The American Bahá’í/Volume 31/Issue 1/Text

[Page 1]


Amatu1-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum

Hand of the Cause of God

Message from the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is of the world, January 19, 2000

n the early hours of this morning, the soul of Amatu’l-Bal Ruhiyyih Khanum, beloved consort of Shoghi Effendi and the _ tas!


ining



Baha’f world’s last rer a, eleased from the the midst of our grief, we has been gathered to the glory of the Concourse on High in the presence of the Abhé Beauty.

For all whose hearts she touched so deeply, the sorrow that this irreparable loss brings will, in God’s good time, be assuaged in awareness of the joy that is hers through her reunion with the Guardian and with the Master, Who had Himself prayed in the Most Holy Shrine that her parents be blessed with a child. Down the s to come, the followers of w'llah will contemplate with wonder and gratitude the quality of the servic ‘dent, indomitable, resourceful—that she brought to the protection and promotion of the




e€






Cause.

In her youth, Amatu’l-Baha had already distinguished herself through her a s in North America, and later, both with her dear mother and on her own, she had rendered valuable service to the Cause in Europe. Her twenty years of intimate association with Shoghi Effendi evoked from his pen such accolades as “my





nk with the family of ‘Abdu’ltions of this earthly existence. In ¢ ined by our confidence that she




4 help:



Amatu’l-Baha Rahiyyih Khanum, pictured at the 1970 Youth Conference in Wilmette, Illinois.


houlder.” To these tribute: to elevate her to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God, after the th of her illustrious father.

‘The devastating shock of the beloved Guardi

ny tireless collaborator in the arduous he added in 1952 his decision



ig steeled her resolve to lend her share, with the other Hands of the Cause, to the tiumph of the Ten Year subsequently to undertake, wi acteri: intrepidity, her historic worldwide travels. A life so noble in its provenance, so

1 to the preservation of the integrity, and so rich in its dedicated, uninterrupted and selfless vice, moves us to call for befitting commemorations by Baha’{ communities on both national and local levial gatherings in

Houses of

rusade, and



h char








els, as well as for specia


her memory in all Worship.

With yearning hearts, we supplicate at the Holy Threshold for infinite heavenly bounties to surround her soul, as she assumes her rightful and well-earned position among the exalted company in the Abha Kingdom.





The Universal House of Justice


Tribute to her life and service

Adib Taherzadeh, Universal House of Justice member Message from the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is of the world, January 27, 2000

he passing of our dearly loved co worker, Adib Taherzadeh, has deepened our sorrows. We recall with admiration his devoted and unremitting services to the Cause of God for over half a century. His exemplary enthusiasm for the teaching work and his capacity to inspire the believers endeared him to all who knew him. As a self-sacrificing pioneer, as a champion of the Covenant, as a member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the British Isles and of the Republic of Ireland, as a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in


Europe, and as a member of the Universal House of Justice, he evinced complete consecration, unshakeable faith, and unyielding resolve.

At an early point in his life he was seized by the desire to make available to his fellow believers in the West the riches of the history and teachings of the Faith. It was this longing that found expression in the body of writings that will remain forever associated with his memory.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family, most particularly to





his dear wife and beloved children, and assure them of our fervent prayers in the Holy Shrines for bountiful rewards to be in the

vouchsafed to him Abha Kingdom.

All National Assemb hold memorial gatherin; including devotional programmes in his

honour in all Houses of Worship.


‘The Universal House of Justice

_ Tribute to his life and service / page


Fesruary 7, 2000

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MULK/DOMINION ‘ALA/LOFTINESS BAHAT ERA 156





VOLUME 31, NO. |


THREE BAHA’is IN IRAN FACE DEATH SENTENCES

A STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

On Friday, February 11, 2000, the National Spiritual Assembly received the distressing news that the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, Iran, has confirmed the death sentences for two Baha’is, Mr. Sirus Zabihi-Moghaddam and Mr. Hedayat Kashefi-Najafabadi. ‘The same court has also imposed the death sentence on a third Baha’f, Mr. Manuchehr Khulusi, who had been arrested some eight months ago.

SEE IRAN, PAGE 7



THE NATIONAL FUND

Between May 1, 1999, and Jan. 31, 2000


surpasseth of the sun and the radiance thereof. Whoso attaineth unto it is accounted as a jewel among men.”

