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[Page 1]’ILM B.E. 151/ OCTOBER 16, 1994 VOLUME 25, NUMBER 15

The American Bahá’í

Regional public information weekends launched

The National Spiritual Assembly’s newly reopened Office of Public Information in New York City plans to hold a series of meetings across the country to consult with Public Information Representatives, local Spiritual Assemblies and other interested Bahá’ís about the public information work of the Faith in the U.S.

The meetings will give the PI reps and others an opportunity to meet with the staff of the Office of Public Information and to discuss the present and future status of work with the media.

The meetings will begin Saturday morning and end early Sunday afternoon. More specific details were outlined in a letter sent to all PI reps and local Spiritual Assemblies. For more information, please contact the Office of Public Information, 212-756-3500.

The schedule:

October 15-16: Bahá’í Center, New York City. October 22-23: Chicago.

November 5-6: Louisville, Kentucky. November 19-20: Bahá’í Center, Denver, Colorado.

December 10-11: Atlanta, Georgia. December 17-18: Wichita, Kansas.

January 7-8: Bahá’í Center, Los Angeles. January 14-15: Bahá’í Book and Information Center, Seattle, Washington. January 28-29: Bahá’í Center, Dallas, Texas.

National Assembly meeting spotlights triumphs, concerns

The National Spiritual Assembly met August 26-28. Among the external affairs matters discussed was the letter from President Clinton to Sen. Claiborne Pell, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which the President expressed his continuing support of the human rights of Bahá’ís and other minority groups in Iran.

The Treasurer’s Office reported that contributions to the various Bahá’í funds are running well ahead of contributions received last summer; however, the continuing deficit in the National Fund is a matter of grave concern, especially because no further reductions of staff or other economies are possible without seriously impairing the functioning of the national Bahá’í administrative institutions.

The National Teaching Committee presented a report on the increased teaching activities in many areas of the country. In consultation, the link between teaching and race unity work was stressed.

Particular attention was paid to the local initiative of the friends in the Charleston, South Carolina, area who are planning a race unity conference emphasizing the contributions made by the Hand of the Cause of God Louis G. Gregory, a native of Charleston.

In the spirit of the Campaign for Unified Action, the National Spiritual Assembly will write to local Assemblies in the Charleston area to commend them for their meritorious initiative and to offer its support.

The National Teaching Committee reported that it had received proposals that Bahá’í children, at the start of the school year, take to school administrators a form letter from the National Spiritual Assembly explaining Bahá’í Holy Days and asking permission for Bahá’í students to be absent on those days.

Counselor Wilma Ellis met with the National Spiritual Assembly. The consultation dealt with teaching. The need for Bahá’í Centers, especially in the South, was discussed, and it was agreed that construction of the Arc on Mt. Carmel takes precedence over all other financial needs.

In some areas, however, it may become necessary to invest in the acquisition or construction of Bahá’í Centers

See NATIONAL page 11

Firuz Kazemzadeh (left), the National Spiritual Assembly secretary for External Affairs, was one of the speakers at a reception July 27 at the Capitol Building in Washington that celebrated the passage by Congress of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The National Spiritual Assembly’s office in Washington organized NGO (non-governmental organization) support for ratification of the Convention. Other speakers at the reception were Sen. Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; John Shattuck, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; James O’Dea, executive director, Washington office of Amnesty International; and Father Robert F. Drinan, S.J., of the American Bar Association.

Partnerships help Walla Walla build celebration that draws 3,500

The Bahá’ís of Walla Walla, Washington, gave a Race Unity Day and Multi-Cultural Arts Festival and 3,500 people—fully one-tenth the number of city residents—showed up.

But there’s no real secret to their success, according to Britt Barer of the Spiritual Assembly of Walla Walla.

“As we don’t have the resources within the two small Bahá’í communities in Walla Walla County to put on an event of this magnitude, we approached many other organizations, individuals, and businesses who felt as we did about the importance of fostering race unity,” he explained.

This consultation resulted in formation of the Walla Walla Race Unity Committee, a not-for-profit group with its own bank account and federal ID number to keep all funds and donations separate from the funds of the Faith or any of the other participating organizations.

The Bahá’í communities are represented on the committee, along with Pioneer United Methodist Church, First Congregational

See THREE-YEAR page 17

Atlanta Bahá’í Youth Workshop members kick up their heels and country music star Dan Seals relates how he came to the Faith during a public meeting September 17 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Workshop was fresh from appearances at the ‘I Have a Dream’ National Youth Assembly in Little Rock, Arkansas (see page 10), while Mr. Seals arrived in the midst of a concert tour. But this night they had Georgia on their minds, and an enthusiastic audience in Georgia Tech’s Theatre of the Arts was appreciative. Photos by Tom Mennillo. [Page 2]

San Diego Bahá’ís present awards to African-Americans

The Bahá’ís of San Diego County, California, as part of the Nightingale Teaching Project, presented awards June 4 to 23 African-Americans for their contributions and service to the city of San Diego.

A family also was honored in recognition of the importance of all families.

James Moody, a relatively new Bahá’í and internationally known jazz musician who played with Dizzy Gillespie, was presented a special award that included a portrait of Mr. Gillespie by Bahá’í artist Jihmye Collins.

The honorees were from all walks of life, including a well-known Christian pastor, the president of a local NAACP chapter, artists, educators, business women and men, an attorney and a reporter.

Most honorees were those who have worked steadfastly to promote unity in their own as well as the larger community, often without great exposure.

The luncheon was held at a minority-owned restaurant, and about 150 people heard how the work of these honorees reflects Bahá’í principles of equality, unity and justice.

A booklet was prepared and distributed to all honorees and guests. It included an autobiographical sketch and photograph of each honoree, as well as quotations from "The Vision of Race Unity" and other Bahá’í writings.

The following letter from one of the honorees seems to express the feeling the organizers heard from many of those honored:

"Thank you very much for the wonderful acknowledgement. I felt humbled to be included in the Nightingale Awards with such an elite, talented group of community leaders.

"It was a privilege to spend quality time with the membership of Bahá’í, who, in my opinion, are on the cutting edge of teaching people how to create happiness, harmony and a vision of purpose. It's obvious that all of the membership is in a unique class that requires skill, practice and courage.

"The stimulating awards event was an enriching, intimate experience and presented me with a new understanding of relationship."

The Nightingale Project plans to follow up with many of the new friendships made at the luncheon.

Treat Greatest Name with respect

The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice have strongly urged the Bahá’ís to treat the Greatest Name with the utmost respect and dignity.

The National Spiritual Assembly discourages the use of the Greatest Name in contacts with the media. It is not advisable for Bahá’ís to pose for newspaper photographs holding the Greatest Name or portraits of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

ARMY OF LIGHT National Youth Conference

December 23-26, 1994

Personal Information: Name Street Address State Zip Age Sex City Phone Bahá’í ID Number Race/Ethnic Background Special Assistance Required (i.e. - Wheelchair access, Walking Assistance, Blind Access):

VOLUNTEERS: We need volunteers. Please check your area of preference: Ushering Security Registration As assigned

If you are under 18, please have your parent fill out the following: I, parent of a minor, authorize the Bahá’í Youth Conference Task Force to consent to any and all medical or surgical treatment deemed advisable by any physician or surgeon licensed under the provisions of the Medical Practice Act effective while my child is attending this event.

Date Signature of parent, Insurance Company. Policy #

If you are under 15, and attending without a parent, please fill out the following: I, appoint parent of to be my child's sponsor at the Bahá’í National Youth Conference. The sponsor, who is of the same sex and over 21, will serve as a good and kindly parent to my child and is fully responsible for him/her at the conference.

Date Date Signature of parent Signature of sponsor

• Pre-registration deadline-December 10. • Be sure to include payment with your registration form. • Use only one form per person. Photocopies are acceptable.

FEE for Registration: $30. Fee must be included with registration form. Please make checks payable to: Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Phoenix.

HOTELS: Those wishing to stay in area hotels must make their own reservations. Mention the Bahá’í Conference when making all reservations to ensure discounted rates. You are encouraged to make room reservations immediately.

Holiday Inn Crown Plaza 1-800-359-7253 or 602-257-1525 $42 a night for up to four people upon availability

Please note: December 10 is the final day for these rates. These rates are available for December 21 - 27.

AIR TRANSPORTATION: Southwest Airlines is offering a discount on all fares for flights going to Phoenix between December 20-29. To make reservations, call Southwest Airlines Group desk at 1-800-433-5368 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mention the Bahá’í Conference and refer to I.D. number J39. Reservations must be made by December 14 to receive the discount.

FOOD: We have been notified that there will be no outside food allowed in the hotels. There are restaurant and fast food facilities available in the hotel areas.

At the Holiday Inn: Breakfast $3.50 Lunch $5.50 Dinner $8.00

On-Site Registration: On-site registration begins on Thursday afternoon, December 22.

Medical Release for those under 18: Everyone under the age of 18 must have a parent fill out the medical release section on the registration form. NO EXCEPTIONS!

Age Limit: Please note that this is a Youth Conference. If you are outside this age bracket, please consider attending the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference. Questions about any other details of the Youth Conference can be directed to 1-800-DWN-BRKR

Send registration form to: PO Box 9961 Phoenix, AZ 85068-9961

PLEASE NOTE: This form is for the National Youth Conference ONLY. If your family is planning to attend the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference, please be sure they register with the GCBC Committee. [Page 3]

The Banner

Mount your steeds, O heroes of God!

Our vision ... ONE VISION

Welcome again to The Banner! As we center our focus on unity and service, we would like to fill The Banner with components that will inspire, enlighten and motivate Bahá’í youth to serve and unite. To do this, we provide you with deepenings, service and teaching project information, quotes to brighten your mind, and much more.

We know, however, that you have many great ideas as well. We encourage you to send your ideas and suggestions to us, because we want The Banner to represent accurately American Bahá’í youth. So, please be in touch with us!

We are looking for:

• Information on service and teaching projects with which you are involved.
• Prayers and quotes that represent to you attributes of a spiritual warrior.
• Deepenings that have been successful for you (including references).
• Letters to the editor expressing your ideas, concerns, questions and inspirations.
• Ideas about how youth can serve their Bahá’í community.
• Teaching and service victories (please feel free to include photographs).
• College club information and news of activities.
• Anything else you can think of to share with other youth in the country.

Additionally, we’d like to know what you think of The Banner so far—the newsletter that was mailed out, and in this issue of The American Bahá’í.

Please share your thoughts with us so that we can continue to serve you and to provide information relevant to youth today.

Thanks! Editors, The Banner

1-800-DWN-BRKR

The dawning of a new age has come . . .

Open your eyes to the illuminating power of youth! Our new 800 number puts you in touch with the heartbeat of the country. Find out about projects around the country, or leave a message with YOUR project information. Share with us your experiences, ideas and inspirations, or ask us your questions about teaching and serving. Your National Teaching Committee is only a phone call away . . .

PLEASE BE IN TOUCH WITH US!

Becoming a spiritual warrior

“This generation of Bahá’í youth enjoys a unique distinction. You will live your lives in a period when the forces of history are moving to a climax, when mankind will see the establishment of the Lesser Peace, and during which the Cause of God will play an increasingly prominent role in the reconstruction of human society. It is you who will be called upon in the years to come to stand at the helm of the Cause in face of conditions and developments which can, as yet, scarcely be imagined.”—The Universal House of Justice, in Unrestrained as the Wind, p. 85

“The forces released by Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation need individuals who will serve as pure channels to do the work of the Cause. From the very beginning of the Faith, youth have arisen to serve in this way. Now, at so crucial a moment in the unfoldment of the Cause and the history of humanity, Bahá’í youth are again summoned to heroic deeds as spiritual warriors in the army of light.”—The Universal House of Justice, in Youth Can Move the World, pp. 6, 9

A deepening: heroic youth—the story of Zaynab

From the beginning of the Bahá’í Era, youth have played a vital role in promulgating God’s Revelation. Their exemplary dedication and love for the Faith have allowed them to serve with distinction and honor in the forefront of the Cause.

Accounts of unselfish acts of courage, unending devotion, and supreme sacrifice can be found throughout the pages of The Dawn-Breakers.

It is particularly in the story of Zaynab that Bahá’í youth of today can find the strength and inspiration to serve their beloved Cause.

Her name was Zaynab, her home a tiny hamlet in the neighborhood of Zanján [Persia], her time shortly following the martyrdom of the Báb.

She was comely and fair of face, was fired with a lofty faith, and endowed with intrepid courage.

As a disciple of the Báb, the sight of the trials and hardships which her fellow Bábí companions were made to endure during the battle of Zanján stirred in her an irrepressible yearning to disguise herself in male attire and share in repelling the repeated military attacks of the enemy.

Disguised as a man, Zaynab girded a sword, seized both musket and shield, and introduced herself into the ranks of the Bábí warriors.

During battle, with incredible audacity and a prowess uncommon to a woman of those times, Zaynab flung herself upon the enemy forces, baring her sword and raising the cry “Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!” She was able to keep her true identity hidden from all of her fellow Bábí warriors save one. Hujjat, one of the leaders during the battle of Zanján, questioned her as to the motive behind her behavior after realizing who she was.

She burst into tears and said, “My heart ached with pity and sorrow when I beheld the toil and sufferings of my fellow disciples. I advanced by an inner urge I could not resist.”

She added, “You alone have recognized me. I adjure you by the Báb not to withhold from me that inestimable privilege, the crown of martyrdom, the one desire of my life.”

Hujjat, profoundly impressed by the tone and manner of her appeal, granted her request but warned her not to exceed the bounds their Faith had imposed upon them.

“We are called upon to defend our lives against a treacherous assailant,” he reminded her, “and not to wage holy war against him.”

Zaynab continued to display her unrivaled heroism in battle for a period of no less than five months. Always at the forefront of the turmoil that raged around her, Zaynab was ever-ready to rush to the rescue of whatever post the assailant was threatening, and to lend her assistance to anyone who needed either her encouragement or support.

One day, seeing that enemy forces had enveloped her companions, Zaynab ran in distress to Hujjat to implore that he allow her to rush forth to their aid.

“My life, I feel, is nearing its end,” she said. “I may myself fall beneath the sword of the assailant. Forgive, I entreat you, my trespasses, and intercede for me with my Master, for whose sake I yearn to lay down my life.”

My life, I feel, is nearing its end. I may myself fall beneath the sword of the assailant. Forgive, I entreat you, my trespasses, and intercede for me with my Master, for whose sake I yearn to lay down my life. —Zaynab, as quoted in The Dawn-Breakers

With this, Zaynab leaped out of the gate and, raising the cry of “Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!”, rushed to slay the hand that had already slain a number of her companions.

She was engaging in overcoming the fourth of the enemy’s defenses when, beneath a shower of bullets, she fell to the ground.

Not a single voice ever dared to question Zaynab’s chastity or to ignore the sublimity of her faith and the enduring traits of her character.

Such was her devotion that after her death not less than 20 women of her acquaintance embraced the Cause of the Báb.

To them she was the incarnation of the noblest principles of human conduct, a living embodiment of the spirit that only a faith such as hers could manifest. [Page 4]

Bahá’í family recounts memorable teaching trip to Albania

The following experiences were shared by Robert and Elvia Ramirez from Texas who recently returned with their two children from a memorable pilgrimage and traveling teaching trip to Albania.

Leaving Haifa after our pilgrimage was very hard. We had experienced "heaven on earth" for nine days. Yet we knew that the work of teaching the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh was to come. As we traveled to Albania we had many apprehensions but we trusted in God and knew that He was with us every step of the way. We felt that Bahá’u’lláh was paving the way for our trip as we quickly met the Bahá’ís in the capital city of Tirana and were escorted to our teaching post in Fier, about a three-hour drive away. Although the days were extremely hot and sometimes traveling to the villages was difficult, teaching the Faith was not!

Our teaching teams consisted of three or four Bahá’ís accompanied by Albanian youth who spoke fluent English. Upon arriving in a village, we looked up the local Bahá’ís and began deepening and consolidation work with them.

In the process, neighbors and friends would come to visit. We would be introduced and the conversation would turn to the Faith. The Albanian Bahá’ís would begin teaching and we would then say prayers or tell stories about the life of Bahá’u’lláh.

Most visits ended with four to six declarations, and invitations to return. We would then focus on these new Bahá’ís and follow up with children's classes, deepenings, women's meetings and meetings on the importance of the Feast.

Each team concentrated on three villages and returned every three days. Eventually, six new communities were opened and 156 new Bahá’ís were enrolled in 19 days. We celebrated the Feast of Perfection (Kamál) in our respective communities. It was by the Grace of God that we were all able to stay awake and energized, alert and happy at our own local Feast.

In the village of Ducas the Feast was held in a stairway because the homes could not accommodate the size of the community. It was a happy occasion despite the fact that we were packed quite tightly, and no-one complained. It was inspiring to see how 50 adults and children adjusted in the best way possible to a difficult situation.

Later that evening we went to the Feast in Fier which was attended by many people and gave us the opportunity to say good-bye to our dear friends. We promised to return, and in Albania a promise is a serious commitment! We are planning to return to Albania in 1996.

During our stay, we saw the hardships that face the entire national community of Albania. They have so much to do and so few resources. Yet even with these hardships, our Albanian brothers and sisters are happy and most generous with what little they have.

Not only were we able to witness many Albanians proclaiming their belief in our glorious Faith, but also many wonderful friendships were established. Both happened despite a language barrier.

We were touched by their commitment to Bahá’u’lláh and the sacrifices they would make out of love for Him. This first visit to Albania was an experience that will remain a happy memory for our lifetimes.

Elvia Ramirez (second to last row, center) is pictured with a Bahá’í children's class in Ducas, Albania, just before celebrating the Feast of Kamál (Perfection) with the Ramirez's many new-found friends and fellow believers.

"Pioneering is the greatest bounty that can come to one—one steps into a new arena of service...one stands on the threshold of this arena and knows that there is only one weapon that will permit victory. There is only one weapon that we have that will absolutely guarantee victory, and that weapon is complete reliance on Bahá’u’lláh. One prays every step of the way. One feels within one's self a new connection with God, a sense of nearness is born because one soon becomes aware of answers—the path being marked for one; the needs of self that seemed so important at home, that took up so much time and energy fall away or find a new level. One knows, eventually, that one is never alone, one feels a new dimension, one walks the mystical way with practical feet. There are tests—one cannot step into the arena and have focused on one the spiritual spotlight of service without exposing weakness. This, too, is part of the bounty. One begins to know himself. So I would say to anyone—grab the chance before it's too late. Embrace this bounty. Have no fear. Step into the arena. Above all things, pray that one will succeed, will not falter halfway across the arena. What a great bounty to have been born now, in the early days, when pioneering is possible...when you offer to pioneer, you don't need to know where you're going. You don't need to care where you're going. Because you're going out you will be guided by Bahá’u’lláh. We are blessed that God will assist all those who will arise to serve Him. We know that we are accompanied by a band of chosen angels who will open the doors and prepare the way for us...."—The Hand of the Cause of God John Robarts, from an address at The Gathering, Batterwood, Ontario, Canada, August 3, 1980

Service Corps volunteers, youth pioneers are needed

Veteran Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteers, youth pioneers, and Army of Light participants are urgently needed to help raise up and prepare increasing numbers of youth pioneers and traveling teachers. If you have served in one of the ways mentioned above, would you be willing to help:

• tell youth about youth service opportunities at a booth during the "Army of Light Boot Camp" in December?
• draft articles on a variety of topics related to youth service for The Banner, The American Bahá’í, or Be Magazine?
• facilitate a training institute for Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteers in your area or at one of the Bahá’í schools?
• serve as a regional contact person for youth interested in offering a term of service in the U.S. or abroad?
• speak about the urgency for and rewards of youth service, teaching or pioneering at a Bahá’í gathering?
• help the Office of Pioneering and/or the National Teaching Office in their many other efforts to coordinate the youth service opportunities so vitally important to the youth and to the Bahá’í world community?
• Other ways to raise up or prepare youth for service. Some ideas I have are:

If you can help, please check off one or more items above and mail or fax this form to Alex Blakeson, Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091. Fax 708-733-3509 or phone 708-733-3511.

