیانه مجله برای خود اینجانب [] مبلغ ... دلار برای ارسال بصورت هدیه برای دوستان و احباء [] مبلغ ... دلار برای ...........................

محل امضاء

Name ........................... Address ........................... ........................... Telephone ...........................

حق‌الزحمه‌ی اشتراک سالیانه‌ی مجله از این قرار است: ۱- برای کشورهای آمریکا و کانادا ۳۰ دلار ۲- برای خارج از کشورهای فوق‌الذکر ۲۵ دلار آمریکائی

(بیت‌التحریر) [Page 18]

World NEWS

The government of Bolivia cleared the way in January for the establishment of a Bahá’í radio station in that country by issuing a presidential decree that allocates a medium wave frequency to the National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia for a station to be located in Caracollo, Department of Oruro.

Radio Bahá’í of Bolivia will be the second of three new radio stations in Latin America called for in the Seven Year Plan ...

Nineteen people declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh during a public meeting in Ambato, Ecuador, that was conducted by a group of seven Bahá’ís from several countries who visited that city following the International Conference last August 5-8 in Quito.

Although the traveling teachers were in Ambato for only 24 hours, they had a radio interview, taught in the city, and participated in the public meeting ...

The National Spiritual Assembly of Nigeria has announced the establishment of the West African Centre for Bahá’í Studies.

The Centre, whose establishment has been encouraged by the Universal House of Justice, has its primary purpose teaching and proclaiming the Faith by indirect means in institutions of higher learning, according to the National Assembly of Nigeria ...

The editorial committee of Varqa children’s magazine was awarded first place for the best display in its category during a recent Children’s Book Festival in New Delhi, India, that was sponsored by the National Book Trust of India, a non-Bahá’í association ...

Forty Bahá’ís representing 11 Local Spiritual Assemblies in Burma participated in a recent teaching campaign that carried the Faith to almost all areas around Mandalay City including 13 nearby villages.

As a result of the campaign, four people have been enrolled as Bahá’ís ...

Eight people were enrolled in the Faith in Singapore during a two-week period last December.

Six of them accepted the Faith during a fireside conducted by a traveling teacher from Western Malaysia; two others embraced the Cause during the Singapore Winter School in December ...

Increased teaching efforts in Benin have resulted in the recent formation of one new Spiritual Assembly in the Borgou region, one in the Mono, and four in the Zou, with six more Assemblies to be formed in Zou in the near future.

Billboards, posters can aid proclamation efforts

Thanks to the efforts of several media committees and volunteer professionals, billboards and bus posters are now available for use in local communities to help Bahá’í publicity campaigns.

Billboards have been designed by Bahá’ís in Washington state and will be distributed by the Inland Empire Bahá’í Public Affairs Office in Spokane.

TWO SIZES of the outdoor ads are available. One is the large 30-sheet size, while the second is what is called the “junior size.”

Both have yellow lettering on a green background that reads “Bahá’í—It’s a Revelation.”

Many communities around the country have had great success in working with their local outdoor advertising firms,” says Public Affairs Officer Parks Scott.

“Many of these companies are willing to put up billboards from non-profit groups for nothing more than a posting fee. They would rather have new, good-looking billboards than either old, worn billboards or empty spaces.

“Once these billboards are in place,” he says, “they may be seen thousands and in some cases tens of thousands of times every day.”

IN THE Phoenix, Arizona, area billboards proved to be one of the best means of opening other doors to Bahá’í publicity efforts.

“I’m sold on billboards,” says Doug Carpa, a member of the Greater Phoenix Bahá’í Media Committee. “Our billboard campaign helped us with our radio, television and newspaper publicity.

“In one year we had the equivalent of $30,000 in space on billboards for just the cost of posting the boards, which was $1,200,” he says. “The company would put up five new billboards a month and charged us only $20 for posting each one.”

Mr. Carpa says the committee had its largest success with the “One Planet, One People, Please” billboards.

“Then we ran ones we produced ourselves,” he adds, “saying ‘Human Rights Are God Given Rights.’

“An article about the Faith in the Mesa Tribune began, ‘“One Planet, One People, Please,” you’ve seen those billboards ...’ That shows the effect outdoor advertising had in making people aware of the Faith—and it also helped to inspire the Bahá’ís in the area.”

OTHER communities have found success with ads placed either inside or outside buses.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, the Bahá’í phone number receives an average of 45 calls each month from people who see the ads on buses, says Mr. Scott.

“That’s why we worked with some graphics professionals in Atlanta to produce new cards for buses,” he says. “These will be distributed through our office.”

The bus cards include a color photo of the House of Worship, a list of five of the principles of the Faith, and the headline “Our House of Worship Is Open To All Mankind, So Are Our Teachings.” A second headline reads “It’s Time for a Change.”

Atlanta has been running a few posters on buses, and reports several dozen phone calls since the posters went up, Mr. Scott says.

Billboards can be ordered through the Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs or the Inland Empire Media Committee, P.O. Box 14724, Opportunity, WA 99214.

Large billboards are $30 each in quantities of 1-4 and $25 each in lots of five. The smaller billboards are $15 and $12.50.

New bus cards are available in 11 x 14-inch and 11 x 27 1/2-inch sizes. Contact the Office of Public Affairs, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 for prices.

The Bahá’ís of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, unable to buy time on a local radio station for the 13-program ‘Fireside Playhouse’ series, recently donated cassette tapes of the entire series to the Okmulgee Public Library. Shown looking over a Fireside Playhouse brochure are Gary Robinson, chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of Okmulgee, and librarian Pat Doan. The photo and an article about the series and its presentation to the library appeared in the Okmulgee Daily Times.

Times article details ‘genocide’ in Iran

A comprehensive article on the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran appeared February 27 in the Sunday editions of The New York Times.

The article, written by R.W. Apple Jr. and datelined London, bears the headline “Iran’s Bahá’ís: Some Call It Genocide.”

It discusses briefly the origin, history and religious basis of the persecutions, recounts some of the steps taken against Bahá’ís by the Khomeini government, and concludes that the word “genocide” may be applicable to what is happening in Iran.

Bahá’í neurosurgeon in Wisconsin profiled in prestigious medical journal

Dr. Manucher J. Javid, a Bahá’í who is professor and chairman of the Division of Neurological Surgery at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, was profiled in the October 1982 issue of Surgical Neurology.

The journal includes articles about individuals, generally neurosurgeons, throughout the world who have made “an outstanding, usually historic, contribution to neurological surgery.”

Dr. Javid is perhaps best known in his profession for his crucial role in the development of the use of hypertonic agents to control intracranial and intraocular pressure and to facilitate surgical exposure of the brain.

His place in the history of the development of neurosurgery was recognized in 1980 when he became one of 11 neurosurgeons from around the world elected to membership in the neurosurgical society Xerion on the basis of significant original contributions to the field of neurosurgery.

Nevada media committee produces new TV spot

The Northern Nevada Bahá’í Media Committee has produced a television commercial to proclaim the Faith.

The 30-second spot, whose theme is “Educate These Children,” uses the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and features Bahá’ís of all ages and nationalities with members of the Sammy Davis orchestra.

It was recently shown for a 20-day period on one station that reaches at least 22,000 homes per day.

The station manager was so pleased with the quality of the spot and with the behavior of the Bahá’ís that he offered them extra discounts for any future advertising on that channel.

The media committee also has written editorials for Nevada’s largest newspaper, The Reno Journal, proclaiming World Religion Day and Black History Month.

Public response has been excellent, especially to the article on Black History Month in which special homage was paid to black Bahá’ís such as Louis Gregory, Enoch Olinga, Amoz Gibson and Robert Turner.

The committee is now working on plans to use the media to attract Basques and Gypsies to the Faith.

Public Affairs to distribute ‘Nine Bahá’ís’ slide program

“Nine Bahá’ís Talk About Their Faith,” a slide program transferred to 16mm film, is being distributed by the Office of Public Affairs.

The 28-minute film offers statements by nine diverse members of the Faith about the effect the Cause has had on them.

During the course of their discussion, these people paint a strong picture of how being a Bahá’í has changed their lives.

“The film is excellent for presentations to community groups and civic organizations,” says Public Affairs Officer Parks Scott. “In showing a senior citizen from Wilmette, two businessmen from Atlanta, an artist from the Southwest, and others from different walks of life, it captures the essence of what it means to be a Bahá’í.”

The film is designed, he says, “to show the ways in which one can incorporate the teachings into his or her family life, dealings with friends, and work.”

