The American Bahá’í/Volume 15/Issue 5/Text

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The American Bahá’í May, 1984

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[Page 1]

To the Bahá’ís of the United States

Dearly-loved Friends,

On the occasion of this joyous Ridván, the "Most Great Festival," the "Festival of God," we turn to you, the greatly admired trustees and chief executors of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan, with deep appreciation of your prodigious and highly successful efforts in pursuing the manifold goals set before you.

DURING the last five years, your defense with such dexterity and irrepressible vigor of our sore-pressed fellow Bahá’ís in Iran has indeed reaffirmed the pre-eminent position of your community as the "impregnable citadel of the Faith of God."

The constancy and wide range of your unprecedented efforts to represent their interests to the highest levels of your local, state and national governments, and in evoking unequivocal expressions of sympathy and support not only from legislative bodies and public officials but also from the chief executive of your country, adorn your hitherto enviable annals with unsurpassed lustre.

Your collateral, highly significant success in publicizing the atrocities cruelly imposed upon our Iranian friends, while simultaneously proclaiming the Message of Bahá’u’lláh through the mass media, far outstrip any previous record.

The Faith has never before witnessed such sympathetic attention from the media and from those in authority. The results have truly been spectacular; they are a source of pride and satisfaction to the entire Bahá’í world.

AT THE SAME time you made steady progress in the field of teaching. The number of Local Assemblies adopting extension teaching goals increased considerably; the Native American believers became more active in the propagation and administration of the Faith, a truly heartwarming development underscored by their participation in the successful Trail of Light project and by the inauguration of the Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina.

House of Justice tells of further persecutions, 3 deaths in Iran

On April 10, the National Spiritual Assembly received a cable from the Universal House of Justice reporting further persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran.

At least three Bahá’í prisoners, the Supreme Body cabled, have died in recent weeks under mysterious circumstances while others have undergone torture designed to elicit false public confessions for the benefit of radio and television.

The House of Justice added that although some Bahá’í prisoners had been released since its most recent report January 17, 111 others were arrested, most of whom were members of Spiritual Assemblies before their dissolution last year.

The number of Bahá’ís now known to be in prison in Iran totals 704.

U.S. called upon to supply 82 pioneers during final 2 years of Seven Year Plan

The new call for pioneers from the Universal House of Justice for the final phase of the Seven Year Plan was received joyously in the International Goals Committee office in April.

Not only are 82 pioneers from the U.S. expected to settle in a number of countries this coming year, but 38 other National Spiritual Assemblies are assigned pioneer goals as well.

THIS means that more Bahá’í communities are expected to send pioneers, compared with the last call when 31 National Assemblies were assigned goals. Now, a total of 298 pioneers are needed worldwide.

The Universal House of Justice announced that 450 pioneers settled in goal areas throughout the world since the last general call for pioneers was made in November 1981, and many more are needed.

The Supreme Body wrote: "As you are aware, only two years remain before the close of the current Plan."

Index

• Viewpoint
• Letters
• The Funds
• IGC: Pioneering
• WLGI Progress Report
• Youth News
• Education
• Teaching
• Race Unity
• Publications
• Classifieds
• Native Americans
• Persian
• Spanish
• The Media
• In Memoriam

To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly-loved Friends,

The emergence from obscurity, which has been so marked a feature of the Cause of God during the first five years of the Seven Year Plan, has been attended by changes, both external and internal, affecting the Bahá’í world community.

EXTERNALLY, there are signs of a crystallization of a public image of the Cause—largely uninformed, however friendly—while internally, growing maturity and confidence are indicated by increased administrative ability, a desire for Bahá’í communities to render service to the larger body of mankind and a deepening understanding of the relevance of the divine Message to modern problems.

Both these aspects of change must be taken into consideration as we enter the third and final phase of the Seven Year Plan.

The year just closing has been overshadowed by the continued persecution of the friends in Iran. They have been forced to disband their administrative structure, they have been harassed, dispossessed, dismissed from employment, made homeless and their children are refused education.

Some 600 men, women and children are now in prison, some denied any contact with their friends and relatives, some subjected to torture and all under pressure to recant their faith.

Their heroic and exemplary steadfastness has been the mainspring in bringing the Cause out of obscurity, and it is the consolation of their hearts that their suffering results in unprecedented advances in teaching and proclaiming the divine Message to a world so desperately in need of its healing power.

FOR THIS they embrace the final service of martyrdom. Our obligation is crystal clear. We cannot fail them now.

Sacrificial action in teaching and promoting the Cause of God must follow every new instance of publicity.

WLGI Progress Report

The first Bahá’í-owned and operated radio station in North America begins to take shape as the lower section of its tower is lifted into place at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina. Erection of the 500-foot tower was completed at Naw-Rúz with broadcasting scheduled to begin sometime this month after final clearances are received from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Historic first in Arizona for U.S. high schools: All-Indian chess team captures state crown

The Tuba City, Arizona, High School chess team made history February 25 when it became the first all-Indian team in the U.S. ever to win a state championship.

The Warriors, the first team since 1965 from northern Arizona to win the state title, are coached by a Bahá’í, homefront pioneer John Nesbit. Team members are Mike Algiene, Patrick Begay, Rex Butler, Don Davis and Scott Johnson. [Page 2]

Spelman names Dr. Wilma Brady vice president of public relations

Dr. Wilma Brady, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, has been named vice president for development and public relations at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Brady's appointment was announced by the college's president, Donald M. Stewart.

She has been on loan to Spelman as executive-in-residence from the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York City where since 1980 she held the position of executive assistant to the chief of staff.

Prior to joining the Equitable in 1976, Dr. Brady gained extensive experience in the administration of higher education at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Stanford University, and the University of Massachusetts where she earned her masters and doctoral degrees in education.

The Equitable recognized her contributions to community service by awarding her its Social Performance Award in 1981, and last year Dr. Brady was named a Black Achiever in Industry by the YMCA of Greater New York.

Dr. Brady was elected to membership on the National Spiritual Assembly at the 73rd Bahá’í National Convention in April 1982.

200 attend N.Y.C. area conference

About 200 Bahá’ís from the New York City area attended a teaching conference February 19 sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of New York City.

Among the speakers were Counsellor Velma Sherrill and Auxiliary Board members Robert Harris and Javidukht Khadem.

High school coed 5,000,000th to visit House of Worship

Sasha Pisarski, a high school senior from Park Ridge, Illinois, received an unexpectedly warm welcome March 30 when she entered the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette on a class visit.

Miss Pisarski was greeted by James Mock, chairman of the House of Worship Activities Committee, and Bruce Whitmore, the committee secretary and manager of the House of Worship, and told that she was the five millionth recorded visitor to the Mother Temple of the West.

Miss Pisarski, who is editor of the school newspaper at Maine South High School, was presented a copy of The Dawning Place, Mr. Whitmore's new book about the history of the Temple (available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust in hardcover and softcover editions).

Although people frequently visited the Temple site even before construction was begun in 1920, says Mr. Mock, actual records were not kept until 1932. Currently, more than 200,000 people visit the House of Worship each year.

In 1978, the Temple was listed by the U.S. government in the National Register of Historic Places.

Bruce Whitmore (center), manager of the Bahá’í House of Worship and secretary of its Activities Committee, presents a copy of his book, The Dawning Place, to Sasha Pisarski, a high school senior from Park Ridge, Illinois, who on March 30 became the five millionth recorded visitor to the Temple. Looking on at right is James Mock, chairman of the House of Worship Activities Committee.

Bahá’ís should revere our holy days, Feasts

A Bahá’í is not a conformist. A Bahá’í is a person of high ideals who is blazing a new trail in thought about religion.

It is a trail that holds fast to fundamental principles of the past while at the same time integrating those principles into the progressive teachings given to us by Bahá’u’lláh.

QUOTING from the introduction to The Hidden Words:

"We of the spiritual twilight, who stand yet on that twilight's darker edge, we who inherit a general tradition of doubt and mammon-worship, cannot pierce the deeper meaning of these Hidden Words nor attain that outlook on life and the universe which it enjoins. Years and generations must pass before man can shake off the fetters he has bound upon his soul and regain that keenness of insight which he has lost through long disuse."

So here we are, trying to blaze a new trail, busily cutting away the old superstitions, prejudices and rituals—trying to rend asunder the veils from eyes that are hindered from seeing the Glory of God for this day.

Again, in The Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh has written:

"The learned and the wise have for long years striven and failed to attain the presence of the All-Glorious; they have spent their lives in search of Him, yet did not behold the beauty of His countenance. Thou without the least effort didst attain thy goal, and without search hast obtained the object of thy quest. Yet notwithstanding, thou didst remain so wrapt in the veil of self, that thine eyes beheld not the beauty of the Beloved, nor did thy hand touch the hem of His robe. Ye that have eyes, behold and wonder."

MOST of us continue to try and hold onto the religious rituals of the past because we lack the courage to bring to the attention of the world the historic events that established the Bahá’í Faith during the last 100 years.

We read in the papers about the Jewish Passover and other traditional observances. We see the Christian holy days being celebrated, and many of us celebrate with them.

Some of us celebrate our Bahá’í holy days, and some even ask our friends to share them with us.

But why do we not show them that these Bahá’í holy days and historical events are the most important that have ever happened to humankind?

Why do we not place at least equal emphasis on the birth of Bahá’u’lláh as some of us, and the Christians, place on the birth of Christ?

THE DAY will come when Bahá’í events will be acknowledged and celebrated by the world as a whole, but how long this takes depends in part on us, on you and me. Why should we take the easy road, and let the stronger few among us do all the trail-blazing?

We need to teach our children the beauty and importance of the Bahá’í holy days and Feasts, and to train them in their observance.

Our children are growing up in a Christian society and are influenced by the old prejudices, superstitions and rituals because we do not put enough emphasis on our Faith.

When they are old enough to investigate for themselves, they will attain the knowledge of the past, but if we train them now they will know through the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh that religion is progressive and that each era and its Manifestation must be accepted by humankind as a precious gift from God.

If we feel we must share with our friends their celebrations, let us help them to share with us—and to have equal respect for the Bahá’í Faith.

REMEMBER, this Faith is not ours alone—it is for the whole world, and we are the eyes and ears through which the world must learn to see and hear.

The world today has been alerted to the oneness of humanity. It is up to us to live our lives so that we are shining examples of one human family.

We have principles to live by, an administrative order to follow, a Bahá’í calendar to observe.

Let us put that calendar in a prominent place in our homes, where we will not forget any of the events to be celebrated—and let us not replace these events with a television program or other social pleasures.

Surely out of a 24-hour day, we can find the time to observe our Feasts and holy days as they occur.

This month's article, "A Gentle Reminder (for Bahá’ís only)," was written by Mary Wolter of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

New Asian Teaching Center opened at Minneapolis-St. Paul conference

Bahá’ís in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, area gathered in Minneapolis last December 3 for an Asian Teaching Conference sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Minneapolis.

Speakers at the conference, whose purpose was to inaugurate activities at Asian Teaching Centers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, were Bijan Bayzaee and Andrew Gee, both members of the North Central Regional Asian Teaching Committee.

Participants discussed methods for reaching Asians with the message of Bahá’u’lláh, shared the goals of the Minority Teaching Centers, and identified a wide range of teaching opportunities in the Twin Cities area.

Afterward, Mr. Gee met with members of the Spiritual Assemblies of Minneapolis and St. Paul to help plan activities of the Minority Teaching Centers. [Page 3]

LETTERS

May 1984

To reach Fund goals, friends must have faith

"The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions."—‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The American Bahá’í welcomes letters to the editor on any topic of general interest. The purpose of the "letters" column is to allow a free and open exchange of ideas, never to derogate another's opinions or attack anyone on a personal level.

Letters should be kept as brief as possible (a maximum of 250 words is suggested). Letters are subject to editing for length and style.

Please address all letters to the Editor, The American Bahá’í, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

To the Editor:

In my opinion, there is only one answer to the problems associated with our not reaching our Fund goals, and that is: faith.

Each of us must develop faith in God and in himself/herself.

HOW do we develop faith? Here is one approach. Feel free to follow it or devise your own.

1. Examine closely the Writings regarding the Fund. My two favorites are:

"We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has, and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by the fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good—that is the secret of right living." (Shoghi Effendi, Principles of Bahá’í Administration, 1963 ed., p. 93)

"All the friends of God... should contribute to the extent possible, however modest their offering may be. God doth not burden a soul beyond its capacity. Such contributions must come from all centers and all believers. ... O Friends of God! Be ye assured that in place of these contributions, your agriculture, your industry, and your commerce will be blessed by manifold increases, with goodly gifts and bestowals. He who cometh with one goodly deed will receive a tenfold reward. There is no doubt that the living Lord will abundantly confirm those who expend their wealth in His path." (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Prayers, 1982 ed., p. 84)

2. Decide in our hearts whether or not we believe that the Writings pertaining to the Fund are really true, because if we don't believe the truth of these statements we are licked before we start.

3. I BELIEVE the best way to develop the faith and belief that these statements are true is to test their validity. How? Through action! If we choose not to act, we have little faith and are victims of fear: fear of losing money, fear of poverty, fear of failure.

Action cures fear; action requires courage. If we choose to act, we can conquer our fears; failure to act shows that we are letting our fears conquer us.

4. Pray. I put prayer after action because I believe that no amount of prayer can induce us to act unless we already have the sincere desire to act.

Once we've made a solid, heartfelt commitment to act, then we can pray that God will sustain us. As we pray for His protection, we will slowly develop the belief that He will indeed be there to help us as we need Him.

God will not let us starve. He will enable us somehow—we don't know how, and this is what requires faith—to pay our bills and support our family.

5. We must act continually. We can't act just one time and stop. True faith can grow only from continuous action.

6. As we begin to act, we will find to our amazement that, indeed, God is sustaining us. He's not deserting us.

Our Faith in God and in ourselves will truly begin to grow. The truth and validity of the Writings will become increasingly apparent. This will increase our faith even more.

We have the choice and the power to raise or lower our community's self-image. Let's raise it and become winners!

Marty Schirn Tucson, Arizona

To the Editor:

Yesterday (March 15) the Bahá’ís of Ibadan, Nigeria, went to the local radio station to present an item about Naw-Rúz.

The news director asked many questions about the Faith, and then arranged the program.

During the course of our conversation he said he had just spent a year in the U.S. at Syracuse University and hadn't heard of the Faith.

I would like to appeal to the American Bahá’ís to make a special effort to teach the estimated 50,000 Nigerian students in the U.S. about the world-wide nature of the Cause and about the unity of mankind and of religions.

This would help us in our efforts to establish the Faith in Africa.

Martha L. Garman Ibadan, Nigeria

To the Editor:

I would like to hear mature, dignified and intelligent presentations on WLGI Radio.

Although such a comment may seem strange, it is prompted by my having recently listened to a cassette tape on the Covenant whose phony, over-acted dialogue made it a real test of patience to listen to.

While the material presented was good, the tape was hard to follow because of all the "Oh, isn't that wonderful!" comments and the "Doesn't that make you want to stand right up and say, 'Ya-Bahá’u’l-Abhá!'" statements by the participants.

If rude and immature exclamations and loving sighs interrupt important material that needs to be presented in a direct and intelligent manner, it's going to turn many people off as do most other religious radio programs.

I hope that Bahá’í radio will be different, and done in an unpretentious way with normal dialogue.

Larry Pedersen Hood River, Oregon

To the Editor:

I am a salesman, and because of my profession I feel I may have some insight into why there are so few enrollments in the Faith.

In "The Individual and Teaching" (p. vii), the Universal House of Justice says the friends lack confidence and feel they don't know what course of action to follow or how to bring their efforts to a conclusion.

To me, as a salesman, a "conclusion" means getting an enrollment card filled out and signed.

I believe one reason for the lack of enrollments is that the institutions of the Faith are not using enrollment-getting, confirmation-producing Bahá’ís to teach the friends how to acquire confidence in teaching to secure enrollments.

Thus the lack of enrollments is not the fault of the friends; they do not have the confidence to get them. I feel that our institutions are being told by the House of Justice to guide them in gaining confidence.

The time must come, I believe, when enrollment-getting Bahá’ís are used by our institutions to give other believers confidence in effective teaching (that is, teaching that produces enrollments).

I feel it is time to stop talking about enrollments and start giving the friends the benefit of learning from those who are able to teach them how to get more enrollments.

Richard Hoff Las Cruces, New Mexico

To the Editor:

I appreciate the exchange of ideas regarding Bahá’í couples remaining childless by choice. Sharing ideas will help individuals to make choices which are appropriate for personal growth.

The Bahá’í Writings include strong statements regarding the responsibility to become a parent. Accepting this responsibility indicates submissiveness to God's Will and opens a path to our ultimate goal of knowing and loving God. Parenting is a sacrifice which brings personal growth and maturity as a bounty.

The parent/child relationship parallels God's relationship to humanity. We are deepened in our understanding of deferring to God's Will as we teach our children to obey and respect family rules. We understand God's sacrifice to us as we feel sacrifice for the needs of our children.

We "see ourselves" in our children and are challenged for personal growth. Parenting provides an intimate application of God's merciful nurturing of humanity.

In this formative period of the Faith, a strong family unit is an important contribution to the foundation upon which we are building the ever-growing Bahá’í world community.

Strong Bahá’í communities strengthen individual members by supporting personal investigation and by accepting individuals.

Acceptance recognizes that each of us is unique, with individual strengths and expressions of servitude. Bahá’í communities must lovingly respect individual decisions.

Robin C. Mitchell Houston, Texas

To the Editor:

A significant obstacle toward unity in Bahá’í communities is the inability of far too many of us to recognize when an injustice has been committed.

How many of us honestly know what the word "justice" means?

ONE usually hears more about love, peace, prayers, "living the life," the Fund, detachment, and forgiveness than he does justice.

It is a principle that is often passed over by many people because it produces vague connotations in their minds—an abstraction beyond their appreciation.

There has been a strong tendency among Bahá’ís to naively "turn the other cheek" when confronting injustice in their own Bahá’í communities.

Bahá’ís may sometimes find it awkward to apply justice in Assembly matters because as individuals ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's characteristic love and forgiveness has always been stressed to them.

But if it is the individual's obligation to forgive and the Assembly's to be just, then shouldn't we strive to understand that balance and behave accordingly?

Although justice may sometimes be expressed through forgiveness, justice by definition does not constitute forgiveness. Justice is impartial and accountable; it is essentially the hallmark of a Divine civilization.

One of the major principles Bahá’u’lláh came to establish throughout the world is justice. He wrote: "The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men." (The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 23)

Without a sense of justice and its regular application, there can be no real or lasting unity.

Mahnaz Mann Cortez, Colorado

To the Editor:

Recently I heard a Bahá’í say that soon people will ask us, "What do you Bahá’ís do?"

They won't care much about what we believe, and they won't be very keen about listening to long talks on our Teachings.

ON October 20, 1983, the Universal House of Justice opened wide before us new doors of service to mankind; surely all of you have read and studied the historic

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[Page 4]

MAMIE L. SETO

Mamie Loretta O’Connor Seto’s many services to the Cause of God, spanning more than 50 years, included pioneering and traveling teaching from the Canadian Maritime Provinces to Hawaii and Hong Kong.

BORN April 10, 1885, near Port Huron, Michigan, Mamie had a happy childhood with her brothers and sisters.

As a young woman, she visited a neighbor whose son had brought a fellow law student home with him one weekend from the Detroit College of Law.

The student’s name was Anthony Yuen Seto, and he and Mamie were immediately attracted to each other. They were married August 1, 1919, and both became Bahá’ís two years later.

When Mr. Seto was admitted to law practice in his native Hawaii, the couple moved to Honolulu where Mrs. Seto served from 1923 until 1932 on the Spiritual Assembly of Honolulu and also taught Bahá’í children’s classes for several years.

The Setos’ only child, a son, was stillborn.

Mrs. Seto was especially concerned about support for the Bahá’í Fund, and at the request of the National Spiritual Assembly, she traveled extensively to speak to Bahá’ís about the Fund.

IN 1932, the Setos moved from Hawaii to San Francisco where they continued to teach the Faith and make public appearances.

They spent six months in 1944 visiting the Maritime Provinces of Canada, arriving first on Prince Edward Island.

Back in San Francisco, the Setos spoke about the Faith to representatives from many countries who were attending ceremonies marking the formation of the United Nations in 1945.

In September 1954, they responded to the message inaugurating the Ten Year Crusade by pioneering to Hong Kong.

Upon learning of their decision to pioneer, the Guardian wrote:

Ridván 1984

Champion builders arising from their persecution. Let this be our message to them of love and spiritual union.

In the international sphere, the beloved Hands of the Cause of God, ever growing in our love and admiration, have, whenever their health has permitted, continued to uplift and encourage the friends and to promote the unity and onward march of the army of life.

The International Teaching Centre, operating from its world seat, has provided loving and wise leadership and direction to the Boards of Counsellors. Its sphere of service has been immensely extended by the assignment of new responsibilities and by raising the number of its Counsellor members to seven.

The dedicated services of the Counsellors in all the continents, ably supported by the Auxiliary Board members, have been invaluable in fostering the spiritual health and integrity of the world wide community. To develop further this vital organ of the Administrative Order, it has been decided to establish a term of five years service for those appointed to the Auxiliary Boards, commencing November 26, 1986.

THE WORK of the Bahá’í International Community in relationship with the United Nations has brought increasing appreciation of our social attitudes and principles, and in some instances—notably the sessions on human rights—the Bahá’í participation has been spectacular, again resulting from the heroism of the Persian friends. The Geneva office has been consolidated and additional staff engaged to deal with its expanding activities.

In spite of severe problems the construction of the Indian and Samoan Houses of Worship has progressed satisfactorily, and the latter will be dedicated and opened to public worship between August 30 and September 3, 1984, when the Universal House of Justice will be represented by the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum.

Immediately following the International Convention last Riḍván, two new National Spiritual Assemblies were formed—in St. Lucia and Dominica. Two new radio stations will make their inaugural broadcasts this year, namely Radio Bahá’í of Bolivia, at Caracollo, and WLGI, the Bahá’í radio station at the Louis Gregory Institute, in the United States. Bahá’í membership in 11 countries, all in the Third World and nine of them island communities, has reached or surpassed one per cent of the total population.

During the final months of the second phase of the Seven Year Plan a generous response has been made by believers and institutions alike to an appeal which set out the increasing needs of the International Fund. We are confident that sustained and regular contributions during the final phase of the Plan will enable its aims and objectives to be fully accomplished.

The entrance of the Cause onto the world scene is apparent from a number of public statements in which we have been characterized as "model citizens," "gentle," "law-abiding," "not guilty of any political offense or crime"; all excellent but utterly inadequate insofar as the reality of the Faith and its aims and purposes are concerned. Nevertheless, people are willing to hear about the Faith, and the opportunity must be seized.

PERSISTENTLY greater and greater efforts must be made to acquaint the leaders of the world, in all departments of life, with the true nature of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation as the sole hope for the pacification and unification of the world.

Simultaneously with such a program must be unabated, vigorous pursuit of the teaching work, so that we may be seen to be a growing community, while universal observance by the friends of the Bahá’í laws of personal living will assert the fullness of, and arouse a desire to share in, the Bahá’í way of life. By all these means the public image of the Faith will become, gradually but constantly, nearer to its true character.

The upsurge of zeal throughout the Bahá’í world for exploration of the new dimension of social and economic development is both heartwarming and uplifting to all our hopes. This energy within the community, carefully and wisely directed, will undoubtedly bring about a new era of consolidation and expansion, which in turn will attract further widespread attention, so that both aspects of change in the Bahá’í world community will be interactive and mutually propelling.

A prime element in the careful and wise direction needed is the achievement of victory in the Seven Year Plan, paying great attention to the development and strengthening of Local Assemblies. Great efforts must be made to encourage them to discharge their primary duties of meeting regularly, holding the Nineteen Day Feasts and observing Holy Days, organizing children’s classes, encouraging the practice of family prayers, undertaking extension teaching projects, administering the Bahá’í Fund and constantly encouraging and leading their communities in all Bahá’í activities.

The equality of men and women is not, at the present time, universally applied. In those areas where traditional inequality still hampers its progress we must take the lead in practicing this Bahá’í principle. Bahá’í women and girls must be encouraged to take part in the social, spiritual and administrative activities of their communities.

BAHÁ’Í youth, now rendering exemplary and devoted service in the forefront of the army of life, must be encouraged, even while equipping themselves for future service, to devise and execute their own teaching plans among their contemporaries.

Now, as we enter the final two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan, we rejoice in the addition of nine new National Spiritual Assemblies: three in Africa, three in the Americas, two in Asia, one in Europe, bringing the total number to 143.

Five more are to be established in Riḍván 1985. They are Ciskei, Mali and Mozambique in Africa and the Cook Islands and the West Caroline Islands in Australasia. Thus the Plan will end with a minimum of 148 National Spiritual Assemblies. By that time plans must be approved for the completion of the arc around the Monument Gardens on Mount Carmel, including the siting and designs of the three remaining buildings to be constructed around that arc.

There can be no doubt that the progress of the Cause from this time onward will be characterized by an ever increasing relationship to the agencies, activities, institutions and leading individuals of the non-Bahá’í world. We shall acquire greater stature at the United Nations, become better known in the deliberations of governments, a familiar figure to the media, a subject of interest to academics, and inevitably the envy of failing establishments.

Our preparation for and response to this situation must be a continual deepening of our faith, an unwavering adherence to its principles of abstention from partisan politics and freedom from prejudices, and above all an increasing understanding of its fundamental verities and relevance to the modern world.

ACCOMPANYING this Riḍván message are a call for 298 pioneers to settle in 79 national communities, and specific messages addressed to each of the present 143 national communities. They are the fruit of intensive study and consultation by the Universal House of Justice and the International Teaching Centre, and set out the goals to be won and the objectives to be pursued by each national community so that Riḍván 1986 may witness the completion in glorious victory of this highly significant Plan.

It will have run its course through a period of unprecedented world confusion, bearing witness to the vitality, the irresistible advance and socially creative power of the Cause of God, standing out in sharp contrast to the accelerating decline in the fortunes of the generality of mankind.

Beloved friends, the bounties and protection with which the Blessed Beauty is nurturing and sheltering the infant organism of His new world order through this violent period of transition and trial, give ample assurance of victories to come if we but follow the path of His guidance.

He rewards our humble efforts with effusions of grace which bring not only advancement to the Cause but assurance and happiness to our hearts, so that we may indeed look upon our neighbors with bright and shining faces, confident that from our services now will eventuate that blissful future which our descendants will inherit, glorifying Bahá’u’lláh, the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of Mankind.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice Riḍván 1984

Spiritual Assembly of Winter Springs, Florida

The first Spiritual Assembly of Winter Springs, Florida, was formed Friday, March 2. Its members include (standing left to right) Martine Levy, Gloria Lewis, Barazandeh Nystrom, Anthony Lewis, Francine Levy, and (seated left to right) Gertrude Carter, Lucille Lewis, Ethel Carter. Not present was Jon Montgomery. [Page 5]

'Bucks twins' provide graphic lesson in giving

Hi! UNIPAR here to introduce two friends to you.

The fellow on the left is Mr. No Bucks, and the happy fellow on the right is his twin brother, Mr. Hav Bucks. They're like two sides of the same coin.

FUNNY thing about poor old No Bucks—his employer over the years has neglected to pay him the majority of his yearly salary until the end of the year.

As a result, No Bucks can't budget all of his expenses each month, his bills are too much for him, and he's distracted and depressed and doesn't want to talk about money at all.

Out of desperation, he is focused on his material needs, which leaves him spiritually destitute. He can't provide the kind of loving support his family needs: education, housing, materials, etc.

Now hear this...

Your Fund Education Office needs you! We produce this page in The American Bahá’í, the Fund chart for Feast, UNIPAR, administer the National Treasurer's Representative program, and much more.

If you have a creative mind with good administrative skills and a flair for writing, contact the Personnel Office at the Bahá’í National Center (312-869-9039) for an application. In the Treasurer's Office, you can get more information from Steve Jackson or Dan Ware.

For Mr. No Bucks, everything is an emergency. He never seems to get his head above water long enough to plan his next move. He has to borrow money every summer just to make it to the end of the year.

My heart goes out to him, and I sure would like to see his problem solved.

AND THEN there's Mr. Hav Bucks. He gets a regular monthly income so he can plan and budget and pay his bills on time, provide what his family needs, and is able to plan for the future.

His priorities are straight, and his life has a rhythm that is easy to follow. He and his family have time to teach, and learn, and help others. Quite a contrast to his brother No Bucks, wouldn't you say?

That beleaguered fellow on the left, Mr. No Bucks, is actually your current National Fund.

His twin brother on the right, Mr. Hav Bucks, is the way the National Fund can become with everyone's help.

The answer to Mr. No Bucks' dilemma is the solution to the National Fund's difficulties—regular income.

To all who ponder why it is so important to contribute to the National Fund every 19 days, I say: "When your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep becomes your downfall!"

The National Spiritual Assembly needs your regular support. Let's all participate and "flip that coin" to its happier, healthier side. Let every individual and every institution contribute together, every Bahá’í month. Starting now!

ATTENTION: Northern Minnesota. Please pardon our error in the March issue of The American Bahá’í. At 18 per cent participation for the month of Sharáf, you should have been No. 2 on the Winners' Circle list for highest percentage of participation. Keep up the good work!

Contributions to the National Bahá’í Fund by District

District Name	Membership as of 12/9/83	Number of participants	Percentage of participation	Membership as of 4/6/84	Number of participants	Percentage of participation
Alabama S/Florida NW	349	10	3.0	338	19	5.6
Alabama N	307	21	6.8	312	21	6.7
Arizona N	941	51	5.4	910	55	6.0
Arizona S	410	21	5.1	402	19	4.7
Arkansas	476	24	5.0	473	20	4.2
California C No. 1	2,722	190	7.0	2,647	202	7.6
California C No. 2	445	40	9.0	445	44	9.9
California N No. 1	585	70	12.0	590	74	12.5
California N No. 2	389	41	10.5	385	63	16.4
California S No. 1	2,709	180	6.6	2,683	178	6.6
California S No. 2	1,158	112	9.7	1,142	122	10.7
California S No. 3	441	42	9.5	445	57	12.8
California S No. 4	981	82	8.4	956	95	9.9
Colorado NE	483	61	12.6	457	68	14.9
Colorado SE	181	15	8.3	178	29	16.3
Colorado W	195	23	11.8	182	25	13.7
Connecticut	471	57	12.1	460	65	14.1
DelMar Va	292	15	5.1	294	23	7.8
Florida C	382	19	5.0	387	34	8.8
Florida N	284	19	6.7	283	23	8.1
Florida SE	1,113	54	4.9	1,077	69	6.4
Florida SW	495	43	8.7	489	60	12.3
Georgia NE	339	48	14.2	331	50	15.1
Georgia NW	876	17	1.9	858	15	1.7
Georgia S	1,158	8	0.7	1,177	7	0.6
Idaho N/Washington E	473	63	13.3	476	77	16.2
Idaho S	183	21	11.5	185	26	14.1
Illinois N No. 1	596	52	8.7	581	67	11.5
Illinois N No. 2	1,148	143	12.5	1,159	164	14.2
Illinois S	742	68	9.2	712	94	13.2

See VIE CHART Page 28

The Winners' Circle

Highest Percentage Participation

1. Vermont 2. Minnesota, Northern 3. Minnesota, Southern 4. Pennsylvania, Western 5. Tennessee, Eastern 6. Louisiana, Northern 7. North Dakota 8. Maine 9. Wisconsin, N/Michigan 10. Nebraska 11. Montana 12. Indiana 13. California Northern No. 2 14. Colorado, Southeast 15. Idaho, N/Washington East 16. New York, Western 17. Wisconsin, Southern 18. Kansas 19. Ohio, Northern

Most Improved Participation

1. South Carolina Southern No. 2 2. Navajo/Hopi 3. Oregon, Eastern 4. Colorado, Southeast 5. South Dakota 6. Alabama, S/Florida, NW 7. Florida, Central 8. Vermont 9. Montana 10. North Dakota 11. South Carolina Southern No. 1 12. South Carolina, Western 13. Texas, Southern 14. Maine 15. California Northern No. 2 16. DelMarVa 17. Louisiana, Northern 18. New Mexico, Northern 19. Pennsylvania, Western [Page 6]

House of Justice calls for 282 new U.S. pioneers for Plan

The Universal House of Justice calls for whatever steps may be necessary to send the assigned quota of pioneers to the territories named as quickly as circumstances permit.

"It is the cherished hope of the Universal House of Justice that these goals may be filled by the first year (emphasis ours) of this new phase, thereby helping to usher in the triumphant conclusion of the Seven Year Plan."

Because our beloved Supreme Institution "hopes" that we will be able to send pioneers before the end of the first year of this new phase of the Plan, the International Goals Committee "hopes" to change that word to "will" send all of the pioneers assigned to this country before April 21, 1985.

THE committee has asked all of those National Assemblies that are to receive pioneers to send information about employment possibilities and other data that will help people to settle there.

At press time, the office was aware of opportunities in a number of countries, and more information will be available by the time you read this article.

• Lesotho: An adviser is needed for a mohair spinning project. This person would be involved in product research, design and development as well as in training and supervision.

• Uganda: Nurses are needed for a hospital in the southwestern region. Duties also include teaching.

• Dominica: Road construction managers and workers; fish marketing project manager; health professionals; instrumental music teacher.

• El Salvador: Rural development project adviser, Spanish-speaking, with related degree and at least three years experience.

• Grenada: Civil engineers; teachers, especially science, math and English; health professionals. The Peace Corps is a potential way of entry.

• Guatemala: Several teaching positions are open for the upcoming school year at the Maya school.

• Honduras: Kindergarten and first grade teachers, B.A. necessary but not certification; also, certified Montessori teacher; Spanish and English-speaking secretary for the National Bahá’í Center.

• Leeward Islands: Gynecologist; ophthalmologist; dentists.

• St. Lucia: Qualified Spanish teacher is urgently needed. Also, health professionals, agriculturists.

• Korea: English-language teaching opportunities are available; also, a professor of English is needed at a university.

• Nepal: English teachers for the Embassy school; positions for teaching English are also available through United Nations Volunteers.

• Philippines: TESL teachers; refugee project coordinator.

• Fiji: Manager for the Publishing Trust of the South Pacific. Must be self-supporting. Also, professors of administrative studies and of agricultural economics.

• Mariana Islands: Nurses and nurse educators.

• Marshall Islands: Nurses and a nursing school director. Kwajalein Atoll is advertising for a scientific programmer and a senior radar systems engineer.

Retired people or those with independent incomes are always needed for countries in which it is not possible to find work. Many countries welcome those who are in a position to start their own business.

The Peace Corps lists many of our goal countries as places where they send volunteers. They are: Benin, Lesotho, Mauritania, Anguilla, Barbados, Dominica, Guatemala, Honduras, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Turks & Caicos Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Nepal, the Philippines, and Tuvalu.