—Bahéa’u'll4h




[Page 2]ALMANAC


Ayyam-i-Ha

Days of giving

  • Observed from sunset Feb. 25 through sunset March 1

Work is not suspended

‘There are five Intercalary Days in a leap year, four in most years. They fall between the Baha'i months of Mulk and ‘Ald and are designated for spiritual preparation for the Fast, hospitality, charity and gift-giving. ‘The name “Ayyam-i-Ha” translates into “Days of [the letter] Ha.” A note accompanying the Kitib-i-Aqdas states that Arabic letter has “several spiritual meanings in the Holy Writings, among which is as a symbol of the Essence of God.” “It beboveth the people of Babd, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to bail and sh rify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name. . —Bahd’u'llah, Kitéb-i-Aqdas, para. 16




The Nineteen-Day Fast

Season of restraint

  • Observed from sunset March | through sunset March

20

  • Work is not suspended

During the Baha’i month of ‘Alé, believers in sufficient health between the ages of 15 and 70 are to abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset. “The traveller, the ailing, those who are with child or giving suck, are not bound by the Fast; they have been exempted by God as a token of His grace. He, verily, is the Almighty, the Most Generous.” —Baha’u'llah, Kitib-i-Aqdas, para. 16 “Tt is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation. ... Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires.” —Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Directives from the Guardian, p. 28



Naw-Raz

A Baha’i Holy Day

  • Observed between sunset March 20 and sunset March

21

Facts in the “Some Significant Dates” section

  • Work is to be suspended

Rooted in an ancient Persian new year festival, Naw-Riz was adopted by Baha'u'llah as a Holy Day. The Baha’is of the Western world observe Naw-Riz on March 2 5 though eventually it will always be observed on the day of the spring equinox. The Guardian directed that the Feast of Naw-Rtiz be celebrated separately from the administrative Feast for the month of Baha. “As it isa blessed day it should not be neglected, nor deprived of results by making it a day devoted to the pursuit of mere pleasure. During such days institutions should be founded that may be of permanent benefit and value to the people.” —‘Abdu’l-Bahé, quoted in Bahd’u'lldh and the New Era, p. 182







Some significant dates in Baha‘i history February

February 1894: Ibrahim Kheiralla settled in Chicago. His teaching work in the next few months led to the founding of the first Baha’i community in the Americas.

February 1938: ‘The Baha’i House of Worship in



‘Ishqabad, Soviet Union, was confiscated during a wave of crackdowns on Baha’is. It was later turned into an art gallery, h ly damaged in a 1948 earthquake, and


demolished in 1963.

Feb. 12-18, 1953: The Ten Year World Crusade was formally launched h the first Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Expansion of the I into an unprecedented number of countries came in the next decade, which culminated in the first election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963. Feb. 19, 1968: His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II of Western Samoa, the first reigning monarch to become a Baha’{, formally accepted the Faith.

Feb. 24-25, 1990: The Soviet Union’s first national Baha’i conference in six decades was held in Moscow.









Significant upcoming dates

  • Festival of Ridvan (anniversary of the Declaration of

Baha'u'llah), April 21-May 2

  • May 23: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Bab
  • May 29: Anniversary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah @

compiled from A Basic Bahd’i Chronology

ENCE IN ALL THINGS



SUZANNE AMENT, a Baha’{ in Indianapolis, Indiana, received a Special Recognition Award from the Council for Community Accessibility in Bloomington, Indiana, where she lived until recently. She was honored for helping to establish the Volunteer Reading Partners Program to assist those who cannot read because of blindness or other reason.


Kira CARBONNEAU, a Baha'i in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has over her swimming career at Valley High School been a state champion in the 100-meter butterfly and a three-time school swimmer of the year. She also has been named a U.S. Swimming Scholastic AllAmerican and has qualified four times for the Junior Championship.


KEN JASNAU, a Baha’f in Milledgeville, Georgia, was honored for his 20 years of racial unity work and volunteer service with senior citizens with the 1999 “From the Heart” award. He was one of six people who received the award in Middle Georgia.



Manpad SANIcE, a Baha’f who is an architect in Easton, Connecticut, has received four awards from the American Institute of Architects in New England and in Connecticut. Two awards went to Saniee for his design of an equestrian center on the East Coast. The other awards were for the design of two houses that Saniee carried out in collaboration with Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut.


ROBBIE SARRACINO, a 17-year-old U.S. Baha’{ pioneer living in Johannesburg, South Africa, won first prize at the secondary school level in the national Science Essay Competition sponsored by the Royal Society of South Africa. Entrants had to write about a great scientific or technological discovery.