STEPS TO SERVICE in the Cause of God

"...There are still vast areas of the world where no Bahá’ís have set foot. There are millions desperately thirsting for this Water of Life. There are countries where believers are laboring day and night to foster the growth of the tree of the Cause, and are in urgent need of reinforcements. It is our fervent prayer at the Sacred Threshold that stalwart, self-sacrificing friends will arise and that a wave of pioneers and traveling teachers will surge forth to raise the banner of the Cause and reinforce the cohorts of God in every land."—Letter from The Universal House of Justice, June 27, 1993

You may be aware of the urgency of the times and the critical need for pioneers and traveling teachers (..."The task of spreading the Message to the generality of mankind...must be rapidly extended. The need for this is critical...."—The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 150), but do you know what steps to take to effectively contribute to the winning of the international goals of the Three Year Plan?

For the individual, the Office of Pioneering urges everyone who is considering any form of international service—Bahá’í Youth Service Corps (BYSC) for young people between...

Sensitive Teaching Area program set in October

Three Sensitive International Teaching Areas Programs have happened recently—the next one will be held at the Bahá’í National Center on October 27-30.

Coming soon...SITAS in your own region! Find out HOW and WHY you can and should be invited! Contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette IL 60091, or phone 708-733-3508. [Page 5]

CONTRIBUTION UPDATE — AUGUST 31, 1994

National Bahá’í Fund
Where we are	$3,004,419
Where we need to be	$4,833,333

International Funds
Int’l/Arc/Cont’l Funds	$1,928,716
Arc only	$1,582,145
Where we need to be	$3,500,000

A need and a heartfelt response

The request comes from the Universal House of Justice: help a National Spiritual Assembly in eastern Europe buy a national headquarters and a National Assembly in Africa set up a video teaching unit.

Contributions are low, cash is short, and the summer slump has begun. What can be done?

That was the situation that faced our National Spiritual Assembly only three months ago. A number of priority needs had been identified by the House of Justice and allocated to various National Assemblies in the hope that immediate action could be taken; the two listed above were assigned to the U.S.

There was no question that action was required, and quickly. But what were the options?

The National Fund’s income had dropped, forcing the National Assembly to borrow from its last cash reserves. Contracts for repairs to the House of Worship, the National Center and the Green Acre school had been let and had to be honored. Where could the Assembly turn?

One of the Assembly members said, “I know someone who might want to help. Let me go and see.” The National Assembly gave its approval, and in the course of a trip already planned, a meeting was held.

The believer was told of the needs, shown the letter from the Supreme Body, and heard of the National Assembly’s inability to meet those needs from its own resources.

This dear friend, who had been to eastern Europe and had seen the needs there, responded immediately with a $40,000 contribution, $1,000 of which was to go to the Arc Projects with the rest divided equally between the two goals.

The gift was made in honor of several family members, some living, others who had passed away. This friend did, indeed, wish to help, saying later, “I feel so honored to have had the chance to serve this great Faith, and to see it grow, wherever, in whatever country. We’re all one.”

Some of us can give $40,000, or even more. Some of us cannot; our measure is different. But don’t we all want to help?

Funds go to heart of our institutions

“The supply of funds, in support of the National Treasury, constitutes, at the present time, the life-blood of these nascent institutions you are laboring to erect. Its importance cannot, surely, be overestimated. Untold blessings shall no doubt crown every effort directed to that end.” —Directives of the Guardian, p. 30

This is the winning metaphor used by Shoghi Effendi to describe the nature of the Bahá’í Funds and their effect on the body of a growing Cause.

Indeed, every spiritual reality is mirrored in the physical creation. So let’s spend a moment thinking about what life-blood does in a physical body (with apologies to the physicians!), and what the comparison is to the body of the Faith.

Blood circulates through one’s body, carrying impurities from the cells, passing through the heart and lungs, and then carrying oxygen and nutrients to the cells.

Isn’t there a parallel here? Where do the funds go, if not to the heart of the Faith, its central institutions?

Moreover, in the context of Huqúqu’lláh, the Blessed Beauty tells us that payment of this divine obligation “purifies” our possessions. We become spiritualized as we give to the Cause:

“Giving to the Fund...is a spiritual privilege...of which no believer should deny himself. It is both a responsibility and a source of bounty. ...”

“The importance of contributing resides in the degree of sacrifice of the giver, the spirit of devotion with which the contribution is made, and the unity of the friends in this service; these attract the confirmations of God and enhance the dignity and self-respect of the individuals and the community.” —The Universal House of Justice

Might not we think of these confirmations as the source of life, just as the oxygen and nutrients we ingest are the source of life to the cells?

Many a time hath the court of the All-Merciful been to outward seeming so denuded of all the riches of this world that they who lived in close association with Him suffered from dire want. Despite their sufferings, the Pen of the Most High hath, at no time, been willing to refer, nor even to make the slightest allusion, to the things that pertain to this world and its treasures. And if, at any time, any gift were presented to Him, that gift was accepted as a token of His grace unto him that offered it. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 201-202

In moments of threat or extreme cold, the blood changes its flow; it goes toward the center of the body and to the brain to ensure an uninterrupted supply to the organs that are essential to life and thought.

Today the worldwide Bahá’í community faces tremendous challenges: society is decaying around us and danger mounts; the Arc on Mount Carmel must be built as a testimony of faith and a source of power.

Doesn’t it make sense that our heart and nerve center, the World Center, should be calling for an increased supply of resources? And, as the figures on this page show, those resources have begun to flow toward that Center.

The Bahá’í Funds are an integral part of Bahá’í life; they are a part of everything we are and do—another similarity to the blood supply. There is no cell, no part of the body that is beyond its reach. Every organ is united with every other; the tasks each one performs depend on actions by every other.

Does it make sense, then, to talk about expansion of the community and not talk about the resources needed to spark that growth? Or about the human and financial resources that result from growth?

Let’s not torture the metaphor any longer; it should be clear by now that this simple statement by the Guardian can lead to new understandings of the inner workings of this mysterious Cause.

But one conclusion is this: in the early days, the flow of funds was merely a trickle; as He testifies, often Bahá’u’lláh and His family “suffered from dire want.”

Today, because of the loving sacrifice of generations of His loved ones, that trickle has swelled to a mighty flood.

We are no longer a tiny organism; today we are a community that commands tens of millions of dollars in resources, resources we use every day for the spiritual development of people everywhere.

The supply of funds, in support of the National Treasury, constitutes, at the present time, the life-blood of these nascent institutions you are laboring to erect. Its importance cannot, surely, be overestimated. Untold blessings shall no doubt crown every effort directed to that end. Shoghi Effendi, Directives of the Guardian, p. 30 [Page 6]

And the Trees Clapped Their Hands

Stories of Bahá’í Pioneers compiled by Claire Vreeland SC $19.95 / Code—ATTCH

In Tablets of the Divine Plan, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá directed Bahá’ís to take the message of Bahá’u’lláh around the world. Here are 38 stories of some of the Bahá’í pioneers who did just that.

They all had difficulties—many of them the same problems, no matter in what part of the world they found themselves—language, accommodation, money, schools, jobs, bugs, water supply—but these stories depict “valiant, inspired and determined Bahá’ís rendering sterling service to the Cause.” Essential reading for anyone who would like to be a ‎pinoeer pioneer‎.

5-1/2" x 8-1/2", 393pp., contents, introduction, acknowledgements George Ronald, Publisher

Music of the World Congress

CD Set $35.95# - Code MWCCD CS Set $24.95# - Code MWCCS

A professionally made recording of the beautiful World Congress music including a full oratorio with featured soloists.

This music was recorded last October in Russia with the Mila Moskow Orchestra and singers from the World Congress Choir. Original works by five Bahá’í composers.

BACK IN STOCK

The Advent of Divine Justice, PS	$3.00#
Bahá’í Prayers and Holy Writings, SC	$2.75
Bahá’í Prayers: A Selection	$.50
The Covenant (study book)	$3.00#
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, PS	$3.00#
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, HC	$11.00#
Hidden Words and Selected Holy Writings, SC	$2.75
The Hidden Words, HC	$11.00#
The Hidden Words, SC	$3.50#
Kitáb-i-Íqán, HC	$11.00#
The Secret of Divine Civilizations, PS	$3.00#
The Significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, SC	$3.00#
Some Answered Questions, PS	$3.00#
Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, HC	$11.00#
The Vision of Race Unity (10 and 100 packs), PA	$3.50 / $25.00
The Word of God, SC	$3.00#
Youth Can Move the World, SC	$3.00#

The Bahá’í Faith and the Family

By Bahá’í International Community PA $.75 / Code—BFF

Designed to assist Bahá’ís in presenting to the world the Bahá’í model of family life and the role of the individual within the family. This full color booklet covers the Bahá’í concepts of marriage, individual rights and responsibilities, the equality of the sexes, and education and consultation. This booklet is ideal for mass proclamation and individual presentations, especially during the International Year of the Family.

5-3/4" x 8-1/4", 8pp. Bahá’í Publications Australia

Reflections

Verses from the Bahá’í Teachings Compiled by Akwasi O. Osei SC $11.95 / Code—RSC

A rich offering of verses from the Bahá’í writings, beautifully presented, to help us reflect on the meaning of life, the mystery of love, peace, virtue, the value of deeds, religion, as well as the new world order envisioned by Bahá’u’lláh.

5-1/8" x 7-1/2", 114pp., contents, bibliography, references George Ronald, Publisher

E-MAIL

We are now accepting orders and answering correspondence via E-Mail. To contact us, please use the following Internet address, and be sure to include your credit card number, expiration date, and address with your order.

BDS@USBNC.org

Song of the Nightingale

by Grant Hindin Miller HC $12.95 / Code—SNH

What could impel a little bird to leave its warm nest and risk life and limb in the wintery chill to sing its most glorious song? This beautifully illustrated story book for children celebrates the birth of Bahá’u’lláh. Never before has the story been rendered with such poetry and color. The Song of the Nightingale will win a treasured spot in the heart of every reader.

9-1/4" x 10", 32pp. Nightingale Press

Approach to a Sacred Place

The Art of Otto Donald Rogers VT $24.95 / Code—ATSP

Approach to a Sacred Place is an enlightening new film about Counselor Otto Donald Rogers. ‎A a A‎ member of the International Teaching Center in Haifa and an internationally recognized artist Mr. Rogers has uniquely blended the spiritual principles of the Bahá’í Faith with the landscapes that surround him. His work evokes both the grandeur of the Canadian prairies in which he was raised and the ancient beauty of Israel, where he now lives. The film features superb paintings interspersed with interviews and beautiful images of western Canada and Israel. This is an important film to be shared with others, particularly friends in the artistic community.

57 minutes Film Crew Production / Unity Arts [Page 7]

Distribution

LIFE DEATH A N D IMMORTALITY

THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL

Is there life after death? What is the purpose of earthly existence? What is true happiness? How will my actions in this life affect me in the next life? What will it be like after I die?

These and many other fascinating questions are explored in Life, Death, and Immortality, a collection of Bahá’í sacred writings that examines the nature of the soul and its development.

More than a discussion of life after death, Life, Death, and Immortality explains the purpose of material and spiritual existence and encourages living in spiritually nurturing ways now and forever. A helpful selection of prayers and meditations for spiritual awakening and development is included.

$10.95

New From the Bahá’í Publishing Trust

Calling All Colors VT $14.95 / Code—CAC

A thought provoking look at the efforts of children and youth to address the challenge of achieving racial unity. Calling All Colors features highlights of the national award-winning race unity conferences of the same name, including frank discussions with students. It has proven highly effective for sparking discussions about racism and cultural sensitivity with all ages, and is also useful for those who wish to plan similar conferences. In the words of Calling All Colors founder, Anisa Kintz, age ten “We are the next generation, and soon we will be leading the world, and we have to respect everyone’s ideas and not worry about racial differences.”

30 minutes The Center for Education and Community of Coastal Carolina University

The Bahá’í World 1992–93 An International Record HC $19.00 / Code—BW93H SC $10.00 / Code—BW93S

The appearance of this volume inaugurates a new series of The Bahá’í World, the publication that was conceived almost seventy years ago as the principal public record of the activities around the globe of the emerging Bahá’í world community. Although nineteen volumes of the initial series have been published (volume nineteen is now available, volume twenty is in preparation), the redesign of the series is undertaken primarily in response to a growing public interest in the Faith and a desire to respond better to the needs of researchers.

The Bahá’í World 1992–93 focuses on the activities of the Holy Year: The publication of the statement on Bahá’u’lláh and The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Mount Carmel Projects, Bahá’í involvement at the Earth Summit, The Second Bahá’í World Congress, and much much more. The last three articles provide an overview of the Faith for general readers who have only a superficial familiarity with it. Color photos, maps, and charts make The Bahá’í World 1992–93 a perfect gift for public officials and local libraries.

6" x 9", 316pp., contents, preface, Introduction, statistics, ‎dlrectory directory‎ World Centre Publications

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Bahá’í Distribution Service • 5397 Wilbanks Dr., Hixson, TN 37343 • 1-800-999-9019 • Fax: 1-615-843-0836 • Internet: 73001.1035@compuserve.com [Page 8]

Classifieds

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

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

OPPORTUNITIES for service at the Bahá’í World Center include the following: Administrative—executive, legal, senior/junior secretaries; administrative and clerical assistants; records managers. Audio-Visual—photographers, darkroom technicians, audio-visual technicians, archivists/librarians. Building/Construction—skilled individuals in appliance repair, construction, carpentry, electricity, maintenance, painting/plastering, plumbing, tile-setting. Data Processing—those with skills and experience in computer hardware, programming, systems analysis, user support. Engineering—professionals in civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering and quality control. Financial—professionals with experience in banking, investments, accounting, bookkeeping. Horticultural—those with training and/or experience in landscaping, landscape architecture, plant propagation, gardening, turf maintenance, irrigation, greenhouse management. Human Resources—those with a background in personnel, staff recruitment and selection, human/social services, property/casualty insurance. Language Skills—individuals with high-level translation skills in Persian, Arabic, French, and/or Spanish. If you are interested in applying, please contact the Office of Personnel, Bahá’í World Center, P.O. Box 155, Haifa 31001, Israel. Phone 011-97-243-58-358; fax 011-97-243-58-280; e-mail.

THE BAHÁ’Í National Center presently has openings for the following positions: administrative consultant, Community Administration; mail room supervisor, mail room clerk, Management Information Systems; Fund Development coordinator, administrative assistant, cashier, Office of the Treasurer; administrative assistant, Persian/American Affairs Office; publishing coordinator, editorial assistant, Bahá’í Publishing Trust; communications aide, National Teaching Office; certified nursing assistant (part-time), Bahá’í Home; secretary/receptionist, Bahá’í House of Worship; painter’s helper, Office Services; grounds maintenance, Properties Office; security guards (experience required), Public Safety. For information about any of these positions, please contact Julie Ravenal, Department of Human Resources, 708-733-3427.

THE BAHÁ’Í Center in Washington, D.C., needs a resident manager (or couple). The principal qualification is a warm, hospitable nature so that those who come to the Center, either for information or to attend meetings, find themselves welcomed in an atmosphere of dignity and reverence. The resident manager has many opportunities to teach, and must be open and ready to greet those who stop by or who telephone, and to help them understand the teachings. The manager is responsible for supervising and maintaining the Center. There is a small apartment in the building, which is in an interracial neighborhood on a major bus line. Please write to the Assembly at Washington, DC 20011, or phone 202-726-5909 or 202-882-1736.

CARETAKERS: the Bahá’ís of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, are looking for a facility that will serve as a Bahá’í Center and provide housing for a couple. Applicants must be self-supporting. For information, please write to the Spiritual Assembly of Spartanburg, P.O. Box 2893, Spartanburg, SC 29304, or phone 803-583-3123.

PIONEERING (OVERSEAS)

EMPLOYMENT opportunities overseas. AFRICA: Botswana—teachers. office secretary. Tanzania—English/ESL teacher. AMERICAS: Chile—elementary school teachers. Venezuela—computer industry. ASIA: Macau—urgent need for teachers. Thailand—TESOL teachers. AUSTRALASIA: Palau, W. Caroline Islands—director of finance, associate business dean, English instructor, library technician. EUROPE: Czech Republic—teachers of science, math, English, history and social sciences, foreign languages, Bahá’í studies. For more information, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3512; fax 708-733-3509).

ARCHIVES

THE NATIONAL Bahá’í Archives is seeking, at the request of the Universal House of Justice, original letters written on behalf of the Guardian to the following individuals: ‎Vibhíyyih Vibíyyih‎ Valentine (died New York City, 1957), Emma Valentine, Flora Valentine, Katrina Valentine (died Temple City, CA, 1966), Carla Van Bergen, Anna Van Blarcom (died Montclair, NJ, 1945). Anyone knowing family members or relatives who might have these letters from the Guardian is asked to contact the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-869-9039).

THE NATIONAL Bahá’í Archives has prepared a series of biographical sketches of prominent African-American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian Bahá’ís for use by local communities for Black History Month, Race Unity Day and other special events. Any local community wishing a set of these sketches is asked to send its request with a mailing address to the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-869-9039).

PIONEERING (HOMEFRONT)

BECOME a homefront pioneer in the North Carolina mountains near Boone. A furnished home is waiting to be shared with a single woman who would like to become part of a teaching team and support Boone in its efforts to raise an Assembly. Please phone 704-262-1775 or write to Route 7, Box 662, Boone, NC 28607.

HOMEFRONT pioneering opportunity in Glendive, Montana (in the eastern part of the state off I-94 and near several Indian Reservations), which has a Group of two adults. Opening in a two-chair barber shop for a barber or recent graduate of a barber college. Great opportunity for a Bahá’í professional in men’s hair-cutting to move to Glendive and help build the community to Assembly status. A nice quiet town near historic dinosaur relics. For information, please phone Edward Engel, 406-365-6918.

IF YOU HAVE considered moving to a warm, dry climate in which to serve the Faith, consider Holbrook, Arizona, a town of about 3,500 in the northeastern area of the state. Interstate 40 runs through Holbrook, and tourism is the largest business. For students, there is Northland Pioneer College, a two-year school, and teaching positions may be available at the high school, middle school or at two elementary schools. If you are retired or interested in starting a business, Holbrook would be ideal. The Bahá’í community has seen nine declarations in the last seven years, the majority of them youth. We have formed an Assembly, but need your support to help us grow. For information, please contact Mary Varjavandi, secretary, Holbrook, AZ 86025, or phone 602-524-3199.

THE BAHÁ’Í GROUP of Pine Bluff, Arkansas (a goal area) needs Bahá’í students to help form a Bahá’í Club at the University of Arkansas. Pine Bluff is 32 miles south of Little Rock, site of the land-grant university where the Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory spent about two weeks teaching during the Seven Year Plan in 1939. The seeds have been sown, and we need help to bring in the harvest. If you are interested in becoming a homefront pioneer in a friendly environment, we invite you to try “the natural state.” For more information, please phone Peter Johnson, 501-534-7658, or write to Don or Gwen Crabb, P.O. Box 9581, Pine Bluff, AR 71611.