“Nine Bahá’ís Talk About Their Faith” can be rented for $25 from the Office of Public Affairs. It is also available for purchase.

Contact the Office of Public Affairs, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039. [Page 19]

Bosch School reforestation program aims to restore, keep plants, trees

Staff and volunteers have begun planting 1,000 redwood and 500 Ponderosa pine seedlings at the Bosch Bahá’í School near Santa Cruz, California.

According to school Administrator Jim Kelly, the project is part of a long-range program to ensure that the redwoods, which have difficulty reseeding themselves, don’t disappear.

BECAUSE large redwoods have a high monetary value, Mr. Kelly adds, reforestation will be a good investment if the school decides to do timber harvesting in the future.

Mr. Kelly says he expects about one-half of the seedlings to survive providing the weather is not too dry.

About half the redwoods and Ponderosa pines have been planted in the forest; the rest are growing in a greenhouse.

Although the entire area was once a redwood forest, it is now mostly Douglas fir, manzanita, tan oak and madrone.

Redwoods normally are difficult to grow because their seeds are small and other kinds of trees grow faster.

ACCORDING to a local timber expert who visited the Bosch school, this part of the Santa Cruz Mountains is one of the few places in the world that coastal redwoods (Sequoia ‎Semperverens sempervirens‎) can live due to their need for a specific elevation, rainfall and climate.

Mr. Kelly says further reforestation may occur, but that the school hopes to have a complete forest management study completed first.

Sam Somerhalder, who is in charge of maintenance at the Bosch Bahá’í School in California, separates new seedlings during the school’s reforestation project.

A redwood seedling is planted as a part of the reforestation program at the Bosch Bahá’í School near Santa Cruz, California. About 1,000 redwood and 500 Ponderosa pine seedlings were planted.

Louhelen program set up to train children’s teachers

June 26-July 1 are the dates for the first week-long teacher training program at the Louhelen Bahá’í School for teachers of children.

“The program will consist of rigorous and challenging classes,” says Dr. ‎Geoffry Geoffrey‎ Marks, director of academic affairs. “We hope to follow the pattern established by the National Teacher Training Week held at Green Acre in 1974 which was so electrifying.

“On the faculty will be a number of highly qualified professionals who will conduct classes at a level that goes beyond the usual weekend training session.

“We’ll also show the video tape of Dr. Daniel Jordan’s talk on educational philosophy that he gave that week in 1974 at Green Acre.”

Among the teachers will be Dr. Susan Stengle who will offer a course on moral education.

Those who would like to attend may write to the school at 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423, or phone 313-653-5033.

Senior citizen program

A six-day program for senior citizens will be held June 5-10 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School in Michigan.

“The program will be specially designed with the needs of seniors in mind,” says Hermione Pickens, registrar. “There will be study classes on the Creative Word and plenty of time for fellowship and recreation.

“We expect that many of the friends who came to Louhelen in its earlier years will attend. It should be a memorable occasion.”

Those who are interested in attending the session may write to the school at 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423, or phone 313-653-5033.

Suburban Chicago school marks 2nd anniversary

The Coordinating Committee of the Bahá’í School of the Western Suburbs of Chicago celebrated the second anniversary of its formation with a dinner party last November 8.

Present were most of the current and past members of the committee.

The committee was formed November 10, 1980, in response to a goal of the Seven Year Plan when 18 Bahá’ís from 13 suburban communities gathered for the express purpose of establishing a Bahá’í school in the area.

Sponsored in the beginning by the Spiritual Assembly of La Grange, Illinois, the 10-member committee developed plans for the school.

The Bahá’í School of the Western Suburbs, in Wood Dale, opened its doors March 22, 1981, with a devotional program and opening ceremony.

Since then, the school has been holding classes for adults, youth and children on a variety of topics including Bahá’í history, the Administrative Order, Bahá’í family life, and the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, and attracts families and individuals who come on a regular basis from up to 30 miles away.

Present and past members of the Coordinating Committee of the Bahá’í School of the Western Suburbs of Chicago are shown at the celebration last November of the second anniversary of the committee’s formation. Standing (left to right) are Linda Nixon, Ed McGinn, Steve Stocker, Fuad Ziai, Mona Movagh, Jim Holman. Seated (left to right) are Jim Percic, Herb Miller, Julie Doris, Steve Jarrell, Elaine Klappal. Not pictured is current member Paul Smith.

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Bahá’í Studies sets Midwest gathering at Louhelen School

The Association for Bahá’í Studies will hold its second conference for the Midwestern states April 29-May 1 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School in Michigan.

Conference highlights will include the presentation of a paper by Dr. William Hatcher entitled “The Concept of Spirituality,” and a panel discussion on Bahá’í scholarship.

Panelists will include Dr. Hatcher, who is a member of the executive committee of the Association for Bahá’í Studies and professor of mathematics at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, and Changiz Geula, a graduate student in neurophysiology at Wayne State University in Detroit.

The panel moderator will be Dr. Betty J. Fisher, general editor of the U.S. Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

Those who are interested in attending the conference may send a $10 non-refundable deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423. Phone 313-653-5033.

Teaching Fever Is CONTAGIOUS!—

have YOU Caught the Fever Yet? [Page 20]

Louhelen’s first ‘open house’ is big success

About 130 area residents attended an all-day open house February 19 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School in Davison, Michigan.

Among the visitors were neighbors of the school, civic leaders, professional people and those who had known Lou and Helen Eggleston or who had attended sessions at the school in its earlier days.

“WE WERE enormously pleased by the turn-out,” said Dr. William Diehl, the school’s director of administrative affairs. “What pleased us most was the high degree of interest in the Faith. Most left with literature and some bought books from the bookstore. One couple has been coming ever since to our Wednesday evening firesides.”

The open house consisted of tours of the facility and a sumptuous spread of food made by the kitchen staff under the supervision of Mrs. Barbara Griffith, the school’s food service manager, whose food has won praise from school attendees.

A 20-minute presentation about the school was attended by about 70 people, and some 40 viewed a slide show on the history of the school that ran continuously. The slide show was the result of intensive work by Michael O’Shea, a volunteer at the school.

The open house is the most recent element in a concerted public relations effort by the school’s staff to establish good relations with civic leaders in the greater Flint area and to make the school known to the public.

DR. DIEHL reports that since the inauguration ceremony last October they have given out some 90 public relations packets about the school and 200 pamphlets about the Faith, received about 110 column inches of newspaper publicity, had some 200 non-Bahá’í visitors, talked about the school to more than 500 people, made presentations before the Davison City Council, the Ministerial Association, Kiwanis Club, Inter-Club Council and the Greater Flint Area Tourist Bureau, and appeared on two radio shows.

One presentation led to booking the school’s first conference with a non-Bahá’í organization, a group of 100 Mary Kay cosmetics saleswomen who will meet at Louhelen April 15-16.

Thirty-two couples attended the first Marriage Enrichment Conference at the Louhelen Bahá’í School which was held February 11-13. The sessions, designed to help couples enrich their marriages through a better understanding of the institution of marriage and its spiritual importance, and through focusing attention on their relationship, ‎was were‎ led by Dan and Linda Popov. The conference was well-received and will be repeated. In addition, tapes of the conference are available from the school.

Top program planned for annual Wisconsin Summer School

Bahá’ís at the first Wisconsin Bahá’í Summer School held in July 1980 at Camp Byron, Brownsville.

The summer of 1983 will always be remembered by those who attend the Wisconsin Bahá’í Summer School.

An excellent program is planned for July 4-8 at Camp Byron in Brownsville, two miles off Highway 41 and one hour north of Milwaukee.

The camp has modern, well-maintained facilities and grounds including tent and RV spaces, game courts, a guarded swimming pool, and serves generous family-style meals.

The cost for room and board for the entire session is $75 for those 10 years old and up, $35 for ages 5-9, $5 for ages 1-4. There is no charge for those under 1 year old.

Pre-registration is necessary. Write to Charles Kennel, registrar, 1205 S. East Ave., Waukesha, WI 53186, or phone 414-542-2120.

Louhelen sets intensive 12-day course in Spanish

Question: Which country has the seventh largest Hispanic population?

Answer: According to recent census figures, the United States ranks seventh with 14.6 million Hispanic residents.

Both on the homefront and for our international goals, it is increasingly important for the teaching and consolidation work that Bahá’ís have some knowledge of Spanish.

