The American Bahá’í/Volume 26/Issue 8/Text

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[Page 1]

PEACE FEST ’95

Celebration reinforces year-round teaching effort

By TOM MENNILLO

Peace Fest again this year played a vivid and highly visible role in bringing Bahá’í solutions before South Carolinians.

Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís of all hues and backgrounds came together September 15-17 to celebrate their oneness through fellowship and the arts.

Peter O’Connell of the Florence Morning News takes notes (right photo) on how attendees were enjoying Peace Fest. He certainly didn’t need to ask the two girls pictured above. (Photos by Tom Mennillo)

But Peace Fest, as galvanizing as it is, does not take place in a vacuum. It is only one of many ways in which the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute is working with other Bahá’í institutions to serve teaching efforts in the racially fragmented state.

The results speak for themselves. Since last fall's launching of the Louis G. Gregory/ Magdalene Carney Teaching Initiative, several hundred people have been brought into the Faith.

Just as important, ties have been renewed and strengthened with thousands of mass-taught believers whose consolidation previously could not be carried out on a systematic basis.

And the state's "thriving young Bahá’í communities" are being empowered to become fully functional.

Consultation among the Institute, the South Carolina Teaching Committee, Auxiliary Board members and their assistants has kept all of these efforts on track and focused.

The Institute's role is largely that of a resource. Most obvious is WLGI Radio Bahá’í, which reaches people of all levels in its wide listening area.

The station has increasingly demonstrated the scope and diversity of the Faith for its primarily rural African-American audience.

That helps to proclaim the Faith and support the teaching work.

It also helps consolidate the far-flung believers—new and veteran. Imaginative deepening programs (see separate article on WLGI Radio) are being developed for broadcast.

The Institute staff also has used its good will with people of capacity across the state to bolster fledging efforts toward racial harmony.

These individuals and organizations recognize that race unity must come about, according to the Institute's Executive Director, Charles Bullock.

"Because of problems in so many areas, the old divisive forces of racism and separation are being forced to give way to cooperation for the security and benefit of all," he said.

Mr. Bullock noted that a coalition of corporations, congregations and schools known as the Palmetto Group is seeking to make 1996 a year of racial harmony.

To the American Bahá’í Community for the Feast of Mashiyyat

Dear Bahá’í friends,

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has taught that the Bahá’ís of the Americas can have a powerful influence on the relief of suffering in our nations and on the future course of their development. Unity is the key to unlocking this spiritual force.

The Master states that if we are "truly united," if we agree "to promote that which is the essential purpose,...to show forth an all-unifying love," then "I swear by Him Who causeth the seed to split and the breeze to waft, so great a light will shine forth from your faces as to reach the highest heavens, the fame of your glory will be noised abroad, the evidences of your preeminence will spread throughout all regions, your power will penetrate the realities of all things, your aims and purposes will exert their influence upon the great and mighty nations, your spirits will encompass the whole world of being, and ye will discover yourselves to be kings in the dominions of the Kingdom, attired with the glorious crowns of the invisible Realm, and become the marshals of the army of peace, and princes of the forces of light, and stars shining from the horizon of perfection, and brilliant lamps shedding their radiance upon men."

The Continental Counselors throughout the Americas have encouraged all the National Spiritual Assemblies in this hemisphere to join in a united campaign of teaching and prayer during two special periods of the closing months of the Three Year Plan—October 20 to November 12 (the anniversaries of the Birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, respectively) and the Intercalary Days.

In turn, the National Assembly has enthusiastically agreed to invite every individual Bahá’í adult, youth or child—and all local Spiritual Assemblies to intensify their current teaching activities and to launch new endeavors during those special periods.

Every day, the entire continent of believers will be unified in prayer and in the promotion of our cherished Faith, inviting new souls to join the Bahá’í family. Every day, our prayer shall be for the fulfillment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s vision that our "aims and purposes will exert their influence upon the great and mighty nations...."

With warmest Bahá’í greetings,

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States September 27, 1995

Decentralization response is positive

The process of decentralization, begun last June 21 when the National Spiritual Assembly sent a letter to all local Spiritual Assemblies announcing the decision to establish Regional Teaching and Administrative Committees, continues to move forward.

The letter, which was reprinted in the August 1 issue of The American Bahá’í, elicited positive responses and recommendations from more than 300 communities and individuals.

There was marked enthusiasm for the initiative, and the recommendations have proven to be of great value to the consultations of the National Spiritual Assembly.

The most frequent recommendations for the committees have fallen into the areas of initiating and conducting regional programs, promoting Assembly development, encouraging and supporting teaching/consolidation, coordinating intercommunity efforts, and carrying out various administrative duties.

The National Spiritual Assembly is reviewing this input and consulting on the exact nature and scope of these committees and how they will gradually evolve.

The Regional Teaching and Administrative Committees also were a central topic of consultation at the Unit Conventions. Copies of the Assembly response summary were distributed at Unit Conventions and mailed to all local Assemblies.

To date nearly 1,000 people have been recommended for appointment to the Regional Committees. Those appointments will involve a multi-stage selection process to ensure that the most trustworthy, qualified and experienced believers are asked to serve.

The process will also include the involvement of the Continental Board of Counselors and the National Spiritual Assembly. [Page 2]

TEACHING

Practical advice on teaching from Rúhíyyih Khánum

The National Teaching Committee recently came upon an article by Rúhíyyih Khánum, published in Bahá’í News in June 1949, that speaks to the goals of the Three Year Plan.

It is fascinating how 46 years ago she brought up the issues with which our community is still battling today. In fact, if one looks closely at the Model for Large Scale Expansion and Consolidation one will see how it covers many of the same points mentioned in this article.

a) Drawing on spiritual power b) Deepening c) Individual and family life (setting examples) d) Community life e) Concern for others (social and economic development) f) Embracing the entire population

Following are some excerpts from the article.

We often wonder why it is that when we have the remedy for all the ills of the world, the world won't take it. Sometimes it is very disheartening. ...And we Bahá’ís, always trying to offer our priceless gift, many of us out in strange places as pioneers, many more traveling around as teachers or working hard and eagerly on national, regional or local Teaching Committees and allied committees, wonder what on earth is the matter. Are the people all blind or is there something wrong with us?

The ills of mankind

The answer, of course, is that broadly speaking, the human race today is certainly distracted, and, compared to an absolute standard of normalcy, somewhat demented, and we ourselves are far from being what we should be. The combination of mass disobedience to the Laws of God, and our own incomplete adherence to them, acts as a brake on the success of our labors.

...Every time we look at the people of the world we are inclined to feel complacent; we compare our standards to theirs, our conduct to theirs, and see ourselves an inch and a half or two inches taller spiritually. But perhaps if we looked carefully at what kind of a human being a Bahá’í should be, namely a being resembling ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, our Exemplar, our complacency would evaporate and we would realize that we Bahá’ís are supposed to be a race of spiritual giants, whereas we are still pygmies just a little taller than the average spiritual dwarf inhabiting the globe.

Why? First of all most of us don't know the Teachings that well. We are strong adherents of this Cause of God, but we are for the most part not informed adherents of it. Compared to what Bahá’u’lláh has delivered into our hands, we are ignoramuses; we know only about ten percent of it.

I once heard my Mother say something which impressed me very much. Someone complimented her on her knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith. She said the Bahá’í Teachings were like a university and she had been a student in it for 35 years and was still learning.

The Covenant is the hub

But, in spite of the fact that our knowledge is so incomplete, we still, every little new Bahá’í included, know quite enough about it to let it change our lives and to teach it to others. The hub of Bahá’í knowledge is one great knot of truth, strong enough to withstand the pressure of the entire world with its disbelief and corruption: the Covenant.

The Great Covenant, we know, is the pledge God has made with every Prophet and, through Him, with all men: that he will not abandon us to ourselves but will send us Guides to lead us on our path of knowledge of Him and nearness to Him.

The lesser Covenant is, so far, unique to our Dispensation, in keeping with the more mature state of the world, and is the very blood in the veins of our Cause, the steel framework which will support our administrative order, our future world order. This is the Covenant Bahá’u’lláh made with us and the Master, and continued by the Master through the Guardian: that Bahá’u’lláh would not leave us alone after His Ascension, that divine guidance and authority would not be withdrawn from this physical world when the body of the Prophet was laid to rest, but that His mantle, to the extent of infallible guidance and interpretation of our Scriptures would fall on the shoulders of His Vice-regent, first ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, now Shoghi Effendi [and later the House of Justice].

When a believer has this in mind, when his heart has opened, in faith in God, and enshrined within it Bahá’u’lláh and His Covenant with the Bahá’ís, then he has the kernel of everything....A person who accepts any religion and becomes its believer, accepts the primary concept that its Founder or Prophet was right and perfect because He was the mirror of God and thus absolutely divinely inspired.

We have a wonderful teaching to offer men. We have a social, an economic, an international set of laws, principles and values that are just unbeatable. But all the vitality and potency goes out of them unless a person is willing to acknowledge the reason why they are so perfect: because they come from a super-human source—from God.

The first step

...There are so many "dos" and "don'ts" to the teaching work. Every believer who has ever opened his mouth and tried to teach soon forms a little set of his own....But just by way of sharing my observations and ruminations on this subject I can give out a few ideas.

I once heard a Bahá’í, in respect to the teaching work, use a very homely metaphor: she said our teachings were like a huge department store; everybody that came to us wanted at least one thing, whether it was a grand piano or an egg beater, and we had everything, was it conceivable that we could not satisfy the desire of that customer?

This is a wonderful idea because the moment someone is truly seeking—not just living in a whirl or a profound lethargy or merely self-satisfied—we have, somewhere in our Faith, the answer to that person's needs. One of our main difficulties is that we do not always find out what the seeker wants and then give it to him.

We should consider ourselves doctors and all those we meet patients. We have all the remedies, we must always try and give as much of them as we can.

But supposing you go to your doctor, how do you feel? You want to tell him what is wrong, your symptoms, all about it. And supposing after you just get inside his office and sit down he starts telling you how he feels, or what he thinks the future course of international events is going to be, or all about his wife's dreams. Are you going to like it, does this technique attract you?

To teach is, to a great extent, the art of listening. If you will listen to the one you want to teach and find out what he wants and needs to hear then you can start your treatment by giving him, from our teachings, the right answer, the right remedy.

...A person who wants something wants it, even if it is only an eggbeater, he needs it and he needs it right away—so give it to him.

If you are not a sufficiently well-rounded out student of the teachings to talk economics with the economist and spiritual data with the psychic, then at least be wise enough to acknowledge your limitations and turn your truth seeker over to someone whose "hobby" in the Cause corresponds to that of the person's deepest interest.

Sincere concern for others

....How often, how very often, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá greeted people with "are you well, are you happy?" His loving interest reached out and surrounded them like sunshine. This sincere concern for and interest in the person you confront is the greatest teaching technique in the whole world and nothing will ever surpass it.

Teaching is excellent discipline for the personal ego, for to teach successfully you have to put yourself in the background and subdue your will and self-expression enough to be a sensitive receiving instrument that will pick up the seeker's correct wave-length.

If you tune in to that person you can commune with him and through that sympathetic thought you can begin to let the light of the Cause into his mind. You cannot force yourself into another person's soul or pound the truth into him just through the sheer conviction that you are right....

The watchful public

We must always remember that even those who seem most indifferent to us are watching us keenly. ...One of the reasons humanity has become so irreligious is because it no longer finds people, in churches, mosques or synagogues who live their teachings. It is all lip service and lip religion is dead religion. This is why Bahá’u’lláh and the Master so constantly emphasized deeds, actions, example.

If we read our teachings aright we see that in this day the Manifestation has raised the jump, so to speak; in the past belief was acceptable, but now belief is no longer enough, not acceptable unless backed up by deeds. "In this day naught will be accepted save pure and stainless deeds."

The ready public

We present the Cause to the public, to all those we contact, why do we make so few new believers? ...An almost infinitesimal percentage of the population of America ever attends a public lecture and those who do are usually lecture-goers. So, essential as this type of teaching is, we must not expect too much from it....

We must learn to increase our radius of contacts. We have a tendency to wait for souls to be "led to us." They often are, but others, probably the vast majority, need digging for....

The Golf Club, the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Junior League, the Child Welfare, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,...these and a hundred other types of either social, sport or humanitarian clubs and groups with kindred interests to ours are "pockets" where our future fellow-Bahá’ís may be concealed. If we want them we have to go after them. It requires sacrifice of our time and energy in some cases, in others it might be a very good addition to our own lives.

We will try and make our pleasure and leisure hours not only of use to ourselves but a means of reaching those few souls, who, like jewels buried in a mine, are truly believers in this new Day of God and only waiting to be found....

Today, if ever, must ring in our ears the battle cry of Mullá Hussein, "Mount your steeds, o heroes of God!"

Haifa, Israel March 18, 1949 [Page 3]

TOTAL ENROLLMENTS

August..................232 Year to date.................. 951

THE FUND

(As of September 30, 1995)

National Bahá’í Fund YTD Goal: $5,296,000 YTD (est.): $4,999,162

All International Funds: $14,600,000 YTD (est.): $14,499,600

YTD 94 / YTD 95 (est.) National Bahá’í Fund: $3,862,378 / $4,999,162 International Bahá’í Fund: $200,113 / $1,011,018 Arc Projects Fund: $2,018,507 / $13,219,281 Continental Bahá’í Fund: $84,666 / $99,228 Other Earmarked: $170,073 / $183,651 Subtotal/Int'l Funds: $2,486,937 / $14,499,600 Total/All Funds: $6,349,315 / $19,498,762

National Bahá’í Fund: Goal & Actual Where we are: $4,999,162 Where we need to be: $5,296,000

All International Funds: Goal & Actual Where we are: $14,499,600 Where we need to be: $14,600,000

Arc Projects Fund Where we are: $13,219,281 Where we were last year: $2,018,507

International Bahá’í Fund Where we are: $1,011,018 Where we were last year: $200,113

Continental Bahá’í Fund Where we are: $99,228 Where we were last year: $84,666

NATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE

Army of Light National Youth Conference December 28-31, 1995 Dallas, Texas

Personal Information: Name Street Address City State Zip Phone Bahá’í ID Number Sex 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, ____________, the 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:

Pre-registration deadline-postmarked by November 20.

• Be sure to include payment with your registration form. • Use only one form per person. Photocopies are acceptable.

Fee for registration: $25. Fee must be included with registration form. Please make checks payable to: Bahá’í Youth Conference

Please note: On-site registration fee will be $35.

HOTEL: Hyatt Regency DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) 1-800-233-1234 or 214-453-1234

Rooms are $50 a night for up to four people, based on availability.

Please Note: December 10 is the final day to reserve a room at these rates. These rates are available for the nights of December 28, 29, & 30. Checkout is 12 noon on December 31.

FOOD: We have been notified that there will be no outside food allowed in the hotel. There are five restaurants on site. An optional meal plan is also available.

On-Site Registration: On-site registration begins on Thursday afternoon, December 28.

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!

QUESTIONS: Any questions you may have about the conference should be directed to: National Teaching Office 708-733-3498

Send registration form to: Dallas Youth Conference c/o National Teaching Office 1233 Central St. Evanston, IL. 60201-1611

Insurance company: Policy#:

If you are under 15, and attending without a parent, please fill out the following:

I, ____________ parent of ____________, appoint ____________ 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 Signature of parent Signature of Sponsor

Holiday Blues? Not this year.

The National Teaching Committee is hosting the 2nd Army of Light National Youth Conference, which will be held in Dallas, Texas, the last weekend in December.

The conference, whose theme is "Excellence in All Things," will run from Thursday, December 28, to Sunday, December 31.

All nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly are planning to attend. We hope you will be able to join us.

Please watch for subsequent issues of The American Bahá’í for more information about the conference. [Page 4]

PIONEERING

Part 2 in a series of articles

Application Process

Changes have taken place in the application process for international service. The Office of Pioneering welcomes learning about your interest in serving abroad and having the opportunity to counsel the believers about the needs of the Faith internationally and the many ways that are available for doing so. New in this process are the initial steps taken to begin preparing for this most wonderful task.

As a step toward decentralizing the initial administrative process for international service, the Office of Pioneering sent master copies of the forms for traveling teaching, pioneering/BYSC volunteers and the Assembly evaluation along with general information and guidelines to assist in the preparation of the friends to all local Assemblies, both last year and this year.

In this way, each individual who wishes to investigate international service may turn to her/his Assembly to consult on the possibilities. If you do not live in a community that has an Assembly, you may contact an Assembly in your area that knows you well. Another alternative is to turn to the Auxiliary Board.

The purpose of going to the Assembly first is to begin right away to develop the collaborative processes of spiritual and practical preparation. As you focus your attention on the material needs of school, job, home, moving etc., the Assembly can provide you with opportunities for developing your skills in the Faith.

If you have never served on an administrative body, the Assembly may ask you to serve on a committee to acquire some hands-on experience. As you consult with the Assembly, you may become aware of areas of knowledge that you would like to explore prior to leaving. The Assembly may be able to expedite deepening classes on these topics, as the entire community is likely to benefit from this additional knowledge.

Similarly, if you had not had many opportunities to teach the Faith, the Assembly could help you in developing teaching activities that enhance these skills. Key to the success of your consultation is the ability for both you and the Assembly to be candid in assessing the skills and experiences you need related to serving abroad.

Local Assemblies, who help by encouraging, educating and counseling the members of their community, are invaluable in their capacity to instill confidence and develop competence for those serving the Faith whether here or abroad.

Once the Office of Pioneering receives your volunteer forms and the LSA Evaluation form, we will be better prepared to help you fulfill your desire to serve overseas. In the case of traveling teachers, we will give you the contact information, address and telephone numbers of the National Assembly responsible for the area you will be visiting, as well as any additional guidelines as needed.

For pioneers and Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteers, your forms will provide information that will enable us to match your talents and capacities to the needs of the Faith. You will be introduced to the National Assembly of the country(ies) you are investigating and with all of us working together through the entire process, you will have the best possible chance to succeed in settling and remaining at your post.

The Faith offers every individual a wide range of opportunities for service. It also offers every believer access to unlimited spiritual powers through which he/she can develop talents and capacities.

Considering this, if your plans to go abroad are delayed, your preparation may include learning a language, repaying debts, divesting yourself of that which would prevent you from leaving, upgrading/increasing your educational/vocational qualifications and/or developing new understandings and increasing your knowledge of the Faith. The spirit of your decision to serve abroad will be the guiding energy in all you do.

In a letter dated July 8, 1942, addressed to a young couple who were not able to pioneer overseas immediately, the beloved Guardian, through his secretary, wrote:

"Pioneer service in these epoch-making days need not be confined to going out in foreign fields. The friends can pioneer on their own assemblies in helping to bring about a keener vision of what their duties are; they can pioneer in developing new local teaching methods, new contacts with new classes of people, indeed they can even be said to pioneer inwardly in finding new depth in their own souls and new ways in which their own God-given capacities can be put to use in serving the Faith."—quoted in Bahá’í News, August 1967.

In the next issue: Pioneering Institutes

Solid network of volunteers is developed to enhance Bahá’í Youth Service Corps

Several months ago we published a call for help from veteran youth pioneers/traveling teachers (including Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteers) and Army of Light participants who are needed to help raise up and prepare growing numbers of new young pioneers and traveling teachers. Many offers to serve in this way have been received, and a solid network of volunteers for the Bahá’í Youth Service Corps is developing.

More committed volunteers are still needed, however, to carry out the many critical lines of action in this area. A few among the many ideas advanced for immediate action by volunteers include:

At the local level

• Conduct deepenings on teaching, service and pioneering, while sharing some of your own experiences with interested pre-youth, youth and parents in your community and those near you.
• Work with assistants to the Auxiliary Board assigned to your area to bring the Bahá’í Youth Service Corps and Army of Light to the forefront of youth activities and goals.
• Consult with your own and nearby local Spiritual Assemblies on ways to prepare pre-youth and youth for service and to engage them in it.
• Help local Assemblies to welcome home and harness the enthusiasm of returning BYSC and Army of Light volunteers.

At the regional level

• Receive training to help conduct regional Bahá’í Youth Service Corps institutes or Army of Light training sessions and co-facilitate these sessions with youth in your area on a regular basis, aiming at replacing yourself with new BYSC/Army of Light veterans as facilitators.
• Deepen on teaching, service and pioneering with pre-youth and youth at summer schools, regional conferences and other gatherings.
• Write about these topics for area newsletters.
• Offer to work with an Auxiliary Board member in efforts to raise up youth for service.

At the national level

• Give workshops and talk with interested youth at regional and national gatherings, conferences and conventions.
• Write about youth service activities for Bahá’í periodicals.
• Foster other means of communication among youth such as electronic mail forums, phone trees, etc.
• Encourage the delegate to the National Convention from your electoral unit to address the role of youth in the teaching work at home and abroad.

Your help is urgently needed! If you are able to help with any of these or other strategies, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3511; fax 708-733-3509; e-mail).

Sensitive International Teaching Areas (SITA)

Sensitive International Teaching Areas (SITA) programs—coordinated by the Office of Pioneering—are now available on a regional/local basis in many areas of the country.

What is a SITA? Why should you know about SITA programs and deepenings?

For answers to these and other questions, contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3506; e-mail).

BAHÁ’Í CHOIR

The Bahá’í communities of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia, and the Cleveland (Ohio) Bahá’í Choir took part July 2 in the fourth annual African-American Jubilee Festival in Wheeling. The multiracial choir performed music from many cultures with direct and indirect Bahá’í themes. A local television station showed the Bahá’í Choir three times in a two-day span as a part of news coverage of the Jubilee Festival.

Pioneers, traveling teachers needed in Russia, Mongolia

The need for pioneers and traveling teachers in Eastern Russia (Siberia) and Mongolia, as well as many other nearby countries, is critical. The Universal House of Justice names these lands as countries in which "there are now especially fertile opportunities for the rapid spread of the Faith that must be urgently met."

Several goal cities in the areas of Buryatia, Sakha and Yakutia in Russia, and in Mongolia, are in immediate need of both pioneers and traveling teachers. The compelling opportunities in these regions have been noted and emphasized by the International and Continental Counselors.

The Russia/Mongolia Teaching Committee, based in Alaska, is lending invaluable help to teachers and pioneers to the region and has arranged special orientation programs for them.

Whether to receive your final orientation on your way east, or to investigate the possibility of going, plan now to attend an orientation program. The next one will be held November 24-26 in Anchorage, Alaska. An average of four institutes per year are expected to be offered.

We encourage you to consider giving some time to the teaching work in these vital areas. To take the first step toward going, contact your local Spiritual Assembly to consult and receive the forms for pioneering/Bahá’í Youth Service Corps or traveling teaching. [Page 5]

So Great An Honor

Becoming a Bahá’í prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States

• A WELCOMING GUIDEBOOK FOR NEW BELIEVERS • COVENANTS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH AND ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ • BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER BAHÁ’Í HISTORY

Recommended by the National Teaching Committee SC $6.95 (SGH)

Designed primarily as a welcoming guidebook for new believers, So Great an Honor familiarizes readers with essential truths of the Bahá’í Faith and with its Central Figures. It also gives a glimpse of Bahá’í history, discusses the Covenants of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and outlines the Bahá’í Administrative Order. This book is intended to help readers enrich their spiritual journey and find the true happiness that comes from responding to God's call and arising to play their own part in advancing His cause. An excellent resource for deepening and consolidation programs.