HELP WANTED in the NATIONAL TEACHING OFFICE

The office of the National Teaching Committee has been restructured in light of the present needs of the Faith. As a result, applications are being accepted for the following full-time positions:

National Projects Administrator

Responsible for executing projects sponsored by the National Teaching Committee. Some duties include:

• Manages national support of teaching throughout the U.S.
• Monitors nationally appointed task forces and national initiatives.
• Coordinates special activities and events.

Experience: Proven project management skills; excellent verbal ability; strong analytical and management capacity; superior interpersonal skills; experience in teaching and familiarity with the principles of Bahá’í administration.

Communications and Development Administrator

Responsible for the communications and development agenda of the National Teaching Committee. Some duties include:

• Develops news and messages to the American Bahá’í community for use in print and audio/visual media.
• Facilitates the production of teaching and deepening materials.
• Gathers and analyzes information related to the teaching work.

Experience: Professional background in writing and production for the media; superior writing skills; comprehensive knowledge of the Bahá’í Writings; proven ability in research and data analysis; ability to coordinate the work of volunteer task forces; excellent interpersonal skills.

For more information or to apply, please write to the Office of Human Resources, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3427).

WANTED

RED GRAMMER is undertaking a recording project (sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Beacon, New York) and is looking for original songs with Bahá’í themes written by children (ages 14 years and under). Please send name, age, address and telephone number with a cassette recording of your song (non-returnable) and lyric sheet to Laurie Early, c/o BIC, Suite 120, 866 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. All proceeds will go to Bahá’í school scholarship funds.

NEEDED: Children’s books in usable/good condition for a Bahá’í school library in Kampala, Uganda. Early childhood, ages 3-5, especially sought but children’s books for all ages will be welcome. Contact brand self-adhesive clear covering is also needed. Please send by air mail or first class, if possible, since sea mail may take one year or more for delivery, to: Auntie Claire’s Kindergarten/School, P.O. Box 14272, Kampala, Uganda.

ITEMS AVAILABLE

WHY NOT consider presenting a theatre fireside? A free script of “Day of Decision,” a three-act play about the Faith, is offered as a teaching vehicle to any community. Please request it from Dawn Edwards, Salt Lake City, UT 84106 (phone 801-264-1199). A posting cost of six stamps would be welcomed.

MISCELLANEOUS

DESERT ROSE logo competition. Deadline: November 1. Mailing address: P.O. Box 35521, Tucson, AZ 85740 (phone 602-742-3766). Contents: the logo will be used for all letterheads and conference literature. Colors: two colors may be chosen. Presentation format: the logo should not be presented on anything larger than a letter-sized sheet of paper. Conditions: the logo should be picture-ready, and all publication rights should be given to the Desert Rose Committee. Prize: accommodations and registration for the 1994 Desert Rose Bahá’í School.

LOST ITEMS found at the Green Lake Bahá’í Conference in Wisconsin may be claimed by contacting the American Baptist Assembly directly at 800-558-8898 or by contacting Lori Block, Green Bay, WI 54301 (phone 414-432-7110).

BOOKS, PERIODICALS

ANNOUNCING the latest edition of Orison, a small arts journal published by the Bahá’í Institute for the Arts, a section of the Association for Bahá’í Studies. The issue, dedicated to the memory of Bahá’í poet Roger White, includes a biographical statement on Mr. White by Duane Herrmann; poetry about him by Alix Vance, Anneke Buys, Michael Fitzgerald, Larry Rowdon, Carol Handy, Sheila Banani, Ken Ridley and Margot McKague; an article on calligraphy by Keith Eldridge; an essay on poetry and belief by Mr. Fitzgerald; additional poems by Janet Ruhe and Linda O’Neil; and reports on a writers’ group in Ottawa and a Bahá’í arts group in Texas. The cover features handmade paper and color art by Lorraine Phillips. Copies of Orison may be ordered by sending $4 plus 75 cents (U.S.) for shipping to Anne Gordon Perry, editor, Dallas, TX 75206. Submissions for the next issue are also welcome. [Page 9]Tennessee youth receive last-minute instructions (above left) before going out to teach in a Cleveland park (above right). Photos by Tom Mennillo.

Army of Light: A taste of victories to come

By Tom Mennillo

If the first summer of Army of Light youth teaching can be termed victorious, it still was merely a taste of what is to come.

Extensive plans are being made to build on the young soldiers’ initial forays into the field.

A major step will be taken at the “Army of Light Boot Camp: A National Youth Conference for Preparing the Soldiers,” December 23-26 in Phoenix, Arizona.

This recruitment and training ground, sponsored by the National Youth Task Force, is designed to inspire, uplift and motivate young Bahá’ís to serve humanity through this great Cause.

It will be held at the same time and place as the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference, though with separate registration.

Also, Army of Light coordinators are working to foster even greater cooperation between the campaign and local Bahá’í communities.

This past summer, Spiritual Assemblies, registered Groups, and teaching institutes reported more than 100 projects—lasting from one day to nine or 10 weeks—geared to the Army of Light.

(To report further news of projects, please call National Coordinator Dorita Krapf at 815-478-5560 or write to her or Ada James c/o the National Teaching Committee, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091.)

Some projects have been hampered because specific language skills are lacking or because visiting volunteers are not available to augment local youth.

An insufficient number of volunteers also is limiting projects that require a long-term commitment. Many places, especially troubled city neighborhoods, need Bahá’í youth over a period of time who can make friends and influence values and behaviors.

Coordinators hope that consultation at the local and district levels and at Bahá’í summer and winter schools will mobilize many more volunteers to share the healing message of Bahá’u’lláh.

In that consultation, though, they will have as inspiration the dozens of creative, effective efforts that took place across the country this summer.

Some were educational programs such as day care, moral development and adult literacy classes, and reading readiness development for young children.

Others involved physical service, including rehabilitation of a slave cemetery, various cleaning and beautification projects on public property, and maintenance of an Indian Reservation school.

In Stamford, Connecticut, Bahá’ís hosted a soccer tournament based on cooperation rather than competition as a distinctive way to teach the Faith.

Arts-related efforts went beyond the performances of Bahá’í Youth Workshops to public visual arts displays related to the Faith, dramatic presentations at firesides, and a series of concerts in Maryland by Bahá’í folk singer Mary Davis.

In Tennessee, a hands-on participation booth gave festival-goers a chance to design their own expression of unity for a quilt to be publicly displayed later. Improvisational music in the park in White Plains, New York, drew seekers who were met by additional Bahá’í teachers bearing literature and invitations.

Many projects maximized exposure through news media and cable access television. In some cases, they were shaped around popular local events, thus guaranteeing a large audience of observers who may prove to be seekers.

Direct teaching on the streets, beaches and in mall concourses of America played a vital role in many plans.

Feedback from Bahá’í communities has been encouraging.

All can tell tales of challenges: events that were underplanned, overplanned or so slowly planned that opportunities were missed; problems with internal communications and with personality conflicts.

But the overwhelming occurrence of the expression “next year we hope to ...” justifies optimism. Communities see the initial venture as an experience from which they will learn much. Then watch what happens!

Participants in a nine-day Army of Light teaching project in Amherst, New York, pause for a pose. From July 16-25, they distributed more than 3,000 invitations, took part in two unity picnics, nine dawn prayer gatherings and eight firesides, and touched numerous hearts. [Page 10]

Army of Light: Workshops step into role

It isn’t surprising that Bahá’í Youth Workshops played a leading role in the first summer of Army of Light youth teaching.

After all, the Workshops went into the campaign already organized and confident of their ability to win hearts for Bahá’u’lláh.

Here are some reports of how Workshops showed the way:

Little Rock, Arkansas The Atlanta Bahá’í Youth Workshop and other Bahá’ís made up about five percent of participants in the Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” National Youth Assembly in Little Rock, but their influence went far beyond their numbers.

Among those taking part in the conference was Alberta Deas, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly.

At a luncheon for Coretta Scott King that was attended by many dignitaries and covered by local television, the Atlanta Workshop performed a newly choreographed step dance for an audience of 1,200. The dance carried the theme and vocal expression: “Arise, O Army of Light.”

Cornelia Rutledge, the National Spiritual Assembly’s representative on the planning committee, said the performance brought “a gust of spiritual hope to the gathered.”

The Atlanta Workshop “went to great lengths to attend the conference, preparing for months to make the journey successful,” she said. “They planned carefully, consulted with the national representative on a regular basis, and responded maturely, efficiently and reliably to the requests of the Bahá’í representative as well as the national coordinator.”

That evening, at a fireside, the founder of an organization called Youth Taking Action declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh. The youth, James Plummer, recently served in a White House delegation to Europe for his activism.

Again, the next day, the members of the Atlanta Workshop performed, in the conference variety/talent show. After a full introduction on the Faith, they presented a rap on the equality of men and women. They also offered literature on the Faith and information on Bahá’í Youth Workshops.

Afterward, the stage was crowded with people wanting to know more. The Workshop has been following up with as many of those individuals as possible, and shared Arkansas addresses with Lisa Armstrong, the local youth coordinator.

All this was enough for the professional conference organizers to ask Ms. Rutledge a rush of questions: “Who are these youth?” “What makes them so different?” “Why are they so disciplined?” and, most important, “What is the Bahá’í Faith?”

Also at the conference, a Bahá’í prayer for unity was offered at the beginning of a session by Damond Gordon, a youth leader who has been a close friend of the Faith for several years.

Bahá’ís Barbara and Shawn Talley conducted workshops on Bahá’í themes.

Pictured are Bahá’ís attending the ‘I Have a Dream’ National Youth Assembly in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Indiana

About 130 youth from 13 Bahá’í Youth Workshops around the Midwest descended on Indianapolis and other Indiana cities in August for the “Heart of the Heartland” Summer Youth Teaching Project, the impact of which will be felt for years.

The youth taught through many performances, including four at the State Fair, as well as on the streets and through public service projects.

After one performance in a park, a woman approached local coordinator Marlene Ebert.

“I have to apologize to you,” said the woman. “I am so sorry. When I heard the Bahá’ís were going to be doing things in the park, I called the head of the city park administration and demanded that you not be given access to this forum. I thought you were a cult. I was wrong.”

She attended every subsequent performance, received material on the Faith, and said she will be keeping in touch.

A similar story came out of a planned performance at a YMCA day care program in Anderson, Indiana.

When Workshop members arrived there, they found that the director had changed his mind. Nevertheless, the group went across the street to a park to say prayers and rehearse.

Soon, large numbers of children began to gather. When asked where they were from, the children said they were the YMCA day care group.

The troupe performed for them, right there in the park. Same audience, different forum.

While in Indianapolis, some of the youth also taped a segment of a cable television series called “Peaceworks.”

Originally, the youth were to tape two half-hour programs. But when the producer saw that they were so young, she said, “Let’s just do one.” Staff were looking bored and disgusted.

The looks of the crew turned to amazement, however, as the Workshop members displayed professional behavior in the studio and began to perform quality peace-themed material.

The producer later apologized for her doubts and said she would like to film another set. “I didn’t know they were going to be good,” she said.

The show will air to thousands of viewers across central Indiana and perhaps be picked up by other cable systems that exchange programming.

Overall, the Heart of the Heartland project saw great service and sacrifice by the youth, and by adult leaders who struggled to keep a positive outlook in the face of large and numerous challenges.

The project also opened many opportunities for further teaching in the area. As the park district activities director said to Ms. Ebert when apologizing for the failings of the department’s staff:

“We need you. Come with me to meet with the mayor to plan for next year. We can make it what it was supposed to be.”

Arizona

The members of the Eternal Flame Bahá’í Youth Workshop ended a three-week teaching project called “Lighting the Eternal Flame” with a performance August 12 at Arizona State University for their parents, communities and friends.

Their standing ovation performance of singing, acting and dancing was centered around the theme of unity, the oneness of humankind, and the elimination of all forms of prejudice.

The group is made up of 24 youth of many cultural backgrounds from communities in the metropolitan Phoenix area, Tucson, and Yuma. In a span of less than two months, this newly formed Workshop assembled a powerful show that enabled the participants to establish their own personal Bahá’í identities.

The teaching trip, organized under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of Gilbert, was funded through garage sales, car washes, and contributions by individuals and Assemblies throughout the state. More than $12,000 was raised.

On the trip, the youth went to northern and southern Arizona for two weeks and to the Los Angeles [Page 11]Atlanta Bahá’í Youth Workshop members huddle for a photo during their successful, inspiring trip to the ‘I Have a Dream’ National Youth Assembly in Little Rock, Arkansas.

‘Heart of the Heartland’ Youth Teaching Project participants in Indiana take a break from their endeavors.

area for a week. They performed in local community centers, youth clubs and shopping malls, attracting between 50 and 120 people for each show.

Four declarations have resulted from the trip, two of which led to the formation of the first local Spiritual Assembly in Holbrook.

Los Angeles

Eighty youth from the Los Angeles, California, area took part in an intense flurry of performances during the Bahá’í Youth Workshop’s summer teaching project in July.

First, smaller groups of youth piled into two vans for separate tours of Northern California and Arizona. They performed for large crowds at Boys and Girls Clubs and at the Native American Bahá’í Institute in Houck, Arizona, in addition to many other locations.

“They brought a lot of energy and performed to busloads of spectators in some cases,” said Aaron Gilbert, a participant in Arizona’s own Bahá’í Youth Workshop.

The 22-member Los Angeles Workshop gave a series of dynamic presentations in Navajoland while visiting the Native American Bahá’í Institute.

The mostly Navajo communities in the area were treated to powerful messages about the need for racial harmony, equality of the sexes, and spirituality for the world.

An immediate result of the Workshop’s presentations were two declarations of belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

About 33 local youth (eight full-time) studied the Workshop carefully with an eye toward starting one of their own on the Navajo Reservation. Of the 33 young people, 16 are Navajo.

Some of the youth who had stopped taking part in Bahá’í activities came back to NABI to be with the Workshop, and local youth accompanied the performers to each major engagement in Arizona and New Mexico.

The goal of staff at NABI is to see that this popular activity brings more “spiritual warriors” into Bahá’u’lláh’s Army of Light on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations.

Upon their return to Los Angeles, the Workshop launched a series of focus ‎perfomances performances‎ in the Los Angeles-area communities of Agoura Hills, Moorpark, Oak Park, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Westlake.

Marisol Thurman described their goal in a news release, saying:

“Instead of ‘hanging out’ at the mall, these youth will be ‘getting down’ at the mall, using rap, step-dancing, drama and interpretive dance to send a message to other youth.”

The message: help end racism, stay in school, get off drugs and promote gender equality.

In sending that message, the Workshop went a long way toward infusing the spirit of transformation into the communities it visited and a long way toward initiating the processes of growth called for in the Three Year Plan.

Representatives of each community worked together for a month to plan 11 performances over a four-day period (July 14-17). About 1,300 people, most of them non-Bahá’ís, attended the performances and the response was phenomenal.

In Simi Valley, a performance at a junior high summer school was attended by 400 students and faculty. As a result of that performance, four seekers are actively attending firesides, the principal invited the Workshop back to perform during the school year, and a front-page article with photo appeared in the local newspaper under the headline “Dancers Promote Racial Harmony.”

Other performances were scheduled at parks, a mall, a day camp, a Boys and Girls Club, and a community teen center. The project culminated with an extended performance at a public meeting attended by 230 people.

Throughout the teaching project, more than 600 pieces of literature were distributed, advertisements appeared in local newspapers, announcements were made on local cable television, and three articles appeared in local newspapers.

Three school principals attended performances, and all three have invited the Workshop to perform at their schools, including a high school with 2,100 students and a Bahá’í on the faculty.

Invitations for the Workshop to perform at a regional mall and an agency serving at-risk children and youth have also resulted from the teaching project.

Each community has held follow-up firesides, and a study class has been formed for seekers who have asked for a more in-depth study of the Faith.

The success of the project also has energized and unified the six communities that worked together to plan the project and to provide food, lodging and transportation for the 25 youth and adults who were a part of the Workshop.

National Spiritual Assembly prepares to meet with Canadian, Mexican colleagues

Continued from page 1

to ensure the progress of teaching and consolidation.

The National Assembly discussed issues to be taken up at its forthcoming meetings with the National Spiritual Assemblies of Mexico and Canada, including border teaching and other cooperative endeavors.

The National Spiritual Assembly met with its Educational Task Force, which presented detailed plans for further expansion of its activities in training Bahá’í teachers and providing materials for educating children. The National Assembly expressed its joy in the successes already achieved by the Task Force.

The National Assembly also considered proposals by an ad hoc committee to create an Institute for Bahá’í Studies that would prepare long-range plans for programs at summer schools, establish relations with academic institutions, and conduct research on topics the National Assembly might assign.

The National Spiritual Assembly voted to establish an ad hoc committee to present proposals for a serious expansion of activities directed toward the advancement of women. [Page 12]

Decisions!

Start at the star. Follow the path by making decisions at each fork. Return to the star.

• SLEEP WITH A PEACEFUL HEART (Start/Finish)
• TIME TO GET UP
• SAY A MORNING PRAYER
• GRUMBLE ABOUT BEING SLEEPY
• HEAD FOR SCHOOL
• TEACHER ASKS YOU A HARD QUESTION
• ANSWER WITH CONFIDENCE
• PANIC!
• YOU ARE ASKED TO MAKE A SPEECH IN CLASS
• YOU ARE VERY NERVOUS
• SAY A PRAYER FOR HELP
• QUIETLY SAY A PRAYER
• TIME FOR A TEST IN CLASS
• PANIC!
• YOUR FRIENDS ARE TALKING ABOUT SOMEONE THEY DON’T LIKE
• DON’T STAY TO LISTEN
• JOIN IN BECAUSE YOU AGREE
• A FRIEND ASKS ABOUT YOUR FAITH
• TELL ABOUT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
• ACT SHY AND DON’T ANSWER
• BULLIES IN THE SCHOOL HALL
• REMEMBER GOD’S PROTECTION
• PLAN AN ATTACK OF YOUR OWN
• BULLIES AT THE BUS STOP
• TREAT THEM WITH KINDNESS
• FIGHT BACK
• THERE IS A RACIAL FIGHT ON THE BUS HOME
• SAY A PRAYER FOR UNITY
• TAKE A SIDE TO PLEASE YOUR FRIENDS
• A FRIEND HAS HURT FEELINGS
• SAY A PRAYER FOR UNITY
• TALK ABOUT THE PERSON WHO CAUSED THE PAIN
• SHARE THE BAHÁ’Í TEACHINGS ON UNITY
• YOU HAVE A LOT OF HOMEWORK
• ASK GOD FOR HELP WITH YOUR WORK
• DO A QUICK JOB AND GO PLAY
• YOUR FAMILY IS FACING A BIG DECISION
• SUGGEST A FAMILY CONSULTATION
• GET UPSET AND DEMAND YOUR WAY
• TIME TO GO TO BED
• EVENING PRAYERS
• TRUST IN GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
• FEEL AFRAID ABOUT TOMORROW

Reprinted from Brilliant Star, Courage, March/April 1994, by Pepper P. Oldziey

Calendar Word Search

Find the names of the Bahá’í months and days of the week that are listed below. These names are from the Badí‘ calendar which was given to us by the Báb. The calendar has 19 months of 19 days with 4 days for Ayyám-i-Há. The months and days are named after the attributes of God.

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Months

Splendor	Glory	Beauty
Grandeur	Light	Mercy
Words	Perfection	Names
Might	Will	Knowledge
Power	Speech	Questions
Honor	Sovereignty	Dominion
Loftiness

Days of the Week

Beauty	Perfection	Grace
Justice	Majesty	Independence
Glory

Beauty, Glory, and Perfection are listed only one time in the puzzle.

Order Now!

Special Edition 1994

From Gnats to Eagles

Brilliant Star

This special issue on America’s Spiritual Destiny, developed for use by Bahá’í summer schools, is now available for purchase by everyone through the Bahá’í Distribution Service!