TO HELP begin to meet this need, the Louhelen Bahá’í School Council is sponsoring an intensive 12-day session this summer designed to teach participants the basics of the Spanish language.

The Spanish Intensive course will be held August 9-21 at Louhelen. A modified immersion technique will be used, with eight to 10 hours a day of direct instruction and practice in Spanish.

Participants will thus receive more than 100 hours in training, enough to enable them to understand and converse in Spanish at a basic level.

It is hoped that with this basic training, Bahá’ís will be able to more easily develop their Spanish skills and fluency as they live or teach in Spanish-speaking areas.

Training will be conducted by David Alley of the Language Education Department at the University of Georgia. Mr. Alley has studied and taught the Spanish language for more than 10 years, has lived for three years in Latin America, and has taught similar intensive courses to both children and adults.

THIS training is primarily geared toward individuals with little or no background in Spanish, and will teach participants the Spanish vocabulary that is most helpful to survival in a Spanish-speaking area and to teaching the Faith.

This intensive session will be held concurrently with other sessions at Louhelen. Participants in the Spanish Intensive will join with other participants for devotional, recreational and social activities.

The $230 cost for the program covers all meals, lodging and instructional materials. Scholarships are available for the program on a first-request basis according to need. In addition, less expensive accommodations are possible.

Due to the intensive nature of the program, registration is limited, and applicants must pre-register by June 15.

To pre-register, please send a $10 non-refundable deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423. For additional information, please write to the school.

In January and February, staff and volunteers at the Bosch Bahá’í School near Santa Cruz, California, working under the supervision of NSA Properties Inc., renovated the school’s lodge deck. Shown here installing new stairs for the deck are Mark Beers of Milpitas (standing) and Charles Garcia of Oakland.

The National Education Committee administers the following programs on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly: Assembly Development Program Bahá’í Schools Brilliant Star (Child’s Way) Magazine Local Education Adviser Program Personal Transformation Program

[Page 21]

Qad-Ihtaraqa’l-Mukhlisún (Tabla del Fuego)

La Tabla de Ihtiráq es una de las Tablas más poderosas de Bahá’u’lláh. Se escribió en la ciudad penal de ‘Akká cuando las vidas de Bahá’u’lláh y Su familia corrieron gran peligro. Esta Tabla se recita en tiempos de gran tumulto.

En el Nombre de Dios, el Más Antiguo, el Más Grande.

Ciertamente, los corazones de los sinceros son consumidos en el fuego de la separación: ¿Dónde está el esplendor de la luz de tu semblante, oh Bienamado de los mundos?

Aquellos que están cerca de ‎tí ti‎ han sido abandonados en la oscuridad de la desolación: ¿Dónde está el fulgor matinal de tu reunión, oh Deseo de los mundos?

Los cuerpos de tus elegidos yacen trémulos en arenas distantes: ¿Dónde está el océano de tu presencia, oh Encantador de los mundos?

Manos anhelantes se alzan hacia el cielo de tu gracia y ‎geneosidad generosidad‎: ¿Dónde están las lluvias de tus dádivas, oh Respondiente de los mundos?

Los infieles se han levantado tiránicamente por doquier: ¿Dónde está el poder ‎complante compelente‎ de tu pluma ordenadora, oh Conquistador de los mundos?

El ladrido de los perros es intenso en todas partes: ¿Dónde está el selvático león de tu poder, oh Castigador de los mundos?

La frialdad ha apresado a toda la humanidad: ¿Dónde está el calor de tu amor, oh Fuego de los mundos?

La calamidad ha alcanzado su plenitud: ¿Dónde están los signos de tu socorro, oh Salvación de los mundos?

La oscuridad ha envuelto a la mayoría de los pueblos: ¿Dónde está la brillantez de tu esplendor, oh Fulgor de los mundos?

Los cuellos de los hombres están dilatados de malicia: ¿Dónde están tus espadas vengadoras, oh Destructor de los mundos?

Las penas han afligido al Revelador de tu Nombre, el Todo Misericordioso: ¿Dónde está la alegría de la Aurora de tu Revelación, oh Deleite de los mundos?

La angustia ha sobrevenido a todos los pueblos de la tierra: ¿Dónde están las insignias de tu alegría, oh Regocijo de los mundos?

‎Tu Tú‎ ves al Punto del Amanecer de tus signos ocultos por velos de insinuaciones malignas: ¿Dónde están los dedos de tu fuerza, oh Poder de los mundos?

Una sed apremiante ha agobiado a todos los hombres: ¿Dónde está el río de tu munificencia, oh Merced de los mundos?

La codicia ha hecho cautiva a toda la humanidad: ¿Dónde están las encarnaciones del desprendimiento, oh Señor de los mundos?

Tú ves a este Agraviado en la soledad del exilio: ¿Dónde están las huestes del cielo de tu mandato, oh Soberano de los mundos?

He sido olvidado en tierra extraña: ¿Dónde están los emblemas de tu fidelidad, oh Confianza de los mundos?

Las agonías de la muerte han apresado a todos los hombres: ¿Dónde está el oleaje de tu océano de vida eterna, oh Vida de los mundos?

Los susurros de Satán han sido infundidos en cada criatura: ¿Dónde está el meteoro de tu fuego, oh Luz de los mundos?

La embriaguez de la pasión ha pervertido a la mayoría de la humanidad: ¿Dónde están las auroras de pureza, oh Deseo de los mundos?

Tú ves a este Agraviado oculto por la tiranía entre los sirios: ¿Dónde está el ‎resplendor resplandor‎ de tu luz matinal, oh Luz de los mundos?

Tú me ves impedido de expresarme: Entonces: ¿De dónde surgirán tus melodías, oh Ruiseñor de los mundos?

La mayoría de la gente está envuelta en fantasías y ociosas imaginaciones: ¿Dónde están los exponentes de tu certeza, oh Certitud de los mundos?

Bahá se está ahogando en un mar de tribulación: ¿Dónde está el Arca de tu salvación, oh Salvador de los mundos?

‎Tu Tú‎ ves a la aurora de tu prolación en la oscuridad de la creación: ¿Dónde está el sol celestial de tu gracia, oh Iluminador de los mundos?

Las lámparas de verdad y pureza, de lealtad y honor, han sido extinguidas: ¿Dónde están los signos de tu ira vengadora, oh Movedor de los mundos?

¿Puedes ver a alguien que haya defendido tu Ser, o que haya meditado sobre lo que le ha acaecido en el sendero de tu amor? Ahora mi pluma se detiene, oh Bienamado de los mundos.

Las ramas del divino Arbol del Loto yacen rotas por los vendavales del destino: ¿Dónde están las insignias de tu socorro, oh Paladín de los mundos?

Este Rostro está oculto en el polvo de la calumnia: ¿Dónde están las brisas de tu compasión, oh Merced de los mundos?

El manto de santidad es mancillado por la gente del embuste: ¿Dónde está la vestidura de tu beatitud, oh Embellecedor de los mundos?

El mar de gracia se ha aquietado en virtud de lo que han forjado las manos de los hombres: ¿Dónde están las olas de tu munificencia, oh Deseo de los mundos?

La puerta que conduce a la Presencia Divina está cerrada por la tiranía de tus enemigos: ¿Dónde está la llave de tu dádiva, oh Abridor de los mundos?

Las hojas se están marchitando por los venenosos vientos de la sedición: ¿Dónde está el aguacero de las nubes de tu munificencia, oh Dador de los mundos?

El universo está oscurecido por el polvo del pecado: ¿Dónde están las brisas de tu clemencia, oh Perdonador de los mundos?

Este Joven está solitario en una tierra desolada: ¿Dónde está la lluvia de tu gracia celestial, oh Donador de los mundos?

Oh Pluma Suprema, en el reino eterno Nos hemos escuchado tu muy dulce llamado: Presta atención a lo que la Lengua de Grandeza expresa, oh ¡Agraviado de los mundos!

Si no fuera por el frío: ¿Cómo prevalecería el calor de tus palabras, oh Expositor de los mundos?

Si no fuera por la calamidad: ¿Cómo brillaría el sol de tu paciencia, oh Luz de los mundos?

No te lamentes a causa de los malvados. Tú ‎fuistes fuiste‎ creado para ‎soportan soportar‎ y sobrellevar, oh Paciencia de los mundos.

Cuán dulce ‎fué fue‎ tu alborear sobre el horizonte del Convenio entre los agitadores de sedición, y tu anhelo por Dios, oh Amor de los mundos.