6"x9", 81 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE FOR DEEPENING AND CONSOLIDATION PROGRAMS

Ethel Jenner Rosenberg

The Life and Times of England's Outstanding Pioneer Worker by Robert Weinberg SC $24.95 (EJR)

A Victorian spinster, a painter of miniatures and portraits, Ethel Rosenberg was the first Englishwoman in her native country to accept Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for this day. Using Ethel Rosenberg's own diaries and letters, minutes and notes from meetings of the first Bahá’í institutions in Britain, and other original documents, Robert Weinberg explores the life of this fascinating woman, whom Shoghi Effendi describes as England's outstanding Bahá’í pioneer worker. Includes the Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Ethel Rosenberg.

5"x8-3/4", 336 pp., Index George Ronald Publishers

Developing Genius

Getting the Most Out of Group Decision-Making by John Kolstoe SC $14.95 (DG)

When two or more people have a serious discussion in harmony and with good will, the unique product of that group is a special creative energy. It's more than the combination of ideas. It's a new and different creation which is greater than the sum of the parts and can enable a group of ordinary people to come up with genius-size ideas. Developing Genius shares principles of consultation being used effectively today. The ideas come from the Bahá’í writings and the author's own experience.

4-3/4"x7", 260pp., Index, line drawings George Ronald Publishers

Citadel of Faith

Messages to America, 1947-1957 Shoghi Effendi SC $5.95 (CFS)

A collection of letters and cables from the Guardian addressing the concerns of the American and the worldwide Bahá’í communities between 1947 and 1957. Shoghi Effendi gives a unique perspective on events, illumining the goals and objectives of the Bahá’í community and the procedures and methods for attaining them. Although the Bahá’í community has grown by leaps and bounds since 1957, it still confronts, and will continue to confront, the awesome task of building the world order of Bahá’u’lláh. Citadel of Faith provides guidance and inspiration for all who are engaged in this great enterprise.

7 5/8" x 5", 178 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

Turning Point For All Nations

Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office SC $2.25 (TPAN)

A statement issued by the Bahá’í International Community on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. The statement reflects on how humanity may collectively face its future, defines a role for the U.N. within the emerging international order, examines the critical challenge of releasing the power of the individual in the emerging world order, and issues a call to world leaders.

8 1/4" x 11 1/4", 31 pp. Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office, New York

The Violence-Free Family

Building Block of a Peaceful Civilization H. B. Danesh, M.D. SC $12.95 (VFF)

Wherever people face racism and prejudice, children are the most innocent, tragic victims. This book addresses the need for a new type of family and a new approach to the all-important task of rearing our children. It is an expression of an unshakable belief in the nobility of the human spirit, in the fundamental unity of the human race, and in the ultimate victory of the forces of love and justice over those of hate and tyranny.

Bahá’í Studies Publications [Page 6]

Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd

Susan J. Allen SC $6.95 (TCTC)

Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd Susan J. Allen

A fantasy by a well-known author of several Bahá’í books for young readers and those young at heart. Illustrated with 20 pen and ink drawings, the book achieves a remarkable depth

Bullies, racist plots, kidnapping, detective work—are these two stories really about four teenage Bahá’ís from a small, insignificant American town? The answer is a resounding YES to the exciting adventures of Jeremy, Anna, Rachel, and Antonio as they win out over material and spiritual obstacles to find that not two, not three, but four’s company!

5" x 8", 111 pp. Oneworld

The Quest

by Gail Radley illustrated by Margaret Bremner SC $9.95 (QS)

The Quest A fantasy by a well-known author of several Bahá’í books for young readers and those young at heart. Illustrated with 20 pen and ink drawings, the book achieves a remarkable depth of spirituality unusual for the fantasy genre. Loosely based on the story of the seven valleys from the mystical writings of the Súfi poet ‘Attár, the story follows the spiritual journey of a girl named Lona. Lona, the rainbow follower, meets ruffians and good souls, finds suffering and peace, and ultimately attains her quest as she finds herself "on the threshold of her own heart." (For ages 8-12.)

9-3/4" x 7", 55 pp., Illustrations Unity Arts/Nine Pines Publishing

Foundations for a Spiritual Education

Research of the Bahá’í Writings prepared by the National Education Task Force SC $9.95 (FSE)

Foundations for a Spiritual Education sets forth a selection of extracts from the Bahá’í writings on the nature, purpose, content, and process of spiritual education. It identifies the overarching principles that should guide the educational process and provides an initial framework for carrying them into practice. Its purpose is to help Bahá’í parents, teachers, scholars, and institutions—individually or collectively—study and implement the Bahá’í writings on spiritual education. The book reflects the key research that is the basis of the Core Curriculum Program of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.

6" x 9", 208 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

City of Love

Minarets of the West CD $15.95 (CLCD), CS $10.95 (CLCS)

A collection of original, acoustic folk music inspired by the Bahá’í writings. Blending exquisite harmonies with strings and flute, Minarets of the West offers a musically uplifting, reflective experience. With its exceptional production quality and spiritualizing tone, this album should enjoy a wide audience.

45 minutes Minarets of the West

The Greatness Which Might Be Theirs

Reflections on the Agenda and Platform for Action for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women: Equality, Development and Peace A Compilation SC $6.00 (GWMBT)

A collection of essays presented to the attendees of the recent UN Conference on Women held in Beijing. Some of the papers represented in this compilation include "Religion as an Agent for Promoting the Advancement of Women at All Levels", "Educating Girls", "Primary Health Care and the Empowerment of Women", "Ending Violence Against Women, Protection of Women's Rights" and "Creating Legal and Institutional Structures for Gender Equality". An excellent source of information on a range of issues related to the advancement of women.

5-1/2" x 8-1/2", 88 pp. Bahá’í International Community

Songs for the Phoenix

by Michael Fitzgerald SC $19.95 (SFP)

Michael Fitzgerald’s eighth book of poetry, focussing on the spirit in daily life and the spirit within. It is a celebration of collective life and the ideal mission of the Divine Messenger. Highly charged with spiritual intensity, yet highly readable, these poems by an award-winning poet bring clarity out of complexity, purpose out of chaos. Includes over one hundred and fifty new poems, as well as a selection of previously published poems.

5" x 7-3/4", 224 pp. George Ronald Publishers

Jesus Christ in Sacred Bahá’í Literature

A Compilation SC $7.95 (JCSBL)

The exalted station of Jesus Christ and His place in the ongoing redemptive history of humanity are the focus of this inspirational compilation of Bahá’í writings. Brought together for the first time in one volume, these reverent passages from the pens of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confirm the Sonship and divinity of Jesus Christ, the efficacy of His sacrifice, and the profundity and transforming power of His teachings. Excellent for deepenings and for seekers.

5-1/4" x 7", 113 pp. Oneworld Publications

Journey to Mount Eternity

Cindy Savage SC $7.95 (JME)

Another in a succesful line of books by Cindy Savage for young adults. The principle character, Melissa Davenport, takes an ardous journey to the summit of the remote and majestic Mount Eternity. Her physical voyage, which parallels the spiritual journey Bahá’u’lláh describes in The Seven Valleys, forces her to dig deep into herself for the strength to continue and the will to survive. For young adult readers.

5" x 7-3/4", 174 pp. Oneworld Publications

Huqúqu’lláh: The Right of God

Ramin Khadem and Fred Badiyan VT $30.00 (EHN)

An excellent video introduction to the subject of Huqúqu’lláh. Contains rare historical pictures and includes segments filmed in the Holy Land with the participation of Hands of the Cause of God Dr. ‘Alí-Muammad Vargá and Mr. ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan.

51 minutes Ramin Khadem and Fred Badlyan [Page 7]

BAHÁ’Í DISTRIBUTION SERVICE 1-800-999-9019

Universal House of Justice Member Mr ‘Alí Nakhjavání speaks . . .

For Love of His Beauty by Bahá’í Media Services VT $19.95 (EFLHBN) ENGLISH VT $19.95 (PFLHBN) PERSIAN

In the Spring of 1995 the Universal House of Justice sent its member Mr. ‘Alí Nakhjavání as its representative to the United States, Canada, Europe to inform the believers of the crisis that could affect the progress of the Mount Carmel Projects. Excerpts of the talks given by Mr. Nakhjavání during this historic series of visits include answers to some of the questions fielded after each talk. Available in both English and Persian.

2 hours Bahá’í Media Services

Release the Sun by William Sears SC $9.95 RTS

An exciting, easily read narrative of the mission of the Báb. Travel back to 1844 as, from the pages of The Dawn-Breakers, the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears carries the reader to a quiet room in Shíráz with a stirring account of the declaration of the Báb. Thrill to the heroism of Mullá Husayn as he rides to the aid of Quddús at Fort Shaykh Tabarsí. With its appeal to all age groups, Release the Sun is a must for every Bahá’í library.

5-1/2" x 8-1/2", 536 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

The Bahá’í World, 1993-94 World Centre Publications HC $22.95 (BW94H), SC $11.95 (BW94S)

The latest release of the comprehensive and authoritative annual survey of activities of the Bahá’í International Community. Written with both the general public and a Bahá’í audience in mind, the volume includes three introductory articles, a basic reading list, and a glossary of Bahá’í terms for those who are not familiar with the Bahá’í Faith. Other articles, many liberally illustrated by color and black-and-white photographs, provide a vivid record of Bahá’í undertakings all around the globe. With its presentation of timely information and coverage of issues of topical concern, The Bahá’í World, 1993-94 is a valuable asset in proclamation activities and an excellent resource for libraries, media organizations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic researchers.

6"x9-1/2", 346 pp. World Centre Publications

The Most Holy Tablet by Bahá’u’lláh SC $13.95 (MHTS), HC $ 19.95 (MHTH)

An illustrated edition of Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet to the Christians in which Bahá’u’lláh reveals parallels between His own life and that of Jesus, claiming to be Christ returned in the glory of the Father. The text is complemented by Mark Sadan’s specially commissioned photographs of scenes associated with Bahá’u’lláh’s exile in ‘Akká and Bahjí. A splendid gift and an attractive companion to the Nightingale edition of the Tablet of Carmel. Includes a brief introduction to the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

6-1/2" x 7-1/2", 72 pp., Introduction, ‎bibllography bibliography‎ Nightingale Books

The Universe Within An Exploration of the Human Spirit Anjam Khursheed SC $11.95 (UW)

Over the past few centuries, science has added immensely to our knowledge of the physical universe, but where in a world dominated by scientific facts is there a place for human values and purposes, for justice and compassion? Dr. Khursheed addresses these vital questions, examining the psychology of the modern mind and explaining how the fragmentations of modern life are related to a loss of spiritual vision. Taking readers on a journey to inner space, with its landscape of thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, the book makes a case for giving the spiritual dimension of human nature more centrality in our lives and points the way to a more coherent, integrated human self-image.

6"x9", 192 pp., Index Oneworld Publications

The Prosperity of Humankind Office of Public Information PA $7.00/10 PK. (PH10) PA $30.00/50 PK. (PH50)

A statement released by the Office of Public Information at the request of the Universal House of Justice, The Prosperity of Humankind discusses the concept of global prosperity in the context of the Bahá’í teachings. The Universal House of Justice hopes that this statement will “foster understanding of this important topic among members of your communities and thus vitalize their contribution to the constructive social processes at work throughout the planet.”

5-1/2"x8-1/2", 32 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

Louis G. Gregory Champion of Racial Harmony National Teaching Committee PA $4.00/10 PK. (LG10) PA $32.00/100 PK. (LG100)

A teaching pamphlet produced by the National Teaching Committee about the life of Hand of the Cause of God Louis Gregory. This biographical sketch illustrates the path that led the son of former slaves to become a leading exponent of racial harmony “who was destined to greatly influence race relations in America.” An excellent introduction to the Faith.

3-3/4"x9", 16 pp. Bahá’í Publishing Trust

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Bahá’í Distribution Service • 5397 Wilbanks Dr., Hixson, TN 37343 • 1-800-999-9019 • Fax: 1-615-843-0836 • Internet: [Page 8]from the pages of Brilliant Star.

AMERICA’S AMAZING DESTINY

Can you help the American continent achieve its destiny? Travel around this map of the American continent as you search for the right path.

Find the paths that tell of our glorious future. Be careful — avoid the dead ends that keep us from solving our problems. How can you turn these challenges into success?

Start at the Standard — New York City, the City of the Covenant. Finish your trip at the star — the Bahá’í House of Worship near Chicago.

(Map text:)

• Choose to Fail / Choose to Succeed
• Give Up / Learn Steadfastness
• Hate Other People and Countries / End Prejudice
• Become Immersed in the Sea of Materialism / Learn Detachment
• Bring Together the East and the West
• Raise the Banner of World Peace
• Lead all Nations Spiritually
• City of Lawlessness / Learn Obedience
• Corruption Mountains / Pray for Assistance
• Start a Fight / Learn to Love Humanity
• End Racial Prejudice
• Abolish Warfare
• Break Laws / Learn Obedience
• Start (at New York City)
• Finish (at Chicago)

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, admires the Bahá’ís for, “their willingness to sacrifice in order to meet any challenges that confront them . . . leading them toward the fulfillment of their destiny.” Unfolding Destiny, p. 353

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

Purchase Single Issues, Back Issues, Special Editions and Bulk Orders from Bahá’í Distribution Service: Five or more copies of any one issue cost $2.00 ea. One to four copies cost $3.00 ea. 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. Issues Available: Patterns of Hope JA 95 The Door to the Future MJ 95 The First Prejudice-Free Generation MA 95 Press On to Meet the Dawn JF 95 In the Darkest Hour ND 94 Putting the Vision into Action! SO 94 Starship: Life of the Báb JA 94 Courage MA 94 Families JF 94 My Part of the Plan ‎ND 9 ND 93‎ Being Leaders SO 93 Life’s Journey: Purpose of Life MJ 93 From Racism to Unity MA 93 The Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ND 92 The 1992 World Congress SO 92 Bahá’u’lláh Special Edition 1991 The Covenant Special Edition 1992 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas Special Edition 1993 From Gnats to Eagles Special Edition 1994 One Destiny Special Edition 1995

Reprinted from Brilliant Star, Special Edition 1995 [Page 9]

Dedicated teams work to preserve House of Worship

Pictured are members of the Temple Conservation Team who worked this summer to preserve the House of Worship in Wilmette. Front row (left to right) Robert Armbruster, director of restoration; Russell Maxey, Debbie Gerick, Ailsa Hedley. Second row (left to right) John Richardson, Joe Senchuk, Matthew Talpt, Steven Thomson, Erik Anderson. Third row (left to right) Clifford Marshman, Kelsey Taylor, Sarah Armbruster, Shaughnessy Johnson. Rear: Chris Stanwood. Not pictured: Akwanza Manzum.

With the huge task of restoring the holiest House of Worship in the Bahá’í world successfully completed, it would be easy to conclude that we are done for a while. Not so; major projects will always be under way to maintain and preserve this monumental building.

Reinforcing the Auditorium floor

The Temple Conservation Team has entered the final stages of a three-year-long structural reinforcement project costing $480,000.

The dome in Foundation Hall, which supports the upstairs Auditorium, was a highly unusual and innovative structure when completed in 1922. Designed by the finest engineers, it was built according to the highest codes and standards of the time.

The knowledge of structural engineering has grown during the decades since then, however, and practices have been refined. During the Temple’s reconstruction, while designing for the added construction loads, it was found that the Foundation Hall dome and other beams in the 1922 floor structure contained what are recognized today to be weaknesses under certain conditions.

This may perhaps sound like a small thing, but it is not; in the event of an emergency evacuation, it is possible that a large group of visitors could place too great a load on the floor, causing a real risk of structural failure.

To reinforce the 35,000-square-foot floor area, the restoration director, engineer and contractor developed a system of specially made steel supports that could be fitted around the complicated geometry of the circular structure and interwoven between existing piping and heating ducts.

The steel restraints have now been installed and will next be fireproofed.

The elevator

The long-awaited elevator project is also nearing completion. This important addition will make the upstairs Auditorium accessible to the physically disabled.

Of course, it isn’t as simple as ordering an elevator and installing it. The space reserved for the elevator in the Temple’s original construction could only accommodate an elevator the size of a telephone booth. But careful exploration and creative design showed that, with extra work and planning, a larger elevator could be built to provide enough room for an attendant and two passengers in wheel chairs or one on a gurney.

Creating the empty elevator shaft was a major construction project in itself. Within the cavity formed by the exterior walls of a first story pylon, special recesses had to be chiseled out of the concrete. Three new beams and two new columns were required to remove a section of an existing beam.

To clear the space within the new vertical shaft, existing building services had to be relocated: a large heating duct, two major electrical power cables, steam and water pipes, fire sprinkler mains, telephone and security cables.

A four-foot-deep pit with new foundations was constructed out of necessity at the bottom of the shaft.

To use every precious inch of space, a custom-made elevator car and hydraulic lifting system were designed. The hydraulic cylinder extends 26 feet into the ground below the Temple.

While drilling the 16-inch diameter hole for the cylinders, boulders were encountered, and a minor cave-in of small gravel deep below the surface required the additional expenses of a steel lining and pressure-injected cement grout.

At this time, the structural components of the elevator car and its operating system are in place. The car’s interior is now being finished with materials similar to those in the main worship space of the Temple.

The elevator should begin serving our disabled worshipers before the end of this year.

Bring on the youth!

A team of 11 dedicated and remarkably skilled young people recently left the House of Worship to return to school. But what a tremendous amount of work they accomplished during June, July and August!

Most of the youth had served in previous years as summer conservation technicians. By now, four have learned enough about this skilled craft that they passed up highly paid jobs in the professional trades to return and help at the Temple.

To meet its ongoing needs, we will continue to recruit and train capable young people for this demanding yet historically sensitive work.

What can our youth do? Plenty! For example, wearing climbing harnesses and tethered to safety lines, one group inspected all 10,000 openings in the Temple’s exterior concrete dome and repaired the netting that keeps the birds out; they washed the highest windows and checked the 5,000 gaskets that seal the dome’s glass skylight.

Another team was busy laboring in the Temple’s shops to reorganize them from a heavy construction setup to one more suitable for a program of continuous care; they also began casting new ornamental edges for the garden fountains.

In addition, one student of archival management completed a two-summer-long project of examining, cataloging and organizing more than 500 architectural and engineering drawings related to the Temple so that the appropriate drawing may be located and used to provide the most loving, efficient and economical care of this Divine edifice.

Another group of young people, in hard hats and respirators, crawled through hidden cavities above ceilings and vacuumed areas that may never have been cleaned since the Temple was finished; they also filled three dumpsters with debris and materials removed from old storage areas, safely gathered containers that had accumulated over dozens of years with materials designated as hazardous (requiring an unexpected $11,000 cleanup expense), and removed six tons (that’s right—12,000 pounds!) of old metal equipment, fittings, furniture and scrap which was sold for recycling.

How, one might ask, did that much See CLEAN-UP page 20

Left photo: Sarah Armbruster repairs bird netting on the back side of the dome of the House of Worship. Right photo: Russell Maxey (top), Matthew Talpt (center) and Joe Senchuk adjust a water misting manifold used to wash away encrusted calcium sulfate formed on the underside face of the wall just below the Temple’s clerestory level.

House of Worship endowment helps provide funds to meet Temple’s long-term needs

A number of years ago an endowment was created for the House of Worship with a contribution of $70,000 from a group of Bahá’ís who felt passionately about meeting the Temple’s long-term needs.

Over the years, interest on that initial investment has covered more than $200,000 in expenses for redecorating the Visitors’ Center—its new bookstore, its Peace Theatre with a multi-media show, and its new teaching displays.

Interest earnings have once again accumulated, so that now, when a large sum of money is most needed, it is available.

The upholstery on chairs in the main Auditorium has reached the end of its useful life after more than 22 years’ service. Although the National Spiritual Assembly wanted to reupholster the 1,200 chairs as ‎long as ago as long ago as‎ 1992, the $125,000 project had to be listed repeatedly as “unfunded” in the annual budgets in favor of even more urgent priorities.

Enter the endowment once again. Fulfilling its donors’ wishes, interest earned on their contribution will now be used to refinish and reupholster the chairs, bringing renewed beauty to our Silent Teacher.

The original donation remains as a perpetual endowment and will continue to provide for some of the Temple’s needs far into the future. [Page 10]

New York Bahá’ís host ‘Walk for Earth’ participants

Participants in the cross-country Sunbow 5 ‘Walk for the Earth’ were hosted July 8 at the Bahá’í Center in New York City.

Sunbow 5 is a coalition representing people of all colors and spiritual traditions. The walk began in Massachusetts on June 23 and will reach California sometime in February 1996.

Delphine RedShirt, a Lakota who chairs the UN/NGO Committee for the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, arranged the Bahá’í Center stop with New York City Bahá’ís Marie Samuel and Eliane Lacroix-Hopson. Ms. Samuel represents Yachay Wasi and Ms. Lacroix-Hopson the International Romani Union.

Following a meeting at the United Nations, where the progress of the International Decade was discussed, 25 walkers met at 10 a.m. for a breakfast reception at the Bahá’í Center. They were accompanied by Chief William Commando, an 82-year-old elder of the Algonquins, and elders from a variety of indigenous peoples.

Impressed with the serenity of their surroundings, the elders conducted a pipe ceremony. The aroma of burning sage surrounded the elders as they lit their pipes and smoked to the four directions. Drums and chanting heightened the mood.

Ms. Lacroix-Hopson offered the Bahá’í message of a new age of unity that is now stirring people of good will. She spoke of American Indian Bahá’ís who are led to the Faith by the prophecies of their own traditions that point to this great age.

That evening, retired Universal House of Justice member David Ruhe and his wife, Margaret, a teacher and writer who spent some time with indigenous peoples in South America, addressed a standing room-only crowd at the Center.

Dr. Ruhe expressed regret for the troubled history of American Indians and Europeans in this country, and noted the significant contributions of native food and remedies to the Western world. But as a physician, he said, he deplored the Western misuse of tobacco. Indian tobacco, it was noted, contains no nicotine and is used ceremonially.

A great admirer of the League of the Iroquois, Dr. Ruhe spoke of the enlightened principles of their Great Law of Peace, which in the 16th and 17th centuries enshrined the ascendancy of women in Indian nations. He also suggested that this law was made the model for the U.S. Constitution.

The native elders shared poignant stories of their personal struggles that led to their commitment to the walk.

Helene Steinhauer of the New York Spiritual Assembly presented the elders with a gift edition of The Promise of World Peace, and Ms. RedShirt presented the UN book Seeds of a New Partnership, a collection of excerpts from the indigenous peoples’ addresses to the UN at the November 1993 Cry of the Earth Conference.

That conference, where ancient prophecies warning of environmental destruction were shared, was where the Walk for the Earth was conceived.

The Rabbani Trust Announces

The 1995 North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development

Paths to Peace: Global Prosperity through the Advancement of Women, Human Rights, & Moral Development

With an array of internationally known speakers, workshops led by veterans of many social and economic development projects, and guided by the powerful messages of the Universal House of Justice, we will spend four days finding practical ways to walk these pathways to peace.