Purchase Single Issues, Back Issues, Special Editions and Bulk Orders from Bahá’í Distribution Service:

Five or more copies of any issue cost $2.00 each. One to four copies cost $3.00 each. Back issues available in limited quantities.

Call: 1-800-999-9019

You may add your single or bulk issue order to the BDS order form on another page in this newspaper.

Purchase a Subscription from Bahá’í Subscriber Service:

Please enter my subscription for (check box)

• [ ] $15 United States, one year (six issues)
• [ ] $28 United States, two years
• [ ] $15 All other countries, surface mail, one year
• [ ] $28 All other countries, surface mail, two years
• [ ] $26 Airmail, one year
• [ ] $50 Airmail, two years

Bahá’í ID # ________________________________

Name ____________________________________

Street ___________________________________

City & State ______________________________

Zip/Postal code ___________________________

Payment must be enclosed. Canadian/International orders enclose international money order or bank cheque drawn on a U. S. bank in U. S. dollars. To charge your VISA/MC account, give number, expiration date, and name on account. Telephone orders accepted.

VISA/MC # ________________________________

Exp. Date ________ Name ____________________

Make check out and mail to:

Bahá’í Subscriber Service Bahá’í National Center Wilmette, IL 60091 1-708-733-3453

Reprinted from Brilliant Star, Starship, July/August 1994, by Meg Anderson ©1994 [Page 13]

More than 300 enrolled during Nigeria campaign

During May and June, more than 300 people declared their faith in Bahá’u’lláh in the ongoing Dr. Muhájir South Plateau Teaching Campaign in Nigeria. The teaching team presented books on the Faith to members of local governments in Awe and Lafia, among whom were two chiefs of police and six members of the Department of Information. About 2,400 people in five villages watched a slide presentation on the Bahá’í World Center. Since Ridván, a total of 32 new local Spiritual Assemblies have been formed, while children’s classes have been held in nine communities involving more than 200 children.

In May, three Bahá’ís traveled from Astrakhan to Makhachkala and then to Elista to spread the Message of Bahá’u’lláh in Russia, Georgia and Armenia. The endeavor, named in honor of the Hand of the Cause Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir, resulted in 33 enrollments in Astrakhan, 46 in Makhachkala, and 17 in Elista. The group spent 11 days in each city, where they held street-teaching activities and evening firesides. Presentations on the Faith were given at universities and institutes, and Bahá’í book exhibits were held at public libraries, museums and cultural centers.

Teams from the Youth Teaching Campaign, which was launched May 15 with a youth camp at the Rabbani Bahá’í School in Gwalior, India, have reported with great enthusiasm:

• In Nepal, the friends held a dozen successful book exhibits and recorded 12 enrollments, six at Gorakhpur and six at Chori-Chora. Public meetings and book exhibits were also held at railway stations.
• The Himachal Pradesh team organized public meetings in five villages, each of which was attended by at least 100 villagers. The residents were quite receptive, saying they hoped the Bahá’ís would visit them again.
• There were 64 declarations at Karsan in Punjab, where a talk on the Faith was given. At Faridkot, mostly women staff and girls received the Message in schools.
• At Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where Hindus had stayed away from the Faith because many Muslims have accepted Bahá’u’lláh, the visiting youth opened their minds. The young volunteers organized book exhibits and visited many schools and colleges.
• In Jammu and Kashmir, three successful book exhibits were organized and the Faith received wide media coverage.
• In Manipur, 30 more youth have joined the three visiting teachers.

Pictured are many of the more than 50 Bahá’ís who took part in a recent ‘Story of Life’ Institute at the Bahá’í Center in Vunabang-Ralubang, Papua New Guinea. Speakers addressed such topics as the purpose of human life, human virtues, requisites for spiritual growth, the nature of the soul and its progress after death, and the necessity of a goodly character.

Experts on family violence gathered May 23-25 at the UNICEF House in New York City to develop a specific plan of action for establishing violence-free families throughout the world. Entitled “Strategies for Creating a Violence-Free Family,” the symposium was initiated and planned by the Bahá’í International Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women and was co-sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Among the speakers were Karin Sham Foo, deputy executive director of UNICEF; Hlengiwe Mkhize, director of the Children and Violence Project, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Alda Facio, an attorney from Costa Rica who is director of the Latin American United Nations Institute for Crime Prevention.

About 200 young people from throughout the Americas took part in late July in the Latin American Bahá’í Youth Conference in Brazil. Participants came from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and the United States. Three main teaching activities were scheduled to follow the conference: the Faizi Project in Bolivia, a teaching campaign in Brasilia, and another coordinated by the National Teaching Committee of Brazil.

Two major activities were held in May at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Mona Vale, Australia. More than 400 people attended the two events, including many local dignitaries and other non-Bahá’ís. On May 22, a service was held to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb. And to honor the Week of Prayer for Aboriginal Reconciliation, a ceremony was held May 29, after which an Aboriginal Bahá’í artist was given an award of excellence as part of an annual event organized by the Bahá’í Business and Professional Association to recognize an outstanding achievement by a Bahá’í in business, trades, the arts, or humanitarianism.

Traveling teacher Daniel Makoski, a Bahá’í youth from the United States, spearheaded a project in Ghana and Cameroon from April through June during which several youth workshops were formed for young people who use the arts, especially dancing, as a medium for teaching the Faith. About 25 people ages 12-39 took part in the project in Ghana, which began with a three-week training program in Gyankama (about 45 minutes from Accra). They learned dances that reflect the principles of the Faith such as the importance of prayer and freedom from prejudices. To these dances, the youth added traditional dances and Bahá’í songs. Afterward, the young people performed at the National Convention before embarking on a two-week tour, performing mainly in villages and witnessing more than 130 declarations. In Cameroon, the group had two and one-half weeks of training followed by four weeks of teaching. They created four sketches and one new dance. During the course of the workshop, one youth became a Bahá’í.

Since late 1993, the Faith has been included in the comparative religions curriculum at Chunnam University in Korea. The hour-long lecture on the Faith includes the basic teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, followed by a brief explanation of its principles outlined in an introductory pamphlet, and a question-and-answer period. In early 1994, the classes were quite large—one had 467 students and another had 553, for a total of 1,020. Each student received a copy of an introductory pamphlet on the Faith and a summary of the Universal House of Justice’s peace statement.

Nine African-American Bahá’í women from U.S. ‘refocused’ after upbeat visit to South Africa

Nine African-American Bahá’í women who recently returned from South Africa found the people there upbeat and hopeful about possibilities under the new government.

Gloria Haithman-Ali, Aurore Ragston, Iris Bell, Ebonee Bell, Earnestine Berkey, Jeanais Brodie, Anna Cooprider, Joy Leary and Beverly Moore, all from the West Coast, traveled more than 30,000 miles in a journey that took them also to Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and the Holy Land.

They spoke at firesides, in broadcast interviews, and in presentations to student and women’s groups.

Most important, they “met and made a myriad friends from diverse cultures and backgrounds,” according to Ms. Haithman-Ali.

The trip was spurred by a letter from Bonnie Franklin-Moore, a longtime pioneer to Africa, that challenged many of African-Americans’ notions about the mother continent. In the letter, she invited her African-American Bahá’í sisters to cross the Atlantic to meet Africans in a spirit of mutual friendship and encouragement.

Thus evolved the ‎Zlmarian Zimarian‎ Walker “Sister-to-Sister” Travel Teaching Project, named for the woman who introduced Bonnie Franklin-Moore to the Faith.

The nine met near Albany, Oregon, before their journey to consult on ways to energize the spiritual lives and teaching work of African-American Bahá’í women.

Once in Africa, the women were impressed by “the beauty of the people and the vastness of the land,” said Ms. Haithman-Ali.

“On an individual level, the people were warm, friendly, curious and anxious about the challenges facing them,” she said. “Collectively, the residues and vestiges of apartheid were still apparent, but greatly subdued by the spirit and obvious determination of people of all races to create a better life for themselves and their country.”

In the Holy Land, the group visited the Bahá’í Shrines and the International Teaching Center, and met with Universal House of Justice member ‘Alí Nakhjavání.

The women then returned to America, “renewed and refocused,” according to Ms. Haithman-Ali.

“The sisters were honored to be able to sing praises, give honor and thanks to their Lord in Africa, the Middle East and Europe,” she said. “The bounty they shared was, and continues to be, boundless.”

Plans are under way for another group of African-American women to extend the goodwill mission. [Page 14]

The Arc: Vineyard of the Lord, part 5

Center for Study of the Texts

“This building will be the seat of an institution of Bahá’í scholars, the efflorescence of the present Research Department of the World Center, which will assist the Universal House of Justice in consulting the Sacred Writings, and will prepare translations of and commentaries on the authentic texts of the Faith.”—Letter from the Universal House of Justice, August 31, 1987

The design concept of the Center for the Study of the Texts is centered around its integration into the mountain topography to keep it in harmony with the existing Arc buildings—the International Archives and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. The Center for the Study of the Texts (CST) will stand adjacent to the Archives Extension (AE) and will be linked to it by means of a common parking facility.

The CST/AE structure is oriented west of the Seat of the House of Justice. The building plans are presented as nine levels. The basement has a library situated around a lightwell with a fountain in the center; around the library are office areas and storage spaces. The next level, which is the ground floor, has offices, two meeting rooms, an exhibition area and a conference room. The first and second floors have similar working areas. The next four levels have service and maintenance areas.

A circular portico in the Ionic order will be the only part of the building of the CST that will be visible like a pavilion in the gardens and will be made of Pentelikon marble. The rest of the building is designed into the mountain, and its exterior surfaces are in local stone and gradually become a part of the landscape. The roof of the building will appear like terraces covered with flower beds and ornamental gardens. Lightwells and skylights will provide natural light to nearly all of the main areas.

The structural design of the building ensures maximum future flexibility in assigning working areas. This has been accomplished through the use of large spans, greater floor height, and higher live loads allowances. Since the mountain has been hollowed out to provide a rocky nest for the CST, building stability is achieved primarily by the perimeter exterior walls and interior stair, elevator and shear walls. A noteworthy feature in the structural design is that the design solutions take into account the duration of at least 500 years for the building, a feature without precedent among present architectural standards.

With work speeding up at the site of the Center for the Study of the Texts, another tower crane is being assembled (right photo) close to the location of the parking building and car tunnel.

The foundations are being laid (left photo) for the construction of the Center for the Study of the Texts and the extension of the International Archives Building.

Terrace gardens

“Come with me that we may admire together the beauty of the garden. Behold, what the spirit of devotion is able to achieve! This flourishing place was, a few years ago, but a heap of stones, and now it is verdant with foliage and flowers. My desire is that after I am gone the loved ones may all arise to serve the divine Cause and, please God, so it shall be. Ere long men will arise who shall bring life to the world. ...”—Extracts from “The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” a compilation prepared in January 1922 by Shoghi Effendi and Lady Blomfield for The Bahá’í Yearbook, vol. 1, 1925-26

The above quoted words are the recollection of Ismá‘íl Áqá, the faithful servant of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who overheard the Master say them to an elderly believer some 20 days before He passed away. These words bring home the spiritual significance that the garden holds in the estimation of the beloved Master. That significance is further reinforced when we read the description of the Universal House of Justice as it writes about the Monumental Terraces and Gardens being developed above and below the Shrine of the Báb: “The beauty and magnificence of the Gardens and Terraces now under development are symbolic of the nature of the transformation which is destined to occur both within the hearts of the world’s peoples and in the physical environment of the planet.”—Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated January 4, 1994

The concept animating the landscape of the Terrace Gardens, like other details of the Terraces, is to highlight the sublimity of the Shrine of the Báb, and to serve as a constant reminder to the Bahá’í pilgrim and visitor of the spiritual symbolism underlying its creation. The gardens dramatically manifest the spiritual reality, and enable it to be perceived through the senses.

The central axis of the Terraces will have formal gardens with each Terrace reflecting its own character, gradually radiating outward into a more formal environment. There is consistency in the design of the Terraces but infinite variety in detail. Lovely fountains, ornamental gates, balustrades and indigenous species of flowers have all been incorporated in the gardens. Care has been taken to choose a variety of plants so that the gardens may be in bloom throughout the year. Careful thought has been given to the combination of colors; in particular, various shades of red like geraniums, bougainvillea, [Page 15]bottle brush, flame and coral trees have been selected in keeping with the gardens laid out by the beloved Guardian.

The informal forest areas have a variety of wildflowers and trees, many of them evergreen trees and olive trees.

Above all, the landscaping of the gardens has been done in a manner that is in harmony with the architectural elements, and not overpowering the other features.

The gardens are to serve as an oasis of peace for humans as well as for wildlife, so that the forests may attract birds and butterflies, enhancing the beauty of the gardens.

This photograph, taken June 1, shows the progress being made on waterproofing the bridge crossing Abbas Street that links Terraces four and five below the Shrine of the Báb.

The concrete fountain pool on Terrace nine, below the Shrine of the Báb, is being decorated with cut and carved sajur, one of the finest stones quarried in Israel.

Progress being made on a retaining wall for the bridge that will connect Terraces four and five is shown in this photograph. In the background, the olive trees planted recently are beginning to flourish.

“The united efforts of Bahá’ís in every land will yield not only the material means to complete the Mount Carmel Projects but will draw down divine confirmations on the work. It is inevitable that in a project of such size, a large portion of the money will have to come from those Bahá’ís who are endowed with wealth, whether this be to a moderate degree or of a considerable magnitude. The $74,000,000 called for during the years of the Three Year Plan is a sum that is difficult for many friends to visualize. Some have written to suggest means of making the contribution of this large sum manageable. One suggested the idea of breaking it into units. Thus, to assist in visualizing this sum one can regard it as being a little over 8,000 units of $9,000 each. Individuals with means can use this as a measure of whether they feel able, with sacrifice, to give one or more units of $9,000 in this time. Local communities or other groups may wish to set collective goals on such a unit basis. This may be helpful but, of course, contributions of any size will constitute a vital part of the stream of means for the accomplishment of this historic enterprise.”—From a letter of October 31, 1993, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice

Physical dimensions of the Arc and the Terraces

The projects of the Arc and Terraces on Mt. Carmel are of a scale which has not been undertaken before by the Bahá’í world community.

Below are the estimated figures of the building areas of the International Teaching Center and the Center for the Study of the Texts/Archives Extension on the Arc.

Also included are dimensions of the 19 monumental Terraces above and below the Shrine of the Báb.

The International Teaching Center

The total floor area of the International Teaching Center is approximately 19,313 square meters (about 63,733 square feet).

It comprises the main nine-story building, the parking building and other external areas known as “common area.”

The breakdown is as follows:

• International Teaching Center: 8,400 sq. meters (27,720 sq. feet)
• Common Area: 6,000 sq. meters (19,800 sq. feet)
• Parking Building: 4,913 sq. meters (16,213 sq. feet)

Center for the Study of the Texts/Archives Extension

The total floor area of the Center for the Study of the Texts, and the extension to the existing Archives Building, is approximately 16,650 square meters (54,945 sq. feet). The breakdown is as follows:

• Center for the Study of the Texts (and parking area): 14,222 sq. meters (46,932 sq. feet)
• Archives Extension: 2,338 sq. meters (7,715 sq. feet)

Terraces above and below the Shrine of the Báb

The Terraces stretch about a kilometer up Mt. Carmel reaching a height of 225 meters (742.5 feet), and their landscape spans the mountain from about 60 meters (198 feet) to ‎300 meters 990 feet) 300 meters (990 feet)‎.

Each of the Lower Terraces, with the exception of Terrace 1, which is special with an entrance plaza, is 35 meters (115.5 feet) in diameter.

On the Upper Terraces, Nos. 13, 15 and 17 are 41 meters (135.3 feet) in diameter at their widest point, as they have circular stairs on both sides. Like the first Terrace, the uppermost Terrace 19 is also special in design. [Page 16]

Bahá’ís in Portland take part in interfaith dialogue

The Bahá’ís of Portland, Oregon, recently took part in an interfaith dialogue on how prayer and meditation can be used as peace-building tools.

More than 300 people gathered to hear representatives of Christianity, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith speak of their spiritual experiences. The session was sponsored by Sant Rajinder Singh, whose Science of Spirituality advocates meditation as the means for people of all religions to reach a realization of self and of God.

Michael Sears, a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Portland, captured the audience by opening his comments with the prayer “Blessed Is the Spot,” followed by the prayer for unity.

He then outlined the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, using appropriate quotations from the Writings, and closed by reciting statistics that reflect the spread of the Faith.

At a reception after the dialogue, a number of young people gathered around Dr. Sears and other Bahá’ís to ask questions.

The next day Lydia A. McCarter, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board, represented the Bahá’ís at an interfaith luncheon.

Ms. McCarter and a Unity Church minister offered prayers, and a consultation followed in which she presented a perspective on Bahá’í obligatory and other prayers.

She also was asked about her travels, which opened the door for her to talk about the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa, Israel, and the Bahá’í House of Worship in India.

Arthur Stein, chairman for both interfaith sessions, remarked about the beauty and grandeur of the Temple in India and said, “The Temple could not have been constructed but through Bahá’u’lláh.” Dr. Stein, it was later learned, has shared a radio program in Rhode Island with members of the Faith.

The interfaith dialogue also afforded the Bahá’ís an opportunity to display The Promise of World Peace, The Vision of Race Unity, and the Models of Unity report produced by the Spiritual Assembly of Portland and the Human Rights Commission. Many attendees picked up copies.

L.A. Arts Council plans Bay-area tour of play, ‘Prisoners of the Heart’

The Los Angeles Bahá’í Arts Council has announced plans for a San Francisco Bay-area tour of its latest production, “Prisoners of the Heart.”

The three-city tour is part of a larger fund-raising effort to underwrite a commercial production of the play in the Los Angeles area.

The play recounts the story of the 10 Bahá’í women of Shiraz, Iran, who were martyred in 1983 for their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. It is presented as a human rights play dealing with issues such as the equality of women and men and the freedom of religious expression.

“Prisoners of the Heart” was written especially for public presentation and provides background information on the Islamic revolution in Iran and elaborates on a number of Bahá’í principles.

The 14-member cast is composed of professional actors including some who are Bahá’ís.

The play will be presented November 10 at the Bosch Bahá’í School, November 11 in Sacramento, and November 12 at the Bahá’í Center in San Francisco. For information, phone the Los Angeles Bahá’í Center, 213-933-8291, or the Bosch School, 408-423-3387.

About 40 people take part in intercultural role-playing session sponsored by Bahá’ís

On August 27 about 40 people, nearly half of whom were not Bahá’ís, took part in a role-playing simulation of the interaction among various cultures. The exercise was sponsored by the Bahá’ís of Detroit and Grosse Pointe and conducted by Wayne State University’s Community Education Leadership Program.

Among the members of the public attending were a state representative, a Broadway musical star, several physicians (including one who was visiting from Minneapolis), four Japanese-Americans, the former director of race relations for New Detroit Inc., and one person who was 93 years old.

Also in the group were two new Bahá’ís, one of whom had declared that same day.

Musical entertainment was provided by Charlotte Easley, a Bahá’í who recently moved to the area from Portland, Oregon.

1994 North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development

“The oneness of mankind ... implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth ... The concept of social and economic development is enshrined in the sacred Teachings of our Faith.”

The Universal House of Justice

The Bahá’í Family for the Time of the Lesser Peace

December 8 - 11, 1994

Walt Disney World Village Orlando, Florida

Featured Speakers and Workshop Leaders

• Mr. Ray Alan Johnson
• Mrs. Thelma Thomas Khelghati
• Mrs. Florence V. Mayberry
• Mr. Jack E. McCants
• Judge James F. Nelson
• Judge Dorothy W. Nelson
• Ms. Barbara Rodey
• Mrs. Margaret K. Ruhe
• Dr. David S. Ruhe

Plus forty-seven others...