Por ‎tí ti‎, la enseña de la independencia ‎fué fue‎ plantada en las ‎mas más‎ altas cumbres, y el mar de la munificencia surgió, oh Embeleso de los mundos.

Por tu soledad brilló el Sol de la Unicidad y por tu destierro, la tierra de la Unidad ‎fué fue‎ embellecida. Sé paciente, oh Tú, Exiliado de los mundos.

Nos hemos hecho de la humillación la vestidura de la gloria, y de la ‎affliccion aflicción‎, el adorno de tu sien, oh Orgullo de los mundos.

Tú ves los corazones llenos de odio, y perdonar es de ‎Tí ti‎ oh Tú, Encubridor de los pecados de los mundos.

¡Cuando las espadas relampagueen, avanza! ¡Cuando los dardos vuelen, arremete! Oh Tú, Sacrificio de los mundos.

¿Gemirás Tú o gemiré Yo? Mas ‎bién bien‎ lloraré por la parvedad de tus paladines, oh Tú, que has producido el lamento de los mundos.

Verdaderamente, he oído Tu llamado oh Bienamado Todo Glorioso; y ahora el rostro de Bahá está ardiendo con el calor de la tribulación y con el fuego de tu brillante palabra, y El se ha levantado con fidelidad en el lugar del sacrificio, contemplando tu placer, oh Ordenador de los mundos.

Oh ‘Alí Akbar, agradece a tu Señor por esta Tabla, de la cual puedes aspirar la fragancia de mi humildad, y sepas lo que Nos ha acontecido en el sendero de Dios, el Adorado de los mundos.

Si todos los siervos leyesen y ponderasen esto, se encendería en sus venas un fuego que inflamaría los mundos.

Perspectivas de un Nuevo Orden Mundial

El mundo en que vivimos atraviesa una crisis, no sólo económica, sino de todos los valores: sociales, políticos, educacionales, religiosos ... La Fe Bahá’í tiene orientaciones para renovar al individuo y a la sociedad en todos esos aspectos.

Dado el interés que las cuestiones sociales y políticas despiertan en todo el mundo, se hacía necesario un libro bahá’í que las abordara directamente. José Luis Marqués, por encargo de esta Editorial, ha entresacado citas de otros libros ya conocidos, los ha clasificado y les ha dado cohesión con sus comentarios.

Temas como: la propiedad privada, los impuestos, la previsión social, las huelgas, la monarquía, el desarme ... son enfocados con la visión espiritual y universalista de las propias palabras de Bahá’u’lláh y ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

No se trata de un libro de economía, ni de un programa político. Presenta ante todo la perspectiva esperanzadora de que el Nuevo Orden Mundial, proyectado por Bahá’u’lláh, está fraguándose. Sólo teniendo bien claro este objetivo, podrá la humanidad entusiasmarse con él y trabajar, paso a paso, para lograrlo.

Dirijan sus pedidos a:

EDITORIAL BAHÁ’Í DE ESPAÑA

Castellet, 17 — TARRASA

Barcelona (España)

[Page 22]‘When the racial elements of the American nation unite in actual fellowship and accord, the lights of the oneness of humanity will shine . . .’ (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 54)

S. Carolina to host Race Amity Conference

The South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee is sponsoring a Race Amity Conference to be held October 14-16 in Charleston, birthplace of the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory.

A special Task Force already is busy working on the conference, whose theme is “A Vital Path to Progress,” and during the months ahead will be developing an outstanding program of workshops and panel discussions plus a Fine Arts Jubilee.

SPEAKERS will include members of the U.S. Bahá’í community and other persons of national prominence.

“We hope to create a spiritual atmosphere similar to that generated by Louis Gregory at the original Race Amity Conference in Washington, D.C.,” says Dr. Roy Jones of Charleston, chairman of the special Task Force. “That was the conference suggested and enthusiastically supported by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”

During the coming months contacts will be made to encourage the support and involvement of many fraternal, social, civic and religious organizations to establish in the mind of the public the Bahá’í view and spirit of commitment to racial accord and amity.

This gathering of hundreds of diverse peoples, united in amity through the power of Bahá’u’lláh, promises to be an important Bahá’í event with an enormous impact on the entire area.

The site of the conference is the newly remodeled Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston.

Registration information: The pre-registration fee is $15 per person. Deadline for pre-registration is September 17.

The fee covers the cost of one breakfast, one lunch, a reception and conference materials.

Conference sessions are free for non-Bahá’í guests, but guests will have to pay for meals.

Make registration check payable to Bahá’í Race Amity Conference and mail to the Registrar, Race Amity Conference.

Hotel registration: To secure a hotel reservation, phone the Francis Marion Hotel, 803-722-8831. Mention that you will be attending the Bahá’í conference and receive the following special rates:

Single room, $40 a night; double, $48; $8 for each additional person in a room. Maximum number of persons is four.

The deadline for hotel reservations is September 23.

To register, simply complete the form below. And for more information, please write to the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee, Route 2, Box 71, Hemingway, SC 29554, or telephone 803-558-5093.

RACE AMITY CONFERENCE

(Sponsored by the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee)

OCTOBER 14-16, 1983 Francis Marion Hotel King and Calhoun Streets Charleston, S.C.

Name: ______________________ Spouse: ______________________

Address: ______________________ City: ______________________

State: ______ Zip code: ______ Telephone number:( ) ______

Bahá’í I.D. Number: ______ Guest(s): ______________________

Please complete the space below if children will be accompanying you. All children under 17 years of age must have an adult sponsor.

Name(s): ______________________ Adult sponsor: ______________________

Address (if different from above: ______________________ City ______________________

State: ______ Zip code: ______ Telephone number:( ) ______

Two young guests partake of refreshments during the International Children’s Party held in February in Evanston, Illinois.

More than 20 non-Bahá’ís are among those at gala Evanston children’s party

An International Children’s Party was sponsored February 26 by the Bahá’í community of Evanston, Illinois, and the Bahá’í Club at Northwestern University.

More than 20 non-Bahá’í children attended with their mothers and the children and parents of Evanston Bahá’ís.

They were entertained by Susan Engle with stories and songs and by Paul Levine who created fascinating animals from balloons.

The afternoon ended with the children excitedly breaking a piñata and clasping their gifts of a packet of sweets and a Bahá’í prayer.

The occasion allowed the Bahá’í community to make contact with families from other countries whose husbands or wives are attending Northwestern University.

COMING JUNE 17-19, ‎1982 1983‎ BAHÁ’Í NORTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE “THE MOST VITAL AND CHALLENGING ISSUE” AN INTERSTATE, MULTI-ETHNIC, GRASS ROOTS RESPONSE SEATTLE, WA 98111 - P.O. BOX 396 DEADLINE MAY 9, 1983

ONE OF THE PURPOSES: To create and provide many opportunities for bonding and cementing relationships with all participants at a variety of levels and commitments.

ONE OF THE GOALS: To actively incorporate opportunities for all participants to experience the value of group dynamics toward the spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood of all in a variety of formats — thus moving the world toward racial reconciliation.

Please Register Early!

DEADLINE MAY 9, 1983

LIMITED RESERVATIONS TO THE FIRST ONE THOUSAND REGISTRANTS . . .

COST WORKSHEET
REGISTRATION FEE - NON-REFUNDABLE	$25/person $______
HOUSING PACKAGE: JUNE 17-19 Univ. of Wash. College Dorm
BASIC: THREE DAYS - FRI. EVE. - SUN. EVE.	per person
A. SINGLE (1 person) WITH LINEN	$28.70 A. ______
B. SINGLE WITHOUT LINEN	22.70 B. ______
C. DOUBLE (2 people) WITH LINEN	22.70 C. ______
D. DOUBLE WITHOUT LINEN	16.70 D. ______
ADDITIONAL DORM CHARGES EARLY ARRIVALS - THURS. EVE: A $14.85; B & C. 11.35; D. 8.35
STAY OVER - SUN. NIGHT: AS ABOVE
MEALS: SEVEN MEALS - FRI. EVE. - SUN. EVE.	$35.50
CHILDREN UNDER 9: FREE HOUSING, 1/2 COST MEALS
TOTAL . . .	$______

PLEASE SEND $25.00 MINIMUM (REGISTRATION FEE) TO RESERVE YOUR CONFERENCE PLACE.

