The American Bahá’í/Volume 30/Issue 8/Text

From Bahaiworks

[Page 1]


LETTER FROM THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE ON ISSUES RELATED TO THE STUDY OF THE BAHA'I FAITH, PAGE 4


Dear Friends,

In May of this year the Universal House of Justice wrote to selected National spiritual Assemblies and to all National tual Assemblies concerni pressing needs of the Bah: national Fund.

Our National Assembly requested permission to publish the letters and sought clarification regarding the statement in the letter to selected National Assemblies about the purchase of centers.

The Supreme Institution responded:

“The Universal House of Justice has considered your email of 30 June 1999

Airwave Alert!

National broadcast schedule at year’s end is busiest ever

ING Baha’i cable broadcasts are reaching their highest volume yet, with half-hour programs and short commercials scheduled to air 279 times nationwide in the last three months of 1999, according to a schedule released by the National Teaching Committee and the 800UNITE office.

This means the friends across the country should expect an increasing number of ers referred to their local communi! through the 1-800-22UNITE phone system and the national public Web site (wwwaus.bahai.org).

Since the national media initiative began early last year, tens of thousands of people have inquired about the Baha’{ Faith. The 1-800-22-UNITE system alone has received 23,000 calls, with the highest-ever monthly response—3,800 calls—in August.

In turn, more Baha’i communities are sponsoring local broadcasts and building better ways of welcoming new seekers. They are organizing fireside teaching, devotional meetings and other programs.

A letter from the National Spiritual Assembly to the friends at Unit Conventions stated in part: “The [Universal] House of Justice has explained that the spiritual conquest of the planet ‘is directly related to the effort of the Baha’i community in promoting the pivotal principles of their Faith.’ Moreover, they noted, that our hopes of progress be realized by concentrating on ‘the major aim of the Divine Plan at its current stage,’ advancing the process of entry by troops.”

See page 13 for TV schedule, stories and hints on using 1-800-22-UNITE.











House of Justice tells of Fund needs

responding to its two letters of 25 May about the pressing needs of the Baha’i International Fund. We have been asked to express its heartfelt gratitude for your prompt response and ng generosity. It noted with particular appreciation that you had earlier decided to increase your contribution to that Fund.

“You may, as requested, publish these letters for the benefit of your national community.

“Regarding the statement in the letter to Selected National Spiritual Assemblies urging good judgment in not



according unduly high priority to local and national needs, your understanding is correct. While it was not intended to prevent the purchase of centers where there is a clearly established need for them, the House of Justice wished to caution against unnecessary and exorbitant expenditures.” We are pleased to share the referenced letters with you. With loving Bah’ greetings, —National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’fs of the United States

SEE LETTERS, PAGE 5



A statement for unity in DC


A flag ceremony caps a Unity in Diversity Day event near the Capitol building in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, the day a planned neo-Nazi march fizzled. The Baha’i community had high-profile participation, staffing a booth and presenting performances that were replayed on TV news. Photo by Derrick Stone




Project 99 lifts youth in California

BY TOM MENNILLO

Wie 12 Southeast Asian youths declared themselves Baha’is in

June during the Southeast Asian Community Builders | Roundtable Conference, it came not from the emotions of a moment but from their long study of the Faith and service to people as participants in Project 99.

Jennifer Muratore of Modesto, California, calls Project 99 “a consolidation’and teaching plan focused on Southeast Asian people, especially youth. It is Baha’i social and economic development: applying our spiritual



principles to everyday life.”

‘The project is named after a sta highway that links inland C California cities: Sacramento, Modesto, and Fresno.

have been lending a hand to thousands of Southeast Asians in those cities and others ever since the Universal House of Justice asked our National Spiritual Assembly to help resettle 50 families from troubled Southeast Asia in 1983, said Puran Stevens, director of the U.S. Baha’i




Refugee Office (USBRO). That office

SEE PROJECT 99, PAGE 21


Octoser 16, 1999

‘ILM/KNOWLEDGE QUDRAT/POWER BAHAY ERA 156





VOLUME 30, NO. 8

“l-N-S-1-D-E:



THE NATIONAL FUND


Between May 1 and September 30, 1999 SEEN TONITE RD $11,250,000

Seal Funes


eee TT TONER NTT

Received/All Funds [eae hire kaa Shi nae




  • E-X-C°E-R°P-T-S:

“Today no power can conserve the

oneness of the Baha’i world save the Covenant of God.” —‘Abdu’l-Bahé




[Page 2]ALMANAC


rsary of the Birth of Baha‘u’llah A Baha’i Holy Day

  • Observed between sundown Nov. 11 and sundown

Nov. 12

  • Work should be suspended

Mirz4 Husayn-‘Ali, Baha'u'llah, was born in Tehran, Persia, on Nov. 12, 1817. His birth signaled the dawning of the Day of God on earth and the appearance of the Greatest Name of God.

“We should feel deeply gratified and thankful to God that at a time when all humanity seems to be struggling in despair we can come together and, with great assurance, feast and be merry over the dawn of a new day; that in the darkness which envelops the world we see the approach of a new light and the breaking of a new era.” (Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance Vol.1, p. 45)

Day of the Covenant

A Baha'i Holy Day

  • Observed between sundown Nov. 25 and sundown

Nov. 26

  • Work is not suspended

“Abdu’l-Baha told the Baha’is that ... [May 23] was not, under any circumstances, to be celebrated as His day of birth. It was the day of the Declaration of the Bab, exclusively associated with Him. But as the Baha'is begged for a day to be celebrated as His, He gave them November 26th, to be observed as the day of the appointment of the Centre of the Covenant.” (H.M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu'l-Babd, p. 523)

Anniversary of Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Baha ‘A Baha'i Holy Day

  • Observed Nov. 28 at 1:00 a.m.
  • Work is not suspended

“Tt is clear how that most dire of calamities, that most

Facts in the “Some significant dates” section


great disaster which was the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bah, may our souls be sacrificed for His meekness, has set our hearts on fire and dissolved our very limbs and members in grief. ... No more does the ardent nightingale carol its joyous songs, and the sweet and holy melodies of the immortal dove are hushed.” (Shoghi Effendi, Babiyyib Khénum, pp. 148-149)

Some significant dates in Baha'i history

Late October and November

October 1852: While imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal (Black Pit) in Tehran, Iran, Baha’u’llah had a vision of a Maiden that told Him of His station as the Manifestation of God for this age.

Oct. 26-Nov. 13, 1928: In the first in a series of appeals to the League of Nations (a forerunner to the United Nations), the claim of the Baha’is to the house of Baha’u’ll4h in Baghdad was upheld. However, the government of Iraq consistently refused to transfer the property to the Baha’is.

November 1944: God Passes By was published. Chronicling the first century of the Babi and Baha’f Faiths, it is the only full-size book by Shoghi Effendi.

Nov. 4, 1957: Shoghi Effendi died while in London, after nearly 35 years as Guardian. His funeral was Nov. 9 in London. The Hands of the Cause of God, after thoroughly inspecting the contents of his safe and desk on Nov. 19, declared that he had left no will naming any successor as Guardian. These events began the ministry of the Hands of the Cause as chief custodians of the Baha’i Faith.

Oct. 20, 1983: The Universal House of Justice issued a letter to the Baha’i world oudlining the principles of the Faith concerning social and economic development.

compiled from A Basic Baha'i Chronology

ALL THINGS


SERENA FULLER, a 17-year-old Baha’i of Glenview, Illinois, was awarded two major scholarships to attend Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, on graduation from Glenbrook South High School with a perfect grade point average.

‘TASHINA GRAVES, a Baha’i seventh-grader in East Meadow, New York, was one of 13 Young Naturalist Award winners for 1999. The American Museum of Natural History chose the winners from 43 states in grades 7-12. Tashina’s contest project, “My Fish-shaped Home: A History of Changes,” was about the geology of Long Island, New York. @


CAROLYN L. MAZLOOMI, a Baha’i in West Chester, Ohio, was selected as a Career Woman of Achievement by the Cincinnati YWCA. Mazloomi’s latest book, Spirits of the Cloth, won the 1999 American Library Association Literary Award for Best Nonfiction Book.

‘Taiss Nowrouzi of El Cerrito, California, was chosen for the annual Kiwanis Club scholarship award from among 337 students in her high school graduating class. In addition to academic excellence, she was recognized for service activities including a summer spent helping a rural health care team and involvement in the Berkeley Youth Alternative in Community Gardening. #




‘Touran Ranimpovur, a highschool junior from Colorado Springs, Colorado, was one of 45 students nationwide selected to begin their college studies early this fall through the Resident Honors Program at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He will begin his major studies in Aerospace Engineering in the School of Engineering. At William J. Palmer High School, Toufan was the captain of the Science Olympiad, Science Bowl and Mock Trial teams and won a competition for the Colorado Medical Physics Award. @

‘Tata REzat, a 17-year-old Baha'i from Oak Park, California, was selected to attend school in Germany next year as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange student. This highly selective high school exchange program is designed to strengthen ties between the next generations of both countries.

HasaN SCHWANDES, an 18year-old Baha’i from Gainesville, Florida, received a full two-year tuition-and-books _ scholarship from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville. He maintained a perfect grade point average for the last two years of high school, part of that time also taking classes from the college. #



THE AMERICAN

Managing Editor / Editorial Content James Humphrey /

Managing Editor / Art Director Amethel Parel-Sewell

Associate Editor ‘Tom Mennillo

Associate Editor Ramzia Duszynski

Print Production Specialist Aaron Kreader

Facilities Manager Artis Mebane

Contributors

Wes Baker, Jim Cheek, Rich Beauchesne, Randolph Dobbs,

Patricia Haynie, Ivan Lloyd, Kevin Morrison, Phyllis Ring,

Cornelia Rutledge, Derrick Stone, Dennis Howard Taylor, Ruhi Vargha, Martha Wolverton

date mailings, please contact Membership: e, Baha'i National Center, 1233 Central St., TL 60201 ( _). There ct the Managing Editors directly. A

‘Paper.

RU Ce ee Cru ae Lay Coma Rue ae



page 2

THe AMERICAN BAnA’i ¢ ALMANAC/EXCELLENCE

October 16, 1999


[Page 3]

oP HE SE


MOT etree


Filling a gap to ease hunger

Tucson Baha’i food project helps neighbors in ways other agencies often can’t


BY MARTHA WOLVERTON, TUCSON, AZ


wo or three days a week, the back yard of the Tucson, Arizona, Baha’ Center is musical with the sound of spoken Spanish, bustling with




women picking up food and used clothing, and lively with children pl For five years, the Baha'i Food

Distribution Program has helped needy families and the elderly in the neighborhood by collecting outdated food from


grocery stores and giving it

Without having to qu federal aid, people can get fresh vegetables, bread and sometimes dairy prodilable from





ucts—items not general! the community food bank.

One young woman arrived at the Baha’{ Center in desperate straits. She had no job and no money for food or clothing. Reba Faulkner, director of the program, told her to take whatever she needed from the baskets of fresh food and the racks of used clothing.

‘Two weeks later, with a job and a paycheck on the way, the grateful woman wrote the local daily newspaper about the program. Within days, the Arizona Daily Star visited and produced a beautiful article with full-color photos on the

  • front page of one ion of the paper.

Titled “Baha’i benevolence,” the artilayed Baha’u’llah’s quotation “Charity is pleasing and praiseworthy in the sight of God and is regarded as a prince among goodly deeds,” and featured a box ining facts about the Faith. This free publicity informed more











People from the neighborhood of the Baha’i Center in Tucson, Arizona, gather in the shade of a ramada-style porch during a food distribution. Photo by Ivan Lloyd, Tucson, AZ

needy people of the program and attracted inquiries about the Faith. Radio station KXCI has invited a Baha’ to appear on its weekly show “Talking Tucson.” nder Faulkner's faithful direction, vols drawn from the participants pick up the food, sort it and arrange it on large tabfes under'the back porch of the B: ter. Carol Gomez, Faulkner's “right hand,” spends many hours coordinating efforts with food nd getting additional food from y Food Bank.

{ program is connected with that supply high












quality used clothing for distribution to their clients under a voucher program. The clothing is also sold at a nominal price, which helps make the program self-sufficient.

Participants are asked to give a 75cent donation, and if they can’t pay it they are asked to help in the program for an hour. But no one is turned away.

Many participant: questions about the Faith, and several have become Baha'is. Best of all, the program has brought the neighborhood into the Baha’f Center, which was previously distrusted as the home of a strange, unknown religion. @









Youths in Northeast take race unity to community


BY PHYLLIS RING f they had just talked among themselves, nobody else might have


known.

But youths at a Green Acre Baha’{ School session in July took the ideas on race unity straight to the public, local newspapers took notice, and suddenly it’s a community happening every month.

About 20 youths—Baha’is at the Green Acre course joined by others from the area—took part in “The Changing Face of America: A Youth Dialogue on Race” at a bookstore in nearby Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The young people ¢ d the roots









red their questions and feelings on



how s them.

Jennifer Pome New Jersey, and a friend of an attending Baha’, said racism is often reinforced by the environment where children grow up. “Everybody is born like a blank piece of paper. I think whar’s put on that paper is what that person becomes,”

, 15, of Morristown,







she said. Melinda Salazar, an educator, diversity



Maeghan Naimie (center), 13, of Cape Neddick, Maine, listens as her brother Charles, 11, shares views at a public youth dialogue on race facilitated by Melinda Salazar (left) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Photo by Rich Beauchesne, courtesy of Seacoast Newspapers

trainer and instructor of women’s studies at the University of New Hampshire, gue as part of a class, that she was leading

nged the dial


ard Oneness, at theGi

Salazar arranged the dialogue so the i’is could share ideas they had been



n Acre youth session



exploring in class along with other local


youths. Its success inspired her to schedule more Youth Dialogues on Race at least monthly at the bookstore.

‘Two daily newspapers covered the dialogue, one of them reporting it on the front page with a photo.








THE FUND

May 1-Sept. 30, 1999

Contributions received by National Treasurer




Goal for entire year:

$27,000,000.

Received since May 1, 1999: $6,956,236

26% of year’s goal year’s ge

has been met

42% of fiscal year has passed

April 30, 2000 4







Allocations to

Other Funds




Arc Projects Fund $915,972

International Baha’i Fund

$622,641

tal Baha’i Fund $112,976


Other contributions: $306,716


Total cash-basis revenues and expenditures

for Baha'i National Fund

May 1-August 31, 1999 (latest available)

PAO Hye

Revenues (contributions, book sales, school fees etc.)


$8,502,353

Expenditures (operations, capital and debt payments etc.)





Critical projects that could no longer be deferred have forced our Baha’i national operations into a cash deficit.


Mail contributions to: National Baha’i Fund 112 Linden Avenue Wilmette, IL 60091-2800 Please write Baha’i ID # on check





October 16, 1999

Tne American BanA’i * THe Seconp Front

page 3 [Page 4]

Message dated April 7, 1999, to all National Spiritual

Assemblies

The booklet

Issues Related to the Study of the Baha’i Faith, referred to in this letter of the Universal House of Justice, is available in the US. from the Baha'i Distribution Service. Call 800-999-9019 for information.


n May of 1998, Baba’ Canada reproduced a collection of letters which the Universal House of Justice had written to

variot


individuals on the subject of the aca‘aith. Copies of this quently mailed by the



demic study of the Ba


compilation were sub:


Canadian Na


onal Spiritual Assembly to its sister Assemblies. The reprint has now been made generally available in booklet form by the United States Baha’i Publishing Trust. The House of Justice has asked us to forward you a copy of the latter publication with the following comments.

As a number of the friends are aware, a campaign of internal opposition to the ‘Teachings is currently being carried on through the use of the Internet, a communications system that now reaches virtually every part of the world. Differing from attacks familiar in the p Faith into a socio-political ideology alien to

ast, it seeks to recast the entire


Baha’u'llah’s intent. In the place of the instiauthority His Covenant, it promotes a kind of interpretive authority which those behind it attribute to the views of persons technically trained in Middle East studies.

Early in 1996, the deliberate nature of the plan was revealed in an accidental posting to an Internet list which Baha’ subscribers had believed was dedicated to scholarly exploration of the Cause. Some of the people responsible resigned from the Faith when Counsellors pointed out to them the direction their activities were taking. A small number of others continue to promote the campaign within the Baha’i community.

In the past, in situations of a somewhat similar nature, the patience and compassion shown by ‘Abdu’l-Bahé and the Guardian helped various believers who had been misled by ill-intentioned persons to eventually free themselves from such entanglements. In this same spirit of forbearance the Universal House of Justice has intervened in the current situation only to the extent that has been unavoidable, trusting to the good sense and the goodwill of the believers involved to awaken to the spiritual dangers to which they are exposing themselves. Nevertheless, certain Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies are monitoring the problem closely, and the friends can be confident that whatever further steps are needed to protect the integrity of the Cause will be taken.

As passages in the enclosed reprint make clear, this campaign of internal opposition— while purporting to accept the legitimacy of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice as twin successors of Baha’u’llah and

tutional established — by

the Centre of His Covenant—attempts to cast doubt on the nature and scope of the authority conferred on them in the Writings. When other Baha’is have pointed out that such arguments contradict explicit statements of the Master, persons behind the scheme have responded by calling into question the soundness of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s own judgement and perspective. Gradually, these arguments have exposed the view of those involved that Baha'u'llah Himself was not the voice of God to our age but merely a particularly enlightened moral philosopher, one whose primary ing society.

ion would likely


concern was to reform exi By itself, such oppo: stand little chance of influencing reasonably



informed Baha’fs. As one of the letters in the enclosed reprint (20 July 1997) points out, the scheme reli


for effect, therefore, on exploiting the confusion created in modern thought

by the reigning doctrines of materialism.


Although the reality of God’s continuous relationship with His creation and His intervention in human life and history are the very essence of the teachings of the Founders of the revealed religions, dogmatic materialism today insists that even the nature of religion itself can be adequately understood only through the use of an acadernic methodology designed to ignore the truths that make religion what it is.

In general, the strategy being pursued has been to avoid direct attacks on the Faith’s Central Figures. The effort, rather, has been to sow the seeds of doubt among believers about the Faith’s teachings and institutions by appealing to unexamined prejudices that Baha’fs may have unconsciously absorbed from non-Baha’i society. In defiance of the clear interpretation of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and the Guardian, for example, Baha’u’llah’s limiting of membership on the Universal House of Justice to men is misrepresented as merely a “temporary measure” subject to eventual revision if sufficient pressure is brought to bear. Similarly, Shoghi Effendi’s explanation of Bahéa’u’llah’s vision of the future Baha’i World Commonwealth that will unite spiritual and civil authority is dismissed in favour of the assertion that the modern political concept of “separation of church and state” is somehow one that Baha’u’llah intended as a basic principle of the World Order He has founded. Particularly subtle is an attempt to suggest that the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar should evolve into a seat of quasi-doctrinal authority, parallel to and essentially independent of the Local House of Justice, which would permit various interests to insinuate themselves into the direction of the life processes of the Cause.