Music and Song

• Narges
• Mr. Tom Price
• North American Bahá’í Conference Orchestra and Choir

Plus other well-known artists...

The Rabbani Charitable Trust warmly invites you to attend the 1994 North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development - The Bahá’í Family for the Time of the Lesser Peace.

This conference presents a unique opportunity for Bahá’ís of all backgrounds and experiences to gather together...

...To gain a deeper understanding of the principles and practices of Bahá’í social and economic development as they relate to our families, our communities, our nations, and our world.

...To forge action plans to achieve family developmental goals of the Three Year Plan.

...To network, to share experiences and success stories, and to integrate our efforts for change.

Featured at the conference will be: Speakers: from the National Spiritual Assemblies in North America, the Continental Board of Counsellors, and many other intimately involved in development efforts of Bahá’í family life.

Special Programs for youth and children.

Workshops in the areas of: Marriage and Family Life; Character Training and Development-Spiritualizing the Bahá’í Household; Parenting; Education in the Bahá’í Family-Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual; Developing a Generation of Prejudice-Free Children and Youth; Culture in the Bahá’í Family

Displays of books and tapes including “Author Signing” sessions.

HOTEL/AIRLINE INFORMATION

REGISTRATION

Special Bahá’í group discount rates: Hotel rooms at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel at Walt Disney World Village: $99 per night double occupancy. LIMITED AVAILABILITY CALL PROMPTLY Hotel reservations: 1-800-327-2990 Airfare discounts from Delta Airlines Call either American Travel Consultants 1-800-393-5050 (outside North America 407-679-6655) or Delta Airlines 1-800-241-6760 (In Canada, call local Delta Office) (For discount, refer to file No. B1688)

Adult Registration fee Before November 10: $129 After November 10: $149 Nominal food & materials charge for youth & children Before November 10: $49 After November 10: $59 Make checks payable to: North American Bahá’í Conference 1477 W. Fairbanks Av., Ste 200 Winter Park, FL 32789 Registration information call: (407) 740-5415 or 647-7777

Conference begins with 8:00 pm reception, Thursday, December 8, and concludes 12:30 pm, Sunday, December 11, 1994.

Registration

North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development Please print Name ____________________________________ Phone (_____) ____________ Address ___________________________________________________________ City ____________________________ State __________ Zip ____________ Names and ages of youth __________________ Amount Enclosed ___________ & children attending ________________________________________________ [Page 17]

Three-year effort pays off for Walla Walla

Continued from page 1

Church, Walla Walla Friends Meetings (Quaker), Temple Beth Israel and such community organizations as Blue Mountain Arts Alliance, the ‎Childrens Children's‎ Home Society of Washington, Walla Walla Community College, and the WWCC Institute for the Healing of Racism.

The July 12 event was supported wholeheartedly by local businesses. Two radio stations—one in English and one in Spanish—broadcast live from the festival. One also sold commercial time related to the event and contributed a part of the revenues, and the other donated proceeds from T-shirts it sold there.

The mayor of Walla Walla presided over the opening ceremonies, declaring that what the community needs is to live the concept "one planet, one people, please."

Live entertainment included music and cultural dances by Hispanic, American Indian, Irish, German, Middle Eastern and African-American performers, plus story-telling for the children, hands-on projects, and a table of international board games where people could play chess with a master or learn a new game.

International food booths offered taste experiences from Mexican, Italian, Russian, American Indian, German and other cuisines.

Race Unity Day made the front page of the next day’s newspaper with two full-color photographs.

Encouraged by the success of the event, the committee is planning more projects throughout the year to foster interracial and intercultural appreciation and understanding.

Among them are a walking tour of the city’s ethnic history and documentation of the role diverse ethnic groups have played in the history of the area’s agricultural industry.

How did this all come about? The roots go back more than two years and demonstrate how hard work and experience have paid off.

At that time the Bahá’ís were promoting "The Vision of Race Unity" by offering free copies through radio advertising.

The response initially was a trickle: a call or two a week. Then the Los Angeles riots hit and the phone rang off the hook all day, all night.

A great many pamphlets were mailed and many inquiries made about the Faith. Just as important, people were becoming aware of the Bahá’í commitment to race unity.

So, with Race Unity Day approaching, the Bahá’ís decided to celebrate in a small park with live music, free soft drinks, free watermelon and a variety of games.

They invited their friends and Bahá’ís from neighboring communities, and the event was promoted on radio.

The result was a turnout of between 50 and 80 people. On the surface it seemed successful, but on analysis the Bahá’ís realized they had failed to attract the diverse racial and cultural minorities of Walla Walla.

In fact, even though the event was held in an area of town with a large Hispanic population, the only Hispanics in the park that day played dominoes at a picnic table on the fringe of the event.

The next year, 1993, the Bahá’ís resolved not to make that mistake again.

They first acted to make race unity a long-term focus. With the help of Walla Walla Community College and Whitman College, Nat Rutstein was brought to town to work with their administrations and student bodies for a week.

The community college established an Institute for the Healing of Racism that continues to meet and progress, and the image of the Faith was enhanced among the leaders of thought and education in Walla Walla.

Next, the Bahá’ís approached the Spanish-language radio station and asked its help in promoting the second Race Unity Day event. The station responded by making Race Unity Day the biggest event of its summer promotional schedule. Two English-language stations also signed on with the effort.

For entertainment, Craig Spriggs, a local African-American Bahá’í, opened with modern jazz. He was followed by Ballet Infanta ‎Folkloria Folclórico‎ Del Sol, an Hispanic children’s dance group in full costume, and the musical finale was provided by popular Hispanic vocalist Salvador Hernandez.

So far so good, but the audience of 650 overwhelmed the still-learning Bahá’ís. They quickly ran out of pizza and soft drinks, the dancers had to perform on blacktop, and the sound system was woefully inadequate.

There were other problems. As pointed out by Mr. Hernandez, "This is Race Unity Day. Aside from our friends the Bahá’ís, where are the Anglos? This looks like Hispanic Unity Day."

Clearly, another level of event-planning experience was needed, and the Bahá’ís recognized they didn’t have it. That’s when the Race Unity Committee entered the picture.

The Bahá’ís went to Dan Clark, a Quaker active in conflict management who also initiated the annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in a nearby town. With his help, representatives of a number of faiths and organizations met with the Bahá’ís, and things took off:

• proof of insurance was provided for use of the city’s Pioneer Park;
• the committee obtained a federal ID number as a not-for-profit organization and opened a bank account;
• funds generated by advance payments of booth participants provided sufficient monies to pay for small print ads in the local newspaper and a larger display ad in a "shopper";
• hold-harmless forms were signed for booth participants and food handler permits for vendors;
• the Spanish-language and English-language radio stations made the event a major promotion and broadcast from the site;
• Blue Mountain Cellular joined in the radio promotion and provided free cellular service on-site to organizers;
• posters and direct-mail programs were designed by Bahá’í volunteers and printed at no charge by the community college;
• the posters were placed in the front window of every retail merchant;
• the direct-mail pieces were sent out using lists provided by the college and churches;
• churches promoted the event in their bulletins and from the pulpit;
• Head Start students at a migrant worker labor camp handmade the flags of the nations that were used to encircle a gazebo in the park directly behind the performers;
• entertainment again was provided by Craig Spriggs, Ballet Del Sol and Salvador Hernandez, with the addition of American Indian drummers, Irish folk singers, and Irish, German and Middle Eastern dancers;
• a pastor known as a story-teller told enchanting tales of American Indian legends between musical acts;
• the Blue Mountain Arts Alliance did its hands-on "Art in the Park" program in which children could make all manner of items;
• a top-quality sound system was provided at no charge by the owner of Blue Mountain Music;
• several food booths did a thriving business and there were informational booths for several organizations;
• interactive games tables were arranged; and
• another booth ran continuous showings of Healing the Heart of America.

In short, the Race Unity Day and Multi-cultural Arts Festival was a hit, and the Race Unity Committee, with all bills paid, has almost $400 in the bank to use for new activities.

It wasn’t perfect. More participation by Asians is needed, for example.

But each year the two small Bahá’í communities of Walla Walla County are learning. And they’re growing, too, with six declarations in the past year.

Nicht Yow Way drummers from the Umatilla Reservation perform for 3,500 people at the Race Unity Day and Multicultural Arts Festival in Walla Walla, Washington.

Fellowship, program make Long Island celebration memorable

The program was excellent, the entertainment uplifting.

But the most valuable aspect of the sixth annual Race Unity Day picnic on Long Island, New York, was the fellowship.

People of diverse backgrounds came together during the six-hour picnic to enjoy one another’s company.

Some played games, some went out on rowboats, some went for walks, while others simply sat and talked.

A prayer for humankind, followed by a quotation from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on promoting unity and fighting prejudice, started the program.

A member of the Bahá’í Race Unity Committee of Long Island then talked about the significance of Race Unity Day and why Bahá’ís everywhere are working so diligently for unity.

Proclamations of Race Unity Day from the two county executives and a town supervisor were read.

The committee also honored a local African-American minister for his fine efforts to promote racial harmony and to fight racism and prejudice on Long Island. He was presented with copies of The Vision of Race Unity statement and the Models of Unity study.

The program ended with a local Bahá’í singer performing two songs on unity. One was his own composition.

The picnic was well attended. It helped that two days before, a member of the committee had appeared on the local television news to talk about the picnic and about the Bahá’í Faith. Also, a week earlier, the committee had participated in the annual Black American Parade, and organizers of that event reciprocated. [Page 18]

EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS ...

The 1993 AIDS Awareness stamps, designed by TOM MANN, a Bahá’í from ‎Fauqier Fauquier‎ County, Virginia, have won the 24th International Asiago Prize of Philatelic Art, presented in Asiago, Italy, to the stamps judged best of the year among entries from around the world. Mr. Mann’s simple and effective design, featuring a symbolic red ribbon, also won the Asiago Trophy and a medal from the president of the Italian republic. The prizes were presented to U.S. Consul-General Richard Schinnick, who had them delivered to the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

GALE DAWN KOCH, a Bahá’í from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was graduated with honors this year from Coe College. Mrs. Koch, a mother of three, received a B.A. in chemistry and received Coe’s Kessler Award as “most outstanding senior in chemistry.” An active member of the Bahá’í community, she sings in the local Bahá’í choir.

BURL BARER, a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Walla Walla, Washington, was honored April 27 in New York City at the 48th annual Edgar Allan Poe awards ceremony conducted by the Mystery Writers of America with the prestigious “Edgar” award for his critical/biographical book, The Saint: A Complete History. Mr. Barer has been nominated by the World Mystery Convention for the international “Anthony Award.”

ELHAM SIMMONS, a 12-year-old Bahá’í who is a straight-A sixth grade student in Spokane Valley, Washington, was the statewide grand prize winner in a poster contest sponsored by Tobacco Free Washington. Elham’s poster included the words “Tobacco Free Is Healthy” in large bubble letters with pictures of activities (swimming, tennis, baseball, reading, fishing, etc.) that one can do instead of smoking. Her prize for winning was an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland.

SAMAH SOHRAB, a Bahá’í who is a 1994-95 senior at St. Francis High School in La Canada-Flintridge, California, has become the first junior in the school’s history to pass the BC (second year) Advanced Placement exam in calculus. In 1993, he was the first sophomore ever to pass the AB (first year) calculus exam. Samah, who is taking second-year college courses in differential equations and linear algebra while completing his senior year in high school, was recently inducted into the National Honor Society.

SUSAN LEWIS WRIGHT, a Bahá’í performer/songwriter from Denver, Colorado, has followed her successful compact disc of last year, “Down in Mexico,” with the release by Gizmo Productions of a cassette tape, “Calling All Colors,” which includes a vocal rendition of the song on one side and an instrumental version on the other. The song, which celebrates the diversity of the human family, was inspired by the “Calling All Colors” children’s conference in Conway, South Carolina.

In April, J. ROCK JOHNSON, a Bahá’í from Lincoln, Nebraska, was named president of the NAMI Consumer Council, the national consumer arm of the National Association for the Mentally Ill. In 1993 Ms. Johnson was elected to a three-year term on the NAMI board of directors, the first person to have experienced a severe mental illness ever elected by the entire membership.

For the past 10 years BOB ALMONY, a Bahá’í from Columbia, Missouri, has donated Bahá’í books to the University of Missouri’s Ellis Library, with the total donated to date numbering around 100. Since the books are placed in a research section, they will not be discarded or destroyed in future years.

ANTON WARE, a Bahá’í from Chicago, was graduated one year early this year from Whitney Young High School where he carried a 4.3 grade-point average, was a member of the National Honor Society and was a 1994-95 Illinois State Scholar based on his Achievement Test scores and school activities. While at Whitney Young, Mr. Ware was a member (four years) and saxophone section leader of the All-City High School Concert Band, editorial page editor of the school paper, and a member of the Human Relations Group. He has been accepted at the University of Chicago where he intends to major in Asian Studies after completing a year of service with the Bahá’í Youth Service Corps.

GERREN ALLEN, an 18-year-old Bahá’í from Montpelier, Vermont, was recognized this year by the Community Based Learning Program at Montpelier High School for his outstanding volunteer service in the computer laboratory. He also received the “Silver M” award for academic achievement and scholarships from the Elizabeth Jackson Memorial Scholarship Fund, the Vermont Association of Broadcasters, Union Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and American Legion Post No. 3.

Three students at the Badí‘ Bahá’í School in Marietta, Georgia—RAMBOD CHAREPOO (violin), SINA EGHRARI (mathematics) and CASPER VOOGT (German)—were chosen for this year’s Governor’s Honors Program, an intensive six-week summer course at Valdosta State University. About 660 students from throughout the state took part in the program.

Six states and four countries were represented July 20-24 at the 10th annual Heartland Bahá’í Summer School at Knox College and Galesburg, Illinois, whose theme was ‘Achieving Our Destiny through Love, Unity, Sacrifice and Service.’ Among the teachers were Auxiliary Board members Javidukht Khadem and Curtis Russell and Knight of Bahá’u’lláh Gayle Woolson. A highlight was ‘American Bahá’ís in the Heartland,’ an historical exhibit developed by Aden Lauchner (pictured) of Springfield. The exhibit included photographs, documents and other materials in four general areas: ‘The Mother Temple of the Bahá’í World,’ ‘Early Bahá’í Communities in Illinois,’ ‘Early Literature and Books Before 1963,’ and ‘The History of Heartland Bahá’í School.’ Another highlight was the 10th anniversary celebration that included trivia questions about the school, awards, a slide presentation, refreshments, and Peruvian folk music by El Viento Canta.

34 Bahá’ís teach in E. Europe’s ‘Call of the Hands’ campaign

Thirty-four Bahá’ís from Canada, England, Israel and the U.S. spent eight weeks this summer teaching in Siberia, Ukraine and Moldova during the “Call of the Hands” teaching campaign.

They conducted four forums on Family, Education and Environment in the Siberian cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk, Severobaikalsk and Ulan-Ude, each of which received much interest from the scientific and educational communities as well as from the media.

The mayors of two small, remote villages along the Siberian railway, Kirenga and Kazachinskoy, pleaded with the Bahá’ís to send long-term teaching teams so their people could learn more about the Faith.

A large supply of literature was left with the mayor of Kirenga who promised to distribute it to her people. She also arranged for a television interview that was broadcast a few days after the group’s departure.

Teaching teams made up of youth from Ulan-Ude and project members stayed for a week in the villages of Kyata—on the Mongolian border—and Gusinyarsk and Zachaminsk, well south of Ulan-Ude.

During the second four weeks the teams spent time in Odessa, Berdyansk, Chernovtsy, Ternopol and Kiev in Ukraine and Kishinev, Beltsy, Kamrat and Tiraspol, Moldova.

In Berdyansk, on the ‎Assov Azov‎ Sea, there were 10 declarations and many more seekers by the time of the group’s departure.

An Army colonel who serves on the Ukrainian Nuclear Disarmament Team vowed to return to his base in western Ukraine and spread the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

The various teams met after the campaign at a rustic university camp near Kiev to share news of their victories before departing for home.

One returning group met with Bahá’ís in Helsinki, Finland, while another had a stopover for prayers at the House of Worship near Frankfurt, Germany.

HUQÚQU’LLÁH

Payments for Huqúqu’lláh should be made to “The Bahá’í Huqúqu’lláh Trust” and sent to one of the Trustees:

• Dr. Elsie Austin, 9039 Sligo Creek Parkway, Unit 612, Silver Spring, MD 20901 (phone 301-589-8481).
• Dr. Amin Banani, Santa Monica, CA 90402 (phone 310-394-5449).
• Dr. Daryush Haghighi, Rocky River, OH 44116 (phone 216-333-1506).

Inquiries regarding Huqúqu’lláh should be referred to one of the Trustees or to the Office of the Secretariat, Bahá’í Huqúqu’lláh Trust, Rocky River, OH 44116. [Page 19]

Youth should recognize, appreciate spiritual heritage

By Dr. Mahyar Mofidi

"Undoubtedly," the Universal House of Justice has written to Bahá’í youth, "it is within your powers to contribute significantly to shaping the societies of the coming century; youth can move the world."

This summer, the "Army of Light: American Routes ’94," a major national teaching campaign, engaged large numbers of young Bahá’ís in the most noble field of teaching (see pp. 9-11).

An indispensable force for today’s youth in becoming a magnet and setting hearts afire is the degree to which they recognize and appreciate the spiritual heritage bequeathed to them by their brethren of past and recent generations.

Throughout the history of the Faith, many youth have voluntarily offered their lives for the emancipation and proclamation of the Cause. Indeed, in the Cradle of the Faith, the crimson color has become the ultimate litmus test wherewith faith is measured.

Not surprisingly, Bahá’í youth, in many instances, have been the torch-bearers, the trailblazers offering their lives, and in so doing have further consolidated the glorious march of the Faith in the path of victory.

During the Heroic Age, the Báb, at the tender age of 25, declared His mission to Mullá Husayn, himself only a few years older than the Báb. Quddús, the last of the Letters of the Living, was but 22 when he confirmed his faith in the Báb.

Badí‘, the Pride of Martyrs, was barely 18 when he courageously gave his life for Bahá’u’lláh. Mirza Mihdí, the Purest Branch, sacrificed his life at age 22 so that the gates of the Most Great Prison would be opened, enabling the believers to pay due homage to their Beloved.

During the past 15 years, the Bahá’í community in Iran has seen a renewal of past discrimination. Many young people have been deprived of their basic human rights. They are denied access to higher education. Every day brings a fresh ordeal and a new struggle.

The House of Justice, in praising the endurance and referring to the sacrifices of youth in Iran, says, "No splendor of speech could give more fitting testimony to their spiritual commitment and fidelity than those pure acts of selflessness and devotion. In virtually no other place on earth is so great a price for faith required of Bahá’ís. Nor could there be found more willing, more radiant bearers of the cup of sacrifice than the valiant Bahá’í youth of Iran."

As young Bahá’ís in this country, united in their purpose, travel to many cities and states to proclaim their Faith, let them remember with due solemnity what transpired only 11 summers ago, on June 18, 1983.

In late afternoon, in the city of Shiraz, where the call for the advent of a new Day had first been raised, 10 Bahá’í women, six of whom were between the ages of 18-25, dramatically and willingly offered their lives for Bahá’u’lláh.

Throughout the history of the Faith, many youth have voluntarily offered their lives for the emancipation and proclamation of the Cause. Indeed, in the Cradle of the Faith, the crimson color has become the ultimate litmus test wherewith faith is measured.