Not only does the Peace Corps recruit younger Americans, but it has many opportunities for older Americans as well. Many of those now serving are in their 60s and 70s, and their oldest volunteer is 81. Look in your phone book for the Peace Corps office nearest you, or ask International Goals.

The committee is more than willing to discuss all of the possibilities that are open to you, and will help financially in some cases so that the goals can be won.

If you've always wanted to pioneer, and think that you are now at a time and place in your life when this dream might become a reality, with some guidance and help, please get in touch with the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, without delay.

Cassettes, pioneer manual available

Order your Joany Lincoln Cassette Tapes and A Manual for Pioneers by the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhiyyih Khánum from the International Goals Committee; $8 for the cassette, $5.25 for the book. Make check payable to the National Bahá’í Fund and send directly to the International Goals Committee. Also available for only $4 is Quickeners of Mankind, a compilation of quotations about pioneering published by the Publishing Trust of Canada.

U.S. Pioneer Goals

It is the cherished hope of the Universal House of Justice that these goals will be filled by the end of the first year of this new phase, thereby helping to usher in the triumphant conclusion of the Seven Year Plan.

• • AFRICA**

(F) Benin: 4 (Iranians) (E) Lesotho: 2 (E) Liberia: 2 (F) Mauritania: 2 (E) Uganda: 2 Total: 12

• • AMERICAS**

Bahamas (E) San Salvador Is.: 1 (E) Barbados: 2 Chile (S) Easter Island: 2 (S) Colombia: 2 (E) Dominica: 3 Ecuador (S) Galapagos Island: 1 (S) El Salvador: 2 (E) Grenada: 2 (S) Guatemala: 1 (S) Honduras: 4 Jamaica (E) Cayman Islands: 1 Leeward Islands (E) Anguilla: 2 Leeward Islands (E) Montserrat: 2 (S) Mexico (Yucatán): 4 (E) St. Lucia: 2 (E) St. Vincent: 3 (S) Uruguay: 4 Total: 36

• • ASIA**

(K) Korea: 4 (E) Nepal: 2 (E) Philippines: 4 Total: 10

• • AUSTRALASIA**

Caroline Islands (E) Kosrae: 1 Caroline Islands (E) Truk: 2 (E) Fiji: 2 Mariana Islands (E) Rota: 2 Mariana Islands (E) Tinian: 1 (E) Marshall Islands: 2 (E) Tuvalu: 2 Total: 12

• • EUROPE**

(Gr,T,E) Cyprus: 4 (E) Ireland, Republic of: 8 (Iranians) Total: 12

• • Consolidation Goals**

Falkland Islands (Number of pioneers not specified) Turks & Caicos Islands (Number of pioneers not specified)

• • LANGUAGE KEY**

E-English F-French Gr-Greek K-Korean S-Spanish T-Turkish

• • SUMMARY**

AFRICA: 12 AMERICAS: 36 ASIA: 10 AUSTRALASIA: 12 EUROPE: 12 TOTAL: 82

Pictured with guest speakers and members of the International Goals Committee staff are the 37 people who participated March 22-25 in a Pioneer Training Institute held at the Bahá’í National Center in Wilmette. The speakers included the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem (front row just left of center holding the Greatest Name), Counsellor Angus Cowan (not shown), and Auxiliary Board member Javidukht Khadem (to Mr. Khadem's right). Participants were making plans to pioneer to the Philippines, South Africa, the Turks & Caicos Islands, Barbados, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, American Samoa, Fiji, Mexico, Dominica, Easter Island, and India. Also attending was a representative of the District Teaching Committee of Southern Illinois.

14 Bahá’ís to receive top award

Each year, individuals nominated for their humanitarian service are awarded the Legion of Honor by the Chapel of Four Chaplains at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This spring, no fewer than 14 Bahá’ís who have been so honored in past years include Joy Victory, Ethel Henderson and Anne Gordon Atkinson.

Bahá’ís were scheduled to receive the Legion of Honor award. They are: Don Camp, Marie Camp, Soheila Maboubie, Rita Leydon, Virginia Schawacker, Faezeh Behjat, Lorraine Appelbaum, Robert Atkinson, Joe Bolten, Franklin Kinder, James Tichenor, Steven Sewell, Massoud Mohadjeri, and Prudence Runyan.

If you are traveling outside the United States for any reason, please contact the International Goals Committee office. A temporary Bahá’í identification card will be issued to you, if needed. [Page 7]

An open letter to Bahá’í youth

Dearly-loved friends,

The final stage of the Seven Year Plan has begun, bringing with it fresh opportunities for service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Never before has the field been so fertile; never before has the inspiration been so profound.

THE BLOOD SHED by the youthful martyrs of Shíráz coupled with the recent message from the Universal House of Justice are meant to move us... and move we must.

These next two years are vital to the progress of the Faith, and youth have an especially important role to play in this ongoing drama.

The objectives of the new National Youth Plan serve as our script. We must each study our part, understand clearly our motivation, and, having committed our lines to memory, step into the spotlight to act with conviction, confidence and courage.

The Universal House of Justice has told us that "youth can move the world." This brief statement sets a new standard for all that we do.

We can move the world, but will we? We can move the world, but might we retard this movement through our lack of action?

We can move the world... we are all potential, waiting to be tapped and applied to the tasks set before us.

WILL WE DO IT? Will we move the world? The Supreme Body ordained by the Blessed Beauty Himself to guide and protect us has said that we can. There is nothing we can do but obey.

The prayers and unwavering confidence of the Institutions of the Faith, at all levels, are with us. It is time for us to "respond to the current demands upon the Faith by displaying a fresh measure of dedication to the tasks at hand."

"O MY SERVANT! Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer’s knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world."—Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, p. 47

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Bahá’í National Youth Committee April 21, 1984

Summer of 1984 offers wide choice of exciting projects for Bahá’í youth

There are almost endless opportunities for youth this summer... conferences, teaching projects, service programs. Bahá’í school sessions and international travel teaching projects, just to name a few.

Youth who are interested in serving in any of these programs should contact the National Youth Committee right away for complete details. Phone 305-462-1919 or write to the committee at Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315.

Lori Schroeder, a seventh grader who is the only Bahá’í among the 400 students at Monroeville (Alabama) Junior High School, recently won first place in a school poetry contest for her poem entitled 'Who Am I?' Lori and her family moved to Monroeville about four years ago to help the Bahá’í Group there work toward forming the first Spiritual Assembly of Monroeville.

• • Summer Projects, Domestic**

Rochester, New York (July 8-22). The Assembly is looking for 20 youth projecteers. Limited expenses; hospitality provided. Contact Deborah Rosenfeld, Rochester, NY 14610, or phone 716-442-0292.

Navajo-Hopi District (June 1-mid-July). Direct teaching project in a rustic setting. Sports activities and children's classes are a part of the project focus; based out of the Southwest Bahá’í Institute. Cars helpful; costs are $3-$5 per day. Contact Brenda Norrell Kahn, Fort Defiance, AZ 86504; phone 602-871-4531.

South Dakota (June 2-August 18). The Amoz Gibson Project continues with deepening, teaching, and classes for children and youth on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations. Contact Marinell Rhine, project registrar, Pierre, SD 57501, or phone 605-224-0336.

Oklahoma, East (June 3-16). The District Teaching Committee is hosting this project of firesides, consolidation and public meetings; $5 per day for food. Contact Charlene Winger-Bearskin.

The National Youth Committee is pleased to share the text of the National Youth Plan for the final phase of the Seven Year Plan.

The Youth Plan was developed by the committee to serve as a primary focus for youth during the next two years, and includes both goals for the community at large and for individual Bahá’í youth.

It is designed also to channel our collective and personal energies and talents toward an effective celebration of International Youth Year in 1985 as designated by the United Nations.

NATIONAL YOUTH PLAN

Final phase of the Seven Year Plan

GENERAL YOUTH GOALS

"The Guardian is looking to the youth of America to raise the Banner of the Faith to ever higher and more glorious heights." —Written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi

• Establish and maintain an upward trend in the enrollment of youth in the Faith, both through personal teaching efforts and summer and holiday teaching projects.
• Provide 300 youth projecteers to support regional teaching projects directed toward youth.
• Provide 20 international youth pioneers to foreign goals with a minimum stay of one year.
• Provide 50 international youth traveling teachers with participation in teaching and service efforts, both individually and project-oriented.
• Provide 40 youth homefront pioneers to serve in areas with a low Bahá’í population, as well as in the formation and maintenance of Bahá’í College Clubs.
• Provide 19 youth to serve for year-long development, service and teaching programs, both at home and abroad, in observance of International Youth Year, 1985.
• Participate, at all levels, in the observance of International Youth Year 1985 through support of local and national service and proclamation programs.

INDIVIDUAL YOUTH GOALS

"The part of the youth is very great; you have the opportunity to really determine to exemplify in word and deed the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and to show your generation that the new World Order He has brought is a tangible reality in the lives of His followers." —Written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi

• Develop a daily habit of prayer and study of the Writings.
• Make regular contributions to the Fund with an aim of giving every 19 days.
• Make a consistent and increased effort to incorporate the high standards of moral behavior of the Faith into your daily life.
• Strive to achieve a high level of academic leadership and to obtain a proficiency in a foreign language.
• Concentrate on being of service, with a commitment to the observance of International Youth Year 1985.

Ohio site of ’85 Youth Conference

The long-awaited Continental Bahá’í Youth Conference has found a home!

In July 1985, youth from throughout North America and many other countries will gather at Ohio State University in Columbus for the Continental Youth Conference hosted by the U.S. Bahá’í community.

Each year, a Continental Youth Conference is held in North America. Last year, the event was sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Alaska; this summer, youth will be attending the program at the University of Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, from August 24-28; and next summer, in observance of International Youth Year 1985, the conference will be held from July 3-7 in Ohio.

The theme chosen by the Bahá’í National Youth Committee for the 1985 conference is "YOUth Can Move the World," which is taken from the recent message from the Universal House of Justice to the youth of the world.

Much of the conference program will focus on bringing this grand concept into reality through our individual and collective efforts.

Ohio State University, site of the Continental Youth Conference.

The conference is open to Bahá’ís of all ages, and guests of Bahá’ís also are welcome.

More details about the program and logistics will be shared in future articles in The American Bahá’í as well as in "Youth Hotline," the bulletin published by the National Youth Committee.

Designed as a highlight of the Bahá’í celebration of the UN's International Youth Year, the conference is expected to attract a record-breaking number of young participants. Youth are urged to plan ahead to budget their trip to this important conference. [Page 8]

Summer schools set special youth programs

Special youth programs will be held at each of the Bahá’í schools during the summer of 1984, according to Blanche Grant, national coordinator for Bahá’í schools.

THE YOUTH programs, under the co-sponsorship and direction of the National Education Committee and National Youth Committee, will focus on the United Nations “International Youth Year, 1985.”

“The Universal House of Justice has asked National Spiritual Assemblies to participate in this event,” says Mrs. Grant, “and the Bahá’í schools’ summer youth sessions will be directed toward that objective.”

Such participation, the Universal House of Justice has stated, will not only add to the prestige of the Faith and demonstrate its humanitarian character, but will strengthen the youth in organizing themselves for future services to the Faith and to mankind.

The National Youth Committee’s goals for the final two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan are combined with International Youth Year objectives, and will provide direction and guidance to Bahá’í youth during the remainder of the Seven Year Plan and the years ahead.

The Education and Youth Committees are encouraging parents and local communities to ensure that every Bahá’í youth has an opportunity to attend a Bahá’í summer school.

“THE Bahá’í school environment provides for the teen-ager a balance of serious study with play,” says Mrs. Grant, “and the chance to associate with other Bahá’ís his own age.”

There are to be about 50 Bahá’í school programs throughout the U.S. this summer. Youth 12 years of age and older are encouraged to attend a summer youth session.

“The several days spent at a Bahá’í school can change a teen-ager’s perceptions of himself and his relationship to Bahá’u’lláh,” says Mrs. Grant. “During the teen years of rapid growth and change, the youth is pressured from within and without to conform to current, often unhealthy attitudes and behavior.

“A Bahá’í school experience can be a critical factor in setting a youth’s footsteps firmly in the path of Bahá’í ideals and commitment. It can confirm and consolidate his Bahá’í identity.

“We hope that those Bahá’í youth who could not otherwise do so will be provided with the encouragement and even financial resources to attend a Bahá’í school session.”

A four-page insert in this issue of The American Bahá’í lists schools that have schedule information. The other schools will advertise their schedules locally.

Pictured are most of the 50 Bahá’í who attended a special Youth Program Directors’ training session April 14-15 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School near Davison, Michigan.

50 attend Louhelen training for Youth Program Directors

Fifty people were invited to attend a Youth Program Directors’ training session which took place the weekend of April 14-15 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School in Davison, Michigan.

Participants attended workshops that prepared them to serve as youth program directors for the nearly 50 Bahá’í summer schools throughout the U.S.

Each director is assigned to a given school for the 1984 and 1985 summer programs.

“A similar training session for children’s program directors was held four years ago,” says David L. Smith, secretary of the National Education Committee.

“That training resulted in a substantial upgrading in the quality of children’s programs at Bahá’í schools. We anticipate a similar increase in the quality of programs for youth as a result of this recent training.”

The project includes an apprenticeship arrangement whereby directors will “train” a second individual who will serve as an assistant and thus acquire skills to serve as a youth director for future programs.

“The apprenticeship component,” explains Mr. Smith, “will increase the resource pool of such trained persons who can serve in this important capacity.”

The services of youth program directors will not be confined to Bahá’í schools, but will be available to help meet the more general need for youth programs at the local, regional and national levels.

“We’re pleased that the special needs of youth are being specifically and systematically addressed through the Youth Program Directors’ project,” says Mr. Smith, “and we anticipate excellent youth programs at our Bahá’í schools this summer as a result.”

Green Acre slates June conference on development

A conference entitled “Development: Implementing the Message from the Universal House of Justice” will be held the weekend of June 8-10 at the Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine.

The speakers will be:

Saturday, 10 a.m.: Dr. Glen Eyford, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada.

Saturday, 2 p.m.: Farzam Arbab, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas.

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.: Falariva Taafaaki, director of the Rural Development Project at the New Era Bahá’í School in India.

Sunday, 9 a.m.: Dr. Victor de Araujo, representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations.

The conference is sponsored by the New England Conference Committee of the Association for Bahá’í Studies.

For more information and/or reservations, please contact the Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903.

WHAT ASSEMBLIES ARE SAYING ABOUT THE ASSEMBLY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM MINI-COURSES

“Cleared up questions we were having. Gave us more confidence.”

—Appleton, WI

“We felt that this program was over-all the most interesting and useful one we have had yet.”

—Yarmouth, ME

“Participants felt a renewed sense of commitment to the Assembly.”

—Ames, IA

“Even though our Assembly had been through the longer Assembly training and our members have been on Assemblies for many years, everyone felt that they had learned something new.”

—Richardson, TX

“We found the whole experience very unifying. We learned a great deal.”

—Saginaw, MI

“Thanks so much for the wonderful courses!”

—Anacortes, WA

“We were given a lot of good ideas to help this community function better in the future.”

—Los Alamos County, NM

“Very informative.”

—Muncie, IN

“Most of us have served on Assemblies for many years, but we still gained some valuable insights.”

—Clearwater, FL

“Excellent! We want more.”

—Santa Paula, CA

If your Assembly and community would like to participate in one or more of the Assembly Development Program mini-courses, contact an instructor near you or mail the coupon below to:

National Education Committee Bahá’í National Center Wilmette, IL 60091

OUR ASSEMBLY WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING ASSEMBLY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM MINI-COURSES (check one or more):

___ The Newly Formed Assembly	___ Consultation With Individuals
___ The Local Spiritual Assembly: A Divinely Ordained Institution	___ Building a Unified Bahá’í Community
___ The Role of Assembly Officers	___ The Year of Waiting and Divorce

NAME OF LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY _________________________________

ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________

TELEPHONE NUMBER ( ) ______________________________________________

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

[Page 9]

WLGI Radio: From drawing board to reality

John Jackson, a staff member at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute, beamed as he sipped coffee on his front porch.

He looked beyond the distant trees at the newly constructed WLGI radio transmitter tower, its warning lights flashing for the first time at dusk.

“THIS gives me the greatest feeling I’ve had since I first saw the House of Worship,” he said.

Mr. Jackson was not alone in his feelings. For those who were nearby on the night of March 22, this was the first visible sign of the seeds of sacrifice planted by the American Bahá’í community and lovingly nurtured by its National Spiritual Assembly.

WLGI Radio was moving from the drawing board to physical reality.

The 500-foot tower is an impressive sight, visible for many miles around the Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina.

Its construction was supervised by Lynn King, a Bahá’í and communication systems contractor from Anchorage, Alaska. He is also overseeing the installation of the transmitter and master control facilities.

Mr. King recalls with evident relish the story of a visit in late February by the president of the tower manufacturing and construction firm.

TOLD of the need for quick delivery of the tower, that gentleman found himself in awe.

“These towers are not stock items. We custom build them,” he told Mr. King. “But I happen to have a 500-footer on hand that can be delivered in two weeks.”

The same man was astonished by the quick delivery of the antenna elements, which are placed near the top of the tower to radiate WLGI’s 50,000-watt signal.

“That antenna manufacturer has a waiting list, and delivery usually takes from three to four months,” he remarked. “Yours are promised in four weeks. Who do you know?”

Mr. King explained to him that WLGI is an extraordinary radio station with divine assistance. The manufacturer agreed, and offered his personal help in obtaining the needed elements at an even earlier date.

A SMALL building at the base of the tower, constructed in mid-April, houses WLGI’s stereo-FM remote-controlled transmitter.

But construction is only a part of the WLGI story.

The South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee has hired a management team for the new station.

The general manager is Howard C. (Kip) Carter Jr., a native South Carolinian with more than 20 years experience in broadcast management and engineering.

The other members of the WLGI team are Michael Stokes and Dell Campbell.

Mr. Stokes, a native of Ohio and former staff member of Radio Bahá’í in Ecuador, was hired as a consultant in September 1983 and was instrumental in the early planning of WLGI.

NOW that the station is well under way, he plans to move on to other challenges.

Mr. Campbell, another Ohioan who was previously employed at the Bahá’í National Center, began his tenure at WLGI by getting married on March 21, the first day of tower erection, with wedding pictures being taken at the base of the tower while 20-foot sections were being added behind them.

A wide range of tasks faces the team. While Mr. Carter is busy attending to the many legal and business details necessary to make the station operational, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Stokes have been working together on programming needs.

The team consults regularly with Dr. Alberta Deas, administrator of the Louis Gregory Institute, to ensure that the goals and aims of WLGI are adequately translated into an effective programming strategy designed to help the teaching work in South Carolina.

Dr. Deas readily acknowledges that the work which is forging ahead now would not have been possible without the spirit of sacrifice so nobly demonstrated by the American Bahá’í community.

“Everyone has a piece of WLGI,” she says. “The station truly belongs to all Bahá’ís.”

WLGI will begin programming with a music format that should appeal to the approximately 600,000 people in its basic coverage area.

“The format and programs heard on WLGI may not be the same six months or two years from now,” says Mr. Carter. “The station will evolve to meet the needs of its listeners.”

WLGI encourages those who may have talents in scripting, announcing and/or production to send a letter describing their qualifications and ideas.

The staff envisions a day when teams of youth will volunteer during vacations to visit residents in the area to gather first-hand information of reactions to WLGI.

Another link with the community is a radio broadcasting course presently being offered by the Louis Gregory Institute.

THE COURSE is open to everyone, and has attracted a number of Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís alike. Besides offering knowledge and practical skills, it can serve as a contact point for identifying talented individuals who might later wish to volunteer to work with WLGI.

Although everyone is excited, perhaps no one is happier about the progress of WLGI than the National Spiritual Assembly.

It is a scant 17 months since the Federal Communications Commission issued the initial construction permit. Yet in that short time, the American Bahá’í community has triumphantly raised more than $1 million for the station.

The National Assembly has watched closely as the germ of an idea cherished by the Guardian has moved ever closer to fruition.

The day is very close now when the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears will speak the very first words ever heard over station WLGI.

For hundreds of thousands of people in South Carolina, that is where the story will really begin.

This article was prepared for The American Bahá’í by the staff of WLGI Radio in South Carolina.

Above: Sections of the WLGI tower arrive by truck from Kentucky. Right: The station’s 500-foot tower rises high above the trees at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute near Hemingway, South Carolina.

Above: Workers unload more equipment for WLGI Radio. Below: Concrete is poured for the base of the station’s 500-foot tower the erection of which was completed by Naw-Rúz.

A bulldozer clears the swampy land to make way for WLGI, the first Bahá’í-owned and operated radio station in North America.

Aneth Unity Celebration to be held June 15-17

The Aneth Celebration of Unity and the Oneness of Mankind will be held June 15-17 at McElmo Creek on the Navajo Reservation in southeastern Utah.

Swim, play, learn, laugh and sing. Bring your friends!

There is no registration fee, but advance donations to help cover the cost of construction and food would be appreciated.

Send donations to the Spiritual Assembly of Aneth, c/o Robin C. Silas, UT 84510.

And for more information about the celebration itself, write to that address or phone Carole Hitti at 303-565-7910. [Page 10]

The homefront pioneer

Thank you! Thank you! The arrival at a post of each homefront pioneer is celebrated with great enthusiasm at the National Teaching Committee office.

MANY of these pioneers have sacrificed much to arrive at their destinations. Likewise, many Spiritual Assemblies have been instrumental in sending out these pioneers.

It is interesting to note that many of these pioneers and Assemblies who arose to answer the call for help were in turn helped by unexpected confirmations and bounties from the Concourse on High.

Elsewhere in this issue are listed some of the 250 homefront pioneers who have arrived at a post this year, and some of the Assemblies which have sent them out.

Many of them have opened new localities, helped to form Groups or to consolidate mass-taught areas, or saved jeopardized Assemblies.

Following is a sampling of the precious letters that are received with such joy in this office.

The National Teaching Committee deeply appreciates the heroic efforts of these pioneers and Assemblies in fulfilling the goals for this year.

Dear Friends,

Allah’u’Abhá. God is truly the most generous, the most merciful. In all of God’s mercy He has given our world a new spot to celebrate His Cause.

A new Group has been formed in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. This Group was formed by rather strange circumstances that I would like to share with you.

Myself and my family were forced from our home in Isanti, Minnesota, by a fire. The only house we could find to live in (that was available immediately) was in Brooklyn Park.

Thinking at the time that we were isolated, we soon found that two other families lived there who had never formed a Group.

We all got together for our first official Feast, the Feast of ‘Alá, and formed our Group.

We were all so happy to have found each other. We have five adults, four youth and five children. One of the youth will become a Bahá’í in June.

There’s a possibility that we could gain Assembly status by Ridván of this year. Please guide us in any way you can.

Warmest Bahá’í love,

Carol Carlson Corresponding secretary Bahá’í Group of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

The District Teaching Committee See HOMEFRONT Page 11

‘Teaching stories’: Presentation to church group kindles interest

Everyone has a teaching story. “Teaching Stories” will be a regular feature in The American Bahá’í. Please submit your stories about successful teaching to the National Teaching Committee.

One believer writes:

“I’ll never forget the time I was asked to present the Bahá’í Faith to an adult class at a local church.

“I prepared a talk on the history and teachings of the Faith, but just before I was to give the talk I changed my mind. History and teachings are wonderful, but I wanted to share the spirit of the Faith as well.

“When I arrived at the church there were about 30 people in class. All were eager to learn about the Bahá’í Faith.

“The talk I finally prepared was a brief introduction followed by quotations from the Writings and from some of the other sacred scriptures.

“I would read a passage and ask them where it was found. Most of them thought the passages I read were from the Bible, and they guessed the books, such as Leviticus or Corinthians.

“When I had finished I told them that none of the quotations I read were from the Bible, but most were from the Bahá’í Writings, and a few were from the Qur’án.

“I then explained how all religions are one in reality, proclaim the same essential truths, and differ only in their social teachings and goals.

“One of the members of the audience was so impressed with the bringing together of all religions that she insisted on knowing more. She came to my firesides and after several months became a Bahá’í.”

Send your teaching stories to the National Teaching Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Bahá’ís and their guests mingle following a public meeting February 18 in South Portland, Maine, which followed an all-day teaching event sponsored by the Maine District Teaching Committee to help save the city’s jeopardized Assembly.

More than 25 take part in teaching event to help save Assembly in S. Portland, Maine

On Saturday, February 18, more than 25 Bahá’ís from nine communities in Maine participated in an all-day teaching event designed to help save the jeopardized Spiritual Assembly of South Portland.

The event was sponsored by the District Teaching Committee of Maine.

Following a day of prayers, deepening, a discussion of teaching, and direct teaching in the area, 25 people including five non-Bahá’ís attended a public meeting at which Brad Pokorny, a Bahá’í from New Hampshire who is a writer for the Boston Globe, spoke on “Waging Peace: A Bahá’í Perspective.”

What can one person do to teach? Here’s one isolated believer’s answer

What can one person do to proclaim the Faith? Well, Robert Barnes, an isolated believer in Williamston, North Carolina, does this:

Mails four postcards each week to area radio stations and makes a personal visit on foot (a two-mile walk, as he has no car) to the local cable television outlet and local newspaper to deliver announcements inviting viewers and listeners to attend his firesides.

Mr. Barnes’ invitations cover a seven-county area each day.

Each one includes a topic, time for the meeting, its location, and some mention of the Faith as its sponsor.

The total cost for the weekly media blitz? The four postcards cost 52 cents, and the radio, TV and newspaper public service announcements are free.

Archives to be open

The National Bahá’í Archives will be open to researchers during the following Sundays: June 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Researchers are still required to obtain in advance of their visit permission and an appointment by writing to the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Teaching Statistics

With the confirmations of the Holy Spirit, gnats can change into eagles, drops of water into rivers and seas, and atoms into lights and suns. With the heavenly power, enrollments can become Spiritual Assemblies.

For the past several months, each day’s mail has brought lists of jeopardized Assemblies. Communities which have dropped to less than nine members have received special attention from traveling teachers, District Teaching Committees, Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, and surrounding communities. We at the National Teaching Committee list them, pray for them, share their distress, and rejoice as they are saved.

At this writing their number has dropped from an all-time high of 171 to about 120, with letters and phone calls arriving daily informing us of Spiritual Assemblies that have been rescued.

When you read this issue of The American Bahá’í, Ridván 141 B.E. will have passed. Only then will we know if the American Bahá’í community has met its goal of 1,750 Local Spiritual Assemblies.

Homefront pioneers, with great sacrifice and commitment, will save many jeopardized Assemblies and bring several Groups to Assembly status. To win the goal, however, we’ll not only need to save all jeopardized Assemblies but form 50 new ones. Who will form them? Who will you teach the Bahá’í Faith today?

FLASH: Project 1000 in Washington, D.C., reports more than 43 enrollments as a result of teaching efforts there. Watch for more information in the next issue of The American Bahá’í.

	Adult	Youth	Total
Alabama	1	0	1
Arizona	5	1	6
Arkansas	0	0	0
California	15	7	22
Colorado	3	0	3
Connecticut	0	0	0
Delaware	0	0	0
Florida	1	0	1
Georgia	5	0	5
Idaho	1	0	1
Illinois	2	1	3
Indiana	0	0	0
Iowa	1	0	1
Kansas	0	1	1
Kentucky	1	1	2
Louisiana	0	0	0
Maine	0	0	0
Maryland	3	1	4
Massachusetts	3	1	4
Michigan	2	0	2
Minnesota	2	0	2
Mississippi	2	0	2
Missouri	0	1	1
Montana	0	0	0
Nebraska	1	0	1
Nevada	1	0	1
New Hampshire	2	0	2
New Jersey	1	0	1
New Mexico	4	3	7
New York	2	0	2
North Carolina	1	1	2
North Dakota	1	0	1
Ohio	0	1	1
Oklahoma	4	0	4
Oregon	3	2	5
Pennsylvania	2	0	2
Rhode Island	0	0	0
South Carolina	8	3	11
South Dakota	0	0	0
Tennessee	0	0	0
Texas	5	1	6
Utah	0	0	0
Vermont	0	0	0
Virginia	0	0	0
Washington	7	2	9
West Virginia	2	0	2
Wisconsin	1	0	1
Wyoming	0	0	0
Washington, D.C.	0	0	0
Total	90	27	117

[Page 11]

Teaching Committee sets new goals for final phase of Plan

The National Teaching Committee has established the following goals for the remaining two years of the Seven Year Plan:

• Significantly increase teaching activity among individuals.
• Nurture new believers.
• Bring about a vast increase in the enrollment of youth.
• Intensify teaching activities among significant minorities.
• Expand teaching and consolidation activities among Native Americans.
• Integrate teaching into all service activities.
• Increase the number of functioning Local Spiritual Assemblies.
• Raise the level of teaching activities among all Spiritual Assemblies.
• Have selected Local Spiritual Assemblies prepare teaching plans for the remaining two years of the Seven Year Plan.
• Have District Teaching Committees prepare teaching plans for the remaining two years of the Seven Year Plan.
• Identify and support 19 major teaching projects during the next two years.
• Reinforce the teaching work by marshaling the support of national committees and staff.

Local Assemblies, Groups and individual believers will be informed of activities and ways of achieving these important goals. The American Bahá’í will keep everyone abreast of how the goals are being achieved.

For Chinese-speaking Bahá’ís:

At the request of several Bahá’í institutions and committees in Asia, the National Teaching Committee requests that all Chinese-speaking Bahá’ís fill out the following form for our information.

The information will be used to compile a list of Bahá’ís who can be used as resources for translation and as consultants regarding the preparation of appropriate teaching materials in Chinese.

Name ____________________	Bahá’í I.D. Number _________
Address _________________________________	Telephone _______________
Bahá’í community _____________________________________________
Languages spoken: Standard Chinese ____ Read ____ Write ____                                      Cantonese ____ Read ____ Write ____                                      Other (please list) ____________________

Please return completed form to the National Teaching Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

TEACHING THROUGH FRIENDSHIP TEAMS

One of the first Friendship Teams to be formed was made up of office workers at the Bahá’í National Center.

Two secretaries, two mailroom workers and an order fulfillment clerk from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust decided to form a team.

THREE members of the team were new to the area, having recently arrived from western Illinois, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Their first plan was to get to know one another, having fun, of course.

Midnight movies, spaghetti dinners, and trips to art ‎gallerys galleries‎ are some of the activities they took part in, as well as supporting firesides and introducing friends and seekers to the group.

Their second goal was to support and encourage each other in service to the Faith.

Members of the team have weekly firesides, guide regularly at the House of Worship, serve on teaching committees, extension teaching committees, and participate in direct teaching under the sponsorship of their Spiritual Assemblies.

Except for one member who has moved home to Indiana as an isolated believer, members of the team have been appointed to the Garden Teaching Committee at the House of Worship.

THIS summer, from 10 p.m. to midnight every Friday and Saturday, they’ll teach the Faith to visitors in the gardens.

Good friends and confirmed teachers, Joel, Becky, Tim, Leon and Candace feel that their Friendship Team activities were one of the highlights of this year.

How has your Friendship Team influenced your service to the Faith? Do you have a story to share with other Friendship Teams around the country?

Check in with your column in The American Bahá’í and let us hear from you.

Faith blooms in Winnemucca, Nevada—thanks to hard work

Winnemucca, Nevada, remotely situated in the northwestern part of the state, had existed as a Bahá’í locality for about 30 years.

During much of that time, its Bahá’í membership fluctuated between one and three.

BECAUSE of its remoteness from Bahá’í centers of activity, Winnemucca received little attention.

Occasionally, traveling teachers would visit. Over a period of years several public meetings were held with no visible results. Efforts were made, but no follow-up program was ever initiated.

In January 1983, when Winnemucca’s membership was three, the District Teaching Committee, eager to fulfill its mandate to help form Assemblies, began an aggressive teaching campaign in Winnemucca.

A two-member teaching team spent all of January 6 going door-to-door, warmly and lovingly inviting a response to the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

By the end of the day they had found two souls who were ready and eager to accept the Faith.

The team returned two weeks later and accepted declaration cards from five more people.

IN THE process of deepening these first seven believers, two more were found. By January 20, 1983, there were 11 believers in Winnemucca.

This success story didn’t happen overnight. The two Bahá’ís who taught in Winnemucca returned there week after week for a year, patiently becoming involved with the declarants.

They got the new believers involved in a 4H program sponsored by another Bahá’í, and exchanged recipes with the new Bahá’ís, most of whom are Hispanic. As a result, strong friendships have developed.

Soon, Winnemucca will form its first Assembly and will become a strong community because of the consistent, patient attention it has been given by a few believers who understand the spiritual goals of the Plan of God.

Homefront

Continued From Page 10

of Iowa writes:

February 12 was a monumental day for two people and for the Bettendorf Bahá’í Group.

Robin and David Quakenbush were enrolled in the Faith by the Spiritual Assembly of Davenport. They became the eighth and ninth members of the Bettendorf Group.

Tony Pecoraro, himself a homefront pioneer to Bettendorf, introduced the Faith to David a few months ago. They are co-workers at an Alcoa plant.

The Quakenbushes attended the Bettendorf Group’s January 14 dinner and talk, and then another fireside February 11 which was held especially to allow intimate fellowship between Group members and David and Robin and to answer their specific questions.

Their hearts and souls had been taken by Bahá’u’lláh and the questions were few. David said they were proud to be the eighth and ninth members of the community.

• * *

Dear Friends,

I am writing on behalf of the Tucson Bahá’í Assembly to inform you that a homefront pioneer is departing today to Moscow, Idaho.

His name is Amanu’lláh Farmandnia. He will be attending the university there in Moscow. He understands that he will be needed to save an Assembly.

Mr. Farmandnia’s relocation fills the goal our Assembly has made of sending out at least one homefront pioneer before Riḍván in response to the call for the Plan of Unified Action.

In His service, Gail Powers, secretary Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tucson, Arizona

• * *

Dear Friends,

Pursuant to your request in the February 1984 issue of The American Bahá’í, please note that homefront pioneers from Columbus have arrived in two communities in Ohio.

Mr. Hamid Farzan has moved to Alliance, and Ms. Darla Close has moved to Dublin, Ohio. Thus we believe you can say that Columbus’ goal has been “won.”

Catherine A Reinohl, secretary Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Columbus, Ohio

• * *

Dear Friends,

We are happy to report that a homefront pioneer has left our community and has settled in the Oyster Bay community here on Long Island.

As we understand it, the town of Oyster Bay has an Assembly but it is in jeopardy. Mr. Nadib moved to help save that Assembly.

We are also pleased to let you know that the settling of this homefront pioneer fulfills our community’s goal as assigned to us by you earlier in the year.