‘Typically, when misrepresentations of the

Mi ISSUES RELATED TO THE STUDY OF THE BAHA'I FAITH

Dear Baha’i Friends,

kind described are challenged, the reaction of those behind the campaign has been to claim that their civil rights are being threatened, an

assertion that is of course meaningless in the


light of the purely voluntary nature of Baha’s


membership. Much emphasis is placed by them also on academic freedom, their view of which proves, on examination, to be mérely freedom on their part to pervert scholarly discourse to the promotion of their own ideo clude from


logical agenda, while seeking to

di ion features of the Baha’i Faith that are


central to the Writings of its Founders.

‘The effect of continued exposure to such insincerity about matters vital to humanity's well-being is spiritually corrosive. When we encounter minds that are closed and hearts that are darkened by evident malice, Baha'u'llah urges that we leave such persons to God and turn our attention to the opportuniti


which multiply daily for the promotion of the truths which He teaches. In words written at the direction of the Guardian, regarding a situation similar to, though much less


serious than, the present one, “... the friends should be advised to just leave these people alone, for their influence can be nothing but negative and destructive. ...”

‘The enclosed material is being sent to your Assembly less out of concern over the immediate situation, which is being systematically addressed, than because of longer-term considerations to which it lends perspective. What we are currently seeing, in a relatively primitive form, is the emergence of a new kind of internal opposition to Baha’u’llih’s Mission. While it will no doubt assume other features as time passes, it is a kind of opposition that takes aim directly at Baha’u’llih’s assertion of the spiritual nature of reality and of humanity’s dependence on the interventions of Divine Revelation.

Developments of the kind described will come as no surprise to friends who are familiar with the Guardian’s description of the successive waves of “crisis” and “victory” that have marked the history of the Faith ever since its inception. It is precisely this cyclical process, Shoghi Effendi says, that has propelled the steady unfoldment of Baha’u’llah’s intent, testing our commitment to His Teachings, purifying His community, and releasing a greater measure of the capacities latent in His Revelation. That resistance to Baha’u’llah should now be emerging in yet a new guise is itself a tribute to the gathering strength of the Cause, offering the friends everywhere new opportunities for the deepening of their faith and the energizing of their work.

With loving Baha’i greetings, Department of the Secretariat


page 4 Tne AMERICAN BanA’l ¢ From THe UniversaAL House or Justice = October 16, 1999 [Page 5]

LETTERS FROM THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Dear Baha’ Friends,

“e enclose a copy of a letter now

being sent on behalf of the

Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies, advising them of the needs of the Baha’{ International Fund. It is the confident expectation of the House of Justice that the friends in all parts of the world will respond positively, and that the progress towards the goal of universal participation in contribut‘unds of the Faith will continue.



ing to the

The House of Justice has asked us to inform you that it regards your Baha’i communiti having a special role beyond that of a



as

widespread involvement by the rank and file of the believers in the support of the Fund. An appreciable proportion of the members


of the Faith in your area have resources far

Dear Baha’i Friends,

ith the Four Year Plan proceeding rapidly toward its conclusion, the Universal House of Justice has decided that it information about the international funds of


necessary to provide you with the Faith. We have been asked to convey the following.

As a result of the sacrificial contributions from believers everywhere for over a decade, the vast construction project on Mount Carmel is moving toward conclusion with unprecedented speed. The House of Justice is confident that Baha’is throughout the world will continue to meet the need expressed in its 20 June 1995 letter to you for the contribution of ten million dollars each year until the end of the century.

Anew challenge has emerged as a result of the progress of the Faith both at the World Centre and throughout the planet. It is becoming evident that the level of expenditure required from the Bahé ig sharply, due to a combination of the following factors.


international Fund is i

he Edifices and ‘Terraces on Mount Carmel


must be maintained at a standard appropriate to their character and the dignity of the Faith; measures must also be instituted to handle, in an


appropriate manner, the greatly increased number of people expected to visit the Terraces and to provide protection from damage. The emergence of the World Administrative Centre on the Mountain of God in all increased attention to the Faith, and thus creating new opport ence of the Cau


splendour is attracting


ies for extension of the influe. The achievements of the energetic and dedicated prosecutors of the Four




other parts of the world who labour under conditions of

beyond those of the dear friends

economic deprivation. Without being subjected to pressure or solicitation, they should be assisted to realize the degree of their responsiig the


bility to contribute substantially to meet international needs of the Faith.

At this time when the calls on the Baha’i Fund at all levels of its activity far exceed the amount available, good judgement is specially required in the disposition of the financial resources of the Faith. ‘Two extremes are to be avoided: one, where attention is focused entirely on meeting international needs, and the development of the homefront is hamstrung; and at the other extreme, where the local and national needs are accorded unduly high priority, including the acquisition of expensive Baha’f Centres, and international

Year Plan in all parts of the planet, establishing new institutions of the Faith and increasing its human resources, have raised the tempo of the

administrative activity at the World Centre, and


call for the assignmentrof more resources to ensure that its work is carried out efficiently and with dispatch. The need for property acquisition in both Haifa and Akka areas to safeguard the serenity of the environs of the Holy Places, to which reference has been made in an earlier let ter, remains pressing as the process of urban



development in this area accelerates. The House of Justice draws your attention to the nec


ity for increased support of the Baha’{ Fund at an international level with full confidence that the impressive record of sacrificial endeavour by the believers will be sustained in their response to the situation described here. The formulation of budgets at

responsibilities are neglected. Through your guidance to the Baha’i community, and


through the continuing development of a

world-minded consciousness in the believers,


the right balance can be found and maintained.

It is surely evident to any observer of world events that human affairs are now volatile and subject to sudden and unforeseen changes. The friends have an opportunity to ensure that their resources are used for the enduring benefit of the Cause through their sacrificial and generous efforts to support its global activities, at this time when their financial circumstances are so favourable.

The supplications of the House of Justice will be offered at the Sacred Threshold on their behalf.

With loving Baha’s greetings, Department of the Secretariat

a national and local level should be carried out in the light of these conditions. Above all there should be no interruption to your sustained effort to assist the friends in your area to acquire a deeper understanding of the spiritual obligation binding upon all, irrespective of their circumstances, to contribute to the Funds of the Faith. In particular, those believers who -d with material resources beyond those necessary for their essential needs should ponder deeply the responsibilities resting upon them at this time when the requirements of the Cause are so pressing. The prayers of the Universal House of Justice will be offered at the Holy Shrines for the confirmation of their endeavours to assist

have been ble:




in the advancement of the Faith. With loving Baha’i greetings, Department of the Secretariat



Message dated May 25, 1999, to selected National Spiritual

Assemblies

Message dated May 25, 1999, to all National Spiritual

Assemblies


October 16, 1999 Tue AMERICAN BanA‘i * From tHe UNIVERSAL House or Justice page 5 [Page 6]

Selected Assembl

ith joyous hearts, the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men expresses its appré tion to all the communities who have presented the statement To Wings of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men to the mayors and city councils of their localities. We thank you for continuing to send in your reports to ncewm@usbnc.org. Are you wondering what's next? The Local Spiritual Assembly of the capital city of every state has been asked by NCEWM, working in conjunction




A


message from the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men



with the Office of External Affairs, to present the statement to their governors during September. It was suggested that the presentation be made by a delegation representing a cross-section of Baha’fs from the state.

From preliminary reports we understand that plans got under way in numer Race unity conference in DC: reconciliation, loving honesty

BY CORNELIA RUTLEDGE, WASHINGTO!

bout 200 Baha’is focused on the A th to unity in the South at the first sub-regional conferenc the Southern Race Uni Fam) from Virginia, Maryland, West and the District of Columbia arrived at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, on July 25 eager to share their expectations and concerns about the most





conducted by Committee.




challenging issue facing America.

At the end, reluctant to leave, Baha'is of all ethnicity were seen hugging one another, some in tears, as they set out to face the new challenges of breaking down the barriers that




prevent us from acknowledging eness while celebrating our gloinctions.

Over the weekend, they had listened

CORE C ie ENCOURAGING YOUNG RACE UNITY WORKERS

BY THE EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS OFFICE

H” can children, youths and parents work within schools and neighborhoods to promote racial unity, the “most vital and challenging issue” facing this nation?

We would like to offer a few suggestions in hopes that Baha'is will share steps they have taken to focus. on racial prejudice, “the corrosion of which has bitten into the fiber and attacked the whole social structure of American society.” —Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 28

While discussions about race and race prejudice are never easy or comfortable, it is critical to begin the dialogue. We encourage you to find the boldness to act.

As a first step, present the National Spiritual Assembly’s statement The Vision of Race Unity or the booklet The Light of Unity: Healing Racism to your child’s teacher or school principal.

Perhaps the local Baha’{ school

to poetry, watched films on systematic nd struggled with the goal of ying and eradicati in the Bal was centered on the Sacred Writings.

Youths were well-represented at the conference, which w sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Fairfax County Northwest and the DC Metro Coordinating Team. Youths conducted children’s classes, led everyone in song, and participated wholeheartedly in the dialogue.

In fact, a youth paved the way for one of the most moving sessions in the program, by humbly standing to add: audience in a true spirit of recone and loving hone xample ins

painful yet vital cone












SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 12

ous states to make the presentations as soon as possible. Please keep us posted on your progress.

What if you don’t live in a capital city? ‘There are many ways to keep involved with this campaign. Your community may want to consult on ideas for local activities that promote the understand es bring ‘Two Wings’ to governors

ing and implementation of the spiritual principle stated so clearly by Baha’u’llah that “women and men have been, and will akways be, equal in the sight of God.” You might organize events or presentations with local schools, libraries and/or likeminded organizations. In addition, you might pray for the success of the state presentations.

We look forward to hearing more about your ideas and initiatives and we send our loving thanks to all of you who are working so tirelessly in this Cause.



by Everet


several of taking the day off: They made and se

gular highway,cleanup. Pictured from left are Kalee ‘Mahsa Darab, Patrick Javid and Paul Javid.

i

we

Some of the same youths are




can try one or more of the following

activities. Then branch out to aca demic schools: Find out whether a

teacher, a principal or superinten dent would support one of these efforts as a classroom or even wholeschool project.

  • Look at the quote above from

Shoghi Effendi and explore with children the concept of corrosion. Collect items that have corroded with rust and discuss the possible spiritual metaphors.

  • Discuss the meanings of “vital” and

“challenging” and brainstorm on various ways of using those words. Then discuss how these words relate to racial prejudice in this country.

  • Have children research stories from

around the country (perhaps through Bahd’i Newsreels or The American Baha?) in which individuals or communities have overcome sracial prejudice. Have children

develop dramatic vignettes or comic strips based on these stories. Study and discuss the spiritual qualities demonstrated in the accomplishments of the Baha’{ community regarding racial unity, such as the life of the Hand of the Cause Louis Gregory, race unity conferences, youth workshop activities or Calling All Colors conferences.

  • Invite representatives of groups

promoting racial unity to give presentations to children, so they can become aware of a variety of efforts, especially involving children.

Have children write letters to the leaders of cities visited by ‘Abdu’lBaha while He was in the United States and share what they learned about His talks and the example He set. Include beautifully written and illuminated extracts from His talks on race unity and the abolition of racial prejudice.

°

  • Have children consult in groups on

steps that can be taken in their cla rooms and neighborhoods to eliminate racial prejudice. Brainstorm on possible effects of such efforts,

  • Have children keep journals of

their own challenges and feelings as they experience specific incidents in their own life and witness incidents in their community and nation.

‘Tell us about your successes involving children and youth in similar activities. Contact the Education and Schools Office at the Baha’i National Center (phone 847-733-3492, e-mail

).

Many of the ideas expressed here come

From the Core Curriculum Race Unity

program. For more information on this

comprehensive training, please contact the

National Teacher Training Center at

Louhelen Baba’i School (phone 810-653 5033, e-mail .¢






page6 THe AMERICAN BaAnA’l * PROMOTING THE PRINCIPLES

October 16, 1999 [Page 7]

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‘Tue American BanA’i ¢ BauA’i DisTRIBUTION SERVICE page 7 [Page 8]


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ae






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page 8 THe AMERICAN BAnA‘i * BanA’i DistRIBUTION SERVICE

October 16, 1999


[Page 9]

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October 16, 1999 Tue American BanA’l * BanA’i DistRiBUTION SERVICE page 9 [Page 10]LOE ME ee OF LR IEE EIT


Setting the Centr a l States af

Project Wildfire, a

fire!


performing arts group that traveled around the Central States over the past year, reached thousands of people with the message of Baha'u'llah through performances in schools, community centers, festivals, and other venues, including television appearances.

Back to Balkans: One World dancers work to ignite hearts

BY RANDOLPH DOBBS, LOS ANGELES, CA eager to check in on the Bulgarian Baha’i ae eee ee friends she helped train last summer,

when she volunteered with the Diversi

66 Tyvive, six, seven, eight, ... ‘airplane, Dance Theater organized by the ‘T don’t know.” National Spiritual Assembly of Germany. Rouha ‘Taslimi calmly prompted “Dhe Bulgarian youth we worked with in dancers with code words. In response, the _ Sofia, wéte:in 4 workshop called Edinstvo, youths extended their arms, then bent which means“‘unity’ in ‘Bulgarian. And I them at the elbow. really want to Connect with them,” she said, ‘Twenty young Baha’f members of the “because although we/helped them with Bulgarian traveling teaching team and, “the structure ofa dance workshop, we didtheir adult advisers would be leaving for “itpactually get toteach with them arg ee the Balkan Peninsula in a few days and\, makes all the difference.” everyone would have to know all. wu For about half the partiéipants this was






dance routines by heart. a return. “We have to géteready,” Rouha sat, Mona\ Mossayeb,/24 of Temple*Gityy “and we have a long.way to £6.” California, on@of four coordinatorsand a

Known as the Qne World Dance, veteran ‘of last year’s program, said that Company, the talénted traveling teachers. “this years different because we’re.going perform an innovative set of modern, hip- _for’Six weeks and. not foursand we’revalso, hop and African-style dance integrated usingstwice the mamber of»peoplé"Sifice: into a 90-minute anti-drug and™alcohol, we're integrating Bulgarian Bahatis. into program that promotesith¢ elimination of the dance company. Ofcourse, our bud= prejudice—a virtuewof particular’signifi- get is twice as much, too. cance in the Balkans. But another thing thade ‘this year’s trip

‘The six-week tour under the sponsor- different from the one last yearsthe r ship of the Spiritual Assembly of Los war in Kosovo. Yugoslavia borders Bulgaria, Angeles, took the traveling teachers to and when NATO warplanes ‘targeted Sofia, Varna and Ruse, three of the largest Serbian encampments in neighboring atéas cities in Bulgaria. It was the second such some of the bombs landed in Bulgaria. trip to Bulgaria in as many years. Naturally some parents of group miémbers

‘The 20 dancers and support workers — were concerned about sending their children came from all four regions of the United into danger. “What would the attitude be






States plus Canada. towards Americans?” they wondered. “What Jenny Husseni, 22, of Vancouver, _ ifthe Baha’{ youth weren’t welcome?” British Columbia, said she was especially Sina Mossayeb, 23, another co-coordina



“Contributing to the Fund is a service that every believer can render, be he poor or wealthy; for this is a spiritual responsibility in which the amount given is not important. It is the degree of the sacrifice of the giver, the love with which he makes his gift, and the unity of all the friends in this service

which bring spiritual confirmations.”


—Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 19





tor, wrote to the Universal Houseof Justice and the International Teaching Center seeking guidance. After all, he reasoned, maybe teaching efforts would be better spent somewhere else.

Part of the response he received from the House of Justice states: “With respect to the question of the Bulgarian attitude towards Americans and the impact which this may haye on your teaching efforts, this will in large méasure depend upon the way in which your group is presented. If you ‘Are introduced as Baha’is and world citizeiis, following the teachings of a Faith ‘which transcends national borders, your unified and loving efforts to promote the principles of unity in diversi collaboration with the local Baha’is, present 4 healing message to a dispirited populace.”

‘The International Teaching Center, for









Team Baha’i, a recently formed workshop based in the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is dedicated to hard work, harmony, and service. With several young Baha’is ages 8 to 13, the workshop has performed several times since forming last November.

its part, encouraged the group to return to (left to right) Hoda and Bulgaria, saying, “There is no doubt that Halleh Bakhtian of Santa


th


rit and organization that character- Monica, California, practice

izes the work.of the One World Dance dance routines.

Company can again ignite the hearts of many Bulgarians.” With such encouraging guidance,




don't know.” @


DON’T LET YOUR CAMPUS ASSOCIATION GO WITHOUT IT!

Anewly revised, much-expanded edition of the Baha’i Campus Association handbook has been prepared by the National Youth Committee. Get your copy now by registering your Campus Association (or yourself) through the national Web site (www.usbnc.org) or by mail (address at right).


COLLEGE STUDENTS

the way was clear for the youths to vigorously proceed.

ce more from the top: “Five, six, seven, eight, ‘airplane,’ ‘I


National Youth Committee Baha’i National Center 1233 Central St. Evanston, IL 60201!

phone 847-733-3499 e-mail


page 10 THe AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ Your October 16, 1999 [Page 11]





My name is Virtuewoman. Join ~ ) us in our adventures and learn about

(onal

—{ Masha. Visit usin the next Brilliant Star. 4




meee


S ia has learned that there are as many different kinds of money as there are different countries. Today, money usually comes in the form of bank notes (paper money) and coins. When you travel to another country, you have to change your money to the other country’s money so you can pay for things. Below is a

list of the names of the different kinds of money. Can you guess

which country they come from?

Match the money with its country!

Liang has hints to help you out. Using a world atlas or a globe may be handy for this puzzle.

Bank Note & Coin Country



e Dollar & Cent (has 50 States) Burma Naira & Kobo (in West Africa) China Kyat & Pyas (next to China) Cuba New Sol & Centavo (in South America) Ethiopia Krona & Aurar (sounds a bit chilly!) Iceland Kina & Tooa (name has 3 parts) India Pound & Pence (surrounded by cold water) Iran

Peso & Centavo (an island near Florida) Israel


Rupee & Paise (Baha’i House of Worship) Nigeria New Shekel & Agorot (World Center)

Rand & Cent (furthest south part of Africa) Peru

Rial & Dinar (where Baha’u'llah was born) South Africa Yuan & Fen (Chinese is the language) United Kingdom

United States of America

Papua New Guinea

Birr & Cent (next to Kenya and Sudan)



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SUYIMSNV





Activity by the Office of the Treasurer



Do you have something to SHARE with BRILLIANT STAR, like PHOTOgraphs, stories, poems, or DRAWings? Tell us what you are DOING latety in your Baha’i COMMUNITY!