December 21-24, 1995 • Clarion Plaza Hotel • Orlando, Florida

Honoring

The Rabbani Trust’s Annual Award of Excellence will be presented to these potent visionaries in the field of world-wide development: Mr. Hugh Chance and Mrs. Margaret Chance; Mr. David Hofman and Mrs. Marion Hofman. Their many years at the Bahá’í World Centre provided each of them with a unique perspective on the potential greatness of the human race.

Featuring

Featuring: David S. Ruhe, Margaret K. Ruhe, Counsellors, Eloy Anello, Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt, Ruth E. Pringle, Arturo Serrano, and Alan D. Smith; Jeffrey M. Mondschein, Hugh C. Adamson, Tahereh Ahdieh, Eugene S. Andrews, Steve L. Bosserman, Elizabeth L. Bowen, Kit B. Cosby, Richard T. Czerniejewski, Alberta Deas, Kathryn S. Delpak, A. Jane Faily, Steven Gonzales, Robert P. Harris, John S. Hatcher, Vahid Hedayati, Barbara K.V. Johnson, Linda J. Khadem, Ramin Khadem, Riaz Khadem, Thomas E. Kilpatrick, Kathy Lee, Jack Lenz, Leota M. Lockman, Sovaida Ma’ani, Riaz Mazcuri, Lawrence N. McCullough, Leela C. McCullough, Richard Mellman, Linda Godwin-Nadimi, Deborah Deas-Nesmith, Reginald Newkirk, Joel S. Nizin, Vickie R. Nizin, Charles H. Nolley, Mary S. Power, Mary K. Radpour, Christine Rayner, June Manning Thomas, Mary Walker, Helen T. Wilson, Y. Stephen Yamamoto, outstanding musicians and entertainers, & more. Groups include: Mottahedeh Development Services, Health for Humanity, Bahá’í Huqúqu’lláh Trust, Bahá’í Justice Society, European Bahá’í Business Forum, Peace Education Now, Images International, & more.

Welcoming

The Honorable Federal Deputy Luiz Gushiken, distinguished member of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the legislative body of Brazil. He is a member of the External Affairs Commission of the Chamber. Through his personal efforts, a special two-hour commemoration of the Passing of Bahá’u’lláh was held on May 28, 1992 in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília. As our special guest, Mr. Gushiken accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Leonel Ferreira, will be formally recognized for his efforts on behalf of the Bahá’í Faith. He will also address the conference, as will the world-renowned expert on Human Rights, Dr. Edy Kaufman. Dr. Kaufman, Representative to the conference for the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, is Director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland and member of the Board of Directors of Amnesty International.

“...I wish this important event every success, and am sure it will enhance the ever-growing prestige of our beloved Faith in the eyes of thoughtful people of importance.” — Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

Adult Fee	Before November 20:	$99
After November 20:	$119
Children & Jr. Youth Fee	(3-14 years; 8 am to Noon)
Before November 20:	$35
After November 20:	$45
Youth Fee	(15-20 years; attending adult sessions)
Before November 20:	$59
After November 20:	$79

CALL FOR INFORMATION: 407-740-5415

HOTEL/AIRLINE INFORMATION

Special Bahá’í group discount rates Hotel rooms at the Clarion Plaza Hotel in Orlando: $39 per night (up to 2 persons) or $49 (up to 4 persons).

LIMITED AVAILABILITY CALL PROMPTLY

Hotel Reservations: 1-800-627-8258 or 407-354-1703 Airfare discounts from American Travel Consultants 1-800-393-5050 (outside North America 407-679-6655).

Wilmette Institute begins four-year study program on ‘Global Civilization’

The Wilmette Institute has begun its four-year program of study of the Faith entitled “Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization.”

The program has two parts, a home-study component (October to June) and a one-month residential summer session next July at National-Louis University in Wilmette, Illinois.

Participation in the summer session is an integral part of the program. The first year’s homework and classes focus on the study of Bahá’í theological principles, unity of religion and its developmental process, general knowledge of world religions, emergence of the Faith and the Bayán period, and an introduction to philosophy.

The first group of students has begun the home-study segment. The second group will be admitted into the program in January.

Those who are interested in enrolling may contact the Wilmette Institute’s registrar at 708-733-3492 (fax 708-733-3502; e-mail ).

The Institute is also starting to develop correspondence courses on the Faith for release at a later date.

The Wilmette Institute also plans to organize a one-month, multi-level intensive study of the Persian language to aid in the study of the Writings in Persian. It will be offered at National-Louis University next July once a sufficient number of applicants have indicated their interest.

Those who are interested may contact the Persian/American Affairs Office at the Bahá’í National Center (phone 708-733-3526; fax 708-869-0247; e-mail ). [Page 11]

Newspaper, Feast letters are lifelines

To the Editor:

Here in Shoreham we are, like most Bahá’ís in Vermont, a handful of friends isolated from most other Bahá’ís in the area by mountains and valleys. We are far from the center of social activity, and there is a centripetal inertia, a sense of spinning away from the center, that sometimes daunts even the stoutest spirit.

It can become hard under such conditions even to feel like a Bahá’í. It is not our sense of love that is strained but our feeling of connectedness and sustenance.

Yet every month The American Bahá’í arrives—and every month there is a Feast letter. For us, who have so few resources beyond ourselves, these precious expressions of the National Spiritual Assembly’s love and guidance are a spiritual lifeline.

Our constancy, such as it is, is a reflection of the constancy of our National Assembly. Our aspirations and meditations reflect the guidance of the National Assembly.

No words can adequately express our love for the National Spiritual Assembly or our gratitude to God and to Bahá’u’lláh that such a precious gift was given to us, far-flung and unworthy as we are.

The Administrative Order is the cord to which we cling steadfastly here in the mountains of Vermont. We pray that God will bless and sustain all who serve the National Assembly and its offices. May you who bear the great burden of supporting the center of our community know that your brothers and sisters on the periphery are everlastingly grateful for your dedication and service.

-- The Bahá’ís of Shoreham, Vermont

Learn what seeker needs

To the Editor:

In the interest of more effective teaching, I have begun asking myself what is missing, as recent results seem quite meager, at least here on the homefront.

I have concluded that, at least personally and perhaps for many of us, what has been missing is a real and sustained effort to find out what the other person (contact, seeker, etc.) really feels and believes, and to work from that.

This isn’t easy. It is much easier to tell others what I believe than to find out what they believe. Sometimes the difference in approach is as dramatic as the difference between loving someone and assaulting them.

I am reminded that “love is the most great law” and that if we love people we are going to make an effort to understand and appreciate them as they are.

This is only a thought—addressed as much to myself as to anyone else.

-- Michael Bruwer, Tucson, Arizona

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.

Wedding by phone is the next best thing

To the Editor:

As Bahá’í parents, we recently found ourselves in a situation in which many others may find themselves. We discovered a satisfying solution and would like to share it with others. Our daughter, Kate, has been working for the past 20 months in the gardens at the World Center. Instead of returning home at the end of her term of service, she stayed to get married.

As we were unable to attend the wedding in Haifa, we sought other ways to compensate; a week before the event we called a friend who was helping with the wedding plans and asked if a telephone hookup could be arranged.

The day before the wedding we received a call saying things were set up. Ten minutes before the ceremony we called the number for the wedding hall, the phone was placed by the speaker system, volume was adjusted, and we heard the entire ceremony as well as if it were in the next room.

Because we had a telephone amplifier we were able to invite grandparents and Bahá’ís, and so for the cost of the phone call—about $100—a dozen of us “attended” the wedding.

Some advice: check with the phone company for lowest overseas rates; make an audio tape, even if you are going to get a video; and check ahead of time to make sure the sound system is satisfactory.

Being able to attend by phone was the next best thing to being at our daughter’s wedding. We highly recommend this use of technology for family events. It may sound expensive, but it’s a lot less so than a plane ticket!

-- Lethia and Dave Draves, Decatur, Illinois

We need to teach about the Herald

To the Editor:

Sometimes in our teaching our longing to communicate the love we feel for Bahá’u’lláh can lead us to neglect the other Central Figures of the Faith.

The Báb, for example, is not called “the Gate” for nothing.

It was through Him that I became a Bahá’í in 1967. My love for Him led me to believe in Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Bahá’ís should not minimize how the Báb is truly a gate to the other Central Figures. We need to teach His message of heralding “Him Whom God shall manifest.”

Were it not for the Báb’s sacrifice and preparation, the work of Bahá’u’lláh and the Master would have been far more difficult.

-- Ken Magnuson, Tipp City, Ohio

Give portion of fund-raiser proceeds

To the Editor:

During consultation at the Feast of Kamál, the plight of the National Fund was discussed. So much has been sacrificed for the Arc Project over the past few years that the National Fund has suffered, while the National Center and Treasurer’s Office have done a marvelous job of maintaining an acceptable level of service to the community.

A recommendation from our community to all local Assemblies is to commit to the National Fund a percentage of all proceeds from fund-raising events for the rest of this year (and beyond if necessary).

Of course, we must honor pledges made to the Arc and continue to contribute an additional $10 million each year for the rest of this century; but we must also save the National Center and its agencies from possible extinction.

With teaching projects focusing on entry by troops springing up in all areas of the country, now is not the time for the National Center to be unable to respond to our needs owing to financial constraints. Let’s not let our fiscal well dry up.

-- Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of College Station, Texas

Earmark each month

To the editor:

Observations by this community treasurer reveal that most people do not earmark funds for the Arc or the National Fund until the national treasurer makes a strong plea to the community based on the needs of the Fund involved.

A suggestion for those who contribute to one, some or all of the Bahá’í Funds:

Rather than making a large contribution once (or twice) a year, thus creating something of a financial bind for yourself, why not earmark whatever amount you feel comfortable with and contribute that amount each month?

For every $10 you send each Bahá’í month, $190 will be available at year’s end for your tax return.

That way, the Fund to which you contribute will receive a steady flow of money all year long, while you won’t be putting yourself in a hole as in your former method of giving.

Treasurers around the country and around the world will gladly work with you in setting up such a system.

-- Bob Springer, El Paso, Texas

People will read poetry about Faith

To the Editor:

Poets: put your Bahá’í message into poetry form.

I’m finding that people stop to read and consider a poem and its meaning—not so quick to brush it off these days. Poems may be read over and over, and many people are buying them.

Some of my poems have been published in anthologies for use in schools and libraries—this is bringing invitations to send them to poetry forums, etc.

Lately, poetry has been given much notice by the public and is an ideal way to reach the “thinking people.”

-- Natalie Norris-Fiske, Show Low, Arizona [Page 12]

EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS . . .

Joy Carmel Turpin, a 17-year-old Bahá’í from Fairview, North Carolina, was crowned “Miss Deaf North Carolina” 1995 at the state pageant in Hickory. Her opening statement to judges concerned her desire for greater unity among the people of the world regardless of race, religion, gender or handicap. Miss Turpin, an honor graduate of Reynolds High School who will enter Salem College as a pre-med student this fall, will compete for the “Miss Deaf America” title next August in Portland, Oregon.

Simonetta A. Rodriguez, a 43-year-old Bahá’í who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has begun her tenure as a National Science Foundation Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), undertaking a three-year program of study leading to a Ph.D in civil and environmental engineering. Before coming to Cambridge, Ms. Rodriguez attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she pursued a MS degree in human/environmental relations and was awarded two fellowships: the State University of New York Fellowship (1993) and the Cornell University College of Human Ecology Flemmie Kittrell Graduate Fellowship (1994).

Sydnee Schultz, a 15-year-old Bahá’í from Great Falls, Montana, was named Miss Cascade County 1995 in a preliminary contest for the Miss Montana-Miss America pageant. Judges were impressed by her dancing, but even more so by her interview in which she was asked to give “one interesting fact” about her family and replied that they are Bahá’ís, enumerating some of the principles of the Faith when asked by a judge for more specific information about it.

Elizabeth Zenker, a Bahá’í from El Paso, Texas, who recently completed her sophomore year in high school, has been chosen to attend the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science beginning this fall. The Academy, created by the Texas State Legislature in 1987, is an early college admissions program at the University of North Texas that gives up to 200 gifted students each year a chance to complete their first two years of college while earning a high school diploma.

Scott Wilson, a young Bahá’í from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was recently honored as Student of the week at Glenwood Springs High School for his outstanding traits of scholarship and service. He placed first in DECA competition in his junior and senior years for his business expertise and worked with the Impact Club in researching and mapping the Divide Creek area to preserve it. Scott coaches Little League baseball and is a pitcher and outfielder on the GSHS team.

“Aggiornamento,” a poem by Carol Anne Russell, a Bahá’í from Shelby, Montana, will be published in A Sea of Treasures, an anthology of poetry to be published in the winter of 1995-96.

Tala Rezai, a 14-year-old Bahá’í from Oak Park, California, delivered the opening speech this spring at her eighth grade graduation ceremony. She was graduated with honors and received a special award as a member of the California Junior Scholarship Federation.

Busisiwe Drake, a young Bahá’í from Brentwood, Wisconsin, is one of 384 students in the state chosen to take part in Science World ’95, a summer enrichment program sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Honey Moser, a young Bahá’í from Hamburg, Wisconsin, was one of two students in her high school chosen to attend this year’s Teacher World Program at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. The program gives students entering their junior year with experiences and information about careers in education.

Kristin Leina’ala McCarter-Veeck, a sixth-grade honor roll student at Boulder Creek, California, Elementary School, received a Presidential Award this year and a special recognition pin for excellence in math.

Kisleu Ahmad Morales, a 16-year-old Bahá’í from Ithaca, New York, has received a number of awards during his school years, the most recent of which include membership in the National Honor Society and a certificate for outstanding achievements in gymnastics. He has also been recognized for scholastic achievement, mathematics and mediation skills by Ithaca High School, Keuka College, and the Ithaca Peace Makers.

Also receiving a number of recent honors was Keyvan Peymani, a Bahá’í who is a senior at North High School in Columbus, Indiana. Keyvan won a $1,500 scholarship in the annual Robert and Betty Brown Vocal and Instrumental Competition, was honored for excellence in written English (one of 12 winners in Indiana) by the National Council of Teachers of English, and was one of 21 Indiana high school students to take part in the American Regions Math League competition at the University of Iowa.

Don Camp, Bahá’í from Philadelphia, wins fellowships from Guggenheim, Pew, NEA

Don Camp, a Bahá’í from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who is a professional photographer/educator, has won the “triple crown” of fellowships this year, those offered by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

These are the latest in a series of honors bestowed on Mr Camp for his photographic works, the most recent of which is “Dust Shaped Hearts,” depicting the complexity and humanity of African-American men through a series of full-face closeup shots.

The exhibit is Mr. Camp’s tribute to the late Bahá’í poet Robert Hayden, among whose best-known works was the anthology Heart Shapes in the Dust.

In 1991 and 1993 Mr. Camp, who is secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of Philadelphia and a professor at Slippery Rock University, was a Pennsylvania Visual Artist Fellow, and in 1994 was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and represented the Pew Charitable Trust as visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome, Italy.

He is founder and past chairman of the Multi-Cultural Caucus of the Society for Photographic Educators and a member of the City of Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Advisory Council for Art in City Hall.

Mr. Camp’s photographs have been exhibited at Swarthmore College, Temple University, the Washington (D.C.) Center for Photography, Philadelphia’s Sandee Webster Gallery and Tyler School of Art, the National Museum of American Jewish History, New York City’s Alternative Museum, The Atlanta Gallery of Photography, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, among other places.

Mr. Camp, a Bahá’í since 1968, began his professional career in 1978 as a staff photographer at the Philadelphia Evening & Sunday Bulletin.

Institute for Bahá’í studies issues call for papers for January ’96 conference

The Institute for Bahá’í Studies has issued a call for papers for its conference on “The New World Order in Bahá’í Perspective” to be held January 26-28 at the Bahá’í National Center in Wilmette, Illinois.

The conference will examine the idea of a new World Order from a scholarly perspective, addressing the following issues:

1. What sort of new World Order do the Bahá’í scriptures envision?

2. What are its elements—such as equality of the races and sexes, strong families, environmental preservation, social and economic development, widespread prosperity, universal education, establishment of justice and the rule of law, human rights, collective security, and new forms of diplomacy—and how can they be attained, either collectively or individually?

3. What is the history of the term “new World Order”? What are the concepts of world order outside of the Faith, and how are they similar to or different from the concepts in Bahá’í scripture?

4. What are the successes and failures of the United Nations; how can the present UN be improved?

5. What is the nature of opposition to the new World Order, and how can it be countered?

Presentations on these or other related topics are welcome. To offer a presentation, send a 500-word abstract (one single-spaced or two double-spaced pages) to Mrs. Lynne Yancy, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3425; fax 708-733-3563; e-mail

Registration: send a check for $60 (includes $30 for all meals) payable to Bahá’í Services Fund to Mrs. Yancy at the above address.

Hotel reservations: $65/night single or double occupancy at the North Shore Hilton, 9599 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, IL (phone 708-679-7000). Reserve rooms by January 12 to receive the conference rate.

95 including 40 non-Bahá’ís attend Ridván celebration in Leominster, Massachusetts

Ninety-five people including 40 who were not Bahá’ís attended a celebration April 21 of the first Day of Ridván in Leominster, Massachusetts.

The social event, sponsored by the Bahá’í Groups of north-central Massachusetts, included a dance presentation by the Boston Bahá’í Youth Workshop and a brief talk explaining the significance of Ridván.

One of the dance numbers, performed by two recent graduates of the Maxwell Bahá’í School in British Columbia, Canada, depicted the ancient Persian story of Majnún and Laylí, which is recounted by Bahá’u’lláh in The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys.

Another dance symbolized the breaking of racial barriers, while yet another illustrated the struggle to achieve equality for women and men.

Many Bahá’í brochures were taken by the guests. [Page 13]

TEACHING

The mobile Bahá’í Information Center stands ready to aid teaching efforts in the Southeast and elsewhere.

‘Teaching bus’ hits the road

By TOM MENNILLO

It serves as a traveling storefront, fireside on wheels, and silent teacher.

But the new mobile Bahá’í Information Center sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Hamilton County, Tennessee, is far from idle.

The converted airport shuttle bus hit the road this spring. First on the itinerary was a trip to the 86th Bahá’í National Convention at the request of Counselor Wilma Ellis.

The National Spiritual Assembly gave permission for the bus to be parked at the House of Worship, and Convention delegates toured it on breaks from their consultation.

Since then the Bahá’í Information Center has supported teaching efforts all over Tennessee and is being offered for use by local Spiritual Assemblies across the Southeast.

Wherever the bus goes it elicits a positive response and many questions about the Faith. Much of the credit for that stems from its tasteful design and appointments.

The bus is painted teal with a colorful logo and lettering that proclaims the three onenesses. A carpeted interior boasts a photo collage of unity in diversity, a combination TV/VCR to show Bahá’í videos, a reference library, a flip book of answers to frequently asked questions, and a comfortable fireside area complete with ice chest.

One would never know it took five years to reach this point.

The project was an outgrowth of excitement about teaching generated at the 1990 Tennessee Bahá’í Institute. After the summer school, Auxiliary Board member Mary K. Radpour gathered members of the East Tennessee and Kentucky District Teaching Committees and other interested Bahá’ís to consult on ways to teach in places where there is no local Spiritual Assembly or Bahá’í Center.

The first concept was of a tractor trailer or converted bus that could store a portable stage and equipment for performers. While the friends started beating the bushes for such a vehicle, mobile displays were produced on topics such as race unity. Graphic artist J. Steven Wyandt of Johnson City, Tennessee, designed them and Mrs. Radpour and others wrote the copy.

But Mrs. Radpour kept the bigger vision in mind. Finally, the present vehicle, a 1985 model van, was found and a Bahá’í from Tennessee raised the money to purchase it.

Shepherded by the Spiritual Assembly of Hamilton County, the bus was given a new engine and transformed into a machine.

Architect Kaihan Strain of Chattanooga, Tennessee, designed the internal flow; Debbie Bley of Hamilton County, Mr. Wyandt, Mrs. Radpour and Lois Osborne of Bradley County, Tennessee, consulted on displays; Mr. Wyandt designed the displays, built them with his father, a non-Bahá’í, and designed and executed the exterior motif.

Now the bus can be seen almost any weekend and some weekdays tooling the highways and byways of the Southeast.

In June and July it was used in conjunction with a 10-day teaching trip to the Chattanooga, Morristown and Nashville areas by nearly 20 Army of Light youth. The teachers and bus traveled to neighborhood recreation centers, gathering places, tourist spots and a Fourth of July celebration.

Often at these stops, the youth set up displays and a literature table and performed a unity dance.

They also traversed several neighborhoods, with the youth knocking on doors while the bus cruised the streets. Many of the residents the youth encountered had already seen the bus and were curious about the Faith; some even agreed to come aboard and view the displays.

In follow-up visits to people in those neighborhoods who showed interest, they have been given additional literature and invited to nearby firesides.

But use of the bus thus far has only scratched the surface of possibilities. Mrs. Radpour is inviting all local Spiritual Assemblies in the Southeast to use the bus as part of their teaching efforts. And there’s been interest expressed from states as far away as Texas and Oregon.

Plans are in the works for a grand circuit next summer in which communities in the area will pay their share of expenses while they use the bus. (Those costs include per diem and mileage fees, plus replenishment of any materials used.) South Carolina Bahá’ís excited about the prospects note that it would be like having storefronts in four cities at once—and a whole lot cheaper.

“We haven’t seen a Bahá’í yet who hasn’t loved it,” says Ms. Osborne, who coordinates use of the bus and trains Bahá’ís to drive it in their locality.

She says the friends are surprised at how easy it is to drive the bus, once they’re accustomed to its size and bigger blind spots. But getting Bahá’ís to volunteer for that service is a logistical stumbling block. She hopes in the future a full-time driver—ideally a traveling teacher or Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteer—will staff the bus wherever it goes.

Ms. Osborne’s wish list for the bus also includes a compact disc player, a public address system, handout materials for children, and possibly a portable stage that can be erected outside for performances.

For now, though, the Bahá’í Information Center is rolling merrily along. Maybe your neighborhood is next. For more information, contact Lois Osborne at Cleveland, TN 37311 (phone 423-476-6248).

Attractive displays await visitors to the bus. (Photo by Tom Mennillo)

Uses for vehicle are limited only by imagination

The following types of uses are suggested for the mobile Bahá’í Information Center:

• Proclamation

Traveling from place to place and parked on the streets, at malls, at festivals and at other locations of high visibility and traffic, the outside of the bus is a silent teacher. Live teachers can invite people inside, where the exhibits will take them another step or two forward in their knowledge of the Faith. The teachers can answer questions and initiate further discussion. Youth Workshops, theater groups and musicians can be used as further attractions in drawing people into the displays. With its storage place for literature, the bus can serve as a base for street and door-to-door teaching. Public meetings, concerts, and other events can be publicized through its use.

• Firesides

A small fireside corner in the rear of the bus can be used for intimate firesides. Videos can easily be seen from this area. Refreshments can be stored in the ice chest under the rear corner table. Stools and/or lawn chairs can be set up outside the bus for larger firesides.

• Deepening/consolidation

In rural areas or in neighborhoods without a Bahá’í Center, the bus can be advertised (like a library bookmobile) as visiting a certain site at a certain date and time. That way, we can re-visit seekers and new believers.