With warm Bahá’í greetings, Marie McNair, secretary Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Town of Brookhaven, New York

• * *

These dedicated homefront pioneers are only some of those who arrived at a post this year:

Edith Elmore, Christine and Steve Latkovich, Sheryl and Jeff Adler, Dr. Tahireh Ahdieh, Lynn Annis, Richard Baptiste, Debra and James Booman, Robert Caldwell, Deborah Chicurel.

Cheryl and Glenn Chumley, Darla Close, James Milstead, Linda and Brian Cote, Max Elser, David Kimble, Sheryl McDonnell, Rooha and Jalal Misaghi, Ruben Naderi, Anne and John Retzlaff.

Janet Sanders, Charldene Schneier, Anthony Vance family, Sally Brown, Ray Byers, Billie Rehms, Libba Cooperman, Nancy and David Smith, Mary and Gary Hetts, Irandokht and Parviz Anvar.

Kareshmeh Anvar, Paul Tamburro, Richard Chamberlin, Brooke and Robert Record, Deanna and Ian Kirkpatrick, Katherine and Dale Hurley.

These are some of the Spiritual Assemblies that have sent out homefront pioneers this year:

Benton County, OR; Asheville, NC; Southwest Harris County, TX; Wichita, KS; Walnut Creek, CA; Pinellas County, FL; Kansas City, KS; New Orleans, LA.

Minneapolis, MN; Columbia, MO; Omaha, NE; Buffalo, NY; Hempstead, NY; Norfolk, VA; Kirkland, WA; Madison, WI.

Dr. Nazerian’s visit revitalizes Maine teaching

The District Teaching Committee of Maine reports renewed activity in its area following a recent conference with Dr. Keyvan Nazerian, chairman of the National Teaching Committee.

A successful proclamation was held February 18 in South Portland with five teams handing out invitations door-to-door and five non-Bahá’ís joining 22 believers at a public meeting on “Waging Peace” in spite of sleet and freezing weather.

29 at public meeting

Twenty-nine people including six non-Bahá’ís attended a public meeting March 15 in Reisterstown, Maryland, sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Baltimore County West.

Merat Tabesh, a resident of Baltimore City who still has relatives who are in prison in Iran, spoke about the plight of Bahá’ís in that country. [Page 12]

RACE UNITY

‘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)

Tips to aid proper planning of a Race Amity Conference

Is your Assembly considering or in the process of planning a Race Amity Conference? If so, you’ll find the following tips, provided by the National Race Unity Committee, quite useful. And as you contemplate holding such an important event, let the committee know—they are eager to help. Write to them at: Race Unity Committee, c/o Washington Bahá’í Center, 5713 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011.

Tips for implementing a Race Amity Conference

I. Conference planning

A. Develop a clear statement of purpose.

B. Formulate planning goals for the conference (general and broad statements based upon perceived needs and relevant to the conference purpose).

C. Develop objectives to meet goals (specific steps taken to reach goals).

E. Project the scope of the conference. 1. Identify target population (i.e., local regional). 2. Project the number of attendees (racial strata, economic and social strata, Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í participants).

‎F# F.‎ Develop a program format and schedule.

G. Identify potential conference presenters. 1. Keynote speakers (general sessions). 2. Seminar/workshop facilitators.

Note: Conference presenters should be determined after the program and format have been decided. The program, not personalities, should set the tone and direction of the conference. The program and format will dictate who should be used to meet the need.

II. Conference site and accommodations

A. Identify a suitable facility. 1. Consider program format and schedule. 2. Consider projected number of attendees. 3. Consider access to the facility by the majority of participants. 4. Consider the length of the conference.

B. Accommodations. 1. Prepare to negotiate for sleeping rooms, meeting rooms, meals, breaks (refreshments), registration area, children/youth sessions, sale of books and materials, onsite information-contact headquarters. 2. Compare the costs of two or three facilities.

Note: It’s a good idea to have two representatives negotiating for facilities on behalf of the Assembly. Rapport with the facility contact is very important. It is also important to be firm but courteous. Ordinarily, organizations can get cost breaks on meeting rooms based on the number of sleeping rooms. The cost of meals also tends to be negotiable.

III. Conference budget

A. Estimate program costs. 1. Administrative/clerical; i.e., correspondence, duplicating, telephone, registration materials. 2. Mass media costs; i.e., newspaper ads, posters, invitations, TV and radio spots. 3. Travel expenses; i.e., room, board, travel of speakers and special guests if from out of town. 4. Miscellaneous expenses (conference site).

B. Estimated income. 1. Determine pre-registration and on-site registration fee (specify what the fee covers; i.e., registration materials, meals, refreshment breaks, reception, etc.).

IV. Conference evaluation

A. Maintain records. 1. Keep written documentation of all agreements and commitments. 2. Maintain a file of all budget transactions. 3. Prepare to evaluate conference programs.

V. Miscellaneous

A. Who to involve? 1. Non-Bahá’í organizations; i.e., ministerial association, NAACP, Urban League, PUSH, Excel, SCLC, Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, churches, city officials, community leaders, schools and colleges, fine arts groups, professional organizations (service oriented), fraternities/sororities.

B. Read To Move the World. 1. Specific sections relating to race amity era.

C. Encourage universal participation within the Bahá’í community. 1. Everyone should have an opportunity to be involved in the conference effort.

Champaign, Illinois, slates 4th Race Unity Conference

The Bahá’ís of Champaign County, Illinois, are sponsoring their fourth annual Race Unity Conference June 9.

The theme of this year’s event, which will be held from 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library and Information Center, is “The Dream of the Sixties Becomes a Mandate for the Eighties.”

Besides assessing the progress made in civil rights over the past 20 years, the conference will address the ideas of self-esteem and the acquisition of spiritual perfections as a foundation for racial unity.

For information, please phone 217-352-6922.

During February’s Black History Month observance in Miami, Florida, George Savitt, a Bahá’í who is a long-time columnist for The Miami Times, presented a part of his personal Black History Studies to Mrs. Rose Byrd, librarian of the Model Cities Library. In other Black History Month activities, the Dade County Bahá’í Media Committee presented copies of the book To Move the World to three predominantly black high schools and to the Model Cities Library.

Book review

‘Unlikely Heroes’ helped overturn segregation

Unlikely Heroes, by Jack Bass. Simon and Schuster, 1981.

Unlikely Heroes is the story of four average white men, between the ages of 58 and 65, from disparate backgrounds, who shared a common reaction to blatant injustice.

THESE heroes—Elbert Tuttle, John Brown, Richard Rives and John Wisdom—were federal judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

What they did, says the author, was “translate the Supreme Court’s basic school desegregation decision into a broad mandate for racial justice and equality under the law.”

It was one year after the 1954 landmark school desegregation decision (Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas) that the U.S. Supreme Court issued Brown II, the implementation order that placed the enforcement of federal school desegregation decisions in the hands of federal judges in the South.

On hearing of his appointment to the Fifth Circuit court, Mr. Tuttle said he was going home to retire, as he felt sure the South would “fall in line” with the Supreme Court’s desegregation ruling. He was wrong.

According to Claude Sutton, a southern correspondent during the 1960s for The New York Times, “Those who think Martin Luther King desegregated the South don’t know Elbert Tuttle and the record of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

TO SAY that this is a story of an uphill struggle for justice is an understatement.

Only three months after Brown II was issued, Senator James Eastland of Mississippi spoke before a cheering audience, saying, “On May 17, 1954, the Constitution of the United States was destroyed because the Supreme Court disregarded the law and decided that integration was right. You are not required to obey any court which passes out such a ruling. In fact, you are obligated to defy it.”

The Fifth Circuit encompasses the six states of the old Confederacy—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Since the Supreme Court had given little direction as to how the law was to be implemented in the South, Judges Tuttle, Brown, Wisdom and Rives soon came to realize that it was they who would shape and implement the law to the extent that they usurped the authority of the lower courts.

On the surface, the four men seemed an unlikely choice to implement such sweeping changes in laws and traditions that were centuries old.

FOR example, Judge Wisdom, despite his liberal views on race, retained his membership in exclusive clubs that discriminated against blacks and Jews.

The story of these men is told against a backdrop of civil rights history. The author interviewed more than 100 people from historians and teachers such as Julius Lester to Griffin Bell, who was U.S. Attorney General under President Carter.

It is a fascinating tale of how these ordinary men struggled to rise above the heritage and tradition to which they had been born to do what was right, not only for the South but for the country as a whole.

One quote from the book has implications for us all:

“To think great thoughts you must be heroes as well as idealists.”—Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

Bahá’ís take part in mock UN session

Three members of the Bahá’í community of Albuquerque, New Mexico, participated recently in a mock United Nations Security Council session sponsored by the Albuquerque chapter of the United Nations Association.

Taking part in the public session, in which participants engaged in role-playing to solve a simulated crisis situation, were Bahá’ís Ken Morphet Brown, Carol Campbell and John Sutton.

Two Bahá’ís, Belle Lennox Shinn and David Schlessinger, presently serve on the board of directors of the UNA’s Albuquerque chapter. [Page 13]

Naw-Rúz sees opening of new Los Angeles Bahá’í Center

The new year was ushered in with special joy and gladness in Los Angeles as some 1,000 Bahá’ís and their guests gathered for a Naw-Rúz celebration that marked the official opening of that city’s new Bahá’í Center.

The complete text of the Naw-Rúz Proclamation issued March 21 by Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles, California: WHEREAS, March 21st signals the first day of spring; and WHEREAS, the Bahá’í New Year—Naw-Rúz—is celebrated on March 21st; and WHEREAS, the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh proclaims the emergence of a new age, the dawning of the Kingdom of God on earth; and WHEREAS, the adherents of the Bahá’í Faith are being subjected to severe persecution in the land of its birth; and WHEREAS, the Bahá’í principles of justice, world peace, and the organic oneness of all humanity are the inevitable harbingers of a new spiritual springtime in the world: NOW, THEREFORE, I, Tom Bradley, Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, do hereby proclaim March 21, 1984 as “Naw-Rúz”—the Bahá’í New Year, and fervently pray that the clouds of oppression and tyranny will quickly pass and that the light of knowledge and love will envelop the planet and quicken the hearts of mankind, resulting in the union of all into the promised brotherhood of man, foretold in the scriptures of all the world’s great religions.

THE BUILDING that houses the Center has been transformed since its purchase by the Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles in 1980 from a bowling alley to a place of light, spirit and enchantment, thanks to the vision and artistry of architect Rouhollah Nikkesal and the generous support and prayers of the friends in the Los Angeles area and in many other states and even other countries.

Since last August, Shidan Taslimi of Santa Monica has donated his time to supervise the day-to-day operation of the construction work.

Regretfully, there are no funds at this time to complete the auditorium that will seat up to 1,000 people. When this is done, there will be no limit to the creative possibilities for the Center’s use.

Meanwhile, the administrative offices are busy day and night while the spacious library and bookstore invites Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís to explore, wander around, purchase books, and relax in plush leather chairs that are among the many pieces of furniture, equipment and art objects that have been donated to the Center.

Committees meet almost every night in the many rooms that are designed for their use and as classrooms for the Bahá’í school.

THE LARGE foyer adjoins an equally large multi-purpose room, both of which accommodate large numbers of people and serve as reception areas and temporary meeting halls until the auditorium is available.

A large table, more than 20 feet long, stands in front of the kitchen area and accommodates all manner of refreshments for those assembled.

Most would agree that a favorite spot is the lovely white-tiled indoor courtyard with planted areas including one called “‎Fugita’s Fujita’s‎ garden,” a brilliant skylight, and an exquisite deep-blue tiled, star-shaped fountain in the center.

Ron Taybe, a Bahá’í who is an artist, is designing a unique, mobile chandelier to be suspended directly above the fountain.

The Naw-Rúz celebration was capped by a proclamation from Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles declaring March 21 Naw-Rúz in that city.

Bahá’ís (left to right) Marion Keith, a pioneer to Australia; Auxiliary Board member Jalil Mahmoudi; and Lisa Janti, public affairs officer for the Spiritual Assembly of Los Angeles, are shown at the new Los Angeles Bahá’í Center with Mayor Tom Bradley’s ‘Naw-Rúz proclamation.’

The Bahá’í Club at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro recently planted nine roses in a triangular plot on the campus in memory of the martyrs in Iran. Shown during the planting are (left to right) Joe Burks, Nanci Weaver, Scott Phelps and Shirley Wade. The active Bahá’í Club also sponsors an intramural volleyball team, the ‘World Natives.’

Louhelen to offer intensive course in introductory Spanish

The Louhelen Bahá’í School will offer an intensive course in introductory Spanish July 7-14.

The course is designed to teach participants who have little or no background in Spanish the basics of the language so that they will be able to develop a fluency more quickly and easily as they live and teach in Spanish-speaking areas.

The instructor is Dr. Anthony Cubero, a professor of Spanish at St. Paul School in Clearwater, Florida.

Dr. Cubero has taught Spanish and Spanish literature for some 20 years in Cuba, Spain and the U.S. He served as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Cuba from its inception in 1961 until 1971, when he and his family pioneered to Spain.

The course will provide participants with a modified immersion experience and will include seven to 10 hours of instruction per day.

The cost of the course is $150 (dorm-style housing, 3-4 per room). Owing to the specialized nature of the course, the deadline for registration is July 1.

‘Peace in Home, World’ theme of N.Y. conference

“Peace in the Home, Peace in the World” is the theme of a conference to be held June 28-July 1 at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, New York.

The conference is sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Olean.

Among the scheduled speakers are three Auxiliary Board members: Robert Harris, Dr. Sam McClellan, and Nat Rutstein.

Other speakers are to include Dr. Victor de Araujo, the U.S. Bahá’í representative to the United Nations, and his wife, Betty; Mabel Garis, author of Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold; Mimi McClellan, June Remignanti, Carol Rutstein, Dr. Ann Schoonmaker, and Leonard Smith.

For more information, please write to Dr. Dorothy Hai, 3649 West State St., Olean, NY 14778, or phone 716-372-7021.

New from Bellwood Press

a tale of mystery, fantasy, and reality for children 8 to 80

FLY AWAY HOME

written by STEVEN BRET BRENEMAN illustrated by CAROL JOY

three worlds—of the unruly hawks and crows, of the gentle Eva and Reed, and of the seeking sparrows and ladybug—merge into one pervaded by the mysterious presence of a nightingale who shows how one can fly away home into a fantasy that is reality

74 pages 5½ x 8¼ inches Softcover Cat. No. 353-021 $4.50*

Order through your local librarian, or send check or money order (including 10% for postage and handling, minimum $1.50) to

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

• Price valid only in the United States

[Page 14]Southwest Bahá’í Institute on the Navajo Reservation; the initiatives taken to teach among various other minorities, including the Asian and Hispanic peoples, enriched the diversity of your membership; the cross-border teaching projects undertaken in collaboration with Alaska, Canada and Mexico were productive, a liberal flow of pioneers and traveling teachers to other lands was assiduously maintained, and the resourcefulness and steadfastness of the Bahá’ís in the Falkland Islands shone forth during a time of acute difficulties for those islands. Certainly you have been confirmed by Bahá’u’lláh in these manifold activities, and you will, no doubt, persevere in them.

The re-establishment of the Louhelen School and the effective programs being conducted under its auspices bode well for the future.

The acquisition of the license to operate a radio station at the Louis Gregory Institute, the first such Bahá’í mass medium in North America, is a major achievement, an important step not only in consolidating the teaching work in South Carolina but also in heightening the prestige of the Faith and spreading its beneficent influence.

YOUR well-designed program for the Bahá’í education of children, supported by a staff of more than 2,000 volunteers throughout the country, is truly outstanding and must be sustained.

The varied programs emphasizing study of the Creative Word have been noted with appreciation, as have the efforts of your Publishing Trust to provide inexpensive but dignified paper-back editions of the sacred literature of the Faith.

We especially commend the youth for the high level of their dedicated services to the Cause. They have exceeded by far the goal of holding five regional conferences annually and taken an active part in proclamation and teaching activities both on the homefront and abroad.

Exultant as we are over the remarkable feats you have attained, both those already cited and those too numerous to mention, we cannot help noting the sad lag in the rate of your enrollments, a lag which is conspicuously at variance with the high energy of your endeavors and the teaching opportunities abounding in your richly blessed land.

WE CALL this to your attention not to cause distress but rather to stir a deeper consciousness of your immediate possibilities, to arouse you to new heights of action.

You are a community of victors, you occupy the front ranks of Bahá’u’lláh’s invincible Army of Light; indeed, you must remain in the vanguard of its thrust.

The soul-shaking events transpiring at this very moment in the motherland of our Faith make even more urgent than ever the necessity of multiplying the size of your community on which rest inescapable God-given responsibilities toward the world community, no less than toward itself.

All your accomplishments proclaim your ability to excel in the fundamental goal of expanding your membership. The progress of the Cause in your country undoubtedly depends upon such expansion.

It is, of course, the individual believer who bears primary responsibility for securing this goal; therefore, it is primarily to the individual believer, "on whom," as the beloved Guardian averred, "in the last resort, depends the fate of the entire community," that our concern in this instance is addressed. For it is the individual who possesses the will to act as a teacher or not. No Spiritual Assembly, no teaching committee, no group of well-intentioned Bahá’ís, however much it exerts itself, may usurp the position occupied by the individual in this fundamental activity.

RECOGNIZING that the Spiritual Assemblies and their designated committees have devoted much to proclaiming the Faith through the mass media and sundry other means, that the enormous resources poured into such proclamation represent an investment in the teaching work which paves the way for the action of the individual teacher, and that publicity, however much it may arouse public interest in the Cause, is incapable of replacing personal teaching efforts, let the individual Bahá’í renew his resolve to "arise and respond to the call of teaching." Let him, acting on Shoghi Effendi’s advice, "survey the possibilities which the particular circumstances in which he lives offer him, evaluate their advantages, and proceed intelligently and systematically to utilize them for the achievement of the object he has in mind."

Let him also strive to obtain adequate knowledge of the Teachings and reflect the virtues of that knowledge in his daily life. Finally, let him waste no time, forfeit no further opportunity.

Armed with the strength of action and the cooperation of the individual believers composing it, the community as a whole should endeavor to establish greater stability in the patterns of its development, locally and nationally, through sound, systematic planning and execution of its work—and this in striking contrast to the short-lived enthusiasms and frenetic superficialities so characteristic of present-day American life.

A Bahá’í community which is consistent in its fundamental life-giving, life-sustaining activities will at its heart be serene and confident; it will resonate with spiritual dynamism, will exert irresistible influence, will set a new course in social evolution, enabling it to win the respect and eventually the allegiance of admirers and critics alike.

THESE profound possibilities reside in the will of the individual to take initiative, to act in accordance with the guidance offered by Bahá’í institutions, and to maintain such action regardless of the myriad distractions posed by the disintegration of a society adrift in a sea of materialism.

May you with renewed determination and a rededication to spiritual values, seize your chance, while there is yet time, to convey the Message of Bahá’u’lláh thoughtfully, patiently and attractively to your fellow-citizens, whether they be dwellers in the cities or rural areas, whether they be high or low, lettered or unlettered, rich or poor.

It now remains for your valiant community during the two years of this last phase of the Seven Year Plan to complete all that remain from the goals entrusted to you in the previous phases. In so doing, you should also give particular attention to the following requisites:

• Pursue your ongoing efforts to prosecute a vigorous teaching campaign, to proclaim the Faith through the mass media, and to foster cordial relations with people in authority and leaders of thought in various fields throughout the country.
• Give special attention to expanding the teaching work among the Native Americans with the intention of preparing the way for the eventual launching on one or two Reservations of pilot projects of social and economic development which, in addition to assisting those involved, may serve as models for other areas.
• Intensify teaching activities among significant minorities, and provide effective means for the integration of all believers into the life of the Bahá’í communities.
• Carry forward the efforts already initiated to extend the use of traveling teachers on the homefront.
• Continue to carry out cross-border teaching campaigns and other mutually beneficial projects in collaboration with the National Spiritual Assemblies of Canada and Mexico.
• Provide the Bahá’í world with a new contingent of pioneers as called for in this phase of the Plan.
• Adopt, initiate and sustain a well-defined phased plan to renovate the Mother Temple of the West.

You may rest assured of our continuing prayers at the Holy Shrines that you may be the recipients of a more liberal effusion of the confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh than you have yet experienced.

With loving Bahá’í greetings, The Universal House of Justice Ridván 1984 (B.E. 141)

Pastor in Washington state invites Bahá’í to speak at church service

Students in the greater Richmond, Virginia, area Bahá’í children’s classes made bookmarks to sell at the Feast of Masá’il to raise money for WLGI Radio. Twenty-four bookmarks were sold at Feasts in Richmond, Chesterfield County, Henrico County, and Petersburg. When the money was counted, the children were delighted to learn that they had raised $123.50 for North America’s first Bahá’í-owned and operated radio station. Shown (left to right) with bookmarks are Lara Royal, Niloufar Tamaddon, Jonathan Cessna, and Emma Babcock.

The Rev. Delbert H. Gault of the Tonasket, Washington, Community Church is shown in his study where he works almost constantly on his vast array of materials concerning Christian and Jewish history.

David N. Gregory, a member of the Bahá’í community of Omak, Washington, spoke about the Faith and progressive revelation February 19 during a "dialogue sermon" church service that was arranged by the Rev. Delbert H. Gault, pastor of the Tonasket Community Church (Church of Christ).

As an introduction to the service, the Rev. Gault prepared a four-page handout featuring the oneness of man, progressive revelation, and quotations from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh that appear on the inside and outside of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette.

The handout was given to the approximately 50 non-Bahá’ís who attended the service.

The pastor’s interest in the teachings of the Faith has led him to purchase several Bahá’í books, and the Tonasket Bahá’í community has provided him with a cassette tape program that was prepared as a part of the "Light of Bahá’u’lláh" deepening series.

Several Bahá’ís have been attending the Rev. Gault’s weekly Bible study classes. [Page 15]PUBLICATIONS May 1984 15

Bahá’í Writings

The Advent of Divine Justice revisited

The publication of a new edition of The Advent of Divine Justice 45 years after its initial appearance in 1939 reminds one of the differences between rates of growth in the physical and spiritual worlds.

IN 45 PHYSICAL YEARS one can be born, experience childhood and youth, gain an education, choose a career, settle on a mate, rear children, and, if lucky, welcome sons- and daughters-in-law into the family and see grandchildren born.

In the spiritual realm, 45 years has a different rhythm, for the book of one’s spiritual childhood can still be the companion of one’s maturity. And if it is a book like The Advent of Divine Justice it will still be yielding treasures as fresh as the first nugget you dug out—even 45 years later.

The Advent of Divine Justice, Gayle Morrison writes in her book To Move the World, “struck the American Bahá’ís with the force of a tidal wave” in 1939, imbued that Year’s National Convention with the “radiant and soaring spirit which so firmly united the delegates and visiting friends,” and inspired the National Spiritual Assembly to reinstitute “a special committee to promote the oneness of mankind.”

In 1984 The Advent of Divine Justice, which you may think you digested when you studied it one, five, 10 or 20 years ago, can bring you your own tidal wave of rediscovery.

A new thematic table of contents will help you to see Shoghi Effendi’s magnificent letter as a unified whole. You may be amazed to find that the entire book is not about chastity or even about the elimination of racial prejudice. And you may be amazed at how those two topics fit into the whole—the destiny of America and the methods, spiritual and practical, through which that destiny can be assured with your help.

The thematic table of contents breaks the book down into manageable sections for study: an overview of the North American Bahá’í community (pp. 1-16); the call for the acquisition of virtues needed to equip the North American Bahá’ís to fulfill their destiny (pp. 16-43); the call for the fulfillment of the material aspects of America’s task upon which depend future successes (pp. 43-77); assurances of North America’s success in carrying forward the mandate in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets of the Divine Plan (pp. 72-85).

But the real surprise is neither the thematic table of contents nor the new index. The surprise comes in reminding oneself that The Advent of Divine Justice is your 1984 manual for teaching and pioneering.

Available in hardcover • Cat. No. 108-045 • $12; softcover • Cat. No. 108-046 • $6.50.

House of Justice has words of praise for Trust’s Creative Word series, paperbacks

The Universal House of Justice, in its Naw-Rúz 1984 message to the Bahá’ís of the United States, praised the “varied programs emphasizing study of the Creative Word” and “the efforts” of the “Publishing Trust to provide inexpensive but dignified paperback editions of the sacred literature of the Faith.”

Since January 1983 the Publishing Trust has published 16 Creative Word articles as a regular feature of the Publications page.

The articles have covered nearly all the works of Bahá’u’lláh. Now called “The Bahá’í Writings,” the articles have been expanded to include works by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.

Each article in the Creative Word or Bahá’í Writings series is intended to give seasoned Bahá’ís a new look at an old friend and newer Bahá’ís ideas for incorporating the book into their personal deepening programs.

The pocket-sized editions of the sacred texts were first introduced at the 1983 Bahá’í National Convention with a new edition of Gleanings (Cat. No. 103-031, $3.50).

A pocket-sized Kitáb-i-Íqán (Cat. No. 103-032, $3.50) was released in the fall. The most recent release is the pocket-sized edition of Some Answered Questions (Cat. No. 106-043, $3.50).

Both the Creative Word articles and the pocket-sized editions are part of the Publishing Trust’s response to the goal of the Seven Year Plan for the U.S. that calls for “a nationwide campaign, with emphasis on the use of the Creative Word, designed to inspire every believer to live the Bahá’í life, thus demonstrating to their fellow-countrymen the beneficent effects of the Bahá’í way of life achieved through adherence to the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.”

National Convention marks release of Bruce Whitmore’s Dawning Place

The 1984 National Convention marked the official release by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of The Dawning Place: The Building of a Temple, the Forging of the North American Bahá’í Community, Bruce W. Whitmore’s long-awaited history of the House of Worship in Wilmette.

In two autograph sessions at the Convention, Mr. Whitmore was greeted by scores of enthusiastic admirers of his work.

The Dawning Place, which contains 83 photographs and illustrations, unfolds for us the hard-won successes and the heart-wrenching setbacks that accompanied the mammoth project.

The 1931 fire that engulfed the dome, the suspicions of neighbors that almost prevented a construction permit, the coffers that ran empty month after month—none of these obstacles weakened the Bahá’ís’ resolve to raise their “Temple of Light.”

The story begins in 1903, the year in which an early group of Chicago Bahá’ís decided to follow the example of their co-religionists in Ashkabad, Russia, and build a Temple of their own.

Mustering the support of Bahá’ís across the country, and spurred on by numerous letters from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Chicago Bahá’ís took the lead in organizing the project until a national representative body could be elected in 1909.

It was this national body, the Bahai Temple Unity, that directed the fund raising and sponsored the forum for choosing an architectural design.

Delegates to the Bahai Temple Unity meetings became the forerunners of today’s National Convention delegates, and the Executive Board of the Unity was the predecessor of all National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world.

Therefore, the significance of the House of Worship project, Mr. Whitmore writes, goes beyond the erection of a building. By drawing the attention of the early Bahá’í communities away from their purely local concerns, the House of Worship made the Bahá’ís think of themselves as a national community committed to a nationwide goal.

Bahá’ís in San Francisco and New York, Denver and Washington, D.C., all learned to work together and, in the process, to prepare themselves for a role of leadership in the worldwide Bahá’í community.

The Dawning Place is 7 3/8 x 9 1/8 inches and makes an attractive coffee-table conversation piece. It contains 331 pages, including foreword, appendices, notes and index. Music lovers will appreciate the reproduction of Louise Waite’s “Temple Song.”

Bruce Whitmore, administrator of the Bahá’í House of Worship since 1978, has scoured archives and personal collections for nearly a decade to piece together the most comprehensive history of the American Bahá’í community yet to appear in print.

It is a heritage we all need to be aware of, and to share with others who are sympathetic to the ideals that spawned our exquisite House of Worship.

The Dawning Place is available in a hardcover edition (Cat. No. 332-119, $20) and in softcover (Cat. No. 332-120, $12).

Publishing Trust ends good year with variety of books, cassettes to please all ages, reading tastes

A variety of new books and cassettes for adults, youth and children is bringing to a close a successful year for the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, according to Larry Bucknell, general manager of the Publishing Trust.

The Dawning Place, Bruce W. Whitmore’s long-anticipated story of the building of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, heads the list of new titles. Featuring 83 photographs and illustrations, the book (hardcover, Cat. No. 332-119, $20; softcover, Cat. No. 332-120, $12) recounts both the 50-year struggle to erect the Mother Temple of North America and the building of the North American Bahá’í community.

Fly Away Home, a haunting story of danger, daring and triumph written by Steven Bret Breneman and illustrated by Carol Joy, will appeal to the young at heart from 8 to 80.

Available in a softcover edition only (Cat. No. 353-021, $4.50), Fly Away Home uses two courageous sparrows and a lady bug to explore the dynamics of escaping the dark side of one’s being to fly away to much more than the home of the nursery-school rhyme.

Children and adults will also be drawn to Loving Hands, a cassette containing 60 minutes of songs by the “Heart Sisters” (Jean Marks and Susan Engle), known for their Come and Sing album.

Loving Hands (Cat. No. 832-028, $8) features songs about Bahá’í life on one side and devotional music on the other.

O God, My God . . ., a compilation of 36 prayers and Tablets for children and youth, printed in

See TRUST Page 28

ORDER FORM

Qty	Title	Price	Qty	Title	Price
_	‘Abdu’l-Bahá litho, 11x14	$12.00	_	Foundation of Learning, CS	$7.00
_	‘Abdu’l-Bahá litho, 5x7	5.00	_	Gleanings, PS	3.50
_	Advent Divine Justice, HC	12.00	_	God’s Great Plan, SC	2.00
_	Advent Divine Justice, SC	6.50	_	Kitáb-i-Íqán, PS	3.50
_	Bahá’í Proofs, HC	15.00	_	Loving Hands, CS	8.00
_	Because We Love Faith, CS	7.00	_	O God, My God . . . , HC	5.00
_	Dawning Place, HC	20.00	_	Secret Div. Civilization, HC	10.00
_	Dawning Place, SC	12.00	_	Some Ans. Questions, PS	3.50
_	Fly Away Home, SC	4.50

Enclosed is my check or money order for $ __________ (minimum $10.00)—plus 10% for postage and handling (minimum $1.00).

Charge to: ($10.00 minimum order)

VISA __________ MC __________ Card expires __________

Send to:

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.)

TAB 5/84 Prices good through July 15, 1984

Bahá’í Publishing Trust

415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091 [Page 16]

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.

SECURITY guards are urgently needed to protect our Holy Places at the Bahá’í World Centre. These positions require shift work, physical fitness, and the ability to learn some Hebrew. Single men only should apply. A commitment of about two years is desirable. For applications or further information, please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

AUDIO/VIDEO program producer to assist the director of media services at the Bahá’í National Center. Requires an individual with experience in any of the following areas: multi-track audio production, video production and post-production, or multi-image program production. Must have both creative and technical skills and the ability to work variable hours with minimum supervision. Please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

A CARETAKER is needed for a Bahá’í institute in Papua New Guinea. Must be self-supporting and skilled in maintenance and repairs. This person also will help with classes and running programs at the institute. For more information write to the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 or phone 312-869-9039.

COME to Auburn, Alabama, home of Auburn University, and become a homefront pioneer in the Deep South. Auburn, a land grant university, is known for its excellent programs in veterinary medicine, agriculture and engineering. The town itself is the industrial center of east Alabama but has a small-town atmosphere with easy access to large metropolitan areas, an excellent school system and good health and recreational facilities. Ideal for families and students. Won’t you join us and help establish an Assembly in Auburn? Contact Janet Sanders, Auburn, AL 36830, or phone 205-826-7355.

SPIRITUALLY rugged homefront pioneers wanted to help the Albuquerque Extension Teaching Committee meet its goal of establishing an Assembly in southern Sandoval County (now a Group of six) just north of Albuquerque. The ideal candidates should like a dry-moderate climate, enjoy sunshine, have an interest in the culture of the Southwest, and have mercurial enthusiasm tempered by herculean stamina. The job market in Sandoval County is promising for any professional or skilled laborer. There are a variety of schools, universities and technical training programs in Albuquerque. Southern Sandoval County, which includes the picturesque village of Placitas and the Sandia Indian Pueblo, offers country living and the nearby conveniences of city life. The Extension Teaching Committee will help look for housing for anyone who is willing to relocate to this goal area. For more information, please write to the Extension Teaching Committee, Albuquerque, NM 87102, or phone 505-243-6439.

DO YOU work in an employment agency or related field? Consider helping in a referral network with other Bahá’ís in the U.S. Please write to the National Teaching Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

WEST St. Paul, Minnesota, a city of more than 18,500 that houses printing, manufacturing and die cut industries, needs one more Bahá’í to form an Assembly. Many hospitals, hotels, a zoo, art center, museums, colleges and other attractions are associated with a metro area of about two million. For more information, contact the National Teaching Committee.

RADIO Bahá’í needs broadcast engineers to maintain equipment and help keep radio stations on the air in Peru and Bolivia. Broadcast engineers are also needed for projects to erect new stations in Chile and Panama, and administrative personnel are needed for the stations in all of these countries. Owing to the crisis in the International Fund, monies are not presently available for salaries, so individuals must be self-supporting. If you are able to help keep the Message of Bahá’u’lláh on the air in Latin America, please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

THE GREEN Acre work/study program presents an opportunity to spend two weeks at the school at a minimal cost, to attend classes and be of service. Please contact the Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903.

AN ASSEMBLY in Baytown, Texas, needs homefront pioneer(s) to help preserve and strengthen the community. Baytown (pop. 70,000) is 30 minutes from Houston. It has good public schools, an outstanding two-year college, and many four-year colleges in the immediate area. If interested, please contact the Spiritual Assembly of Baytown, P.O. Box 501, Baytown, TX 77522, or phone 713-427-4305.

HAZEL Wing, at 90, is perhaps Washington State’s oldest living Bahá’í. She declared her belief in Bahá’u’lláh 57 years ago, and is now confined to a nursing home. This lovely, devout servant of Bahá’u’lláh would benefit greatly from cards or letters from her fellow Bahá’ís. She is alert, and is a real treasure chest of Bahá’í history, having helped establish several Assemblies in the state including Richmond in 1948. She receives few visits, and her only living relative is in New Mexico. Stop and see her if you are in the area, or write if you can. It would make her remaining days so very happy! The address is Hazel Wing, c/o Sunrise View Convalescent Home, Everett, WA 98203.

LEHIGH University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is looking for minority faculty members in its business school and has possible openings in other departments. Help save this Assembly, which was formed last Ridván. Bethlehem, a lovely, historic town surrounded by hills and farmland in the Lehigh Valley, where five universities and several large industries make their home, is only two hours from Philadelphia or New York City. Please contact the National Teaching Committee for more information.

FILMS for sale: Ten sets of four 40-minute 16mm sound films in color featuring the Hand of the Cause of God A.Q. Faizi speaking on (1) prayers and meditations, (2) Some Answered Questions, (3) children’s education, and (4) stories and excerpts. Price: $300 each or $1,000 for a set of four. Contact the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94103, or phone 415-431-9990.