We invite kids, youth, artists,

photographers, writers, and teachers to send submissions for our upcoming

issues. Our general themes are:

Unity in Diversity

The Harmony of Science and Religion

The Time Capsule

Making the World a Better Place

The Arc Projects

Please include your name, age, and contact information with submissions.





. Selnsetistan

‘Bandi Media Services







For subscriptions to BRILLIANT STAR,

CG Fer eee ed at 800-999-9019

or see page 23 to subscribe.





October 16,1999

Tue American BanA‘t * BRivuant Stak Kip‘s CORNER page II [Page 12]


poe er ee CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

91ST BAHA'I INNA BION AB ig) perception that the ideas of minority members of out community CONVENTION | 2 “reatedly ignored, the glossing over of the tough diversity

issues by some of the friends in the name of being blind to color, April 27-30, 2000 i

s where the majority are







in communit speakers.

a lay morning, attendees were treated to moving and educaThe 91st Baha’i National tional multimedia presentations by Chuck Egerton, Hoda Convention will be held sseii on-' one April 27-30, 2000, at the Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, Illinois, the Conventions Office of the National Spiritual Assembly has announced. Any Baha’i in the United implement the spit States in good standing everyday commu understanding other culturé working may attend the conven- closely with like-minded organiz: tion. Further details will be and educating Baha’i children on the liv 7 published in future issues of Jack Guillebeaux, a members of the Regional Baha’ C for The American Baha’i and the Southern States, issued a call for attendees to recommit themon the Administrative Web selves to a “nurturing an environment that is loving and accepting Site (www.usbnc.org). and embraces diversity of all kinds” (from The Vision of the Regional Council of the Southern States). ©





on rae to treat e: i aie so a they can s of every heritage into the community of

ize new ways to essence of the Faith systematically in












HUQUQU’LLAH THE RIGHT OF GOD


Payments to Huqiqu’ll4h should be made to “The Baha’ Huqtiqu’llah Trust” (please write your Baha’ identification number on your check) and sent to one of the Trustees:

  • Amin Banani, Santa Monica, CA 90402 (phone 310-394-5449, fax 310394-6167, e-mail )
  • Stephen Birkland, Arden Hills, MN 55112 (phone 651-484-9518, fax

651-415-1766, e-mail )

  • Sally Foo, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 (phone 609-671-9125, fax 609>

671-0740, e-mail )

  • Daryush Haghighi, Rocky River, OH 44116 (phone 440-333-1506,

fax 440-333-6938, e-mail ) + Elizabeth Martin, P.O. Box 178, Winnsboro, SC 29180 (phone 803-635-9602, e-mail

)




‘CLIP OR COPY THIS FORM

PLANNED GIVING

Uwe would like more information about planned


giving. | am particularly interested in: E extends\our options ___Providing for the Baha'i Faith in my will E “The resources at the disposal of ——Making a gift of securities : H ___Making a gift of real estate : the community must, as a result Making a gift through life insurance : of its expansion, be continually ll Na : ugmen. fully ” eceiving income my gift: $ @ eg ie ne ___Charitable Gift Annuities 5 —Shoghi Effendi ___ Charitable Remainder Trusts : Many of us can make substantial gifts to Fi the Funds of the Faith beyond our regu- Mame: 3 lar cash contributions— : and sometimes benefit ourselves through Spouses Name (Baha) ———SSCSCSCS~S~S~S tax savings or increased available cash. : Address

  • Bequests through wills a
  • Gifts of stock or securities By

° Gift annuities State Tp The National Spiritual Assembly has Telephone announced a Planned Giving Program Ema

that allows believers to make these or

other financial arrangements. pot eee that someone contact me by telephone.

For a packet of information on how you

might be able to plan a gift, please com Return form to: Development Department, Office of the Treasurer, plete the form at right or contact the Baha’i National Center, 1233 Central St., Office of the Treasurer (phone 847-733- Evanston, IL 60201 3476, e-mail ). TAB 10/16/99





The Local Treasurer's Cornertis devoted to helping local treasurers, and others who have special interest in development of the Funds, by offering suggestions and ideas that might be helpful in this work. If you would like to offer stories or ideas that have increased your community's understanding of and participation in the Fund, you are invited to share them with other communities through this column. Contact the Office of the Treasurer (phone 847-733-3472, e-mail ’

Treasurer's Office Q&A from National Convention This month’s column completes the questions and answer! that were shared with the delegates at the National

Convention last spring:

What services does the Office of the Treasurer offer the

community?

  • Stewardship and Development Seminars and materials.
  • The Weekend Visit Program at the National Center, a

chance to talk with National Spiritual Assembly members and staff, and to pray in the Mother Temple.

  • Youth development and Fund ed n: deepenings,

materials, workshops and articles in The American Babd’t and other publications.

  • Special letters several times a year to all Spiritual Assembly

and group treasurers.

  • Planned giving education and practical approaches.

How does the new planned giving program fit into the picture? Planned giving methods represent new ways to support the

Faith financially. Many of these vehicles

in terms of the tax savings they offer, to

large percentage of today’s Bah:

The Kitab-i-Aqdas instructs every Baha’i to have a will. Planned giving can help many people help the work of the Cause and still provide for retirement and for the needs of children and loved ones. For more information please contact the Office of the Treasurer.

What’s the progress on the Spiritual Assembly Honor Roll,

goals and audits?

Progress has been dramatic over five years, thanks to the care of the friends. In 151 B.E. (1994-95), 772 Local Assemblies were on the Honor Roll. Four submitted audits, 356 had set goals and just two Assemblies had both a goal and an audit. But in 155 B.E. (1998-99), 829 Local Assemblies (72% of all in U.S. Assemblies) were on the Honor Roll; 826 informed the National Assembly of their contribution goals to the ior Funds; 599 audits were s Assemblies had both a goal and The National Assembly commends these steadfast institutions for their accomplishments.

What’s the status on local center acquisitions?

Many communities are working to acquire local Baha’i centers. The National Spiri the need for centers in many localities and has been working with volunteers to devise a way to help local efforts. At the same time, the Assembly is concerned that some communities are putting themselves at risk, financially and in terms of the unity of the friends. Important guidance is available to communities pursuing acquisition of a center. For these reasons, consultation with the Office of the Treasurer can be an important first step in getting that first local center.



















New children’s program: Project Unity! Project Unity! is a new program sponsored by the Office of the Treasurer to encourage Bah






stic. One community in Georgia ith Project Unity! chart” with a drawing of

munities have b

plans to have a Youth

and plans to have a “Project Unity!

Liang the Lion to help youngst eep track of their giving.

Project Unity! will run until Ridvan 2000. For more infor mation, contact Nancy Wong (phone 847-733-3424, e-mail ).¢





page 12. Tue AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ News/Continuep — October 16, 1999


[Page 13]

Formula in NYC: Welcome seekers quickly, personally


INFORMATION FROM NATIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEE OFFICE

N= York City Baha’is have rediscovered an old truth as systematic hing plan has momentum: For the syste to ore it must seekers a cl with real people—quickly.

Drawn to investigate the Faith through local broadcasts and publ The Power of Race Unity sonal contact, about 50 seel attending regular firesides and that rat growing. The 1-800-22-UNITE voice mail system alone received more than 20 contacts per month over the summer.

Over the past year about 150 inquirers have been added to New York City’ list of seekers through 1-800-22-UNT. Core groups strengthen the response in all five of boroughs, emphasizing unified effort, quick contact and personal interaction.

“Our Baha'i community is learning valuable lessons, assessing our needs and efforts to date, and building capacity to participate successfully in the national











Help on the Web for your systematic plan www.usbnc.org (you will need your Baha’i ID number to log into this site)

Click on the 1-800-22-UNITE icon on the left to find:

  • (New) A form permission letter you can use for arranging local broadcasts
  • Guidelines for setting up and using |-800-22-UNITE locally
  • Aform for applying to use 1-800-22-UNITE locally
  • Asample letter for inviting phone and Web inquirers to local activities
  • Tips on arranging local broadcasts or events using Baha’i videos
  • Frequently Asked Questions: an extensive list of questions that seekers

often ask, with suggested answers


month, although many are Baha’is. The site virtual study center for selfdirected teaching and deepening. How they follow up

Area Baha'is are actively working to improve their seeker follow-up.

Once voice-mail information from I800-22-UNITE retrieved, it is





is




calendar of appre Assembly, plus the



media initiative,” said Nancy Moore, Spiritual Assembly secretary. “We look forward to a year of trying to make the most of our opportunities to proclaim Baha’u’llah’s revelation and to contact, lovingly teach and confirm those who request more information.” How they get the word out

In addition to the national broadcasts, New York City Baha’is have arranged local broadcasts, especially on cable community ace ions in all boroughs. The Power of Race Unity and the Spiritual


UNITE




can be arranged on each cable The Pe

stem.



seekers through use at fires




(www.Bahaii ly. The Web site gets about 300 hits


Revolution series (with the 1-800-22added) have

casional air dates, s, depen ing on what

wer of Race Unity also attracts les or teaching events in homes, at the Baha’ Center or in parks, as well as by college clubs.

A local information/events telephone line (212-330-9309) and Web site org) are updated month- us: ach



number of a Bah: as the inquirer. Web address and ntoen tion line are also provided. invited to attend weekly meetings and devotional gatherings at the 4’{ Center as well as informal firesides held in the boroughs.

A copy of the letter to the seeker is sent to a Baha'i contact person in each borough so the seeker may be invited to the nearest fireside.

Each month the seeker mailing list is to send a calendar of events and fliers for special programs.







Late 1999 TV broadcasts

Here is a synopsis of broadcasts planned

through December. PLEASE NOTE:

  • Local cable companies sometimes

decide not to pick up these airings. If the videos or commercials are not showing as scheduled in your area, contact your cable company and request that they be aired.

+ All times listed are Eastern Time; please adjust to your time zone.

30-minute programs Court TV 9:30 a.m. ET selected Sundays The Power of Prayer: Oct. 10, Nov. 7, Dec. 5 The Power of Race Unity: Oct 24, Nov. 21, Dec. 19 Bravo 8:30 a.m. ET, every Friday up to Dec. 24 The Power of Race Unity Odyssey Network 5:30 a.m. ET, every day up to Dec. 26 The Power of Prayer: Oc. 18-24, Nov. 8-14, Nov. 29-Dec. 5, Dec. 20-26 The Power of Race Unity: Oct. 25-31, Nov. 15~2i, Dec. 6-12 Family: Seeds of World Peace: Nov. |—1, Nov. 22-28, Dec. 13-19

30- and 60-second spots Themes: Children Without Prejudice, Golden Rule, One Race WGN (Superstation)

One airing every Sunday through Dec. 26 between 9 and 10:30 a.m. ET

BET

10 airings at any time Oct. 4-17 between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. ET

TV Guide Channel

140 total airings in October and November (between 6 and 11 p.m.) and December (between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.) @



Coordination in the South



The walls were festooned with notes from strategic planning as two members of the Regional Baha’i Council for the Southern States consulted with members of the Triangle Coordinating Team about plans to proclaim the Baha’i Faith through broadcasts and newspapers in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.

Video comes with courses on use

When you order the video The Power of Race Unity, the package will include a set of five workshops that complement the video.

‘These workshops, previously mailed to each Local Spiritual Assembly, help communities make the greatest




quotations from the history of the Ba work in promoting suggestions for how to invite of the Faith to a discussion of the “most vital and challenging issue.”



Similar workshops to complement The Power of Prayer will be available soon. @


HOW DOES IT WORK?

When a seeker calls the 1-800-22-UNITE number, the call is forwarded to the Baha’i National Center’s 800UNITE Office where messages are retrieved daily.

As these calls are retrieved, the caller’s information is entered into a database, the caller’s ZIP code is matched with the voice-mail box number of the closest participating community, and the call is then forwarded to that community. Requests for literature are filled and will be received by mail within one week. The community should follow up call-back requests

  • Please make sure your community retrieves its

voice-mail messages at least once a week, regardless of the number of calls you’ve received so far.

  • Develop a systematic method to keep track of who

has and has not been contacted,

  • Establish events with seekers and new believers in

mind; create a comfortable atmosphere for learning and teaching.

  • Donate Baha’i books to your local public library and

invite seekers and new believers to independently

USING 1-800-22-UNITE


USEFUL HINTS:



within 48 hours of the seeker’s call. investigate the Faith. . : For more information contact the 800UNITE office at the Baha’i National Center TEE 6 (Phone 847-733-3497, e-mail ). Aft




October 16, 1999

Te AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS page 13 [Page 14]

A look at two efforts to stoke the teaching fires

. From the grass roots of the Baha’i community come initiatives that at times catch fire and affect the lives of many Baha’is. Here are two approaches to sparking the momentum of teaching within our own hearts that recently have drawn significant praise.

Bible as a teaching tool

BY DENNIS HOWARD TAYLOR

M enthusiastic gathering of approximately 70 Baha'is was on hand at the

Helen S. Goodall Summer School in Red Bluff, California, over the Fourth of July nd to learn a new way to teach ans about the Baha’f Faith using the Bible as a primary teaching tool.

‘The new method, developed by David Young of Grant: Oregon, takes the




iritual rather than literal interpretas of Bible scriptures.

People taking the class find there are about 30 main questions Christians have, and the answers are learnable with some practice. But when a difficult question comes up the teacher is free to look things up in the Bible. In fact, a catch-phrase of the class is “Well, my fellow believers in Christ, let us see what the Bible says.”

A few typical questions that are covered in detail are:

  • Pm worried Baha’u’llah is a false

prophet. A workbook that comes with the course lists seven criteria for recognizing false prophets complete with book, chapter and verse.

  • ° Why should I believe in Baha’u’llah when

Christ said, “lam the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”? Page 46 of the workbook gives five answers to this important question.

Students are also given ways to spiritually prepare to teach. Approaches to social, economic, environmental and political issues are also covered, as well as ways to avoid arguments and to establish points of agreement.

Most people in the class find that



David Young brings home a point about teaching the Faith to Christians effectively, at the Helen S. Goodall Summer School in July. Photo by Dennis Howard Taylor

many common barriers to teaching the Faith can easily be overcome. One example is that we Baha’is begin thinking in terms that the Faith is‘a fulfillment of Christianity—not an alternate religion.

When teaching it also helps to reassure the Christian that we believe in the Bible also. Not challenging the authority of the Bible goes a long way toward setting a comfort zone for a Christian.

‘There is a practical side to this innovative teaching method since nearly 90 percent of ider themselves connected ity. “The eye-opener was the realization that we Bahi’is have focused our attention on those people that havé rejected Christianity, and that’s a small minority of Americans. Our teaching horizon is now much larger,” said Karen Parrish, a B: from San Luis Obispo County, California.





The course “Teaching ae Me Effectively” is mila: ‘from the Spokane Bahd’t Library, 1111 W. Cleveland Ave., Spokane, WA 99205. Costs: $63 plus shipping for 9.5 hours of video, $10 for a course materials, and $5-$10 for the companion teaching manual. For more information, e-mail

°



Focus on love of God

“O Friends! You must all be so ablaze in this day with the fire of the love of God that .. the peoples of the world may be ignited by this heat and turn to the horizon of the Beloved.” —Baha’wllah, from The Individual and Teaching

‘le emphasized in numerous places in the Writings: Teaching the Faith is intimately connected with our love for God. Different teaching methods can apply to different circumstances, but the love of God i: ntial.

One course that has been conducted across the U.S. and in several other countries, “Consecration, Love of God ing,” has helped hundreds of people explore that basic impulse that motivates us to share the teachings of Baha’u’llah.

Developed by Mehrdad Fazli, an engineering instructor from College Station, ‘Texas, the one-day course delves into red Writings dealing with the love of God, briefly studies the lives of devoted early heroes of the Faith including Thomas Breakwell and Lua Getsinger, and points students toward understanding how to feed the flame of love within themselves.

From the beginning of the Four Year Plan through early September, Fazli said he had presented the course 102 times in the United States, Canada England, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Nearly nine-tenths of those presentations have been in English, with the rest conducted in Persian with Baha’{ writings in the original languages.

He added that he hopes to increase the number of presentations to 150 by the end of the Four Year Plan in April 2000.

Many participants and ob: have praise for the program. F:


















HOMEFRONT PIONEERING

ARISING TO TRAVEL FOR THE FAITH

The decentralization process means a new view of coordinating the work of those who wish to pioneer or travel to teach the Faith—at home or abroad. Here is a list of people you should contact ahead of time.

TEACHING WITHIN THE U.S.


Central States:

Lynn Wieties (phone 573-364-9618, e-mail ) Northeastern States:

Joe! Nizin (phone 201-652-6385, e-mail ) Southern States:

Anne Jalali (phone 912-825-3542, e-mail ) Western States:

Flor Toloui (phone 925-672-6686, e-mail )

Central States:

Marilyn Ray (phone 785-628-1919, email

Northeastern States:

Diana Kaufman (phone 908-709-1228, e-mail ) Southern States:

Anne Jalali (phone 912-825-3542, email ) Western States:

Cathy Yavrom (phone 209-234-2231, e + INTERNATIONAL SERVICE/EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES—See page 31.

  • TO REPORT AN INTERNATIONAL TEACHING TRIP YOU’VE ALREADY TAKEN—See form on page 27.

INTERNATIONAL PIONEERING AND TRAVELING TEACHING

IF YOU LIVE IN:

Northeastern or Central States: Alex Blakeson (phone 847-733-3511, e-mail ) Southern States:

Sherdeana Jordan (phone 847-7333507, e-mail ) Western States:

Aurore Ragston (phone 847-7333512, e-mail )





Dozens of Baha’is participate in a July session of the “Consecration, Love of God and Teaching” workshop in Portland, Oregon.



jonal ‘Teaching Center and members of the Universal House of Justice. ‘The National Spiritual Assembly of Australia sent comments praising the ization, love and sense of humor din the presentation, while Spiritual Assembly of New




the Zealand in March said it believed the

attendance there was “the highest numbers shown by any recent deepening presentations in New Zealand.”

A letter from the Spiritual Assembly of Birmingham, Alabama, called the course a’ “powerful presentation of the Word of God” and asserted that “this community was spiritually invigorated.” A member of the Great Plains School Committee in Nebraska said many icipants felt “the institute had awakened them once again to the true purpose of their lives as Baha’is.”