REGISTRATION FORM: NORTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE

“THE MOST VITAL AND CHALLENGING ISSUE” AN INTERSTATE, MULTI-ETHNIC, GRASS ROOTS RESPONSE JUNE 17, 18, 19, 1983 - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON CAMPUS, TERRY LANDER HALL, SEATTLE, WA DEADLINE MAY 9th 1983

PLEASE IDENTIFY YOUR CULTURAL / ETHNIC HERITAGE

Due to the nature of this conference, we strongly urge you to participate and share in the conference for the full three days. The material offered is progressive and interconnected. For this reason and to encourage continuity and flow, no on-site registration will be accepted after 3:00 PM Friday June 17, 1983.

In His Service, TO MOVE THE WORLD COMMITTEE.

Make checks payable to: BAHÁ’Í TO MOVE THE WORLD COMMITTEE. MAIL TO: P.O. BOX 396, SEATTLE, WA 98111 [Page 23]

MEMBERSHIP & RECORDS

New form to make address changes easier to report

After the results of the Riḍván elections have been received and recorded, the Office of Membership and Records begins receiving an average of 100 requests for Assembly officer and address changes per month, most of which include multiple changes.

Until now there has been no easy reference given to the community for how to report these changes and what information to include.

CONSEQUENTLY, we often receive changes that omit important information that must be looked up before the change can be recorded.

This slows down the process and can cause unnecessary delays before the community will begin receiving its Bahá’í mail correctly.

In an effort to help the community by letting it know what information we need, and to help ourselves record these changes more efficiently, this Riḍván, Membership and Records is introducing a new form designed to make the reporting of Assembly officer and address change information more complete and easier to record.

As you can see from the sample form on this page, it is fairly self-explanatory. The most important things to remember to include are:

1. The Assembly’s name.
2. The Assembly’s Bahá’í locality code.
3. The Bahá’í identification number and current address for anyone listed as a current officer.
4. The correct address to which mail should be sent.

Several of these new forms will be included with the election materials being mailed to each Assembly for the Riḍván elections. Additional copies of the form may be ordered free from the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

This form does not replace the Assembly by-election form, but should be used in conjunction with it when a by-election has taken place.

Also, the introduction of this form does not mean that you may not report changes by letter. It is being provided to make the reporting and recording of changes more efficient, and we hope that you will use it.

If you do report your changes by letter, please be sure to include the information noted above so the recording of your changes will not be delayed.

LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OFFICER AND ADDRESS CHANGE FORM

Please type or print

Please provide ALL information which applies to the change or changes being made.

Locality Name __________________________________________ Bahá’í Locality Code ____________________________________ District ________________________________________________ *The Community’s Bahá’í Locality Code can be found on any computer printed Assembly mailing label.		Current Information ASSEMBLY MAIL Send all mail for Secretary to: [ ] Assembly address given below (Post Office Box, Bahá’í Center, etc.) [ ] Secretary’s home address Send all mail for Treasurer to: [ ] Assembly address given below (Post Office Box, Bahá’í Center, etc.) [ ] Treasurer’s home address Assembly’s Address (if different than Secretary’s home address) ________________________________________________________ Street, Rural Route or Post Office Box Number ________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip Code
Previous Officers Chairman ___________________________________ Vice-Chairman ___________________________________ Corresponding Secretary ___________________________________ Treasurer ___________________________________ This box to be completed by person submitting report: Date ________________________________________ Signature ____________________________________ Print Name __________________________________ *Individual ID Numbers are on the membership list, the membership card, and The American Bahá’í address label.	CHAIRMAN Name __________________________ ID No.* _________ Address __________________________________________ City/State ________________________ Zip __________ Home Phone (___) / _________ Work Phone (___) / _________ Area Code Area Code VICE-CHAIRMAN Name __________________________ ID No.* _________ Address __________________________________________ City/State ________________________ Zip __________ Home Phone (___) / _________ Work Phone (___) / _________ Area Code Area Code CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Name __________________________ ID No.* _________ Address __________________________________________ City/State ________________________ Zip __________ Home Phone (___) / _________ Work Phone (___) / _________ Area Code Area Code TREASURER Name __________________________ ID No.* _________ Address __________________________________________ City/State ________________________ Zip __________ Home Phone (___) / _________ Work Phone (___) / _________ Area Code Area Code OTHER OFFICER (IF ANY) Office Held ___________ Name __________________________ ID No.* _________ Address __________________________________________ City/State ________________________ Zip __________ Home Phone (___) / _________ Work Phone (___) / _________ Area Code Area Code

Louhelen School to offer advanced course in Persian literature

Dr. Heshmat Moayyad, professor of Persian literature at the University of Chicago, will teach an advanced course on the Persian Bayán August 21-September 2 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School.

The course will be academically rigorous and taught at the graduate level. The medium of instruction will be Persian.

Admission to the course is by application only. Applicants should have an advanced knowledge of Persian, with some familiarity with classical Persian literature. Some knowledge of Arabic is required. They should also have some formal academic training.

The cost for room, board and tuition for the course is $230 for dormitory-style and $265 for semi-private accommodations. Some scholarship funds are available.

Those who are interested in applying may send a letter with a copy of their ‎resumé résumé‎ to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423 (phone 313-653-5033). Applications are due July 1. [Page 24]

Revised election form mailed to community for Riḍván elections

The National Center has been preparing itself to receive and process the information from the Riḍván elections for some time now.

Forms have been revised, instructions printed, and election materials mailed to existing Assemblies and District Teaching Committees.

THIS year, we are previewing the Riḍván election form in The American Bahá’í. You will notice that it requests basically the same information as it did last year, although we have added some features and the format is slightly different.

It is still a one-page form with two sides to be completed. We’d like to highlight the following things:

1. Side A: Election forms which have been sent to existing Assemblies will have the Assembly’s address label already attached over the upper right-hand box where the locality name, Bahá’í locality code and district are requested. We hope this will be an assistance to you as it is for us.

Any Assembly that does not have the computer-produced label on its election form should be sure to fill in the correct locality name and Bahá’í locality code so that recording the information will not be delayed.

2. Side A: In the right-hand middle box, this year we are requesting that you fill in all nine names and identification numbers of Assembly members with the number of votes each member received. You need not fill in this section if you are forming by joint declaration.

3. Side B: If you are forming by election, complete the top section. If you are forming by joint declaration, complete the bottom section.

4. Please remember to complete both sides of the form and to include all requested information. If you are not able to locate a new believer’s I.D. number of some other piece of information, please attach an explanation to the form when you mail it in.

5. If your Assembly does not receive its election materials, you may obtain extra forms from your District Teaching Committee or from the National Center.

Over the years, as we have formed more and more Assemblies and as we have learned from experience, the processes of recording Riḍván election information have become increasingly mechanized and efficient. Even so, it takes a long time to record information from more than 1,700 Assemblies, and sometimes inadvertent mistakes cause delays.

Please review your forms before you send them in to be sure you’ve included as much information as you can and an explanation for anything you’ve had to omit. It will help us tremendously and we’ll be able to serve you better.

LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY FORMATION REPORT FORM

1
Locality Name:
District:
Bahá’í Locality Code:
Use Community’s Bahá’í Locality Code as it is found on any computer-printed Assembly mailing label.

2
COMPLETE THIS SECTION IF ‎YOUR YOU‎ ARE REPORTING AN ASSEMBLY ELECTION
For each Assembly member, provide the following information:
Name	ID	Votes Received
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

ASSEMBLY MAIL

Please type or print

Send all mail for Secretary to:

• [ ] Assembly address given below
• [ ] Secretary’s home address
• [ ] Center (P.O. Box, Bahá’í Center, etc.) address given below

Send all mail for Treasurer to:

• [ ] Assembly address given below
• [ ] Treasurer’s home address
• [ ] Center (P.O. Box, Bahá’í Center, etc.) address given below

Assembly’s Address: (if different than Secretary’s home address) ____________________

CHAIRMAN: Name, ID No., Address, City/State, Zip, Home Phone, Work Phone VICE-CHAIRMAN: Name, ID No., Address, City/State, Zip, Home Phone, Work Phone SECRETARY: Name, ID No., Address, City/State, Zip, Home Phone, Work Phone TREASURER: Name, ID No., Address, City/State, Zip, Home Phone, Work Phone OTHER OFFICER (if ANY): Office Held, Name, ID No., Address, City/State, Zip, Home Phone, Work Phone

SEND YELLOW COPY IMMEDIATELY TO: BAHA’I NATIONAL CENTER, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS 60091 KEEP BLUE COPY FOR YOUR RECORDS

COMPLETE BOTH SIDES OF THIS FORM

I certify, on behalf of the Local Spiritual Assembly, that all nine members of the Assembly are Bahá’ís in good standing and that they are registered by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as members of the American Bahá’í community.