COMPUTER programmers please note: Job opening in Pierre, South Dakota. Live in a lovely nearby goal area along the river. For more information, please phone the National Teaching Committee, 312-869-9039, ext. 235.

MISSISSIPPI needs you! We need deepened, active Bahá’ís who are willing to work hard. The job situation is not good, but retired couples, college students, and those who are interested in starting their own business are much needed: in Greenwood, Yazoo, Hattiesburg (home of the University of Southern Mississippi), Oktibbeha County (home of Mississippi State University), and Philadelphia (near a Choctaw Indian Reservation). For more information, phone 601-856-4658.

WOULD YOU like to receive an excellent liberal arts education while meeting Bahá’í goals? Dominican College in San Rafael, California, is a lovely century-old school founded by the Dominican sisters whose 600 students have been exposed to the Faith through a number of firesides. But no one will be enrolled—unless you help! Several communities (all within a 15-minute drive) are struggling to attain Assembly status. If interested, write for a catalog to Dominican College, San Rafael, CA 94401, or phone Michael Fanning, 415-453-0526.

FOR SALE—a reinforced concrete block house in Burrell Boom, Belize, Central America—20 miles from Belize City. It includes a carport, guest room and bath on the ground floor, louvered windows on all sides, and two full-length glass doors that lead to a large screened-in porch. Situated on a 1/23-acre lot with citrus, mango, cashew nut and other tropical trees and flowering shrubs. The house is designed to take advantage of prevailing tropical winds. Its estimated market value is $17,000. For more information contact Stephen Jackson, assistant to the Treasurer, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

JOB OPENING for experienced film stripper is available in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, which is near a jeopardized Assembly. For more information, contact the National Teaching Committee, 312-869-9039.

SUMMER jobs at the Green Acre Bahá’í School include: cooks, innkeeper, librarian, book sales, housekeepers, kitchen help, and directors/teachers for adult, youth and children’s programs. Please contact the Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903.

THE NATIONAL Bahá’í Archives is seeking copies of the following books by Bahá’u’lláh in either good or excellent condition: Gleanings (cloth, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1948, 1952), The Hidden Words (cloth, 1940, 1943), The Hidden Words (paper, 1921, 1933, 1939, 1940, 1943, 1948, 1952), and the Kitáb-i-Íqán (cloth, 1950). Please contact the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

A COUPLE is needed to work in public relations at the Panama House of Worship. The couple must be self-supporting, mature, deepened, and not have any small children. They must also speak Spanish and English fluently. The National Spiritual Assembly of Panama will provide housing. Further information can be obtained from the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 312-869-9039).

NORTH Dakota needs you! Bismarck, Fort Yates, the Sioux Reservation, Fort Berthold Reservation, Devils Lake Sioux Reservation all need homefront pioneers. YOUTH are especially needed and are encouraged to inquire about the tuition-low schools compared to other states. Residency can be granted after only six months. For details, contact the National Teaching Committee.

H.F.P. please call home! Have you recently arrived at a homefront pioneer post? Remember, you can’t be counted if we don’t have notice of your arrival. Send your new address, Bahá’í I.D. number, phone number, and the name of your previous Bahá’í community to the National Teaching Committee, or phone 312-869-9039. Thank you.

THE WORLD Centre has an immediate and urgent need to fill a number of trade positions such as cabinet maker, roofer, plumber and painter. Solid training and several years experience preferred. Come and help with expansion and maintenance of the administrative center of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. For applications or further information, please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

THE BAHÁ’Í Publishing Trust is seeking a multi-talented person to serve as promotions coordinator in the editorial department. The position requires experience in writing promotional copy, strong editing skills, and basic clerical experience. Applicants must be widely read in Bahá’í literature. To obtain an application, please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

ALMOST heaven ... West Virginia needs you as a homefront pioneer. Help us with the special challenges of teaching and consolidation of the Faith. You can help change this lovely and mountainous Appalachian state from “almost heaven” to a “definite paradise.” For more information, contact the District Teaching Committee secretary, Mrs. Sorour Payman, P.O. Box 940, Hinton, WV 25951. Phone 304-466-5296.

ARTISTS, craftsmen and businesses marketing Bahá’í items: If you would like to sell merchandise at the 25th annual Green Lake Bahá’í Conference, September 14-16, write now for information to Robert Pamenter, Milwaukee, WI 53208. The conference attracts upward of 1,300 participants, and the planning committee is actively working to make the service you provide a successful part of it.

JOBS for educators available in Saranac Lake, New York. Help this small but active Spiritual Assembly to spread the Message of Bahá’u’lláh. Only nine miles from Lake Placid near the Canadian border. Jobs for fall ’84: coun-

See ADS Page 29 [Page 17]

’Trail of Light’ ends visit in Idaho, Washington

By REGINA ANCHONDO

Part Six

The Bahá’ís of the Lapwai and Nez Perce Reservations met the Trail of Light team at the Lewiston, Idaho, airport and whisked us off in a gigantic motor home to the Reservation.

WE HAD interviews scheduled with members of the tribal council and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as Clemente Pimantel’s visit to the clinic, which the doctors back in Fort Yates had arranged.

Going to the clinic was a complicated affair. The doctor would ask what Clemente’s symptoms were, I would ask Sabino Ortega in Spanish, and he would communicate the question to Clemente in Quechua.

Then the process was repeated in reverse, with the answer in Quechua to Spanish to English. Getting the x-rays turned out to be a most comical situation. The x-ray technician would poke her head out the door and say, "Tell him to breathe like this...." I would have to translate and demonstrate to Sabino, who in turn would go into the x-ray room to explain it to Clemente. I couldn’t help thinking that it would have made a hilarious silent movie.

While we waited for the doctors’ prescriptions at the clinic, we had an opportunity to speak with everyone in the waiting room and personally to invite them to the evening program.

ONE woman who came in recognized Egon Nieto, Clemente and Sabino immediately. She had been in Rapid City, South Dakota, for a Native American education conference and had seen the report of their arrival on the evening news there.

It made us wonder how many other Native American educators whose Reservations we could not visit had nevertheless learned of the Trail of Light.

Our first evening among the Nez Perce was lovely. We were welcomed by members of the tribal council and given eagle feathers as gifts.

One of the Native American Bahá’ís from the area served as emcee and did a marvelous job, introducing the Trail of Light presentation and coordinating the lively interchange of dances that followed.

We celebrated the Birth of the Báb the next day with Bahá’ís from all over northern Idaho. Afterward, Doug Harris, the driver of our wonderful motor home, shooed everyone away from the house so we could rest before the evening’s dinner and our second performance in the area.

While some of us napped, the South Americans went for a walk in the hills surrounding the home of our hosts.

AN EARLY start next day got us on the road to Washington and the final four Reservations of our tour.

I stayed behind in Lapwai to make some travel arrangements while the others left in the motor home for the Yakima Reservation.

I came along later with two other Bahá’ís after a short visit to the Nez Perce Museum, a special treat. By that time the team had already met with the Yakima tribal council.

We ran into each other at a trading post owned and operated by a Bahá’í. As I stood looking at a collection of beads, one of the Bahá’ís introduced me to an Indian woman who had just entered the store.

She tugged at my sleeve and told me that she would like for me to translate for her so that she could talk to the South Americans. From the time she had entered the store and seen them, she felt that they were spiritually very powerful. As she said this, her eyes glistened with tears.

THAT evening was free, and the next morning the team took off for a radio interview with a Spanish-language station on the Reservation, followed by a traditional wedding that the tribal council had invited them to the day before.

The groom turned out to be the son of the woman who had approached me at the trading post.

The program presented on our second evening at the Yakima Reservation was preceded by a huge dinner to which at least 300 people came. Some of our friends from Idaho even showed up.

Toward the end of the evening Sabino was filmed for a television interview, and local Bahá’ís video taped the entire proceedings.

The next morning we attended a Bahá’í school, took part in another reception at the Yakima cultural center during which gifts were exchanged, and then visited with an Hispanic woman who had interviewed the team the day before and invited them to her home.

OUR spirits were more subdued that day; we had just learned of the death of Counsellor Raúl Pavón, who had worked closely with and was deeply loved by the members of the team.

The next morning we traveled to Seattle, stopping for a brief visit at the Suquamish Reservation at the request of a Sioux Bahá’í living there.

We had a cordial meeting with elders and members of the tribal council, after which we visited the tribal museum and members of one family gave each of us a bag of dried salmon to take with us. The Suquamish Reservation is on a peninsula that juts into Puget Sound, is wooded and extremely beautiful.

We met the Seattle Bahá’ís at a reception that evening, and afterward we settled in at the homes of our hosts.

The following morning I went with Egon and Leopoldo Richard to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to extend their visas in the U.S.—Leopoldo wanted to visit his son in Utah and return to the Southwest for more teaching, while Egon wanted to spend some time with a brother in Washington.

We met everyone else at lunchtime, and the South Americans had their first Chinese meal at a restaurant owned by a relative of a Chinese Bahá’í. Then it was time to prepare for the evening program and to pack our bags for an early morning departure.

OUR DAY was full after leaving Seattle. Included were a radio interview near Bellingham, lunch with elders of the Lummi tribe, a presentation on that Reservation, and an evening television interview on a Christian-oriented program.

We didn’t know that it was a Christian program until they were preparing us for the filming, when I sneaked a look at the host’s list of questions.

I was able to suggest to Sabino that he give some quick thought to Bahá’u’lláh’s relationship to Christ—there was obviously going to be a fundamentalist approach to their membership in the Faith. However, the interviewer never did challenge them because he became involved in discussing the history of Christianity in Bolivia and its effect on the native population.

The next morning we were off to Neah Bay and the Makah Reservation, where we would participate in the long-awaited council fire with the Trail of Light team that had been traveling in Canada and Alaska and all of the friends each team had made and invited along the way.

WE ARRIVED in the afternoon. The Reservation is wildly beautiful, with wooded mountains and seacoast. It reminded me of the small fishing towns in New England.

We had dinner at the home of some local Bahá’ís, and throughout the meal friends from various places began arriving—from South Dakota, Idaho—it was great to see them again. Egon’s brother and sister-in-law also arrived from Oregon.

Our morning began with a visit to the tribal offices, and while we met with some of the officials, the other Trail of Light team arrived. It was a happy reunion for both teams, who earlier had been together in Panama.

The council fire began the next day, with Bahá’ís from Canada and the U.S. discussing the success of the Trail of Light in their respective areas and follow-up activities that could capitalize on the good will spread by the teams.

After a late afternoon visit to a sacred beach, we shared dinner with the elders of the Makah Reservation and began one of our most memorable evening programs.

AFTER the tables were cleared and pushed aside, all of us took seats around the meeting room, with all of the visitors connected with the Trail of Light seated together.

Then, members of the Makah tribe began a welcoming song and everyone stood. The song must have lasted at least half an hour, and as they sang everyone circulated around the room and shook hands with the Trail of Light teams and their companions.

It was the most beautiful and moving welcome I have ever seen. As the people passed they also dropped money into a box; it is their custom to give money to visitors from far away so that they can return home in comfort and safety.

The presentation of gifts and a Trail of Light program followed. Our Makah hosts then performed some of their traditional dances for us. They were quite different from anything we had seen previously.

The evening ended with general dancing, the music provided by a "Bahá’í drum," a drum brought and played by Native American Bahá’ís from Portland, Oregon.

Consultation began again on Sunday morning, our last day in Neah Bay, and continued until lunch time. All of the Trail of Light participants met afterward for a final de-briefing session.

The overwhelming sentiment as our exciting and eventful tour drew to a close was one of gratitude to all of our new-found friends, Bahá’í and otherwise, the memory of whose faces and deeds we will carry always in our hearts.

On February 23, Gary Hillaire (left), a Lummi Indian artist who is a member of the Bahá’í community of Seattle, Washington, presented two of his pen and ink drawings to the University of Washington’s hospital as a token of appreciation for the treatment he received during a recent stay in the hospital’s rehabilitation unit. The paintings, which were presented in conjunction with the Bahá’í Association at the university, will be permanently displayed in the patient day room. A television and radio news team covered the presentation.

Naw-Rúz dinner draws near 50 in Connecticut

Nearly 50 guests from several states and foreign countries were among those who enjoyed a Naw-Rúz potluck dinner celebration March 20 in West Hartford, Connecticut.

In addition to those from nearby communities, guests came from Georgia, Iowa and Oklahoma as well as from Canada, Egypt, India, Iran and Venezuela. [Page 18]

EDUCATION

Responding to the message of January 2 from the Universal House of Justice concerning the present crisis in the International Fund, the Spiritual Assembly of New York City sponsored an Ayyám-i-Há fund-raising event in Scarsdale. Everyone present, from a child of 8 to a man of 80, made a pledge, and a total of $16,000 was raised for the International Fund.

Louhelen schedules courses in introductory ‎Spanish Persian‎, English

From July 4-14, the Louhelen Bahá’í School will offer courses in introductory Persian and English.

The course in Persian will be taught by Ms. Nateghe Nekui Yazdi of Plano, Texas, a professional Persian language instructor.

It is designed to give students a basic knowledge in Persian of reading, writing, speaking and math, and should be especially helpful to those who are married to Persians or youth from Persian families who speak little or no Persian.

The course in English will give students a good, basic introduction to the language and is designed to help them gain fluency quickly while living in an English-speaking country.

A program in English will be offered for children 0-14.

Approximate cost for the program is $150. An additional $20 fee for materials will be charged. The class is limited to the first 20 who register. Deadline for registration is June 27.

To register, send a $10 deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

Seto

Continued From Page 4

“... your determination to pioneer in one of the virgin areas of the globe will serve as a glorious crown to the highly meritorious services which you have rendered.”

BECAUSE of their involvement in programs of the United Nations Association and the Hong Kong Council of Women, the Setos were able to meet many prominent Chinese, Indian and English residents of Hong Kong, and to present talks at many public meetings.

Press coverage of these meetings and at-home interviews with the Setos resulted in considerable publicity for the Faith.

Two years after their arrival in Hong Kong, the Setos had to return to the U.S. so that Mr. Seto could receive medical treatment for a heart condition.

Returning to Hong Kong in February 1957, they attended the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of North East Asia in Tokyo, Japan, at which the area’s new National Spiritual Assembly was elected.

At the very hour of their departure from Tokyo, Mr. Seto suddenly passed away and was buried in the International Cemetery in Yokohama.

IN SPITE of her own failing health, Mrs. Seto remained at her pioneering post in Hong Kong until 1963 when she moved to Burlingame, California.

After her husband’s death Mrs. Seto had made a pilgrimage to the Bahá’í World Centre, and she also traveled to London for the World Congress in 1963.

When Mamie Seto died on April 15, 1970, at the age of 85, the Universal House of Justice cabled:

“Grieved learn passing devoted maidservant Bahá’u’lláh Mamie Seto. Her exemplary services Cause God spanning more than half-century marked by effective contributions national, local administrative institutions distinguished by highly fruitful teaching America and pioneering with husband Asia. Praying rich reward Abhá Kingdom.”

Bahá’í sprinter from Reno to compete in summer Olympic Games for Ghana

Phillip Attipoe, a sophomore at the University of Nevada-Reno and member of the Bahá’í community of Reno, will compete in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles this summer as a member of the track team from Ghana.

Mr. Attipoe, a native of Accra, Ghana, is the Big Sky Conference 100-meter sprint champion and placed second in the 200-meter dash in the 1983 conference championships.

The pre-vet major became a Bahá’í in Reno late last year and is a member of the university’s Bahá’í Student Association.

He will return to Ghana later this month and compete in an international invitational meet in Moscow.

Following that competition, the team will tour Europe to prepare for the Olympics, gathering in Casablanca early in July for the third All-African Athletic Championships.

PHILLIP ATTIPOE

Unity gathering set

The Spiritual Assembly of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, is sponsoring a unity gathering June 9-10 at the Peace Garden of Manitoba/North Dakota.

The gathering will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday and end at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The speakers have not yet been confirmed.

Rising production costs force Brilliant Star price increase

The editorial board of Brilliant Star magazine has announced that with the July/August 1984 issue, the subscription price will go up.

The increase reflects the increased production costs of the magazine.

PRESENTLY, the magazine is subsidized in part by monies from the National Fund.

It is the editorial board’s goal to alleviate this drain on the National Fund and become self-sufficient.

The ongoing effort to eliminate the magazine’s need for support from the Fund is being done in two ways.

The first was the establishment of the Brilliant Star Endowment Fund.

The endowment, which is overseen by the Office of the Treasurer, accepts money that is invested at the best possible rate of interest. When the fund grows sufficiently, the magazine will be able to exist off the interest from the investments.

Contributions can be made at any time, and should be sent to Brilliant Star Endowment Fund, Suburban Office Park, 5010 Austin Road, Hixson, TN 37343.

Special efforts are made at the National Convention to acknowledge gifts to the endowment by offering limited edition prints and subscription packages for donations.

The second way in which the magazine is seeking to alleviate its dependence on the National Fund is through its new subscription rates.

These rates are: 1 year $12, 2 years $23; surface mail overseas, 1 year $15, 2 years $28; and air mail overseas, 1 year $25, 2 years $47.50.

By subscribing now, you can take advantage of the present rates of $9 for 1 year, $17 for two years, $11 for 1 year surface overseas or $21 for 2 years, and $15 for 1 year air mail overseas or $28 for 2 years.

Subscriptions should be sent to Brilliant Star, Suburban Office Park, 5010 Austin Road, Hixson, TN 37343.

Brilliant Star, formerly known as Child’s Way, is published bi-monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.

Its primary audience is children, and it strives to develop the child’s awareness of the oneness of humanity and the importance of eliminating prejudice; increase his consciousness of his spiritual nature and the need for its development; provide practical approaches to viewing life’s difficulties; develop the child’s reasoning power and stimulate his love for the order of the universe; provide a standard by which he may learn to relate to others with love and justice; and help parents and teachers in developing all of the child’s hidden talents and virtues.

Back issues of Child’s Way and Brilliant Star are available from the address given above. Child’s Way is $1.50 per copy, and Brilliant Star $2.

Louhelen sponsors week for senior citizens in June

The Louhelen Bahá’í School is sponsoring a senior citizens week June 10-15.

This is the second session the school has held for seniors, the first one having been held last June during the school’s inaugural summer.

The session will include courses on “The Power of the Holy Spirit” by Mrs. Kay Zinky of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and “The Hidden Words” by Robert Gaines.

Dr. Violet Wuerful Clark will serve as recreation director.

The cost for the session is $105. Inquiries can be made to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

yes I want to receive Brilliant Star. please enter my subscription for
one year, $9.00 (six issues)	[ ]
two years, $17.00	[ ]
foreign, surface, one year, $11.00	[ ]
foreign, surface, two years, $21.00	[ ]
foreign, air, one year, $15.00	[ ]
foreign, air, two years, $28.00	[ ]
Please enclose payment. name ___________________________ street ___________________________ city ___________________________ state & zip __________ ● ______________
Send to: Brilliant Star/Child’s Way Subscriber Service Suburban Office Park 5010 Austin Rd. Hixson, Tn. 37343

Enclosed is my gift of $ ________ to the Brilliant Star/Child’s Way Endowment Fund established in honor of the Bahá’í children of Iran, for the purpose of developing materials for children. I understand that my gift will become part of a perpetual fund whose earnings will support this purpose. [Page 19]

Youth Academy, 5-day hike highlight Green Acre summer

Two first time ever events highlight Green Acre’s summer youth program for 1984.

The first of these, a Youth Academy, will be held the week of June 24-30.

It will consist of a study of the Promised Day Is Come, an examination of Bahá’í administration including the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, study of the Bahá’í teachings on important issues being raised in 20th century science and poetry, and a class in public speaking.

The Academy is being planned for declared Bahá’í youth between the ages of 16 and 20. Because of its being the first such program at Green Acre, the size will be limited to 24 youth.

The second event, to be held the week of August 13-17, is a five-day hike through the White Mountains led by Stephen Jackson, an experienced outdoorsman.

Mr. Jackson will lead 10 Bahá’í youth ages 13-18 along Appalachian Mountain club trails. The program does not include any rock or cliff climbing, but applicants should be in excellent physical condition and have had hiking and camping experience.

For more information or applications for either of these programs, please contact the Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903.

Each week throughout the Summer School, the youth program offers a full schedule of devotions, study and recreation for all youth ages 12 to 18.

Non-Bahá’ís are always welcome, although care should be taken to make sure that they are willing to live up to Bahá’í standards.

All youth under 15 must attend with a sponsor who is over 21 and not employed at Green Acre.

Youth over 15 are eligible to apply for the work/study program and attend Green Acre for two weeks at a minimal cost, working one week and attending classes the other. For more information, please write to Green Acre at the address given above.

FAMILY UNITY NIGHT (FUN)

Purpose: To promote in Bahá’í families a tradition of regular family-centered activities focusing on Bahá’í values, history and daily living of the Faith.

Future: This is the seed, the first beginnings of a program designed to encourage families to reserve or set aside a special time each week for positive family interaction. The seed will need tender care and nurturing for its growth and development in future years. We hope you will feel free to modify, expand and adapt the suggested materials and format to your individual family.

Preparation: For each week’s activities it is suggested that the parent(s) or the family member chosen to plan a certain week’s FUN read the suggested activities and lesson ahead of time. Add to or delete where applicable for your family. A trip to the local public library or Bahá’í library may be necessary for some materials. If refreshments need pre-preparation or shopping, be sure to gauge your time. And have FUN!

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FIRST WEEK OF JUNE: RACE UNITY. Prayer: for mankind, pp. 102-103, new prayer book. Lesson: Read and discuss one or more of the suggested lesson materials. How does this apply to your family? Emphasize unity in diversity. Suggested materials: 1. “The Most Challenging Issue,” pp. 28-34 in The Advent of Divine Justice. 2. The Secret in the Garden by Winifred Barnum Newman. 3. “Race Unity, Assurance of World Peace,” p. 267, Bahá’í World Faith. 4. To Move the World by Gayle Morrison, p. 286 (letter). 5. Vignettes from the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, No. 78, p. 88. 6. “The Family of Man,” a book of photos created by Edward Steichen for the N.Y. Museum of Modern Art. 7. Hidden Words (Arabic) No. 68. 8. Hidden Words (Persian) No. 74. Activity: Work together (in unity) making “mankind is one” cookies. Follow your favorite cookie recipe. Prepare dough ahead and refrigerate until ready to make. Divide dough into four equal parts; leave 1 plain, color 1 red and 1 yellow with food coloring, make 1 brown with chocolate syrup. Roll out and cut into people shapes; bake according to recipe. While making cookies, sing songs: “The Flowers of God’s Garden” and “Love Your Neighbors and Friends.” Refreshments: Eat cookies warm from the oven with a big glass of milk.

SECOND WEEK OF JUNE: BAHÁ’Í FUND APPRECIATION. Prayer: for the Fund, pp. 84-85, new prayer book. Lesson: Read and discuss one or more of the suggested lesson materials. What does “living sacrifice” mean? Suggested materials: 1. Hidden Words (Persian) No. 80. 2. “Sacred Duty” and “Bahá’í Fund,” Bahá’í Administration, pp. 4-42. 3. “National Fund,” Bahá’í Administration, p. 101. 4. “The First Taraz,” Bahá’í World Faith, p. 167, 1st paragraph. 5. Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, No. 50, pp. 146-47. 6. Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, No. 92, p. 98. 7. Sing the “Bahá’í Fund Song.” Activity: 1. Make a family “Fund box.” Have family members put all loose change in the box each day. 2. Make a “pie chart” of your family income and expenditures. How big is the Fund slice compared to other slices? Evaluate your budget. Rank needs and wants. Are you spending more for low priority things? Emphasize the “spirit of sacrifice” in building the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. Refreshments: Daddy’s choice of refreshments for this FUN!

THIRD WEEK OF JUNE: RAHMAT/MERCY. Prayer: forgiveness, p. 76, new prayer book; or assistance, p. 30, new prayer book; or mankind, p. 100, new prayer book. Lesson: Read and discuss one or more of the suggested lesson materials. Emphasize mercy and justice in handling daily incidents. Is compassion synonymous with mercy or justice? Use the “golden rule” during the week. Suggested materials: 1. Hidden Words (Arabic) No. 67. 2. Gleanings, “Look not upon ...,” p. 33. 3. Gleanings, “Say: Have mercy ...,” p. 299. 4. Bible, Micah 6:8. 5. Bible, Luke 6:27-36. 6. Bible, Psalms 89:1-4 and 28. 7. Bible, Psalms 100:5. 8. Bible, Psalms 118:1-4. 9. Bible, Psalms 103. Activity: Role play. 1. Son/daughter breaks something special of mom’s. How will she react? With mercy if the child is truly sorry? With justice if the child is not remorseful? 2. A Bahá’í child comes upon a scene at school where a new student is being harassed by others for his religious/racial difference. How will the Bahá’í show mercy/compassion? Set an example for others? Refreshments: Chips, veggies and dips, popcorn.

FOURTH WEEK OF JUNE: WORK IS WORSHIP. Prayer: “O Thou kind Lord!” p. 36, new prayer book. Lesson: Read and discuss one or more of the suggested lesson materials. How does work become worship? Suggested materials: 1. “Please God, the poor ...,” Bahá’í World Faith, p. 131. 2. “The 11th and 12th Glad-Tidings,” Bahá’í World Faith, p. 195. 3. “Work Is Worship, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 377. 4. Vignettes, Nos. 48 and 49, pp. 145-146. 5. Sing “God Loves the Best of Us.” Activity: 1. Parents tell about their work or career, the steps that led to it. Children talk about future plans for their careers. Parents can help them recognize their talents and skills and what work would best suit their ability and aptitude. Or, 2. decide upon an act of service your family could do for a neighbor or the neighborhood, such as raking the lawn for someone elderly, washing windows, or picking up trash along your street. Set a time for performing this service. ‎Refresments Refreshments‎: Root beer floats or other ice cream treat.

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Families may wish to clip the above lesson plans and mount them on 3x5 cards for handy reference.

[Caption]

Shown at a recent planning meeting in California are ‘The Radiant Lights,’ part of a National Education Committee project to encourage and train youth peer-teachers. Inspired by the ‘Brilliant Stars,’ also peer-teachers at Bahá’í schools for the past three years, the ‘Radiant Lights’ (ages 11-14) are the second ‘spin-off’ group in training. Shown are (standing left to right) Yvonne Park, Karyn Mandanski (adult helper), Joyce Lowson (adult helper), and (seated left to right) Jason Rector, Alaina Henderson, Kenny Lowson, Bayrn McCarthy.

Second annual Teacher Training Week scheduled in June at Louhelen School

The Louhelen Child Education Committee is sponsoring its second annual National Teacher Training Week June 24-29.

The session is designed to help teachers strengthen their teaching and planning skills through a practical approach that will result in the production of lesson plans for use in local Bahá’í school classes this coming fall and winter.

Elements of the program include:

• A class on curriculum planning taught by Dr. Susan Stengel, kindergarten teacher, former university professor of child development, and ANISA graduate.
• A course on raising children to have a positive self-concept, self-esteem and a strong Bahá’í identity taught by Henry Wich, a marriage and family therapist from Ohio.
• Curriculum planning guidance by Dr. Stengel, Mr. Wich and other Louhelen personnel designed to construct a curriculum that can be used in local classes.
• Making materials you can take home that support the lessons you plan.
• An opportunity to teach in the children’s classrooms under the guidance of experienced teachers.
• Sharing ideas and experiences with your fellow participants.
• Being honored by the Louhelen Child Education Committee at a banquet on “Teacher Appreciation Night,” Thursday, July 28.

There will be a program for children ages 0-14. The total cost for an adult for the entire session, in dorm-style housing (three or four to a room) is $96. Children 11-15, 20 per cent less; 4-10, 33 per cent less; 1-3, 50 per cent less.

Those who wish to register may send a $10 deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

Louhelen to hold summer session for youth 15 and older June 17-22

The Louhelen Bahá’í School will hold its summer session for youth 15 years of age and older June 17-22.

The session will include a balanced program of Bahá’í study, prayer and meditation, fellowship, recreation, service activities and evening social events.

Teachers for the week will be Smokey Ferguson from Florida, a member of the National Bahá’í Youth Committee, and Mrs. Kay Zinky from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who will teach a course on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Roy Steiner, a college student from Cambridge, Massachusetts, will teach a course on “Being a Bahá’í: What Does It Mean?”

The cost for the week is $95; those who are interested in attending should send a $10 deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

Louhelen will offer a week for junior youth ages 11-14 from July 28-August 2.

Auction in Montana

More than 40 Bahá’ís from all over the state of Montana participated in a recent auction in Billings at which $1,535.75 was raised for the National Fund.

The auction, co-sponsored by the Spiritual Assemblies of Billings and nearby Yellowstone County, gave the Bahá’ís an opportunity to purchase Ayyám-i-Há gifts and services—all of which were donated by local Bahá’ís.

The first such auction, held six years ago, raised just under $300. [Page 20]یادداشت ذیل را جناب دکتر خلیل محمودی ارسال فرموده‌اند که با تشکر فراوان از توجه و عنایت ایشان بطبع میرسد.

پاسخی به پرسشی

این پرسش گاهی در بعضی از مطبوعات فارسی زبان در خارج از ایران و یا بوسیله افراد پیش میآید که چرا بهائیان فقط از کشته شدن بهائیان حرف میزنند ولی از کشته شدن غیر‌بهائیان در ایران چیزی نمیگویند؟

۱- از لحاظ نوع دوستی که بهائیان بحکم دین مأمور بآنند دوستدار عالمیانند و خیر‌خواه اهل جهان تا چه رسد بهم میهنان عزیزشان که از ظلم بر هر‌یک از آنان آزرده خاطرند و بر آزار احدی صحه نمیگذارند و طبعاً دلشان از بیدادگری در هر‌جا که واقع شود خون است. و از ظلم بر هر مظلومی متأثر و متألمند.

۲- اگر بهائیان بر مرگ عزیزانشان سوگواری میکنند و از ظلمی که فقط و فقط بمناسبت داشتن یک عقیده دینی و نوع تفکر وجدانی بر آنها وارد میشود متظلم هستند تصور نمیشود که این امری باشد طبیعی. فی المثل اگر برادر یکنفر از دنیا رفت و آن شخص برای او مجلس تذکر گذاشت آیا این جای گله هست که چرا برای برادر من هم که بهمین مرض درگذشت شما مجلس ختم برپا نداشتید؟ و از آنجا که اثبات شیئی نفی ماعدا نمیکند تأثر ما بر مرگ خواهران و برادران بهائی دلیل بر این نیست که ما از مرگ دیگر خواهران و برادران ایرانی متأثر نیستیم.

۳- تظلم ما این است که ما بر بی گناهی برادران و خواهران خود واقف و آگاهم و میگوئیم ما که در سیاست دخالت نمیکنیم و با کسی سر جنگ نداریم و مرتکب هیچگونه جرم و گناهی نشده‌ایم چرا سر‌تسلیم و بی گناه ما را میبرند و بانواع آزارها از محرومیت از جمیع حقوقهای بشری گرفته تا زجر و شکنجه و زندان مبتلا میسازند.

۴- اگر فی‌المثل بهائیان آمدند و گفتند چرا فلان شخص غیر‌بهائی را کشتید آیا این سئوال نمیتواند پیش بیاید که "بشما چه؟" و دیگر اینکه آیا آن گروه و یا دیگر بستگان آن کشته حق ندارند از ما بازخواست کنند که بجه مناسبت شما که خود در آن محیط مورد بی مهری هستید به پشتیبانی از ما برآمده‌اید؟ و یا گله کنند که این پشتیبانی شما بضرر ما تمام شد.

۵- اینکه رئیس جمهور آمریکا و یا پارلمان اروپائی و یا مجالس سنا و شوراهای ممالک مختلفه و یا رؤسای جمهور و یا مطبوعات کشورهای جهان راجع به بهائیها میگویند و مینویسند موجب همه این اعتراضات که تنها بهائیان ایرانی نیستند. در همه اقطار و کشورهای عالم بهائی هست و قطعاً بهائی‌ها از کشته شدن برادران و خواهران بی گناه خود در ایران به اولیای امور کشورهای خودشان شکایت و تظلم میکنند و از آنها میخواهند که اقلاً باین ظلمی که بر هم عقیده‌های آنها در یک نقطه از جهان میشود اعتراض کنند.

۶- اینکه مطبوعات جهان تقریباً بهمه زبانها از مظالم وارده بر بهائیان ایران چیزی نوشته‌اند یا مینویسند چه بسا که صرفاً بحکم وجدان روزنامه‌نگاری و طرفداری از مظلوم است و یا برای این است که میدانند در این عصر و زمان مظالمی که فقط بر مبنای عقیده و ایمان بر جمعی بی گناه وارد میشود نمیتوان نادیده گرفت و ساکت ماند.

و این بود پاسخی کوتاه باین پرسش و امید است که روشنگر قضیه باشد.

دوره‌های فارسی در مدرسه بهائی لوهلن

از دفتر مدرسه بهائی لوهلن در ایالت میشیگان اطلاع رسیده است که در تابستان سال جاری نیز مدرسه مذکور برنامه‌های خاصی برای استفاده احبای ایرانی ترتیب داده است.

الف- مطالعه اجمالی آثار حضرت بهاء‌الله، با ‎ستادی استادی‎ جناب دکتر محمد افنان از ۴ تا ۹ ماه آگست ۱۹۸۴

این دوره بمنظور آشنائی با کلیاتی درباره آثار متعدد نازل از قلم حضرت بهاء‌الله و شامل دو قسمت است که همراه و همزمان پیش خواهد رفت.

قسمت اول شامل تقسیم و تفکیک آثار بر حسب خصوصیات مختلفه و قسمت دوم مطالعه و بحث و مذاکره راجع بمطالب بعضی از متون آیات و آثار حضرت بهاء‌الله است. قسمتی از آثار در مجلس درس قرائت و بقیه را شرکت کنندگان انفراداً یا بصورت گروه‌های دو‌نفری مطالعه خواهند کرد. از دوستانی که در این دوره شرکت خواهند کرد تقاضا خواهد شد که مطالب و موضوعاتی را بتناسب ذوق شخصی برای تحقیق و تتبع انتخاب فرمایند و انتظار میرود که مورد قبول و اقدام شان قرار گیرد.