4 OPER Sh nee WON OAR ae For andes about the institute, Bahd’i institutions, schools and training institutes are welcomed to contact Mebrdad Fazli,

College Station, TX 77845 (phone 409 690-6001). @

Workshop inspires young man to give up gang colors

A young man watching the Spirit of Unity

Baha'i Youth Workshop at the Multicultural Festival on June 20 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, was so

moved that took off his gang colors and threw them in the dirt—even though that





was something he’d promised nev A workshop member gave him aT replace the gang colors. T!

said he felt he’d found a fa


with workshop membe: for longer the an half an hour after the performance, relating a number of painful things in his life.

An added twist: The workshop had not even planned to do that Sunday performance, but scheduling problems at the festival led them to postpone a performance scheduled for June 19.

The workshop has performed and provided volunteer help at the open-air festival every year since 1995. #





page 14

THe AMERICAN BaAnA’i ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

October 16, 1999 [Page 15]OER OT LOST EY MT sp onmconeprin . EL ELMER REA TETD AE

SPREADING*THE*TEACHIN



An appeal to African-Americans

y experiences of the past 1 1/2 years compel me to try to mplify the Universal House

of Justice’s call that we help spread the teachings of Baha’u'llah in the great continent of Africa.

Id like to share a few of those experiences in the hope you might be inclined to take that giant leap into a life so full of incredible blessings that you'll wonder why you waited so long.



Swift action, swift assistance

You probably remember the Baha’i writings tell us that if we make a small effort for the Cause of Baha’u’llah, God will reward us abundantly, instantly, mysteriously. I have wholeheartedly come to believe that is true.

In summer 1997 at a Council Fire on the Makah Reservation in Neah Bay, Washington, National Spiritual Assembly member Jack McCants spoke of the Universal House of Justice’s call for American Indians and African-Americans to pioneer to the circumpolar regions and to Africa, respectively. I (among nearly 50 others) made that decision.

Just days thereafter it became possible for me to travel to Bosch Baha’f School for an absolutely wonderful Pioneering Institute. Shortly after that, my Local Spiritual Assembly accepted our National Spiritual Assembly’s invitation to visit Wilmette. God works fast!

Before my head had a chance to stop spinning, the beautiful Baha’is around the Seattle area, especially within my community, King County Northeast, were helping me to get what I needed— and to get rid of what I needed to get rid of. Packing for the move to Africa was an exercise in detachment.

In the precincts of the Temple

After landing in Uganda I was picked up at the airport and transported the 40 miles to Kampala. What a delight to get that first glimpse of the Mother Temple of Africa. ‘The bounties continued as I was housed for a few months in the guest room at the National Center, just about 100 yards from the House of Worship.

Almost immediately I found myself helping out the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Uganda, George Olinga, who had undergone an eye operation. For the next few months I got to help with National Spiritual Assembly correspondence to the World Center, some Counselors, many National Spiritual Assemblies and other institutions world First to arise: Ethel Stephens

thel Stephens passed on to the

Abha Kingdom in May 1996 at age 93. The story of this handmaiden of Baha’w’llah who heeded the call nearly 50 years ago is an inspiration for those arising now in response to the Message of Ridvan 153 from the Universal House of Justice and the fulfillment of the vision of the African Counselors of a steady stream of African-American believers com


wide. My efforts included drafting a letter welcoming President and Mrs. Clinton when they visited Kampala in March 1998. A highlight was when 20 black American Baha’is led by National Spiritual Assembly member William Roberts came to Kampala on a threeweek teaching trip. Most of the fellows brought with them the fire of the spirit that seems to permeate the Baha’i Black Men’s Gathering in the United States. As a direct result of their brief visit there were some 80 enrollments—that we know of. Another great blessing here has been that, entrusted with a key to the House of Worship, I have the inexpressible pleasure three times a week of walking up to the ‘Temple in the predawn darkness to enjoy an hour or so of solitary devotions intoning the verses of God. Then I circumambulate the Temple reciting or chanting prayers and Writings I've committed to memory. When it becomes light enough, I sit and read passages from books. What a way to start a day! I fantasize about spending a year at the site of each of the other Mother ‘Temples and doing the same thing.

Blessings overshadow sacrifice

Mind you, there is nothing outstanding about me (except, perhaps, my midsection), so please don’t think mine is an isolated case. You can talk to or read about Baha’i pioneers anywhere and they’ll testify the challenges of pioneering are totally eclipsed by the blessings.

For example, when you go teaching in remote villages in Africa you’re amazed at how clean you can get with just a small basin of water and a piece of soap. You’re amazed at how long you can make a single liter of drinking water last.

My perception is that the heart and soul of the African people is like a mine where innumerable gems of inestimable value are undiscovered. My experience here has not only made me proud to be a black human being, it has put my humanity into a perspective that gives me a more solid appreciation for the chance circumstance of my existence at this time.

ing to the “Continent of Light.”

Stephens set sail for the Gold Coast (now Ghana) on Oct. 13, 1951, the first U.S. pioneer to arise in response to the call issued to the American Baha’i community in 1950 to “lend valued assistance meritorious enterprise ... carry torch Faith territories Dark Continent

. particularly ... its dearly beloved members belonging Negro race participate contemplated project. ...”

Iwas on a teaching trip in Rukunjiri, a small village in far western Uganda, and a fellow Baha’i took me to meet his parents. As we entered the compound where they lived I got the feeling that I was welcome but that I was the first “musungu” most of the 10 or 12 people present had ever met. “Musungu” means white person; in the land of very black people even if you’re chocolate brown you're considered white.

My friend translated as I greeted everyone. I told them how proud I was to be on the continent of my ancestors. I told them (as many scientists believe) black people like us were the forebears of all the peoples on earth. Judging from the expressions on each face, these were unheard-of ideas. They were all ears and I hadn’t even gotten to the spiritual Baha’i stuff.

A new history lesson

For these folks, much as for our black brothers and sisters in the early United States, the harsh and erroneous lessons of history had taught them to be anything but proud of their race. I felt like a professor sharing information that class members hadwondered about for years.

We had a wonderful discussion on the oneness of the human family. It is abundantly clear to me that the world’s people of color are in crying need of updated information regarding the concept of oneness and how to manifest that concept in our behavior.

Of the many African-American Baha'is who come here to teach, some will return to the States (if only for a while). I believe their African experience will greatly enhance their effectiveness in teaching their fellow Americans, black and white alike.

‘Get crackin’ and get packin”

Now I must admit that my situation when I decided to pioneer was such that the element of sacrifice was probably minimal compared to most folks. I was retired on a pension and Social Security. I am single. Of my three children, the youngest is nearly 40 years old and married. I had no house to get rid of. And I was (and still am at 71) in reasonably good health. It almost frightens me to ponder how much greater my blessings would be if I had had to sacrifice a lot.

Oh well, regardless of the degree of our sacrifice, you may be assured that He will bless you if you do His will. Pll testify to that. So get crackin’ and get packin’.

Happy teaching!

Love, Wes @

In her first correspondence to the Africa Teaching Committee from Kumasi, Gold Coast, Dec. 13, 1951, Stephens observed, “J have come into a new consciousness of my relationship to Shoghi Effendi and to the degree to which I draw on this infinite resource my personal and spiritual problems are being resolved to a working and satisfactory basis.”

She suffered a bout of malaria, lost her trunks and faced restrictions on teaching


“| appeal particularly to its dearly beloved members belonging to the Negro race to participate in the contemplated project marking a significant milestone in the world-unfoldment of the Faith, supplementing the work initiated fifty years ago on the North American continent, forging fresh links binding the American, British and Egyptian Communities and providing the prelude to the fullscale operations destined to be _ launched at a later period of the __unfoldment of the Divine Plan aiming at the conversion of the backward, oppressed masses of the swiftly awakening continent.

__ “Though such participation is

_ outside the scope of the Second Seven Year Plan, | feel strongly

_ that the assumption of this added responsibility for this distant vital field at this crucial challenging hour, when world events are moving steadily towards a climax and the Centenary of the birth of Baha’u’llah’s Mission is fast approaching, will further ennoble the record of the world-embracing tasks valiantly undertaken by the American Baha’i Community and constitute a worthy response to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s insistent call raised

__ on behalf of the race He repeatedly

__ blessed and loved so dearly and for whose illumination He ardently

_ prayed and for whose future He —Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, pp. 87-88

“We direct the attention of the believers of African descent, so beloved by the Master, to the pressing need for pioneers, who will contribute to the further development of the Cause in distant areas, including the continent of Africa for which they were assigned a special responsibility by the Guardian when the first systematic campaign was launched _ for its spiritual illumination.”

| Universal House of Justice, from Ridvan 153 message to the Baha'is of North America

From time to time the Office of Pioneering will share stories of African-Americans who answered the call of the Guardian to pioneer to Africa in the 1950s.

the Cause. But Stephens created a reservoir of good will for the Faith. Her demonstration of high Baha’i standards and noble attitudes brought sincere respect and admiration from people at all levels of society.

She had to return to the States in July 1952. However, she continued her devoted services on the Africa Teaching Committee, helping to send others in her place. @


October 16, 1999

Tue American BanA’i

SPREADING THE TEACHINGS _ page I5 [Page 16-17]

he River of Life teaching tour ended Aug. 8 in New Orleans, Loui , but the energy it released could flow forever from towns along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Baha'i performers and crew welcomed enthusiastic crowds totaling more than 2,500 aboard the River Explorer for 12 jays as the floating hotel s large and small.







Challenge and opportunity

iver of Life was the brainchild of

Voices of Bahé conductor Tom Price. In recent years he had taken the choir all over the United States and the world via airplane and bu time the logistics were daur less travel, often-challenging living conditions, and the need for host commu: s to rent expensive concert halls.

The 700-foot barge River Explorer was free of those impediments. Well








appointed rooms could house singe! and crew in comfort, and the boat’ conditioned 185-seat Sprague Theatre provided a wonderful setting.

Soon about 50 performers and support people from the U.S., Canada and Alaska had signed up to spend one or both weeks aboard. Among them were children’s entertainer Red Grammer, singer-musician Paul Seaforth, the gospel-singing Gilmers (Van, Coo! and Sean) and Adrienne Ewing-Roush, Canadian composer Lucie Dubé and actor-singer Chris Hampton.

The course of the rivers governed the choice of cities to visit. Therein lay the tour’s principal challenge and opportunity.

Some large Baha’i communities are situated along the route. So are places

where few or no Baha’fs reside, such as


rr










Getting the word out

Dison Kentucky, area (reaching into Illinois and Indiana): The community arranged both paid and free publicity on television (both broadcast and cable stations), newspapers and radio, said Abdi Ya “In addition, a couple thousand beautifully designed fliers and complimentary tickets were distributed and mailed to the friends of the Baha'is and organizations,” Yazdani said.

On the day of the event, local Baha’ presented live music at a gazebo on the town square, a block from where the boat had docked.

“The 12-member Dawnbreakers Bah Youth Workshop — from Indianapolis performed several beauti







MUSIC AND TEACHING FLOAT ALONG THE ‘RIVER OF LIFE

Story and phatas by Tom Mennils

‘Ewin purposes guided the endeavor: Teach the Faith and energize Baha communiti months of intercommunity planning was facilitated by the Regional Baha’ Council for the Southern Si blueprint included an extens advance publicity campaign and systematic follow-up on _ interest generated.








Greenville and Natchez, Mississippi. Then there are the in-betweens, typified by Paducah, Kentucky.

Price consulted with the Regional Council, which gave its blessing and a commitment to help. Communities were contacted and an e-mail network established.




one-time s, hit the road by bus 's request to help each city formulate a publicity strategy. Karen Pritchard of the Regional Council coordinated efforts from the regional teaching office.

Once the tour began, Covey Canwille, another Regional Council member, was aboard for a week helping out along with his wi He was in daily contact with Pritchard, often with advice for communities downriver.

‘The result was a systematic outpouring of Baha'i effort to touch as many residents as possible with the message of Baha'u'llah.

“Many of these communities get so few servi they are off the beaten path—easily overlooked compared to Adanta, DC, Nashville, Dallas,” Pritchard said. “So the spirit they gave to the tour and received in return was pretty exceptional stuff.”















ful sets in the 103-degree temperature in the afternoon,” Yazdani said.

All that work and more paid off when more than 300 people visited the River Explorer at some point during the day and evening.

“One woman said she didn’t come for the concert. She wanted to know what this Bal ith was about,” Cantville said.

Louisville, Kentucky, area: The choir crossed paths with the Peace Bell on its tour upriver toward a permanent home in Newport, Kentucky. The world’s largest swinging bell at 66,000 pounds, the bell was created for a Dee. 31, 1999, celebration of a renewed commitment to peace among all nations. + A huge crowd was gathered on the






Above: Young audience members add enthusiasm to a Memphis, Tennessee, performance.

Right: (From left) Melita Elmore, Donna Evertz, Leona Jackson and Lucie Dubé help the soprano section of the Voices of Baha pass along the energy.



Van Gilmer (left) is transfixed in singing “Amazing Grace” during the choir’s

evening performance.

dock where the Peace Bell’s barge was docked, according to Pam Brode, a Voices of Baha member from Durham, North Carolina.

“Before we began singing, Tom Price looked at the choir and said, ‘OK, let’s bless this bell.’ We sang, and the resonance of our singing under the bell was really quite i sounded as if angels were heaven!” That night, she said, “hordes of people packed the theater to hear our concert on the barge.

Atleast 700 people made up that horde in Louisville. They came aboard in waves after queuing up under the broiling sun. Bah: the crowd were asked to give way to non-Bahi’is to reduce the crush.







g


The route: Cincinnati to New Orleans.

dapeasy uoury “> Aq uoneszsnyi]


page 16

‘THe AMERICAN BaAnA’i * SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

October 16, 1999


Small towns heat wp

V/ icksburg, Mississippi: “We could see how hard the friends had worked in preparation for the tour,” said Lynette Frieden, a Baha'i from Monroe, Louisiana, who spent a week on board greeting visitors and staffing the literature table. Three Baha'is from the LaPlace community accompanied her, and others from Louisiana flocked to the Vicksburg concert.

“Te was evident that the Vicksburg Baha'is have developed excellent relations with the mayor, Robert Walker,” Frieden said. “He came on the boat and made a proclamation of unity and peace through the arts to the Baha’fs.

The crowd in Vicksburg totaled about 95, including 50 non-Baha’is. The next day the Vicksburg Post carried a photograph of Red Grammer singing




as he waded through a multi-hued audience of youngsters, according to John W. Smith, Spiritual Assembly secretary.

Greenville, Mississippi: In towns with little or no Baha’i presence, Marcia Day’s advance drumbeat and the concert-day efforts of tour participants were critical.

“On the front row before the evening performance began sat three AfricanAmerican adults with one child,” said Cordelia Norder, a tour helper from Staunton, Virginia. It turned out two of them had spent two days transporting Marcia Day on her publicity errands.

“This couple ... had met her on the bus and they say that Marcia not only engaged them to take her around, but had fully introduced them to the message of Baha’u’llah. It was apparent that


Up next: Momentum and. follow-up


“f\il the communities are saying that next year if we do it again we'll draw 10,000 people,” ‘Tom Price said.

Covey Cantville of the Regional Council put it another way: “How else could Paducah get 300 to a Baha’i event?”

Karen Pritchard, Council secretary, added that the Council’s newly established regional teaching office is handling a number of follow-up teaching and support chores.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Names from a guest book provided at the entrance (an idea passed along from an earlier tour stop) will be added to the



local database of seekers, which was. begun as a result of the 1-800-22UNITE effort. They were to receive a listing of upcoming weekly events.

“We also had a follow-up event the next evening at the local Baha’i Center which was composed of a potluck and a viewing of The Power of Race Unity video,” said Laurie Gaspard, Assembly secretary. “We had about four seekers attend this event, and one of our newest seekers has declared since the events occurred.”

Louisville, Kentucky: Follow-up events included a fireside and open








Above: The “Barbershop Boys”: (from left) Tom Price, Paul Seaforth,

Red Grammer

and Gleo Huyck.

Left: The barge that carried the Voices of Baha downriver.

they already considered themselves one of us—and actually predict that they and their friend ... will be the first Bab in Greenville.”

Natchez Mississippi. Red Grammer was running late back to the barge from a trip into town, but still took time to talk with an older woman who was selling pralines at the bus stop near the dock, Norder said.

“To the happy surp: of Red Grammer and others, in time for the performance this elderly _ lady, Sophronia Dyson, appeared in the boat's theater on the front row with her two grandsons! Red called her homemade candy to the attention of the audience. Sending a friend to his room to fetch his earlier purchase, the candy was passed around and shared!”









house, a musical fireside, a unity feast and other firesides at homes and at the Baha’i Center.

Vicksburg: The concert reinforced advance newspaper publicity for a public meeting at the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation.

As for tour participants, “It was the most spiritually moving experience of my life,” said Nina Bailey of Arvada, Colorado, a member of the Voices of Baha. “The melody of everyone's beautiful voices and unifying love created a heavenly experience. I shall remember the feeling for eternity!”






One day on the River Explorer

Hon

  • 7 a.m.: Dawn prayers, breakfast,

more prayers and announcements at 10 a.m. 11 a.m. Deepening. “The first week, Jena Khodadad presented early Babi history,” related Donna Evertz, a tour participant from Deerfield Beach, Florida. “The second week, Dorothy Gilstrap personalized Dorothy Baker, Dr. Muhajir and Mulla Husayn.” Lunch, then free time.

The shows themselves Guests were greeted and had a chance to peruse Baha’i literature, then were invited down a flight of steps to the Sprague Theatre. 3 p.m.: Red Grammer, in an interactive songfest, wandered through the crowd wearing a headset microphone and strumming a guitar. Children and adults alike sang out the lyrics and acted out the hand motions to “One Family” and other favorite tunes. 4 p.m.: a lighthearted variety hour featuring the Price sisters, ages 14-18, singing Andrews Sisters-style tight harmonies; the Barbershop Boys; and Paul Seaforth with soaring trumpet and sweet saxophone solos and reverent tenor renditions of “Benediction” and “Look At Me, Follow Me.” 5 p.m.; Bahaé’i Gospel Singers featuring the three Gilmers and Adrienne Ewing-Roush, serving up such songs of praise as “I’m So Glad” and “O Thou Compassionate Lord.” Chris Hampton then took the message another step with his one-man musical play, The Noble Thief, a tale of redemption. Dinner came next. Then the Voices of Bahi— resplendent in black with pastel choir shawls—trooped in to the African beat of “Siyahamba.” Grammer (in English) and Lucie Dubé (in French) shared “Thou Art My Stronghold,” which they composed at a recent Baha'i songwriters’ retreat in California. Van Gilmer sang “Amazing Grace.” Several pieces that debuted at the second Baha'i World Congress took everyone back to the City of the Covenant. Midway through the set an intermission gave the Baha'is a chance to mingle further with their guests. 10:30 p.m.: Wrap-up, with still more clusters of people often earnestly exploring the Faith. @


October 16, 1999

Tne AMERICAN BAnA’i ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

page 17

[Page 18]

ICTORIES




anyone wishing to study i in depth — the Most Holy Book and works explaining it, such as Questions ee Answers and various tablets aoe in Tablets of Babd’u'lldh

‘evealed after the Kitdb-i-Aqdas. The six-month schedule gives ample time to study these writings thoroughly and topically, and to discuss any questions.