• Classes for children and youth

Children can look forward to a visit from the Bahá’í Information Center with more enthusiasm than the ice cream man! Youth can look forward to getting together with the youth traveling with the bus and to furthering their spiritual education. Aspects of the Core Curriculum might be introduced through a bus visit.

• Spiritual Assembly meetings/annual meetings/Holy Days

In a remote area, you might use a visit by the bus as a time to hold a Bahá’í meeting or Holy Day commemoration.

• Interracial/multicultural experiences

Use a visit by the Bahá’í Information Center to spark interest in race unity and multicultural activities.

• Social/economic development

Introduce or follow up on projects through use of the bus.

Lois Osborne, who coordinates use of the bus and training of drivers, also suggests these planning steps to Bahá’í communities arranging to use the bus:

1. Identify potential sites. 2. Target audiences. 3. Determine expenses. 4. Appoint a teaching project coordinator. 5. Locate and train drivers. 6. Line up teaching teams. 7. Line up musicians, dramatists, Youth Workshops and/or other specialists. 8. Purchase teaching materials. 9. Plan follow-up activities. 10. Use guidelines for setting up the bus. 11. Internalize “good teaching” guidelines. 12. Make van reservation. [Page 14]

Peace

Continued from page 1

He also pointed to Gov. David M. Beasley’s proclamation of September 11-17 as South Carolina Peace Week.

The governor went beyond the draft language submitted by the Institute to insert a sentence encouraging “all South Carolinians to recognize the diversity of our citizenry and to support efforts to bring greater peace to our state and nation.”

But recognizing the need for unity and knowing how to get there are two different things, Mr. Bullock pointed out. That provides an opening for the Institute to inject Bahá’í principles into the discourse.

An example is the “Dialogue on Race Relations: Is There a Powder Keg in Our Community?” program held at Coastal Carolina University on Saturday of Peace Fest weekend.

The forum, co-sponsored by the university and Radio Bahá’í, benefited from the participation of Richard Thomas, a Bahá’í from Michigan who is a professor in the Department of History and Urban Affairs at Michigan State University and a consultant in race relations.

Another example is the essay contest conducted the past two years in conjunction with Peace Fest.

In its first year, the contest elicited about 10 entries from school children in WLGI’s listening area.

This year a second sponsor was brought in: black-owned WLMC-AM in nearby Georgetown. The contest, on the theme of “Race Unity: What It Means to Me,” drew 70 essays from students at 17 elementary, middle and high schools.

The children and youth wrote poignantly of their wishes for a world that was “blind so no one would judge people by their color” and one in which a multicultural child “wouldn’t have to worry about people calling me names and having to explain what color I am.”

The Institute hopes to bring the essay contestants together in the coming months to talk about positive things they can do to bring about race unity.

Then there’s the teaching work itself. At the beginning of the initiative, specific goals for growth and consolidation were set for 14 communities.

Teachers from the state and elsewhere have ventured tirelessly into the communities to engage the hearts and minds of people and invite them to embrace their Lord.

Included in the teaching force have been Army of Light youth from Atlanta and other areas, plus Bahá’ís attracted by a Bahá’í Newsreel depicting the work of the Institute.

Their efforts have been supported by Sunday worship services, Holy Day observances, deepenings, and participation by the Institute’s Bahá’í Gospel Choir and Bahá’í Youth Workshop in the area’s religious life.

In the targeted communities, the goal of sustained growth and maturity has been supported by events such as the Bahá’í Unity Revival in Lake City at the end of September.

Bolstered by the resources of the Institute, the local Spiritual Assembly of Lake City played an indispensable role in the program and follow-up, thus strengthening its functioning.

The largest event of the year and catalyst for the teaching effort remains, of course, Peace Fest.

A large step was taken last year when Peace Fest was contained on campus for the first time in many years, refocusing community attention on the Institute.

Another was to proactively tie Peace Fest to teaching. Bahá’ís in the area were encouraged to bring seekers to this powerful demonstration of the Faith’s transforming power and, while there, actively teach them and invite them to the banquet table.

“We have a strong obligation to let people know that the Faith is there for them,” said Mr. Bullock. “Hopelessness is so strong, but whatever their problems are...the key to healing is within the Bahá’í community.”

That invitation was stated in ringing terms by Dr. Thomas in his keynote address at the Sunday worship service.

He presented in detail how only Bahá’u’lláh in the 19th century spoke of organic unity and how the American Bahá’í community alone has translated that vision into action.

And he made it clear that our action stems not from our personal qualities but from our belief that Bahá’u’lláh is God’s Messenger for this day.

“What we do doesn’t come from us,” he said.

This year’s Ambassadors of Peace award winners also acknowledged their debt to the spiritually regenerative powers of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.

Jerome H. Hanley, director of the Division of Children, Adolescents and Their Families in the South Carolina Department of Health, told the audience he quotes from The Vision of Race Unity wherever he speaks.

He also paid tribute to the Bahá’ís and Quakers as the only two groups of people, in his opinion, who state a vision for peace, then stand by it.

The other winner, Dolores Van Rensalier Macey, director for the Cultural Action Program of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health Administration, said her work in bringing people to cultural competence through diversity training has been the most challenging of her career.

But Dr. Macey said that every time she becomes frustrated by the slow pace of progress, “I come here [to the Institute] and get rejuvenated, get hope again, and get my gumption going again.”

She said the Bahá’ís “are doing something that’s unheard of in South Carolina,” she said, “and if they can do it, I can do it.”

(Top photo) The Peace Fest Jazz Orchestra wows them under the big tent. (Above) The Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Gospel Choir gets the Gospel Jubilee off to a rousing start. (Right) Fellowship is the key at Peace Fest. (Photos by Tom Mennillo)

A large part of the Peace Fest experience is gained through the arts. It’s an experience that goes beyond listening to feeling and was enhanced this year by unprecedented opportunities for Bahá’í performers to interact with the general public.

The Peace Fest Jazz Orchestra, always a highlight of the event, conducted clinics in three area schools during the days leading up to the weekend.

For the first time, Hemingway High School was among the venues; in fact, it was the first time the Bahá’ís had been invited into the school for any reason. At the end of the clinic the orchestra members were told that the school band would love to perform at Peace Fest next year.

The Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Gospel Choir also conducted a workshop. Choir director Eric Dozier taught the singers several pieces with words from the Writings. That night a new choir—the Bahá’í Mass Choir—was born.

The National Bahá’í Gospel Choir, under the direction of Van Gilmer, got Peace Fest off to a rousing start at Friday night’s Ambassadors of Peace awards reception. And it got even better from there, with the choir performing at Saturday night’s Gospel Jubilee and at the Sunday morning service.

The nine-piece Jazz Orchestra, coordinated by Roger Hogan, also performed Friday night and followed with two energetic sets on Saturday afternoon.

They were joined on the Saturday program by such diverse acts as the 14 Karat Gold step dancers; the spiritually charged Heart’s Desire singing group; a barbershop quartet; and rappers Krushal Impact.

Attendees also were treated to some down home southern cooking and a variety of vendors selling everything from African clothing to books on the African-American experience.

A brief rain—nothing like last year’s downpour—punctuated the afternoon, then it was time for the Gospel Jubilee featuring the Bahá’í choirs and an array of local gospel talent including Ernest & the Heavenly Ears, Sister Legatha & the Gospel Spiritualettes, and Brother Charlie Benford.

The spirit was in the house for sure. And it was sure to go back home with everyone who had the bounty to be at the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute for Peace Fest ’95. [Page 15]TEACHING

WLGI: new home, new possibilities

By TOM MENNILLO

WLGI Radio Bahá’í is on the move, and not just into new facilities. A new era of programming is dawning as well.

For 11 years, the FM (90.9) voice of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute has broadcast from a rapidly deteriorating trailer on the Hemingway, South Carolina, campus.

For much of that time, an adjacent building housed its administrative offices.

Now the two pieces are coming together. A ranch-style brick home across the street on Institute property is being renovated to give the station 33 percent more space plus exciting new capabilities.

The 2,000-square-foot facility will include a reception area, studio, production area, offices, and an ever-expanding music library.

(A volunteer is being sought to categorize the collection by title, artist, topic, genre, etc., so the appropriate music can be retrieved instantly for use on the air.)

In addition, the carport will be transformed into a 500-square-foot performance studio in which Bahá’í performances and programs can be recorded. The studio can also be rented out to local artists.

The latter function will help pay for building and equipping the studio. Some donated equipment is already on hand.

The performance studio should be good news as well for Bahá’í communities across the country that have asked for materials they can use on radio to proclaim the Faith.

Current spots used by WLGI are not compatible because they are not produced in the standard lengths commercial stations require.

So Radio Bahá’í is looking to develop—by January, it is hoped—a Bahá’í magazine-style program with modular segments such as interviews, music and news. Communities can use all or some of the segments and insert their own.

The nascent Radio Bahá’í Programming Center also sees itself as a resource pool. The center will be able to collect, use and redistribute radio programming or scripts that Bahá’ís elsewhere have produced.

And it will be able to offer a playlist of music that dovetails with the Faith’s principles. Bahá’ís can use the playlist in many ways, such as to ensure appropriate music for a youth dance.

Volunteers, no matter where they reside, will be necessary to make these new efforts a reality, according to station General Manager Greg Kintz.

Just staying on the air 111 hours a week keeps the station’s staff of five and about 20 current volunteers hopping.

In fact, screening music is the station’s second-largest user of human resources. Three staffers spend a part of each day—about eight hours in all—listening to albums that come in.

Mr. Kintz estimates about one or two songs per album to be acceptable for use on the air. Perhaps one song every other day really reflects Bahá’í principles.

One new wrinkle is the proliferation of music videos. If a song seems appropriate but its video tells quite a different story, the song can’t be used.

The same is true of songs that are acceptable to a certain degree. Offensive passages cannot be edited out, and even if they could be, the station does not want to encourage its listeners to purchase music that is less than acceptable from a Bahá’í point of view.

Mr. Kintz is looking for Bahá’ís who can write scripts, conduct interviews with other Bahá’ís, record programs, or simply be on the lookout for music.

One example of innovative programming is a daily weather report by Dave Freeman, a Bahá’í who is chief meteorologist at a television station in Wichita, Kansas.

Through a telephone hookup, Mr. Freeman gives WLGI listeners a satellite weather forecast for their area and follows with a quotation from the Writings.

Of course, music by Bahá’ís is always needed. Many non-Bahá’í artists “have the principles down,” said Mr. Kintz, but music that uses the Writings “transforms the time that song is on.”

Music Director Dan McCoy attempts to network Bahá’í performers with songwriters and studios to increase the production of music by Bahá’ís.

Any genre will do, said Mr. Kintz. Even though the majority of air time is targeted to rural African-Americans, a variety of musical styles can be heard on Radio Bahá’í.

This is especially true during the noon to 4 p.m. show. Its diverse adult audience is liable to be served anything from classical to country, rap, R&B and folk.

WLGI also carries programs from educational services. Examples are Family Health, Pulse of the Planet, and Inside Black College Sports.

Through the latter program, Radio Bahá’í broadcast the Heritage Bowl football game featuring local favorite South Carolina State.

When other stations broke for commercials, WLGI played spots about the Faith. The broadcast actually made money for the station because of local sponsorship.

Entertainment is not the station’s reason for existence, though. The Universal House of Justice clearly states that the primary purposes of Bahá’í radio are consolidation, teaching support, and social and economic development.

The new station facilities will help Radio Bahá’í further fulfill that mandate. Also instrumental has been a shift in thinking about “who we’re talking to on air,” said Mr. Kintz.

While some deepening has been done on WLGI, much programming has been geared toward proclamation.

But if the primary purpose is consolidation, it’s a Bahá’í audience the station needs to serve, and that audience has thousands on its rolls in South Carolina. WLGI and The American Bahá’í are lifelines for the many rural, isolated believers, said Mr. Kintz.

That change in focus also is bound to change how non-Bahá’ís see the Faith, from a young religion seeking its first wave of converts to a mature community able to meet their needs.

“We’re past the first wave in South Carolina,” Mr. Kintz noted.

Now the programming will reflect that. A deepening program based on So Great An Honor is being adapted by station Development Director Steve Koslow, who has conducted interactive radio programming in other countries.

Meanwhile, construction of the new facility goes on, with a target completion date of November 1.

Mohammad Benjamin, a Bahá’í from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who built Radio Bahá’í in Liberia, is serving as general contractor.

The project has been slowed by the kinds of unexpected problems that crop up in renovation work. The bathrooms must be made handicap-accessible, and it’s been found that the plumbing, wiring and windows will have to be replaced.

But as moving day nears, the excitement grows. For all of us.

(Top photo) It doesn’t look like much now, but these two rooms soon will house WLGI’s studio and production area. (Left) Time and weather have ravaged the trailer where these functions now are performed. (ABOVE) General Manager Greg Kintz spreads out a renovation blueprint. (Photos by Tom Mennillo)

Response

Continued from page 1

put of the Institution of the Learned as well as statements of vision and interactive group interviews with prospective members. The National Assembly has found this method to be successful in selecting candidates for other national committees and administrative positions.

The goal is to have the Regional Teaching and Administrative Committees appointed and in place by the end of the Three Year Plan. The committees will then be in a good position to help implement the goals of the next Plan. [Page 16]

Bosch gathering plans Media and Arts Association

Panelists who took part in a discussion of musical scoring at the Media and Arts Colloquium included (left to right) Tom Price, Russell Garcia and John Barnes.

“To establish a permanent, international organization bringing together the many creative people and organizations of the field, which will foster excellence in production, distribution and utilization of arts and media in the Bahá’í world community, with the special objectives of teaching the Bahá’í Faith and inspiring humanity.”

With this mission statement in mind a group of more than 80 Bahá’í representing many areas of the arts and media gathered for a Bahá’í Media and Arts Colloquium over the Labor Day weekend at Bosch Bahá’í School to discuss establishing an international Bahá’í Media and Arts Association.

During the formal sessions as well as over meals people got to know each other and were able to exchange ideas, hopes and concerns.

A concurrent session on “The Arts and Teaching” provided favorable opportunities for mingling with other artists. Three evening programs of music, drama and videos provided a demonstration of the extraordinary talents available in the Bahá’í community. A high point was the presentation, by Russ and Gina Garcia, of excerpts of a new opera about Táhirih soon to be completed and staged.

The sessions covered an array of topics including the creative process in the visual motion media, production of video and audio works, media promotion, distribution, and financing. There were also reports given on current productions as well as a review of Bahá’í Arts Organizations.

Several important themes emerged from the discussions.

a) We must look to the Writings for our inspiration, both personal and creative.

b) We need to keep in touch with each other, share our knowledge and expertise.

c) We should not work with Bahá’ís only.

Keeping things too much “in the family” can make us myopic in our vision, insular in our approach. If we are to use our work in teaching we need to develop both relationships and products that will allow us to reach out to the “public.”

Producing videos and CDs for ourselves is fine, but it will not help us reach the millions who need to hear about the Faith.

“ACTION” was one of the key words of the weekend. How do we put our ideas into practice? How do we work together to produce quality products that can help us teach the Faith? How do we make the connections we need to reach the public?

The first step was achieved over the weekend with the formation of the Media and Arts Association. This organization will provide a link between people and groups in the media and arts throughout the world.

A temporary advisory board that includes honorary members and foreign affiliates was appointed. Board members anticipate holding another conference next summer that will further the Association’s formation and development and include an election of more permanent board members.

As the Association develops it will be able to provide an array of services to help the media and arts professions achieve the goals outlined in the mission statement above.

For information on how to take part in the Association please contact Anne Perry, 11267 Almazon St., Dallas, TX 75243, or Fred Badiyan, 20385 Excelsior Blvd., Excelsior, MN 55331.

Young Indiana Bahá’ís ‘mount their steeds’ (actually a van) to help bring Faith to waiting souls in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith, Arkansas, once was a jumping-off point for wagons headed west.

This August 7-11, it was the destination for Bahá’ís from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Indiana determined to open the 50,000-plus goal city to the Faith.

It had been tried before. Every other week for two years, in fact, Bahá’ís from Fayetteville drove two hours through the Ozarks to conduct firesides at the library. Somehow, they just couldn’t connect with the city’s thirsting souls.

But Bahá’í youth will not be denied. The Arkansas Bahá’í Youth Workshop called on the Indiana Dawnbreakers Workshop and its coordinator, Marlene Ebert, who had become a Bahá’í in Arkansas, and together they mounted their steeds.

First, of course, the Indiana youth had to get to Fort Smith. There is a maxim among traveling teachers that the success of teaching is proportional to the adversity in getting there. That was certainly true this trip.

A 15-passenger van was rented with financial help from Indiana Bahá’ís and the Illinois Candles of the Covenant Bahá’í Youth Workshop. A second van also came along.

That second van kept giving hints of a fuel pump going out, but seemed always to correct itself. It stopped correcting itself halfway through Missouri, on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Fortunately, a recitation of the Tablet of Ahmad quickly brought three rescuers. The youth were taken to a mechanic, who was able to fix the van that evening. It was an excellent opportunity to teach some very key helpers of mankind.

Other difficulties along the way could have sent them packing. From flat tires to sitting like sardines for long periods of time and having the bumper of one van almost fall off, it appeared that the tests would be ongoing.

But finally the youth arrived in an even hotter Fort Smith and the combined Workshops went into action.

Every day from 10 to 11 a.m., about 12 to 15 youth went to nursing homes to perform and sing and chat. The residents greatly enjoyed the vitality of the youth, and many were interested in reading the materials offered. Of equal importance, many of the staff—people who have a tremendous capacity for caring—listened attentively to the programs.

The first public performance was given in Creekmore Park. Each performance was different, tailored to the audience. All in all, the list of performance numbers included dances on the equality of men and women, gang violence and race unity, a step dance of the Bahá’í prisoners in the Siyyih-Chal, a dance in tribute to Mona (brought by three Arkansas Workshop members from the Marshall Islands), and a skit on drug use.

The youth learned the successful teaching method used in Houston and put it to good use at malls, in city parks, restaurants, firesides, performances—anywhere they went! They also deepened on prayer and the progress of the soul.

There were many tick and chigger bites, but the teaching bug seemed to have bitten just as often. Results of the project included one declaration, several interested seekers, three different television spots, and newspaper coverage that included two photographs, two articles and a letter to the editor. It seemed that every time the youth were in Creekmore Park there was a television camera crew... See ARKANSAS page 20

Art Matters brings new perspective to teaching Cause

The National Spiritual Assembly recently appointed a new National Arts Task Force to help promote teaching through the Arts. One of the functions of the NATF is to produce a magazine that will “support the use of the arts toward massive expansion, foster integration of the arts into all areas of Bahá’í community life and increase the use of the arts to create fellowship, love and unity. The magazine is directed to all members of the community and will provide information and inspiration for teaching, deepening and community service efforts.”

In the current issue of Art Matters we have an interview with graphic artist Robert Reddy about putting art into practice in teaching, a piece by actor Bill George about theater and the Faith, a deepening article by artist Paula Henderson, and a review of the Landegg Arts Conference by Anne Gordon Perry. We also have artwork, quotations from the writings on the arts, and news about use of the arts in teaching.

Art Matters is happy to consider submissions on any subject pertaining to the mission statement quoted above. Please send materials c/o Art Matters, National Teaching Office, 1233 Central St. Evanston, IL. 60201 [We regret that due to lack of funds and manpower we will be unable to return materials to you. Please be sure to keep your original artwork/photos.]

To subscribe to Art Matters, please phone Subscriber Services at the Bahá’í National Center, 708-733-3453. [Page 17]

You’re never too young for the ‘Army’—just ask Carmen

Do you feel that because you can’t drive a car or stay out late that you’re too young to get fully involved in teaching? Well, you’re not too young!!

Carmen is 10 years old, and she’s already been to a training session for the Army of Light. She spent the Memorial Day weekend at a farm in Illinois with a number of other youth (ages 10-19) learning how to teach the Faith. We talked to her about her experience.

Makin’ Moves: What was the weekend like?

Carmen: It was a lot of fun. We learned a lot of things, did important work, and had fun doing it.

MM: What kinds of things did you do?

Carmen: We studied the Writings. We talked about the Virtues. We did activities. We learned how to go out and teach the Faith. They gave us a folder full of materials that we worked through.

MM: Tell us about some of the activities.

Carmen: One of the things we talked about was feelings. We read a prayer that talked about feelings. Then we made puppets and used them to do a short skit about the feelings in that prayer.

MM: How do you get an Army of Light project going?

Carmen: They taught us how to discuss that with the local Assembly, how to get them working with us.

MM: Where did you stay on the farm?

Carmen: We slept in tents. The first night it was raining and the tents leaked. We got wet, but it was fun.

MM: What are you doing now?

Carmen: We [the youth in her community] are working with the Darien, Illinois, community. They don’t have an Assembly. We had a meeting with the adults to discuss teaching, then we took our ideas to the assembly.

We are helping with Darien Festival. The Darien group asked other communities to help too. It’s a three-day Fest. We have a booth with banners that say, “Unity in Diversity.” We’re giving out pamphlets and balloons. We’re going to make sure that every day we have a mixed group of Bahá’ís: some Persians, some African Americans, some Anglo Americans. There will be a string of firesides after the Fest that people can be directed to if they’re interested.

MM: Do you have any suggestions for our readers?

Carmen: Talk to your parents about what needs to happen. Find out what big festivities are going on, how you can participate. Help other Assemblies or groups. Work with them. Contact magazines about the festivities you’re taking part in. Give out pamphlets and prayerbooks and handouts that explain about the Faith.

MM: That about wraps it up.

Carmen: There’s something else I’d like to say. We did a lot of important work. We learned a lot of things and we had fun doing it.

Money: A New Attitude

“Money, ‎its it’s‎ a gas”—Pink Floyd

Money. It, or lack of it, is all around us. We’re told that money is the root of all evil, that it’s associated with ego and greed. Yet, the pursuit of the almighty dollar (or yen, or mark, or whatever), is at the center of our attention.

We’re bombarded with materialism on TV, in films, on the radio, in magazines. The “old world” sends us this double message: money is bad, money is good.

Originally money was created for utilitarian purposes. It was developed to make business transactions easier. Over time, though, society has managed to associate a person’s value with his material possessions. “He’s worth two million” is what we hear, not “he’s a good, kind person.”

As Bahá’ís we understand that the essence of human value is grounded in spiritual, not material, development and yet we are affected by the attitudes of the world around us. We sometimes swing to the opposite extreme and feel that having money, or making money, is bad.

Money isn’t intrinsically evil, nor is it powerful. It is simply pieces of paper or coin. What we do with it, how we get it and how we use it—that is what is important. So, how do we keep the material and the spiritual in perspective?

One way is to be clear about the real purpose of money. Money is a means to help build the new World Order.

“...our contributions to the Faith are the surest way of lifting once and for all time the burden of hunger and misery from mankind, for it is only through the system of Bahá’u’lláh—Divine in origin—that the world can be gotten on its feet and want, fear, hunger, war, etc., be eliminated.” (From a letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer dated December 8, 1947)

Bahá’u’lláh and the Guardian have told us that there are material actions that have dynamic spiritual effects. One important action is giving to the Fund. Bahá’u’lláh wrote, “...He who is the Eternal Truth—exalted be His glory—hath made the fulfillment of every undertaking on earth dependent on material means.”