متونی که در کلاس مطالعه خواهد شد:

۱- از مجموعه الواح نازله بعد از کتاب اقدس بشارات - تجلیات اشراقات - کلمات فردوسیه طرازات - لوح دنیا لوح مقصود لوح امواج (مجموعه الواح چاپ مصر) ۲۶۳ سوره وفا اصل کل الخیر کتاب عهدی لوح کرمل

۲- از مجموعه الواح (معروف بچاپ مصر) لوح احمد فارسی ۳۱۵ لوح برهان لوح مانکجی ۲۵۹ لوح هفت پرسش ۲۴۰ لوح سلمان ۱۲۴ لوح عبدالوهاب ۱۶۰ الواح اتحاد ۱-۱۸۴، ۲۰۲ و عبد (۳۳۸ - ۶۰۹)

۳- از دریای دانش لوح شکر شکن شوند همه طوطیان هند

۴- از مجموعه الواح ضمایم کتاب اقدس چاپ هند لوح رویا ۲۲۱

۵- از مجموعه الواح (کتاب مبین) لوح خطاب بحاج ملاعلی کنی ۲۷۲ لوح خطاب بشیخ عبدالاحسن طهرانی ۲۱۱ لوح امر ۱۹۹

۶- از رحیق مختوم جلد اول صحیفه شطیه ۲۸۵

مخارج شرکت در دوره فوق (خوابگاه‌های ۳ یا ۴ نفره) ۱۰۵ دلار است. داوطلبان با ارسال مبلغ ۱۰ دلار ودیعه به نشانی ذیل میتوانند ثبت نام نمایند.

ب- دوره فارسی مقدماتی، تحت نظر خانم ناطقه ‎تکوشی نکویی‎ یزدی از ۵ تا ۱۴ ماه جولای ۱۹۸۴ دوره مذکور شامل مواد کلاس اول است: خواندن و نوشتن و عملیات حساب و مکالمه ساده داوطلبان بایستی کتاب اول دبستان را همراه داشته باشند یا با پرداخت ۱۰ دلار یک نسخه فتوکپی آنرا در مدرسه تهیه فرمایند.

ج- همزمان با دوره فارسی مقدماتی کلاس فشرده‌ای نیز برای تعلیم زبان انگلیسی در لوهلن تشکیل خواهد شد که میتواند مورد استفاده احبای عزیز ایرانی باشد. مخارج شرکت در دوره انگلیسی یا فارسی ۲۳۰ دلار است که ۲۰ دلار آن مربوط به اوراق و مواد درسی است.

برای کسب اطلاع و ثبت‌نام در دو کلاس فوق بایستی با دفتر مدرسه بنشانی ذیل مکاتبه نمود.

Louhelen Bahá’í School 3208 South State Road Davison, Michigan 48423 [Page 21]

اخبار بشارات عالم بهائی

فتح و ظفر عظیم در کشور افریقائی چاد نصیب یاران شده است

محفل روحانی شهرستان مواسالا (Moissala) در کشور چاد فتح و ظفری را که با وجود مشکلات و موانع موجود در اعلان و ترویج امرالله حاصل کرده‌اند مرهون ادعیه خاصه بیت‌العدل اعظم برای حمایت یاران میداند. مواسالا شامل ۱۶ بلوک و ۲۶۰ قریه میباشد و جمعاً ۷۵۰۰۰ جمعیت دارد و اولین دفعه محفل روحانی آن در نوامبر ۱۹۷۷ تشکیل گردید. نتیجه اقدامات تبلیغی اخیر در جلسه عید مولود حضرت اعلی که ۲۰ اکتبر ۱۹۸۳ منعقد بود اعلام و معلوم شد از ۲۶۰ قریه این ناحیه ۲۲۰ قریه واجد محفل روحانی محلی و در چهل قریه دیگر مرکز امری تأسیس گشته است. بدین‌معنی که ۱۵ در صد ساکنین ناحیه از پانزده سال به بالا به حضرت بهاءالله اقبال نموده‌اند. این اقدامات در ماه ژوئیه و فصل بارانی شروع شد جاده‌ها سیل زده و راه‌ها مسدود بود و مبلغین سیار یا ‎بستی بایستی‎ پیاده یا با دوچرخه سفر کنند و در عبور از رودخانه دوچرخه را روی سر بگیرند با همه این اشکالات همت و فداکاری دوستان و جرأت و شهامت مبلغین سیار محلی تمام مشکلات را رفع کرد. در مرکز شهرستان دو احتفال عمومی یکی با حضور استادان دانشکده مواسالا و دیگری با حضور اولیای امور بلدی منعقد گردید و طبق درخواست محفل روحانی قطعه زمینی برای ساختمان یک کتابخانه بهائی داده شده است و جامعه بهائی مواسالا یک هکتار زراعت پنبه برای تأمین مصارف ساختمان اختصاص داده‌اند. طرحی برای تقویت و تحکیم مراکز مفتوحه توسط لجنه ملی تقویت و تحکیم با مساعدت هیئت مشاورین قاره‌ای تنظیم و اجرا شده که بموجب آن هفده دارالتعلیم هریک در یکی از بلوک‌ها دائر و ‎شصد ششصد‎ نفر از روستائیان در آن شرکت کرده چهار صد نفر در تمام جلسات سه روزه حاضر بودند.

تبلیغ دسته جمعی در ایالت بهار هندوستان پیشرفت قابل ملاحظه کرده است

طبق راپورت لجنه ملی تبلیغ تا بحال در ایالت بهار اقبال دسته جمعی نفوس به میزان فعلی نرسیده بود. تعداد مؤمنین در ایالت به ۳۳۰۲۴۶ بالغ گردیده (هدف ۲۱۰۰۰۰ بوده است). تعداد محافل روحانیه به ۳۱۹ بالغ شده (هدف ۱۵۰ محفل بود) که چهل عدد آنها کاملاً وظائف و امور محفلی را انجام میدهند جلسات محفل مرتباً تشکیل و ضیافات نوزده روزه و جلسات و ایام متبرکه منعقد میگردد. هرگونه فعالیت بهائی که در ایالت بهار انجام میگیرد در روزنامه‌های محلی به انگلیسی و اردو در رادیو سرتاسری هندوستان اعلان میگردد. در پاتنا (Patna) حاکم‌نشین ایالت بهار رادیو محلی در برنامه هفتگی خود باسم "فکری برای روز" سه هفته قسمتهائی از آیات حضرت بهاءالله و بیانات حضرت عبدالبهاء پخش نمود.

میدان خدمت

قسمتی از مرقومه جناب دکتر حشمت الله تائید مهاجر عزیز جزیره دومینیکا

روزی کشیشی با هیجان زیادی از آدمیت یک دکتر بهائی انگلیسی برای من تعریف مفصلی کرد و بعد گفت شما بهائی‌ها خیلی خدمت بمردم میکنید درباره امر سئوالاتی کرد و خداحافظی کرد و قول داد کتابی را که باو سال قبل داده بودم مطالعه کند بعد هم دوست دیگری سئوالات او را جواب داده بود. ۱۵ آگست وارد منزل من شد و گفت بحضرت بهاءالله ایمان دارم باو کارت دادم امضاء کرد و باو گفتم میدانی که در دیانت بهائی طبقه روحانی حقوق‌بگیر وجود ندارد گفت میدانم بعد نامه بامريكا نوشت و از کارش استعفا داد و حقوق بسیار خوبی را از دست داد. باو گفتم خوب است تدریجاً ابلاغ کلمه کنی گفت فردا که کلیسا میروم چگونه میتوانم ریاکاری کنم و همان صحبتهای قدیم را تکرار کنم. ضمن نامه جهت کلیسا در آمریکا نوشته بهتر شما هم تحقیق کنید... در کلیسا بمردم گفته نمیخواهم مثل ملاهای یهودی سبب محرومیت شما شوم شما خود تحقیق کنید. باری فعلاً یک درصد جمعیت این کشور مستقل ایمان بامر دارند و اگر چند مبلغ سیار Travel Teacher داشتیم که هر کدام برای دو سه هفته برای تبلیغ می‌آمدند تمام جمعیت کشور بامر اقبال میکردند. خرج سفر تبلیغی یک نفر در ماه صدوپنجاه دلار است. اگر جوانان فرصتی دارند و یک دو ماه بما مساعدت کنند در چند سال یک کشور مستقل، ایمان بامر خواهد آورد. در این کشور چه کوچک و چه بزرگ همه با نام حضرت بهاءالله آشنا هستند. اگر دوستان نمیتوانند خود اقدام کنند شاید بتوانند از طریق محفل ملی کمکی کنند... این مساعدت ولو جزئی باشد مؤثر است با مبلغی در حدود ده دلار یک نفر از پایتخت میتواند بدهی برود و یکی یا دونفر تصدیق کنند.

اطلاعیه

"کتابخانه مرکز جهانی در صدد است که در سوابق خود مجموعه نشریاتی را که بوسیله محفل مقدس روحانی ملی ایران انتشار می‌یافت تکمیل نماید.

این نشریات عبارتند از: مجله آهنگ بدیع — مجله بشارات مجله اخبار امری — مجله ترانه امید

چنانچه آن محفل جلیل شماره‌هائی از مجلات فوق‌الذکر را در اختیار دارند و مایلند به کتابخانه مرکز جهانی اهداء نمایند و یا آنها را بفرستند که عکسبرداری شده و مسترد گردد با کتابخانه بآدرس ذیل مرتبط گردند که موجب نهایت امتنان خواهد بود." دستخط فوق از دارالانشاء بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی بدفتر محفل روحانی ملی واصل گردیده است. چون مجلات مذکور در دفتر محفل ملی موجود نیست از یاران گرامی که قادر و مایلند در این مورد همکاری بفرمایند ‎تممنی تمنایی‎ میشود با دفتر لجنه امور احبای ایرانی ارتباط حاصل فرمایند.

قسمتی از یک نامه از گوشه زندان

...عزیز ... مهربانم الله‌ابهی

پیام عشق و محبت مرا که از کنج زندان عشق جمال مبارک تقدیمتان میدارم بپذیرید. ایامی است بغایت شیرین و دلنشین که در نهایت سرور و شادمانی سپری میگردد. از آن زمان که خود را در سجن یافتم در دنیای جدیدی سیر میکنم. گوئی محبوب حقیقی‌ام مرا علی‌رغم گناهان و قصور بی پایانم در بلایا ‎بش بیش‎ شریک و سهیم نموده و نعمت بزرگ دیگری بر روی نعمت‌های بیشمار که همیشه شامل حالم بوده افزوده و از این بابت در اوج فرح و سرور میباشم. برادر عزیز... نازنینم هرچند که در زندانم ولی از مفاد نامه‌های سراسر محبت شما ضمن ملاقات با عزیزانم مطلع میشوم. از اینکه علی‌رغم لیاقت و استحقاقم مرا مورد لطف و مکرمت خود قرار میدهید متشکر و سپاسگزارم. در حقیقت مرا شرمنده میکنید. ... از این اقدام جالب و گرانقدری که فرمودید بی نهایت ممنون و متشکرم. من همیشه به این حقیقت مقر و معترف هستم که پایه گذار و محافظ و پرورش دهنده ایمانم به جمال مبارک شما بودید و حرکات و سکنات شما برایم الگو بود و همه اینها را از شما دارم و مدیون شما هستم. موقعیت آنرا ندارم که بیشتر با شما صحبت کنم و از اینکه در این کاغذ کوچک و نامناسب نامه مینویسم می بخشید.

پناهندگی در ایالات متحده

در تعقیب مطلبی که در شماره ماه آوریل امریکن بهائی درج شد باستحضار یاران روحانی میرساند که مؤسسه National Institute for Migration and Population Services دیگر قادر به ادامه خدمات خود در زمینه کمک به پناهندگان ایرانی نمیباشد. محفل مقدس روحانی ملی مقرر فرموده‌اند که کار معرفی کسانی که بتوانند مسؤولیت پذیرائی و کمک به پناهندگان را در ابتدای ورود به آمریکا تعهد نمایند از طریق دارالانشاء آن محفل مقدس انجام شود. باین دلیل از یاران گرامی که آمادگی دارند از این راه کمکی به خواهران و برادران روحانی که از ایران آواره شده‌اند بنمایند تا وسائل استقرار آنان در نقاط لازم‌المهاجرة این کشور فراهم شود متمنی است با دفتر لجنه ملی امور احبای ایرانی تماس حاصل فرمایند.

حقوق‌الله

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

در غرب ایالات متحده:	در شرق ایالات متحده:
Dr. Amin Banani Santa Monica, CA 90402	Mr. Moussa Mostaghim P.O. Box 296 Ephrata, PA 17522

[Page 22]شروع طرح‌های آزمایشی توسعه اقتصادی و اجتماعی در یک یا دو منطقه سرسبز بوستان باز شود و علاوه بر مساعدت به افرادی که مشمول طرح هستند نمونه‌ای برای مناطق دیگر باشد.

اقدامات تبلیغی را بین اقلیت‌های مهم تقویت نمائید و وسائلی مؤثر برای اندماج جمیع مؤمنین در حیات جوامع بهائی فراهم کنید.

مجهوداتی که در زمینه استفاده از مبلغین سیار در داخل کشور شروع کرده‌اید ادامه دهید.

برنامه‌های تبلیغی در مناطق سرحدی و طرح‌های دیگری را که مفید بحال طرفین است با همکاری محافل ملی کانادا و مکزیک ادامه دهید.

گروه جدیدی از مهاجرین را که در این مرحله از نقشه بعنوان سهمیه آن جامعه تعیین شده در اختیار عالم بهائی قرار دهید.

نقشه‌ای دقیق و کامل با مراحل مشخص برای تعمیر و اصلاح بنای ایوان‌المعابد غرب طرح و شروع نموده، ادامه دهید.

شما را به ادعیه مستمره در اعتاب مقدسه بجهت شمول بیش از پیش تأییدات جمال اقدس ابهی اطمینان میدهیم.

با تحیات مشتاقانه بهائی بیت‌العدل اعظم

(ترجمه پیام رضوان ۱۴۱ بدیع بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی خطاب به عالم بهائی در ‎شما ره شماره‎ آینده به چاپ خواهد رسید)

ترجمه پیام تلگرافی بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی مورخ ۱۳ آپریل ۱۹۸۴

در تعقیب پیام‌های مورخ ۱۰ و ۱۱ آوریل هم اکنون خبر تألم‌آور اعدام بوسیله جوخه آتش نفوس ذیل در زندان اوین واصل گردیده است:

جناب کامران لطفی، ۳۲ ساله، استاد دانشگاه، که در تاریخ ۵ می ۱۹۸۳ دستگیر شده بودند جناب رحیم رحیمیان، ۵۰ ساله، بازرگان، که در تاریخ ۵ می ۱۹۸۳ دستگیر شده بودند جناب یدالله صابریان، ۶۰ ساله، مدیر چاپخانه، که در تاریخ ۹ فوریه ۱۹۸۴ دستگیر شده بودند.

از آنجا که اعدام این نفوس مقدسه اعلان نگردیده بود و اجساد نیز بدون اجرای مراسم و بدون اطلاع خانواده‌ها و منسوبین بخاک سپرده شده تاریخ دقیق اعدام معلوم نیست. نگرانی آنکه سایر مسجونین نیز بسرنوشت مشابهی مبتلی شده باشند.

طبق اطلاع واصله جناب عبدالحسین شاکری حسن‌زاده نیز بوسیله جوخه آتش بشهادت رسیده بوده‌اند و تحت شرایطی مرموز در زندان چنانکه قبلا گزارش رسیده بود.

بیت‌العدل اعظم

ترجمه پیام تلگرافی بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی مورخ ۱۰ آوریل ۱۹۸۴

ایذاء و آزار احباء در مهدامرالله ادامه دارد و کیفیتی مزورانه تر پیدا کرده است. در ماه مارچ اقلاً سه نفر از مسجونین در تحت شرایط مرموزی جان داده‌اند، دو نفر در طهران و یکنفر در جیرفت کرمان. در جسد حبیب محسن رضوی ۵۵ ساله آثار حلق‌آویز شدن ملاحظه شده است و دو نفس دیگر جناب عبدالحسین شاکری حسن‌زاده ۶۴ ساله و جناب نصرت الله ضیائی ۶۱ ساله بدون اطلاع اقوام و یاران دفن شده‌اند.

توقیف و دستگیری احباء با حداقل تبلیغات و اعلان عمومی ادامه دارد. از ۱۷ ژانویه تاریخ آخرین گزارش اگر چه بعضی از مسجونین بهائی آزاد شده‌اند، ۱۱۱ نفس دیگر که اکثرا قبل از انحلال تشکیلات بهائی در سال گذشته اعضاء محافل روحانیه بوده‌اند دستگیر شده‌اند و عده احبای مسجون در ایران جمعاً به ۷۰۴ نفر میرسد.

اطلاعات دقیقی که بدست آمده از شکنجه دادن بعضی از بهائیان سرشناس حکایت میکند. برای مثال یکی از احباء مورد شکنجه و عذاب شدید واقع شده و در تحت این شرایط صعب مجبور به اعتراف به اتهامات دروغین گشته است. برخی دیگر که بهمین منوال مورد شکنجه و ایذاء قرار گرفته‌اند در مقابل فشارهای وارده بمنظور وادار نمودن آنان به اعترافات عمومی خلاف واقع برای استفاده در رادیو و تلویزیون مقاومت کرده‌اند...

بیت‌العدل اعظم

قسمتهائی از مرقومه یکی از یاران ایران ۲۳ اردیبهشت ۱۳۶۲

سلام و درود من و خانم بر سروران عزیز و گرامی که با نامه‌های جانبخششان باده روح میدهند و بر کالبد بی جان و از کارافتاده چنان جان میدهند که نه تنها انسان بر سر پیمان میرود بلکه عاشق شهادت میشود و چنان از خود بیخود میشود که میگوید رسم ره این است و جز این شرط وفانیست و از اینکه در نامه‌هایت ما را بوظیفه خود آشنا میکنی جای خوشحالی است و اگر تشویق شما عزیزان نبود و کمک‌های غیبی الهی شاید از وجود ناچیز ما چیزی باقی نمانده بود شبی نیست که با بدنی لرزان و دلی پردرد و روحی آشفته سر بر بالین نگذاریم این نه بخاطر خود است این بخاطر عزیزانی چون رحیمیان ... و کامران لطفی و رضوی و ... و بالاخره کسانی که در این منطقه زندگی میکنند که خواب و آرامش از چشمانشان گرفته شده است ولی با خانواده هر کدام که صحبت شده دنیائی از استقامت و روح هستند من فکر نمیکنم تا کنون تاریخ چنین انسانهائی را بخود دیده باشد وقتی با ... صحبت میکردم شیرزنی دیدم در نهایت لطف و محبت با کلمات متین و موقر ولی مصمم و پرشور چنان حرفهایشان تا مغز استخوانم اثر کرد که بی اختیار اشک از چشمانم جاری شد ولی او کوچکترین تردیدی در حرفهایش نداشت او مثل شیر میغرید و برای هر گونه جان نثاری آمادگی داشت.

او گفت زمانی که تفتیش منزل بپایان رسید و هرچه خواستند بردند رحیمیان با بچه‌ها خداحافظی کرد و آنها را بوسید وقتی خواست از منزل خارج شود باو گفتم صبر و شکیبائی و متانت و بردباری و از همه بالاتر حب جمال اقدس ابهی را فراموش مکن که ‎خوشت خونت‎ درباره استخلاص احبای الهی ریخته میشود تو باید مثل سلف با شهامت و بردبار باشی تا نام آنها را زنده نگه داری. شما را بخدا قسم توجه بفرمائید حق چه روحیه‌ای عطا کرده که یک زن شوهرش را میبرند آخرین دیدار را دارند او گریه نمیکند زار نمیزند ناله نمیکند دست التماس بسوی کسی دراز نمیکند شوهرش را با پای خودش بمیدان شهادت بدست سلاخان جلاد صفت میفرستد تا صفحه‌ای از مظلومیت بر اوراق تاریخ این دیانت اضافه شود... ولی خوشحالی ما از این است که هر شب ستاره‌ای بزمین میکشند و باز آسمان امر الهی پرستاره است... شاید این آخرین نامه باشد شاید ادامه داشته باشد ما که بفضل اش زنده‌ایم با امید وعده‌های ابهی اش دلخوش کرده‌ایم. غیر از این اشخاصی که یکنفر زن فداکار هم در میان این عده است که او را در خاک و خون کشیدند در منزلش و بجای نامعلوم برده‌اند دو نفر از عزیزان بنام حکیمیان ۶۰ ساله و جوانی نویسنده و دانشمند متأهل بنام صفائی بجوخه اعدام سپرده شدند.

من فکر نمیکنم انسان طاقت این همه ظلم و جور و عدوان را داشته باشد مگر انسان از فولاد است گرفتاری مادی، دوری فرزندان اشک یتیمان در بدری و خانه‌بدوشی دوستان از دست دادن عزیزان اینها همه‌اش داستان ناباروری است ولی چه میشود کرد سر تسلیم فرود آوریم ولی با وعده‌هایش دل خوشیم... وقتی نامه... را برایت نوشتم قسمت دوم آن را ننوشتم فقط با چند خط بپایان میبرم وقتی... محکوم باعدام شد و در زیر چوبه دار قرار گرفت نامه فرزندش را باو دادند که تعریف و تمجید از حاکم شرع کرده بود و از او خواسته بود که در این دنیای پهناور اگر پدرش را از او بگیرند در سن ۱۲ سالگی بی پدر خواهد شد و آینده‌اش معلوم نیست شاید بفساد کشیده شود و از او که بهترین فرد است و قاضی شرع شده خواسته بود بکار پدرش رسیدگی کند و او را بخانه‌شان بازگرداند ولی قاضی زمانی نامه را بپدر داد که او را تحت تاثیر قرار دهد و از سر عهد و پیمان بگذرد و بفرزندش فکر کند و ورقه‌ای را امضاء کند که بنویسد من بهائی نیستم میدانید و چه کرد؟ میدانید چه نیروئی او را تحت تاثیر قرار داد همان نیروئی که چرخ عظیم امر را به پیش میراند و باعث شد که صدای این مظلومان در تمام قارات بگوش برسد او عکس پسر را از جیب درآورد و پاره پاره کرد بر روی چهارپایه قرار گرفت و بر طناب دار بوسه زد او با استقبال شهادت شهامت او و معلم اخلاق بود مجسمه انسانیت بود که چنین مردانه جان باخت تو ببین داستان چیست و چگونه این راه ادامه دارد درباره مان دعا کن شاهد گفتگوی مادر و دختری بودم که مادر بفرزندش میگفت قدری آهسته‌تر براهت ادامه بده جاده خیلی هولناک است او میگفت شیرینی و حلاوت این راه بیمناکی فقط و فقط به خطرات آن است باید باین راه مردانه ادامه داد و از هیچ چیز نهراسید. [Page 23]

پیام بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی

ترجمه پیام منیع بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی خطاب به بهائیان ایالات متحده آمریکا مورخ ۲۳ مارس ۱۹۸۴

یاران محبوب و گرامی:

بمناسبت عید پرابتهاج رضوان که از قلم اعلی "عیدالاعظم" و "عیدالله" نامیده شده به آن امنای جلیل‌القدر و مجریان اصلی فرامین تبلیغی حضرت عبدالبهاء متوجهیم و از مجهودات عظیمه و موفقیت آمیزتان در سبل تحقق اهداف عدیده‌ای که در پیش دارید عمیقاً تقدیر می‌نمائیم.

دفاعی که در طی پنج سال اخیر با چنین مهارت و قدرت از احبای ستمدیده ایران نموده‌اید مقام رفیع آن جامعه را بعنوان "حصن حصین امرالله" تأیید و تثبیت کرده است. استمرار اقدامات متنوع و بی‌سابقه‌ای که در دوائر عالیه حکومت محلی، ایالتی و ملی بجهت حفظ منافع آنان معمول داشته‌اید و کوششهایی که منجر به ابراز همدردی و حمایت صریح نه فقط از جانب هیئت‌های مقننه و مسئولین دولت بلکه توسط رئیس جمهور مملکت گردیده است تاریخ خدمات بی‌نظیر شما را لمعانی بی‌بدیل می‌بخشد، و مقارن آن موفقیت ممتازی که در نشر اخبار مظالم وارده بر احبای ایران توأم با اعلان پیام مبارک حضرت بهاءالله از طریق وسائل ارتباط جمعی حاصل نموده‌اید امتیازات سابق را تحت الشعاع قرار داده است. تا بحال چنین توجه و حسن ظنی نسبت به امر الهی از جانب وسائل ارتباط جمعی و اولیای امور مملکتی مشاهده نشده است. نتایج حاصله فی‌الحقیقه عظیم و مایه سرور و افتخار کلیه عالم بهائی است.

در عین حال در میدان تبلیغ نیز پیشرفتی مداوم داشته‌اید. عدد محافل روحانی محلی که نقاطی را در نزدیکی خود بعنوان هدف تبلیغی اتخاذ نموده‌اند افزایشی قابل ملاحظه حاصل نموده است. احیای بومی آمریکائی نقشی فعالتر در نشر نفحات الله و اداره امور جامعه بعهده گرفته‌اند و نمونه بارز این تقدم امیدبخش مشارکت آنان در مشروع موفقیت آمیز "طریق نور" و افتتاح دارالتعلیم جنوب غرب آمریکا در منطقه خاص بومیان ناواهو بوده است. ابتکاراتی که در زمینه تبلیغ اقلیت‌های مختلف مانند مردم شرق آسیائی و اسپانیولی زبان بعمل آورده‌اید باعث ازدیاد تنوع اعضاء جامعه شده است. ‎مشارریع مشاريع‎ تبلیغی که با همکاری آلاسکا و کانادا و مکزیک در حوالی سرحدات مشترک ممالک اجرا نموده‌اید پرثمر بوده است. اعزام عده کثیری از مهاجرین و مبلغین سیار به سایر ممالک با جدیت تمام ادامه داشته است و حسن تدبیر و استقامت بهائیان مقیم جزائر فالکلند در ایام بحرانی آن جزائر جلوه‌ای خاص داشت. یقین است که در این مجهودات متنوعه تأییدات جمال اقدس ابهی مؤید بوده و ‎بلانک بلاشک‎ در تداوم در این سبیل موفق خواهید بود.

تأسیس مجدد مدرسه لوهلن و برنامه‌های مفیدی که تحت اشراف آن مؤسسه اجرا میگردد آتیه درخشانی را نوید میدهد. تحصیل جواز برای تأسیس رادیو بهائی در دارالتعلیم لوئیس گرگوری که اولین وسیله ارتباط جمعی بهائی در آمریکای شمالی است موفقیت عمده و اقدام مهمی است که نه تنها برای تحکیم و تقویت امر تبلیغ در ایالت کارولینای جنوبی مفید است بلکه حیثیت امر را در انظار بالا برده بر وسعت دائره نفوذ و برکات آن می‌افزاید. برنامه‌های مرتب و منظمی که برای تربیت اطفال طرح کرده‌اید و بیش از ۲۵۰۰۰ نفس در سراسر کشور داوطلبانه باجرای آن همت گماشته‌اند فی‌الواقع برجسته و ممتاز است و بایستی ادامه یابد. برنامه‌های مختلف بمنظور تشویق یاران به مطالعه نصوص مبارکه و نیز سعی و کوشش مؤسسه مطبوعات امری به طبع و نشر آثار مقدسه با جلد مقوائی بنحوی که علی‌رغم قیمت ارزان درخور شأن و مقام کلمات الهیه باشد مورد توجه و قدردانی است. بخصوص جوانان را بجهت خدمات خالصانه ایشان بار مبارک تحسین و تمجید می‌نمائیم. موفقیت‌های آنان از هدف تعیین شده یعنی پنج کنفرانس ناحیه‌ای در سال بمراتب بیشتر بوده است و در اعلان و ترویج امرالله در داخل و خارج کشور نیز سعی بلیغ مبذول داشته‌اند.

با وجود مسرت و ابتهاج حاصله از فتوحات برجسته‌ای که بآن نائل شده‌اید، اعم از آنچه ذکر شد و بسیاری دیگر که ذکر آنها در این مختصر ممکن نیست، نکته‌ای که مع‌الأسف جلب نظر این هیئت را میکند این است که قلت میزان تسجیل نفوس بطور وضوح با قوت و قدرت مجاهدات شما و فرصت‌های فراوانی که در آن سرزمین پرنعمت برای ترویج امرالله موجود است مغایرت دارد. از ذکر این مطلب منظور ایجاد یأس و پریشانی خاطر نیست بلکه مقصود این است که به امکانات و فرصتهای موجود بیشتر واقف گردید و به مراتب جدیدی از جهد و کوشش ارتقاء یابید. شما جامعه فاتحین و قهرمانانید و در صف مقدم لشکر شکست‌ناپذیر نور قرار دارید و بحق باید در طلیعه جیش آماده پیشروی باشید. وقایع ناخراشی که در این لحظات در مهد امرالله روی میدهد بیش از هر زمان ضرورت و فوریت تکثیر عدد اعضاء جامعه شما را آشکار میسازد، جامعه‌ای که مسؤولیت‌های خداداده و غیرقابل احتساب آن در مقابل جامعه جهانی کمتر از مسؤولیتش در مقابل خود جامعه نیست. انتظاراتی که تا بحال نصیب شما گردیده از توانائیتان برای ازدیاد عدد مؤمنین که هدف اصلی و اساسی است حکایت میکند و بلاشک تقدم امرالله در آن اقلیم منوط و موکول به این ازدیاد و توسعه است.

البته مسؤولیت اولیه در اجرای این هدف بعهده افراد احباء است. بنابراین در رتبه اول مخاطب ما در این مورد فرد فرد مؤمنین است که بفرموده حضرت ولی امرالله سرنوشت شما و جامعه نهایتاً منوط بهمت آنان است. فرد بهائی است که تصمیم میگیرد قیام به نشر نفحات‌الله نماید، و هیچ محفل روحانی یا لجنه تبلیغ و یا هیچ هیئتی از بهائیان خوش نیت هر قدر سعی و کوشش کنند نمیتوانند مقامی را که فرد بهائی در این فعالیت اساسی حائز است غصب نماید. با توجه باینکه محافل روحانی و لجنه های مربوطه سعی بلیغ در اعلان امرالله از طریق وسائل ارتباط جمعی و وسائل متفرقه دیگر مبذول داشته‌اند و مبالغ هنگفتی که برای این منظور صرف شده بمنزله سرمایه گذاری در امر تبلیغ است که راه را برای اقدام مبلغین هموار میسازد و تبلیغات هر قدر توجه و علاقه مردم را نسبت به امر جلب نماید نمیتواند جانشین سعی و کوشش شخصی در نشر نفحات الله شود، هر فرد بهائی باید از نو مصمم گردد که قیام نموده دعوت به تبلیغ را لبیک گوید. باید نصیحت ولی امر محبوب را عمل نموده "امکاناتی را که در موقعیت مخصوص حیات او برایش فراهم است بررسی نماید و مزایای آن را سنجیده با ذکاوت و نظم و ترتیب برای نیل بمقصدی که در نظر دارد مورد استفاده قرار دهد." همچنین باید بقدر کافی معرفت در تعالیم امر حاصل نموده فضائل آن معرفت را در زندگی روزانه خود منعکس سازد و بالاخره باید وقت را تلف ننماید و فرصت بیشتری را از دست ندهد. جامعه بهائی باید با اتکاء قدرت عمل و تشریک مساعی افراد مؤمنین با طرح و اجرای صحیح و منظم نقشه کار (بخلاف روش متداول در حیات امروزی جامعه آمریکائی که از خصائص آن شور و هیجان های زودگذر و تعلقات جنون آمیز ولی سطحی است) جهت‌نماید ثبات و تداوم بیشتری در شیوه توسعه و تقدم جوامع محلی و ملی حاصل گردد. هر جامعه بهائی که فعالیت‌های اساسیش در جهت احیاء و محافظت افراد، منسجم و پیوسته باشد از آرامش و اطمینانی درونی برخوردار خواهد بود و بقوۀ محرکۀ روحانی باهتزاز خواهد آمد و نفوذی مقاومت‌ناپذیر اعمال میکند و مسیر جدیدی برای تحولات اجتماعی تعیین مینماید و در نتیجه قادر است احترام و مآلاً تعهد و وفاداری محبین و منتقدین هر دو را جلب نماید.

این امکانات که اثرات عمیقی بر آن مترتب است به اراده فرد مؤمن بستگی دارد که پیشقدم شده مطابق راهنمائی مؤسسات بهائی مبادرت به عمل نماید و این اقدام را بدون انحراف نظر و توجه به ظواهر فریبنده فراوان اجتماع که در بحر مادیات غوطه‌ور و در حال انحلال است ادامه دهد. امید است که با تصمیمی جدید و وقف مجدد وجود خود با ارزش‌های روحانی تا وقت باقیست پیام حضرت بهاءالله را با فکر و تأمل و با صبر و تحمل بنحوی جالب به هموطنان خود اعم از ساکنین مدن یا قراء، وضع یا شریف، عالم یا امی، غنی یا فقیر ابلاغ نمائید.

اکنون بر آن جامعه شجیع است که طی دو سال آخرین مرحله نقشه هفت ساله، باقیمانده اهدافی را که در مراحل گذشته نقشه بشما واگذار شده تکمیل نمائید و در ضمن باحتیاجات ذیل توجه مخصوص مبذول دارید:

• مجهودات کنونی خود را در جهت تشدید و تقویت فعالیت‌های تبلیغی دنبال کنید، با اعلان امر از طریق وسائل ارتباط جمعی ادامه دهید و با اولیای امور و پیشوایان فکر در میادین مختلفه در سراسر کشور روابطی صمیمی برقرار نمائید.
• توجهی مخصوص به توسعه اقدامات تبلیغی بین بومیان آمریکا مبذول دارید تا راه برای...

[Page 24]

Oregon site of 1st Pacific N.W. conference for Bahá’í women

The first Pacific Northwest Bahá’í Women’s Conference, entitled “Achieving the Balance in a New World Order,” will be held June 1-3 at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Mrs. Florence Mayberry will be the keynote speaker. Workshops are planned along with devotions, entertainment, a children’s program, souvenirs, and a special exhibit showing accomplishments by women.

Men who register will act as support staff and attend workshops designed especially for them.

The costs (including two nights’ lodging and six meals) are as follows:

Adults, single occupancy, $62; adults, double occupancy, $53; adult commuter (all meals and registration fee), $33.50; adult commuter (registration fee only), $15.

Children 4 through 12, rooming with adult, $37.50; children 4 through 12, meals and registration fee only, $24.50; children 4 through 12, registration fee only, $10.50; children 4 and under, free.

For information, write to the registrar, Suzanne Mann, 1150 E. 21st Ave., Eugene, OR 97401, or phone 503-484-9565.

The Fund Is the Life-Blood of the Faith National Bahá’í Fund Wilmette, Ill. 60091

Can you identify anyone in this picture?

This photograph was taken in 1940 but the community and those in the picture are not known. Anyone who is able to identify either the community or any of the individual Bahá’ís should contact the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.

More than 100 traveling teachers ready to help with teaching, consolidation

The National Teaching Committee wishes to remind the friends that traveling teachers are available to help their communities in teaching and consolidation activities.