Cost: $225 ($180 if you are registering as a member of a local ae group of three or more).

“Chinese Religions and Philosophy for Deepening and rer: I, 1999-Jan. 31, 2000. Faculty includes Phyllis G. L. Chew, author of The Chinese Religion and the Babd’t Faith, and Dann May, instructor in Chinese religion and philosophy at Oklahoma City University. It can help Baha’is understand Confucianism, Taoism, and their relationship to modern. China.

Cost: $100 ($80 if you are registering as a member of a local study group of three or more).

‘The next course in this series on world religions will examine religion of Iran, March 1-April 30, 2000.


take a college-level course. If you want to take a course at an advanced (graduate) level, or to seek college credit, contact the Institute.



The Wilmette Institute now has a new e-mail address and a Web site. By moving to its own Internet domain, the Wilmette Institute is indexed far more extensively by search engines, with the result that it is receiving far more hits per day. The new site also provides more resources for e-mail and listservers.

oa enc eames a

REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION

  • 24-hour info line 847-733-3595
  • Registrar 847-733-3415
  • E-mail
  • Information on the Internet

www.wilmetteinstitute.org @





Four-year ‘Spiritual Foundations’ program boasts its first graduating class


FORMATION FROM PATRI HAYNIE, JUPITER, FL.

ive Baha’is from across the United Pees made history by completing

all of the Wilmette Institute’s first four annual “Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization” summer sessions— in effect, becoming the first graduating class.

Alice Ferro of Oklahoma, Shar Gardella of Connecticut, Sandra Miles of North Carolina, Perla Talebi of Arkansas and Nancy ‘Turner of California were the first students to complete all four residential sessions.

Their accomplishments, and those of their fellow students,were honored during an Aug. 6 ceremony. David Ruhe, retired member of the Universal House of Justice, was keynote speaker.

Also in attendance were Hushmand Fatheazam, a member of the Universal House of Justice, and his wife, Shafigih. Juana Conrad and William Roberts, members of the National Spiritual Assembly, gave congratulatory remarks.

Twenty students from the United States and Canada participated in the 1999 summer session at Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois, studying such subjects as economics, agriculture, the environment and world affairs in the light of Baha’{ teachings, plus a workshop on conflict resolution and a series of seminars on teaching the Faith.



“Best-kept secret”

The small class size led one student to call the Institute “the best-kept secret in the Baha’{ community” and “a rare opportunity to see the big picture.”

Faculty included David and Margaret


Six who attended at least part of all Wilmette Institute summer sessions (front row: Nancy Turner, Alice Ferro, Sandra Miles, Carol Bardin, Perla Talebi, Shar Gardella) pose with Rob Stockman (back, left), administrator, and Dann May, summer coordinator.

Ruhe; members of the National Spiritual Assembly, Regional Councils and Auxiliary Boards; and distinguished university educators.

Stories abounded on how the Wilmette Institute’s training, with its emphasis on service ‘and teaching skills, helped students serve the Cause in their own communities. In one case, three members of the class of 1999 persevered in a teaching project in Oklahoma even though their racial mix—white, Asian and AfricanAmerican—drew the unfriendly attention of local white supremacists.

‘To help the program welcome more students, the Institute is reducing the residential session to two weeks beginning next year, when it restarts the four-year cycle with a year’s study of Baha’s history and scripture and comparative religion. The program will continue to include 10

months’ home study starting in April.

Staying in a Kendall College dormitory within walking distance of the Holiest House of Worship, the 1999 students and instructors (in some cases with sons and daughters) made up a Baha’i community of their own. Morning prayers at the ‘Temple set the atmosphere for each day’s study.

Service added to study

While mornings were devoted to class sessions, during the afternoons the students took time to guide visitors at the House of Worship or volunteer at Baha’i National Center offices.

One weekend the class visited a Zoroastrian Fire Temple in the Chicago area, in the Institute’s effort to introduce the students to a variety of religious traditions.

Spirituality conference focuses on social change

INFORMATION FROM KEVIN MORRISON

pirituality is not just a private matter—it’s the world’s only true prospect for positive social change.

That was a central theme of “Revealing the Splendors of His Light: Exploring Spirituality in Baha’i Life,” a conference Aug. 7-8 co-sponsored by the Institute for Bahda’i Studies and World Order magazine.

The program at Kendall College in Evanston, Illinois, immediately followed the three-week residential session of the Wilmette Institute’s “Spiritual Foundations” program.

Topics included the relationship of spirituality to psychology, poetry, philosophy, Baha’i history, theology, painting, service and social change, organizational development, and sharing the Baha’i Faith with others in these fleeting final days of the Four Year Plan.

In opening the conference Juana Conrad, assistant secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, pointed out that spirituality is often conceived as a private matter between an individual and one’s Creator.

The Baha'i Faith, however, expands this definition by emphasizing the dynamic relationship of individual transformation to collective, social change, she said.

‘The conference program deliberately balanced familiar Baha’i presenters and emerging scholars, and theoretical and experiential presentations.

Robert Stockman, welcoming participants on behalf of the conference organizers, noted that the term “scholars” is defined in the Baha’{ Faith as “people who not only are devoted to [the Baha’i Faith] and believe in it and are anxious to tell others about it, but also who have a deep grasp of the teachings and their

significance, and who can correlate its beliefs with the current thoughts and problems of the people of the world.”

Thus, everyone in attendance at the conference was a scholar in his or her own right and no one is excluded from the process of developing Baha’i scholarship, Stockman said.

Conference attendance was limited to 60 to ensure lively discussion between presenters and participants outside of sessions.

A selection of the papers delivered at the Aug. 7-8 conference will be published in future issues of World Order magazine. ‘Th subscribe to World Order, see the form on page 23.

For more information on programs of the

Institute for Baha’t Studies, contact Robert

Stockman (phone 847-733-3425, e-mail ©


page 18

Tue AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ CONSOLIDATING THE VICTORIES

October 16, 1999 [Page 19]

Dedication of bench in Minneapolis commemorates ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visit

Minneapolis and St. Paul Spiritual Assemblies and the Auxiliary Board; the reading of a letter from the Regional Baha’i Council for the Central States prepared specially for the ceremony; a dramatic vignette depicting two people discussing, in 1912, the significance of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visit; musical presentation of

‘he Baha’is of Minneapolis, Minnesota, commemorated ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s 1912 visit to the area by sponsoring placement of a special bench in Loring Park bearing the inscription “ ‘Abdu’l-Bahé 1912—

Blessed is the Spot.”

The bench dedication was the focus of a public program in the park on July 24 that drew about

150 people.

‘The program included talks by representatives of the

Transforming culture

ultural change moves at a crawl if the existing culture determines everything about what we do, what we think and how we feel about others. Embedded deeply in our society, the spiritual diseases of materialism, racism, sexism, violence, corruption and so forth often seem to determine or influence much about the society around us. ‘To! weaken these entrenched patterns of negative living, we must strive to build some dramatically different





Bosch turns 25!

ful weather, outstanding food and music, and a “full hou: combined to. provide a great

Bosch “welcome home” Aug. 21-26 to former administrators of Bosch Baha’i School who guided its development



over the past 25 years. Newly appointed Bosch administra‘via and Robert Ramirez warmly welcomed these “veteran:

Jim Kelly and his wife, Tommie,



tors

served at Bosch for 16 years and told wonderful ste ly Marsha Gilpatrick recalled the few special years she and her husband, Ron, despite his illness, spent developing new programs, improving community relations, and moving the school forward. Mark and Linda Bedford became coadministrators after Ron’s passing. Under their loving direction, the Children’s Academy and uplifting mu







Hidden Words by the Remembrance E: the final public performance by Project Wildfire, a youth workshop that had been teaching the Faith in

mble; and



The “Principles of Psychological and Spiritual Development” session in June brought a Landegg Academy course to Louhelen. Photo by Jim Cheek

patterns of life, thought and behavior. ‘To transform an old culture, you have to actively work at building a new one.

This is a main purpose of youth traifiing programs at Louhelen Baha'i Schiool.

Louhelen’s programs’ also provide a rare opportunity to bring youth into a dramatically different pattern of com


nate f

programs for children and adults were added to the curriculum, an expanded outside ‘rental program increased revenue and introduced people to the Faith, and the organic garden was planted. Also recognized for her vast service to the school was the indomitable Molly King, program director for 18 years. Chases for the week were equally outstanding. James and Dorothy Nelson facilitated “Consultation: The Key to Building Community,” Marsha Gilpatrick presented hip in the World Order of Baha’ulléh,” and Red Grammer and: the Gilmer family (Van, Cookie, Kim and Sean) not only provided outstanding music for devotions and entertainment but facil classes on “Bal eceptance of the Arts 2 Vehicle to Promote the Cause of Baha’ullah.” Dec. 26-30: Winter School. Vhis session features two main programs: “Choosing the Future at the End of the Millennium.” Anthropologist Joseph neces in






Sheppherd draws on experi Africa, Asia and South America to explore s and look at ourselves piritual beings'in a physical state.”

“Preparing the Hearts for Entr Troops.” this program on helping our communities increase in acceptance and tolerance, becoming powerful magnets to attract hearts to Baha’ullah’s love.

Chris Hampton, producer of the powerful Balté’{ musical The Noble Thief, rounds out the Winter School faculty. #










munity life, devotion, service, recreation, fun and fellowship.

The following fall programs are available for youth and junior youth. Additional details’ are available from Louheélen: "

Oct. 29-31: Spiritual Empowerment Institute for Junior Youth, ages 12-15 with Ruhiyyih Yuille and Russell Ballew.


| WWW RreenAcre orpee


‘For the Love of God’

Il programs at Green Acre Bahé’s


chool:

Nov. 5-7: “For the Love of God” with Peter Terry. What will better unite people of all faiths than the love of God? This gathering is designed for those of all f





the love of God in} goodly deeds, sacrifice, reas consultation, ling, listening and, most of all, humility. With a special Saturday evening Interfaith Convocation. Session includes classes for ages 3-14.

Nov. 5-7: Conference on SubstanceAbuse Prevention with Counselor A.M. Ghadirian, Dr. Beth Bowen and other members of the National Task Force on Substance-Abuse Prevention. What do Baha'i writings reveal about substance abuse, and how can Baha’i teachings transform the field of abuse








the Central States for the past year.

The bench is part of a major renovation designed to return the park to its 1910 character and condition. The Baha’is worked with the Friends of Loring to acquire and place the bench.

Future plans include creation of a garden and placement of a commemorative plaque describing the significance of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

‘Abdu’l-Bahé and His visit to

tT st How can youth release the power to bring the healing message of Baha'u'llah to their peers? How can youth support each other through prayer, study, consultation, recreation, fellowship and fun? Through fast-paced interactive workshops, this institute for Baha'is and their friends stimulates self-confidence, reliance on God, profound love for humanity, eagerness to teach and serve humanity, and abundant joy.

Nov. 5-7: Youth Eagle Institute, ages 15 and up with Nasif Habeeb-ullah, Anita Jefferson and Ted Jefferson. How can Bahi’u’llih’s laws generate spirituality, transform human interactions and create justice in the world? How can fellowship, fun, serious study, consult: tion, mutual support and artistic expression build the lasting friendships to win victories in the double crusade of self transformation and world reorganization? Eagle Institute offers opportunities to experience a taste of Baha’u’llih’s World Order among peers and likeminded seekers. ;





prevention? How do these issues relate to the process of entry by troops and quality of life?

Nov. 19-21: “Kitdb-i-Agqdas” with Habib: Riazati (who assisted in the official translation of this holy text). Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Book affirms the eternal truths of the world’s great religions and addresses the needs of the entire human family‘in this age. Session includes’ classes’ for ages 3-14.

Nov. 26-28: “The Basic Building Block of Society” with Charlene and Michael Winger-Bearskin. Why is the fireside, with: its power to build strong personal relationships, such an

tool for the transformation

Experiential demonstrate the fireside’s ‘role’ in building skills of friendship and lo ing service, Session. includes classes for ages 3-14.






ef of societ



sions






Future sessions include:

Dec. 10-12: — “Baha?i-Centered Management: Principles and Practice.” One in an ongoing series of course:

Dec. 10-12: “Spirituality and Ethics in Medicine” with Dr. David Ruhe and Dr. Beth Bowen; sponsored by Health for Humanity.

Dec. 26-31: “Make Your Mark”: Green Acre’s annual Winter School all ages. Invited: John Woodall, yn Jolly, Clyde Herring and Jarmine Consalvo.








October 16, 1999

Tre AMERICAN BAnA’l * CONSOLIDATING THE VICTORIES

page 19 [Page 20]

“[T]here must be revived among the individual believers a sense of mission, a feeling of empowerment to minister to the urgent need of humanity for guidance and thus to win victories for the Faith in their own sphere of life.” Universal House of Justice, from the May 19, 1994, letter to the National Spiritual Asembly of the Baha'is of the United States

STATE OF THE PROFESSION

FAITH’S PERSPECTIVE ON SERVICE HELPS BAHA'I CIVIL SERVANTS COUNTER AMERICAN DISTRUST OF AUTHORITY

COMPILED BY TOM MENNILLO

aha’is who are or were govern ment employees say their greatest challenge lies in countering Americans’ distrust of authority.

Believers responding to an e-mail survey described how corrosive the effects of this attitude are to those who labor for agencies at the local, state and national levels.

But they noted that the Faith’s perspective on their service and on the role of government helps them provide fellow workers and the public alike with a better way.

On this page is a selection of their

responses, edited for length.

ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS:

_* Steve Dighton was employed in the Orange County, California, jail as an orderly or a registered nurse for more than 20 years.

  • Ruth Tobey Hampson created the

office of City Clerk in Canon City, Colorado, and held that position for 11 years.

+ Lenore Lawrence of Pacific, Washington, is a program manager for Washington State Medicaid.

  • Roger W. Nesbit of Portland,

Oregon, is the senior attorney advising the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Oregon.

  • Leslie L. Randall of Rio Rancho,

New Mexico, is an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control.

  • Sue Schaut of Bothell, Washington, is retired from the Wisconsin

Department of Regulation and Licensing.

  • Jaine Toth of Carpinteria,

California, was an investigative assistant for eight years in the U.S. Secret Service.

  • Greg Woods of Sunrise, Florida, is

an air traffic supervisor at the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control Center in Miami.



How did your Baha’i identity influence your choice of field, and how has your Baha’i identity influenced

steps you have taken?

Leslie L. Randall: I became a Baha'i when I was 15. My decision to become a civil servant came from wanting to work with my own (American Indian) people. I got my master’s in public health, specializing in maternal child health, because I was seeing so many of our babies dying from so many different causes, causes that babies of other races weren’t dying from in this country. Leslie Randall

Sue Schaut: I was a Baha’ when I applied for a state position that included covering the inner city of Milwaukee. Activities I participated in as a Baha’{ made me the only candidate who was very comfortable with multiracial groups. After I was hired, being aware of Baha’u’llah’s teachings on the oneness of mankind—and

my obligation to treat everyone with dignity and respect— made many potentially difficult contacts very non-confrontational. People sense when you view them as a God-created being rather than one of the “bad ones,” and they are much more open and willing to talk to you.

Roger Nesbit: In my first year of law school, I began questioning whether this was a profession that “began in words and ended in words,” but before dropping out I decided to consult with my Local Spiritual Assembly. The Assembly provided a fresh perspective on the potential benefits a Baha’f could bring to a profession whose goal should be justice. I went back to law school, keeping Bahé’u’llah’s words “The best beloved of all things in My sight is justice” set before me. That was over 25 years ago, and to this day I have that Hidden Word quoted in a plaque on my office wall.

I have worked for the federal government for nearly 25 years, and except for the relatively rare occasion when a case has political overtones I have been left free by my superiors to pursue what in my judgment is the just result.


What particular daily challenges do you face in your work because of your beliefs?

Roger Nesbit: Our government is based on mistrust of the sovereign. Our forefathers rebelled against their king and set up a government designed on the ic premise that the sovereign needed to be “checked and balanced” from ing too much powe! bas istrust and suspicion of the govral attitude








ernment perme: of the public towar government to this But the vast majority of the ith whom I work are




Roger Nesbit


dedicated. workers, who have a high level of altruism and a desire to promote the general welfare.


Every day, I have to put on my spiritual shield so that I do not take personally the vicious things that are said about my client


(the government) and, sometimes, its attorneys as well

Greg Woods: Many of the people who work in the air traffic control business are tough-talking, competitive, hard-liv ing “type A” personalities. A Baha’i stands out as being different from most of the people in the profession.

Ruth Tobey Hampson: I was watched very closely continually. Because I loved my work and respected the townspeople I served, I became well-known. There were challenges by


Is there a fine line you have to tread in bringing a Baha’i perspective to your work?

Lenore Lawrence: Religion is, of course, a touchy subject! In the realm of the government, it is pretty danged taboo. In my particular arena, the spiritual li of people are considered as important as the phy: and I have many opportunities to mention the Faith.

Sue Schaut: I felt I walked a fine line when doing



someone else, and would wi

's honesty. Many


I inve:



passage with me:


undercover activities. I often had to pretend to be this with the virtue of ated involved the illicit cal, or inappropriate use of drugs and medications. During consultation on the subject, a representative of one of the Baha’ institutions shared the following helpful

co-workers: at one time charges against me (i.e. teaching the Faith at work, using city time for Baha’i work, that were completely refuted. During that time, I receiv support from my City Council because they trusted me.



J enormous



tions with my patients. They children who had learned little self-control. Most


attempts at kindness were quickly turned into means of manipulation, either against me or against a co-worker. The di “‘Abdu’l-Bah

of not allowing a person knowingly to

overy early in my career of statement and example



Steve Dighton

deceive one became my standard of behavior. It made it possible to deal with the inmates honestly and justly, something they rarely experienced, which eventually resulted in my gaining a certain respect.