LauREL WOOTEN, a ninth-grade Bahda’f from Woodbury, Minnesota, was selected as Student of the Term for foreign language study at Woodbury High School. Fluent in Spanish, she was selected also because of her interest in service work at an orphanage in Honduras.


JANET WRIGHT, a Baha’{ from Jarales, New Mexico, received a runner-up award at a national quilting conest. Her block pattern “Angels of Many Colors,” inspired by the teachings of Baha’u’llah on the oneness of humanity, is to be displayed nationally at exhibits, quilt shows and store openings.

THE AMERICAN

BAHAI


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page 2 Tne AMERICAN BanA’l ¢ ALMANAC/EXCELLENCE February 7, 2000 [Page 3]

‘A life so noble in its provenance’

Amatu’l-Baha Rahiyyih Khanum, 1910-2000

and of the Cause and chief supporter of the Guardian. Dedicator of Mother

‘Temples in seven regions of the world.

Pre-eminent ambassador of the Universal House of Justice. Traveler for the Cause to splendid cities and humble villages in 185 nations, territories and islands.

A link from the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, through the Guardianship, to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice. An instrument for union of East and West. An author benefiting scholars, teachers, pioneers and everyday followers of the Faith.

Maidservant of Baha’u’llah (Amatu’l-Baha). Person of the Spirit (Rihfyyih). Woman of nobility (Khanum).

‘The Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khinum passed to the next world in the early hours of January 19, 2000, after a lifetime of service that cannot be paralleled. She was 89.



Daughter of champions n-born mother,

| | r Americ: xwell, the first Baha’s to |

and later the first in Canada, one of the grims to ‘Akké from the Western world, and a tireless teacher in many countries. She declared a martyr after she died while on a teaching tip. Her C -born father, William Sutherland Maxwell, was a renowned architect whose work reached a zenith in the design and finishing of Mary Maxwell as the Shfine of the Bab. He was a young girl an an able administrator for the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, who named him a Hand of the Cause. . An only child, Mary Sutherland-Maxwell was born Aug. 8, 1910, in New York City and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. Her heritage alone placed her at center stage in Baha'i history. ‘Abdu’l-Baha stayed in the Maxwell


Bolles















home in Montreal during His North American visit in 1912; that home is now kept by the National Spiritu mbly of Canada as a shrine.

It was from M; 8-year-old hands that two Plan, addressed by ‘Abdu’l3 of Canada, were presented at the 1919 “Convention of the Covenant” in New York.

Her family was a wellspring of energy and teaching. She gave her first Baha’ talk at age 15. She became a member of youth committees for Montreal and later for the United States and Canada.

After a two-year teaching trip in Maxwell visited the World Center er in 1937—her third visit since teen age. Shoghi Effendi then asked for Mary’s hand in marriage.

‘The Guardian a: ion cemented the bond between Bal stand West. His. cablegram to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada said the Guardianship itself was “reinforced” by this direct tie with the believers in North America, “whose spiritual destiny is to usher in the World Order of ahd ah.”













SEE KHANUM, PAGE 4




Amatu’l-Baha RGhiyyih Khanum was honored after her passing with significant memorial articles in the Sunday New York Times and newspapers in Montreal, Canada, and Haifa, Israel.

About 1,000 bid farewell to Khanum during services at Master’s House

ees rain misted the garden in front of the historic House of ‘Abdu’lBaha in Haifi 1937 of Hi ind of the




rael, the residence si granddaughter-in-law, the e of God Amatu’lKhinum.

‘About 1,000 people, umbrellas or in rain slickers, were gathered there for her funeral service at 2 y, Jan. 23. While most wv gathered outside the fence, Baha’f pilgrims lined the path from the front gate. y watched as special guests solemnly filed into the hou: the EI Hands of the € Varga and ‘Ali. of the Universal House of Ju Counselors and National Assembly me s from as far away




many under












Mongolia The Hand of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Muhammad Varga (right) joins ‘Ali and Violette

and Samoa. Jack McCants and Patricia Nakhjavani at the burial service for Rahiyyih Khanum.





represented the U.S. National

mbly. Pra Other dignitaries arrived: repres parliament and M Affairs, delegates of the dian emb s, and the nd “Ak!






mayors of Haifa

The Jan. 19 m House of Justice was read, sig beginning of the simple ceremony.