Signature: ____________________ Print Name: ____________________ Date: ____________________ Home Phone: ____________________ Work Phone: ____________________

SIDE B

3
TELLERS REPORT — COMPLETE THIS SECTION IF YOU ARE REPORTING AN ASSEMBLY ELECTION
An election meeting was held on ____________________ 19__, at ________ a.m. / p.m.
The following should be reported to the community after the ballots are counted:
Number Voting in Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Number Voting by Absentee Ballot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Total Number of Ballots Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Number of Invalid Ballots, if Any . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Total Number of Valid Ballots Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Number of Believers Not Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	________
Total Number of Adult Believers in locality . . . . . . . . . . .	________
TELLERS: (There must be more than one)
Phone No.
Phone No.
Phone No.
HAS THE COMMUNITY ACCEPTED THE TELLERS REPORT? [ ] [ ]
Signature of Chief Teller

JOINT DECLARATION

COMPLETE THIS SECTION IF YOU ARE REPORTING A JOINT DECLARATION

An election meeting was held on ____________________ 19__, at ________ a.m. / p.m.

ID Number	Name	Signature

PLEASE REPORT ELECTION OF OFFICERS ON THE FRONT OF THIS FORM [Page 25]

74TH BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CONVENTION

(May 26-29, 1983)*

CONVENTION SEATING REGISTRATION REGISTRATION BY LETTER IS ACCEPTABLE; HOWEVER, PLEASE INCLUDE ALL THE INFORMATION REQUESTED BELOW. NOTE: THIS DOES NOT RESERVE HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT THE HOTEL DIRECTLY.

USE ONE FORM PER FAMILY PLEASE PRINT

LIST ALL ATTENDEES 15 YEARS OLD AND OLDER Bahá’í I.D. No. (Mr./Mrs./Miss). Bahá’í I.D. No. (Mr./Mrs./Miss). Bahá’í I.D. No. (Mr./Mrs./Miss). Bahá’í I.D. No. (Mr./Mrs./Miss).

Address Telephone ( ).

CHILDREN'S REGISTRATION LIST ALL CHILDREN 14 YEARS OLD AND UNDER Please note special needs (medical, emotional, dietary, etc.)

Child's name Sex Age Special needs

A QUALITY CHILDREN'S PROGRAM IS PLANNED. PRE-REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL TO INSURE YOUR CHILD'S PLACE IN THIS PROGRAM. MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!

Mail to: Office of Membership, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091

• Memorial Day weekend. It is imperative that reservations be made as early as possible!

Make plans now for 74th National Convention

Since the members of the National Spiritual Assembly will be in Haifa, Israel, next April to participate in the election of the Universal House of Justice at the fifth International Bahá’í Convention, the 74th U.S. Bahá’í Convention will be held later than usual, from May 26-29 at the McCormick Inn in Chicago.

The friends should note that this is the Memorial Day weekend, when travel is generally heavy and accommodations hard to find, and make their plans early if they wish to attend the Convention.

Following are some facts that should help to make that planning easier:

CONVENTION SITE: The McCormick Inn, 23rd & the Lake, Chicago 60616. Toll free number, 800-621-6909 (in Illinois, phone COLLECT, 312-791-1901).

RATES: $48 per night (plus tax)—1, 2, 3 or 4 in a room (2 double beds). Rollaways are available @$6 each.

SUITES AVAILABLE: 1 bedroom, $96-$200; 2 bedrooms, $144-$248. (All suites have parlors with sleepers in addition to the bedrooms.)

RESERVATIONS: Must be made directly with the hotel. Please be sure to identify yourself as attending the Bahá’í National Convention May 26-29, 1983. Request confirmation to ensure that your reservation was received. PLEASE (1) give the names of ALL those sharing the room with you, and (2) indicate any special facilities needed for the handicapped (rooms to accommodate wheelchairs, etc.), as the number of these rooms is limited.

SHARING ROOMS: The hotel will NOT find you a roommate. You must make your own arrangements.

TRAVEL: Although you are free to make your own travel arrangements, you may find it helpful to use the "meeting services desks" offered by the following airlines to help ensure that you receive the lowest possible fare for travel to Chicago. Toll free numbers have been provided. When using these numbers, please state that you are planning to attend the Bahá’í National Convention May 26-29, 1983.

American Airlines, 800-433-1790 (Texas, 800-792-1160); Northwest Orient Airlines, 800-328-7747 (Minnesota, 800-552-1290); Continental Airlines, 800-525-1130 (Colorado, 398-3000, ask for group desk).

There is regular bus service—Continental Air Transport—to the McCormick Inn from O'Hare Airport ($6) and from Midway ($5). Taxis also are available.

The coupon above includes registration information for seating and for the registration of children at the Convention.

Children

Continued From Page 17

more possible. Also, technological advances have been made in producing vaccines that are less sensitive to heat, thereby enabling workers to carry them to more places and allowing the vaccines to be stored for greater lengths of time.

THE COST of immunizing a child has decreased in recent years. Measles vaccine, for instance, now costs less than 10 cents per dose.

Diseases such as the six mentioned here contribute to malnutrition because they deplete the body's resources and halt weight gain for several weeks after the disease has passed.

A malnourished child who contracts measles is approximately 400 times more likely to die of the disease than a child who is adequately fed.

3. The third means whereby proper nutrition and survival of children can be advanced is through an active campaign to reverse the disastrous trend from breast feeding to bottle feeding.

DOCTORS have ascertained that breast feeding is the best food for an infant in any society. But in materially poor communities, the advantages of breast feeding over bottle feeding can mean the difference between life and death for the infant.

The advantages of breast milk are improved hygiene and nutrition, but breast feeding also has immunological qualities.

A mother passes on her ability to fight infections to the child through her milk. The hormone prolactin, which the mother's body produces while breast feeding, acts as a natural contraceptive and prevents pregnancies from occurring quite close together.

THUS, breast feeding is not only more nutritionally sound for the child, but reduces the incidence of disease and lowers the birth rate by naturally causing births to be spaced farther apart.

4. The fourth possible breakthrough against malnutrition and ill health in children is the mass use of simple growth charts by mothers.

Since malnutrition in poorer countries is practically invisible, even to mothers, regular monthly weighing and entering of the results on a growth chart can make malnutrition visible. This is the first step toward correcting the problem.

If the child has not gained weight from one month to the next, the mother can see that this has happened by looking at the chart.

She can then give the child more food at the evening meal, or feed the child more frequently, or persist in persuading the child to eat when his appetite is depressed.

IN INDONESIA, two million mothers are weighing their children at monthly village "rallies" where the women hold their traditional get-togethers.

Essentially, the standard used by the mother in assessing the health of her child is that a rising line of monthly dots is a good sign of growth and a falling line is a sign of danger.

A question that naturally arises is what will happen if 20,000 children a day are saved from death while an overwhelming problem of the present and future is overpopulation.

Obviously, some reduction in the birth rate is necessary to help offset the greater number of children who live to adulthood.

According to the UNICEF report, the conflict between a lower child mortality rate and a high birth rate is one that is dissolved by time.

WHEN people become more confident that their existing children will survive, says the report, they tend to have fewer children. It is pointed out that no nation has ever seen a significant and sustained decline in its birth rate without first seeing a fall in its child death rate.

In the period since World War II, when over-all death rates have fallen to around 15 per 1,000 people (which is about the average for lower-income developing countries today), each fall of one percentage point in the death rate has usually been accompanied by an even larger decline in the birth rate.

For example, Thailand's seven-point decline in the death rate (12 to 5 per 1,000) from 1960 to 1980 was accompanied by a 14-point fall in the birth rate.

Family planning, better distribution of food, and improved education also will help bring these massive problems under control.

UNICEF places great emphasis on the role of the local community in putting these simple and inexpensive practices into effect in materially underdeveloped countries. To be successful, programs must be adapted to work on the local level and must fit the lifestyle of each individual culture.

It is exciting to know that we, as Bahá’ís, can play an active part in the realization of some of these goals by supporting UNICEF through our community celebrations and special activities, by sharing information such as this with friends or relatives who live in other countries, or by pioneering ourselves to less materially developed areas.