In my relationships with supervisors, | adopted an attitude of complete obedience. When I disagreed, however, | took one further step: I wrote carefu explained, in non-threatening lang’ concerns. And I offered alternatives.




reasoned memos. that



, my objections and



“It is, however, mandatory that the use of opium be prevented by any means whatsoever, that perchance the human race may be delivered from this most powerful of plagues. And otherwise, woe and misery to whoso falleth short of bis duty to bis Lord.” (Bahé’w'llah, Kitab-i-Agdas, page 239)

SEE PROFESSION, PAGE 21


page 20) THe AMERICAN BAHA’i ¢ CONSOLIDATING THE VICTORIES October 16,1999 [Page 21]

PROJECT 99, continuen From pace |

PCOCOC OOO E EOE EEE EEE EE EEEEEEEE EE EOE SOS ESO OOO SOHO OOOH OOOOH OSES OEEOOOSEESEOESESESESOOEOOO®

ored the June conference at Bosch Baha’i School. he friends have “established bonds of love, friendship and respect with these people,” Stev As a result, hundreds of immigrants and their offspring—both Asi and American-born—have entered the Faith.

But many more could be welcomed into the Baha’i family, she said. “The American friends say they can bring in thousands, but hesitate because consolidation difficult without help.”

Consolidation is central to Project 99, an initiative conceived and conducted by individuals under sponsorship of the Modesto Spiritual Assembly.

‘The project’s roots go back three years. Liana Fiel was managing an apartment complex in Fresno when her boss, a Christian, asked her to devise a program of community-building.

His vision was that teaching literacy and virtues to immigrants would foster respect for property, each other, and other faiths—in short, make the neighborhood safer and improve everyone's quality of life

Fields took on the assignment, then extended it toa complex the landlord owned in Modesto. To head the Modesto program, Fields brought in Muratore.

spor















New phase starts in 1997

The two women had met at the 1997 Southeast Asian conference at Bosch. At that conference they shared the eye-opening experience of seeing the fruit of a decade of Baha’i work with Asian youth.

“When you see these youth, you see the vitality and future of the Baha’f Faith,” said Fields.

Before long, Fields and Muratore were drawing up a teaching and consolidation project focused on children and youth, those bilingual sons and daughters of immigrants.

“We knew it must go beyond proclamation,” Fields said. To establish relationships that would gain the trust of entire families, “we'd have to be right there with people, visiting their homes.”

Fields, a Hawaiian-born Polynesian dancer, also saw a responsibility to help people preserve their heritage. So from the start, the project has focused on artistic development as well as deepening.

Every Wednesday night, 20 to 30 youths and children study the Writings using the system of Ruhi study circles. Most are Hmong, but more and more Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, African-American and Hispanic teens are joining in.

They learn about Baha’i law Muratore said. Strong emphasis is placed on Shoghi Effendi’s three prerequisites to teaching: rectitude of conduct, chastity and elimination of prejudice.

One weekend a month, Fields and her husband, Bud, drive several hours from their new residen San Diego to lead the youngsters in artistic pursuits.






and role models,






near


PROFESSION, continuen From pace 20

eoccce


eoce



eocce


To what extent is your profession seen by its practitioners and the public as a catalyst for unifying society?

Leslie L. Randall: My research is primarily with Indians: public health and infant mortality. People si our work as beneficial to the community. Public health affects all people regardless of race or color.

Jaine Toth: I did note that my [Secret Service] agents would try to help out people who’d made a mis: take and they believed wouldn't do it again—they were basically good people. The agents pleaded for lei cy or probation, and even helped keep some from being deported. It was at such variance with the public image of law enforcement personnel. %







eooe




Some of the dozens of young people participating in Project 99 gather recently with Counselor Wilma Ellis and

some of the project volunteers.

An expression in performance

Out of this has come Pa ’Ndau, a story of flight to freedom in song, dance and multimedia. The play, written by Fields, has been performed many times.

Pa ’Ndau uses the imagery of the story cloth onto which Hmong women stitch stories. A child fleeing the Mekong Valley is given a story cloth by her dying mother. Years later, unwrapping the cloth helps the girl realize the emptiness of a life of materialism and to discover that society’s answers lie in its people. Now she and other youth can rewrite their destiny and create a new world.

“Each time Pa ’Ndau is performed, 25 to 50 percent of the kids are doing the play for the first time. Yet it is so reverent, so moving,” said Hank Mudge, another Project 99 volunteer. “I never leave with a dry eye.”





Principles of Faith in action

Mudge also noted that nearly half the project’s youth

are not enrolled as Baha’is, yet are exhibiting Baha’ principles in action for those around them. Fields said the first enrollments through their work with Asian youth came in 1997, when four enrolled in Fresno and three in Modesto. The rest have continued to proclaim the Faith through the art; for two years.

This year, 29 children and youths have become Baha’is through the project, including those who stepped forward this year at the Southeast Asian conference, Muratore said. They see in the Baha’i F wonderful opportunity to improve their lives.”

One of those youths is Nhia Moua, 17, from Modesto. She dances the role of the mother in Pa ’Ndau.

“The Baha’i Faith has changed my life a lot. When we went to Bosch and I met so many nice Baha’is who were willing to help me, well, that did it for me. I feel love from the Baha’é

‘Teng Yang echoes that sentiment. The 16-year-old














ecccccccce



eoccccccce


Lenore Lawrence: I'd like very much to see an organization of Baha’is who know about program planning and development. I’d also suggest that deepened Local _ Spiritual

Lenore Lawrence Assemblies in larger communi ties and Auxiliary Board members and their assistants begin to tap the resources of these people that could be used as we build our Baha’ infrastructure. I’m willing to sh







are!

What can Baha’i civil servants do indi alytic role—to assist the exploration of these issues, influence the profession’s evolution, encourage young people to enter the field?

from Modesto dances in Pa ’Ndau and has brought many youths—including Moua—to Project 99's youth class. “We learn the virtues and things that will make me successful in life,” he said. “Also, we have fun. ... What we learn will provide opportunities for the future.” Van Dang Yang, also 16 and from Modesto, is investigating the Faith. He sees it as “a place to go to have fun and to learn. We learn to be kind. We use the F to help us in our own life as well as how to help others.”



Letting the youths lead

‘To sustain Project 99, organizers are striving to step aside as much as possible and let the youths lead.

“The project is the kids, not us,” Mudge said.

That point was driven home recently by Counselor Wilma is, who visited Modesto in August and watched a special performance of “Pa ‘Ndau.”

After talking with the youths, the counselor gave project volunteers an opportunity to lay their burdens on her.

“She helped us realize that the resources must come from within,” Muratore said, “like the way a flower op/ns up.”

‘fo Muratore, the advice “felt like salve on the wounds” of a small and increasingly weary band of volunteers.






Next: a campus association

‘Thus, a top priority right now will be to establish a Baha'i association at Modesto Junior College. With that will come meeting facilities and, more important, 1 spirit of mentoring.

Encouragement for Project 99 also has come straight from the Universal House of Justice. In a letter addressed to those who had participated in the conference at Bosch, the Supreme Body lauded the way the arts and workshops were used to confirm the yout

“We are so privileged to be here,” Fields said. “This is a unique time.”






ecccccccce


eecccccccce

idually or collectively to foster that cat



Ruth Tobey Hampson: They can bring the Bah: perspective to work with them, live by it and defend justice in every instance, being careful to not verbalize Sas . They should align themselves closely with professional organizations. They can speak at high schools, encouraging young people.

Jaine Toth: There could possibly be a Baha’i employees group, and open it to others who are likeminded. They could try to educate each other and their own agencies as well as discuss problems/issues encountered on the job. #







October 16, 1999

THe AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ Continued page 21 [Page 22]

lassified notices in The American

Baba’ are published free of charge to the Baha’i community. Because of this, notices are limited to items relating to the Faith; no personal or commercial ads are accepted. Some of the opportunities have not been approved by the National Spiritual Assembly; the friends should exercise judgment and care in responding.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES


AT THE BAHA'I NATIONAL CENTER EVANSTON, ILLINOIS

Media Coordinator, National Teaching Office. Helps Baha'is understand the national media initiative through The American Babd’t, the Internet, Bahd’é Newsreel, regional training programs eté.; advises/assists local and regional media efforts; monitors national 1800 telephone system for seekers; sets up research and testing. Needs professional background in media, education and/or public relations; extensive project management experience; knowledge of Baha’ writings and administration. Research Coordinator, National Teaching Office. Gathers, analyzes information on issues affecting growth and development of the Faith; communicates analysis and recommendations to National Spiritual Assembly and National Teaching Committee; conveys information to Regional Baha’f Councils and to the believers in general. Needs advanced degree in research-oriented field such as social sciences or marketing; high organizational, analytical, interpersonal skills; extensive knowledge of Baha’ writings and administration. Conservation Coordinator, Conservation. Does inspection, recordkeeping, testing and research for Conservation Program at Baha’i House of Worship; maintains Conservation ‘Team information systems; manages some projects; must work at heights. Needs three years’ experience in engineering technology and/or conservation/preservation work;



degree in engineering technology, museum science or related field; skill in sketching, word processing.

Babd’i Properties Office, Wilmette: Maintenance Technician. Responsible for preventive maintenance, inspection and repairs. Needs high aptitude for electrical and mechanical systems. Additional training will be provided.

Persian/American Affairs Office, Evanston: Program Assistant. Helps follow up on programs and projects; performs records management and other office functions; handles correspondence in Persian and English; translates documents and letters. Must be skilled writing and speaking Persian and English; familiar with Baha’{ administrative practices and with Iranian culture. Must type 30 wpm in English and Persian, and be capable of detailed work with frequent interruptions. Administrative assistant (part-time), U.S. Babd’i Refugee Office. Prepares correspondence to refugees and to Baha’i, government and other agencies involved in refugee resettlement. Develops reports, maintains records, helps process Southeast Asian Bah: refugees. Helps compile and write the Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin, articles for The American Babd’i and other publications. Needs proven ability to work with confiden


i


IMMEDIATE NEEDS


Office of the Treasurer, Evanston: Assistant Controller. Responsible for National Spiritual Assembly financial operations: budget and cash management, reporting and control. Maintains relationships with department heads. Needs high degree of honesty and integrity; five years’ experience as controller of mid-sized corporation. or not-for-profit entity; bachelor’s degree in accounting (CPA preferred); experience in creating and managing budgets, working knowledge of cash management, accounting and control systems. Must be organized, have good communication and people skills, and be able to function in fast-moving, consultative environment. Executive Assistant, National Teaching Office. Hel Helps National Teaching Committee secretary: Coordinates projects related to National Teaching Plan; helps develop reports; communicates with other agencies; prepares articles for The American Bahda’i. Needs bachelor’s degree; knowledge of Baha’i writings/administration; project management experience; superior writing, speaking, analytical skills; word processing, spreadsheet, desktop publishing, Internet skills. Some travel required.

Office of Pioneering, Evanston: International Consultant (2 positions). Recruits, counsels, trains and dispatches international pioneers, youth volunteers and traveling teachers; assists current volunteers and those returning to the States. Needs excellent communication and organizational skills and computer/word processing skills; office experience preferable. Should understand cross-cultural interactions, international affairs etc.




U.S. Baba’t Refugee Office, Evanston: Assistant Program. Helps support teaching and consolidation ide? prepares correspondence; monitors/reports on programs throughout the country; coordinates annual Southeast Asian Baha’i Conference; prepares printed and audiovisual materials for the Southeast Asian Baha’fs; writes, compiles, lays out Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin. Two-year commitment expected; some travel may be required. Information Services, Evanston: Webmaster. Proficient in Internet HTML; at least 2 years’ experience; applications/development experience is a plus.

If interested, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., « Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430). e

5 Southeast Asian



tial information, strong skills writing and speaking English.

OFFICE OF INFORMATION SERVICES Applications developer. Provides high-level analysis, design and implementation of infor mation systems. Familiar with a variety of technologies including Visual tools, database tools and Web tools.

Network Administrator/Engineer. Responsible for configuration, maintenance and security of all computer networking infrastructure (LAN and WAN) including serviers, cabling, routers, switches and NICs. Maintains documentation of network and servers setup and structure.

LSAI Support. Coordinates support activities for LSAI project. Provides training and support for LSAL. Handles initial requests for support, escalates support issues to support team when necessary (LSAI help desk). Develops training-related communications materials, assists promotion and education. Database administrator. Coordinates all database development. Responsible for Enterprise SQL server including security rights, table design, normalization. Responsible for design and implementation of user and departmental applications as front ends to SQL using MS Access, VB or other tools as determined.

Data entry clerk, Membership Office. Will transcribe contact information from the 80022-UNITE voice-mail system. Needs transcription experience; will cooperate with the National Teaching Committee office.

If interested in any Baba’i National Center position, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847733-3430).

AT BoscH BaHA’i SCHOOL

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA Program Director. Plans, organizes and implements programs sponsored by Bosch or other Baha’ agencies; supervises an assistant and recruits course facilitators; supervises children’s programming and curriculum. Needs experience in curriculum planning/instruction and supervision at an academic institution; knowledge of Core Curriculum and Ruhi methodology; basic computer knowledge including word processing. Required: master’s in education, or bachclor’s plus five years’ supervisory experience. If interested, contact the Administrators, Bosch Baha’f School, 500 Comstock Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (phone 831-423-3387, fax 831-423-7564).

At GREEN Acre BAHA'I SCHOOL Euiot, MAINE Assistant Facilities Coordinator. Helps with inspections, preventive and routine maintenance, exterior and interior repairs. Must have proven skills in housekeeping and maintenace of buildings, equipment, vehicles and grounds. Receptionist/Office Assistant. Receives phone, e-mail and fax communications and greets all visitors to the office in a courteous, efficient manner. Provides administrative support to the co-administrators, registrar and program coordinator. Helps bookstore manager with sales and inventory. If interested in either position, please contact Jim Sacco, co-administrator, Green Acre Bah’ School, 188 Main St., Eliot, ME 03903 (phone 207-439-7200, e-mail ).

Art BAHA’l TRADE PUBLISHING Publisher. General manager and chief operating officer; public and legal spokesperson. Responsible for the product quality and financial results. Oversees general business, policies and interdepartmental collabo toward developing a presence for Baha’ literature in retail bookstores and libraries. Needs excellent written and oral communication




skills, including presentation, negotiation and problem-solving; expertise in publishing (including distribution) and business management; extensive knowledge of literature and Baha’ principles; bachelor’s degree; record of service on Baha’i administrative institutions. Office Manager. Supervises operations of Baha’{ Trade Publishing with focus on acquisitions, editorial and administrative functions. Helps publisher develop and manage this new enterprise. Develops and maintains office management systems for smooth administration. Needs excellent written and oral communication skills; expertise in publishing (including distribution) and business management; high level of organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines; at least bachelor’s degree with related work experience; expertise with spreadsheets, word processing, database management and other business software; knowledge of literature and Baha’i principles.

If interested in either position, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central

St. Evanston, LL 60201 (phone 847-7333427, fax 847-733-3430).


AT BAHA'I DisTRIBUTION SERVICE Futton County, GEORGIA

Assistant Manager. Supervises operations of BDS, particularly marketing and customer service; maintains dignified manner in all communications. Needs varied communication expertise: business reporting, correspondence, negotiating, consultation, facilitation; bachelor’s degree; familiarity with Baha’ literature; high computer literacy with special focus on developing Web sites; financial and business management experience; retail sales/marketing experience in a similar industry. If interested, please contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-733-3430) or Ford Bowers (phone 800-999-9019 ext. 111).

INTERNATIONAL China: Numerous openings for English teachers and professionals willing to travel for service in this rapidly developing country. For more information contact Susan Senchuk (phone 847-733-3506, fax 847-733-3509, email Z

PIONEERING / OVERSEAS


‘The Office of Pioneering is eager to assist the friends preparing for international service. To that end, the Office will post service opportunities related to the needs of other national Babé' institutions. Vor international job and study opportunities, we will provide Web sites, e-mail addresses and other resources to benefit your search.

For more information regarding jobs and study abroad, please contact the Office of Pioneering, Baha’{ National Center, 1233 Central St, Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3508, email ,



page 22. THe AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ CLASSIFIED

October 16, 1999 [Page 23]


SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AT THE BAHA'i WORLD CENTER


following opportunities for service:

Book conservators *


‘Tue Mount CarMev Projects Constructing the buildings and terraces of the Arc in Haifa, Israel, have the

© Gardeners/borticulturists. Needed at all levels of practical knowledge, from basic maintenance skills to advanced professional experience including graduates in horticulture or associated disciplines.

© Industrial/commercial plumber. Needs experience in all aspects of the trade, including drainage, fittings etc.

‘To apply, please mail or fax résumé to Mount Carmel Baha’i Projects, Project Manager’s Office, P.O. Box 155, 31 001 Haifa, ISRAEL (phone 972 (4) 835-8237, fax 972 (4) 835-8437, e-mail ).

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SKILLED WORKERS AT THE BAHA’i WorLD CENTER in Haifa, Israel:

° Computer system professionals with skills in Microsoft (minimum 2 years’ hands-on experience with latest Visual Basic, COM ActiveX, OLE, and ODBG; also with Visual Inter Developer 6, NT 4, IS 4 and SQL server administration; strong experience in a client server environment as an architect is desirable) or Oracle (Development Tools/Developer 2000, Oracle 7 or 8 Database Administration (UNIX), SQL, PRO*C, PL/SQ).

Horticulturists * Archivists * Lawyers * Executive officers

Senior-level managers ® Painters * Plumbers * Electricians ——

Accountants Translators © Librarians © Secretaries ® Telecommunications engineers ‘To send your résumé or CV to inquire about a position, contact:

Office of Personnel, Baha’i World Center, P.O. Box 155, 31 001 Haifa, ISRAEL (fax 972 (4) 835 8325, e-mail )


‘inance professionals



PIONEERING / HOMEFRONT


Jobnson County, Texas (largest town: Cleburne) is just south of Dallas/Fort Worth, where the unemployment rate is the lowest in the nation. This area needs teaching, and it’s hard for one lonely Baha’f teacher to be


heard. Le


id you not, if you are unprepared to face difficulties for Bah’u'llih’s sake, this is not the plac



for you. But if you're some real pioneering, this is the len W. Harris (phone 817 I ). WANTED




‘The Baha'is of Los Alamos, New Mexico, are inviting women artists to celebrate National Women’s History Month by displaying works of arts, crafts and textiles in all media. The art will be displayed through May 2000 at a public library. Exhibits will be juried by local artists. For application and more information, contact the Spiritual Assembly of Los Alamos County, P.O. Box 699, Los Alamos, NM 87544.