Jus



ers and scriptures, recited reverententa- ly inside the house, were heard through ry asound g Iminating the


Nakhjavané4 ice ge of the Universal Nakhjavani,) Rih ng the _friend*for decades—chanted the oblig tory Prayer for the Dead in Arabic.


stem in the gard watched



service,


nd husband of Violette



The more than 200 people inside the sacred house then stay member ‘Ali Justice lifted Khanum’s cedar coffin and ~ burial member of the House of bore it to the door. Thi ‘Then six men from different parts of _ formed in the previous few days into a yih _Khanum’s fast the world—some young, some older, most indigenous—took the coffin down the front steps and through the garden.


Pallbearers carry the coffin of Khanum out the garden gate outside the House of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Photos courtesy of Audio-Visual Office, Baha'i World Center

‘Ali-Akbar Furdtan, an honorary palled standing and bearer, was first to follow in the procesof the House of sion that led across the street to the





nple garden had been transtriple terrace. In the middle, the grave

SEE BURIAL, PAGE 6


February 7,2000 Tre American BanA‘i ¢ Amatu’L-BantA Roniyyin KiANum page 3 [Page 4]

KHANUM,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3



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At the Guardian’s side

he took Shoghi Effendi’s surname, Rabbani, and the Persian name he gave her, Ruhiyyih. Appreciating her tireless work and indomitable spirit, the Guardian also gave her the title Amaw’l-Baha

Soon she settled in as a clear-spoken correspondent and secretary for the Guardian, answering many letters he ed from the Western world. She ame fluent in Persian alongside English, French and German.

At the same time she contributed frequent essays and commentaries Baha’ News and other publications of the U.S. and Canada. Her 1950 book Prescription for Living gained immediate popularity among the friends.

“We are not to cast our eyes within ourselves and say: ‘Now get busy saving your soul and reserving a comfortable berth in the Next World!’ ” she wrote in an essay aimed at youth in 1948. “No, we are [also] to get busy on bringing Heaven to this Planet.”

In the next two decades her crucial work often came during times of great personal loss and stress:

  • The Guardian’s life and surroundings

were fraught with difficul unrest in the Holy Land, heartache from the activities of hostile family members, frequent unresponsiveness from the Baha'is worldwide despite his loving encouragement and work for the Cause, illnesses arising from all the strain.

May Maxwell, who had not seen Ruhiyyih Khinum for nearly three years, succumbed to a heart attack in March 1940 while on a teaching trip in Argentina.

Sutherland Maxwell, an administrator for the Guardian starting in 1940, became subject to repeated illness. Rihiyyih Khiénum witmessed as her father endured his weakness and saw the arcade surrounding the Shrine of the Bab through to completion in 1951.

Her father passed away in Canada in 1952. The Guardian appointed









_f ‘a> =



Representing the Guardian, Rahiyyih Khanum officially dedicated the Baha’i House of Worship in 1953.

Ruhfyyih Khénum to be a Hand of the Cause in her father’s place—despite “all my tears and remonstrances and begging him not to,” she later wrote.

Even before then, she began serving as the Guardian’s liaison on the International Baha’i Council, which was formed in 1951 to manage the properties and business affairs of the World Center—a “forerunner,” the

Whether in Africa, the Americas, Asia or the Pacific, Rahiyyih Khanum cherished the time she spent with indigenous peoples, and sometimes ventured into areas where no Baha’is had previously taught the Faith.


ur oN

Guardian said, to the Universal House of Justice.

A singular triumph came in May 1953 when Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum spoke from the dais of the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, dedicating it to public worship. Between then and 1986, she similarly dedicated all seven of the existing Houses of Worship.

Great victories and an unprecedented spread of the Faith came in the early years of the Ten Year World Crusade starting in 1953.

But this alternated with persecutions and attacks on the Faith—among the most public assaults being the seizure and demolition of Baha’i shrines and centers in Iran in mid-decade.

In November 1957, a heart attack took the earthly life of Shoghi Effendi. He named no successor as Guardian, nor did he leave a will.

The 27 living Hands of the Cause were left, Ruhfyyih Khanum later wrote, as “orphans, deprived of our father. The responsibility for the entire Cause of God ... had been placed in our hands, with neither premonition, warning nor advice.”






Khanum in young adulthood



_ The Hands of the Cause of God |

nly 50 Baha’is ever will legitimately bear the title “Hand of the Cause of God,” bestowed solely by the hereditary Head

of the Faith.