So maybe what we need is a new attitude toward the very thing that supports the growth and development of the Faith. Let go of the old world perceptions of money and wealth and the value of people.

Don’t be afraid to make money if that money can help the Faith. Understand that money is a tool which can, and should, be used to achieve a Divine purpose—to change the world.

“Having attained the stage of fulfillment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or professions is commendable and praiseworthy in the estimation of men of wisdom, and especially in the eyes of servants who dedicate themselves to the education of the world and to the edification of its peoples.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 35)

Campaign aims to mobilize campuses

College Club Symposia

Louhelen Bahá’í School, October 20-22, 1995 Green Acre Bahá’í School, November 3-5, 1995 Bosch Bahá’í School, January 5-7, 1996

Personal Information:
Name ____________________________________________________________________
Street Address _____________________________________________________________
City ______________________ State ________ Zip _______________
Phone (______) ___________________________________________
Bahá’í ID Number _________________________ Sex ________
College Affiliation __________________________________________________________
Race/Ethnic Background _____________________________________________________
Special Assistance Required (i.e.-Wheelchair access, walking assistance, Blind Access)

If you are under 18, please have your parent fill out the following:

I, ___________________________________, the parent of _____________________________, a minor, authorize the Bahá’í School 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#: ______________________

Questions: Any questions you may have about the College Club Symposia should be directed to:

National Teaching Office 708/733-3504

Send your registration form to the Bahá’í School hosting the Symposium you choose to attend:

Louhelen Bahá’í School 3208 South State Road Davison, MI 48423-8603

Green Acre Bahá’í School 188 Main Street Eliot, ME 03903-1827

Bosch Bahá’í School 500 Comstock Lane Santa Cruz, CA 95060-9677

A call to the Army of Light teaching teams issued by the National Teaching Committee

During the National Youth Conference in December we will be eager to learn of the hopes, plans and vision of your teaching teams. The next few years will be a time when believers everywhere will be sacrificing time and resources to achieve entry by troops.

The National Teaching Committee has confidence in the ability of youth to make historic contributions to the achievement of this long-awaited victory. Under what banner will you be marching to meet this glorious dawn?

Act now to elevate the quality and intensity of your efforts by “inviting people of every sort and every gift to the banquet table of the Lord of Hosts.” We challenge you to prepare for the “Army of Light II: Excellence in All Things” conference by organizing your group under a banner (or name).

Your collective endeavors should encourage the contribution of youth of all ages, backgrounds and experiences and be aimed at vastly expanding the human resources of the Cause.

This challenge reflects the vision and confidence invested in youth by the Guardian and reaffirmed by the Universal House of Justice:

“The future has always belonged to youth, and now more than ever before, in order to ensure the fulfillment of Bahá’u’lláh’s plans for this planet. ...Now is the time, therefore, to consecrate yourselves and prepare yourselves for the work that lies ahead of you, and of all the young Bahá’ís the world over. You must study both the teaching and the Administration, in order to be ready and qualified—qualified with both knowledge and shining personal characters. ...” (Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Divine Guidance, Vol. 2, p. 106)

Youth is a special time when plans are made for future service in both of these areas. “The transformation which is to occur in the functioning of society,” the Universal House of Justice noted, “will certainly depend to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit.”

The Supreme Body indicated that preparation for youth includes studying the teachings, spiritualizing their lives and forming their characters in accordance with the standards of Bahá’u’lláh, acquiring knowledge of the arts and sciences, and learning a trade or profession.

However, “let it...never be imagined that youth must await their years of maturity before they can render invaluable services to the Cause of God.” Youth are needed to serve immediately through full participation in community life, teaching—especially teaching their peers—and development or service projects.

So important is this immediate service to the strength of the Bahá’í world that the Universal House of Justice has called for youth to devote a set period of time to some Bahá’í service. (Youth Can Move the World, p. 50) [Page 18]

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

AS WORK on the Arc progresses, the Bahá’í World Center has an increased need for qualified personnel. Present openings include those for data entry clerks—experienced with computerized data entry; document analysts—to review documents, cross-reference and synthesize information, and write abstracts; floor cleaning specialist—with at least two years experience in floor and carpet care; master gardeners—with degrees or studies in horticulture, agriculture or related fields; catalog librarian—master’s degree in library science, knowledge of at least one language besides English, experience with Library of Congress classifications and AACR2; mason/tile setter—experience with plaster and ceramic tile installation and repair; painters—experience preparing concrete walls and woodwork, painting interior and exterior surfaces; printer—familiarity with sheet-fed and offset printing, pre-press techniques, and some knowledge of desktop publishing, equipment maintenance and repair; darkroom technician/photographer—sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of custom darkroom work and photography; pilgrim guide—mature person with sound knowledge of the history of the Faith, fluent in Spanish and English; plumbers—to assemble, install and maintain pipes (PVC piping), fittings and fixtures in drainage, heating, water supply and sanitary systems; researcher—mature, deepened person with ability to logically analyze large volume of information and to clearly present ideas in written English; secretaries—with all levels of secretarial skills and a strong proficiency in English; translators into English—persons with a good knowledge of Arabic, French, Persian or Spanish and an excellent command of written English to translate correspondence and other documents; translators out of English—persons with a good understanding of English and an excellent command of Arabic, French, Persian or Spanish to translate correspondence and other documents; oral translators—persons with a good command of the Bahá’í teachings and the ability to provide accurate oral translations from English into French or Spanish. For more information about any of these positions, please contact Christine Stanwood, Department of Human Resources, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 708-733-3429; fax 708-733-3430; e-mail

EXCITING overseas opportunities. Teaching positions available in Changchun, Jilin; Huainin, Anhui, Shanxi; Shenyang, Liaoning; Huizhou, Guangdong. Medical Educator needed by Project Hope. For more information, please contact Ms. Gwili Posey (phone 708-733-3512; fax 708-733-3509; email

THE NATIONAL Treasurer’s Office has openings for an accountant and accounts receivable cashier. Both are full-time salaried positions. Candidates for accountant should have a bachelor’s degree in the field or 3-5 years relevant experience. Audit work is preferable; CPA is a plus. Must have advanced knowledge of Excel or other spreadsheet software programs and have good skills in communication and organization. The accounts receivable cashier should be a high school graduate or equivalent including courses in bookkeeping plus 3-5 years experience in cashiering or accounts receivable. Should have good number sequencing skills and the ability to work well with calculators and PCs. For information or an application, write to the Department of Human Resources, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3431).

THE LOUHELEN Bahá’í School invites applications from mature youth and adults for its year-of-service program. While all skills and interests are invited for consideration, there is an immediate and continuing need for volunteer help in the following areas: office support and front desk, food service, housekeeping, bookstore and library. There is also an anticipated need for a group recreation leader for June-August 1996. Inquiries may be sent c/o Mrs. Penny Schmicker, volunteer services, Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423 (phone 810-653-5033; fax 810-653-7181; e-mail

FOOD SERVICES manager needed at the Bosch Bahá’í School in Santa Cruz, California. Coordinates and supervises the kitchen staff in preparing and serving a well-balanced, high quality menu with attention given to operating within assigned fiscal guidelines. Responsible for all food inventories including portion control and sanitary standards in the kitchen and dining hall. For information or an application, write to the Department of Human Resources, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, or phone 708-869-9039.

PIONEERING (OVERSEAS)

EMPLOYMENT opportunities overseas. AFRICA: Burundi—surgeon, surgical nurse, midwife, health educator. Ethiopia—program manager needed for food security and infrastructure program by Save the Children. Rwanda—lab tech trainer, health educator, PHC nurses, surgeon, water engineer. Tanzania—urgent need for English teachers, team leader to be responsible for over-all management and strategic direction of CARE’s refugee program in Ngara. AMERICAS: Barbados—lecturer/assistant lecturer in economics. Puerto Rico—caretaker for the Amoz Gibson/Gordon Laite Bahá’í Institute. ASIA: Cambodia—English teacher. Laos—English teacher. Japan—regional accountant. Korea—elementary school teachers. Macau—teachers. Vietnam—Montessori school needs trained preschool, elementary school teacher. Sakhalin—teachers. AUSTRALASIA: Australia—generalists and specialists needed for 2-24 month assignments. Tonga—school principal for primary school. EUROPE: Bosnia—emergency medicine physicians, EPI specialist. Croatia—assistant director/operations, program manager, pre-school and pupil support program needed by Save the Children. MULTI-REGIONAL: training coordinator to design, implement and oversee training for Central America program of international conversation organization. Installers and service technicians/trainers needed by manufacturer of new solar technology used for pumping water in developing countries. Panama has urgent need for two Spanish-speaking couples to serve in the Kuna region of the San Blas Islands. For more information, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3512; fax 708-733-3509; e-mail

PIONEERING (HOMEFRONT)

COME HOME to Tennessee! The Spiritual Assembly of Williamson County invites you to live only minutes from Nashville—Music City U.S.A. Williamson County has rolling hills, one percent unemployment, and a great need for the healing Message of Bahá’u’lláh. Help this small but active Bahá’í community keep its newly formed Assembly. Contact Carol Mansour, Box 159355, Nashville, TN 37215 (phone 615-591-7795) or Parker and Alison McGee (e-mail

HELP ESTABLISH an Assembly in Canby, a small (pop. 10,000), growing rural city in Oregon, only 30 minutes from Portland. Canby, close to Mt. Hood and the Pacific ocean, has excellent schools and recreational facilities, a senior center, metropolitan bus system and moderate climate. New housing and rentals are available; small industries are hiring; and there are colleges and universities in the area. A strong Bahá’í community is ready to lend its support to newcomers. Write to the Spiritual Assembly of Clackamas County South, P.O. Box 573, Canby, OR 97013-0573, or phone 503-266-9630 or 503-266-9898.

EXPERIENCE the challenge and the joy of international pioneering right here in the U.S. An individual or family is needed in Porterville, a sunny rural California town with a culturally diverse community that includes a large number of our Hmong Bahá’í family. The local Assembly, composed of eight Hmong-Americans and one American Bahá’í whose service is made difficult by health problems, meets only once or twice a year and needs loving support and encouragement. If you can help, please contact the U.S. Bahá’í Refugee Office at the Bahá’í National Center (phone 708-733-3523).

WHEELING, West Virginia, and nearby Ohio County need homefront pioneers. Great location for retirement and education; friendly small-town environment, scenic rural beauty, excellent colleges, abundant recreation (including nationally known Oglebay Park), and easy access to larger cities (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio). The city of Wheeling has one adult Bahá’í; Ohio County has five adults, one youth and one child. For more information, please write to the Bahá’ís of Wheeling and Ohio County, P.O. Box 2073, Wheeling, WV 26003, or phone Mrs. Merle Borden (Wheeling), 304-242-8385, or the Larimer family (Ohio County), 304-336-4128.

SOCORRO, in lovely central New Mexico, needs homefront pioneers. Socorro, a teaching goal for more than a year, is home to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, one of the highest rated scientific and technological colleges in the country, and to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. A rural hospital serves the city’s population of 8,100 as well as Socorro County and the nearby Alamo Navajo Reservation. Socorro is in the middle Rio Grande Valley with mountains on one side and lovely mesas across the other. New Mexico’s largest lake is an hour’s drive south, and Albuquerque an hour to the north. For more information, please phone Terri Brown, 505-835-8994, or write to P.O. Box 392, San Antonio, NM 87832.

URGENT need for homefront pioneers in four communities of more than 50,000 within 30 minutes of Cleveland, Ohio, that need to establish Assemblies by next Ridván. Of the four, Lorain hasn’t yet been opened to the Faith; Elyria has some active teaching but no community; Parma has at least one Bahá’í resident; and Lakewood, a large and active group, hopes soon to form its Assembly. Isolated believers and nearby groups have formed “Westside Wildfire,” a project giving birth to teaching institutes and activities aimed at Lakewood, Elyria and Lorain, while Parma has been adopted as a goal by the Spiritual Assembly of Cleveland. Lorain (a multi-cultural city) and Elyria especially need active resident Bahá’ís to help their growth. For information about these communities and/or help, please contact Jean Yousefi, 216-226-2175; Sue Coates, 216-891-1516; or the Spiritual Assembly of Cleveland, c/o Angela Maldonado, 216-631-7856.

HELP IS NEEDED to establish new Assemblies by the end of the Three Year Plan on the west coast of Michigan. If you are an elderly Bahá’í who wants to remain active in service to Bahá’u’lláh, we can use your experience, knowledge and wisdom. An assisted-care home is available to help you adjust. For information, write to the Simms, P.O. Box 112, Scottville, MI 49454, or phone 616-757-3161.

ALTOONA, Pennsylvania, needs you! We are a national goal city and need an Assembly in this picturesque city of 50,000 by the end of the Three Year Plan. Altoona, nestled in a valley among the Allegheny Mountains, has four lovely seasons and a slow-moving, small-town sense of community, almost no violent crime and one of the lowest cost-of-living indexes in the country. A great place to raise a family. Come serve the Faith in Altoona. For information, phone April at 814-944-7027 or Tiffini at 814-942-9833.

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: Elizabeth R. Young, Maude E. Young, Alice May Youse, Rouholah Zargarpur, Alexander Zeitlin, Jeanne Zelinka, Faith Zim and G. Zoeller. 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, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611 (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-American Bahá’ís for use by local communities for Black History Month, Race Unity Day and other observances of special events. Any local community that wishes to obtain a set of these sketches is asked to send a request with mailing address to the National Bahá’í Archives, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611 (phone 708-869-9039).

WANTED

THE BAHÁ’Í library in Unalaska, Alaska, is seeking a copy of The Chosen Highway, which is no longer in print. If anyone has a spare copy, a reasonable cost will be met—or it would be greatly appreciated as a contribution to teaching efforts in this small city in the Aleutian Islands chain. Please write to the Bahá’í Center, P.O. Box 73, Unalaska, AK 99685.

FOR HISTORICAL reasons I am trying to document the locations of the following book: The Dawn-Breakers, special limited edition of 150 copies, specially bound and signed and numbered by the Guardian. If you have one of these volumes, or know someone who does, please contact me. All I need is the number and location of the particular book. Payam Afsharian, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (phone 310-441-0413; fax 213-383-9417; e-mail

WANTED: your memories of the late Hand of the Cause of God Hermann Grossmann whose granddaughter, Anke Grossmann, now living in Siberia, wishes [Page 19]

ADS

to preserve as much as possible the recollections of his heroic life and deeds among the many friends whose lives were touched by his loving counsel and concern. Those who met Dr. Grossmann and have memories of that association are asked to kindly put on paper what they remember or to speak it on audio tape in whatever language they prefer (English, German, Spanish or Persian). Please send materials to Hartmut Grossmann, c/o Bahá’í World Center, P.O. Box 155, Haifa 31 001, Israel (fax 972 (4) 358652; e-mail

COLLEGE-AGE YOUTH are sought to enroll in Tribal Community Colleges which offer degree programs in such areas as education, computer sciences, business and health as well as 16 other disciplines. They also offer vocational certificates in 18 areas. Enrollment in a Tribal Community College gives Bahá’í youth an opportunity to further their education while serving as Bahá’í Youth Service Corps volunteers. For more information, phone 708-733-3493.

Youth Activities

INTERNATIONAL Bahá’í Youth Service Corps opportunities: The enthusiastic services of Bahá’í youth are needed all over the U.S. and the world. The wide range of needs and opportunities include such arenas as reaching the masses with the message of Bahá’u’lláh, deepening new believers, conducting children’s classes for children and youth and carrying out other educational activities, assisting the administrative work of Bahá’í institutions, hands-on work with a variety of social and economic development projects, proclaiming the Faith through the arts, mobilizing the youth of a region or even a country, teaching fellow students and teachers, and more. In the most recent pioneer call from the Universal House of Justice, 97 countries listed specific needs and opportunities for youth pioneers, including many university study options. In addition, many National Spiritual Assemblies have written to our national community to advise of the following opportunities. AFRICA—The Gambia (English): Two arenas of service: help with the brand new urban pre-school opening in September or with a rural education center at the Bwiam Regional Bahá’í Center. Senegal (French): “Olinga Teaching Project” near Dakar needs French-speaking youth to help with teaching, children’s classes, activities for women and for youth. Abilities in drama welcome. AMERICAS—Alaska (English and indigenous languages): Nome youth service project, working with Eskimos, and Norton Sound Project. Honduras (Spanish): volunteers with experience in printing needed to help develop a social and economic development project focused on the production of Bahá’í literature in La Ceiba. At Project Bayan youth are needed who have studied Spanish for at least two years and can stay for 6-12 months, or medical students who have completed their first two years of medical school for 4-month periods (one at a time). Jamaica (English): Youth in Kingston area have begun to rise up and become active. They would very much benefit from working with youth from other countries. Venezuela (Spanish): Three “entry by troops projects” and an ongoing year of service program supported by local youth, incorporating proclamation, teaching, consolidation, theater, music and other aspects are in need of 6-10 youth at a time for at least six months service. Knowledge of Spanish is a must. Low living costs. ASIA—urgent needs. Contact the Office of Pioneering as soon as possible. India (English): New Era Development Institute, “an exciting place to work [which] offers a unique opportunity to learn about social and economic development in a Bahá’í context,” is looking for one or two deepened Bahá’ís who enjoy working closely with other youth to come for anywhere from four months to a year, preferably arriving in June. Thailand (Thai and English): The Santitham School, a social and economic development project of the National Spiritual Assembly of Thailand and “a landmark of the Bahá’í Faith in the North-East of Thailand,” whose contributions to society have been appreciated by the provincial government, needs dedicated volunteers for periods of at least six months. AUSTRALASIA—Australia (English): Seven arenas of service: children’s classes, firesides and hospitality, House of Worship guiding, gardening and janitorial and National Bahá’í Office work, for several youth from anywhere in the world. Accommodations on House of Worship property provided. EUROPE—Albania (Albanian): “...one or more devoted and capable youths...[to be] accompanied by an Albanian youth... who could be in charge of driving a van and directing the Mobile Institute. ...” Driving experience important. France (French): The Office of Public Information of the Bahá’í International Community in Paris needs a bilingual (French/English) assistant for duties such as office administration and secretarial work, follow-up on publications, and participation in public relations projects. Switzerland (English and French): Two youth needed to work with the National Bahá’í Secretariat, caring for the Hazira, traveling teaching and possibly studying French or German. If you can arise to meet one of these needs, please contact your local Spiritual Assembly for initial consultation and information and to receive a copy of the Pioneer/Bahá’í Youth Service Corps Volunteer Form. As you work toward your goal, The Office of Pioneering will help you to do as the Universal House of Justice advises: “Through prayer and consultation, and after considering his own experience, inclinations and possibilities, he can choose his goal area and, confidently relying on the confirming power of Bahá’u’lláh, set out to serve the Cause of his Lord. ...”

NEEDED: Spiritual Assemblies interested in hosting a Youth Year of Service volunteer to focus full-time on teaching the Faith. Please contact the National Teaching Committee Office, 708-869-9039, ext. 361.

Schools, Conferences

BAHÁ’Í YOUTH involved in art, music, drama or workshops from the U.S. are invited to attend the International Youth Conference to be held December 23-29 in Mmabatho, South Africa, a celebration of Africa’s diverse culture in a festival of art, music, dance and drama. For information, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3512; fax 708-733-3509; e-mail

The Arts

MUSICIANS, dancers, writers, artists: is your calling to teach the Faith full-time through the arts? Would you like to form a collective and help start a Creativity and Healing Institute for suffering souls? I would like to network with you in the hope of establishing a project to express love and spirit that will transform and heal hearts and lives. I am also interested in pioneering new styles of music and art, especially the New Age genre. I play electric guitar and keyboards, and my musical influences are classical, rock, jazz, New Age and avant-garde. Anyone who is interested in supporting such a project is invited to contact Bob Charnes, Voorhees, NJ 08043 (phone 609-772-2195; e-mail

Let this American Democracy become glorious. The Bahá’í Writings

For the 14th year in a row, the Bahá’ís of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and friends took part in the city’s annual Fourth of July parade, winning the Theme Award for their float entitled ‘Let this American Democracy become glorious. ...’ From paint buckets labeled ‘honesty, peace, beauty, justice, equality, diversity, freedom, unity’ the human hues were mixed on giant palettes and used to render an easeled image of the United States. More than 60,000 people attend the parade each year.

Maxwell School holds fourth graduation

Twenty Americans and 29 students from 10 other countries received their diplomas this year during the fourth graduation ceremony at the Maxwell International Bahá’í School on Canada’s Vancouver Island.

This year’s graduating class, the largest ever at the school, included students from Australia, Canada, Chad, Ivory Coast, Japan, Macau, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and the U.S.

At an honors dinner the evening before graduation, Risa Robinson, a member of the school’s first graduating class in 1992, delivered the main address.

The next day 750 parents, relatives and friends joined the entire Maxwell student body for the formal graduation ceremony which began with the now-traditional gift from the senior class: a program of music, poetry, drama and dance written in large part by the students themselves.

The performance was centered on the themes of courage and integrity, the motto which the class had chosen.

The commencement address was given by Dr. Glen Eyford, professor emeritus of adult education and development studies at the University of Alberta.

420 Bahá’ís, guests attend 22nd Conference of Nur

“My Role in the Divine Plan” was the theme of the 22nd annual Conference of Nur held May 26-28 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The conference site was filled to capacity by 420 Bahá’ís and guests from a nine-state area who attended sessions and workshops, with special programs for children and youth.

Among the speakers who enlightened the friends were Mohabat Ahdiyyeh (“Transformation of the Individual”), Haideh Yazdani (“Uniting the Bahá’í Community”) and Dr. Soheil Bushrui (“O God, Make Me a Hollow Reed”).

Highlights included the auctioning of a lovely afghan made especially for the occasion by Lillian Leonard shortly before her passing. Thanks in part to her inspirational example, more than $10,300 was raised for the Arc Fund.

The Conference of Nur is sponsored annually by the Spiritual Assembly of Harrisburg.

Ninth ‘Irfán Colloquium’ slated for Wilmette in March 1996

The ninth “Irfán Colloquium” sponsored by the Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund and the Institute for Bahá’í Studies will be held next March 26-28 at the Bahá’í National Center in Wilmette, Illinois.

The colloquium will center on the presentation of papers replying to criticisms and attacks made against the Faith and will include presentations on the significance of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the application of its laws.

Those who wish to present papers on either topic are invited to send a brief (500-word) abstract before January 15 to the Research Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091 (phone 708-733-3425; fax 708-733-3563; e-mail

More than 100 at Texas A&M for symposium on Kitáb-i-Aqdas

More than 100 people gathered April 7-9 at Texas A&M University in College Station for a symposium entitled “The Kitáb-i-Aqdas and Its Relation to Other Sacred Texts.”

The event was sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of College Station with support from the Spiritual Assembly of Bryan, the Texas A&M Bahá’í Club and the Texas Association for Bahá’í Studies.

Included were presentations of papers, poetry readings, music recitals and question and answer sessions. In all, 14 talks were presented—11 in English and three in Persian.

Music was performed by Homayoon Oskouee (santur) and Kamran Rohani (tar).