Presently, there are 115 adult and youth traveling teachers. More will be appointed after Riḍván to ensure that as many communities and individuals as possible will be able to benefit from their services, which include speaking at firesides and public meetings among other things.

If you or your community would like to have a traveling teacher visit, write to the National Teaching Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

1984 Archives Institute to be held July 19-22 at National Center

The National Bahá’í Archives Committee is planning to hold its 1984 Archives Institute July 19-22 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 a brief statement of their background and why they would like to attend.

The institute is designed to introduce believers who are 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.

The 1984 Special Visit Programs to the Bahá’í National Center*

View relics of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arranged especially for your visit by the National Archives.

See first hand how the National Spiritual Assembly conducts its business.

Learn how the construction of the “Mother Temple of the West” was a primary stimulus for the development of the American Bahá’í community. Tour areas of the building normally closed to visitors.

Tour the entire Bahá’í National Center visiting the:

• Office of the Secretary
• Office of the Treasurer
• National Committee Offices
• Bahá’í Publishing Trust
• Bahá’í Home

Have fun, make new friends, and participate in a spiritual experience you’ll never forget.

*The Special Visit Programs are for Bahá’ís only!

Register early!

Housing Package: Total Cost—Four Days, Three Nights

Dormitory at the National College of Education, two blocks from the House of Worship

All rooms have one or two twin beds—Building is not air-conditioned

• Single (1 person)............$52.50
• Double (2 persons)..........$75.00 ($37.50 each)

Send a $20 deposit to reserve each room. Please make checks payable to “Bahá’í Services Fund.”

Registration Form: Special Visit Programs 1984

Name _________________________________	List additional names here:
Address _______________________________	__________________________
City ________________ State ______ Zip ____	__________________________
Phone (Area Code ______________)	__________________________
Program attending	Housing	For Official Use Only
[ ] July 19-22	[ ] I am arranging my own	Date Received ___________
[ ] August 16-19	[ ] College Dorm	Deposit Amount _________
	Single [ ] Double [ ]	Check Number __________
	Share Double (if possible) [ ]	Acceptance Sent _________
		Balance Due ____________
(Please check one of the above)		Remarks ________________
Return registration form to: Special Visit Programs, Bahá’í House of Worship Activities Office, Wilmette, IL 60091

[Page 25]

Mensaje de Riḍván 1984 de la Casa Universal de Justicia

Muy amados amigos,

La emergencia de la oscuridad, que ha sido un rasgo tan marcado de la Causa de Dios durante los primeros cinco años del Plan de Siete Años, ha venido acompañada de cambios, tanto externos como internos, que afectan la comunidad mundial Bahá’í.

EXTERNAMENTE, hay señales de una cristalización de una imagen pública de la Causa—poco informada por la mayor parte, por más amistosa que sea—mientras que, internamente, creciente madurez y confianza son indicadas por mayor habilidad administrativa, un deseo de que las comunidades bahá’ís rindan servicio al cuerpo mayor de la humanidad, y una comprensión, que se profundiza cada vez más, de la pertinencia del Mensaje divino a los problemas modernos.

Deben tomarse en cuenta ambos aspectos del cambio mientras entramos en la tercera y última fase del Plan de Siete Años.

El año que acaba de finalizar ha sido ensombrecido por la ‎contínua continua‎ persecución de los amigos en Irán. A ellos se les ha obligado a disolver su estructura administrativa, han sido hostigados, desposeídos, despedidos del trabajo, destituidos de sus hogares, y a sus hijos se les niega la educación.

Unos seiscientos hombres, mujeres y niños están actualmente presos, a unos se les niega cualquier contacto con sus amigos y parientes, otros son sujetos a la tortura, y a todos se les presiona a renegar de su fe. Su firmeza ‎heróica heroica‎ y ejemplar ha sido el móvil principal en sacar a la Causa de la oscuridad, y es el consuelo de sus corazones que su sufrimiento tenga como resultado avances sin precedente en enseñar y proclamar el divino Mensaje a un mundo tan desesperadamente necesitado de su poder curador. Por esto abrazan el servicio final del martirio.

Nuestra obligación es clarísima. No les podemos fallar ahora. Acción sacrificada al enseñar y promover la Causa de Dios debe seguir cada instancia de publicidad que surge a raíz de su persecución. Que sea éste nuestro mensaje a ellos de amor y unión espiritual.

EN EL CAMPO internacional, las amadas Manos de la Causa, por quienes siempre crece nuestro amor y afecto, cuandoquiera que su salud lo ha permitido han seguido edificando y alentando a los amigos y promoviendo la unidad y marcha adelante del ejército de la vida.

El Centro Internacional de Enseñanza, operando desde su sede mundial, ha provisto a los Cuerpos de Consejeros de liderato y dirección cariñosos y sabios. Su esfera de servicio se ha extendido inmensamente por la asignación de nuevas responsabilidades y por la elevación del número de sus miembros Consejeros a siete.

Los servicios devotos de los Consejeros en todos los continentes, hábilmente apoyados por los miembros del Cuerpo Auxiliar, han sido valiosísimos en fomentar la salud e integridad espirituales de la comunidad mundial. Para el desarrollo adicional de este órgano vital del Orden Administrativo, se ha decidido establecer un término de cinco años de servicio para las personas nombradas a los Cuerpos Auxiliares, comenzando el 26 de noviembre de 1986.

El trabajo de la Comunidad Internacional Bahá’í en relación con las Naciones Unidas ha producido creciente aprecio de nuestras actitudes y principios sociales, y en ciertas instancias—notablemente las sesiones sobre los derechos humanos—la participación bahá’í ha sido espectacular, nuevamente como resultado del heroísmo de los amigos persas. La oficina en Ginebra se ha consolidado y se ha empleado más personal para tratar con sus actividades crecientes.

A pesar de problemas severos, la construcción de las Casas de Adoración de la India y de Samoa ha progresado satisfactoriamente, y la última de éstas será dedicada y abierta a las devociones públicas entre el 30 de agosto y el 3 de septiembre de 1984, cuando la Casa Universal de Justicia será representada por la Mano de la Causa Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum.

INMEDIATAMENTE después de la Convención Internacional el Riḍván pasado, fueron formadas dos nuevas Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales—en Santa Lucía y Dominica. Dos nuevas emisoras de radio harán sus trasmisiones inaugurales este año, a saber, Radio Bahá’í de Bolivia, en Caracollo, y WLGI, la emisora bahá’í en el Instituto Louis Gregory, en los Estados Unidos.

La comunidad bahá’í en once países, todos en el tercer mundo y nueve de los cuales son islas, ha alcanzado o superado el uno por ciento de la población total.

Durante los últimos meses de la segunda fase del Plan de Siete Años creyentes e instituciones por igual han respondido generosamente a un llamado que planteó las necesidades crecientes del Fondo Internacional. Confiamos en que contribuciones sostenidas y regulares durante la fase final del Plan harán posible que sus fines y objetivos sean plenamente alcanzados.

La entrada de la Causa en el escenario mundial se evidencia en una cantidad de enunciados públicos en las que se nos ha caracterizado como “ciudadanos modelos,” “apacibles,” “acatadores de la ley,” “no culpables de ninguna ofensa política ni crimen”; todos excelentes

Véase MENSAJE Pág. 30

Con la nación sioux: águilas, montañas y ceremonias sagradas

Por REGINA ANCHONDO

Nuestra llegada a Rapid City, South Dakota, fue tal vez la más excitante y turbulenta del viaje. ‎Encuanto En cuanto‎ bajamos del avión nos encontraron no solamente los Bahá’ís, sino un periodista de televisión también.

‎El Él‎ entrevistó a Consejera King y filmó a los sudamericanos, y Charles Nolley le dió una copia de la filmación que hicimos en Arizona para incluirla en el programa.

Nos quedó tiempo para un descanso de una hora (nos habíamos levantado a las 5 de la mañana) en casa de nuestros anfitriones y después salimos para Bear Butte, una montaña sagrada para los sioux. Es un sitio para ayunar y buscar visiones para los indígenas y los sudamericanos respetaron el ambiente del lugar.

Nos encontramos con dos jóvenes que se habían declarado como Bahá’ís como resultado del proyecto de enseñanza Amoz Gibson durante el verano y comenzamos la subida de la montaña. Hacía frío y viento pero fue ‎vivicativo vivificante‎. Los sudamericanos se sintieron muy en su elemento.

Una cena apresurada en Rapid City se siguió por una presentación a la cual vinieron varios indígenas Bahá’í. El día siguiente salimos muy temprano para llegar a la reservación Pine Ridge donde hubo una presentación en la escuela a las 9,30, y dos más inmediatamente después.

Acabamos almorzando con los estudiantes y después fuimos a visitar a Frank Fool’s Crow, un jefe espiritual muy importante para los sioux que recién se hizo Bahá’í.

UN JOVEN Bahá’í sioux tradujo del inglés al lakota (el idioma de ellos) mientras Ann y yo compartimos las traducciones de inglés al español.

Fool’s Crow regaló una pluma de águila a cada miembro del Camino del Sol, algo fuera de costumbre. Visitamos con él hasta la hora de salir para otra presentación, seguida por una entrevista por radio en otro pueblo.

Durante el día los administradores del colegio se dieron cuenta de nuestra presencia y nos invitaron a pasar las dos noches que nos tocaron en el pueblo en un apartamento para huéspedes del colegio. Fue en arreglo maravilloso. El día siguiente nos mostraron las facilidades y nos invitaron a almorzar en la cafetería.

Nuestro segundo día en el pueblo de Kyle empezó con la mañana libre y nos levantamos tarde y desayunamos sin prisa. Después sacamos la grabadora y tocamos las cintas que los indígenas pueblo habían regalado a los sudamericanos.

Hubo un baile en particular, la Danza del ‎Aguila Águila‎, que a Egon y a mí nos había gustado, y pasamos un tiempo tratando de reconstruirlo.

SABINO decidió enseñarnos un baile boliviano que podríamos usar en las presentaciones.

Fue un baile en círculo y mientras bailábamos entraron unos amigos para avisarnos que ‎trés tres‎ águilas daban vueltas sobre nuestro edificio. Este es un signo propicio para los indígenas norteamericanos.

En la tarde tuvimos oportunidad de visitar una exposición de arte indígena en una misión en la reserva. También visitamos las oficinas tribales donde nos presentaron a cada empleado presente y les invitamos a asistir al programa de la noche.

Una memoria sobresaliente de nuestra visita a Pine Ridge es la hospitalidad que nos mostraron los creyentes nativos y otros Bahá’ís de la región.

Verdaderamente se superaron para que nos sintiéramos amados y bienvenidos, e hicieron todo lo posible para que nuestra visita fuera agradable.

EDWIN Roberts, quien reemplazó a Ernie Bruss como nuestro guía cuando llegamos a South Dakota, nos llevó a las tierras malas (Badlands), y a ver bisontes, el animal más parecido al búfalo que en el pasado dominaba los llanos.

Manejamos casi encima de ellos y mientras mirábamos el bisonte macho mirar a nosotros, nuestro vehículo se sentía más y más pequeño y más y más endeble.

Nuestro orgullo se salvó cuando ellos decidieron irse antes de nosotros.

Muy tarde en la noche del tercer día en Pine Ridge salimos para Pierre donde pasamos un día más, hicimos una presentación, y partimos la mañana siguiente para la reserva Standing Rock, que se extiende de South Dakota a North Dakota.

La gente de Little Eagle en la reserva se excedieron para darnos la bienvenida. Hubo ceremonias preliminares, charlas, cena, la presentación nuestra, una ceremonia de pipa, y el primer verdadero intercambio de bailes.

AQUÍ los sudamericanos aprendieron el “baile de entrar a hurtadillas,” que requiere que el bailarín preste atención estricta al ritmo del tambor para poder cesar de bailar en cuanto pare el tambor.

Egon después impresionó a los ‎nez perce Nez Perce‎ en Idaho con su habilidad y precisión en este baile. Fue una noche maratón y maravillosa, gracias a la organización y participación de los Bahá’ís indígenas de la reserva y el Comité de Enseñanza de North Dakota.

El día siguiente salimos para Fort Yates donde había una presentación en el colegio superior. Sin embargo, antes de salir de Little Eagle, los sudamericanos tuvieron la oportunidad de participar en una ceremonia tradicional, la casilla de sudor, guiados por un Bahá’í sioux.

Mientras los hombres se ocuparon en la casilla Ann y yo nos quedamos en la cocina platicando con la esposa del señor, una indígena pascua yaqui de Arizona y, a propósito, la nieta del jefe espiritual de la tribu a quien conocimos en Tucson.

Consejera King ya se había ido para acompañar al otro equipo en Alaska, y todos nos reuniríamos en Neah Bay después. En cuanto ella se fue llegó Ernie Bruss de Arizona para reemplazarla. Fue una reunión feliz.

EL VIAJE hacia Fort Yates, aunque corto, fue memorable.

Yo iba manejando el carro de una Bahá’í local que traía sus dos hijitas mientras los otros viajaron en un van. ‎En el mitad En la mitad‎ del camino el van frenó, se volteó y regresó rumbo a Little Eagle. No podíamos imaginar el problema y continuamos hacia Fort Yates.

Cuando ellos nos alcanzaron de nuevo en el pueblo, nos contaron que habían parado para recoger un puerco espín muerto que vimos estirado al lado del camino. Ellos pasaron la tarde quitando las espinas del animal para hacer ornamentos.

En Fort Yates tuvimos la oportunidad de aceptar la hospitalidad del Servicio para Salud Indígena tanto como de los Bahá’ís locales.

Ann, Clemente, Egon y yo estuvimos enfermos durante la corta visita. Todos menos Ann acabamos en la clínica la mañana siguiente.

Al principio yo fui con el papel de traductora, pero muy pronto se hizo evidente que Dios en su misericordia me había puesto en el lugar apropiado al tiempo de-

Véase CAMINO Pág. 30

Sara y Heliodoro Sotelo de Talent, Oregon, se ‎reunen reúnen‎ con amigos de las Asambleas Espirituales locales de Ashland y Jackson County, Oregon, para celebrar el primer aniversario de su matrimonio. [Page 26]

Dr. Pereira’s talk highlights Toledo teaching conference

The Spiritual Assembly of Toledo, Ohio, sponsored a day-long teaching conference March 31 at the University of Toledo.

The purpose of the conference was to help the friends strengthen their teaching skills and find other ways of presenting the Faith to people they see every day.

Speakers at the morning session included Continental Counsellor Sarah Martin Pereira, Douglas Allen, Dawn Haghighi and Dr. Marvin Hughes.

A highlight of the afternoon session was a public talk by Dr. Pereira on “Universal Peace—A Goal.”

Also in the afternoon, Mrs. Pat Jackson explained her systematic teaching method which she calls the “F.L.A.M.E.” program.

Her approach to teaching was used as the basis for afternoon workshops.

Entertainment was provided by the group “Wellspring,” during which refreshments were served and the friends were able to meet and talk with their guests.

Dr. Sarah Martin Pereira, a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Americas, speaks on ‘World Peace—A Goal’ at a public meeting March 31 at the University of Toledo, Ohio.

Counsellor Sarah Martin Pereira (standing in front row center behind children) was one of the featured speakers at a day-long teaching conference March 31 sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Toledo, Ohio.

For 9th year, N.J. Bahá’ís have booth at Education Association’s convention

For the ninth year, Bahá’ís staffed a booth at the annual New Jersey Education Association convention last November 10-11 in Atlantic City.

More than 30,000 teachers, administrators and their families visited the convention, and a record number stopped at the Bahá’í booth for information and literature, more than 1,000 pieces of which were given out including 700 “poster-pamphlets” published by Images International.

One teacher who had used a Bahá’í poster in her classroom since the previous year returned for a new one, saying she thinks of the Bahá’ís often.

A school principal took 25 posters, one for each of his teachers, so they would know of the Faith and its Holy Days.

A professor at a community college took 25 copies of each pamphlet to give to his students in comparative religion.

Many people stopped to tell of their visits to the Shrines in Haifa and the Temple in Wilmette.

Philadelphia’s World Religion Day event held in historic Temple University chapel

Participants in the World Religion Day observance at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, included people of the Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Quaker, Sikh, and Bahá’í religions. The ethnic diversity included those of black, white, Hispanic, American Indian, Persian, and East Indian backgrounds.

In January, the Bahá’ís of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held their annual World Religion Day event at the Chapel of Four Chaplains on the campus of Temple University.

Ethel Henderson chaired the meeting, which was planned and carried out by the Teaching Committee of Philadelphia and included an address by Sandra Todd of Wilmington, Delaware, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board.

Participating readers were from Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Quaker, American Indian, Sikh, and Bahá’í backgrounds. Bahá’ís also read from Buddhist and Muslim scriptures.

Among the guests were people of several ethnic backgrounds including Hispanic, Japanese, Persian, Swedish, East Indian, and American Indian.

The Chapel of Four Chaplains, named in honor of four clergymen of different faiths who sacrificed their lives during the sinking of a troop ship in World War II by giving their life preservers to soldiers, is situated near the Baptist Temple in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke on June 9, 1912.

The present chaplain, Dr. Walter White, not only invited the Bahá’ís to hold next year’s World Religion Day event at the chapel, but has urged the formation of a Bahá’í Club at Temple University and offered to supply a meeting place and coffee and doughnuts.

The chaplain was given a copy of The Promulgation of Universal Peace, which includes the text of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s address at Temple University, after which he asked for four more books for the chapel library.

Dr. White has since purchased six more books, and was given a photograph of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which he will place in the chapel’s gallery.

Nearly 80 Bahá’ís and guests attend Naw-Rúz potluck dinner in Wisconsin

Between 70 and 80 Bahá’ís and their guests, young and old alike, attended a Naw-Rúz potluck celebration March 21 that was co-sponsored by the Bahá’í communities of Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Despite falling snow and slippery roads, a lovely spirit of fellowship was evident with many nations represented including Hong Kong, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua, Taiwan and Thailand.

Among the guests were two recently arrived refugee families from Iran, sponsored by the Fond du Lac community, and a pioneer en route to Japan.

Since June 1983 the Bahá’í community of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has raised more than $104 for the various Bahá’í Funds by collecting aluminum cans, thanks to the Wisconsin aluminum recycling program.

Friends in any state which has such a program may also adopt this painless practice for the sake of the Funds.

Pamela Strong, a 16-year-old Bahá’í youth from Riverton, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, has been named a state finalist in the ‘Outstanding Young American’ competition to be held May 25-27 in Cherry Hill. The winner of the New Jersey contest will be eligible for the national competition to be held next August in Hawaii. Pamela, a sophomore, is a member of the National Honor Society and Key Club, plays varsity soccer, and represented the freshman class during Homecoming activities. An active member of the Bahá’í Group of Riverton, she participated in the last two Bahá’í conferences at Mount Holyoke (Massachusetts) College and has worked at both the New Jersey and Green Acre Bahá’í schools.

Bahá’ís from several communities in Southern California District No. 2 and many non-Bahá’ís attended an Ayyám-i-Há party and dance February 25 that was sponsored by the Bahá’í community of Ontario. Shown here are (left to right) Peter Wong, Amy Wong, Shahram Shahriari, Fariba Shahriari, Priscilla Womack, Thomas A. Womack. Music was provided by Pat Shelton of Diamond Bar, and the evening’s activities were coordinated by Andreina and Andreini McPherson of Rialto. [Page 27]

INTERMEDIA

News from the Office of Public Affairs

A recap of clippings from the national news clipping services indicates a surprising and gratifying trend. The last week in March produced 86 articles, only 18 of which were concerned with the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran. This is a strong indication that the Bahá’í Faith itself has become newsworthy.

There were 68 articles written either about local Bahá’í activities, mentioning the Faith as one of the recognized religions of the world, or describing the history and tenets of the Faith and its local adherents. These results are a tribute to the dedicated work of the grassroots public information networks, the teams and the representatives, some of whom are isolated believers.

Fruitful harvest

The Bahá’ís of Montezuma County, Colorado, were pleased and surprised to find an article entitled “Senate Deplores Bahá’í Treatment” in the Montezuma Valley Journal because it was one they had not submitted. When they inquired about its origin, a member of the paper’s staff replied that copies of all state legislative resolutions are sent from the Colorado legislature regularly. When the editor saw the resolution condemning the treatment of Bahá’ís in Iran, he placed it in the paper because “he thought it would please the Bahá’ís.”

The Bahá’ís of Montezuma County have worked for more than 10 years to establish a good relationship with the editor and staff of the paper. They have regularly submitted articles and placed ads about the Faith.

Unified efforts produce results

Sixteen Bahá’í communities in southwestern Oregon have united to sponsor the 26-week “Spiritual Revolution” series on a Medford TV station. This well-planned media and teaching event included a mailing of “101 Teaching Ideas” to each Assembly, a monthly Fund letter, and successful fund raising to pay for air time for the entire series.

The impressive coordination of TV series, newspaper advertising in every Assembly’s area, Sunday breakfast firesides at showtime, Saturday door-to-door flyers, and other inspired activities has produced splendid results. Two declarations were made in a five-week period, half a dozen calls from interested people are received each week, every area reports greater attendance by seekers at firesides, and more requests for literature are being received.

Credibility of the Faith has also been more firmly established with other religious organizations. According to Dr. David Young of the Grants Pass community, “This is the best received, most productive teaching effort in all my years in Oregon.”

And in California ...

The Bahá’í Media Council of the North Bay area has reviewed the “Spiritual Revolution” tapes. Approving the excellent quality and presentation, and inspired by the success of the Oregon project, they have enlisted the support of Bahá’í communities in the surrounding area and intend to carry forward a similar campaign complete with coordinated advertising and teaching activities.

Such efforts conform to activities encouraged by the Universal House of Justice in its Naw-Rúz 1974 message: “The proclamation of the Faith, following established plans and aiming to use on an increasing scale the facilities of mass communication, must be vigorously pursued. It should be remembered that the purpose of proclamation is to make known to all mankind the fact and general aim of the new Revelation while teaching programs should be planned to confirm individuals from every stratum of society.”

Bahá’í TV/Radio Guide?

If your community is regularly airing a Bahá’í program on radio or television, please inform the Office of Public Affairs. A listing can be included in The American Bahá’í so that Bahá’ís who have friends or family living in your area can be asked to tune in. Advance notice of at least 30 days is required so that the information will be current in the following month’s edition of the paper. Kudos to Terry Ostovar of Ashland, Oregon, for this suggestion.

Niteline

A weekly update on Bahá’í media events is now being provided by the Office of Public Affairs. You may phone 312-869-9843 to get the latest “Bahá’í news.” Call after 5 p.m. and before 8:30 a.m. CST.

Media materials

A new listing of the more than 70 media-related items available from the Office of Public Affairs will be mailed upon request.

Capitalizing

The Lubbock, Texas, Bahá’ís air an everyday morning message during the CBS-TV “Morning News” program. Once every seven weeks they run a daily five-minute message from 7:25-7:30 a.m. Kim Bowers wants to challenge other communities to do the same. The Lubbock community is willing to exchange video messages. Contact Kim at Lubbock, TX 79424, or phone 806-794-3180.

New TV, radio spots now available from Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs

New and exciting media materials are ready for distribution from the Office of Public Affairs.

The eagerly awaited TV public service announcements produced by Karl Krogstad, an international award winner, have been completed by Barer/Goldblatt Associates of Bellevue, Washington.

PRODUCED on a “shoe-string” budget, what normally would have cost up to $200,000 was completed for only $8,000.

According to reports from the preview showing at Seattle’s “Wage Peace” Institute, the spots are a stunning success.

The complete series of six public service announcements is available in 3/4-inch format for $20.

The six 30-second spots include one in Spanish which emphasizes the oneness of the family of man.

In another, a timely Olympic-style race pictures competitors from various nations and races sprinting down a track.

This race, however, has a unique ending. The runners finish with arms linked together. The tag line is, “With unity—everyone wins!”

A putdown of stereotypical judgments is portrayed in a “youth” spot; a subtle play on racism ends with a surprise finish in a lawyer’s office; and there’s a “headache” commercial dealing with prejudice that you won’t soon forget.

A spot on high tension industry ends in a warm and friendly family scene and conveys the message that what happens at home can change the world.

Also newly available is a series of public service announcements for radio.

These PSAs, which feature music by England Dan and John Ford Coley, were produced for the Office of Public Affairs by Nabil Jurney and Terry Setzer of North Carolina.

Messrs. Jurney and Setzer, both of whom are professional broadcasters, recently formed “Peace Productions,” an audio production company dedicated to creating new and innovative Bahá’í radio programs.

The new PSA series is designed to work well with any radio station format. Their theme is “Wage peace ... while there’s still time.” The cost for the complete series is $5.

There is still plenty of the ABC “20/20” video tapes in all formats. A phone call to the Office of Public Affairs will provide information about shipping terms. The number is 312-869-9039.

All of these materials can be ordered from the Office of Public Affairs, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091. Checks should be made payable to “Bahá’í Services Fund.”

Bahá’ís from Greensboro and Guilford County, North Carolina, are shown with an example of their cooperative ‘Wage Peace’ billboard effort.

Washington’s National Gallery displays paintings by Bahá’í artist Mark Tobey

An exhibit of more than 45 paintings by internationally acclaimed Bahá’í artist Mark Tobey is now being shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The exhibit, entitled “Mark Tobey: City Paintings,” began March 18 and will continue until June 17 with a possibility of extension beyond that date.

It features work in a variety of media including tempera, water color, gouache and oil, executed between 1933 and 1970.

The exhibit was arranged by Eliza Rathbone, assistant curator of 20th century art at the National Gallery.

A stunning catalog describing Mr. Tobey’s works and the influence of the Faith on his creativity can be obtained by requesting the “Mark Tobey: City Paintings” catalog from the Publication Services Office of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 20565. Please enclose payment of $12.95 per catalog and $2 per order to cover postage and handling.

CIRBAL slates three-week radio broadcasting course in Puerto Rico

A three-week crash course designed to train Bahá’ís in the fundamentals of radio broadcasting with special emphasis on the role of the Bahá’í radio pioneer will be held July 2-21 at the new CIRBAL Training Centre in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

The course is sponsored by CIRBAL’s Amoz Gibson Training Centre for Bahá’í Media.

The course instructors are K. Dean Stephens, director of CIRBAL’s broadcast division and designer of Radio Bahá’í facilities in several countries, and Dr. Randie Gottlieb, who recently completed an 81-nation study on the training needs of international Bahá’í teachers.

Classes will be held Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2 to 6 p.m. for a total of 144 hours of instruction.

The tuition of $400 per student includes materials, room and board with $100 payable by June 18, and the remaining $300 by the July 2 starting date.

This is the seventh in a highly successful series of courses offered in Puerto Rico and the U.S. during the last five years.

Sessions will be conducted in English at the new CIRBAL Training Centre on a farm in the hills near Arecibo.

All graduates will receive a certificate suitable for framing.

Questions should be directed to CIRBAL, Amoz Gibson Training Centre, Rio Arriba, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 00612. [Page 28]

VIE Chart

Continued from Page 5

District Name	‘Starting Block’ Info			Current Month Info (‘Alá’)
	Membership as of 12/9/83	Number of participants	Percentage of participation	Membership as of 4/6/84	Number of participants	Percentage of participation
Indiana	541	66	12.2	523	87	16.6
Iowa	383	63	16.4	372	51	13.7
Kansas	340	35	10.3	342	52	15.2
Kentucky	231	25	10.8	226	33	14.6
Louisiana N	84	11	13.1	81	16	19.8
Louisiana S	536	21	3.9	512	21	4.1
Maine	216	26	12.0	213	40	18.8
Maryland W/D.C.	752	79	10.5	765	86	11.2
Massachusetts	946	103	10.9	945	115	12.2
Michigan Mainland	1,171	126	10.8	1,162	135	11.6
Minnesota N	166	26	15.7	158	32	20.3
Minnesota S	434	79	18.2	433	87	20.1
Mississippi	415	18	4.3	392	16	4.9
Missouri	657	75	11.4	646	85	13.2
Montana	347	36	10.4	344	61	17.7
Navajo/Hopi	370	9	2.4	368	26	7.1
Nebraska	307	45	14.7	293	52	17.7
Nevada N	165	14	8.5	174	15	8.6
Nevada S	150	16	10.7	153	19	12.4
New Hampshire	339	44	13.0	347	41	11.8
New Jersey	693	78	11.3	691	94	13.6
New Mexico S/Texas W	979	22	2.2	1,001	27	2.7
New Mexico N	481	37	7.7	476	55	11.6
New York E	1,254	93	7.4	1,259	107	8.5
New York W	582	78	13.4	588	94	16.0
North Carolina C	636	31	4.9	621	19	3.1
North Carolina E	654	17	2.6	644	12	1.9
North Carolina W	408	32	7.8	403	39	9.7
North Dakota	137	16	11.7	128	25	19.5
Ohio N	551	66	12.0	540	82	15.2
Ohio S	388	46	11.8	390	58	14.9
Oklahoma E	358	26	7.3	335	26	7.8
Oklahoma W	499	28	5.6	477	29	6.1
Oregon E	276	4	1.4	260	8	3.1
Oregon W	1,255	103	8.2	1,252	121	9.7
Pennsylvania E	452	60	13.3	454	63	13.9
Pennsylvania W	195	26	13.3	196	39	19.9
Rhode Island	108	13	12.0	107	12	11.2
South Carolina C	1,314	10	0.76	1,300	12	0.9
South Carolina E No. 1	2,397	3	0.12	2,354	2	0.1
South Carolina E No. 2	2,017	6	0.29	1,996	3	0.2
South Carolina N	821	4	0.48	806	4	0.5
South Carolina S No. 1	627	6	1.0	606	10	1.7
South Carolina S No. 2	794	4	0.5	797	23	2.9
South Carolina W	386	15	3.9	384	24	6.3
South Dakota	266	7	2.6	266	13	4.9
Tennessee E	159	23	14.5	156	31	19.9
Tennessee W	300	19	6.3	292	21	7.2
Texas C No. 1	528	34	6.4	517	49	9.5
Texas C No. 2	105	3	2.9	98	4	4.1
Texas E No. 1	1,269	83	6.5	1,281	97	7.6
Texas E No. 2	838	70	7.4	861	56	6.5
Texas N	186	13	7.0	176	9	5.1
Texas S	219	12	5.5	207	18	8.7
Utah	251	29	11.6	250	22	8.8
Vermont	156	20	12.8	154	34	22.1
Virginia N	670	53	7.9	674	58	8.6
Virginia S	538	40	7.4	539	45	8.3
Washington NW	1,011	93	9.2	1,005	128	12.7
Washington SW	356	38	10.7	362	35	9.7
West Virginia	178	15	8.4	177	14	7.9
Wis. N/Peninsular Mich.	237	41	17.3	245	44	18.0
Wisconsin S	757	130	17.2	745	118	15.8
Wyoming	151	15	10.0	149	13	8.7

National Assembly to be Green Lake guests

The National Spiritual Assembly will be among the honored guests September 14-16 when the Green Lake, Wisconsin, Bahá’í Conference celebrates its 25th anniversary.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Confirmation of Your Initiatives.”

Besides holding its regularly scheduled meeting at Green Lake that weekend, the National Assembly will present a program Saturday, September 15, as a part of the conference itself.

As in past years, the conference is being held at the American Baptist Assembly in Green Lake, a spacious and secluded site whose accommodations range from cabins, campsites and cottages to dormitories, luxury homes and a lakefront hotel.

Most adult sessions are held in the central meeting hall, with optional Saturday afternoon classes in a number of nearby buildings.

A nursery will be provided along with classes for children, pre-youth and youth.

Recreational facilities include an indoor swimming pool, boating, fishing, bicycling, tennis, golf, and miles of nature trails through lovely hills and valleys.

Registration inquiries should be sent to the American Baptist Assembly, registration, Green Lake, WI 54941 (phone 414-294-3323).

For program information only, write to Ian Bamber, planning committee secretary, Marinette, WI 54143, or phone 715-735-9075.

Thirty people including 15 children and 12 non-Bahá’ís attended an Ayyám-i-Há party February 26 sponsored by the Bahá’í Group of Milford, Massachusetts. The party included games (such as ‘pin the book-on-the-sun’), homemade pizza, music, charades and a piñata. The children decorated an Ayyám-i-Há poster that will be saved for next year’s party. Shown here are (left to right) Elizabeth Fishman, Benjamin Hoffman and Kayla Fishman.

Trust

Continued From Page 15

both Persian and English, is yet another book that will attract parents and children.

O God, My God ... features attractive calligraphic renderings of the original Persian and Arabic on the left-hand pages and the English translations on the right-hand pages.

O God, My God ... (Cat. No. 315-089, $5) is certain to be popular in families that speak both Persian and English.

A new edition of The Advent of Divine Justice featuring a thematic table of contents and a new index is certain to set the stage for a re-examination of Shoghi Effendi’s timeless letter to the North American Bahá’ís.

Advent (hardcover, Cat. No. 108-045, $12; softcover, Cat. No. 108-046, $6.50) spells out the destiny of America, the spiritual prerequisites necessary for ensuring that destiny, and the hows and whys of teaching and pioneering so essential for fulfilling America’s destiny.

A new printing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s The Secret of Divine Civilization (hardcover, Cat. No. 106-006, $10), bound to match Some Answered Questions and The Promulgation of Universal Peace, will provide timely information to anyone trying to discuss the future of Iran with seekers.

Two cassettes in the “Legacy of Service” series complete the end-of-the-year releases from the Publishing Trust.

One—Because We Love the Faith—features the Hands of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker and Amelia Collins (Cat. No. 831-057, $7). The other—The Foundation of Learning—features the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Abdu’l-Qásim Faizi (Cat. No. 831-058, $7).

Other 1983-84 Publishing Trust releases include:

• Pocket-sized editions of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (Cat. No. 103-031, $3.50); Kitáb-i-Íqán (Cat. No. 103-032, $3.50); and Some Answered Questions (Cat. No. 106-043, $3.50)—all of which were praised by the Universal House of Justice in its 1984 Naw-Rúz message to the Bahá’ís of the United States.

• Full-color lithographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reproduced from the only known color photographs of the Master. They are available in two sizes—11 x 14 inches (Cat. No. 875-019, $12) and 5 x 7 inches (Cat. No. 875-020, $5).

• Bahá’í Proofs, Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl’s treatise addressed to 20th-century Americans of a Christian background. The book (Cat. No. 332-116, $15) elucidates many of the teachings of the Faith and contains an informative introduction by Juan Ricardo Cole and a new index.

• A new edition of God’s Great Plan (Cat. No. 341-012, $2), Henry Ginn’s popular study guide unfolding the Bahá’í teachings to Christians.

[Page 29]

Ads

Continued From Page 16

selor at middle school level, two elementary school teachers. For more information write to the National Teaching Committee or phone 312-869-9039.

EMPLOYMENT opportunities in North Carolina. If you can pioneer to this lovely state, please call the National Teaching Committee immediately at 312-869-9039. Your resumé will be reviewed for a job-bank file search that could yield concrete leads and help to win the goals for North Carolina.