Baha'u'llah designated four believers of His time to serve as Hands. ‘Abdu’l-Baha gave four more believers the title posthumously to honor their outstanding services.

The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha enlarged on the role of the Hands in the World Order of Baha’u’ll4h. They were given duties, powers and procedures toward the work of spreading the Faith and protecting its integrity.

During his Guardianship (1922-1957), Shoghi Effendi named 10 believers posthumously as Hands of the Cause of God.

In three waves beginning in 1951, he appointed living Baha’is to carry out the duties of the Hands. When one died, the Guardian named another Hand within days or weeks.

When the Guardian passed away in late 1957, the Hands—27 in number—found themselves in charge of the global affairs of the Faith. They saw it through to election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.

The House of Justice confirmed that no more Hands of the Cause could be appointed in this Dispensation. Within a few years, the institution of the Counselors was created to assume the functions of the Hands.

Gradually the Hands have been passing from this world. Two are still living, and both are resident in the Holy Land: ‘Ali-Muhammad Varga and ‘Ali-Akbar Furdtan.


Burden of the Hands

Pe no other honorable path, the Hands of the Cause stayed within the guidelines of the Covenant and chose nine from among themselves to guide the global affairs of the Faith until the ele: tion of the Universal House of Justice. One of those nine was Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum.

In the 5 1/2 Custodianship, the Faith from splintering and saw it through to meeting the goals of the Ten Year Crusade. Ruhfyyih Khanum later wrote that this effort would “i gly be seen as one of the most i tories ... ever witn annals of mankin:

Gradually, there emerged the Ruihiyyih Khanum whom Baha’ i best: world traveler, inspirer, admonisher, unflinching teacher of the Cause, dynamic global dignitary of the Faith.

During the Custodianship of the Hands, she took a limited number of trips abroad: to Uganda for conferences, dedication of the Temple and visits to villages; to various points in Europe, and later India and Southeast Asia, to teach and counsel.

This period had its own troubles. The Guardian’s sudden passing had unsettled the friends worldwide and momentarily clouded ownership of the Baha’s properies in Israel. Persecutions assailed the several nations,

















Baha'is


Morocco, Egypt, Syria and Indones Four of the Hands died during this


claiming the Guardianship for himself, creating a challenge to the unity of the Cau:

“It is, I think, impossible for others-to understand how hard the Hands-in the Holy Land daily worked,” she wrote.

But they took time ‘to inspire the friends around the world. Rihiyyi Khanum appeared with other Hands at the 1960 National Conventions of the United States and Canada to encourage the friends and bolster unity. Afterward she toured several North American citi giving public talks and regaling Baha’is with stories of the Guardian’s work. She made a point of meeting with leaders of the Navajo and Hopi people in the U.S. and the Blackfoot people in Canada.

A talk she gave at Canada’s National Convention presented one of her lifelong sion that Baha’is be in their religious lives and tual flute Il to be spiritual and to have all mand spirituality ave as believers, but we to have our feet on the ground too.”

‘The triumphs of the Hands shine out. Construction was completed on the Temples in Uganda, Australia and Germany. The number of National Spiritual Assemblies more than doubled to 56. And the Universal House of Justice was first elected on April 21, 1963.

After overseeing the first Baha’i World Congress in London, England, the Hands of the Cause ended their custodianship. They were free to range more widely in service to the Cause.
















page4 THe AMERICAN BanA‘i ¢ Amatu‘’L-BanA ROniyyi KnAnum February 7, 2000 [Page 5]


“I will go myself”

na book by her longtime friend and

frequent traveling — companion, Violette Nakhjavani, the words of Ruhiyyih Khaénum are quoted:

“After Shoghi Effendi passed away, I did not know any way that I could say to the Bah: “Pl go out and do his work and fulfil his hopes and obey his command.’ So I said the best thing is I will go myself. Maybe this is the loudest voice with which one can speak.”

That voice of example told the Baha’is

dly that the message of wllih is for villagers and tribal people, emperors and _ presidents, city dwellers, farmers, young, old and everyone in betwi

Her travels took her to practi every country in Africa, to all of 1 America and the Caribbean islands, North America, the Arctic, the Pacific, throughout Asia including China (five times), and all the countries of Western Europe—plus, starting in 1990, much of Eastern Europe and several former Soviet republics.

She met with heads of government in countries as large as India and Mexico, as small as the Seychelles and Lesotho. She represented the Universal House of Justice in numerous countries where Baha’is were convening to elect their first National Spiritual Assemb! was interviewed on radio, on tele’ and by the press throughout the world.