‘The Spiritual Assembly of Inglewood, California, is compiling an archive list of all Babé’is buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery (the resting place of Thornton Chase, first

). Please help us by sending us names of family and

friends that you know are buried there, date



American to enroll in the Baha’f F

interred, and anything else pertinent. For additional information please contact the Assembly (phone 310-519-1811 or 310-677-2898).

Seeking an artist who sent unsigned drawings Sor a children’s course on the lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah to Mignon Witzel, in Venezuela from 1967-1976. She would like to contact the arti


n to use the


for permi


drawings in a book.

Witz

contact Mignon


Venezuela


)


The Baha’ World Center library needs to bind five sets of World Order magazines for different departmental libraries at the World Center. Unfortunately it hasn’t been able to acquire these issues:

¢ Vol. 25, no. 1: Fall 1993

  • Vol. 25, no. 2: Winter 1993/1994

© Vol. 25, no. 3: Spring 1994

Please don’t send any magazines until we have responded to you accepting your offer. We only need four copies of each, and would not



like to deprive anybody of their issues unnecessarily. But if you are willing to part with a copy of any of those issues, please contact the i’ World Center Library, Periodicals tions, P.O. Box 155, Haifa 31001 Israel (phone 972-4-8358570, fax 972-4-8358280, email , Web

erp? 7AOPEEy ULES



‘The National Baha'i Archives is seeking original letters written on bebalf of the Guardian Edith M. Danielsen, Kofi O. Darko, Corinne Darmour, Elizabeth Darreff, Carolyn Dary, Priscilla Daubenkropf, Mark and Orpha Daugherty, Martha Davenport and Mabelle L. Davis. Anyone knowing family


to the followin;


members or relatives who might have these Guardian's letters is asked to contact the National Baha’{ Archives, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201-1611 (phone 847-8699039).


‘The National Bahé’ Archives is seeking photographs of American Indian Babé’ts, Balis’s communities on Indian reservations and



American Indi


n teaching activities and gathrings. Please identify the photographs if pos


sible with name of individuals, locality and

date. Anyone with photographs they could



donate is asked to send them to the National Baha'i Archives, 1233 Central St.,

IL 60201-1611.


EUV V ES hae

800-999-9019


Your window to teaching, deepening, and external affairs

World Order

Now available: Spring 1999 issue Defining Moments

¢ “Who Is Writing the Future? ections on the Twentieth Centu ¢ Ahang Rabbani’s “The Conversion of the Great Uncle of the Bab’

  • Aden Lauchner’s “Albert Killius: Photographer of ‘Abdu’l-Baha”




Coming: Summer 1999—Special Issue on Religious Freedom World Order surveys global response to the attempt to close of the Bahs’s Institute for Higher Education in Iran, and larger issues about religious freedom in a world community.

  • Robert H. Stockman: “The Attack on the Baha’f Institute for Higher Education in Iran”

© Ghangiz Geula, Marianne Geula and John Woodall: Community: The of the Baha’

  • Wilma Ellis: “Religious Freedom Abroad”

© Robert Hariman: “Radical Sociality and Christian Detachment in Erasmus’ Praise of Folly”

  • Amin Banani reviews Juan Cole's Modernity and the Millennium

(S19/ 1 year, $36 / 2 years) (19/1 year, $36 / 2 years) air mail (624/ 1 year, $46 / 2 years) Single copies available on phone orders for $5 plus shypping/handling

‘Health Care in a Persecuted


in Iran”






One Coun Published quarterly by the Baha’i International Community Subscription type/fee: U.S. ($12 / 1 year, $22 / 2 years) le US, 1 (S16 / I year, $30 / 2 years) ($20 / 1 year, $36 / 2 years)

Brilliant Star

Bimonthly children’s magazine by the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly Subscription type/fee: U.S. $18 / 1 year, $32,/2 years)

($18 / 1 year, $32 / 2 years)

air mail ($28 /'1 year, $52 / 2 years)





See page 11 for Kid’s Corner

The American Baha’i


ailable by su ubscription type/fe Air m




ription to Baha'is outside continental U.S. fas il ($24 / 1 year, $45 / 2 years) ($32 / 1 year, $60 / 2 years)





Use a separate copy of this form for each subscription Which publication?

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Phone orders: 800-999-9019 ¢ E-mail orders: Mail orders: Baha’i Subscriber Service,

4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30336 ‘TAB 10/16/99




October 16, 1999 Tre AMERICAN BattA’i ¢ CLASSIFIED page 23 [Page 24]

VINEY.

he building projects at the

Baha’i World Center on

Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, are less than two years from their planned completion. Undertaken in 1990, thanks to the generous contributions of Baha’is worldwide the projects aim to complete by the turn of the century 19 monumental terraces from the crest to the foot of the mountain, embracing the Shrine of the Bab, plus several new administrative buildings along the Arc near the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.

These projects follow a plan outlined by the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, who said their development “will synchronize with ... the establishment of the Lesser Peace and the evolution of Baha’i national and local institutions— the one outside and the other within the Baha’i world.”

This report is part of a series that has followed the projects’ progress since 1994.

PROGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTER

Gea ceramic tiles, made in California, are being installed on the roof of the International Teaching Center building in an intricate process. The concrete roof is first waterproofed, then wooden battens are anchored to it. Tiles are then nailed to the battens in overlapping layers.

One of the two tower cranes at the building site has been dismantled, opening space to finish garden landscaping between the Teaching Center and the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. The first fragrant frangipani tree was planted there soon after new topsoil was spread.

An underground service corridor is being developed alongside the Common Area beneath the Teaching Center. Drainage pipes, electrical cables and mechanical services have been installed there to connect the Common Area to the Plant room of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. i





Above: Gardens take shape along the Arc path toward the Archives building.

Right: Landscaping work draws toward completion on the terraces above the Shrine of the Bab.

TERRACES OF THE SHRINE OF THE BAB ARE BEING RESTORED TO HARMONY WITH THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINSIDE

TA the Mount Carmel Projects began in May 1990, many a heart must have skipped a beat to

see the Terrace excavations scarring the land around the beautiful Shrine of the Bab, and the apparent disturbance of Mount Carmel’s ecosystem.

Over the years, as the tapestry of terraced gardens has spread over the mountainside, it has gladdened many hearts and solaced many eyes. Though still incomplete, these gardens are attracting world attention and becoming a horticultural delight.

Ecosystem recovery: A new phase of landscaping on the Terraces is intended to create wildlife corridors that provide a sustainable environment for beneficial birds, s and other wildlife to act as natural deterrent to That way the use of chemical pesticides can be eliminated gradually.

Such chemical-free maintenance had been in the overall design from the start. The axis of the Terra centered on the Kings’ Pathway, has a formal layout with lawns, annual flowerbeds, boxlike santolina hedges, bushes and trees pruned geometrically, and








other ornamental details. The formal path is bordered with slopes planted mainly with flowering trees, olive and oak trees, and perennial bushes characteristic of the Middle East. With the completion of those two zones, the areas beyond are left free to develop into natural forest to serve as wildlife corridors.

Several small birds indigenous to the mountain have been seen returning to nest—quails, brilliant blue kingfishers, sun-birds with their iridescent plumage and finches that feed on thistles. Also returning are a host of beneficial insects like the ladybird beetle and praying mantis, and animals like the mongoose, hedgehog and land tortoise.

Last landscaping: On the Terraces above the Shrine of the Bab landscaping work is proceeding rapidly. The entire outer area on the west side of Terraces 15, 14 and 13 has been covered with topsoil; roc s and olive trees are in place, and preparations are under way to plant smaller trees, shrubs and ground covers. This will bring the green line of the landscaped terraces to within a few feet of Hatzionut Avenue.












page 24

Tue American BanA’i ¢ Mount CARMEL PROJECTS

October 16, 1999 [Page 25]







PHOTOS BY RUHI VARGHA

Left: A refurbished garden behind

the Shrine of the Bab points the eye toward the upper terraces.

Above: Work on the Entrance Plaza begins at the foot of the terraces.

Left: The International Teaching Center building awaits interior and gardening work.

PROJECT MANAGER INVITED TO BEIJING TO MAKE PRESENTATIONS ON MOUNT CARMEL PROJECTS AND INDIA HOUSE OF WORSHIP

‘he 20th Congress of the International Union of

Architects was held in Beijing, China, June 23-29 with the participation of more than 8,000 architects from all over the world and China.

The organizing Scientific Committee invited Fariburz Sahba, Mount Carmel Projects manager, to make an overall presentation on “Architecture and Culture,” reviewing the design and construction of the Baha’i House of Worship in India.

Within the framework of this Congress, Mr. Sahba also lectured on the subject of Architecture and

vironment in several architectural institutions of the Institute of Architecture at the Qinghua ity, Jian Gong Architectural College, Beijing Institute of Architecture and Engineering, and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design and Research.

Originally scheduled for an hour, the presentations ran into more than two hours everywhere because of the shown by architects faculty members about the proje Several newspapers interviewed Sahba and overall response was tremendous.






overwhelming interes , students and



The Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab were seen wonderful correlation betw ‘chitecture and the environment. The Beijing Youth Daily, a widely circulated national newspaper in Chinese, in its issue dated June 23, 1999, described Sahba’s work as creating a “miracle of spirit and dream.” It referred to the Baha'i House of Worship in India as the Taj Mahal of the 20th century.

Referring to the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab, the article said: “The terrace design on Mount Carmel creates the most suitable outer environment for the Shrine of the Bab which is one of the holy places of the Baha’is, and a place of pilgrimage. The terraces surround the Shrine like a golden ring around a shining diamond. ‘The whole function of the ring is to complement, uplift, emphasize and enhance the beauty of the Shrine. When the Baha’i pilgrims walk along the terraces towards the Shrine, the terraces prepare them for the spiritual experience ahead of them. Because of th not only decorative, beautiful gardens and elegant view, but also an instrument to create an environment of serenity, peace and meditation.”
















the terrace:





A TIME TO CELEBRATE: HANDING OVER THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF THE TEXTS

ore than 150 key participants gathered July 4 asthe Mount Carmel Projects

office ceremonially handed over the completed Center for the Study of the Texts and the Archives Extension to the permanent building management. ‘ariburz Sahba, project manager, gave a welcoming speech praising the spirit of cooperation and teamwork that characterized the work. The doors of consultation were open at all times, both on the part of the project management team as well as the contractors, he said.

The managing director of Perez G.G. gineers said his firm and its associates would treasure the privilege of working on these projects throughout their professional lives. One of the firm’s engineers explained that the buildings posed many challenges as they were not only complicated structures, but the Baha’is also demanded quality of a kind not expected in Israel. As another contractor put it: “It was very difficult work, but it was an honor to be a part of it.”

Several offices scheduled their move into the Center for the Study of the Texts and Archives Extension from early August onward.








A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY AT ENTRANCE PLAZA SITE

E cavation of about 36,000 cubic feet of earth has made way for construction of the Entrance Plaza of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab, at the foot of Mount Carmel—the ociated with the Terraces. re to be laid for a mechanical room to support elaborate fountains and ponds, while the construction of geometric curves and gutters has already begun. Bids have been invited for stone for the central fountain. Drilling of a tube well was also recently undertaken at this site to supplement water resources for the terraced gardens.







ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM BAHA'| COMMUNITY IN CANADA


the loving appreciation of friends from Canada for the Mount Carmel Projects team.

“The Baha’i Community of Ottawa would like to express its thanks to all the people who are working so diligently and well on the Arc Project on Mount Carmel. We are thrilled at the ence of the workmanship, and by the ion of such uplifting beauty—so much so at we feel we must let you know how sincerely grateful we What a wonderful gift to the world!” These encouraging words, accompanying a photograph of the entire community and individually signed by the friends, were encased in an album with covers ‘aphed artistically.






cre:








October 16, 1999

Tne American BanA’i ¢ Mount CARMEL PROJECTS

page 25 [Page 26]

Bernice Schreiber opened California county to Faith

ernice Schreiber passed away April 7, 1999, at B=: home in Nevada City, California, at age

96. Her spiritual legacy includes five generations of Baha'is, including two Knights of Baha’u’llah.

Born Aug. 22, 1902, in Springfield, Ilinois, grew up in Urbana. There she embraced the Faith at age 11, at a time when only a handful of Baha’fs lived in the Western world.

As a young girl, Bernice had said, she had a vis in which the room filled with light and ‘Abdu’l-Baha told her, “Teach, teach, teach.”

Later, a group of pilgrims returning from the Holy Land gave her a ruby Baha'i ringstone that ‘Abdu’lBaha had blessed. She wore it all her life.

The Faith became the force that animated her life. Bernice had the privilege of meeting prominent early Baha’is including Martha Root and Mirzé Abu’lFadl. She enjoyed helping raise funds toward construction of the House of Worship in Wilmette.

While studying at the University of Ilinoi met and married Nat Schreiber, an instructor of lan









Shaffiq Ahmed distinguished nationally in metals research

haffiq Ahmed had a long,

career as a metallurgy researche sor, retiring in 1996 from Youngstown State University in Ohio after earning two patents and publishing many research studies.

Ahmed passed away May 21, 1999, in Madison, Alabama. He was 65. He embraced the Baha’{ Faith in 1992, as did his wife, Ursula.

Born in Calcutta, India, Shaffiq Ahmed came to the United States in 1955.

He joined Youngstown State in 1960 as a professor of metallurgical engineering and materials science, serving as department chairman from 1968-72.

He was active in alloy studies benefited the U.


search and some of his space program.




Her spiritual legacy includes five generations of Baha’is, including two Knights of Baha’u’llah. Bernice had the privilege of meeting prominent early Baha’is including Martha Root and Mirza Abu’I-Fadl.



guages, who also became a Baha’i. Together they moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where he became a professor at the University of Wyoming.

Several years later they moved to the Chicago area where Bernice taught at Avery Coonley, a school for the gifted in Downers Grove, Illinois. Nat taught languages in Chicago-area colleges while they reared their three children.


Due to ill health, Nat retired early, which freed them to go pioneering. They spent several years in Mexico and Costa Rica.

Then, in Isle of Pines, Cuba, they built their own home, intending to spend the rest of their lives there teaching the Faith. However, the political scene changed, and the home they had built was seized and used as a barracks for soldiers. They had to flee from Cuba, losing their home, all their Baha’i materials and other belongings.

They came to Nevada City in the 1950s. Nat passed away there in 1962.

Bernice and Nat Schreiber were the first to bring the Baha’i Faith to Nevada County, California. As a result of their diligent early efforts, this area has three Local Spiritual Assemblies and a registered group. Bernice wrote many long articles about the Faith which were published in the local paper, The Union, in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

She is survived by a daughter, two sons, five grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and three greatgreat-grandchildren, all Baha'is. #


Louise Love was stalwart in Middle Tennessee

ne of Middle Tennessee’s most devoted servants, Louise Winston Love of Mount Juliet, passed Aug. 19, 1999.






Born in 192 1 in eastern Virginia, Love graduated from Virginia Union University. In 1944 she married William Love in Tuskegee} Alabama, and the couple later settled in s Township, Michigan.

William Love’ parents, who had become Baha'is, introduced the Faith to their son and daughter-in-law. Both embraced the Faith and had served tirelessly ever since.

Over the years the Loves and their three children lived in Windsor, Ontario; Rockville, Maryland; and Nashville, Tennessee, on several occasions.

‘They returned to Middle Tennessee for good in 1979 to help form the first Spiritual Assembly of Wilson County. Louise Love served continuously on that Assembly until her passing.

In addition to serving her local Baha’i communities,






she served in Maryland and Tennessee as an a Board members Robert n, Mary K. Radpour and Jahan crowning service wa





member of the


Souther Pione

In addition to her Baha’i service, Love was a teacher and PTA member, then an active volunteer. In Michigan she served as a Red Cross first aid instructor, and nnessee she volunteered as an adult literacy instructor. Recently she was coordinator for the Wilson County Retired Senior Volunteer Program and a past board member of the Mount Juliet Senior Citizens Center.

Love opened her heart and home in. every community in which she lived and was known to many as “Mama Love.”

She is survived by her husband and _ their three children: Gloria Holmes of East Lansing, Michigan; Daniel Love and Laura Ware, both of Nashville, Tennessee.





IN MEMORIAM




Linda Buchanan Woodward, PA July 29, 1999

M. Virginia Appel Mount Vernon, WA May 1, 1999

Marguerite Ashlock Cedar Rapids, IA September 2, 1999

Charles M. Buckley Slidell, LA August 13, 1999

David G. Barlow Montgomery, AL. January 13, 1996

Ann Cook Mentor, OH June 5, 1998

Shirley A. Brown Darlington, SC August 15, 1999

James D. Bruce Harvey, LA October 23, 1998

William Frey Berkeley, CA July 7, 1999

veg pov




Virgil T. Ghant Everett, WA August 23, 1999

Grace I. Kough Waterloo, [A September 11, 1999



Ali Ghassemi Great Falls, VA September 21, 1999

A. Louise Love Mount Juliet, TN August 19, 1999

Ruth G. Meredith Washington, DC August 11, 1999

Mary L. Gonzales Oceano, CA December 26, 1998

Ruth H. Goodman Grants Pass, OR May 21, 1999

Amina Michael-Smith Lancaster, PA July 27, 1999

Saul Miller Santa Cruz, CA August 7, 1999

Avvie Gordon Greensboro, NC July 17, 1999

Willie T. Gunn Montgomery, AL October 30, 1998


ullah Nafehati Great Falls, VA August 16, 1999



Ron Night Shield St. Francis, SD August 22, 1999


Wolf H. Stern Newport Beach, CA August 10, 1999

Marilyn J. Pruner Albuquerque, NM. April 1999

Anna Stevenson Berkeley, CA May 4, 1999

Reuben Running Horse Parmelee, SD June 3, 1999




Laura Schell Phyllis M. Swi Osseo, WL Murfreesboro, August 23, 1999 July 13, 1999 James D. Scott Luther E. Taylor Springville, AL Decatur, IL

September 3, 1999 August 25, 1999

Vet ter




page 26 THe American BanA’i * In Memoriam

October 16, 1999 [Page 27]

1999 BAHA'I CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR THE AMERICAS December 16-19, 1999 ¢ Clarion Plaza Hotel * Orlando, Florida

THEME: SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES — GUIDE TO WORLD TRANSFORMATION


TOPICS

  • SED and the Four Year Plan ¢ Living a

Holy Life and Serving Humanity * Best Practices for Race Unity Training—How to Apply Baha'i Principles * Full Equality between Women and Men * Community Building through SED: Grandmothers and Mothers * Importance of Feedback and Encouragement * Building Capacity for ‘Transformative Action * Reconceptualizing the System of Human Relationships * Synergism through Top-Down and Bottom-Up

MUSIC AND DRAMA Jack Lenz of Live Unity Productions will coordinate this year's music and drama. There will be quality and diversity of performances, from classical, ospel, Persian and other music to inspirational drama, to cause our spirits to soar. In addition, Leslie Asplund has assembled a group of performers. who will provige inspirational learning through the performing arts at various Conference sessions.