Let those in the "Army of Light" recall, while displaying their talents before large audiences, the heroic circumstances attending the plight of those 10 women of Shiraz who chanted their way to the field of martyrdom. Many attempts were made by their executioners to coerce recantation, but to no avail. In the end, these women preferred to die in glory.

In doing so, they followed in the footsteps of their spiritual sister, Táhirih, the greatest woman in the Bábí Dispensation.

In their midst was Shirin, whose name means sweetness. She was only moments away from her release, but martyrdom was to be her fate; her grandmother, carrying the necessary documents for her release, arrived at the prison a few moments too late. The deadline, which was never clear from the beginning, had passed, and there was no way the authorities would allow a Bahá’í to break the law.

When Shirin found out what had happened, she consoled her cellmates who were grief-stricken for her. Such was her magnanimity that she was saddened by the thought of her grandmother not forgiving herself for having arrived late.

This was Shirin Dalvand whose heart was unspeakably great and pure. "Sweetness" submitted her will to Bahá’u’lláh and triumphantly walked to the rope that would provide her with the ultimate liberation.

There were Roya and Zarrin, ages 22 and 28, respectively. Both were excellent students, on their way to living successful and prosperous lives. But that changed dramatically as Roya, along with her parents, was mercilessly executed. The executioner made her watch as her mother was hanged, but she was not to be deterred.

Zarrin, known for her simple and unadorned lifestyle, displayed her impressive strength of character as she listened to the cleric who vowed to tear Bahá’u’lláh from her chest. In response, she exclaimed, "Then my heart will call out and say, ‘Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’u’lláh!’"

And there was Mona, already having been forced to witness the executions of her cellmates, nine in all. She was to be the last. Mona was already fatherless; he had been martyred only a few days before. She knew they would try to take advantage of her youthful innocence, but on that day she had put aside her innocence.

Mona Mahmudnejad, barely 18, strode majestically to the gallows and kissed the rope that was to release her soul from the cage of this earthly life.

The youth in America may not share the same dramatic experiences or have similar destinies; they have their own glorious destiny. The young martyrs of Iran have proven themselves as champions of Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause. When faced with the onrushing winds of destiny, they have demonstrated their steadfastness and perseverance.

Now the Bahá’í youth of Iran, with their hands tied and lips sealed, look expectantly toward the youth of this continent for the proper vindication of their sacrifice.

It would be beneficial for our young people, especially those taking part in the "Army of Light," to read the sobering accounts of the young martyrs. What was the transforming power that created out of these otherwise ordinary young people such spiritual giants?

The beloved Guardian exhorts us, especially the youth, to familiarize ourselves more fully with the history of our Faith. Why is this? Perhaps it is through such an endeavor that we can fall passionately in love with the heroes and heroines of God’s Cause. As we read of their sacrifices and reflect on what prompted them to make such heroic decisions, we can become inspired and enkindled.

It is through such inspiration that we may begin to glimpse and appreciate the unshakeable faith that animated these young people as they were called upon to sacrifice their lives in its path. And as we become imbued with that creative and transforming power, we can then effectively "contribute significantly to shaping the societies of the coming century" and "move the world."

150 pay tribute to Dizzy

About 150 people, 20 of whom were Bahá’ís, attended a "Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie" held April 17 at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

The event was co-sponsored by the Department of Music, Bahá’í Unity Club and Black Student Union at SUNY-Geneseo. Featured was music by the 17-member Geneseo Jazz Ensemble; multicultural performances of songs, dances and stories by a number of minority groups at the school; and presentations by Bahá’ís including the prayer for America set to music.

An article about the event was published in the local newspaper.

Shelburne Falls ‘whirlwind’ sees four declarations

A whirlwind of Bahá’í activity that had been building in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, culminated July 9 in a spiritual celebration on the anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb.

In recent months, four people have declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh as a result of extensive teaching efforts while another has confided her intention to become a Bahá’í.

The July 9 observance included the thrilling account of the Báb’s life and martyrdom. Music, dance and food were offered for enjoyment by the 10 seekers and 19 believers present.

Bahá’ís came from four states to help out. Two of the friends, Ray Estes and Sherlock Graham-Haynes, arrived from North Carolina and immediately launched into a round of teaching, music and discussion.

Every age group was represented at the observance: infants, children, pre-youth, youth and adults. Among the six youth were four seekers.

The atmosphere of celebration rose as 25 people joined in a unity dance and song composed by Marty Quinn and Leona Hosack. As they danced in a circle, chanting repeatedly the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each and every face was illumined by the light of radiance, joy and upliftment.

So high was the spirit that two times the Bahá’ís tried to close the meeting and were unable to. People refused to move. They sat mesmerized, waiting for more—and were given it, with Bahá’ís drawing them in to more questions and discussion.

All the seekers, especially the youth, expressed again and again their joy and gratitude, as well as their anticipation of taking part in more Bahá’í activities.

Several of the youth were attracted to the Faith by Damian Odess-Gillett, a Shelburne seeker and youth who had arisen the day before to join the Army of Light in North Carolina. [Page 20]

SUMMER SCHOOL!

Each spring, thousands of American Bahá’ís circle an important date on their calendar: the start of summer school, that time of learning, meeting, reacquainting, and just plain fun they won’t miss for anything.

This year was no exception, as bursting crowds at many of the 23 regional and three permanent schools can attest. One of those is the Tennessee Bahá’í Institute, a Labor Day weekend fixture that drew about 550 children, youth and adults to a mountain-top conference center to study “The Destiny of America.” We hope these photos taken there reflect the flavor of Bahá’í summer schools everywhere. Enjoy.

Up a tree

Inspiration Arise in His Name!

In the swim

Generations

A bumper crop

Happy campers

Heading home [Page 21]

Education

A hero of the Cause

Abir Majid introduces his father, Ṣiddiq Sulaymán, who spent six years in an Iraqi prison for his faith. Mr. Sulaymán spoke to the audience and later chanted a prayer in Arabic.

Silent auction

Institute attendees look over items donated for a silent auction. Pledges totaled $24,780, of which one unit of $9,000 was sent to the Arc Fund. A last-minute rock sale by three 4-year-olds (Alexandria Karamallis, Shirin Ahlhauser and Mona Akhauan) netted $52.

A budding talent

[Page 22]

More than 60 Bahá’ís attend fourth annual meeting in Plano, Texas, to honor persecuted minority groups

The fourth annual meeting to honor persecuted Bahá’ís and other minorities around the world was held June 25 at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas.

More than 60 Bahá’ís and their guests took part in the event, whose focus this year was on the rights of women. The program included music, prayers and presentations by members of the Plano Community Forum, the Plano Religious Community Exchange Program, and the Bahá’í community.

The Bahá’í speaker was Mary K. Radpour, Auxiliary Board member for the southern states, who emphasized the need for a new social order based on Bahá’í principles to overcome the moral degradation of American society.

Louis Robinson, president of the Plano Community Forum, represented that group, while Anita Strand, coordinator of the Plano Religious Community Exchange, spoke on its behalf.

Auxiliary Board member Mary K. Radpour (at podium) addresses the fourth annual memorial meeting to honor persecuted Bahá’ís and other minorities, which was held June 25 in Plano, Texas. Also pictured (left to right) are master of ceremonies Payam Maveddat; Anita Strand, coordinator of the Plano Religious Community Exchange; and Louis Robinson, president of the Plano Community Forum.

12-year-old Bahá’í stands up for Faith in class, draws teachers’ interest

When Mona Parsa, a 12-year-old Bahá’í from Aliso Viejo, California, was asked to stand with other students in her sixth-grade class and mention 10 unique qualities about themselves, her first response was, “I am a Bahá’í.”

Already attracted by Mona’s exemplary behavior, her teacher asked her after school to tell her more about the Faith. Mona offered to bring some literature to school, and the next week invited the teacher to her family’s home for a fireside.

Mona’s homeroom teacher also expressed an interest in the Faith when she saw Mona wearing a “One Planet, One People...Please” T-shirt.

Mona and her family are planning monthly dinner firesides for her teachers and fellow students.

Spirit of peace, unity pervades Flagstaff’s World Unity Festival

A Bahá’í spirit of peace and unity was evident among the more than 5,000 people from 36 countries who took part August 27-30 in the World Unity Festival in Flagstaff, Arizona.

A centrally located “peace tree” had a nine-pointed star at the top, and all other symbols from any walk of life were honored on the tree.

At the sacred pipe ceremony, conducted by an American Indian medicine man, the “talking prayer” was followed by a prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and recited by the host.

Media representatives from many countries were present, and the one piece of television footage that received national coverage in the U.S. was the moment at which Bahá’u’lláh’s Name was mentioned in the universal prayer for peace.

News in brief

Eco-Ag Service links young Bahá’í volunteers with farms

Eco-Ag Service, a regional pilot program in Virginia and North and South Carolina which works in cooperation with the North American Agricultural Seminar of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, has linked three Bahá’í youth volunteers with farms that seek to grow food in ways that sustain the natural resource base.

Beside matching apprentices with farms that need extra labor in exchange for imparting the knowledge, skills and techniques necessary to operate an ecologically oriented farm, Eco-Ag promotes the study and discussion of Bahá’í writings on agriculture.

For information about Eco-Ag, contact John Bradley, Mt. Airy, NC 27030 (phone 910-789-3930 evenings or weekends), or the ABS Agricultural Committee, Route 3, Box 51-D, Floyd, VA 24091 (phone 703-745-2918).

‘Junior Kids Assembly’ formed

Five young Bahá’ís in the Paradise Valley, Arizona, area organized themselves this summer into a group they chose to call the Junior Kids Bahá’í Assembly.

They attended weekly classes on writing the Persian language—they all speak it fluently—taught by one of the mothers.

The Junior Kids elected a treasurer, made and decorated a Fund box, and raised $166 for the Arc Projects Fund by selling herbs from a garden.

Included with their Arc contribution to the Universal House of Justice was a three-line letter that concluded, “We are praying that the Arc will be built earlier.”

Members of the group presented an enthusiastic report of their activities, interests and hopes at a recent Feast in Paradise Valley. The Spiritual Assembly and community look forward to hearing other reports from such dedicated young Bahá’ís upon whom the future depends.

Penguin to handle Oneworld

Oneworld Publications of Great Britain has announced that, beginning next January, the well-known publisher Penguin Books will handle distribution of Oneworld’s books in the U.S. and Canada.

In June, Penguin began distributing Oneworld in Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

Oneworld was established to carry a wide range of Bahá’í and Bahá’í-related titles to the book trade, and it is hoped that the arrangement with Penguin will greatly increase the availability of Bahá’í books to the general public.

10th annual Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday Parade and March of Celebration Atlanta, Georgia

Once again, the Bahá’ís of Atlanta will be taking part in the many events of King Week. Please join us to proclaim the glorious Name of Bahá’u’lláh to those in Atlanta and around the world.

Parade: Saturday, January 14. There will be a Bahá’í float; TBS will telecast nationally and worldwide.

Multicultural prayers around the world: Sunday, January 15. Planned by the Bahá’ís and held in Freedom Hall at the King Center to commemorate World Religion Day.

March of celebration: Monday, January 16. Robert C. Henderson, secretary-general of the National Spiritual Assembly, will be one of the Co-Grand Marshals, and we will march with hundreds of fellow Bahá’ís to demonstrate on a massive scale our commitment to the oneness of humanity.

The Bahá’ís of Atlanta are planning many other teaching and proclamation events in mid-January. For more information, please write to Paulette Trail, Powder Springs, GA 30173, or phone 404-428-7713.

Bahá’ís from Yuma City and Yuma County, Arizona, marched behind this banner in the recent Wellton Day parade in Wellton, Arizona. The parade wound for two miles through the desert town, and the Bahá’í entry was well-received. [Page 23]

Sister’s teaching wishes are fulfilled in death

To the Editor:

On August 14, I paid the greatest ransom I have been asked to give for this Cause. Late at night, alone except for her Lord, and unable to continue her 20-year struggle with severe chronic clinical depression, my 35-year-old “baby sister,” Lu Ann, took a bottle of pills and laid her life before her Creator.

When they found her, much later, finally at rest, she had five items clutched lovingly to her chest—four books: Bahá’í World Faith, Prayers and Meditations, Daily Readings, and Tablets of the Divine Plan—and a branch of white tea roses from the bouquet I had given her the day before. How her eyes had sparkled when I told her that, according to story, Bahá’u’lláh’s favorite flower was the white rose.

Ours is a small community—the two of us and our five lovely children. But this didn’t stop us!

In recent weeks we had finalized our three-month calendar and longer-range teaching plans. She had bought 15 copies of I Shall Come Again and was eager to use them for a long-planned teaching event. Only a week before her death we had decided that our town would, God willing, have an Assembly by Ridván. Lu Ann was born on April 21.

Her greatest frustration in recent weeks was her inability to get out of the house more to teach. Then, one day about three weeks ago, she called me and, in a childlike voice, said, “Listen, Jan!” She played her new phone answering machine message that ended with the words “...and next time you see me, ask me about Bahá’u’lláh.” God had given her the means!

The copies of the book are gone. I’ll have to order more for our teaching event, because Lu Ann and I have just completed the most incredible teaching “marathon” anyone could imagine.

I was at a professional conference when my husband came with news of her death. My first act was to ask my colleagues if we could share a prayer for the departed.

Since then, for the past six days, I have spent at least 10 hours a day teaching the Faith.

At the prayer service preceding her burial I was able to tell nearly 200 friends, acquaintances and family members what she could not...that Christ has returned in the glory of the Father...that we have the bounty to live and serve in the “Day of God.”

It has been a week of miracles. As my heart aches, I am bathed in the confirmations of the Blessed Beauty. My joy holds no bounds as the material rewards of this test have been as great as the spiritual. A great family healing has taken place, giving me the emotional support in death that she so longed to give me in life.

I shall be on my knees each morning to thank Lu Ann for her final message—the books. Could it be that the message was not just for me?

“Behold the candle, how it gives its light! It weeps away its life drop by drop to give its flame.”

Jan (Travis) Thompson Foley, Minnesota

Please remind the friends about need for a will

To the Editor:

Recently, a Bahá’í in Salinas, California, passed away suddenly without a known will, relatives who could be found, or any assets with which to pay for his funeral.

In such cases in Monterey County, the deceased becomes a ward of the state and his remains are cremated.

... I would suggest that the local Assembly remind the friends of the Bahá’í law regarding wills and keep a file containing copies of community members’ wills and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and/or friends.

Realizing that cremation is against Bahá’í law, the Spiritual Assembly of Salinas took immediate action.

Because of the Assembly’s persistence and the cooperation of many government officials, a way was found to have this Bahá’í buried in a long-forgotten county cemetery.

While arranging this, Assembly members had an opportunity to tell government officials about the Faith.

In many communities there are Bahá’ís who are not well known.

Besides redoubling our efforts to get to know them, I would suggest that the local Assembly remind the friends of the Bahá’í law regarding wills and keep a file containing copies of community members’ wills and the names and telephone numbers of relatives and/or friends.

Such information would have allowed the Assembly in Salinas to advise this Bahá’í’s relatives of his passing.

Richard Martin Prunedale, California

LETTERS POLICY

“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 and opinions, never to denigrate another’s views or to attack anyone personally. Opinions expressed in these columns are those of the writers, and are not necessarily those of the National Spiritual Assembly or the editors.

Letters should be as brief as possible (a 250-word maximum is suggested) and 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.

Evils of gossip driven home anew by incident at summer school

To the Editor:

Our Assembly is presently dealing with a problem of a personal and private nature.

It was decided by the parties involved to tell a few close friends who are not on the Assembly the nature of the problem.

Unfortunately, the topic became a subject of gossip at a recent summer school.

Can you imagine how the people involved must feel? What should have been a source of support—fellowship with the Bahá’ís—has been taken away at a time when support is most needed.

One only need consult the Writings to see how serious gossip is. To have it take place at a Bahá’í summer school is even worse.

Please, friends, in future, when told something in confidence, keep it to yourself, and when confronted by gossip and rumor, tell the source you are not interested. Feelings are hurt and the Faith is severely tested when you do not.

Karen M. Gray Belleville, Illinois

LA Workshop performance sparks inquiries

To the Editor:

The Los Angeles Bahá’í Youth Workshop performed July 8 at my child’s elementary school (Argonne Alternative School). I am continuing to hear from the parents and teachers at the school about what a thrilling experience it was for them.

The principal and teachers say that what impressed them most was the outstanding character every one of the Workshop members displayed.

They remarked about their courtesy and positive exuberance.

The principal said, “Robert, I had no idea you were a Bahá’í. How interesting!”

A parent said, “I have a good friend who became a Bahá’í. The Bahá’í Faith mellowed her out.”

The principal wants to know if we can make this an annual event.

Robert ‎Berrry Berry‎ San Francisco, California

We must tell all about God’s plan

To the Editor:

“If we could know that God truly cares for all people and has a very specific plan for world reconciliation in which we have a key role, how could we possibly advocate that everyone mind their own spiritual business? Wouldn’t it be logical for us to reach out?”

The above quotation, addressed to Jews, appeared in the Messianic Jewish publication, Issues. How much more does this appeal apply to Bahá’ís who know in detail God’s Plan for recreating humankind and establishing lasting peace and harmony in the world.

Seymour Weinberg Denver, Colorado [Page 24]Persian

آثار مبارکه حضرت نقطه اولی

WRITINGS OF THE BAB

نوشته دکتر آهنگ ربانی (ادامه از شماره قبل)

۶- لوح مبارک خصائل السبعه

این توقیع امنع اکرم که در بیان شعائر یا خصائل هفتگانه است در بندر بوشهر بعد از مراجعت از سفر مکه نازل گردیده که خطاب به مؤمنان شیراز است.

حضرت نقطه اول جل ذکره الاعلی در این لوح مکرم به اصحاب ساکن شیراز امر فرمودند تا عبارت "اشهد ان علیاً قبل محمد عبد بقیه الله" را به اذان بیافزایند.

جناب قدوس حامل این لوح مقدس بود که آن را در شیراز به ملا صادق مقدس خراسانی تسلیم داشت. جناب ملا صادق طبق فرمان مبارک نقطه اولی جل جلاله در شیراز بر روی منبر علناً و آشکارا امر مبارک را به عموم مردم ابلاغ فرمود و جناب ملا علی اکبر اردستانی در بالای گلدسته مسجد اذان را با اضافه کردن جملهٔ فوق الذکر اداء نموده به انجام رسانید.

از این وقایع غیرمنتظره ضوضاء و غوغائی بر پا شد که بالمآل به گرفتاری و تعذیب جنابان قدوس و ملا صادق مقدس و ملا علی اکبر منجر گردید و شرح ظلم‌های دلخراش که بر این وجودات مکرمه مقدسه وارد آوردند در کتب تاریخ ثبت و ضبط گردیده است.

۷- رساله مبارکه پنج شأن

این کتاب مجید مجموعه‌ای است از الواح و توقیعات مبارکه که از برای عده‌ای از اصحاب نازل گردیده و هر توقیع مبارک در پنج شأن و یا در پنج لحن نزول یافته: لحن آیات، لحن مناجات، لحن خطابه، لحن تفسیر و لحن کلمات فارسی.

جناب نقبائی مرقوم فرموده‌اند: "رساله پنج شأن... نزول آن در جبل ماکو بوده و در متن کتاب به آن اشاره شده است."

جناب اشراق خاوری در قاموس ایقان نزول آن را در سال ۱۲۶۶ و در اواخر ایام اقامت مبارک در قلعه چهریق دانسته‌اند.