In 1964, her most extensive teaching trip in nearly three decades took her 55,000 miles through India and its neighbors Sri Lanka, Sikkim, Nepal and Malaysia. She made a point of meeting with people of many tribes or ethnic backgrounds in each country.

She turned full attention to indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere in 1967. After ceremonially laying the cornerstone for the House of Worship in Panama, she took a sevenmonth trip to visit native people in nearly every country of South























the Faith.

America—including the first Baha’i contact with the Guaranf people of Brazil.

She didn’t shy away from the back roads, or places without roads.

Hooper Dunbar, now a member of the Universal House of Justice but then an Auxiliary Board member in South America, recalled: “Scei ike theseRuhiyyih Khinum embracing the Indian ladies, ... or ‘shooing’ stray dogs and pigs from her bedside through the long tropical nights, or hauling water with a bucket from the well to help clean the neglected dispensary floor in gratitude for local kindness, or recounting touching moments from the life of the beloved Guardian while avoiding overhanging branches as the lurching, springless tractor-wagon lumbered along—who could forget such moments with the first lady of the Baha’{ world!”

Though her travels at the time in North America were less wide-ranging, she sent a long letter to this continent’s Indian and imo believers in 1969. Published as a pamphlet, that letter is treasured as a source of inspiration and 2 reminder of the glorious desti ‘Abdu’l-Baha had proclaimed for America’s native people.

Another of her best-known books, The Priceless Pearl, came out about this time. It presents a warm portrait of the Guardian as administrator, human bei and bearer of the burdens of the Cause of God.













On wheels and canoes

H: most celebrated teaching journeys followed: the Great Safari, a series of African trips in 1969-1973; and the Green Light Expedition through South Ameri 1975.

With Mrs. Nakhjavani she drove her own Land Rover emblazoned with the words “Rabbani African Safari” for 36,000 miles, crisscrossing Africa over 3 1/2 years. In four excursions south of the Sahara she visited 34 countries, being received by 17 heads of state along the way.




Above: at the European Youth Conference in 1971 in Fiesch, Switzerland, where nearly 200 people accepted


Left: In London with Violette Nakhjavani, a close friend and constant traveling companion.

She also consulted with other Hands of the Cause, Counselors and National Spiritual Assemblies in various regions. The National Assembly of Tanzania observed that in public meetings she “delivered the Message gently and kindly, and at the same time, firmly and confidently. Indeed, to listen to her speeches is to be taught how to teach the Faith.”

With fellow travelers at times including local interpreters and guides, Réhfyyih Khénum was at the center of “often 2 or 3 village meetings a day,” The Bahié’t World recorded. “... [I]n many places the friends had come from as far










Expedition. There was an extra purpose to this trip. It was recorded on film to go straight to the hearts in the more-developed areas with the message: Pioneers are needed in all parts of the world, often in the farthest reaches.

In jungle areas of Suriname, Guyana, and up the Brazilian Amazon River, s sited places that had few or no Bab pioneers. In the film and slide shows of that journey, Rihiyyih Khanum on foot, in canoes, treading precarious bridges of fallen timber. She listens to flute music in Indian villages, gathers with people in city barrios, talks with press and radio reporters.

“How are we going to teach the human race about the Baha’{ Faith?” she asked rhetorically in an inte: printed in The American Bahai in 1976. “Two-thirds of the world’s population live in villages. Over half of the world’s population erate, They not only have just as much right to hear about Him [Baha’u’llah] as anybody living in a city, or in Europe, or North America, but frankly they are very much more receptive to it.”

She added that she was always graciously received in remote areas: “All primitive peoples are courteous. If you seek lack of courtesy, go to the city.”











SEE KHANUM, PAGE 6

Diplomatic rofes and honors

  • Representative of the Faith in

meetings with the secretary-general of the United Nations; with many heads of state, including those of India, Western Samoa, Ethiopia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico and Argentina; and with royalty or other high figures in places including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Romania, Hungary, Taiwan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Brazil and others.

  • Baha'i representative and speaker

at global-scale gatherings of the World Wildlife Fund in the 1980s.

  • An honorary president of the

Sacred Literature Trust since 1989.

  • Member of the International

Support Committee of the International Center for Peace and the Peace Museum in Verdun, France, since 1991.

  • Honorary member of the Club of

Budapest, 1995.