KODALY Music Training Institute for teachers of young children will be held June 10-17 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School. The institute will train teachers in the fundamentals of the Kodaly method, now being used successfully in many countries throughout the world. Instructors include Sister Lorna Zemke, an internationally known Kodaly teacher; Mrs. Mimi McClellan; and several Bahá’í music teachers. The cost for the course is $150 (dorm-style housing, 3-4 per room). Contact the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

EXPERIENCED gardeners are encouraged to offer their services for six months at the World Centre. Physical fitness is important, and owing to the nature of the work and local customs, only men should apply. These short-term positions require that the individual furnish his own travel expenses to and from the World Centre. For applications or further information, please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

HELP US win the goals of the Seven Year Plan. The Bahá’í National Center is seeking individuals to serve in a variety of secretarial positions. Requirements include strong organizational skills, fast and accurate typing, and a friendly and courteous disposition. Live and serve beneath the shadow of the Mother Temple of the West. For applications or information, please contact the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 312-869-9039.

SPANISH-speaking or bi-lingual homefront pioneers are needed on any of three Indian Reservations: Toppenish, Wapato and Yakima, all in Washington state. Please contact the National Teaching Committee, 312-869-9039.

TRAVELING Bahá’í theatre which intends to help consolidate 250 Local Assemblies on the Peruvian Andes’ "altiplano" near Lake Titicaca (home of Radio Bahá’í) from January to March 1985 needs dancers, gymnasts, actors, mimes, mask makers, costume designers, and especially a choreographer. The pioneer/artistic director will be interviewing in New York in July. For more information, please contact the International Goals Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 312-869-9039).

THE BAHÁ’Í community of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, will once again offer a special fireside for Bahá’ís and their guests on Sunday morning, July 29, during the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) convention in Oshkosh. Convention dates are July 28-August 4. For information about time and place, please phone 414-233-5769 or 414-235-5956, or look for the ad in the special EAA newspaper edition that is available at the convention.

PRE-SCHOOL teachers: your help is needed to start a Bahá’í pre-school in the most remote area of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. Materials, ideas, and help in planning would be appreciated. The hope is to eventually employ Native American Bahá’í teachers. Also: Elementary level teachers are needed at a BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) boarding school. Excellent salary plus 10 per cent bonus and low-cost, tax-deductible government housing. Also, jobs for nurses and MDs. Lovely canyon-land scenery, mild climate. Please contact the Bahá’ís of Shonto Chapter, c/o Olander, Shonto, AZ 86054, or phone 602-672-2488.

BAHÁ’Í youth would like to correspond with other young Bahá’ís to share interests, hobbies, ideas, opinions, hopes for the future. Write to Paula Baylor, ... Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44112.

PIONEERING opportunities in southeastern Alaskan Indian villages—all in beautiful locations. Job openings exist especially for teachers and alcoholism counselors. For more information, contact the Lower Southeastern Goals Committee, c/o Kay Larson, secretary, ... Kake, AK 99830.

WANTED: A temporary homefront pioneer for a pilot project in a difficult goal area in eastern Oregon. Will be a full-time teacher/consolidator for at least three months. Minimum subsistence allowance to be provided by the District Teaching Committee. Must be single, deepened, audacious teacher. Please send resumé with references to the Eastern Oregon District Teaching Committee, Temporary Pioneer Project, c/o Wei Veach, ... Bend, OR 97701.

ENTREPRENEURS’ conference for people who are thinking of starting, in the process of starting, or have already started their own business will be held July 19-22 at the Louhelen Bahá’í School. Experienced business people and professional consultants will offer advice on how to maximize one’s chances for success. Time will be provided for small group and individual consultations. The conference aims to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, to offer sound advice, to help increase the material resources of the Bahá’í community, and to capitalize on the potential released by the Universal House of Justice’s call to enter the field of social and economic development. To register, send a $10 deposit to the Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423; phone 313-653-5033.

NEED a homefront pioneer? Help us send one to your locality. Keep us informed about jobs, schools, rooms for rent, homes to share, and a general description of your community. These are most helpful in matching pioneers to posts. Please write to the National Teaching Committee, or phone 312-869-9039. Thank you.

CHILE has a vast potential for growth with many thousands of people waiting to hear about Bahá’u’lláh. But like so many other countries, it has neither enough pioneers nor resources to handle the growing needs for teaching and consolidation. Especially needed now is a manual slide projector. If you can help meet this need, please write to the ‎Nacional Comite Nacional Comité‎ Audio-Visual de los Bahá’ís de Chile, Casilla 3731, Santiago, Chile.

POSITION is open for a teacher’s apprentice for the month of June for a female Bahá’í youth (age 15-21) at a small Bahá’í-owned private school working with grades K-2. Free room; share meal costs with female Bahá’í teacher. Send letter of introduction and any questions to the South Side Prep School, Box 877, Alamosa, CO 81101, or phone 303-589-3217.

FEEL that your talents are being under-employed in a large community? Want to feel really needed? Then consider homefront pioneering to Crete, Nebraska, which has had an Assembly for nine years but is in jeopardy with only eight adult Bahá’ís. Although jobs are hard to find in Crete, a community of 5,000 about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln, home of the University of Nebraska, there are three major industries, a liberal arts college, a hospital and nursing home, a radio station and weekly newspaper. For information, write to P.O. Box 54, Crete, NE 68333, or phone 402-826-4134.

ELECTRICAL engineers: Come help the goal community of Norwich, Vermont. A growing wind energy firm needs two electrical engineers with power generation and transmission and electromechanical/electronics backgrounds. Phone immediately, 312-869-9039, and ask for the homefront pioneer coordinator.

A FAMILY of Persians, blacks or other minority (or non-minority) sought as homefront pioneers to Lebanon, Oregon, the site of extensive media work. In moving to Lebanon, you would join its one present Bahá’í to form a Group, and with the help of the Spiritual Assembly of Linn County, could help water the seeds that are being planted in that city. You can make a difference! For more information contact the Spiritual Assembly of Linn County, ... Scio, OR 97374, or phone 503-394-3914.

WANTED: Articles, stories, personal accounts of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth, and child-rearing experiences for Spiritual Mothering Journal. Artwork and questions pertaining to parenthood are also welcome. Subscription rates are $7 for four issues, $1.75 for past issues. Write for a listing of past and future issues, or send your articles, etc., to Spiritual Mothering, P.O. Box 128, Dover, NH 03820.

NSA Properties needs an individual with many years experience in facilities maintenance and supervising maintenance workers to oversee routine cleaning at the House of Worship in Wilmette, the Hazíratu’l-Quds, and other Bahá’í properties in Wilmette. This is a temporary position, from three to six months, available immediately. Ideal for a retired person. Please phone (collect, if necessary) Karen in the Personnel Office, Bahá’í National Center, 312-869-9039.

On December 8, the Bahá’ís of Hinton, West Virginia, made a contribution to the city’s new public library in memory of the Bahá’í martyrs in Iran. Dr. Bahman Payman (second from right) and Mrs. Sorour Payman (right) are shown making the donation to the librarian, Mrs. Ziegler (left) and the library’s treasurer, Mrs. Davidson. The photo was printed in the local paper with an extensive article about the Faith and the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran.

SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS

only $3.50*

—A must for teaching Christians —A must for deepening

• your grasp of the teachings
• your ability to teach others
• your support of Bahá’í institutions

handsomely bound in durable blue cover measures 4¼ x 7 inches 324 pages index

Pocket-sized edition Cat. No. 106-043 $3.50*

Order through your local librarian, or send check or money order (including 10% for postage and handling, minimum $1.50) to Bahá’í Publishing Trust 415 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, IL 60091

• Price valid only in the United States

[Page 30]

Summer

Continued From Page 7

..., Broken Arrow, OK 74011. Phone 918-451-2382.

Southern California (all summer long). A border teaching project begins with a one-week retreat in June. One hundred youth are being recruited to “Launch the Eagle.” Contact Geri Lynn Peak, Los Angeles Bahá’í Center, Los Angeles, CA 90061; phone 213-933-8291.

Oregon, East (August). Two 10-day projects are set. Contact the District Teaching Committee c/o John Lang, Bend, OR 97701, or phone 503-389-1381.

North Carolina, East (June 15-July 15). First two weeks: intensive teaching; second two weeks: follow-up. In Goldsboro and Wilmington. For details, contact the District Teaching Committee, c/o Dr. Gary Reusche, Cary, NC 27511, or phone 219-469-3334.

Other projects are being planned in South Carolina, Washington, Idaho and South Georgia. Contact the Youth Committee office for complete details ...

Summer Projects, International

Last month we listed some 19 summer teaching and service projects overseas to which Bahá’í youth from this country have been invited. If you are at all serious about serving as an international projecteer, it is imperative that you contact the International Goals Committee office at the Bahá’í National Center right away.

Phone the committee at 312-869-9039 and ask for Judy Courtwright. Proficiency in a foreign language, while helpful, is not a must for some of these programs, and travel expenses may not be as high as you might have thought, especially to Central America and the Caribbean area.

Summer School Programs

Along with the youth programs offered each year at Bosch, Louhelen and Green Acre, there will be a national curriculum for youth at all Bahá’í schools.

The National Education Committee and National Youth Committee are designing a program dealing with releasing individual potential as a response to recent messages from the Universal House of Justice, and these sessions will be conducted by trained youth program directors.

N. Dakota slates two-week teaching campaign

The North Dakota District Teaching Committee is sponsoring a two-week teaching campaign July 14-29 in Mandaree on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

The project will include children’s classes each morning, recreational activities in the afternoon, evening firesides or public meetings, and some team teaching in the area.

Needed are teachers’ aides, cooks and assistants, musicians, recreation supervisors, team teachers, prayers and contributions.

You are welcome to come for one day, a week, or two weeks. Meals will be provided, but you will need a sleeping bag since there are no beds in the building.

Please let us know when you are coming, how long you can stay, and what you are interested in doing.

Contact Faye Gooden, Devils Lake, ND 58301, or phone 701-662-5648.

Harrisburg Assembly sponsors 12th annual Conference of Nur June 15-17

“The Jewel of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation: The Kitáb-i-Íqán” is the theme of the 12th annual Conference of Nur (Enlightenment) sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The conference will be held June 15-17 at Elizabethtown College.

A number of excellent speakers will participate including Auxiliary Board members Robert Harris and Javidukht Khadem; Dr. Hooshmand Taraz, and George Mark.

Nursery care will be provided along with classes for children (ages 4-10), pre-youth, and youth.

Accommodations include two nights lodging in a modern college dorm, five meals, and access to recreational facilities.

The cost is $42 for adults, $21 for children ages 3-8. There is no charge for children under 3.

The registration deadline is May 25. For information, write to the Spiritual Assembly of Harrisburg, P.O. Box 3108, Harrisburg, PA 17105, or phone 717-232-9163.

2 big proclamation events planned in Dallas-Fort Worth

The Bahá’í Office of Public Affairs of Greater Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, which has been proclaiming the Faith on radio by co-sponsoring a weekly program about Native Americans, “Beyond Bows and Arrows,” is planning two more large-scale proclamation events in the coming months.

In July, a media campaign gets under way using newspapers, radio, TV, bus posters, billboards, and T-shirts.

On August 19, an ecumenical worship service is to be held prior to the Republican National Convention in Dallas.

Also, the Spiritual Assembly of Dallas is responsible for securing the passage by the Texas state legislature of a resolution condemning the persecutions in Iran. Ten other Assemblies in that state are helping to place materials in the hands of the state’s 31 senators and 150 representatives.

1st Western States business conference

The first Western States Regional Conference to be sponsored by the Bahá’í Business and Professional Affairs Committee will be held May 19 at the Los Angeles Bahá’í Center, 5755 Rodeo Road.

The 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. conference is open to all Bahá’ís in business or professions, and will feature a lecture/workshop format and working luncheon.

To pre-register, phone the Los Angeles Bahá’í Center, 213-933-8291. There is a $3 registration fee to help cover the cost of the conference.

The Bedrock of all other Institutions National Bahá’í Fund Wilmette, IL 60091

Mensaje

De Pág. 25

pero completamente inadecuados respecto de la realidad de la ‎Fa Fe‎ y sus fines y propósitos.

Sin embargo la gente está dispuesta a escuchar sobre la Fe, y se debe aprovechar la oportunidad. Deben hacerse esfuerzos persistentemente mayores cada vez por poner a los líderes del mundo, en todos los departamentos de la vida, al corriente de la verdadera naturaleza de la revelación de Bahá’u’lláh como la única esperanza para la pacificación y unificación del mundo.

SIMULTANEAMENTE con tal programa debe ir el proseguimiento constante y vigoroso del trabajo de la enseñanza, para que se nos pueda ver como una comunidad creciente, mientras que el hecho de que los amigos observen universalmente las leyes bahá’ís de la conducta personal afirmará la riqueza del modo de vida bahá’í y despertará el deseo de tomar parte en ella. Por todos estos medios la imagen pública de la Fe se acercará más, gradual pero constantemente, a su verdadero carácter.

El surgimiento de celo en todo el mundo bahá’í por explorar la nueva dimensión de desarrollo social y económico nos reconforta y eleva todas nuestras esperanzas.

Esta energía dentro de la comunidad, dirigida cuidadosa y sabiamente, sin duda tendrá como resultado una nueva era de consolidación y expansión, que a la vez atraerá más atención mundial, de manera que los dos aspectos del cambio en la comunidad mundial bahá’í actuarán el uno sobre el otro y se impulsarán mutuamente.

Un elemento cardinal en la dirección cuidadosa y sabia que se requiere es el obtener la victoria en el Plan de Siete Años, prestando gran atención al desarrollo y fortalecimiento de las Asambleas Locales.

Deben hacerse grandes esfuerzos por alentarles a desempeñar sus deberes principales de reunirse regularmente, realizar las Fiestas de Diecinueve Días y observar los Días Sagrados, organizar clases de niños, alentar la práctica de oraciones en familia, emprender proyectos de enseñanza por extensión, administrar el Fondo Bahá’í, y dar ‎contínuo continuo‎ aliento y liderato a su comunidad en todas las actividades bahá’ís.

LA IGUALDAD DE HOMBRES y mujeres no se aplica universalmente en el momento actual. En las áreas en que la tradicional falta de igualdad todavía obstaculiza su progreso, debemos estar en la vanguardia respecto de la práctica de este principio bahá’í. A las mujeres y niñas bahá’ís se les debe alentar a tomar parte en las actividades sociales, espirituales y administrativas de sus comunidades.

A la juventud bahá’í, que ahora presta servicio ejemplar y devoto en la vanguardia del ejército de la vida, se le debe alentar, aun mientras se equipa para el servicio futuro, a idear y ejecutar sus propios planes de enseñanza entre sus contemporáneos.

Ahora, cuando entramos en la fase final, de dos años, del Plan de Siete Años, nos regocijamos por la agregación de nueve Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales nuevas: tres en Africa, tres en las Américas, dos en Asia, una en Europa, llevando el número total a 143. Cinco más han de establecerse en el Ridván de 1985. Ellas son Ciskei, Mali y Mozambique en Africa, y las Islas Cook y las Islas Carolinas Occidentales en Australasia. De esta manera el Plan terminará con un mínimo de 148 Asambleas Espirituales Nacionales.

Para ese entonces planes deben ser aprobados para completar el arco alrededor de los Jardines Monumentales en el Monte Carmelo, incluyendo la ubicación y los diseños de los tres edificios restantes que deben construirse alrededor de ese arco.

No puede haber duda alguna que el progreso de la Causa de este período en adelante será caracterizado por una relación siempre creciente con las agencias, actividades, instituciones, e individuos sobresalientes del mundo no bahá’í.

‎ADQUIREIREMOS ADQUIRIREMOS‎ MAYOR estatura en las Naciones Unidas, llegaremos a ser más conocidos en las deliberaciones de gobiernos, una figura conocida para los medios informativos, un tema de interés para los académicos, e inevitablemente el objeto de la envidia de establecimientos moribundos.

Nuestra preparación para esta situación y nuestra respuesta a ella debe ser una ‎contínua continua‎ profundización de nuestra fe, una adhesión firme a sus principios de abstención de la política partidaria y libertad de los prejuicios, y sobre todo una comprensión creciente de sus verdades fundamentales y pertinencia al mundo moderno.

Acompañando este mensaje de Ridván van un llamado para que 298 pioneros se radiquen en 79 comunidades nacionales, y mensajes específicos dirigidos a cada una de las actuales 143 comunidades nacionales. Son el fruto de estudio y consulta intensivos por la Casa Universal de Justicia y el Centro Internacional de Enseñanza, y detallan las metas a ganarse y los objetivos a ser proseguidos por cada comunidad nacional para que Ridván 1986 pueda atestiguar el cumplimiento en gloriosa victoria de este Plan altamente significativo.

Se habrá realizado en un período de confusión mundial sin precedente, dando testimonio de la vitalidad, el avance irresistible, y el poder creador social de la Causa de Dios, contrastado en claro relieve a la dedicación cada vez más rápida en la suerte de la generalidad de la humanidad.

Amados amigos, las generosidades y la protección con la cual la Bendita Belleza está alimentando y amparando el organismo infantil de Su nuevo orden mundial a lo largo de este período violento de transición y prueba, dan abundante seguridad de victorias por venir si solo seguimos el sendero de Su guía.

Él recompensa nuestros humildes esfuerzos con efusiones de gracia que traen no solo adelanto a la Causa sino que también seguridad y felicidad a nuestros corazones, para que efectivamente podamos mirar a nuestros vecinos con rostros iluminados y resplandecientes, confiados que de nuestros servicios actuales resultará eventualmente ese futuro bienaventurado que heredarán nuestros descendientes, glorificando a Bahá’u’lláh, el Príncipe de Paz, el Redentor de la humanidad.

Con cariñosos saludos bahá’ís,

Casa Universal de Justicia Ridván 1984

Camino del Sol

De Pág. 25

bido.

Logré hacer el trabajo a pesar de mi enfermedad. Los médicos eran muy bondadosos. Recetaron medicinas y nos las dieron gratis, y también arreglaron más ayuda médica para Clemente en el Centro de Salud de la reserva Nez Perce, nuestra próxima parada.

Más tarde ese día partimos para Bismarck para una cena reposada con los Bahá’ís de ‎la área el área‎. Nos acostamos temprano para prepararnos para la partida la mañana siguiente rumbo a Idaho y la reserva Nez Perce. [Page 31]

Ten years ago...

...In The American Bahá’í

The Five Year Plan is inaugurated April 26 at the 65th Bahá’í National Convention by the Hand of the Cause of God Paul Haney who represents the Universal House of Justice.

More than 400 Bahá’ís in Foundation Hall at the Bahá’í House of Worship hear Mr. Haney read the Five Year Plan message and a second special message from the Supreme Body to the American Bahá’í community.

The new Plan assigns to U.S. Bahá’ís a large share of the responsibility for accomplishing its goals of expanding and consolidating the Faith and developing the distinctive character of Bahá’í life ...

Convention-goers hear the good news that the Fund deficit, which was accumulated during the Nine Year Plan, has been eliminated during the final month of the interim year between Plans.

The Office of the Treasurer attributes the achievement to the response of Assemblies, groups and individuals to the National Spiritual Assembly’s request for a 30 per cent increase in contributions during the last two months of the Bahá’í year ...

The dedication ceremony for a new 67-acre Bahá’í school in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains is tentatively scheduled for the Fourth of July weekend.

The new school, which replaces the Geyserville Bahá’í School, is to be known as the John and Louise Bosch Bahá’í School in honor of those dedicated early Bahá’ís who donated the land for the Geyserville school ...

About 70 people attend a weekend conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, that focuses on developing distinctive Bahá’í characteristics.

The speakers include Counselor Sarah Martin Pereira and Auxiliary Board members Jane McCants, Elizabeth Martin and William Tucker ...

More than 130 Bahá’ís participate in a Spanish-speaking Regional Conference in Santa Monica, California, that is sponsored by the California Regional Teaching Committee.

Among the speakers are National Spiritual Assembly member Richard Betts and Auxiliary Board members Anthony Lease and Fred Schechter ...

Fourteen people attend an intensive five-day deepening program at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute on the Covenant, the Administrative Order, and the individual’s relationship to both. The course was developed by the National Teaching Committee ...

Ricardo Macias, former pioneer to Argentina, dies in Los Angeles

Ricardo Macias, who died January 9 in Los Angeles, is shown with his niece, Melissa Gold, in 1979.

Ricardo Macias, a former pioneer to Argentina, died January 9 during surgery in Los Angeles.

Mr. Macias, who became a Bahá’í in 1965, pioneered with his wife, Shirley, for five years in Mendoza, Argentina.

After returning to the U.S. in 1971 because of illness, he was a member of the first Spiritual Assembly of Morton Grove, Illinois, in 1972, and was instrumental in starting the first Spanish-speaking teaching activity in that area.

Mr. Macias loved music and wrote many songs inspired by the Faith in Spanish and English.

One of his songs, “The Source Is One,” was included in the album Dawn Song, issued in 1969 by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

While in Argentina Mr. Macias proclaimed the Faith ardently through the media and in 1970 arranged a televised public meeting given by the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga.

More than 200 friends and relatives attended Mr. Macias’ funeral services. He was buried at the foot of the resting place of Thornton Chase, the first American Bahá’í, in Inglewood, California.

The Universal House of Justice sent this cable: “Saddened passing devoted follower Bahá’u’lláh Ricardo Macias. Assure loving sympathy and ardent prayers joyful acceptance his soul Abhá Kingdom.”

Jeffrey Callegari, 31, pioneer to Chile, dead in vacation accident

Jeffrey Callegari, 31, a Bahá’í from El Cerrito, California, who had served as a pioneer to Sri Lanka and was employed at the World Centre in Haifa until mid-March when he returned to his pioneering post in Chile, died Saturday, March 24, in a bus accident while on holiday in Egypt.

The following cable was sent by the Universal House of Justice to Mr. Callegari’s mother in El Cerrito:

“Deeply grieved untimely tragic loss your dearly-loved son Jeffrey Callegari. Purity his spirit nobility his character his deep piety and exemplary integrity endeared him to all those who associated with him. Special memorial gathering held his name at Bahá’í World Centre.

“Praying fervently for advancement his radiant soul realms beyond. Offer you and family loving sympathy this grievous calamity behalf ourselves and all his coworkers Bahá’í World Centre.”

Correction

In the March issue of The American Bahá’í, page 4, Shida Mali is identified as the founder of the New Era Learning Center in Florence, South Carolina. Mrs. Mali and Dr. Anne Rowley are co-founders of the center.

In the April issue, on page 31, Eldon Dennis is identified as a pioneer to St. Helena Island, South Carolina. At the time of his death, Mr. Dennis was a pioneer to St. Helena Island near South Africa.

We regret the errors.

The Fund Is the Life-Blood of the Faith National Bahá’í Fund Wilmette, IL 60091

In Memoriam

Kavous Alai Huntington Beach, CA March 1, 1984	Dorothy Cress York Harbor, ME August 7, 1983	Emma Jones Cottonwood, AZ March 12, 1984	Eugene Shot With Two Arrows Parmelee, SD Date Unknown
John Alexander Yazoo City, MS 1982	John H. Davis Lilly, GA November 1983	Marian Lippitt York, ME February 5, 1984	Marvin Shuman Vallejo, CA February 1984
Jinnie Bailey Tamms, IL February 2, 1984	Dorothy D. Ford Augusta, GA March 15, 1984	Shamsi A. Lotfali Alexandria, VA December 23, 1983	Virginia Smith Farmville, VA Date Unknown
Jack Baskin Jr. Cheraw, SC Date Unknown	Clara Godbolt Marion, SC Date Unknown	Henry Malley Maxton, NC Date Unknown	Rosalee Snipes Maxton, NC December 1980
Jenny Best N. Miami Beach, FL Date Unknown	Elmore Godbolt Marion, SC 1981	Peter McComish Cold Spring, NY March 13, 1984	Oliver Standish Mandaree, ND February 6, 1984
Elaine A. Bohn Lynnwood, WA Date Unknown	Mary Alice Hall Arlington, TN 1983	Aurelia Mae Meninick Wapato, WA March 2, 1984	Helene Stute Oakwood, IL March 17, 1984
Columbus Booker Farmville, VA Date Unknown	William Harwood Farmville, VA Date Unknown	Herbert Merrell Sr. Burton, MI Date Unknown	Hassan Syrus Louisville, KY February 27, 1984
Pearl L. Bompus Rock, WV March 20, 1984	Ethel Henderson Redbird, OK Date Unknown	Paul D. Moon Florissant, MO February 1984	Leonard Thomas Staunton, VA Date Unknown
T.C. Boring Greenwood, MS Date Unknown	Sterling Hester Lumberton, NC Date Unknown	Edgar Nance Waterloo, IA February 16, 1984	Sylvester Thompson Lumberton, NC Date Unknown
Annie Brown Farmville, VA Date Unknown	James Hick Fort Valley, GA January 15, 1984	Jose Ojeda Sunnyvale, CA February 17, 1984	Barry Tyes Redbird, OK January 1, 1984
James Brown Farmville, VA Date Unknown	Lilah Hoffman El Cajon, CA October 3, 1983	Walston Perry Pittsfield, IL 1983	Carolyn Wallace Fairmont, NC Date Unknown
Jerome Brown Riverton, WY Date Unknown	Paul Hyman Perris, CA Date Unknown	Vaughn Polk Eden, MD Date Unknown	Albert Walton Mounds, IL December 28, 1982
Ora Brown Cowpens, SC 1982	Doris Jackson Rock Island, IL Date Unknown	Ville Ransom Dallas, TX March 13, 1984	Danny Watts Farmville, VA Date Unknown
Buddy Byse Ideal, GA 1982	Mary January St. Louis, MO December 28, 1983	George Robare Bemidji, MN November 1, 1981	Clara E. Weir Lakeside, CA February 27, 1984
Jeff Callegari El Cerrito, CA March 24, 1984	Dorothy Jenkins Vicksburg, MS March 19, 1984	Phillip Ryder Chouteau, OK February 1984	Mark Whitman Portland, OR September 25, 1983
Laura Colclough Bishopville, SC Date Unknown	Harold Joe Bishopville, SC Date Unknown	David Schneider Compton, CA February 26, 1984	Eugene Williams Inman, SC Date Unknown
Gordon Collins Valley Falls, SC Date Unknown	Clyde Johnson Summerville, SC March 6, 1984	Alice Sheldon Selma, AL December 1983	Norbert Winchester Menomonie, WI Date Unknown
James Commander Bishopville, SC Date Unknown	Willie Johnson Fort Valley, GA September 12, 1981	Lynn Sherman Ft. Gibson, OK Date Unknown	Andrew Woodham Hartsville, SC Date Unknown
George Cornelius Heath Springs, SC October 1980	Jeanette Johnston Ringling, OK Date Unknown		Pedro Yanez Gilbert, AZ February 1983
Lavida Cortez Castro Valley, CA January 19, 1984

[Page 32]

Letters

Continued From Page 3

letter of that date.

In it, the House of Justice said that projects should spring up from the "grass roots" ... and that includes each of us. No more waiting for a committee or an Assembly (local or national) or an Auxiliary Board member, or anyone! The challenge is given to each and every one of us.

Projects can deal with schools, the media, health, nutrition, child and maternal care, agriculture, rural development, language skills, care for the elderly, nursery schools, and so on. The possibilities are limitless.

The goal, of course, is service to humanity. As Bahá’u’lláh said, "Let deeds not words be your adorning."

That is our motto. Let us engrave those immortal words on our minds and hearts.

My husband and I recently returned from six weeks in the U.S. where we visited nine cities. In the larger cities the question was asked by the friends: "What can we do?"

TWO answers come to mind:

In larger cities we can organize projects of service to minority groups, especially those who are newly arrived in the U.S.

Classes in English are always needed. We noted in Manhattan that many people can hardly speak any English at all.

Another suggestion: The Assembly in your town or city can adopt a "sister city" in a foreign country, and the ties between the two sister Assemblies can gradually become close by means of letters, visits, student exchanges, volunteer workers, teaching projects, and all sorts of social or economic endeavors.

It would be a gradual process, but heaven only knows what kinds of unique social and economic projects might develop.

Here’s for many "sister Assemblies" to brighten our lives and give service to mankind. "Let deeds not words be your adorning."

Margaret Ruhe Haifa, Israel

To the Editor:

I have followed with interest the lively discussion on women’s role and potential in the last few months.

Like many aspects of being a Bahá’í, there are no "pat" answers, but a great deal of latitude for personal choice and interpretation of the Bahá’í ideals, particularly in the realm of work and parenting.

One of the resources for helping parents (or pre-parents) with decision-making, and for helping to spiritualize family relationships, is "Spiritual Mothering," a four-year-old journal for mothers and fathers that has grown tremendously.

The magazine, which was begun when Melinda Armstrong, a professional teacher who opted to stay at home with her young child, wanted to produce a vehicle in which mothers might express their concerns and share insights, has evolved into a marvelous resource for Bahá’í women (and men) and others who have a spiritual orientation.

I encourage every parent or potential parent to subscribe to this journal, and ask those who have special talents or insights to submit articles, book reviews, artwork, questions, etc., for consideration of the editors.

In this way we can share the progress in our struggle to build unified families and a new World Order.

To subscribe to "Spiritual Mothering," write to Melinda Armstrong, P.O. Box 128, Dover, NH 03820.

Anne Gordon Atkinson Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Moving? Tell us your new address
To avoid unnecessary delays in receiving your copies of The American Bahá’í send your new address and your mailing label which includes your ID number to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, as soon as you know that you are going to move and what your new address will be. We will do our best to see that changes are processed quickly so that the transfer of mail to your new home is accomplished with all possible speed.
NOTE: Use this form for individual changes only.
BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CENTER Wilmette, Illinois 60091
Name: Mr./Mrs./Miss [Field] Full name—DO NOT use nicknames
Residence Address: [Field] House or Space Number, Street, or Description
City: [Field] State: [Field] Zip Code: [Field]
Mail Address: [Field] Street, Rural Route, or Post Office Box Number
City: [Field] State: [Field] Zip Code: [Field]
Home Telephone: Area Code [Field] Number [Field] Work Telephone: Area Code [Field] Number [Field]
New Bahá’í Community: [Field] Name of Local Assembly, group, or isolated locality where this person resides
Moving Date: [Field] Mailing label should accompany address change form
[ ] We have been receiving more than one copy of The American Bahá’í. Because we don’t need extra copies, please remove my name from the mailing list for this publication. Please check box.

To the Editor:

One aspect of Bahá’í community life has troubled me for some time; that is, the emphasis on "for Bahá’ís only."

NOT ONLY Feasts, but so many of our deepenings, conferences, and even social events are closed to non-members.

At the more "important" functions, Bahá’í cards are checked. More often than not, the discussion at these meetings centers around "teaching" those very non-Bahá’ís we have excluded!

Even publications—such as some of the district newsletters—come labeled "for Bahá’ís only."

How well does this follow the spirit of the Faith?

After all, the Faith aims at eliminating prejudice. But sticking to one’s "own kind," keeping outsiders away ... these are ways of showing prejudice.

Although prejudice is certainly not our intention, what impression do we give? What do we know of the feelings of the people whom we are excluding?

WHAT should a Bahá’í who is close to someone outside the Faith (perhaps a husband or wife) do, slip off to meetings without inviting the other person? Or become a "less active" Bahá’í?

And how does one explain the fine distinctions between such concepts as "Feast," "deepening," "conference," "Assembly meeting," "fireside," etc., to those who lack a formal education, or who do not know our bureaucratic culture well?

More than once I’ve heard Bahá’ís indicate that they would have brought a friend or relative to a fireside, but did not understand that it was open to non-Bahá’ís!

Does our life really need to be that complicated?

It is sad to note that, by comparison, the Sunday services of most churches are open to the public, and they send their newsletters to almost anyone.

We hold many dinners, dances, etc. for fund-raising. Surely we can find more creative ways to obey the Bahá’í laws about the Fund than merely excluding non-Bahá’ís from attending.

IN MY eight years as a Bahá’í, I’ve found that most functions that have featured speakers of high distinction—such as Hands of the Cause of God—have been closed to non-members. Why do we not seem to want to offer the world the inspiration that such speakers can provide?

How consistent are we? Summer schools, such as Green Acre, cover all aspects of the Faith in considerable depth, and they are open to non-Bahá’ís.

In defense of closed events, some say, "This would be boring to non-Bahá’ís," or, "It would be over their heads."

Why not let them decide that for themselves? And do we have any guarantee that a guest will not be bored at a fireside—or that we Bahá’ís won’t find something that is over our own heads?

A more serious concern is that our activities could be sabotaged by enemies of the Faith.

We need to weigh this risk against the need to teach the world about this Faith and its reality—not as an exclusive or secretive cult, but as a means for unifying mankind.

Mrs. Chris McNett Orange County, Virginia

To the Editor:

Of all the sad events in the world today, the most pitiful is the fact that we do not support our Fund.

We have the Plan for the new World Order in our hands, the only remedy for the sick body of the world, yet we fail to grasp the significance of that tremendous responsibility.

Picture this scene: What happens when the old order collapses and we stand there with the answers, but no resources with which to accomplish our divinely ordained destiny?

This has to be blameworthy in the sight of God and our fellow men, who would be justified in saying, "You’ve been telling us you had the guidance. Why did you not do something while there was yet time?"

It is expensive to build a new World Order, and we are the only ones who have the double bounty of bringing it into being and paying for it. Only we, as Bahá’ís, have this privilege.

Let the Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh arise to vindicate the claim to their high station for the redemption of mankind, fearlessly disregarding personal gains and security.

Belinda Elliott Concord, New Hampshire

To the Editor:

The Henrico County (Virginia) Bahá’í community was greatly inspired by the Feast letter for Sharaf.

That letter and the attached letter from the Universal House of Justice sparked much consultation. We feel that those letters give us a much needed sense of direction and a boost in spirit as we plan our individual and community goals.

We recognize the urgent needs of the National Fund and the reasons why the National Assembly is preoccupied with meeting our financial goals.

And we certainly recognize the need to be constantly informed about the condition of our budget, and feel that our national Treasurer is doing an excellent job of informing us.

In our monthly Feast letters, please tell us more about the kinds of things that were presented in the Feast letter for Sharaf, or about teaching plans or other matters which give us much needed guidance in these and other aspects of the Faith.

It worked wonders for our spirit then, and should continue to do so in the future.

Archie L. Abaire Jr., treasurer Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Henrico County, Va.

To the Editor:

Regarding the letter about "remaining childless by choice" (October 1983), the answer is quite simple and clear:

The choice of having a child or not having one is a personal decision. It is something between the couple and God, and only they can decide.

But the person who wrote the letter had no right to inflict that decision or opinion on the rest of us. A matter such as this should be kept personal, and one should not try to influence others toward his or her way of thinking.