رسالهٔ مبارکهٔ پنج شأن که شامل توقیعاتی به اصحاب و مؤمنان است به زبان فارسی نازل گشته و متضمن مطالب عرفانی و عرفان مطلع امر الهی است. در این سفر مجید جناب عظیم به بشارت قرب ظهور حضرت سبحان مستبشر و مسرور گردیده و اشارات واضحی به ظهور جمال قدم و اسم اعظم جل جلاله نازل گشته و به نزدیکی زمان شهادت خویش نیز اشاره نموده‌اند. در این کتاب مستطاب می‌فرمایند، قوله عز و جل "خداوند هیچ چیز را در هیچ ظهور مثل اختلاف نهی نفرموده."

۲۰ اکتبر سالروز ولادت

حضرت اعلی

۸- کتاب الاسماء

این سفر مجید که به نام کتاب چهار شأن نیز مشهور است کتاب حجیمی است که در دو جلد نازل گردیده و ۳۶۱ اسم از اسماء الهی را در ۳۶۱ باب که عدد کلشیء است بیان فرمودند و این اسماء مقدسه را به اصحاب جانفشان صبح ظهور منسوب داشتند و هر یک را مظهری از یکی از اسماء رحمانی معرفی نمودند.

این کتاب مبارک مانند کتاب مستطاب بیان بر مبنای عدد کلشیء نازل گردیده که دارای ۱۹ واحد و هر واحدی ۱۹ باب است که مجموعاً ۳۶۱ باب را متضمن است و هر بابی در ۴ شأن نازل گردیده و مشتمل بر ۴ هزار بیت است.

۹- رساله مبارکه ذهبیه

یکی از علماء مسائلی را به وسیله ملا جواد ولایتی قزوینی به محضر مبارک حضرت نقطه اولی جل شانه تقدیم داشت که در جوابش رسالهٔ مکرمه ذهبیه نازل گردیده که در اثبات حقانیت ظهور نقطه اولی عز جلاله و تبیین ادله و براهین قاطعیت مظهر امرالله است.

در ضمن این رسالهٔ مقدسه اسامی ۱۴ کتاب که در دو سال اول ظهور مبارک از کلک اطهرش نازل گردیده ثبت شده است.

۱۰- رساله مبارکه فروع عدلیه

به موجب اشاراتی که در این سفر مجید نازل گشته، نزول این رسالهٔ مبارکه قبل رجب ۱۲۶۲ بوده است و با این بیان مبارک شروع می‌شود:

"بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم و لقد فرض الله على الناس قبل الصلاة بعضا من الاحكام و هي ان الله لا يكلف لاحد الا دون قوته."

این رسالهٔ مبارکه که به زبان عربی نازل شده به فرموده حضرت ولی امرالله جل سلطانه در زمانی که حضرت نقطه اولی جل کبریائه در منزل میر سید محمد امام جمعه اصفهان تشریف داشتند به توسط ملا تقی هراتی به زبان فارسی منتقل گردید.

این کتاب مجید شامل ۷ باب است: زیارت جامعه صغیر، اهمیت صلاة، احکام صلاة، زکاة، خمس، جهاد، دین (بدهی). به طور کلی این اثر مبارک با مباحث فقهیة اسلامی و خصوصاً با مذهب شیعه ارتباط دارد.

توقیعات مکرمه حضرت نقطه اولی

توقیعات مبارکه حضرت نقطه اولی جل جلاله بسیار متعدد و متنوع بوده. فی المثل می‌دانیم که هیکل انور عز اسمه الاعلی در همان اوائل ظهور مبارک جنابان قدوس و ملا صادق مقدس خراسانی را با توقیعات مقدسه مکرمه‌ای برای عده‌ای از آن جمله جناب آقا سید میرزا جواد شیرازی به کرمان فرستادند.

معظم له که پسرخالهٔ جناب آقا سید محمد رضا، والد گرامی حضرت نقطه اولی جل کبریائه بود، در آن زمان سمت امام جمعه‌گی کرمان را به عده داشت. مع الاسف حتی تعداد این توقیعات مکرم که به کرمان ارسال گردیده معلوم و مسلم نیست. همچنین از سرنوشت توقیع یا توقیعاتی که به جناب ملا احمد کرمانی و دیگران به کرمان ارسال فرمودند بی خبریم.

حاج محمد کریم خان شیخی که به وصف "اول من اعرض عن الله" موصوف گشته و شرح حال پروبالش در کتاب مستطاب ایقان و کتاب مستطاب اقدس و سایر الواح منیعه حضرت رحمن و تواریخ امری آمده، توقیع مبارک مفخم مقدس حضرت نقطه اولی جل کبریائه را چاپ و مورد استهزاء قرار داد.

بر سر مطلب می‌رویم. حضرت نقطه اولی جل شنائه الامنع الاحلی به بسیاری از علماء، و مجتهدین و پیشوایان دین و آئین و صاحبان قدرت و حکومت و جالسین بر وسادهٔ مكنت و عزت الواح مبارک و فراوانی فرستادند که طی آن تواقیع مکرمه خبر ظهور مبارک و شریعت جدید را ابلاغ نمودند و آنان را به تبعیت از حق و حقیقت دعوت فرمودند.

همچنین به عدهٔ کثیری از اصحاب و یاران الواح مکرمی ارسال داشتند و آنان را مورد تفقد و عنایت قرار داده، پایداری و استقامت بخشیدند. علی الخصوص توقیعات محبت آمیز حضرتش جل جلاله به حروف مبارکهٔ حی بسی مشهور است. ایکاش یکی از توقیعات ملاطفت آمیز مبارکش که به حروف مقدسه حی و یا به یکی از بستگان محترم ارسال داشته‌اند، در دسترس بود که زیب این اوراق می‌گردید.

(ادامه در شماره آینده)

حقوق الله
از دوستان عزیز مستدعی است تقدیمی‌های حقوق الله را در وجه Baha’i Huququ’llah Trust به نشانی یکی از امنای حقوق الله ارسال فرمایند.	Dr. Amin Banani Santa Monica, CA. 90402 Dr. Daryush Haghighi Rocky River, OH. 44116 Dr. Elsie Austin 9039 Sligo Creek Parkway, #612 Silver Spring, MD. 20901

اطلاعیه مدرسه بهائی بوش

BAHA’I CLASSES IN PERSIAN AT BOSCH

احبای عزیز فارسی زبان،

دوره آموزشی جامعی شامل زیارت بعضی از الواح مشهور حضرت بهاءالله با تعمق دربارهٔ مطالب آنها و موضوعات مربوط به حیات بهائی و خانوادگی و اجتماعی به استادی دکتر ریاض قدیمی از ۲۲ تا ۲۵ دسامبر سال ۱۹۹۴ در مدرسه بهائی بوش تشکیل خواهد گردید.

حضور در مدرسه از عصر چهارشنبه ۲۱ دسامبر و آغاز برنامه از صبح روز بعد و خاتمهٔ آن ظهر ۲۵ دسامبر خواهد بود.

عموم عزیزان فارسی زبان را به شرکت در این دورهٔ ‎تردید تجدید‎ معلومات دعوت می‌کنیم. با تقدم و تسریع در نام نویسی امکان حضور خود را در این دوره مغتنم تأمین فرمائید.

دوستان می‌توانند برای کسب اطلاعات بیشتر با مدرسه بهائی بوش تماس حاصل نمایند.

شماره تلفن: ۳۳۸۷-۴۲۳ (۴۰۸) [Page 25]برخی از فعالیت‌هائی که امسال صورت گرفت زمینهٔ آموزشی و پرورشی داشت، مانند نگهداری از کودکان و تربیت اخلاقی و تشکیل کلاس‌های مبارزه با بی‌سوادی.

بعضی از فعالیت‌های دیگر بیشتر جنبهٔ کار بدنی داشت، مانند کمک به ترمیم یک گورستان که بردگان سیاهپوست گذشتهٔ آمریکا در آن دفن شده‌اند و برنامه‌های پاکسازی و زیباسازی اماکن عمومی و تعمیرات در یک مدرسه واقع در مناطق سرخپوست نشین.

احبا در ستمفورد Stamford واقع در ایالت کنتیکت Connecticut مسابقهٔ فوتبالی ترتیب دادند که بجای رقابت بر مبنای همکاری بود که خود یکی از ویژگی‌های امر مبارک است.

همچنین برنامه‌های هنری گوناگونی نیز اجرا شد که شامل اجرای نمایشنامه و برنامه‌های موسیقی و به نمایش گذاشتن نقاشی و غیره بود.

در برخی از نقاط کوشش بر آن بود که برنامه‌های امری توسط رسانه‌های همگانی پخش شود و از این راه عدهٔ بیشتری از فعالیت‌های بهائیان آگاهی یابند.

در بعضی از نقاط ابلاغ کلمهٔ الهی مستقیماً از طریق تبلیغ در خیابان‌ها و کنار دریا و بازارها صورت می‌گرفت.

همهٔ کسانی که در فعالیت‌های مذکور شرکت داشتند، می‌توانند داستان‌های بسیاری از کاستی‌ها و کمبودها روایت کنند اما آنچه بر زبان همه می‌رفت و نشان از خوش‌بینی داشت، این بود که ”امیدواریم در سال آینده بتوانیم....”

گزارش موفقیت‌ها همچنان می‌رسد. از دوستان عزیز تقاضا می‌شود در این خدمات شرکت نمایند و گزارش فعالیت‌های خود را به این نشریه ارسال دارند. این گوی و این میدان!

معرفی امر مبارک در یک نشریه دینی آلمانی

BAHA’I FAITH INTRODUCED IN A RELIGIOUS PUBLICATION IN GERMANY

۳۱ دسامبر ۱۹۹۳، مقاله‌ای در معرفی امر بهائی در هفته‌نامه‌ای آلمانی به چاپ رسید. این مقاله علاوه بر نگرش بر بُعد دینی امر بهائی به بیان تأثیر فوق‌العاده مثبت و حیرت‌انگیز آن بر جامعهٔ امروز پرداخته است. خانم دکتر سوزان شاپ (Dr. Susanne Schaup) نویسندهٔ مقاله، یک روزنامه‌نگار غیربهائی است که برای نگارش مقالات مذهبی و قلم‌فرسائی در موضوعات مربوط به مسائل زنان، عمران و توسعه و صلح جهانی معروفیت دارد. ناشر (Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt) یک هفته‌نامهٔ پرتیراژ و مستقل مسیحی است که در سراسر آلمان پخش می‌شود.

نویسنده عنوان ”عالم یک وطن و یک مقام است” را برای مقاله برگزیده و از نقل بیانات مبارکه و چاپ عکس‌هائی از مشرق‌الاذکار واقع در لانگنهاین بهره جسته است. مطلب به ذکر آزار احبای ایرانی علیرغم خدمات شایان آنان به عموم جامعه و تمسک آنان به تعالیم بهائی از جمله عدم دخالت در امور سیاسی، انعکاس تضییقات احبای ایرانی در وسایل ارتباط جمعی و بالاخره اثر فشارهای بین‌المللی در تقلیل نسبی آزار دینی در مهد جدیدترین دیانت دنیا می‌پردازد. در این مقاله از مدرک محرمانهٔ دولت ایران در خصوص سرکوب کردن بهائیان در سراسر جهان - که توسط سازمان ملل متحد افشاء گردید - سخن رفته است. نویسنده شکنجه و مخالفتی را که امر بهائی از بدو پیدایش با آن مواجه بوده و این حقیقت را که در ازای هر شهید صدها تازه مؤمن به پاخاسته‌اند در دوران اولیهٔ ظهور مسیحیت مشابه دانسته است و اذعان نموده که دیانت بهائی از نظر وسعت پراکندگی بعد از مسیحیت و در مقام دوم واقع است.

در این مقاله به اصول و تعالیمی چون وحدت نوع بشر، توحید الهی، یکی بودن اصل ادیان، اثر شرایط اجتماعی بر قالب ظاهری تعالیم الهی، اصل وحدت در کثرت، عدم تعرض و مظلومیت صرفه، تساوی حقوق رجال و نساء، تطابق علم و دین، تحری حقیقت و اطاعت از حکومت اشاره شده است. همچنین، نظام اداری امر بهائی به علت رعایت اصل دموکراسی و بازده بالا مورد ستایش واقع گشته و نقش فعال جامعهٔ بهائی در تأسیس سازمان ملل از ابتدا ذکر گردیده است.

نویسنده معتقد است که تا کنون همهٔ ادیان با وجود دادن صلای محبت تنها مورث خونریزی بوده و در مبارزه با نفرت نژادی و تعارض فرهنگی ناکام مانده‌اند. او می‌نویسد: ”بهائیان پیام محبت مسیح را قانع کننده تر از تودهٔ مسیحیان محقق ساخته اند...” او بهائیان را در همه جا مظاهری از محبت می‌خواند و می‌نویسد: ”در مجامع بهائی برای اولین بار پی بردم که صورتهای سیاه و سفید چقدر می‌توانند به هم شبیه باشند.”

نویسنده ظهور حضرت بهاءالله در ظلمانی‌ترین دوران تاریخ بشری و رشد نفوذ بهائیان در دنیای امروز را نویدی بر تحقق عصری نوین می‌داند که در آن، مطابق با یکی از بیانات مبارکهٔ حضرت عبدالبهاء، که نقل می‌نماید، دو نیروی زنان و مردان پا به پای یکدیگر قادر به ایفای نقش اجتماعی خویش خواهند بود.

سپاه نور

ARMY OF LIGHT

اخیراً برنامه‌هائی با عنوان ”سپاه نور” Army of Light برای جوانان و نوجوانان طرح شده و موفقیت‌های آن در تابستان امسال نمونه‌ای از موفقیت‌هائی است که می‌تواند در آینده به دست آید.

برنامه‌های بسیاری در دست تهیه است تا جوانان برای ورود به میدان خدمت آماده شوند. یکی از این اقدامات تشکیل کنفرانسی در فینکس از ۲۳ تا ۲۶ دسامبر است با عنوان ”اردوگاه سپاه نور: یک کنفرانس ملی جوانان برای آماده ساختن سپاهیان.”

کنفرانس مذکور توسط هیئت ملی جوانان National Youth Task Force تشکیل می‌شود و هدف از آن ایجاد شور و نشور و برانگیختن جوانان بهائی برای خدمت به عالم انسانی از طریق امر بهائی است.

این کنفرانس همزمان با کنفرانس بهائی گرند کنیون Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference با نام‌نویسی جداگانه تشکیل خواهد شد.

دست‌اندرکاران ”سپاه نور” همچنین در صددند که همکاری بیشتری در میان جوامع محلی بهائی و فعالیت‌های ”سپاه نور” ایجاد نمایند.

در تابستان امسال محافل محلی و جمعیت‌های بهائی و مؤسسات تبلیغی گزارش بیش از ۱۰۰ برنامهٔ مختلف را داده بودند. این برنامه‌ها از یک روز تا ۱۰ هفته به طول انجامیده است.

اما موانعی نیز در راه اجرای بعضی از برنامه‌های ”سپاه نور” وجود دارد. گاهی این موانع ناشی از عدم آگاهی با زبان و در برخی موارد ناشی از عدم دسترسی به داوطلب برای اجرای آنها است.

در بسیاری از نقاط به ویژه در شهرهای بزرگی که با مشکلات فراوانی روبرو هستند نیازی به جوانان بهائی وجود دارد که بتوانند با دیگر جوانان طرح دوستی بریزند و از این راه تغییری در رفتارهای ناهنجار آنان ایجاد کنند.

مسؤولان ”سپاه نور” امیدوارند که مشاورات لازم در سطوح محلی و ناحیه‌ای و نیز در مدارس تابستانه و زمستانهٔ بهائی سبب خواهد شد که تعداد بیشتری از جوانان برای خدمت و فعالیت در برنامهٔ مذکور داوطلب شوند.

به همراه مشاورات مذکور فعالیت‌ها و کوشش‌های مؤثر دیگری نیز که در تابستان امسال به عمل آمد، در نظر گرفته خواهد شد.

== ریاض اللغات == جلد اول فرهنگ مفصل عربی به فارسی تألیف دکتر ریاض قدیمی با طبع و جلد عالی شامل لغات و اسم‌هائی که با الف آغاز می‌گردند در ۱۳۵۰ صفحه منتشر شد. قیمت هر جلد ۶۰ دلار کانادائی برای کانادا یا ۶۰ دلار آمریکائی برای خارج از کانادا شامل هزینه ارسال است که به صورت چک یا حوالهٔ بانکی به اسم و آدرس ذیل فرستاده شود. ایضاً کتاب ”سید رسل: حضرت محمد، اسلام و مذاهب آن” که نایاب شده بود، با حروف ماشینی به طرز نفیسی طبع و در ۳۰۰ صفحه منتشر گردیده است. قیمت هر جلد آن ۲۰ دلار آمریکائی است. یاران می‌توانند برای خرید کتاب‌های مذکور با نشانی زیر تماس حاصل نمایند. Kamran Nejati Brampton, ON. L6S 3H9 CANADA

[Page 26]

ترجمهٔ نامهٔ رئیس جمهور ایالات متحده

PRESIDENT CLINTON’S LETTER TO SENATOR CLAIBORNE PELL

خطاب به سناتور کلیبورن پل، رئیس کمیتهٔ روابط خارجی مجلس سنای ایالات متحده کاخ سفید، واشنگتن ۲۳ آگوست ۱۹۹۴

جناب رئیس عزیز، از شما برای کوشش‌های اخیر کنگره جهت بذل توجه به تضییقات دولت ایران علیه بهائیان سپاسگزارم. در مورد وضعیتی که بهائیان و دیگر اقلیت‌ها در ایران با آن رو برو هستند، عمیقاً نگرانم. دولت من به فعالیت برای حصول اتفاق آرای بین‌المللی جهت تغییر رفتار ایران در مورد حقوق بشر ادامه خواهد داد.

قطعنامهٔ مشترک شمارهٔ ۳۱ مجلس سنا یادآور مفیدی است که باید همچنان دربارهٔ وخامت اوضاع بهائیان هشیار باشیم. به شما اطمینان می‌دهم که همچنان به رهبری ایران توصیه خواهیم کرد که رفتار خود را با اقلیت‌های دینی بهبود بخشد و کوشش بیشتری به عمل آورد که حقوق اولیهٔ انسانی شهروندانش مورد احترام قرار گیرد.

ارادتمند، بیل

گزارشی از ساختمان‌های قوس

ARC BUILDINGS

مرکز مطالعهٔ نصوص

"این ساختمان مقر مؤسسهٔ محققین بهائی و بمنزلهٔ توسعه و شکوفائی دارالتحقیق کنونی مرکز جهانی خواهد بود و بیت‌العدل اعظم را در مورد مراجعه به آثار مبارکه و استفاده از آن‌ها مساعدت خواهد نمود و به ترجمه و تحشیهٔ نصوص امر مبارک خواهد پرداخت." (از ترجمهٔ پیام بیت‌العدل اعظم مورخ ۳۱ آگست ۱۹۸۷)

طرح مرکز مطالعهٔ نصوص بر این اصل استوار است که آن را در موضع نگاری topography کوه کرمل به نحوی قرار دهد که هماهنگی آن با دیگر ساختمان‌های قوس - دارالآثار بین‌المللی و دارالتشریع - حفظ شود. این مرکز مجاور قسمت الحاقی دارالآثار واقع خواهد بود و از طریق محل پارکینگ عمومی به آن متصل خواهد بود.