  • Head of Baha’i delegation at the

Summit on Religions and Conservation in England, 1995.

  • Honored as “Natu Ocsist (Blessed

Mother)” by Blackfoot people of Canada; adopted by Eagle Tribe of the Tlingit of Alaska, and by a grandson of the Lakota chief Sitting Bull.

Written works

Books and other written works by

Amatu’l-Baha Rahiyyih Khanum:

  • Prescription for Living, 1950

(revised 1970); in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Amharic and Braille.

  • The Priceless Pearl, 1969; in

English, French, German, Spanish, Persian, Italian and Braille.

  • A Manual for Pioneers, 1974; in

English and Spanish.

  • The Desire of the World, 1982;

in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

  • The Guardian of the Bahd’i

Faith, 1988; in English.

  • Poems of the Passing, 1996; in

English.

  • Other short works: “Success in

Teaching,” pamphlet; A Spiritual Assembly’s Growing Pains, short play; numerous articles for Baha’ World, including “The Passing of Shoghi Effendi,” “The Prayers of Baha’u’llah” and “The Guardian of the Baha’i Faith.”


Documentary films produced by

Amatu’l-Bahé Rahiyyih Khanum:

  • The Green Light Expedition,

1976; recounting her sevenmonth journey visiting people in remote areas of South America.

  • The Pilgrimage, 1980; showing

and explaining the Baha’i historic places in the Holy Land.


February 7, 2000 Tue American BanA’i ¢ Amatu’L-BanA Roniyyin KnAnum

page 5 [Page 6]

KHANUM,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 eoccccccce


eccccce

The youth connection


BB youth throughout the world were close to her heart. She had contributed to Baha’i youth publications since 1937, and in North Ameri paid repeat visits to talk with and inspire young believers.

She interrupted her African travels in June 1970 for a memorable visit to the U.S. National Youth Conference in Wilmette, Illinois. Here 2,000 youths heard her exhortations about the role of Baha’i youth as moral leaders and the call for them to t




vel as pioneers.

After stops at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Fort Valley, Georgia, she went to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a conference of 800 people. Mostly youths, they came from y as Alaska and the Northwest Territories to the north and Ha nd Samoa to the south.

Youth conferences in the 1980s dre her back to the United States. Her stories, experiences and encouragements always cut to the essentials

Studying and deepening are an essential part of learning what it is to be a Baha’i, she told the Intercontinental Youth Conference in 1981 in Kansas City, Missouri. But they aren’t enough, she said: “Teach, teach! This is the greatest way of learning.”

By the simple act of our making effort to spread the word, we gain help and inspiration, she assured the youths. “However important or unimportant or capable or incapable you are, you have arisen in His name to spread His message,” she said. “Go out and bring these millions into the Faith.”














Islands and more islands

emarkable in her next few years’ trav els was a three-month stay with the tiny national Baha’i community of Bermuda in 1976, where she described herself as a “mini-pioneer.”

Another trip to India and neighboring countries followed in 1977. Even though illness shortened a trip to Japan afterward, she took opportunities to visit the friends in Australia, the Philippines and India again on the way back.

An eight-month tour in 1978 took Ruhiyyih Khanum to several countries in Europe, then to the extended visit in





BURIAL, continuen From pace 3


of Ruhiyyih Khanum was lined with a colorful cushion of flowers and surrounded by more flowers, arranged in a pattern that radiated out, and thousands of white and red rose petals. Once in place, the casket was bedecked with more roses.

Three more prayers were read at the graveside. Words revealed by Bahé’u'llah rang out: “Within the garden of Thine immortality, before Thy countenance, let me abide for ever, O Thou Who





Japan she had planned the year before. She also visited the friends in Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Soon afterward, her laying of the foundation stone for the Temple in Samoa was the springboard for a nine-week tour of the South Pacific, with stops in Western and American Samoa, Fiji, New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Making yet another connection with indigenous Baha’is, she became acquainted with the Maoris of New Zealand.

And she often returned to the indigenous of the Americas. She was an honored guest at 1982's Continental Indigenous Council in Alberta, and also that year visited Native reserves in western and Arctic areas of Canada. Even when she traveled to address the Association for Baha’ Studies Conference in 1986, she took time to visit the Spirit North Native Council just beforehand.

On occasion she also took opportunities to address Persian believers in their own language.









Envoy for the Faith

Ne the Faith emerged increasingly rom obscurity, Amatu’l-Baha Rihiyyih Khinum increasingly lent a Baha’i presence to the global-level stage.


art merciful unto me. ...”