Most important, through our love for our fellow men and obedience to the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, we can find ways to foster world development and add our effort to the solution of problems that face mankind on every side.

For a copy of the report, "State of the World's Children: 1982-83," write to Information Division, UNICEF, 866 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017. [Page 26]

Ads

Continued From Page 16

math/science teacher, and social studies/history/reading teacher. All positions require appropriate qualifications and degrees/certifications. To teach computer skills to K-9, the librarian must also have knowledge of Apple II computers. Benefits in the two-year contract include round trip fare for employee, spouse, and up to three children at the beginning and end of the contract; medical insurance, school fees for children, monthly housing subsidy. For full details, contact immediately the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

WANTED: Radio personnel willing to pioneer to Bolivia. The National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia was recently granted a license to install and operate a Bahá’í radio station in Caracollo. We are looking for robust Bahá’ís with radio programming, administration, and/or technical skills, preferably single and fluent in Spanish, able to withstand high altitudes (13,000 feet), a cold climate and modest living conditions. Qualified and experienced Bahá’ís interested in radio work in Bolivia may write for further information to the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

DOCTORS—Due to present acute needs, the possibilities are extremely good for pioneering in The Gambia. About $500/month plus housing and travel. Because The Gambia is a U.S. goal, filling a position there would be of great service. Contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HOMEFRONT pioneer wanted to save the Spiritual Assembly of Ponca City, Oklahoma, which presently has eight adults. Ponca City, home of Conoco Oil Company, has a fine school system; a junior college and state college are nearby. For more information please contact the Spiritual Assembly of Ponca City, P.O. Box 1814, Ponca City, OK 74602, or phone the secretary, Ann Oates, at 405-765-3178.

COMPANION needed for elderly Bahá’í woman on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Live-in position. Separate quarters for single Bahá’í or couple. No salary, but living expenses provided. Help strengthen a Spiritual Assembly while caring for a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh. For more information, contact the secretary of the South Georgia District Teaching Committee, ___________, Brunswick, GA 31520. You may phone 912-264-6994 after 5 p.m. eastern time.

SCHOOL administrator is needed for a Bahá’í school in Thailand. Secondary, English teacher. Assist in curriculum development. Husband and wife team would be ideal. Housing. Contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

ENGLISH teachers: The beautiful country of Thailand nearly always has university jobs available, especially for those with training in education. This is a U.S. goal. For more information contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HOMEFRONT pioneer (female) can share a two-bedroom house in ‎Tredyffin Tredyffrin‎ Township, Pennsylvania, within commuting distance of Philadelphia and with many hospitals, schools and large businesses in the local area. Bahá’ís are needed to help form a solid Group and move it toward Assembly status. Write to the Bahá’ís of Wayne, ___________, Wayne, PA 19087, or phone 215-688-2136.

HOW DOES your family celebrate the Bahá’í Holy Days? I am working on putting together an illustrated book and need your help. What traditions have you started? How do you celebrate the Holy Days and other special occasions with your children? How do you decorate your home? Please send any ideas in written or picture form to Patti Gill, ___________, Building A, Pasadena, CA 91104.

PUBLIC health and education positions are possible in the pioneer goal Caroline Islands of the Pacific. Especially needed are men to live in the outer districts. Those who are interested in filling one of these goals should contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HOMEFRONT pioneers are needed in Lakeview, Oregon (population 2,800), an unopened locality at least 100 miles from the nearest Spiritual Assembly. There are presently only two Bahá’ís among the 7,500 people in 8,300 square mile Lake County. The area is best for retired people or those with independent incomes; however, there is a geothermal greenhouse and pond for sale that could employ 20 people when in full operation. For more information please contact Sharon Catron, c/o the Spiritual Assembly of Klamath Falls, ___________, Klamath Falls, OR 97601, or phone 503-884-6307.

JEOPARDIZED Assembly in Baytown, Texas (population 70,000 including seven adult Bahá’ís), 40 miles from Houston, needs homefront pioneer(s) to preserve and strengthen the community. Baytown has a good public school system, an excellent two-year college, and many four-year colleges in the immediate area. For more information about the community, please contact the Spiritual Assembly of Baytown, P.O. Box 501, Baytown, TX 77520, or phone 713-427-4305.

AUBURN, California, J.D. needs homefront pioneers to preserve its Assembly status. Auburn is about a two-hour drive from Reno, Lake Tahoe, or the San Francisco Bay area. Would suggest some independent income or someone with a profession. Fine investment opportunities in this lovely and fast-growing foothill community. Fine schools, Sierra College nearby with bus to classes. Active senior citizens’ center, 4-H Club, Future Farmers, Grange. Fishing, boating and skiing just up the highway.

THE SPIRITUAL Assembly of Kearney, Nebraska, is in jeopardy and needs two adults by Riḍván to preserve its Assembly. Kearney (population 21,000) has a college with an enrollment of 7,000. We urge any homefront pioneers to come to Kearney! For more information please write to the Spiritual Assembly of Kearney, P.O. Box 1398, Kearney, NE 68847, or phone Lora McCall, secretary, 308-236-6278.

HOMEFRONT pioneers: eastern Oregon has just become a new district with great potential for growth. The Eastern Oregon District Teaching Committee has put together a packet with six goal areas of eastern Oregon for you to choose from. Packets are also being translated into Persian. Don’t miss out on helping this new district reach and surpass its goals! For a packet, please write to Pat Stephenson, project coordinator, ___________, Ontario, OR 97914. Please include $1 to cover the cost of printing and mailing.

THE SPIRITUAL Assembly of Winchester Town, Connecticut, needs four adult Bahá’ís to maintain its Assembly status. Winchester provides easy access to the metropolitan areas of Hartford, Waterbury, and Springfield, Massachusetts, while remaining a rural community, a great place in which to raise children. It boasts the Northwestern Connecticut Community College. One of the Bahá’ís in Winchester Town would like to share with practical parents a two-family country home and new day care business. For information, please write to Mrs. Wensley Dealy, ___________, R3, Winsted, CT 06098.

BAHÁ’Í poems wanted for a book of poetry that is being compiled. Would like poems written by, for and about youth. Please send poems (typed) with stamped self-addressed envelope to Beau Rafaat, Box 2364, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523.

Ten years ago... in The American Bahá’í

Bahá’ís in the U.S. join their fellow Bahá’ís in 137 countries and 196 territories and islands of the world in celebrating the successful completion of the Nine Year Plan, a period that is marked by the unprecedented growth of the Faith throughout the world.

A month-long proclamation effort, April 21-May 23, coincides with the holding of the third International Convention at the World Centre in Haifa, Israel, to elect the members of the Universal House of Justice.

The number of localities in the U.S. in which Bahá’ís reside reaches more than 6,000, representing a three-fold increase in only 10 years. Youth and minorities spearhead the extraordinary growth of the Faith in the U.S. ...

A special edition of The American Bahá’í reviews some of the significant accomplishments of the U.S. and worldwide Bahá’í community in the decade since the election in 1963 of the first Universal House of Justice.

Among those accomplishments are the dedication of the Houses of Worship in Panama and West Germany; the attainment in 1970 of consultative status on the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) by the Bahá’í International Community; the holding of six International Conferences in 1967 in Australia, India, Panama, Uganda, the United States and West Germany; eight Oceanic Conferences in 1970 and 1971 in Bolivia, Fiji, Iceland, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Mauritius and Singapore, as well as the first Oceanic Conference in Sicily in 1968 ...

CLIFTON WHITWORTH JR.

Clifton Whitworth Jr., associate editor of Roanoke paper, dies

Clifton B. Whitworth Jr., a Bahá’í who was associate editor of The Roanoke Tribune in Roanoke, Virginia, died February 12 after a long battle with cancer. He was 67 years old.

Mr. Whitworth’s wife, Claudia, who also is a Bahá’í, is editor of the Tribune.

Before entering the newspaper business, Mr. Whitworth was employed for more than 20 years with the Norfolk and Western Railroad and established his own insurance agency.

He was president of Roanoke’s Community Housing Corporation and treasurer of the Spiritual Assembly of Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Business League.