A unity feast held Saturday evening included prayers followed by entertainment and dancing to Spanish, Arabic, rock and country and western music. [Page 20]

“... and a percentage of your long-distance calls goes to the Fund!”

A number of local Assemblies and individuals have contacted the National Spiritual Assembly and its Office of the Treasurer in recent weeks with questions about fund-raising plans that center on discounts from long-distance phone bills. Some observations are in order on this matter.

The friends may be interested to know that the Office has done considerable research into these plans over the last 18 months.

Essentially the way these plans work is this: An “aggregator” buys large blocks of long-distance “minutes” from one of the major service providers (for example, AT&T, MCI or Sprint). They then turn around and offer those minutes to users at some discount off the usual rates.

The original carrier benefits from the income on customers their own marketing people might not otherwise have signed up, and the aggregator earns a percentage, potentially as high as 18 percent, of the minute’s cost.

Out of the aggregator’s percentage, they offer to contribute a sum equal to a percentage (usually 5 percent) of the subscriber’s long-distance bill to a charity. Indeed, they market their services to charities in this way, in effect saying, “Sign all your members up, and we’ll contribute 5 percent of the value of their long-distance total to your organization.”

In this way, they are actually getting the charity to help their marketing people bring in business, and they pay the charity a rather modest fee, only 5 percent, for performing this service.

This is all perfectly legal, but is it the way the Bahá’í community wants to meet its financial needs?

First, it muddies the waters about who the giver is. Where the Bahá’í work is concerned, we know that only believers can give to support that work. In the case outlined above, however, it is actually the aggregator who is making the contribution, not the Bahá’í.

Second, it may well be that a process like this, which is based on consumption rather than a prayerful decision to support the Cause through sacrifice, may to an extent trivialize the noble institution of the Bahá’í Fund.

The work of the Faith, and our material support for it, is highly spiritual, indeed is an act of love, therefore a particular posture before God is essential.

Third, even within the fund-raising profession the reviews are mixed. A number of large organizations have tried such plans, only to find that the results do not justify the time and effort required to set up the machinery.

For these reasons, the National Spiritual Assembly declined to take part in such a plan, which was offered by its own long-distance carrier.

All of this is not to impugn the motives of any friends who have brought this kind of program to the friends’ attention; on the contrary, they are trying to find innovative ways to support the Cause, and that is all to the good.

And even these long-distance plans could benefit enterprises sponsored by Bahá’ís, but which are open to receive gifts from everyone—certain social and economic development projects, for example, which benefit the larger community.

The most important consideration, however, is to use the measure of principle, and then to follow through in unity.

Ex-Baptist minister preaches ‘return’ of Christ at New York University lecture

The small lecture hall in New York University’s Loeb Student Center gradually filled, until late arrivals had to stand in the back.

Drawn to the April 19 talk by a provocative poster campaign that announced “1844: The Year Christ Returned,” serious seekers from all over campus came with their questions and their Bibles, prepared for a spiritual challenge.

The “challenger” was soft-spoken Eric Dozier of Durham, North Carolina, who in 1993 left a five-year Baptist ministry to become a Bahá’í.

“I can remember times I stood in the pulpit and preached about the return of Christ,” Mr. Dozier said. “I never thought I would see it.”

He described for the audience his own experience in discovering the truth of Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to be the return of Christ.

One of his earliest Bahá’í contacts was a man who recognized pamphlets from the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in Mr. Dozier’s car. The passenger excitedly announced, “That’s my religion!” and the two began to talk.

Mr. Dozier was impressed by the Faith’s commitment to combating racism, but it was a while before he realized that Bahá’ís were saying Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival was the Second Coming.

Although well on his way to becoming a career minister, Mr. Dozier put his professional aspirations aside and undertook the search for truth.

What did he find? That it was only in becoming a Bahá’í that he could fulfill his duty as a Christian.

At the Black Men’s Gathering, a yearly event of the Louis Gregory Institute, Eric Dozier declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh.

“I just thank God I happened to be who I was and meet who I met,” he said.

His personal account helped the audience understand that Christ’s return is an event that can be historically analyzed and that Bahá’í is have evidence worth considering in this regard.

In his own search, Mr. Dozier decided to learn about the Faith not through Bahá’í books, but through the scriptures of his own religion.

At the NYU talk, he drew on the books of the Old and New Testament to show that the Kingdom has come, quoting chapter and verse in his responses to questions from the audience.

He also focused on events of 1844 that fulfill biblical prophecies.

The well-attended lecture was sponsored by the NYU Bahá’í Club, which hopes that the good turnout and the interest shown at Mr. Dozier’s talk is a sign that their efforts will soon yield results. The club has several activities planned for the 1995-96 school year.

Clean-up

Continued from page 9

waste material accumulate? For the last 12 years, the focus of the work at the House of Worship has been on restoring the critical deterioration that allowed water to leak into the building and that threatened the structure itself. This was the first year in which one of these enormous projects did not require the restorers’ full time and attention.

But with restoration completed and full-time conservation professionals now on staff at the Temple, we have begun to address an extensive list of complex and important projects.

4 Dallas Bahá’ís take part in Cinco de Mayo parade

Four Bahá’ís took part May 6 in the annual Cinco de Mayo parade in Dallas, Texas.

Two of the Bahá’ís carried large well-designed banners in Spanish and English, while the other two gave pamphlets to more than 2,000 people along the parade route.

File:Evergreen-Cemetery-Dedication.jpg

On August 20, Bahá’ís from the Puget Sound area of western Washington State gathered at the Evergreen Funeral Home and Cemetery in Everett to dedicate the first Bahá’í cemetery in the Pacific Northwest. The Bahá’í section consists of 360 burial plots with a 9-foot tall granite monument containing quotations from the Bahá’í writings on both sides. Auxiliary Board member Erica Toussaint was the speaker at the dedication ceremony.

Arkansas

Continued from page 16

coming through.

As the result of a pre-project article in the Fort Smith newspaper, a Vietnamese woman, Kiem Le, came to the pavilion the project was using in Creekmore Park and told the youth she had become a Bahá’í in South Vietnam in the 1970s, had moved to Fort Smith in the ’80s and had lost touch with the Bahá’ís. (There are more than 5,000 Vietnamese, as well as many Thais and Cubans, in Fort Smith.)

She said that she was going to bring some of her relatives to the performances to learn about the Faith.

The opportunities to teach seemed to multiply as the week went on.

One afternoon, two of the adults went into a copy shop to duplicate prayers. They were amazed at how crowded it was and how easy it was to make contacts there, with several people asking about why the youth were in town.

And an afternoon spent beating the heat at a mall resulted in a declaration. A young man who kept watching the Dawnbreakers youth pass by eventually was engaged in conversation. He said he was the son of a Baptist minister in Dallas but could not accept the teaching that God spoke only to a select group of Christians.

After the young man responded positively to all of the Bahá’í teachings, it was logical to say to him: “If you believe in all of these things, you must be a Bahá’í.” The young man agreed.

The final concert was held at a high school. One woman in particular was quite interested, and several others were attracted to the Faith.

One of the young performers has a cousin living in Fort Smith, and he now wants to join the Arkansas Workshop. This youth has a large number of relatives stretching from Fort Smith to Missouri.

Many Bahá’ís contributed time, money and hospitality to make the teaching trip a success.

The Warens, of rural Oklahoma near Cameron, provided participants with a base of operations. This offering of housing and meals was crucial, since there is no Bahá’í community in Fort Smith and the funds needed to house everyone in hotels or campgrounds could not be found.

The Spiritual Assemblies of Fayetteville and Rogers, Arkansas, sponsored the project, and individuals in those communities volunteered their help. The Bahá’ís of Russellville, Arkansas, also gave financial and physical support. [Page 21]

167 ‘people of capacity’ enroll in India campaign

The goal of a teaching campaign begun by an individual Bahá’í and supported by the Spiritual Assemblies of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, in Andhra Pradesh, India, is to enroll people of capacity. Its success to date was communicated to the World Center in a recent letter from the National Spiritual Assembly, which read in part: "We are glad to inform you that...167 new believers have enrolled in the past 30 days...[and many] of them are educated." Two of the new Bahá’ís are physicians, four are lawyers, nine are engineers, four are administrators, 24 are students, 46 are graduate students, and 19 are post-graduate students. Thirty-two of them took part shortly after their enrollment in a deepening class held last June 28.

"We are extremely happy to inform you," reads a report of June 30 from the National Spiritual Assembly of Brazil, "that 130 indigenous people of the Kariri-Xoco tribe in northeastern Brazil [were] enrolled in the Faith last week. This is the result of direct teaching...carried out by two youth, one a member of the tribe. ...The Spiritual Assembly of Kariri-Xoco is very active, each day demonstrating its...growing maturity by leading the teaching work and even taking care of delicate personal issues. They are promoting...youth meetings, deepening classes, daily children's classes, [and] classes on nutrition and breast-feeding. ..."

After attending a 30-day deepening at the William Masehla Bahá’í Institute in Zambia, five young Bahá’ís offered to travel and teach in Pweto, Zaire, an area near Lake Mweru where no Bahá’í had ever been. The youth cycled more than 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) from Lubumbashi to Pweto and back to teach for 36 days in 21 villages, reaching more than 2,000 interested people, enrolling 70 and forming three new local Spiritual Assemblies.

Cuba's third National Teaching Campaign, carried out last February-April by believers from the Island and traveling teachers from Canada and Costa Rica, led to the enrollment of more than 40 new believers and the formation of local Spiritual Assemblies in Guantanamo, on the eastern end of the island, and Pinar del Rio, on the western end. Forming Assemblies in those communities was among the community’s goals for the Three Year Plan.

The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum was the specially-honored guest June 29-July 2 at a Regional Bahá’í Teaching Conference in Tirana, Albania. About 300 Bahá’ís from 18 countries attended the conference, whose purpose was to consult about the progress of the Cause in the Balkans and to develop a clear, unified vision of regional goals and efforts. During the last evening, the Hand of the Cause joined the friends at a “Gala Variety Show” organized by the National University at which the Faith was proclaimed by a Bahá’í musician to an audience of more than 3,000. While Rúhíyyih Khánum was in Albania, the president’s daughter paid her a courtesy call, and the Hand of the Cause granted a number of television, radio and newspaper interviews. On the final day of her visit, more than 30 prominent women attended a reception in her honor.

More than 700 people including Continental Counselors William Roberts and Farhad Shayani attended the fourth National Unity Conference last June 15-18 in Mogi Mirim, São Paulo, Brazil. Presentations were made by the National Spiritual Assembly and some of its committees, while the Bahá’í Publishing Trust offered seven new publications in Portuguese including two books by Brazilian authors, four compilations from the Bahá’í World Center, and “The Prosperity of Humankind.” Other highlights included a music festival and two plays and a monologue on the life of the Hand of the Cause of God Martha Root. Among the conference’s tangible results were more than 100 offers to the National Teaching Committee from friends willing to take part in teaching activities planned for the last year of the Three Year Plan, significant contributions to the Arc Projects Fund and National Fund, and the enrollment of 16 new believers into the community.

Pictured are some of the approximately 600 Bahá’ís from more than 60 countries and territories who took part in the recent NGO Forum on Women and United Nations fourth Conference on Women in Beijing, China. One of the elements that distinguished the Bahá’í participation at these events was the fact that 20 percent of the Bahá’ís attending were men. Bahá’ís played a key role of service which contributed to the over-all success of the conference. Look for more complete coverage of Bahá’í participation at the Conference in the next issue of The American Bahá’í.

The Bahá’í summer school in remote Tasiilaq, Greenland, which began with only three local believers attending, produced remarkable results with one enrollment on the very first day and two more on the second. The friends were soon joined by two traveling teachers who flew to Tasiilaq by helicopter—Nuka Møller, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Greenland, and James Demcheson of Canada. Together they celebrated the Feast of Kalimát, during which the Bahá’ís of Tasiilaq agreed that they would welcome pioneers and traveling teachers on a regular basis in their small village.

Nava Ashraf, a 19-year-old Bahá’í from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, is the first youth and first Bahá’í to receive the prestigious “Order of British Columbia” award. While at Kelowna Secondary School, Miss Ashraf helped start a number of groups promoting peace, tolerance and respect for the environment. An A+ student, she won the Governor General's Award for academic excellence in her senior year.

The first Bahá’í primary school in Madagascar was inaugurated last May 29 in Beravina Lovasoa under the patronage of Mrs. Thérèse Zafy, wife of the president of the Republic. The national Minister of Education and other dignitaries attended the event, at which the National Spiritual Assembly was represented by Mrs. Loulou Rajaonarivo. Education at the school will be provided free of charge.

A dinner/reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations was held May 27 in Wanneroo, Western Australia. Attending were 80 people, 55 of whom were members of the academic staffs of Edith Cowan University, the University of Western Australia, and Curtin University of Technology. The keynote speaker was Counselor Kamran Eshraghian, who recently accepted the Foundation Chair of Computer, Communications and Electronic Engineering at Edith Cowan University.

On June 11, Austrian television (ORF) broadcast a 20-minute film about the Faith as part of its regular series on religions called “Orientierung.” Footage included scenes and interviews filmed during the celebrations of the first Day of Ridván at Bahjí and Naw-Rúz in Vienna, and a Nineteen Day Feast in Baden, near Vienna.

For six weeks in June and July, four teams of Bahá’í youth systematically moved throughout the Solomon Islands to hold weekend “summer schools” in selected communities. Each team had chalk and a blackboard as well as specially prepared deepening materials in simple English and Pidgin English on the Covenant and the history of the Faith. The effort, known as the Mobile Summer School Project, was planned by the National Teaching Committee.

Thanks to the efforts of two paramount chiefs on Kapingamarangi, one of the most remote atolls in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Bahá’í compilation The Words of God has been translated, with the approval of the National Spiritual Assembly, into their unique Polynesian language. “Even the Bible has not been translated into this language,” says a report in the country’s national Bahá’í newsletter. “We are grateful to the two paramount chiefs. ...”

As the result of a 20-year effort by the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong, the government has approved its application to license the Bahá’í Hall as a place of public worship, enabling the celebration there of legally recognized Bahá’í marriages.

Charlotte Bahá’ís appear on popular radio talk show

With Bahá’ís in homes throughout the area cheering them on, Tamela Rich and Behruz Sabet answered questions on a popular Charlotte, North Carolina, radio talk show.

Ms. Rich, the local public information representative, and Mr. Sabet, a Bahá’í scholar from Fort Mill, appeared on the Jerry Kline Show on WBT, a station whose signal reaches from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Just before the show began, WBT broadcast simultaneously on the AM and FM bands for the first time, increasing the listening audience.

The two Bahá’í representatives answered very well each question fired at them—so well that Mr. Kline asked them to stay for a second hour.

The program director later phoned to express the station’s thanks for their appearance. The director also lavishly praised them for their performance and invited them to come back soon.

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 22]

Louhelen Bahá’í School Fall Programs Announced

October 20-22, Professional Development Seminar with Stephen Birkland, Continental Board of Counselors member. This seminar will explore strategies for applying spiritual principles in the professional environment. Young professionals are especially urged to attend.

20-22, College Bahá’í Clubs Symposium, organized by the National Teaching Committee, with Dr. Curtis Russell, Auxiliary Board Member. A symposium for members of college and university Bahá’í Clubs, with sessions on how Bahá’í Clubs can make a difference in society, developing effective action plans, exploring possible joint ventures and means of networking.

November 10-12, Youth Eagle Institute with Bahá’í United Nations Representative, Rebequa Murphy and Marshall Murphy, Bahá’í International Community Office on Women. This session for youth ages 15-21 includes classes on spiritualization, serious study of the Bahá’í teachings, and learning skills to build greater unity with diverse peoples. There will also be time for fellowship, prayers, music and fun.

December 27-January 1, Winter School at Louhelen with Dr. Habib Riazati and Susan Engle. This family oriented session will include activities and loving fellowship for all ages. An adult course on “The Life and Writings of the Báb” will be offered, along with a full children’s program.

Upcoming Events at the Louis Gregory Bahá’í Institute

October 20-22, Youth Leadership Weekend, featuring an intensive weekend for high school students with an emphasis on developing leadership skills which will be applicable to all areas of life and will assist participants to “redoubled action.”

November 3-5, Children’s Weekend, a weekend focused on developing positive Bahá’í identity and becoming better teachers of the Faith. The program is aimed at elementary school students.

10-12, Women’s Conference, will provide participants with a weekend of in-depth study and discussion on the role and destiny of women in creating an environment conducive to true unity and harmony.

December 1-3, Junior Youth Leadership Weekend, is aimed at middle school students will focus on developing leadership skills which will be applicable in all areas of life and will assist them to become better Bahá’í teachers, administrators, and servants.

Social and Economic Development focus of NABI Summer Programs

This summer has seen the development of several new social and economic programs at NABI. The Parenting Skills program, held once a week from July 20 through August 23, was attended by many Navajo parents as well as social service workers from the Navajo Social Services office. This program focused on practical parenting skills such as diet, health, child guidance, inter-family relationships, and peer and family pressures. This program was led by Dr. Hannah Rishel, a Native American Bahá’í Institute Advisory Council member, who is also a pediatrician.

A Pow-Wow Club was developed during this same time period to assist the sixteen children who attended in developing individual qualities that will “crown their character with poise and good heart,” and to learn new dances. The Pow-Wow Club is part of the Artist-in-Residence program, featuring the techniques of traditional, fancy and grass dancing, and learning how to discern the types of Pow-Wow songs and drum rhythms. The classes were taught by Roman Orona, Youth Year of Service and Artist-in-Residence at NABI.

An ongoing program that began this summer is Circles of Wellness. A traditional talking circle was used as the primary teaching and learning method for the program, as up to a dozen adults gathered for these Sunday morning sessions. The Circles of Wellness program uses traditional and contemporary exercises of the body, mind, and spirit to help adults overcome substance abuse, fear, and anxiety. Developed by Dr. Joel Orona, Native American Bahá’í Institute co-administrator, the program incorporates traditional values, spiritual principles, and practical exercises to develop each individual’s potential.

Bosch Bahá’í School Announces Fall Schedule

October 27-29, Star Trek Teaching Weekend (Seekers Weekend) with Linda & Mark Bedford, Sandi & David Reese to facilitate. Costs: $85/adult, $40 ages 3-17.

November 3-5, LSA Team Development.

10-13, Celebrating our Glorious Privilege (ARC Fundraiser Weekend) with special guests, music, devotions and fellowship; includes special celebration of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.

17-19, Seekers/New Believers Weekend with presenters Carla & Paul Farmer and Ruhi Training of Tutors with Ruth and Hamilton Breton.

24-26, Law and Justice, with lawyers Amy and Tony Reid and The Glorious Journey — Hospice Program.

December 1-3, LSA Team Development Weekend.

8-10, Rendezvous of the Soul — Special session on Relationships.

22-1/1/96, Advanced Academy for College Students with Derek Cockshut, Habib Riazati and Farhad Sabetan; classes on Bahá’í economics, Islamic Studies and the Covenant. Cost for 10 days - $350.

22-26, Winter I - Health & Healing (General Session) Cost: adults $180, ages 3-17, $80.

28-1/1/96, Winter II - Kitáb-i-Aqdas (General Session) with Barney & Erica Leith, David Hofman, and special dedication of Hofman Library. Costs: adults $180, ages 3-17, $80.

January 1996 5-7, Bahá’í College Club Retreat.

Green Acre Youth Institute Mobilizes Youth

A total of 44 young Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh, soldiers in the Army of Light, gathered at Green Acre Bahá’í School July 9-15 for a “spiritual boot camp,” preparing themselves for the battles and victories they will face as servants to the Cause of God.

The institute touched upon every aspect of Bahá’í life as it sought to mobilize youth to fulfill their destiny as spiritual descendants of the Dawnbreakers. In addition to deepening their relationship with Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation, the youth explored the indispensability of the Holy Spirit in fulfilling their basic purpose as human beings, and the process of transforming “that which hath been written into reality and action.”

Research time encouraged participants to develop an independent, personal relationship with the Writings by posing their own questions, finding relevant passages, internalizing and memorizing these, and then finding ways to apply them in their own lives. Other activities included consultation with Auxiliary Board member Tahereh Ahdieh, a concert by a Bahá’í youth band, Agents of Change, a bonfire and talent show, a special session on the Long Obligatory Prayer, service, and ad hoc discussions on everything from theology and laws to chastity and gender equity.

The week concluded with a personal visioning exercise to set goals to pursue over the next year as a legacy of the remarkable week. Nearly a dozen of these spiritual soldiers moved right into action as they traveled to Keene, New Hampshire, to serve in a week-long teaching project, part of this summer’s Army of Light activity in New England.

Labor Day Weekend at Green Acre Bahá’í School

Outstanding attendance marked the Labor Day Weekend program at Green Acre Bahá’í School, with friends gathered from as far away as Canada, Virginia, and Texas.

The program’s theme, “Global Prosperity,” underscored the Universal House of Justice’s assertion in its January 23, 1995, letter that, “the tasks entailed in the development of a global society call for levels of capacity far beyond anything the human race has so far been able to muster.”

Jack McCants, National Spiritual Assembly member, offered inspiring, story-filled sessions on the contents of “The Prosperity of Humankind.” In pondering and reflecting upon this landmark document he said, “we have come to a deeper understanding of the role of justice in the transformation of humanity, of our own role and responsibilities as Dawnbreakers of the New World Order, and of the vastly more powerful effect of spiritual vision over limited material perspective.”

Carol Rutstein’s exploration of “Balancing Masculine and Feminine Qualities” recalled ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s description of humanity’s age of maturity as one in which these qualities would be more evenly balanced. She described how the old model of power prevents this, the effect this has on women, and the role that Bahá’í men can take in advancing this principle.

Nat Rutstein’s topic, “The Way Out of the Trap,” based on his recently released book of the same title, described the crisis facing humanity as an absence of understanding that human beings are spiritual beings with a destiny before God.

Green Acre’s fall programming includes a marriage retreat with Khalil and Sue Khavari, a weekend institute on Bahá’í Youth and Sexuality, and a study of the Life of Bahá’u’lláh and the Holy Family with Habib Riazati, scheduled for the weekend of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. [Page 23]

Over 200 Gather to Celebrate American Indian Unity at Native American Bahá’í Institute

Bahá’ís and their friends from the Southwestern United States and beyond gathered August 18 - 19 at the Native American Bahá’í Institute to celebrate a summer of enriching American Indian activities at the Institute.

The Unity Gathering began August 18 with a special Honoring the Women Elders Supper and Council Fire. This opening event was planned to pay tribute to the role women have played in American Indian history in keeping homes together. After the informal dinner, prayers were offered honoring women and talks were given about women’s roles in society today. One of the most inspiring talks was given by a 96 year old Navajo Bahá’í, Martha Walker. Mrs. Walker addressed many aspects of being a Navajo woman and about being a Navajo Bahá’í since 1949.

Bahá’í youth were also honored with prayers and a traditional American Indian Blessing during the Unity Gathering. Special recognition was given to several youth who have distinguished themselves in Bahá’í service, in college or vocational studies, and personal comportment. Traditional gifts were given to these distinguished youth as a token of appreciation from the Native American Bahá’í Institute administrators and staff. The Burntwater Singers, with drum lead Roman Orona, sang an honoring song.