Register by Mail Use the multipurpose form on this page to register by mail. Include special information:

+ Names and ages of all attending, including children

  • Your (otal conference fees
  • Any special needs

Call 407.740.5415 * Adults - $120 Youth (15-20 years) - $80 » Children & Junior Youth (3-14 years) -$60 * Add. $19 contribution, if possible, to assist with scholarships. Add $20 per person after Noveinber 20. ¢ No refunds for “no-shows.” + All cancellations are subject to a $20 cancellation fee. Mail in check (in U.S. dollars) to: RABBANI CHARITABLE TRUST ¢ 2693 W. FAIRBANKS AVENUE, SUITE A « WINTER PARK, FLORIDA 32789

his year’s Conference is designed to meet

the needs of the practitioner as well as those new to social and economic development (SED). The program is structured to favor consultation over presentations and enable everyone to derive maximum value from a dialogue-evoking environment in which everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner. The Conference will provide abundant opportunities to share Baha'i development information and experiences, analyze the shared experience in the light of the teachings of the Faith and current development thought, bring project representatives in contact with others who can be of assistance, and learn about principles and practices of Baha’i SED. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from and with representatives of over 200 Baha'i development projects, agencies and Baha’i-inspired organizations from more than 20 countries who have been invited to participate.

Featured Speakers and Facilitators: Carole and Dwight Allen (U.S.), Eloy Anello (Bolivia), Crystal Baker Shoaie (Bolivia), Luis Henrique Beust (Brazil), Judie and Michael Bopp. (Canada), Elizabeth Bowen (U.S.), Deana and Raymond Choczynski (U.S.), Linda Gershuny (Haiti), Patricia Locke (U.S.), Dorothy Marcic (U.S.), Louise Profeit-LeBlanc (Canada), Donald Rogers (€anada), June Manning Thomas (U.S.) and many more.


Donald Rogers (Canada) Crystal Baker Shoaie




HOTEL/AIRLINE INFORMATION Hotel rooms at the Clarion Plaza Hotel-in Orlando $50 a night (up to 4 persons). Limited availability—call promptly: 800-627-8258 or 407-996-1705. Mention Baha'i Families. Delta Airlines discounts through American Travel Consultants: 800-393-5050 (outside North America 407679-6655) File 130252A Avis Car Rental discounts,Call 800331-1600—Avis Worldwide Discount Group # D131183

For General Information




RFAN COLLOQUIUM

English language session in the United States

  • The English-language session of the ‘Irfan Colloquium and Seminar at

Bosch Baha’i School will cover different aspects of the Baha’i writings than covered in the Louhelen session in October.

  • The session will be held at the same time as a Persian-language session.

+ Registration fee is $30 (fee includes compilation of abstracts).

  • For registration and accommodations, contact Bosch.

INFORMATION ON YOUR

INTERNATIONAL TEACHING TRIP


To record achievement of traveling teaching goals, the Office of Pioneering needs information on all international trips undertaken for the sake of promoting the interests of the Faith. This information is important whatever the level or amount of service and regardless of whether your trip was exclusively for service to the Faith or was combined with a trip for business, holiday, family, study or otherwise.

Just contact the Office of Pioneering, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3508, fax 847-733-3509, e-mail »

Use the Multipurpose Form at right to respond by mail. Special information (use a separate sheet as needed):

  • ¢ Names and ID numbers of all Baha’fs on each trip.
  • Names of each country visited, plus the one or two main localities, and

date(s) of visit(s).

  • Main purpose of your travel.
  • Did you arise to meet the call of the Universal House of Justice for:

Native Americans to teach in the circumpolar areas? Hispanic believers to teach in Latin America? African-Americans to teach in Africa? ®

26th Colloquium, Nov. 26-28 Bosch Baha’i School é Theme: Selected Tablets revealed during

the Tehran-Baghdad period (1853-1863).


Poirier, Heshmat Shahriari, Ala Quds, - Sheila Banani, Brian Miller, fraj Ayman.


For which event or activity?

Coordinator: Sheila Banani; ae

Farhad Sabetan, Amin Banani, Nabil Fares,


a MULTIPURPOSE FORM

CLIP OR Copy AS NEEDED

Send your views on English sessions of Persian conference


Persian conducted i Persian and E:




One reason for organizing the conferences is to familiarize the friends with the


not enjoyed the of participation as the Persian sessions. Therefore we would like to ask for your views on a


‘0 send us s below,



your responses to the qui along with your comments, before the end of November.

2 ffect our plans for



set for Aug.

is important and useful to have parallel English-language sessions during the annual 4-day Annual Conferences of the Friends of Persian Culture Association? Why or why not?

2) If English-language parallel sessions are held, what subjects do you think should be covered or are important to discuss there?

3) Would you likely attend a conference about Persian culture:

A. In English only?

B. In Persian only?

C. In both languages only?

Please send responses to: Persian-American Affairs Office Baha’j National Center,

1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 e-mail





Name Address City

State, ZIP


Phone

E-mail


Special information:








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page 30) THE AMERICAN BAHA’i ¢ PERSIAN

October 16,1999 [Page 31]

U.S. youths proclaim to 10,000 in El Salvador Yo from the United States proclaimed the Baha’i Faith to 10,000 people during their first 19 dance performances in June and July as part of the Brillo del Espiritu teaching and consolidation project in El Salvador.

Organized in memory of the late Counselor Hidayatu’llah Ahmadiyyih and Louise Groger, a Knight of Baha’u’llah who opened the Faith in Chiloé Island, Chile, the project continued well into the summer.

The project originated when a dance workshop and consolidation team, consist ing of 17 youths from the United States, offered to work with the Salvadoran Baha’ community for seven weeks.

The National Spiritual Assembly and

Traveling Teaching Projects

  • Belize: Baha’ Regional Institute for Training

and Empowerment.

  • Botswana: John Robarts Long-Term

“Teaching Project.

  • Cameroon: Teaching projects, including one

affiliated with a regional institute center for © Canada: Ongoing teaching projects. Ui Democratic Republic of Congo: Nine zonal ‘ teaching projects.

  • Ecuador: Project Badasht, an expansion and
  • El Salvador: Deepening and social and economic development projects at the Badasht

Institute, Jamiliyyih Institute and New Garden Baha’{ Institute.

  • French Guiana: “Sparks of Peace” Perles de

"la Caraibes Teaching Project; interested in _ French-speakers and/or those experienced with youth performance groups.

  • Germany: Dr. Mubéjir Project, long-term

_ © Guatemala: Teaching, consolidation, deep~ ening, human resource development with Riihiyyih Project, Chimaltenago Shiriz. Project and National Network of Institutes.

  • Hungary: Békéscaba Long-Term ‘Teaching

Project and a permanent consolidation pro‘gram where the Roma friends reside.

  • Rvory Coast: Various teaching projects.
  • Jamaica: Teaching and consolidation efforts;

youth projects.

  • Liberia: Quddis Project.

‘* Madagascar: Roddy Lutchmaya Long-Term ‘Teaching Project. _* Mexico: Furdtan Project, teaching on college campuses, and exchange program with the ‘Huasteca


Potosina. © Panama: Project Mubdjir, focusing on proclamation and consolidation.

  • Russia: Various teaching projects in many

regions of Russia. Especially looking for help _ with youth workshops and children’s classes.

  • Solomon Islands: \-3 months helping Baha’i

youth workshop, teaching, and developing youth activities in rural villages. © Zambia: Various rural teaching projects. Conferences, Schools and Events

  • Kenya: International Youth Conference

Dec. 23-27.

  • Namibia: Baha'i International Summer

School Dec. 26-31. For information: "Office of Pioneering, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL. 60202 (phone 847-733-3508, email eo

the National Teaching Committee developed a plan to take the group to 30 localities across the country. The goal was to spread the fragrance of the Faith of God through several regions and at the same time infuse greater love for the Cause of God into the hearts of the believers in these communities.

‘The American youths had five days of orientation, preparation and study. Then, during the next 12 days, they performed for about 10,000 people in San Salvador and five other cities.

Presentations were made at a university, nine secondary schools, two commercial centers, two parks and other places. A total of 50 people attended the fire sides held each day, and five people from two communities embraced the Faith.

“The response from all schools has been positive, and several have asked for assistance in teaching moral values to students and in enhancing their schools’ existing dance workshops. Several thousand Baha’i pamphlets and hundreds of copies of The Prosperity of Humankind were distributed,” the National Spiritual Assembly reported.

Two members of the Brillo del Espiritu group were interviewed on radio, and the Baha’is performed on two television stations. “Iwo members of the studio’s production team were moved to tears by the dance on the topic of drugs,” the report said. @


Floating proclamation


The friends in Ontario, Canada, gather around the Baha'i float that has been _ displayed in seven other communities this year. In British Columbia, 1 took fret prize tna estzaarset Meadow apd seeopd nlaceaniae are aay






2 ARTS pone

  • South Africa: The words and life of the audience behind,” wrote a

‘Tahirih, most prominent heroine of the Babi Faith, made an impression on hundreds in South Africa, as Muhtadia Rice of Los Angeles, California, gave her acclaimed presentation A Woman and Her Words for five nights in August at a theater in Grahamstown.

“This is a bold yet sensitive production tackling issues of self-discovery and the realization of one’s value as a human being. Muhtadia Rice, playwright/actress/singer, meanders with ease through different styles of singing, never once leaving

reviewer in Cue News, a publication of Rhodes University.

Rice’s connection with social development in South Africa was highlighted in the same paper.

An interview article pointed out that Rice in the past “was personally appointed, by the now former President Nelson Mandela, to serve as the North American Representative for a community-driven economic development program located in KwaZulu-Natal [region].”

DEVELOPMENT


  • United Kingdom: Sixteen members

of the European Baha’i Business Forum took the opportunity to share Baha'i perspectives on business and economics to the 800 attendees at the Enterprise

Summit in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Held May 4-9 in conjunction with the State of the World Forum, the summit dealt with the challenge of diversity in a “Global Age.” @

TEACHING


¢ Democratic Republic of Congo: An individual’s idea of renting an exhibition hall in Lubumbashi for several months resulted in the Baha’i Faith being proclaimed to 2,250 visitors from March through June, with nine people enrolling.

A series of exhibitions featured the showing of Baha’{ films, slides of the Mount Carmel Baha’i Projects and other activities.

Drawing more than 30 inquirers each were the celebration of the 12th Day of Ridvan and an address by a non-Baha’i author titled “What Religion for Africa?” e¢ Japan: Baha’is in Kumamoto, Kikuchi, Mifune and Nishihara have taken a social approach to befriending seekers, and it has paid off in at least five enrollments as of July.

The new Baha’is, brought into the Faith through regular firesides and pancake socials, are invited immediately to training institutes. “It is really inspiring to see them so eager to study the true nature of the spirit,” a report in Baba’é News of Japan stated. ¢ Australia: Inspired by the book Advancement of Women: A Baba’ Perspective by Janet and Peter Khan, women in Sydney launched the Munirih Khinum Teaching Project in five Pacific countries last spring. Soon it was “raining declarations,” one report read. Within Australia alone a teaching team enrolled 28 new believers within two months, all within the Aboriginal population. © Canada: A Persian conference at the Vancouver Baha’i Center early in the year inspired pledges by more than 50 people to embark on teaching trips in any part of British Columbia. More than US$5,000 was raised for teaching and pioneering efforts. Regular and special contributions were also pledged until the end of the Four Year Plan. #


EDUCATION


¢ Tonga: In only three years, the Ocean of Light School has grown from a gathering of nine students to “a joyful magnet for children of all races and religions,” the Australian Babd’i Bulletin reported. Enrollment is now 124 children, including three of the king’s grandchildren. ‘The education center, created by local Baha’is and supported by the friends in Australia and New Zealand, already has primary school graduates ready to attend this year’s newly created high school sessions. Also new this year is a kindergarten built by a Local Assembly.

  • Angola: ‘Twenty-one friends participated in the country’s first Baha’i deepening on the empowerment of women,

May 3-6. The sessions were organized by Counselor Lally Warren in cooperation with the National Spiritual Assembly. One of the 11 non-Baha’i attendees accepted the Faith, and others acknowledged that they had never had such a wonderful and direct experience with the Words of God. #


October 16, 1999 Tue American BanA’i ¢ INTERNATIONAL NewS page 31 [Page 32]


423-3387; fax 831-423-7564; e-mail


FOR INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly, or its agencies at the Baha’i National Center, please phone 847-869-9039 and ask for the relevant department. Numbers and e-mail addresses for the permanent Baha’f schools and institutes are: Bosch Baha’f School, phone 831



School, phone 207-439:

Louhelen Baha’s School, phon

}, fax 207-4.

Louis G. Gregory Baha’i Institute, phone 843-558-5093;


e-mail Sosesseea fax 810-653-7181; e-mail



OCTOBER 28-31: Ruhi Institute Facilitator ‘Training (must have completed the “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit” session) at Green Acre. 28-31: Pioneering/BYSC/SITA Institute at Green Acre. Contact Office of Pioneering, 847-733-3508. 29-31: Two programs at Bosch: Social and Economic Development Facilitators Conference; “Don’t Yell at Your Watchman.” 29-31: Baha’i Campus Association weekend at Bosch. 30-31: Work Weekend at NABI. 30-31: South Carolina Baha’{ Family Reunion, Orangeburg, SC. Contact: Annette Reynolds, Branchville, SC 29432 (phone 803533-1289, fax 803-531-2769, e-mail



AT BAHA'I HATIONAL, OFFICES

+ Treasurer's Office

  • National Teaching Committee office
  • Office of Pioneering

+ U.S. Baha’i Refugee Office

See Page 22





BAHA’{ NATIONAL CENTER 112 LINDEN AVE WILMETTE, IL 60091-2849





fax 843-558-9136; e-mail . Native American Baha’{ Institute . Green Acre Baha’i (NABD), phone and fax 520-587-7599; e-mail the eye er sat Ai NOVE bEcE EMBER — m 5-7: Two programs at Green Acre: “For the Love of God”; Conference on IM Lbeal Stil decipiens Substance-Abuse Prevention. weekend at Bosch.

5-7; Two programs at Louhelen: Youth Institute; Assembly Development Forum.

5-7: “Fundamental Verities” (Part II]) training institute at Bosch. For those who have completed Part II.

5-7: Royal Falcon Baha’{ School, “Relationships among the Institutions, Individuals and Community”; Pensacola Beach, FL. With Farah Rosenberg and Riaz Khadem. Lodging: 800-THE BEACH. Registrar: Carol Payne, P.O. Box 289, Skipperville, AL 36374 (phone 334-774-0020, e-mail ,» Web http://bahai.home.mindspring.com). 12-14: Seekers Weekend at Bosch: “Befriend and Guide One Seeker to the Cause of Baha’u’llah.”

12-14: “The Ancient Beauty,” weekend family session at Louhelen. 19-21: Baha’f Mental Health Association meeting at Louhelen.

19-21: “Kitab-i-Aqdas” at Green Acre.

19-21: Assembly Team Development Weekend at Bosch.

25-28: Desert Rose Baha’f School, Casa Grande, AZ. With Counselor Wilma Ellis, Counselor Stephen Birkland, Derek Cockshut, Bill Barnes. Sponsored by Spiritual Assembly of Pinal County (information phone 520466-7961, Web www.mesabahai.org).

25-28: Florida Baha’{ Winter School, “A Future Beyond Any Earthly Reckoning”; Holiday Inn, Cocoa Beach, FL. With David and Margaret Ruhe, Karen Pritchard, Bob Harris, Duane Dumbleton. For lodging at the hotel call 800-206-2747. Registrar: Denise Godsey, 5 Pompano Beach, FL 33060 (phone 954-942-1844, fax 954-946-9299, email ).

26-28: ‘Irfin Colloquium (both English and Persiin) at Bosch.

26-28: Divine Art of Living Conference: “The Baha’{ Faith and the New Millennium,” Hilton-Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, CA, sponsored by San Diego Assembly. Speakers include Jack McCants, Suheil Bushrui, Habib Riazati. Special sessions for youth. Contact Divine Art of Living, P.O. Box 710442, San Diego, CA 92111 (toll-free phone 877-992-2424). 26-28: “The Fireside: Basic Building Block of Society” at Green Acre.

To avoid unnecessary delays in receiving

Youngsters sing mailing label to: Membership Office, Bah:

along with Red

ing. (This also updates the National Ce Grammer on e :



acquiring a Post Office box, your residence address (B) must


10-12: Two programs at Green Acre: “Baha’iCentered Management: Principles and Practice” and “Spirituality and Ethics in Medicine.” 10-12: Two Programs at Bosch: Youth Deepening Weekend for ages 16-25; Ruhi courses on Book 1 or Book 2. 17-19: Ruhi courses at Bosch: Book 2 or tutor training for Book 1. 23-26: Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference and Youth Conference, Hyatt Regency, Phoenix AZ; theme: Equality of Women and Men. With Counselor David Smith, NCEWM, Rebequa Murphy, Kambiz Rafraf. For lodging at the hotel call 800-233-1234. For more information contact committee (phone 602-861-1609, email ). Discount for registration before Dec. 1. 26-30: Two programs at Bosch: Winter School, “Choosing the Future at the End of the Millennium”/“Preparing the Hearts for Entry by Troops”; Grassroots Education Conference. 26-31: “Make Your Mark,” annual Winter School at Green Acre. 27-Jan. 1, 2000: Winter School at Louhelen. 27-Jan. 1, 2000: “Make Your Mark Now,” 9th Annual Midwinter Youth Conference, Cleveland, Ohio; ages 13 and up. Sponsor: Spiritual Assembly of Warrensville Heights. Registrar: Frank Jenkins,

Warrensville Heights, OH 44122 (phone 216-283-8526, e-mail ). 31-Jan. 2: Winter Retreat at Bosch.




American Babi National


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listed above. they should appear on the national | number and address above. records, their ID numbers, and the corrections so that we will receive only one copy.

BECAUSE: ie last names and addresses on our address labels do not

H. I WOULD LIKE A COPY

[Oe household receives only one copy of The American Babd’é. 1 wish to receive my own

names of family members as | copy. I have listed my name, ID







Tue American BanA’i

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