In Memoriam

Steven Anderson Prineville, OR December 21, 1982	Mrs. Mabel Juvet San Francisco, CA January 17, 1983	Carl Sedberry Sr. Graham, TX January 13, 1983
Mrs. Claudia Benford Los Angeles, CA October 1982	Ike Lee South Bay, FL Date Unknown	Frederick Seibel Davis J.D., CA Date Unknown
Walter Brown Laurens, SC August 8, 1982	Dr. Nicholas Kunakoff III San Francisco, CA September 18, 1982	Miss Isabel Sine Oklahoma City, OK February 19, 1983
Amy C. Burkhart Prosser, WA January 17, 1983	Mrs. Geneva McCray Homestead, FL Date Unknown	Miss Florence Steptoe Bluefield, WV Date Unknown
Mrs. P.D. Cunningham Atlanta, GA Date Unknown	Frank E. Meese Fort Myers, FL July 18, 1982	Vernon Surratt Talent, OR November 11, 1982
Jasper T. Fleming Clarkton, NC Date Unknown	Mrs. Olive Meyer Healdsburg, CA February 3, 1983	William Towart Jr. Bennington, VT January 18, 1983
Mrs. Jean Harber Central Point, OR December 8, 1982	Amrollah Mohajerjasbi Edmonds, WA Date Unknown	Mrs. Deane Waite Macedon, NY February 9, 1983
Fletcher Hugh Barnesville, GA Date Unknown	Robert J. Monroe Lima, OH February 5, 1983	Jessie Wallace Hartwell, GA Date Unknown
Robert Jaques Issaquah, WA December 1, 1982	Mrs. Edna Ramsey Milford, NH February 19, 1983	Ruth C. Williams Pontiac, MI February 11, 1983

[Page 27]

French

Continued From Page 4

Assembly of Pasadena for a 10-year period.

From 1940-44 she was a member of the Inter-America Committee, the first international pioneering committee in the U.S. As the committee’s secretary, Mrs. French presided over a session of the Faith’s Centenary Celebration in 1944.

For many years she and her husband spent every summer in Europe and visited the friends in many cities.

Nellie used every one of these opportunities to teach. Her travels ranged from Spitzbergen, north of Norway, to South America and even as far as Melbourne, Australia.

SHE ALSO served as a member of the European Teaching Committee and helped support the teaching work in Europe through the International Bahá’í Bureau in Geneva, Switzerland, that was established with the approval and support of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

In the meantime, she was an active teacher on the U.S. home-front, participating in many proclamation and deepening efforts including the Indian teaching campaigns in Macy, Nebraska, the site of the first Spiritual Assembly in this country composed entirely of Native American Bahá’ís.

Widowed in 1946, Mrs. French made her second pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1952 to meet the beloved Guardian.

During the following year, which marked the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade, she pioneered at the age of 85 to the principality of Monaco, for which service she was designated a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.

Mrs. French passed away on January 3, 1954. On the following day the Guardian sent this cable: “Deeply regret passing valiant pioneer. Long record (of her) services highly meritorious. Praying (for) progress (of her) soul (in) Kingdom.”

Article profiles Temple

The February 1983 issue of Concrete Construction includes a comprehensive article about the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette entitled “Temple of Light.”

The article explores the history of construction of the Temple with special emphasis on the use of concrete in raising what the article’s author terms “this exquisite building.”

Letters

Continued From Page 3

America and Europe when the Lesser Peace comes.

The end of this century is but 17 years away. Many of the changes that we are presently undergoing and will be undergoing in the future need to be addressed and talked about.

I feel that this is a concern of many Bahá’ís in this country. We need to become informed of the facts, and to trust in God to prepare in a realistic way for whatever will happen.

Melanie Black

Julesburg, Colorado

To the Editor:

It was with great disappointment that I read the letter from Antoinette Isaac in the February issue of The American Bahá’í.

I feel I must reply while my reaction is fresh, and I hope that it is in this spirit that my comments are received, for it is certainly not my intention to imply derogatory criticism of Ms. Isaac’s views.

PRIMARILY, it seems to me that the attitude and over-all tone of her letter is not one of racial amity, but rather implies a most un-Bahá’í-like (and, I might add, obsolete) expression of emphasis on racial differences.

It is a well-known fact that all blood runs red, no matter what the ethnic or racial origin of a person’s veins.

Hence, all discourse on the subject of racial “purity” or “bloodlines” is basically irrelevant to the Bahá’í principle of the organic and spiritual unity of mankind.

It should be fairly obvious that there is, in truth, only one race inhabiting this planet, and that is the human race—not the black, white, red or whatever race.

It matters not to Bahá’u’lláh whether the believers are related by “blood” to Himself, or to each other, for He came to redeem all of humankind, despite any and all of our apparent differences.

IT IS this true unity that binds us together as Bahá’í brothers and sisters, and which, in my opinion, we must display to the rest of the world if we are ever to realize our sacred goal as followers of Bahá.

It would indeed be wonderful if the transcendent light of Divine Love could inspire us, each and every one, to eliminate the baseless and imaginary boundaries of race, color, nationality, or whatever seemingly separates us from one another!

Instead of dwelling on our differences, let us turn instead to the business of turning this world into a beautiful, varied and harmonious garden—through the attracting power of Bahá’í love.

It is in serving Bahá’u’lláh that we ourselves are spiritually fulfilled; if we love Him not, His love can in no wise reach us.

Mrs. Julie Richter

Kansas City, Missouri

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter (February) that rebutted the idea advanced by author Guy Murchie about the “relatedness” of mankind.

While I agree that the conclusion that we are all at least 50th cousins could be in error, I feel that the writer may have gone a bit too far in defense of racial purity.

CERTAINLY, there are populations that have remained racially distinct for long periods of time; witness the Tasaday of Mindanao and, until recently, the Ainu of Japan.

However, we can never be certain how “pure” a particular group may be, for even a lone individual, such as the survivor of a shipwreck, can irrevocably alter the gene pool of a population.

Intriguing, albeit circumstantial, evidence of this has appeared in various parts of the world.

For example, Japanese-style pottery has been found on the coast of Ecuador, and a recent shipwreck discovery off the coast of Brazil has yielded artifacts that are almost certainly ancient Greek.

Then there were the rather surprised boatload of Eskimos who appeared in Scotland one year, Marco Polo’s celebrated journey to the Far East, the Polynesian seafarers whose mastery of Pacific currents is legendary, the various European and African (and possibly American) adventures of the Phoenicians, and a multitude of other examples of contact among the many societies of mankind.

WHILE IT can be argued that these incidents are of little significance in the long run, it must be noted that, as we are all members of only one species, it follows that at some point in our long history we must have had one common ancestor.

Another comment in the letter that intrigued and disturbed me was the reference to a prophecy of “the destruction of Europe and North America.”

Where can I find this prophecy? Is it authentic? How does it relate to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement in a Tablet to the Bahá’ís of the Northeastern states that

“...the continent of America is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, the home of the righteous, and the gathering place of the free. Therefore, every section thereof is blessed ...” (Tablets of the Divine Plan, pp. 59-60)

I’m rather fond of my continent and I’d hate to see it go!

Leigh Droege

Minneapolis, Minnesota

To the Editor:

This is in response to Antoinette Isaac’s letter in the February issue of The American Bahá’í challenging the theory that everyone on earth may be no less than a 50th cousin.

First, let me say that Guy Murchie, Theodosius Dobzhansky and Sir Julian Huxley have a wealth of knowledge and scientific acumen such as to have a solid base upon which to build their theory that all men are no less than 50th cousins of every other.

I AM not sure on what Ms. Isaac bases her convictions, other than perhaps personal feelings, to which she is of course entitled; but may I challenge her concept a little?

With all the pillaging and raping engaged in over the last 2,500 years by everyone from Mongolians and Nordics to Hebrews, Arabs and others, not to mention World Wars I and II, it does not seem to me improbable that we are all even less than 50th cousins to one another.

The remains of the ancestor of Peking Man, found in North America, further reinforces the concept.

Ms. Isaac’s analogy that the slaves brought to America have Caucasian blood as a result of their history only serves to further the point. If Caucasians mixed with blacks, and blacks with the Arabs and Orientals, and so on and so on, once again it is not difficult to see everyone as 50th cousins.

I am considerably alarmed by Ms. Isaac’s phrase “but when, as prophesied, most of the Caucasian race is eliminated by the destruction of Europe and North America ...”—especially the word “eliminated.”

My understanding of prophecy is that interracial marriage will eliminate prejudice, not the race itself by some sort of destructive force.

As a Bahá’í, I feel strongly that an idealistic concept, whether based on fact or feelings, of a human race of brothers, or cousins, gives me great solace and hope that one day it will truly be realized by all mankind that we are not simply related, but ONE.

Ruie Mullins

Santa Monica, California

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