Saturday morning sixteen runners took off across the sandy 5K road course at the institute. A Navajo police officer escorted the runners throughout the race. Andersen Six, a 41 year old Navajo man, took first place in the men’s division with the best time of 21.31 minutes. Denise Roan, 12 year old Navajo girl, took first place in the women’s division.

Evening highlights included a performance and fireside by iinda (a part of the Artist-in-Residence program). After the fireside, Joel Orona offered an opportunity for all to join the Bahá’í Faith. Each evening ended with a Council fire, much talk, many Navajo and Apache songs, and Bahá’í prayers.

Other activities included such things as storytelling interpreted in such a way as to understand Bahá’í principles, a presentation by unexpected Navajo guests from Window Rock on child rearing, and vendor’s booths from the Southwest and the Ecuadorians for Social and Economic Development.

The closing ceremony began with a circle of friendship at the Shade House with music and poetry reading with American Indian perspectives bringing to a close a wonderfully bonding and spiritual gathering.

Esther Orona, Native American Bahá’í Institute co-administrator, performs a traditional Basket Dance as part of the Artist-in-Residence program.

Barbara Tong (far left), NABI instructor, creates a net of obstacles (of life) to teach Navajo children about the choices life presents. Children shown are Erica and Jerilyn Spencer, Jerry Spencer, Jeti and Nataline Bitsuii, and Youth Year of Service volunteer, Natalie Evans (far right).

Winners Circle of the 5K Run at the Native American Bahá’í Institute Unity Gathering. Included in the picture are Navajo, Hopi, Apache, and Bahá’ís and their friends.

Roman Orona teaches a traditional dance move to the Pow-Wow Club.

And, How Was Your Summer?

If you were able to attend one of the summer schools planned in the United States this summer, then your summer was most likely as exhilarating as this young woman’s, at the Illinois (Heartland) Bahá’í School (picture at right) experience. If, however, you were unable to get away, maybe these words on behalf of the Guardian will entice you to plan ahead for next summer, or look into the possibility of attending one of the Fall, Winter, or Spring sessions offered around the country.

“How wonderful it would be if all the friends could arrange to spend at least a few days in one of these summer schools and take an active part in their development. . . . The institution of the Summer School constitutes a vital and inseparable part of any teaching campaign, and as such ought to be given the full importance it deserves in the teaching plans and activities of the believers.

“The Guardian cherishes the hope that at the termination of your school this summer every one of the attendants will have derived such mental and spiritual benefits, and acquired such a fresh enthusiasm to serve as will enable him, upon his return to his local community, to labor with a determination and vigor that will excite the envy and admiration of his fellow-believers, and stimulate them to greater heights of consecration to the service of our beloved Cause.” (Excerpts are taken from letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, printed in Centers of Bahá’í Learning, pages 2 and 3)

This map indicates the states which currently have regional school committees appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly. For information about plans for regional school sessions in your area, please contact the Education and Schools Office at the Bahá’í National Center, 708/733-3492. [Page 24]

اتوبوس تبلیغی

MOBILE BAHÁ’Í INFORMATION CENTER

احبای همیلتن کانتی Hamilton County در ایالت تنسی برای تبلیغ امر مبارک دست به ابتکار تازه‌ای زده‌اند.

در سال ۱۹۹۰ شور و نشوری برای تبلیغ امر الهی در احبای مؤسسه بهائی تنسی ایجاد شده بود. پس از پایان مدرسۀ تابستانه خانم مری‌کی رادپور، عضو هیئت معاونت، اعضای لجنات تبلیغی ناحیه‌ای شرق تنسی و کنتاکی و دیگر احبای علاقه مند را برای مشورت در خصوص تبلیغ در مناطقی که محفل روحانی یا مرکز بهائی نداشت گرد هم آورد.

پس از مشورت و تبادل نظر و چند نشست و برخاست اتوبوسی خریده شد. موتور جدیدی بر آن نصب کردند و آن را به صورت یک اتوبوس تبلیغی در آوردند. چند تن از یاران برای طرح و نقش داخل و خارج آن اتوبوس دست به کار شدند و پس از چندی آن را به صورت ابزار جالبی برای تبلیغ امر مبارک در آوردند.

سطح بیرونی آن را آبی مایل به سبز رنگ کرده‌اند و شعار وحدت الهی و وحدت ادیان و وحدت بشر را بر آن نقش بسته‌اند. داخل آن قالی گذاری شده و یک دستگاه تلویزیون و ویدیو برای نشان دادن نوارهای ویدیویی بهائی در آن نصب گردیده است. یک جاکتابی حاوی کتاب هائی که به عنوان مرجع از آنها استفاده می‌شود، در آن گذاشته شده و همچنین محل راحتی برای تشکیل جلسهٔ تبلیغی در آن تهیه گردیده است.

این اتوبوس تبلیغی در بهار سال جاری به راه افتاد. به درخواست ‎مشاوره فایزه ای مشاور قاره‌ای‎ خانم ویلما الیس مقصد نخستین هشتاد و ششمین کانونشن ملی معین شد.

محفل روحانی ملی اجازه داد که اتوبوس مذکور در جنب مشرق‌الاذکار شهرک ویلمت پارک شود. نمایندگان کانونشن در دورهٔ تنفس جلسات از آن دیدار کردند.

از آن زمان تا کنون این اتوبوس تبلیغی وسیله‌ای برای کمک به خدمات تبلیغی در سراسر ایالت تنسی بوده و پیشنهاد استفاده از آن به همهٔ محافل جنوب شرقی ایالات متحده شده است.

این اتوبوس را می‌توان در بسیاری از روزهای آخر هفته و نیز بعضی از روزهای وسط هفته در جاده های مناطق جنوب شرقی ایالات متحده دید.

در ماه جون و جولای حدود ۲۰ جوان بهائی عضو "سپاه نور" از اتوبوس تبلیغی برای یک سفر تبلیغی و تشویقی ده روزه در چند شهر تنسی استفاده کردند و با آن به مراکز تفریحی و نقاط توریستی و مراسمی برای بزرگداشت روز چهارم جولای رفتند.

در هر یک از این نقاط معمولاً جزوات امری به نمایش گذاشته می شود و گاهی نیز رقص وحدت اجرا می گردد. بسیاری از مردمی که جوانان بهائی با آنها روبرو می شوند، قبلاً اتوبوس تبلیغی را دیده اند و کنجکاوند که راجع به آن، و در نتیجه راجع به امر مبارک، اطلاعاتی به دست بیاورند.

استفاده از این وسیلهٔ بدیع تبلیغی در مراحل نخستین خود است و خانم رادپور از همهٔ محافل روحانی جنوب شرقی امریکا دعوت کرده است که از آن برای فعالیت‌های تبلیغی خود استفاده نمایند.

بدین منظور برنامه‌های گوناکونی برای تابستان سال آینده در نظر گرفته شده است که جوامع امری بتوانند با پرداخت هزینهٔ استفاده از اتوبوس تبلیغی آن را برای فعالیت‌های خود به کار گیرند.

برخی از موارد کاربرد این وسیلهٔ تبلیغی عبارت است از:

• اعلان عمومی امر مبارک از طریق سفر به نقاط گوناگون و پارک کردن آن در پارک‌ها و بازارها و خیابان‌ها و غیره،
• تشکیل جلسات تبلیغی در محلی که در عقب اتوبوس برای این منظور در نظر گرفته شده است،
• تشکیل جلسات تزیید معلومات در نقاطی که محفل محلی یا مرکز بهائی ندارد،
• تشکیل کلاس‌های درس اخلاق برای کودکان و نوجوانان بهائی،
• تشکیل جلسات محافل روحانی و جلسات ایام متبرکه در نقاط دورافتاده،
• فعالیت‌های مربوط به وحدت نژادی و اتحاد فرهنگ‌های گوناگون.

علاقه‌مندان می‌توانند برای دریافت اطلاعات بیشتر دربارهٔ این اتوبوس تبلیغی با خانم لویس آزبورن Lois Osborne تماس حاصل نمایند. تلفن: ۶۲۲۸-۴۷۶ (۴۲۳)

تبرعات به صندوق قوس

FUND RAISING FOR THE ARC PROJECTS

احبای سن گابریل San Gabriel و پامونا ولیز Pomona Valleys در ایالت کالیفرنیا در پاسخ به صلای معهد اعلی برای جمع آوری تبرعات برای ساختمان‌های قوس لجنه‌ای تشکیل داده اند. دستورالعمل لجنهٔ مذکور طرح برنامه‌ هائی برای جمع آوری تبرعات است.

روز ۱۸ جون سال جاری جلسه‌ای تشکیل شد و ۱۵۰ نفر کودک و جوان و بزرگسال بهائی در آن شرکت جستند و مبلغ ۱۲۴ هزار دلار برای صندوق قوس تبرع یا تعهد کردند.

در جلسهٔ مذکور پس از سخنرانی گیرای خانم جوانا کانرد Juana Conrad، عضو محترم محفل روحانی ملی و نطق دکتر حشمت شهریاری ساکن پسدینا Pasadena یاران از شنیدن آهنگ‌هائی که دو تن از احباء راجع به بناهای قوس ساخته بودند، محظوظ شدند.

حقوق الله

از دوستان عزیز مستدعی است تقدیمی‌های حقوق الله را در وجه Bahá’í Huququ’lláh Trust به نشانی یکی از امنای حقوق الله ارسال فرمایند.

Dr. Amin Banani Santa Monica, CA. 90402	Dr. Elsie Austin 9039 Sligo Creek Parkway, #612 Silver Spring, MD. 20901
Dr. Daryush Haghighi Rocky River, OH. 44116

کلاس تزیید معلومات

DEEPENING CLASSES

از ۲۴ تا ۲۷ نوامبر سال جاری کلاس‌های فشرده ای به استادی دکتر ریاض قدیمی در سن‌دیاگو تشکیل خواهد شد.

از علاقه‌مندان به شرکت در کلاس‌های مذکور تقاضا می شود برای دریافت اطلاعات بیشتر به شماره‌های زیر تلفن کنند: روزها ۷۴۹۹-۲۳۴ (۶۱۹) شب‌ها ۷۶۲۳-۷۵۵ (۶۱۹)

کنفرانس دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی

FRIENDS OF IRANIAN CULTURE CONFERENCE

ششمین کنفرانس دوستداران فرهنگ ایرانی از ۲۳ تا ۲۶ ماه می سال ۱۹۹۶ در هتل نورت شور هیلتن North Shore Hilton در شهر سکوکی Skokie - در نزدیکی مشرق الاذکار امریکا - تشکیل خواهد شد.

از جمله موضوع‌هائی که برای سخنرانی در این کنفرانس پیشنهاد شده عبارت است از: فن تاریخ نگاری و سبک‌های گوناگون تاریخ نویسی به زبان فارسی در دوره‌های گوناگون؛ تاریخ نویسان دورهٔ قاجار در ایران؛ تحقیقات تاریخی جناب فاضل مازندرانی؛ نگارش تاریخ وقایع بابی در ایران؛ ارزیابی تاریخی؛ آگاهی تاریخی و رفتار اجتماعی؛ مطالب مربوط به زبان و ادبیات فارسی.

افرادی که مایل باشند دربارهٔ موضوع‌های مذکور یا مربوط به آن سخنرانی کنند یا در جلسات پنل شرکت نمایند درخواست می‌شود با دفتر انجمن تماس حاصل نمایند. شماره تلفن: (۷۰۸) ۷۳۳-۳۵۲۶ ، (۷۰۸) ۷۳۳-۳۵۲۸ (۷۰۸) ۷۳۳-۳۵۳۱

از هنرمندان عزیز و کسانی که مایل به اجرای برنامه‌های هنری مانند موسیقی و شعرخوانی و نمایش باشند، تقاضا می‌شود با مهندس منوچهر وهمن در کانادا تماس حاصل نمایند. تلفن ۹۵۳۹-۶۸۱ (۹۰۵) فکس ۳۷۳۸-۶۸۱ (۹۰۵)

آموزش زبان فارسی

LEARNING PERSIAN

نظر به علاقه مندی برخی از یاران به فراگیری زبان فارسی یا تمایلشان به تکمیل معلومات خود در زبان مذکور و مخصوصاً آشنا شدن با اصطلاحات امری و بهره‌مندی از آثار مبارکه به زبان فارسی، مؤسسهٔ ویلمت در نظر دارد دورهٔ فشرده ای که مشتمل بر مراحل مختلف فراگیری زبان فارسی باشد، در جولای سال آینده در دانشگاه ملی لوئیس در جوار مشرق‌الاذکار ویلمت ترتیب دهد.

در صورتی که تعداد شرکت کنندگان در هر کلاس به حد نصاب برسد، کلاس‌های مذکور تشکیل خواهد شد. از دوستانی که مایل به استفاده از این فرصت باشند، تقاضا می‌شود با دفتر امور احبای ایرانی/امریکائی تماس حاصل نمایند. تلفن: ۳۵۳۱-۷۳۳ (۷۰۸) [Page 25]

۲۰ اکتبر سالروز ولادت حضرت ربّ اعلی

تولد هیکل مبارک در شیراز در یوم اول محرم در منزل آقا میرزا علی، عموی والده هیکل مبارک، به سال ۱۲۳۵ ه ق مطابق ۲۰ اکتبر ۱۸۱۹ میلادی اتفاق افتاد. به نقل از "ایام تسعه"

کاهش تمرکز در تشکیلات ملی

DECENTRALIZATION

کاهش تمرکز در تشکیلات ملی که ۲۱ جون سال جاری آغاز شد همچنان در جریان است. همانگونه که خوانندگان عزیز آگاهی دارند کوشش برای تقلیل تمرکز تشکیلات ملی هنگامی آغاز شد که محفل روحانی ملی نامه‌ای خطاب به محافل روحانی محلی ارسال داشت و تأسیس لجنات منطقه‌ای تبلیغ و امور اداری را به آگاهی محافل مذکور رساند.

حاصل درج نامه مذکور در "آمریکن بهائی" (اول آگست ۱۹۹۵) این بود که بیش از ۳۰۰ نفر از جوامع و افراد بهائی با محفل روحانی تماس گرفتند. این مراسلات گویای اشتیاق فراوان احباء به ابتکار و اقدام بود. همچنین پیشنهادهای یاران و جوامع امری مورد بحث و مشورت در جلسات محفل روحانی ملی واقع شد.

پیشنهادهائی که احباء در زمینه برنامه کار لجنه های منطقه ای تبلیغ و امور اداری ارائه کرده بودند در موارد زیر بود:

طرح و اجرای برنامه‌های ناحیه‌ای، گسترش تحول و بلوغ محافل روحانی، تشویق و حمایت از برنامه‌های تبلیغی و مشروعات مربوط به تحکیم مبانی جامعه، هماهنگ ساختن کوششهای مربوط به روابط بین جوامع امری، اجرای وظائف گوناگون تشکیلاتی.

محفل روحانی ملی دست اندر کار بررسی پیشنهادهای مذکور و مشورت و مذاکره درباره آنهاست. همچنین لجنات منطقه‌ای تبلیغ و امور اداری موضوع اصلی بحث در انجمن‌های شور روحانی ناحیه‌ای (Unit Conventions) بود و نسخه‌هایی از پاسخ محفل ملی در جلسات مذکور توزیع شد و به همه محافل محلی ارسال گردید.

تا کنون حدود یک هزار نفر برای عضویت در لجنات منطقه‌ای تبلیغ و امور اداری پیشنهاد شده‌اند. انتخاب اعضای لجنات مذکور شامل چند مرحله خواهد بود تا معتمدترین و مجرب‌ترین ‎وجدان واجدان واجدان‎ شرایط در لجنات مذکور به خدمت بپردازند.

بعلاوه، در انتخاب اعضای مذکور نظریات "مؤسسه علماء فی‌البهاء" (مشاورین و معاونین) و اظهارات خود واجدان شرایط و نیز مصاحبه‌هائی که با آنان صورت خواهد گرفت، در نظر گرفته خواهد شد.

هدف محفل روحانی ملی این است که تا پایان نقشه سه ساله لجنات منطقه‌ای تبلیغ و امور اداری را تأسیس نماید. در این صورت لجنات مذکور در موقعیتی قرار خواهند داشت که بتوانند در اجرا و اتمام اهداف نقشه بعدی سهیم باشند.

مجمع عرفان

IRFAN COLLOQUIUM

مجامع عرفان به منظور ترویج و تشویق مطالعه و تحقیق در آثار مقدسه ادیان الهی به ویژه امر بهائی با مساعدت مخصوص "صندوق یادبود حاج مهدی ارجمند" ترتیب داده می‌شود.

این مجامع از سال ۱۹۹۱ تا کنون سالانه به زبان‌های انگلیسی و فارسی در آمریکا و اروپا تشکیل گردیده و امید است با کمک یاران علاقه‌مند این فعالیت در دیگر مناطق و به زبان‌های دیگر نیز آغاز شود.

سومین دوره مجمع عرفان به زبان فارسی که هفتمین دوره از مجامع عرفان در آمریکا و اروپا بود در ماه سپتامبر در مدرسه بهائی لؤلؤن با شرکت جمعی از دوستان علاقه‌مند به معارف و مطالعات امری منعقد گردید.

پس از مراسم افتتاح اهداف مجمع عرفان تشریح شد و مخصوصاً این نکته مورد توجه قرار گرفت که شرکت جوانان در مجامع عرفان اهمیت و ضرورت دارد. سپس نکاتی درباره نحوهٔ مطالعات تحقیقی امری توسط فضلای بهائی با استشهاد به نصوص مبارکه مطرح شد.

در این دوره تحقیقات و مطالعات گوناگونی ارائه گردید که با علاقه‌مندی و امتنان حاضران مورد بحث قرار گرفت.

جناب دکتر هوشنگ مهرآسا شرح مؤثری دربارهٔ تاریخچه و شأن نزول لوح برهان بیان کردند و متن لوح مزبور را در جلسهٔ مخصوصی مورد مطالعه قرار دادند.

جناب دکتر منوچهر مفیدی خلاصه‌ای از مطالعات خود را در تشریح و توضیح عبارت "اسرار علم و حکمت الهی" که در الواح مبارکه مذکور شده است عرضه داشتند و وسعت معانی و مفاهیم مستتر در عبارات مندرج در آثار مبارکه را به نحوی مفید و جالب بیان نمودند.

جناب روح‌الله مدیر مسیحائی پژوهش جامعی را درباره مبحث "جزا در آئین الهی" شرح دادند که حاوی نکات بدیع و آموزنده‌ای بود.

جناب دکتر بهروز ثابت پژوهش بسیار عمیق و جالب توجهی را که به منظور تطبیق و تلفیق تعاریفی که برای روح انسانی در آثار مبارکه ذکر شده است و انطباق و ارتباط آنها با نظریهٔ تکامل بر اساس آراء فلاسفه مشهور و مطالعات علمی اخیر ارائه دادند که بسیار مورد تقدیر قرار گرفت و قرار شد متن آن بین شرکت‌کنندگان دورهٔ بعد توزیع شود و این پژوهش مورد بحث و مطالعه مفصل‌تری قرار گیرد.

دکتر گیو خاوری اطلاعات مفید و مفصلی را که درباره سوابق و مندرجات کتاب مستطاب ایقان از منابع و مآخذ گوناگون جمع‌آوری و تنظیم نموده بودند، مطرح ساختند.

جناب اردشیر لهراسب شرحی دربارهٔ احوال و آثار جناب باب الباب بیان کردند.

پس از سخنرانی‌های مذکور درباره برنامه و آینده مجمع عرفان شور و مذاکره شد و مسائلی که می‌تواند مورد توجه قرار گیرد مطرح گردید.

توسعه اقدامات مجمع عرفان و انتشار آثار تحقیقی که توسط پژوهندگان عرضه می‌گردد نیازمند مساعدت یاران و افزایش منابع مالی این مشروع است. دوستانی که علاقه‌مند باشند برای شرکت در توسعه خدمات مجمع عرفان اقدام نمایند و یا میل داشته باشند در مجامع عرفان حضور یابند یا نتایج مطالعات امری خود را در این مجامع ارائه فرمایند، می‌توانند با دفتر امور احبای ایرانی/آمریکائی تماس حاصل نمایند. تلفن: ۳۵۲۳-۷۳۳ (۷۰۸)

دوره‌های مجمع عرفان به زبان فارسی در سال آینده به قرار زیر خواهد بود:

در آمریکا از ۱۱ تا ۱۴ اکتبر سال ۱۹۹۶

در اروپا از ۱۳ تا ۱۶ جون سال ۱۹۹۶

برنامه کامپیوتری مطالعه کتاب اقدس

THE KITAB-I AQDAS MULTIMEDIA

آقایان سینا فیروزی و کوین مریل Kevin Merrill هر دو از احبای کالیفرنیا هستند که همچنین بخشی از یک گروه را تشکیل می‌دهند که شامل شاگردان و کارکنان مدرسه بهائی مکسول در کاناداست.

این دو بهائی عزیز یک برنامهٔ ‎کمپوتری کامپیوتری‎ طرح کرده‌اند که با استفاده از آن بتوان به مطالعهٔ کتاب اقدس پرداخت.

برنامهٔ کامپیوتری مذکور The Kitab-i Aqdas Multimedia نام دارد و به تصویب محفل روحانی ملی کانادا رسیده است. بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی نیز از آن به عنوان "وسیلهٔ مفیدی برای مطالعهٔ کتاب اقدس" یاد فرموده‌اند.

برنامهٔ کامپیوتری مذکور شامل متن کامل کتاب اقدس و حواشی و ملحقات آن و رسالهٔ سؤال و جواب و کشف‌الآیات و تلفظ بسیاری از کلمات عربی است.

علاقه‌مندان می‌توانند برای دریافت اطلاعات بیشتر با مدرسه بهائی مکسول تماس حاصل نمایند.

Maxwell Bahá’í School Bag 1000, Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia V0R 2W0, CANADA کد پست الکترونیکی (E-Mail):

مهاجرت داخله

HOMEFRONT PIONEERING

احبای شهر پورترویل Porterville در ایالت کالیفرنیا به یک بهائی یا خانوادهٔ بهائی احتیاج دارند. پورترویل محیطی روستائی دارد. جامعهٔ بهائی آن شامل تعداد زیادی احبای هندوچینی (مانگ) است. هشت نفر از اعضای محفل روحانی از احبای مانگ و نفر نهم از یاران امریکائی است که به علل بهداشتی به سختی قادر به خدمت است. محفل روحانی سالی یک تا دو بار تشکیل می‌شود. احبای این شهر به کمک دیگر یاران نیاز دارند. علاقه‌مندان می‌توانند برای دریافت اطلاعات بیشتر با دفتر امور پناهندگان تماس حاصل نمایند. تلفن: ۳۵۲۳-۷۳۳ (۷۰۸) [Page 26]ترجمه

پیام بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی

به تاریخ ۱۶ آگست ۱۹۹۵

خطاب به محفل روحانی ملی ساموآ به مناسبت صعود جناب سهیل علائی

از خبر صعود جناب سهیل علائی که خدماتش شامل مهاجرت در ساموآ به مدت چهل سنه، اجرای سهم فراموش‌نشدنی در نشر نفحات الله و تحکیم مؤسسات امریه در سراسر منطقه پاسیفیک، عضویت در اولین محفل روحانی ملی پاسیفیک جنوبی و سپس به مدت بیست سال عضویت در هیئت مشاورین قاره‌ای در استرالیا و اقیانوسیه می‌گردد، بسیار متأثریم. با تحسین فراوان مهربانی و محبتش را به اهالی پاسیفیک و فداکاری خالصانه‌اش را برای ترویج منافع آنان و سهمی که در ارتفاع مشرق‌الاذکار ساموآ بر عهده داشت و اشتغالش به امور امریه تا آخرین لحظه حیات را متذکر می‌گردیم.