ساختمان مرکز مذکور و بخش الحاقی دارالآثار در قسمت غربی دارالتشریع واقع است و نقشه کنونی ساختمان ۹ طبقه دارد و قسمت اعظم آن زیر زمین خواهد بود. قسمت زیرزمین شامل یک کتابخانه است که دور حفره‌هائی که برای ورود نور ایجاد شده قرار دارد و فواره‌ای در وسط آن است. در اطراف کتابخانه محل دفاتر و انبار است. طبقهٔ بعدی که طبقهٔ هم کف است شامل دفاتر و دو اتاق برای جلسات و محلی برای نمایشگاه و یک سالن کنفرانس است. طبقهٔ اول و دوم طرحی مشابه طبقهٔ هم کف دارد. چهار طبقهٔ بعدی شامل محل برای حفاظت و سرایه‌داری است. تنها قسمت مرکز مطالعهٔ نصوص که مانند سراپرده‌ای در میان باغ‌ها دیده خواهد شد ایوانی مدور به سبک یونانی است که از نوعی مرمر ساخته خواهد شد. بقیه ساختمان چنان طرح شده که در داخل کوه قرار گیرد و رویه بیرونی آن به تدریج بخشی از طرح کلی بیرون خواهد شد. سقف ساختمان به صورت طبقاتی پوشیده از گل و باغچه‌های تزئینی دیده خواهد شد. حفره‌ها و پنجره‌های سقفی به قسمت‌های اصلی ساختمان نور خواهد رساند.

طرح ساختاری بنا چنان ریخته شده که امکان حد اکثر استفاده از همهٔ قسمت‌های آن در آینده فراهم گردد بدین ترتیب که فاصلهٔ زیادی در میان طبقات وجود دارد و سطح‌های گسترده‌ای برای آن در نظر گرفته شده است. یکی از جالب‌ترین نکاتی که در طرح ساختاری این ساختمان وجود دارد این است که امکان تغییرات در آن تا ۵۰۰ سال آینده در نظر گرفته شده است.

باغ‌های طبقات

جناب اسمعیل آقا خادم فداکار حضرت عبدالبهاء حکایت کرده است که ۲۰ روز قبل از صعود حضرت عبدالبهاء، از هیکل مبارک بیاناتی به این مضمون شنید که خطاب به یکی از احباء می‌فرمودند بیا برویم از دیدن زیبائی باغ محظوظ شویم. ملاحظه کن قدرت فداکاری و ایثار چه می‌کند. این محل زیبا چند سال پیش تودهٔ خاک بود اما حال سرسبز و خرم و پرگل است.

از این بیانات معلوم می‌شود که حضرت عبدالبهاء چه علاقه‌ای به باغ‌های مقام اعلی داشته‌اند. بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی نیز اهمیت طبقات و باغ‌های قسمت فوقانی و تحتانی مقام حضرت اعلی را مورد نظر داشته‌اند. بیت‌العدل اعظم در دستخط مورخ ۴ ژانویه سال ۱۹۹۴ می‌فرمایند: "زیبائی و شکوه حدائق و طبقات مقام اعلی که حال در جریان ایجاد است رمزی از کیفیت دگرگونی و تقلیبی است که مقدر است در کنه قلوب مردم جهان و در محیط طبیعی کرهٔ ارض به وجود آید."

طرح باغ‌های طبقات مقام اعلی مانند دیگر جزئیات آن طبقات بر این اساس بوده است که عظمت آن مقام مقدس جلوه بیشتری نماید و زائران ارض اقدس نیز رمز و نماد روحانی آن مقام مبارک را دریابند. باغ‌های مذکور به نحو چشمگیری حکایت از حقیقت روحانی دارد. محور مرکزی طبقات شامل باغچه‌هائی خواهد بود و هر طبقه ویژگی خود را خواهد داشت. هر چند طرح کلی طبقات یکدستی خود را دارد با این حال در جزئیات تنوع بسیار منظور شده است. باغچه‌ها شامل فواره‌های زیبا و درهای تزئینی و گل‌ها و گیاه‌های گوناگون است. گیاهانی که انتخاب شده از نوعی است که در تمام سال گل داشته باشد. در انتخاب ‎رنگ‌های رنگ‌ها‎ نیز دقت خاصی به عمل آمده است. به طور کلی طرح گلکاری و درختکاری به نحوی ریخته شده است که با سبک کلی معماری هماهنگ باشد. این باغ‌ها مانند واحدهای صلح و آرامش برای انسان‌ها و گیاه‌ها خواهد بود و پرندگان و پروانه‌ها را به خود جلب خواهد کرد و این خود بر زیبائی باغ‌ها خواهد افزود.

اطلاعاتی دربارهٔ ابعاد ساختمان‌ها و طبقات

ابعاد بناهای قوس در میزان بسیار بزرگ‌تر از آن است که از این پیش در جامعهٔ بهائی صورت گرفته است. خلاصه‌ای از ابعاد و اندازه‌های مشروعات قوس در زیر درج می‌شود.

دارالتبلیغ بین‌المللی زیربنای کلی این ساختمان ۱۹۳۱۳ متر مربع است.

مرکز مطالعهٔ نصوص و قسمت الحاقی دارالآثار زیربنای کلی این ساختمان ۱۶۶۵۰ متر مربع است.

طبقات مقام اعلی این طبقات که تا یک کیلومتر در دامنهٔ کوه کرمل گسترش می‌یابد، ارتفاعش ۲۲۵ متر است و از ۶۰ تا ۳۰۰ متر در دامنهٔ کوه بسط می‌یابد.

قطر هر یک از طبقات زیرین - به استثنای طبقه اول - ۳۵ متر است.

قطر طبقات فوقانی طبقهٔ ۱۳ و ۱۵ و ۱۷ چهل و یک متر است.

سفر تشویقی و تبلیغی

TEACHING IN THE REPUBLICS OF FORMER USSR

جناب یدالله ایقانی و همسرشان خانم اقدس ایقانی نامه‌ای ارسال داشته‌اند که در زیر درج می‌شود: هیئت محترمهٔ مجلهٔ امریکن بهائی دامت تأییداتها اینجانبان یدالله ایقانی و اقدس ایقانی از مهاجرین آمریکای شمالی ایالت مریلند از تاریخ ۱۵ اپریل ۹۴ تا ۱۵ جولای ۹۴ در مدت سه ماه که به خدمات امریه در آذربایجان و گرجستان مشغول بودیم موفق به تشویق یاران و تزیید معلومات آنان و مسافرت‌های تبلیغی و مصاحبه‌های تلویزیونی و رادیوئی شده و وسیلهٔ تصدیق ۵۲ نفر به امر مبارک را فراهم نموده‌ است به استحضار عاشقین میدان خدمت یاران عزیز می‌رساند در ممالک آزاد شدهٔ شوروی سابق سطح زندگی پائین و با مبلغ ناچیز می‌توان به خوبی زندگی نمود. علیهذا مراتب جهت اطلاع عزیزان آماده به خدمت معروض گردید تا به موجب نصایح حضرت عبدالبهاء قیام نمایند.

"هو‌الله، ای بندهٔ حق، همتی نما و دامن به کمر زن و قصد مقامی بلندتر از افلاک نما.... رخش سریع حاضر، میدان وسیع موجود، چوگان عنایت در دست و گوی سعادت در پیش. وقت جولان و ربودن گوی از میدان.... بشتاب بشتاب که وقت تنگ است و آهنگ مطرب نزدیک به انتها...." [Page 27]

In memoriam

Steps to service

Continued from Page 4

the ages of 18-21, traveling teaching for trips up to three months and short- and long-term pioneering—to:

• Contact your local Spiritual Assembly, or, if you are isolated or in a group, the nearest Assembly that knows you and arrange for consultation with this body. “...It is incumbent upon everyone not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly....that things may be properly ordered and well arranged.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Principles of Bahá’í Administration, p. 42.) The Assembly can provide you with a copy of the Pioneer, BYSC or International Traveling Volunteer Form.
• Complete the form and send it, with an up-to-date résumé, to the Office of Pioneering. Please follow up with the Assembly to ensure that it returns your Recommendation/Evaluation Form as well. The more we know about you, the better able we are to help you prepare to serve. We are eager to consult with you about your expectations, desires, apprehensions and needs, and to share with you valuable information about the needs of the Cause in various countries and many of the practicalities for serving overseas. We also will introduce you to the responsible Institutions where you may decide to go and give you the addresses and telephone numbers for them.
• You may also want to consult with your Auxiliary Board member for ideas on teaching, guidance for study, and support for your international project.
• Plan to attend a Pioneering Institute. Participation in this special program will provide you with the spiritual and practical foundation and a perspective on service which will enhance your ability to be happy and productive. Success in the international field is directly related to the spiritual and practical preparation undertaken.

The local Assembly can help the pioneering work by encouraging members of their community to arise to serve, emphasizing the need for donations to the Deputization Fund, focusing children’s classes on the subject of pioneering, and channeling the training and education of the members of its community in such a way that they will be well prepared for pioneering.

Not everyone can arise as an international pioneer or traveling teacher, but individuals, communities, and Assemblies all can support the pioneering work. One vital way is by contributing to the National Deputization Fund.

“...Center your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this Revelation,...” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 196-7.)

“...The dramatic expansion of the work of the Cause in recent years and the developments expected during this new [Three Year] Plan demand material resources. ...”—The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 150

“...In the meantime we call on all believers everywhere to prayerfully consider their personal circumstances, and to arise while there is yet time, to fill the international goals of the Plan... This must be done at all costs. No sacrifice, no deferment of cherished plans must be refused in order to discharge this ‘most important’ of the many ‘important’ duties facing us...”—Messages from the Universal House of Justice, pp. 89-90

Please contact the Office of Pioneering for assistance and information at the Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette IL, 60091. Phone 708-733-3508 (general), 733-3511 (traveling teaching, BYSC), 733-3512 (pioneering), or fax 708- 733-3509.

George Savitt, ‘Phil Ossofer’ and renowned punster, dies in Miami, Florida, at age 84

George Savitt, a Bahá’í from Miami, Florida, who wrote a Bahá’í-oriented newspaper column, “Phil Ossofer Says,” for 31 years in the Miami Times, and was known by Bahá’ís everywhere for his constant stream of outrageously inventive and humorous puns, died September 5 in Miami. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Savitt also wrote a book, The Bible Revisited, based on his newspaper columns, which was published in 1991, and recently completed a second book, The Nightingale Circle, for Naturegraph.

Mr. Savitt served for many years as treasurer of the Spiritual Assembly of Dade County Central.

Lesy Johana Martinez, a 16-year-old Bahá’í from an orphanage operated by Bahá’ís in Comayagua, Honduras, is the first of the Garifuna people to attend the Maxwell International Bahá’í School in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Faith has spread rapidly among the Garifuna in Honduras with some 20,000 new believers enrolled since 1990 (see the ‘Bahá’í Newsreel,’ vol. 3, no. 2). Lesy’s interests include dance, auto mechanics, and computers. She is greatly missed at the orphanage where she was a leader for the younger children and had many responsibilities including nightly care of infants, cooking, teaching Bahá’í classes, and supervising various other chores.

Bahá’ís in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, play leading role in ‘Affirmation Program’ sponsored by Interreligious Forum in response to anti-semitic remarks

The Interreligious Forum of Greater Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, planned and hosted an Affirmation Program on June 5 in response to comments about Jews made by a member of the Nation of Islam in Harrisburg.

The Spiritual Assembly of Harrisburg has been a member of the Forum since 1986. In planning the program, its representative conveyed the Assembly’s wish that the response should not only be for the Jews but for all those who have experienced prejudice, slavery or loss of life owing to discrimination.

The Forum appreciated this and decided to make the program inclusive with people of many racial and religious backgrounds taking part. Representatives of various religious communities shared passages from their holy books on acceptance, tolerance and unity.

The Bahá’ís offered two quotations from Bahá’u’lláh and the prayer for unity. Songs of goodwill and coming together were performed by a soloist and choirs.

The response was positive, with many people saying such a program should be held once or twice a year without waiting for something negative to prompt it.

Bahá’ís in metro Detroit named to top posts with a number of leading non-profit groups

Bahá’ís in the Detroit area continue to expand their contacts with compatible non-profit groups.

• Susan Finan of Grosse Pointe Farms has been named Bahá’í representative to the board of directors of the Racial Justice Center of Grosse Pointe, an interfaith organization that promotes interracial understanding in that area.
• Susan Harrison of Ann Arbor has been chosen as one of a dozen community members serving in the 1994-95 Wayne State University Community Education Leadership Program, which selects leaders from diverse groups and encourages them to promote a project of unified action.
• Ted Amsden was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Greater Detroit Interfaith Roundtable, an interfaith group that for the first time will have a Bahá’í on its board.
• Mr. Amsden was also elected vice-president of the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, which provides social and legal services to newly arrived immigrants.

Steffes Council holds 6th annual Awards Luncheon

The Bahá’í Marion Steffes Council recently held its sixth annual Awards Luncheon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, honoring special individuals from 15 Milwaukee-area American Indian organizations, schools and churches.

This was by far the most successful event to date with about 120 people taking part. There were many touching moments, especially when the Milwaukee Indian Economic Development Agency honored a Bahá’í, Ron Davis, who died in August 1993. His daughter, Andrea Davis, accepted the award.

Another man had 15 of his relatives in attendance as he proudly accepted his award.

IN MEMORIAM
Lena Amato New Orleans, LA August 7, 1994	Nikta Khoshnavaz Fountain Valley, CA August 5, 1994
Stacie Asmussen St. Joseph, MO July 21, 1994	Lucille Lewis Sanford, FL July 30, 1994
John J. Barrett Altadena, CA August 7, 1994	George Savitt Miami, FL September 5, 1994
Daniel L. Cramer New Salem, MA September 1, 1994	Grace A. Soper Spokane, WA April 3, 1994
Clifford Ellingham Winter Park, FL August 28, 1993	Carol L. Tate Auburn, WA August 29, 1994
LaVerne Farmer Altadena, CA August 18, 1994	Lu Ann Travis Foley, NM August 14, 1994
Herbert Wilbur Pretty Sounding Flute Lower Brule, SD August 1, 1994	Khalil Vajdi Mission Viejo, CA July 31, 1994
Inez Hill Conway, SC April 3, 1994	Margaret Varga Laramie, WY April 26, 1994
Lizza Jackson Camden, SC April 1994

[Page 28]The Bahá’ís of Skokie, Illinois, marched in this year’s Fourth of July parade with a vinyl helium-filled balloon, nine feet in diameter, that was decorated to resemble the earth with major continents in green and the U.S. in red, white and blue. Holding hands around the ‘equator’ were cutouts of children in costumes of various lands. The Bahá’ís also carried a banner that read ‘One Planet...One People, Bahá’í Faith.’

MOVING? TELL US YOUR NEW ADDRESS.

To avoid unnecessary delays in receiving your copy of The American Bahá’í, send your new address and your mailing label to MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, as soon as you know what your new address will be.

G. WE RECEIVE EXTRA COPIES BECAUSE:

• we do not have the same last name.
• We do not want extra copies, so please cancel the copy for the person(s) and I.D. number(s) listed above.
• the last names and addresses on our address labels do not match. We have listed above the full names of all family members as they should appear on the national records, their I.D. numbers, and the corrections so that we will receive only one copy.

H. I WOULD LIKE A COPY:

• Our household receives only one copy of The American Bahá’í. I wish to receive my own copy. I have listed my name, I.D. number and address above.

BAHÁ’Í NATIONAL CENTER 112 Linden Avenue Wilmette, IL 60091

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

OCTOBER

28-30: Youth Deepening Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. Organized by the Sacramento-area Bahá’í youth. For information, write to the school at 500 Comstock Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, or phone 408-423-3387.

28-November 2: Annual meeting of the International Society of Agriculture and Rural Development, Landegg Academy, Wienacht, Switzerland.

NOVEMBER

4-6: Wisconsin Family Weekend, Byron Center. Contact Lisa Reimer, West Bend, WI 53095 (phone 414-338-3023).

4-6: Youth Eagle Institute, Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033.

4-6: Fourth Haj Mehdi Arjmand Scripture Conference, De Poort, the Netherlands, with focus on the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. For information, phone Robert H. Stockman, 708-733-3425.

4-6: Rendezvous of the Soul Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School, designed for individuals, groups or communities. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

11-13: Second annual Young Adult Conference, “Bahá’í Marriage—A Sharp Distinction,” Ramada Inn, Chads Ford, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. For information, phone 215-527-1928.

11-13: The Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Charter of a World Civilization, Green Acre Bahá’í School. Habib Riazati, facilitator. For information, phone 207-439-7200, or fax 207-439-7202.

11-13: “Women and Men: Building a Real Partnership,” Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033.

12: Special program for the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

12: Celebration of the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033.

18-20: Adult Research Weekend and “Star Trek” Teaching Weekend (the choice is yours), Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

18-22: Music Forum, Landegg Academy, Wienacht, Switzerland. Theme: “The Role of Music in a Changing World.” ‎Worshops Workshops‎ conducted in English and German. For information, please contact Landegg Academy, CH-9405, Wienacht/AR, Switzerland.

24-27: Desert Rose Bahá’í School, Ramada Inn, Tucson, Arizona. Speakers: Dr. Khalil and Sue Williston Khavari, Keyvan Geula, Dr. Nat Rutstein. Entertainment by Dan Seals and the Soul Folk Trio.

24-27: Oregon (West) Bahá’í School, Menucha Convention Center, Columbia Gorge (30 miles east of Portland). Registrar: Norman Ives, 2281 Olive Barber Road, Coos Bay, OR 97420 (phone 503-267-3157).

24-27: Florida Bahá’í School, Clarion Plaza, Orlando. For room reservations, phone 407-352-9700 or fax 407-351-1911; for conference information, phone Christina Lowcock, 813-688-8162.

25-27: Health and Healing Symposium, Bosch Bahá’í School, with special guest presenter Dr. Lameh Fananpazir from the National Institutes of Health. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

25-27: North Carolina Bahá’í School. “Fellowship, Fellowship, Love, Love, Unity: Bahá’í Consultation.” Registrar: Sandra Miles, Winston-Salem, NC 27105 (phone 910-767-6888).

DECEMBER

2-4: San Francisco Bahá’í Community Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. For registration information, phone the Bahá’í Center of San Francisco, 415-432-9990. Registration deadline: November 25.

2-4: Local Spiritual Assembly Development Workshop, Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033.

8-11: Fourth International Dialogue on the Transition to a Global Society, Landegg Academy, Wienacht, Switzerland.

9-11: Assembly Team Development Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

9-11: Classes by Dr. Riaz Ghadimi (in Persian) on Bahá’í Life/Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, plus Level II Core Curriculum Training, and class on the practical application of Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets (in English) by Keith Christian Jenson, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387.

23-26: 10th annual Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Phoenix, Arizona. Guest speakers, entertainment, workshops, special classes for pre-youth. For hotel reservations, phone 800-359-7253 before December 10. For conference information, phone the GCBC hotline, 602-375-8082, from 7-9 p.m. Mountain time. Pre-registration is advised, as seating is limited during the main sessions and workshops.

27-January 1: “Challenges of the Present Hour,” Dr. Soheil Bushrui, who occupies the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, Bosch Bahá’í School, plus social scientist Fred White on “Changing the American Character.” For information, write to ‎t he the‎ school at 500 Comstock Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, or phone 408-423-3387.

27-January 1: Winter School Session, “The Life of Bahá’u’lláh” and “Milestones to the Millennium,” Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033.

27-January 2: Forum ’94 (fifth annual Forum for Young Professionals), Landegg Academy, Wienacht, Switzerland. Theme: “The Role of the Aesthetic in a Global Society.” For more information: Landegg Academy, CH-9405 Wienacht/AR, Switzerland.

28-30: Second annual May Township Youth Conference, Wilder Forest Conference Center near St. Paul, Minnesota. Theme: “Living a Life of Service.” Youth ages 11-20 welcome. For information, write to Ken or Peggy McNamara, Marine on St. Croix, MN 55047, or phone 612-433-5089.

‘ILM B.E. 151 / OCTOBER 16, 1994