Garrett R. Sanders Ventura, California

"There can be no limit to one’s contributions ..."

National Bahá’í Fund

Wilmette, IL 60091

[Page 33]

1984 Summer Schedule

Please Note: A special youth program, co-sponsored by the National Youth Committee and National Education Committee, will be featured at each school this summer. (See Page 8 for complete youth program details.)

To the Bahá’ís of the United States Dear Bahá’í Friends,

This summer promises to be an exciting, spiritually invigorating time for those of you who are planning to attend a Bahá’í school.

Whether your interest runs from study of the Creative Word to Bahá’í family life, from social and economic development to interracial amity, from public speaking to establishing a Bahá’í identity, the 1984 Bahá’í Summer School schedule offers something especially for you.

In addition, the recently unveiled third phase of the Seven Year Plan will undoubtedly stimulate a wealth of consultation and insight at each of this year’s school sessions.

The Guardian encouraged youth in particular to attend Bahá’í schools, and this year promises to be an especially good time for them to do so.

In April, an intensive Youth Program Directors’ training session was held at the Louhelen Bahá’í School to upgrade the quality of youth programs at the schools. The directors are eager to put into action what they have learned.

Commenting on the effects of attending Bahá’í schools, Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf, states:

“Such gatherings will give a chance to friends from different localities to come together and exchange views on the different problems of the Cause and also attract new souls to the spirit and teachings of the Faith. Not only will their knowledge of the writings deepen but also the unity of the Cause will be strengthened and the work of teaching be enhanced ...”

We hope that each of you will make every effort to attend a Bahá’í school this summer. But please act now. Reservations at many of the schools are limited, and we wouldn’t want you to miss the school or session of your choice.

With warmest Bahá’í love,

The National Education Committee [Page 34]

ALABAMA

Dates: July 26-29. Location: University of Montevallo campus. Theme: "The Covenant." Accommodations: Cafeteria style meals; air conditioned dorms. Recreation: Swimming, tennis, bowling, etc. Registrar: Ed Bartlett, Homewood, AL 35209. 205-870-3782.

ARIZONA

Dates: July 7-9 (registration begins at 7 p.m. July 6). Theme: "Evolution of the Bahá’í World Community." Location: Belmont Bahá’í property, 12 miles west of Flagstaff on I-40; take access road to north side, west on Frontage Road. The property is five miles of undeveloped pine forest. Accommodations: Campsites and spaces for self-contained RVs are available. There are motels in nearby Flagstaff. Pre-register: Closing date is June 15; $5 deposit per person required. A late fee of $1 for those who do not pre-register. Classes: For children, youth and adults. Registrar: Pamela Hawley, P.O. Box 5672, Glendale, AZ 85312. 602-878-0216.

BOSCH

Theme: "From Creative Word to Creative Action." Location: Santa Cruz, CA 95060. In the Santa Cruz mountains, 14 miles from the city of Santa Cruz. Take Highway 1 or 17 toward Santa Cruz, then local roads. A detailed map is sent with confirmation of registration. Facilities: Housing, 14 cabins, each with bath, housing 4 to 7 people each. Four summer cabins, screened, unheated, using central bath house. Four RV sites with water and electrical hookups. Capacity: 102. Meals: Served family style in the dining room. Classrooms: Classes are held in the main lodge and in the crafts building. Recreation: Swimming pool, children’s wading pool, children’s playground, horseshoe pits, volleyball court, table tennis, space for other group games; walking trails through 67-acre wooded campus. Campus: At the 2,000-foot level. Mostly wooded, but two open meadow areas. Redwoods, live oaks, tanbark oaks, madrone, Douglas fir are the main trees. The campus is secluded, away from other roads. Program: 12 sessions beginning June 16 and ending September 3. Week 1 (June 16-21), General Session. Teachers: Tony Pelle, Emeric Sala, Marzieh Gail, Harriet Allie. Week 2 (June 23-28), Junior youth, ages 12-15, only. Week 3 (June 30-July 1), General Session. Teachers: William Maxwell, Annamarie Honnold, Vida Bertrand. Week 4 (July 7-12), General Session. Teachers: Robert Henderson, James Nelson, Dorothy Nelson. Week 5 (July 14-19), General Session, one class in Persian. Teachers: William E. Davis, Farhang Holakouee, Ruth Somerhalder, Soo Fouts. Week 6 (July 21-26), General Session. Teachers: Juana Conrad, Anthony Lease, Truitt White, Behin White. Week 7 (July 26-August 2), Young adults and youth, limited to ages 15 and older. Teachers: Taraz Samandari, Raz and Andishe Samandari, Karen Kennedy, Robert Phillips, Stacie Dobbins Strain, J.F. Strain. Week 8 (August 4-9), General Session. Teachers: Roy Jones, Nura Ioas, Stephanie Merritt, Lynn and Homayoun Mahmoudi. Week 9 (August 11-16), General Session. Teachers: Jalil Mahmoudi, Saeed Aflatooni, Nancy Phillips. Week 10 (August 18-23), General Session. Teachers: Jerry Bathke, Edward Diliberto, Diedre Merrill, Alice Bathke. Week 11 (August 25-30), General Session. Teachers: Sheila Banani, Jack H. Lee, Vicki and Arnold Nerenberg. Week 12 (August 31-September 3), All Adult Session, intensive study (weekend, Friday-Monday). Teachers: Florence Mayberry, Richard Bauman. NOTE: General Sessions have classes for all ages.

Program highlights: The Bosch School library is stocked with a large collection of historic Bahá’í titles as well as current books, and also features music and a tape library of the Hands of the Cause and others. The Bosch bookstore carries current Bahá’í books and Bahá’í jewelry.

Resident Students

Cabin (with bath)	Regular Rate	Early Registration
Adults 21-over	$125	$120
Sr. Youth 15-20	105	100
Jr. Youth 11-14	90	85
Children 1-10	60	55
Infants under 1	no charge	no charge
Jr. Youth Week ONLY	$115	$110

Summer Cabins (use bath house)

	Regular Rate	Early Registration
Adults 21-over	$95	$90
Sr. Youth 15-20	85	80
Jr. Youth 11-14	70	65
Children 1-10	50	45
Infants under 1	no charge	no charge
Jr. Youth Week ONLY	$115	$110

RV Sites

Site for vehicle	$30	$25
Plus each person	20	15
Meals (if available)	extra charge	extra charge

Day Students

	Regular Rate	Early Registration
Per person per day (facility fee)	$4	$3
Meals (if available)	extra charge	extra charge

To qualify for early registration rates, deposit must be received at least 21 days before the beginning of the session. [Page 35]

COLORADO EAST

Dates: July 1-7.

Location: Trinity Ranch near Wetmore, 10 miles south of Florence. The campsite, adjacent to a National Forest, offers much natural beauty.

Theme: "The Bahá’í Faith—The Promise and the Challenge."

Accommodations: Dormitory style; grounds for tents and campers; all meals shared with the group in a cafeteria.

Classrooms: A single large building houses the main meeting room, dormitories, cafeteria and restrooms.

Recreation: Hiking, horseback riding, painting, book-binding, nature walks, volleyball.

Rates: Adults, $90; Youth (12-20), $85; Children (4-11), $45; Infants (0-3), no charge.

Registrar: Melissa Hall, P.O. Box 1033, Woodland Park, CO 80863. 303-687-3351.

CONIFER HILL (Colorado)

Dates: July 20-22 (work/study), July 27-29 (youth activities), August 3-5 (social and recreation), August 10-19 (9-day school), August 24-26 (youth), August 31-September 3 (work/study).

Theme: "Facing the Social Challenges of This Day."

Location: Colorado Highway 7 from Lyons. Go 12 miles, turn right at red house with white trim and terraces from house to highway. Take dirt road 4 miles to school. Road is hilly and bumpy. Transportation from Boulder or from intersection of Highway 7 and dirt road available by advance arrangement. At the 8,000-foot level, a "perched valley" in the Rocky Mountains west of Lyons.

Highlights: Janet Herbst, "Developing Positive Attributes." Dr. Dan Popov, workshops on the school theme. Sam Jackson, "How to Give Public Talks."

Accommodations: Three dorms, canvas in window areas; latrines; cabin for cooking and serving; eating on picnic tables under the trees.

Capacity: 30 in bunk beds in dorms; 70 in own tents.

Classrooms: 20-foot by 30-foot tent with removable sides for adult classes; tepee and tents for children’s classes (or outdoors in good weather).

Recreation: Volleyball, horseshoes, softball, crafts, areas for nature walks or hiking.

Rates: Nine-day school—Adults, $90; youth, $80; children 8-14, $50; children 2-7, $24. Weekends—Adults, $20; youth, $19; children 8-14, $12; children 2-7, $7. Labor Day Weekend—Adults, $30; youth, $28; children 8-14, $18; children 2-7, $10.

Registrar: Marilyn Fisher, Boulder, CO 80302. 303-443-6422.

FLORIDA SUMMER SCHOOL

Dates: August 15-19.

Location: Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach.

Theme: "Building Bahá’í Community Life."

Accommodations: Dormitory, approximately four to a room. Cafeteria on campus; meals included in fee.

Classrooms: Small lecture halls and regular classrooms.

Recreation: Tennis and basketball courts; gym; playground for children adjacent to school.

Pre-register: By July 30, please!

Registrar: Miriam Drevitch, Wilton Manors, FL. 305-563-7931.

GREAT PLAINS

Dates: July 22-28.

Location: Nebraska Youth Leadership Development Center, Aurora; one-half mile east of town on Highway 34 a few miles from I-80.

Capacity: 250-plus.

Theme: "Innumerable Are the Pearls."

Highlights: Marion West, "From Self to Self." Jeanne Tobler, "Marriage and Family Life." Donald Schneider, "Shoghi Effendi: Bahá’í Historian." And more ...

Accommodations: All facilities at the site are air conditioned. Meals and lodging included in the cost.

Classrooms: Ample; air conditioned. Nursery.

Recreation: Softball field, volleyball, jogging. Indoor swimming pool with large door open to the outside. Afternoon "interest groups" include more study, crafts, social skills, etc.

Rates: Adults, $125 week, $18.50 day; youth (13-19), $102 week, $17.00 day; children (2-12), $72 week, $12 day. All meals included in above costs. Day students will be pro-rated.

Pre-register: By July 10, please!

Registrar: Dave Clarke, Bellevue, NE 68147. 402-735-0344.

GREEN ACRE

Dates: July 6-September 3.

Location: Eliot, Maine

Theme: "A Vision of the Future."

Accommodations: Family rooms of various sizes; dormitories; campground.

Classrooms: For adults, youth and children; also, playground.

Recreation: Large fields, softball diamond, soccer court, children’s playground.

Capacity: 125.

Schedule: July 6-9, Women’s Conference.

July 10-13, Robert Harris, "Making Relationships Work." Barbara Harris and Janet and Rodney Richards, "Bahá’í Marriage."

July 14-15, Teaching Conference with Robert Harris and Nat Rutstein.

July 16-20, Mildred Mottahedeh, "Service to the World." Ben Kaufman, "The Bible."

July 21-22, The Bahá’í Peace Program (tie-in with the 90th anniversary of Sarah Farmer’s historic Peace Conference of 1894).

July 23-27, Elsie Austin, "Remembered with Love and Learning." Eugene and Mabel Byrd, "America’s Spiritual Destiny."

July 30-August 3, Nat Rutstein, "Creating a Bahá’í Home." Carol Rutstein, "The Most Challenging Issue."

August 6-10, David Smith; Melanie Smith, "The Language of Bahá’u’lláh’s Prayers."

August 11-12, Alberta Deas.

August 13-17, unconfirmed.

August 20-24, Don Streets; Albert James.

September 1-3, Association for Bahá’í Studies Regional Conference. [Page 36]Rates: Adults, $20 a day; youth, $20 a day; junior youth, $15 a day; children, $10 a day; infants, $3 a day; families, 5 per cent off; day students, no fee.

Pre-register: At least seven days before date of arrival.

Registrar: Registrar, Green Acre Bahá’í School, P.O. Box 17, Eliot, ME 03903. 207-439-0019.

Note: While the variety of accommodations is great, the number in each category is limited. Room reservations should be made as soon as possible—the earlier the better—to assure your first choice.

GREEN LAKE

Dates: September 14-16.

Location: American Baptist Assembly, Green Lake, Wisconsin. Capacity 1,400.

Theme: “25th Year Celebration/Confirmation of Your Initiatives.”

Accommodations: All accommodations in the quiet seclusion of the American Baptist Assembly grounds. Wide variety available from primitive to deluxe camp sites; inexpensive dorms and rooms for 1-4, cottages and cabins with cooking facilities, hotel rooms in a classic and homey 81-room lakefront hotel, large luxury homes. Meals served cafeteria style on site. Overnight guests must take meal plan unless there are cooking facilities at accommodations (house, cabin, cottage, camp site). Day guests may buy meal tickets, use snack bar, use picnic area or restaurants off grounds. Vegetarian and special diets can be accommodated with advance arrangements.

Classrooms: Most adult sessions in central meeting hall. During optional sessions, classes meet in 10-12 smaller classrooms spread over grounds in nearby buildings. Nursery, outstanding children’s classes, pre-youth and youth classes also in nearby buildings.

Recreation: All recreational facilities are within the gates of site. Acres of serene meadows and woodlands with freely roaming deer and wildlife. Indoor swimming pool, bicycling, boating, fishing, tennis, golf, and miles of nature trails that are ideal for photographs.

Note: The National Spiritual Assembly will be the honored guest speakers on this special 25th anniversary occasion. Many other surprises are being planned, to be announced later. A unique exhibition hall features Publishing Trust bookstore, Bahá’í publishers and suppliers, National Committee booths, Bahá’í artists and artisans.

Pre-register: All registration inquiries should be directed to the American Baptist Assembly, Green Lake, WI 54941. 414-294-3323.

Rates: To figure conference costs, add these three items: 1. Conference fees (overnight children, infant-11, $3.50; overnight adults, 12-older, $6.25; day guest children, infant-11, $3; day guest adults, 12-older, $5. Day guests will also be charged $2.50 a day by the American Baptist Assembly.) 2. Accommodation rates (tots 5 and under, $5 per night, all rooms; for everyone ages 6 to adult, the following apply: dormitory style room, central bath, $8-12; rooms with semi-private bath, 3-2-1 per room, $14-$26; rooms with private bath, 4-3-2-1 per room, $12-$38; limited number of campsites, cabins, cottages and large luxury homes available. Contact ABA directly for availability and costs.) 3. Meal costs (children through age 5, no charge; children 6-11, breakfast $2, lunch $2.95, dinner $3.75; adults 12-older, breakfast $3.50, lunch $4.50, dinner $5.85).

HEARTLAND (Illinois)

Dates: June 15-17.

Location: 4-H Memorial Camp near Monticello. Rural location, capacity 360 resident, 500 total.

Theme: “Shaping the Course of Human Society.”

Highlights: Auxiliary Board member D. Thelma Jackson among the speakers. This is our first school session in Illinois!

Accommodations: 30 summer cabins, 360 beds, showers, flush toilets. The dining hall seats 500. Nearby motels only for those who are not physically able to stay at camp.

Note: A minimum of 100 needed for this camp. Please come!

Classrooms: Dining and recreation halls, meeting rooms. Nursery and children’s classes for ages 0-14.

Recreation: Hiking, state park within walking distance. Swimming may be a possibility, but is unconfirmed.

Rates: Friday through Sunday—Adults (16 and older), $50; youth (9-15), $40; junior youth (3-8), $35; children (1-2), $20; infants (0-1), $10.

Pre-register: $10 per person deposit, not refundable after June 1. $2 fee per person added for those who come without having pre-registered.

Registrars: Mr. and Mrs. Scott Martin, Monticello, IL 61856. 217-762-9759.

IDAHO

Dates: June 20-24.

Theme: “Refresh and Gladden Our Spirits.”

Location: Camp Sawtooth near Sun Valley. Picturesque mountain setting, chilly evenings. Capacity of 100.

Note: Be sure to bring warm clothing for nights. Also bring bedding (we suggest sleeping bags). Days can be cloudy or sunny; prepare for both.

Accommodations: Rustic tent cabins, limited RV spaces. Main lodge dining is camp style. Must supply your own warm bedding.

Classrooms: One classroom for adults, three children’s classes by age groupings, youth classroom. No care or classroom for infants up to 3 years old.

Recreation: Volleyball, basketball, horseshoes, table tennis, hiking, jogging, checkers, chess, etc.

Rates: Age 10 and up, food cost/facility fee, $60; children under 10, food/facility fee, $37.50. Day students will be pro-rated. Family rates available. Infants free.

Pre-register: By May 26.

Registrar: Dale Sollars, Blackfoot, ID 83221. 208-785-4495.

INDIANA (Nur’u’llah)

Dates: June 19-24.

Location: Camp Kikthawenund, Frankton.

Theme: “Bahá’í Family Life.”

Highlights: Susan Engle/Michael Moutrie, [Page 37]music. Jack Rhodes, drama and motion. Sharon Fogel, arts and crafts. Kathy Everet, swimming. Ron Yazel, recreation. Martha Patrick, family program.

Faculty: Youth—Ardeshir Khavari, Heidi Burke, Walt and Rhonda Palmer, Fred Stewart. Adult—Marvin Hughes, Manoocher Manshadi, Steve and Leslie Wilder.

Accommodations: Shaded trailer sites without hookup. Full meal service. Family tent-camping with toilet facilities, showers, etc. Separate men’s and women’s dorms. This is a Boy Scout camp nestled in woods about 35 miles northeast of Indianapolis; a 230-acre facility.

Classrooms: Adult, youth and six children’s classes will be held in cabins and shelters. Most of the children’s teachers are LEAP-trained, and some have Montessori experience.

Recreation: Large swimming pool, field sports, “new games,” nature hikes, other.

Special: There will be a pow-wow program organized by the camp ranger, a Native American, to share his family’s culture with us.

Rates: The pre-registration discounted price is shown first. Full price applies to registrations received after June 4. Adult/youth over 9 years: week rate, $66/$76; weekend, $30/$35; day rate, $9/$10. Children 3 to 9: week rate, $50/$60; weekend, $25/$30; day rate, $8/$10. Children 1 to 2: week rate, $35/$45; weekend, $15/$20; day rate, $4/$5. Children 0-1 year: week rate, $5/$6; weekend, $2/$3; day rate, $1.

Pre-register: June 4 is the cut-off date.

Registrar: Joy Sylvester, Indianapolis, IN 46101. 317-632-4795.

KANSAS

Dates: June 15-17.

Location: Rock Springs Ranch outside Junction City, 8 miles south of I-70 on Highway 77.

History: 27 years ago the Bahá’ís of Kansas first organized a summer weekend for study and fellowship. These weekends became the Kansas Summer Institute which was held annually for 14 years. Now we have our first session of the Kansas Bahá’í School!

Theme: “One Thing Only ...”

Accommodations: Semi-enclosed cabins with bunk beds. Bedding not provided. No provision for restricted diets. Alternative housing is available but is limited.

Classrooms: Air conditioned for adults, tree shaded for children. Special youth program.

Recreation: Swimming pool, horseback trails, boating, volleyball, nature trail.

Rates: Includes six meals and two nights’ housing. Adults, $41.60; youth/children ages 5-17, $36.80; children under 5, free.

Pre-register: By May 10, please!

Registrar: Duane L. Herrmann, Berry‎town ton‎, KS 66409. 913-685-3287.

LOUHELEN (Michigan)

Dates: June 10-September 3.

Location: Davison, Michigan.

Theme: See below.

Accommodations: Lodging options include dorm-style (3-4 per room), two per room, and singles, if available. Rooms are in pairs, with each room having its own sink and toilet and each pair sharing a tub and shower unit.

Classrooms: Adult classroom, nursery, children’s rooms, youth rooms, arts and crafts room.

Recreation: Small gymnasium for basketball and volleyball; outdoor volleyball court, athletic fields, trails through woods and fields.

Pre-register: Those who register two weeks before a program begins save $2 per day.

Schedule: June 10-17, Kodaly Music Training Institute. Teachers include Sister Lorna Zemke, Mrs. Mimi McClellan, and several Bahá’ís trained in the Kodaly teaching method.

June 10-15, Senior Citizens Week. Teachers include Mrs. Kay Zinky on “The Power of the Holy Spirit” and Robert Gaines on “The Hidden Words.” Dr. Violet ‎Wuerful Wuerfel‎ Clark will be the recreation director.

June 17-22, Youth Week (for youth 15 years and up). Teachers to include Mrs. Kay Zinky; Smokey Ferguson, a member of the National Youth Committee; and Roy Steiner, a Bahá’í college student from Cambridge, Massachusetts, who will teach a course entitled “Being a Bahá’í: What Does It Mean?”

June 17, Music Festival, 2-5 p.m. The Unity Bluegrass Band and the Country Express to perform.

June 24-29, National Teacher Training Week. Participants will be guided by Dr. Susan Stengel and Ginger and Henry Wich who will serve as curriculum and child guidance experts, respectively.

July 4-14, Persian Intensive Language Learning. A 10-day introductory immersion course taught by Nateghe Nekui Yazdi, a professional Persian language instructor (limited enrollment).

July 4-14, English Intensive Language Learning. A 10-day introductory immersion course (limited enrollment).

July 7-14, Spanish Intensive Language Learning. A seven-day introductory immersion course taught by Dr. Tony Cubero, a professional Spanish teacher (limited enrollment).

July 7-13, “Immerse Yourselves in the Ocean of My Words.” A course on the Bahá’í Writings designed to facilitate personal transformation and spiritual rejuvenation; taught by Mrs. Carol Bowie of Toronto, Canada (limited enrollment).

July 14-15, Persian Weekend. Teachers to include Dr. Tahirih Foroughi of Reno, Nevada, a member of the National Teaching Committee. The program will also include entertainment and fellowship.

July 19-22, Entrepreneurs’ Conference. For people who are thinking of starting, are in the process of starting, or have already started their [Page 38]own business. Experienced business people and professional consultants will offer advice on how to maximize one’s chances for success.

July 28-August 2, Junior Youth Week. Teachers will include a group of older youth from Michigan assisted by Ms. Carole Dickson.

August 4-9, General Session. Teachers to include Guy Murchie (“The Seven Mysteries of Life”) and Dr. Richard Thomas (“The History of Race Relations in the American Bahá’í Community”).

August 4-9, Persian Study. “The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,” taught by Dr. Muhammad Afnan of Dundas, Ontario, Canada. The course is in Persian; the ability to read and speak Persian is necessary.

August 11-17, Marriage Institute. Based on video tapes of presentations by Dr. Hossain Danesh at last summer’s highly successful marriage institute and including discussion groups and other activities for couples designed to help them deepen on marriage and strengthen the marital bond. The session to be led by Mrs. Mary K. Radpour, Mrs. Jamal O’Jack and Mrs. Shiva Tavana, who served last year as research assistants to Dr. Danesh.

August 18-23, General Session. To be taught by Benjamin Levy (“Judaism and the Bahá’í Faith”), Dr. Adrienne Reeves (“The Gifts of the Spirit”), and Dr. Elsie Austin (“Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”).

August 25-29, “Teaching Christians the Bahá’í Faith.” Taught by Michael Sours, author of Reasoning from Scripture: A Guide to Presenting Proofs of Bahá’u’lláh to Christians, now in press, the course will prepare students to teach Christians more effectively by studying the teaching example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, examining the biblical basis for the proofs of Bahá’u’lláh’s coming, and looking at the New Testament in light of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. Also, “The Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh,” taught by Dr. Jalil Mahmoudi in collaboration with the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.

August 31-September 3, Homecoming. The traditional social occasion at which Louhelen alumni, old and new, gather for fellowship, recreation and inspiration.

More information about the programs may be obtained from the school.

Children’s programs: Kodaly, 0-5; National Teacher Training Week, 0-15; July sessions, 0-14; General sessions, 0-21; Marriage Institute, 0-14; August 25-31, 0-5; Homecoming, 0-15.

Some work/study positions and scholarships are available.

Rates for adults: $23/day in dorm-style housing (3-4 per room). Add $5/day for a double and $14/day for a single, if available. Children: 16-20, 10 per cent less; 11-15, 20 per cent less; 4-10, 33 per cent less; 1-3, 50 per cent less. For stays of five days or more, there is a discount: the longer you stay, the less you pay. Discounts of 10 per cent apply to families of four or more and those with Assembly scholarships. Senior citizens and the handicapped pay dorm rates for double or single accommodations, if available. VISA and Master Charge accepted.

Registrar: Hermione Pickens, Davison, MI 48423. 313-653-5033.

MINNESOTA

Dates: July 21-25. Location: Camp Onamia, capacity 150, in Onamia, Minnesota. Theme: “The Message of Bahá’u’lláh—A World Civilizing Force.” Accommodations: Retreat center; rooms with private baths; meals served cafeteria style. Classrooms: Overlooking Lake Shakopee. Separate rooms for adults, children, pre-school and infants. Recreation: Beach, boating, indoor pool, sauna, ping pong, shuffleboard, horseshoes, team games. Rates: Adults, $113; youth (15-17), $79; junior youth (8-14), $57; children (5-7), $36; infants (0-4), $14. Adult day students, $32. Pre-register: By July 7. Registrar: Steve Grams, Togo, MN 55788. 218-376-4472.

MISSOURI

Dates: November 23-25. Location: Trout Lodge, Potosi. Registrar: Robert Yoder, Rock Hill, MO 63119. 314-962-9011.

NINE OAKS (California)

Dates: June 15, August 18, September 22, October 27, December 1. Location: 1209 Old Park Road, Arroyo Grande. Lovely 10-acre rural setting, less than two miles from Grover City. Plenty of parking, beautiful trees and picnic area. Some limited accommodations in nearby Bahá’í homes. Theme: Accent on a year of Creative Word and a Family and Youth Session. Accommodations: Overnight accommodations for teachers only. Participants should bring a sack lunch. Drinks are provided. Reasonably priced restaurants and motels nearby. Classrooms: One large classroom. Smaller facilities on the lower level. All part of a current family residence, but extra space was added to the family home. Recreation: Badminton, volleyball, ping pong supplied. Hiking, plenty of socializing with friends. Rates: $10 for one-day and two-day sessions. Age range 15 years and up. Plans are in the making for a children/family session. Rates may vary for the children’s session. Registrar: Corrine Christensen, Lompoc, CA 93436. 805-735-1410.

OREGON WEST

Session I (Badasht) Dates: July 5-8. Location: Near Ashland in southern Oregon, off the Interstate highway. Forest environment. Capacity 100. Theme: “Planning a Life of Service.” Accommodations: Rustic facility; communal eating and food preparation. Camping atmosphere. Classrooms: Out-of-doors or sheltered. Recreation: Hiking, outdoor games, arts and crafts. Rates: Ages 10 and older, $15; ages 3-9, $8; [Page 39]ages 0-2, $2. Registrar: Kathy Laws, Lake Oswego, OR 97034. 503-636-5817.

Session II (Kalimat) Dates: August 17-20. Location: Near Salem in a forest setting with comfortable cabins and wash facilities. Capacity 100-120. Accommodations: Formal dining; meals provided. Family facilities or singles. Classrooms: Cabins, amphitheatre, out-of-doors. Recreation: Excellent. Swimming, hiking, field sports, arts and crafts. Rates: Ages 0-2, $15; ages 3-12, $25; ages 13-17, $35; ages 18 and older, $59. Registrar: Same as for Session I above.

Session III (Menucha) Dates: November 22-25 (Thanksgiving weekend). Location: Private estate in park-like area off I-80 east of Portland near Corbett. Capacity 100. Often snows during this school session. Theme: “Planning a Life of Service.” Accommodations: Excellent. Formal dining; accommodations for the disabled; dormitories or private rooms. Classrooms: Classic lodge with large classrooms. Adult and youth-with-sponsor classes are combined. Recreation: Nature paths overlooking the Columbia Gorge. Rates: Adults, $85; students, $70. Registrar: Same as for Sessions I and II above.

SHELTERING BRANCH (Washington)

Dates: August 19-25. Location: Camp Wooten ELC in Dayton, Washington, nestled deep in the heart of the Blue Mountains. The rural setting offers isolation from the everyday problems around us and lends itself to the development of Bahá’í community life. Theme: “Source of Celestial Potency—The Creative Word.” Accommodations: Dormitory-style in cabins of 10 each. Bring sleeping bags, bedding. Children with a parent to age 8 (optional). Some family cabins can be arranged if 8 to a cabin is guaranteed. Meals served family-style. All support services are performed by those attending the Bahá’í school. Classrooms: Classes are held both indoors and out. Main lodge with fireplace; outside in sheltered areas; some classes in cabins. Recreation: Hiking, heated swimming pool, roller skating (bring skates), tennis, volleyball, baseball, football, fly fishing in river, canoeing in pond, annual frog jumping contest. Supervised and free recreation periods. Rates: Pre-registration, $5 per person; adults 21 and over, $65; youth 15-20, $50; junior youth 9-14, $32; children 4-8, $25; infants 0-3, $15. Note: $200 maximum cost per family. Pre-register: By August 1, please! Registrar: Gary McConnell, Kennewick, WA 99336. 509-582-4273.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Dates: August 2-4. Location: Bethlehem, South Dakota. Theme: “Living the Bahá’í Life.” Accommodations: Room for 36 in beds. Floor sleeping increases capacity to 50. Recreation: Hiking, open field activities. Tours of the Bethlehem caves cost extra, so prepare if interested. Classrooms: Indoors in large meeting room. Classes for children, youth, adults, and a nursery. Rates: Adults, $25; ages 12-21, $25; ages 6-12, $12; under age 6, free. Note: All rates include meals. Day students: 12-adult, $3.50 Friday, $10.50 Saturday, $7.50 Sunday. Pre-register: By July 15, please! Information: Julie Hartin, Rapid City, SD 57701. 605-343-0990.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Dates: June 16-21. Location: Pilgrim Pines, Yucaipa. Capacity 250. Theme: “Challenge of the Creative Word.” Accommodations: Cabins with bunk beds, outside washroom/shower, central dining room. Classrooms: Adequate classrooms for adult and children’s classes; arrangements for youth and junior youth classes, and a nursery. Recreation: Swimming pool, hiking, volleyball, field activities. Pre-register: By June 1, please! Registrar: Alvin Lewis, Los Angeles, CA 90065. 213-222-7785.

TENNESSEE INSTITUTE

Dates: August 31-September 3. Theme: “Economic and Social Development.” Breaking new ground: A Bahá’í blueprint. Information: Jerry Strain, Hixson, TN 37343. 615-842-8068. [Page 40]

WASHINGTON WEST

Dates: August 12-17.

Location: Seabeck, Washington. Capacity 240.

Theme: “Manifesting the Spirit of Union.”

Accommodations: Lodging includes bedding, three meals each day.

Classrooms: Indoors.

Recreation: Hiking, swimming, boating, basketball, volleyball.

Rates: Low and high options available for adults, youth and children.

Registrar: Karl Seehorn, Kent, WA 98042. 206-631-7475.

WESTERN COLORADO

Bahá’í Family Reunion No. 1

Dates: May 26-28 noon to noon.

Location: Conejos Ranch, 15 miles west of Antonito on Highway 17. Capacity 50.

Theme: “Devising Our Plans of Social and Economic Development.”

Accommodations: Cooperative meal preparation; two kitchens available. Please bring extra food and cooking utensils to share. Cafe also available. Beds and bedding available on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring sleeping bags and foam pads. RVs are welcome and there are tent sites nearby.

Classrooms: Small indoor and some outdoor in good weather.

Recreation: Horseback riding, hot tub, volleyball, playground, fishing, hiking, etc.

Rates: Ages 15 and older, $10; ages 6-15, $5; ages 0-6, free.

Pre-register: As soon as possible, but not required.

Registrar: Bill Bright, Alamosa, CO 81101. 303-589-3217.

Family Reunion No. 2

Dates: September 1-3 noon to noon.

Location: Camp Ilium, a few miles north of Ophir off of Highway 145 near Telluride. Capacity 100.

Theme: “Devising Our Plans of Social and Economic Development.”

Accommodations: One main kitchen; please bring extra food to share. Bring sleeping bags. RVs and tents are welcome.

Classrooms: Large and small indoor classrooms.

Recreation: Volleyball, fishing, hiking, nature study, etc.

Note: Absolutely no pets allowed!

Rates: Same as for Reunion No. 1 above.

Registrar: Same as for Reunion No. 1 above.

WISCONSIN

Dates: July 2-6.

Location: Camp Brownsville, capacity 100. On County Road F, 1 1/2 miles west of U.S. Highway 41, a one-hour drive north of Milwaukee.

Theme: “Attributes for a World Society.”

Accommodations: Lodging, 2-story modern building has rooms with two twin beds (cots for children are available). Shower-bathroom between each two rooms. Bedding and towels are not furnished. Space on the grounds for tents and RVs, electric hookups. Food is family-style, country cooking, generous portions in air conditioned dining hall.

Classrooms: Spacious and well-lighted. Nursery in separate building.

Recreation: Guarded swimming pool, tennis court, softball diamond, horseshoes, wooded trails.

Rates: Include all meals, lodging and materials plus administrative fee. Adults, $85; youth (10 and older), $85; children (5-10), $40; children under 5, $5; infants under 1 year, free.

Pre-register: Any time before June 18. $10 per person deposit with exception of children under 5 years old. After June 18, registrations will be accepted if space is available—$5 per person late registration fee will be charged.

Registrar: Charles Kennel, Waukesha, WI 53186. 414-542-2121.

WILHELM (New Jersey)

Dates: Year-round school. Every Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Location: Wilhelm Bahá’í property, 126 Evergreen Place, Teaneck. Capacity 100.

Theme: Themes vary throughout the year.

Note: Our school is special. We do not have accommodations. Our style of service is on a continuing weekly basis for adults, youth and children and friends of the Faith. A bookstore is open the last Sunday in each month. No classes are held for children during the Fast period. No fee is charged.

Classrooms: Separate rooms for three age groupings of children, youth and adults, also nursery facilities.

Registrar: Registration is not required. We encourage you to support this unique school with your consistent attendance.

Information: Sharon Karnik, 201-361-0445.

WYOMING

Dates: June 16-17.

Location: Laramie Civic Center, 8th and Garfield Sts., Laramie 82070. Capacity 60-80.

Theme: “Establishing a Bahá’í Identity.”

Note: Everyone attending the school must come with an individual or personal copy of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. This is requested for all class levels.

Accommodations: We will supply upon request a list of hotels, motels and restaurants. No accommodations at the school site.

Classrooms: For adults and children, day care center for infants (parents pay cost for this); separate facilities for the youth program.

Recreation: City parks near the site.

Rates: Adults, $12.50; youth, $9; children, $5; infants, day care rates.

Pre-registration: Required before June 1. No registration after that date—firm! Pay the full amount through pre-registration.

Registrar: Mary D. Vaughan, P.O. Box 2378, Mills, WY 82644. 307-234-9079.