توصیه می‌شود محافل تذکری به یاد آن متصاعد الی‌الله در مشرق‌الاذکار و در جمیع جوامع بهائی در ساموآ منعقد گردد، همچنین از محفل روحانی ملی استرالیا تقاضا می‌شود در مشرق‌الاذکار استرالیا نیز محفل تذکری به نامش منعقد نمایند.

در اعتاب مقدسه برای ارتقاء روح پرفتوحش در ملکوت ابهی دعا می‌کنیم. لطفاً مراتب تسلیت این هیئت را به مادر و همسر و سایر اعضاء عائله آن متصاعد الی‌الله ابلاغ نمائید.

بیت‌العدل اعظم

ترجمه

پیام بیت‌العدل اعظم الهی

که در تاریخ ۱۸ آگست ۱۹۹۵ به وسیله فکس به محفل ملی بهائیان برزیل مخابره شده است

MESSAGES FROM THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

قلوب از فقدان جناب حبیب طاهرزاده، مروّج بسیار عزیز و ثابت‌قدم و ممتاز امرالله قرین اسف و اندوه شدید گردید. مساعی خستگی‌ناپذیر آن نفس جلیل در میادین تبلیغ و مهاجرت، و کمک‌های شایانش به غنی ساختن آثار امری، و مراتب استقامت و ازخودگذشتگی و خلوصش که سرمشق و نمونه بود، همواره با مهر و عواطف مخصوص در خاطر خواهد بود.

تسلیت مشفقانه این هیئت را به اعضای خانواده داغدیده اش ابلاغ نمائید و اطمینان دهید که در اعتاب مقدسه برای ارتقاء روح پرفتوحش در ملکوت ابهی صمیمانه دعا می‌کنیم.

توصیه می‌شود محافل تذکری به نام آن متصاعد الی‌الله در سراسر برزیل منعقد گردد.

بیت‌العدل اعظم

متصاعد الی‌الله جناب سهیل علائی

یادی از جناب سهیل علائی

PASSING OF MR. SUHAYL ALA’I

خادم برجسته امر الهی جناب سهیل علائی روز ۱۴ آگست سال جاری در ساموآی غربی به ملکوت ابهی صعود کرد. آنچه در زیر به آگاهی خوانندگان می‌رسد خلاصه‌ای است از شرحی که در یکی از روزنامه‌های ساموآ به نام The Samoa Journal در تاریخ ۱۸ آگست سال ۱۹۹۵ درج شده است.

جناب علائی در ۵ جنیوری سال ۱۹۲۷ در طهران چشم به جهان گشود. پس از پایان تحصیلات متوسطه و ورود به دانشگاه، در سال ۱۹۵۰ ایران را ترک گفت و برای ادامه تحصیلات دانشگاهی عازم نیوزیلند شد و چهار سال بعد از دانشگاه مسی Massey University فارغ‌التحصیل شد.

جناب علائی در سال ۱۹۵۴ در سووا Suva در جزائر فیجی با خانم لیلیان وایس Lillian Wyss، از احبای استرالیا که ساکن ساموآی غربی بود، ازدواج کرد.

این دو خادم وفادار پس از ازدواج به ساموآ بازگشتند و جناب علائی نخست در شرکتی به نام O.F. Nelson Company استخدام شد و سپس در شرکت دیگری به نام MacKenzi Company مشغول به کار شد.

خانواده علائی پس از پنج سال به ساموآی آمریکا نقل مکان کرد و در مجموع بیش از ۴۰ سال را در جزائر ساموآ گذراند و آن را موطن خود به شمار می‌آورد.

از آنجا که جناب علائی با شرایط و اوضاع جزائر ساموآ آشنایی عمیقی داشت و همچنین به علت استعدادش در مدیریت و امور بازرگانی، یکی از شرکت‌های بزرگ غذائی (Van Camp Seafood Company) از ایشان درخواست کرد که به آن ملحق شود. جناب علائی ۸ سال با آن شرکت همکاری کرد.

بعدها جناب علائی خود موفق به تأسیس چند شرکت با نام‌های Pacific Products Inc. و Pacific Marketing and Graphitich Inc. گردید.

جناب علائی به تأسیس و توسعه سازمان‌های اجتماعی علاقه داشت و یکی از بانیان کلوب روتاری در پنگوپنگو Pago Pago در ساموآی آمریکا بود. ایشان همچنین یکی از اعضای اتاق بازرگانی آنجا بود.

جناب علائی و همسرش سه فرزند به نام بدیع و ستاره و ریاض و پنج نوه دارند. بدیع در ساموآی غربی زاده شد و اکنون ساکن نیوزیلند است. ستاره نیز در ساموآی غربی تولد شد و مقیم اندونزی است. ریاض متولد ساموآی آمریکاست و در حال حاضر در استرالیا زندگی می‌کند.

جناب علائی در همه طول عمر خود بهائی بود و خود نسل چهارم یک خاندان بهائی است. اسلافش به علت اعتقاد به دیانت بهائی از شهرهائی که در آن زندگی می‌کردند تبعید شدند و برخی به شهادت رسیدند. خود جناب علائی ۹ ماه از دوران کودکی را به همراه خانواده‌اش در افغانستان گذراند و سپس همگی به علت تدین به دیانت بهائی از آن کشور اخراج شدند.

جناب علائی همواره در خدمات تشکیلاتی و تبلیغی امر بهائی فعالیت داشت. در دوران جوانی تابستان‌ها را در سفرهای تشویقی می‌گذراند. در بسیاری از لجنات جوانان بهائی ایران عضویت داشت و در دوران تحصیل در نیوزیلند در فعالیت‌های جامعه بهائی سهیم بود.

در سال ۱۹۵۴ پس از ازدواج و هنگامی که در جزائر ساموآ اقامت گزید، سهم مهمی در تأسیس و توسعه امر بهائی در آن جزائر و دیگر جزائر اقیانوس آرام ایفا کرد. در تشکیلات اداری محلی عضویت داشت و در اولین محفل روحانی ناحیه‌ای جنوب اقیانوس آرام به خدمت مشغول بود.

جناب علائی در سال ۱۹۶۸ از جمله نخستین اعضای هیئت مشاورین قاره‌ای برای صیانت و تبلیغ در استرالیا و آسیا بود و مدت ۲۲ سال در آن سمت خدمت کرد. در سال ۱۹۹۳ به عضویت محفل روحانی ملی ساموآ و در سال ۱۹۹۵ در سمت ریاست آن محفل انتخاب شد.

جناب علائی بیش از ۴۰ سال در جزائر گوناگون اقیانوس آرام سفر می‌کرد و به گسترش وحدت و صلح می‌پرداخت.

آوازه مهربانی و گشاده‌دستی و مهمان‌نوازی جناب علائی به گوش بسیاری از مردم ساموآ و جزائر اقیانوس آرام رسیده بود. به عنوان بازرگانی باصلاحیت و با انصاف که نیاز مشتریانش را مقدم می‌شمرد، مورد احترام همگان بود. خانواده و دوستانش همواره او را برای خصائص اخلاقی و انصاف و حیات اخلاقی و شوخ طبعیش به خاطر خواهند داشت.

جناب علائی علاقه فراوانی نسبت به ساکنان جزائر اقیانوس آرام داشت و در تأسیس مشرق‌الاذکار ساموآ سهم بسیار مهمی بر عهده داشت و تا آخرین دقایق زندگی خدمات ارزنده‌ای به جامعه بهائی کرد.

هنگامی که خبر درگذشت جناب علائی منتشر شد، خانواده‌اش پیام‌های دلداری و تسلیت بسیاری از دوستان و آشنایانش را از همه جهان دریافت داشتند.

یادش گرامی و روانش جاودانه غريقه عطوفت ایزدی باد! [Page 27]

Tony Pelle, former U.S. public information officer, dies

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

Profoundly grieved loss devoted, energetic, resourceful servant Blessed Beauty Salvatore Pelle. His long involvement development Holy Cause through participation teaching and administrative work especially distinguished by his enduring contributions external relations community through public information activities. His creative endeavors which he pursued with unusual vigor tempered by humor and genuine humility have left indelible mark annals Faith. Ardently praying Holy Shrines progress his radiant soul Abhá Kingdom.

The Universal House of Justice August 29, 1995

Deeply saddened by loss of stalwart servant of God, Colonel Salvatore (Tony) Pelle, whose dedicated services rendered in the Name of Bahá’u’lláh are gratefully recalled.

His membership on the National Spiritual Assembly of Hawaii, his invaluable contributions as Public Information Officer for the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, and his service as coordinator for the dedication of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India, stand as examples to all those who carry the Banner of Bahá’u’lláh.

We pray the Blessed Beauty speed the ascent of his cherished soul toward reunion with its Creator and that He give comfort to the hearts of his dear wife, Marcia, and his children, Gino and Tarah, at this time of separation.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States August 28, 1995

Dear Friends,

Our dearly-loved, highly-treasured, indefatigable Bahá’í brother, Col. Salvatore (Tony) Pelle, passed to the Abhá Kingdom shortly after midnight early this morning [August 26]. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands feels the irreparable loss of a colleague who gave exemplary and outstanding service for over a decade, who fathered the Bahá’í public information office, set high standards of active involvement in the external affairs of our Bahá’í community, propelled and enlivened the NSA with the rapidity of his thinking, his constantly surging creativity, his never faltering vision of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, and his unfailing wit and humor.

In spite of his enduring personal hardships and failing health, he continued to serve the Cause faithfully. His loyalty, dedication, high sense of duty and sacrifice were never more evident than in the care he provided his invalided wife, Charlotte, before her passing, and in the concern and care he showered upon his children, and in the friendship and loyalty he provided his second wife, Marcia, in the final year of his life.

Even in the light of his own remarkable accomplishments, he was always truly humble and self-effacing, always and willingly whenever necessary subordinating his own interests to those of the Cause to which he dedicated his life. The Bahá’ís throughout our islands are greatly saddened by his passing yet deeply honored to have been associated with this extraordinary man.

We offer our most ardent prayers that the bounties and love of Bahá’u’lláh will be showered upon his soul as he enters the Kingdom of Abhá knowing confidently that he will be filled with awe, wonder, astonishment and eagerness to move on into spiritual worlds to encounter at last the Source of his heart’s desire.

National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the Hawaiian Islands

Col. Salvatore (Tony) Pelle, who served from 1965-72 as the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly’s public information officer and later as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hawaiian Islands, died August 26 in Mesa, Arizona.

After retiring from the U.S. Air Force, for whom he was head of public relations in Europe, Col. Pelle moved to Wilmette to manage the National Assembly’s Office of Public Information. While there he handled publicity for the 1967 Bahá’í International Conference in Chicago, designed the first system whereby simultaneous Bahá’í conferences on five continents were joined together by a conference call, developed the North American Bahá’í Office of Human Rights (NABOHR) and provided its slogan, "Human Rights Are God-Given Rights."

Col. Pelle also designed media presentations for the dedications of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama and the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute in South Carolina, the first National Bahá’í Youth Conference in Wilmette, and the memorable Bahá’í conference of 1971 in Kingston, Jamaica.

One of his legacies that survives to this day is the development, training and coordination of an all-volunteer network of Bahá’í public information representatives throughout the U.S.

After moving to Hawaii in 1972, Col. Pelle was named publicity chairman of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and helped spearhead much of the state’s environmental anti-smoking legislation. As a member of the National Assembly, he helped manage the first International Bahá’í Youth Conference held in Hawaii.

In 1985, at the request of the Universal House of Justice, he served as coordinator for the dedication of the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India.

After Charlotte, his wife of many years, passed away, Col. Pelle moved to Chandler, Arizona, where he was married last year to Marcia Swenson, with whom he and Charlotte had become friends while they were living in Wilmette.

Suhayl Ala’í, chairman of National Assembly of Samoa, former Counselor, dies in Apia

Suhayl Ala’í, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of Samoa and for many years a Counselor for Southeast Asia, died August 14 in Apia, Western Samoa, after bleeding from a stomach ulcer. He is survived by his wife, the former Lilian Wyss, a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh to the Samoa Islands.

Don Van Brunt, longtime pioneer to Alaska, Canada, Easter Island

Don Van Brunt, 82, a longtime pioneer from the U.S. to Alaska, Iceland and Easter Island, died August 29 in Monticello, Kentucky.

Mr. Van Brunt became a Bahá’í in Alaska in 1959 and later served as a member of that country’s National Spiritual Assembly.

He and his wife, Marie, pioneered to Iceland in 1971 and were members of the first Spiritual Assembly of Keflavik. Don, who loved young people, spearheaded youth teaching projects in Iceland and other countries in Europe.

After leaving Iceland the Van Brunts settled in Kentucky where Mrs. Van Brunt spent 15 years caring for her elderly parents. During this time Mr. Van Brunt, at age 70, became the first pioneer to Easter Island, arriving in July 1984, and was joined by Marie in 1990 after her parents passed away.

The Van Brunts returned to Kentucky in 1990 owing to Don’s failing health. On their departure, the National Spiritual Assembly of Chile wrote to the U.S. National Assembly that the Van Brunts "are outstanding Bahá’ís who have performed heroic services for the Faith on Easter Island...and they will be sorely missed."

Virginia Uebner, Bahá’í who worked tirelessly for race unity, dead at 84

Virginia Uebner, a Bahá’í for more than 50 years and a tireless worker for race unity, died July 22 in Quincy, Illinois. She was 84 years old.

Mrs. Uebner and her husband, Lester, were members of the first Spiritual Assembly of Melrose Township, Illinois, and together attended both the first and Second World Congresses, in 1963 and 1992.

Mrs. Uebner, who had been forced to leave school as a young woman after ninth grade, returned to school as a great-grandmother and earned her GED (high-school diploma equivalent) at the age of 78.

Reminder to overseas pioneers

Reminder to overseas pioneers who may be traveling to other countries or returning to the States for a short visit or permanently.

Please get a membership card or a letter from your National Spiritual Assembly stating that you are a Bahá’í in good standing. Your U.S. membership card is no longer valid once you have been transferred to another country.

IN MEMORIAM (List)

Oliver A. Ambers Green Valley, AZ August 10, 1995

Dorothy E. Amos New Martinsville, WV May 21, 1995

John Babuska Tampa, FL April 11, 1995

Hussein Bahmardi Aliso Viejo, CA August 10, 1995

Davinia Becerra Virginia Beach, VA August 21, 1995

Lillian C. Best Phoenix, AZ May 9, 1995

Jonathan Brown Palm Springs, CA August 10, 1995

Salmán DeLoughery Harlan, IA May 26, 1995

Christine Shannon-Cooper Elkins, AR July 28, 1995

Eben Giese Fresno, CA August 17, 1995

Nan R. Harris Madison, WI September 1, 1995

Allison G. Hart Tampa, FL August 7, 1995

Lettie Hixson Oregon City, OR July 28, 1995

Barbara Jenkins SAT Asheville, NC Spring 1995

Elizabeth Johnson Hialeah, FL August 12, 1995

Esfandiar Khavari Phoenix, AZ May 3, 1995

Dorothy Lawler Oshkosh, WI August 25, 1995

Mary McDonald Tombstone, AZ February 3, 1995

Oranous Mohajeri Sacramento, CA July 3, 1995

M. Lee Potter Alexandria, VA July 24, 1995

Phillipe Preston Niantic, CT August 13, 1995

Kamal’iddin Raufi Barrington, RI August 21, 1995

Onalee Rushing Poway, CA August 9, 1995

Werner Schnackenberg Englewood, CO June 27, 1995

Robert Stoakley Batavia, IL August 1, 1995

Dorothy Stroessler Pacific Grove, CA August 2, 1995

John Stroessler Pacific Grove, CA August 15, 1995

James Tolbert Westville, IN August 4, 1995

Donald Van Brunt Monticello, KY August 29, 1995

Sherwood Versteeg Vincennes, IN August 7, 1995

"...we urge you, with all earnestness from the utter depths of our conviction as to the ripeness of the time, to lay aside your every minor concern and direct your energies to teaching His Cause — to proclaiming, expanding and consolidating it." — The Universal House of Justice, Ridván 1988 [Page 28]

CALENDAR

In June, Bahá’í entertainer Dan Seals (fourth from left) of Hendersonville, Tennessee, visited Jackson where he spoke to a class in world religions at Union University taught by Randall Bush (third from right), had a number of interviews about race unity on radio and television and spoke at a fireside. An article about Mr. Seals’ visit and his views on race unity was published in the local newspaper, the Jackson Sun.

MOVING? TELL US YOUR NEW ADDRESS.		To avoid unnecessary delays in receiving The American Bahá’í, send all family members’ names, new address and mailing label to: Management Information Services, Bahá’í National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611. If acquiring a Post Office box, your residence address (c) must be filled in. Please allow 3 weeks for processing. (This also updates National’s data base.)
A. NAME(S): 1. _________________________________ I.D. # ________ Title ________ 2. _________________________________ I.D. # ________ Title ________ 3. _________________________________ I.D. # ________ Title ________ 4. _________________________________ I.D. # ________ Title ________
B. NEW RESIDENCE ADDRESS: _________________________________ Street address _________________________________ Apartment # (If applicable) _________________________________ City ____________________ __________ State Zip code	C. NEW MAILING ADDRESS: _________________________________ P.O. Box or Other mailing address _________________________________ Apartment # (If applicable) _________________________________ City ____________________ __________ State Zip code
D. NEW COMMUNITY: ____________________ __________ Name of new Bahá’í Community Moving date	E. HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER: __________ ____________________ __________ Area code Phone number Name
F. WORK TELEPHONE NUMBER(S): __________ ____________________ __________ __________ ____________________ __________ Area code Phone number Name Area code Phone number Name
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

‘ILM B.E. 152 / OCTOBER 16, 1995

NOVEMBER

3-5: Assembly Team Development Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

3-5: College Club Symposium, Green Acre Bahá’í School. To register, phone 207-439-7200 or fax 207-439-7202.

10-12: Youth Eagle Institute with UN Representative Rebequa Murphy and Marshall Murphy, Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033, fax 810-653-7181, or e-mail

10-12: “The Life of Bahá’u’lláh and the Holy Family,” Green Acre Bahá’í School. To register, phone 207-439-7200 or fax 207-439-7202.

10-13: “Celebrating Our Glorious Privilege,” special weekend dedicated to the memory of the martyrs, the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh, and fund-raising for the Arc. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

11: Atlanta Gospel Choir Extravaganza, 7:30 p.m., Bahá’í Unity Center, Decatur, Georgia. Featuring choirs from Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington D.C. and elsewhere. For information, phone Paulette Trail, 404-426-7713, or Anita Strickland, 404-484-1912.

17-19: Seekers/New Believers Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

23-26: Desert Rose Bahá’í School, Tucson, Arizona. Teachers to include Dr. Dan Popov, Dr. William Saunders, Poova Murday. For information, phone 520-297-3106.

23-26: 12th annual D.C. Thanksgiving Youth Conference, College Park, Maryland. Theme: “Back to the Basics: Reviving Our Souls from the Ground Up.” Speakers to include Dr. Elsie Austin, Robert Harris, Dr. Tahereh Ahdieh. For registration forms, write to Thanksgiving Conference, Dunn Loring, VA 22027 (phone 703-573-6364; e-mail

23-26: Second Dallas, Texas, Thanksgiving weekend Bahá’í Conference. Theme: “The Destiny of America.” Guest speaker: Habib Riazati. For information, phone Simin Moghaddas, 214-980-1995 or 214-392-0999.

24-26: After-Thanksgiving Session, “Law and Justice,” Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

24-26: 1995 Texas Bahá’í Studies Conference, “Religion and Human History,” DoubleTree Hotel, Austin. Co-sponsored by Deepen magazine. Registration fee (12 and older), $25. For information, contact the Spiritual Assembly of Austin, Austin, TX 78758, or e-mail

DECEMBER

1-3: Assembly Team Development Weekend, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

8-10: “Rendezvous of the Soul,” Special Session on Relationships (geared for singles), Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

8-10: Race Unity Trainer Workshop and Teacher Trainer Workshop (part 2), Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033, fax 810-653-7181, or e-mail

21-24: 1995 North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development, Clarion Plaza Hotel, Orlando, Florida. Theme: “Paths to Peace: Global Prosperity Through the Advancement of Women, Human Rights & Moral Development.” Honoring Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Chance and Mr. and Mrs. David Hofman. For hotel reservations, phone 800-627-8258 or 407-354-1703; airline discount reservations, phone 800-393-5050; general information, phone 407-740-5415.

22-25: 11th annual Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference, Phoenix (AZ) Holiday Inn Crown Plaza. Children’s conference for ages 5-12; workshops for youth ages 13-21. For information, phone 602-375-8082 from 6-9 p.m. (Mountain time).

22-26: Winter I, Health and Healing Symposium, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

22-January 1: Advanced Academy session, geared for college students, Bosch Bahá’í School. For information, phone 408-423-3387, fax 408-423-7564, or e-mail

23-29: International Youth Conference and Summer School, University of the Northwest, ‎Mmbatho Mmabatho‎, South Africa. Theme: “Awakening the African Drums!” Special programs for children ages 5-7, 8-10 and 11-12. Multi-cultural festival Thursday, December 28. For information, write to the National Youth Committee of South Africa, P.O. Box 34603, Groote Schuur, 7937, South Africa. Phone (021) 448-5770; fax (021) 794-1651; e-mail

27-January 1: Winter School, Louhelen Bahá’í School. For information, phone 810-653-5033, fax 810-653-7181, or e-mail

27-29: 50th anniversary celebration, New Era High School and Junior College, Panchgani, India. All former students, staff and friends are cordially invited to take part. For information, contact the coordinator, 50th Anniversary Celebration, New Era High School and Junior College, Panchgani 412 805, Dist. Satara, Maharashtra, India.

27-January 1: Helen S. Goodall Bahá’í School, “Cornerstones of Unity,” Red Bluff, California. For information, phone 916-529-5856 or fax 916-527-4238.

28-31: “Army of Light” National Youth Conference, Dallas, Texas. Theme: “Excellence in All Things.” Pre-registration deadline: December 10. Hotel: Hyatt Regency DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth). Rooms are $50 per night for up to four people (based on availability) but must be reserved by December 10. Send registration forms to: Dallas Youth Conference, c/o National Teaching Office, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611. For information, phone the National Teaching Office at 708-733-3498.

28-31: South Carolina Bahá’í Winter School, Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute, Hemingway. For information, phone Mahin Kozlow, 803-558-5093.

JANUARY

6: The Canali Concert, a Fund-raising event for teaching and the Arc, Auburn (Washington) Performing Arts Center. For information, phone Diane Lewis, 206-277-8326, or Neda Mohandessi, 206-641-7012.