Rain now poured heavily. Mourners filed past the grave, many tossing yet another flower into the grave with a silent prayer.

Some witnesses said birds had not been heard in the Baha'i gardens of Haifa since a fierce windstorm rose during the evening of Réhiyyih Khanum’s passing. During the service, as the message of the Universal House was read, birds began singing clearly. @



Above: At a 1985 banquet given by the Baha’i International Community for special representatives to the U.N., with ambassadors of Trinidad and Tobago (left) and Barbados (right).

Left: At the Baha’i International Convention of 1998.


In November Universal House of Justice’s message The Promise of World Peace to Javier Pérez de Cuellar, secretary-general of the United Nations.

Three times she shared the dais with Prince Philip of Great Britain in promoting the World Wide Fund for Nature (known in the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund), starting in 1987 when the organization recognized the Baha’i Faith as the sixth world religion involved in its work.

She also headed Baha’i delegations to a global research conference in Hungary in 1987 and the 1995 Summit on Religions and Conservation in Britain.

And in those years there we trips to every continent, including Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.

Just as in many earlier travels, even as she ministered to the friends around the world she was received by high-ranking government officials:

  • Presidents of Brazil and Argentina:

the latter during a visit for the 50th anniversary of May Maxwell’ passing. Representatives of the parliaments or governments of Britain, Canada, France, the Philippines, Romania, Spain, Taiwan, Turkmenistan and other former Soviet republics.

1985, she presented the














Research sources for these articles:

World Congress, 1992

matu’l-Baha’s stirring address to Agaan believers was a high point of World Congress on




ve here we're going to leave not the kind of people we were when we came in,” she said, “...because ve received the outpourings of Baha'u'llah, we've felt the strength of our oneness, and we have a protective canopy over our heads in the Universal House of Justice.”

She added later, following the reading of a message of challenge and encouragement from the Universal House of Justice: “The immediate future is dark, but the distant future is very bright. We also believe in the immortality of the soul. Therefore, we face the future with happiness, with courage and without fear for the future happiness of the entire world.”

Her travels tapered off a few years later. Her final trip to the United States was in October 1995 to address a dialogue on i organized by the Baha'i for Peace at the University of














Ruhiyyih Khanum remained generous in her letters of encouragement for effor

around the world to advance the se. In fact, in 1998 it was only through letters and prayers that she could reach out to celebrations of the centenary of the Baha’ community in France and the 50th anniversary —_— National Convention of Canada—the national communities her mother had founded.

In a letter of July 6, 1998, she praised the U.S. friends after reading reports of many local activities aligned with our National Teaching Plan. That letter read in part:

“When we remember how truly extraordinary have been the bounties of God bestowed upon the American conti nent since the early days of our Faith, we must surely thank God that old believers such as myself have lived to see with our own eyes such prestige and triumphs that our beloved Faith is increasingly winning all over the world.

She continued by restating what she had told the Baha’is many times over the years—and demonstrated by her example: “Baha’u’llih did not appear for the privileged few and their relatives; He appeared for the entire human race, who are truly all the children of God and have a right to hear about the Faith and to embrace and serve it.”














  • Baha’i World Center: biographical sheet on Amatu’l-Baha Rahiyyih Khanum.
  • Baha’i World Center: The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957-1963.
  • The Bahd’i World, vols. 14-16.
  • Glenn Cameron with Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahd’i Chronology.
  • Hugh C. Adamson and Philip Hainsworth: Historical Dictionary of the

Bahd@’i Faith.

  • Rahiyyih Rabbani: The Priceless Pearl.

+ Ugo Giachery: Shoghi Effendi: Recollections.

  • Past issues of The American Baha’i and Bahd’i News.
  • Materials from past issues of Bahd’i Canada magazine (special thanks to

the editor).

  • Photos from National Baha’i Archives and files of The American Baha'i.


page 6

Tne American BanA’i ¢ Amatu’L-BanA Ronivym KnAnum February 7, 2000 [Page 7]. ? THE*SECOND*FRONT



IRAN, continuep From Pace |

Enrollments







ay in G to the United } Copithorne, United Nations Commission on H Rights Representat that “relevant authoritie:


anent representative d Professor Maurice The Office of the President of the United States issued January 2000

n the following statement on Feb. I 1: { in Since May 1, 1999 ......



















Iran had informed him that “The Supreme Court, in The President was deeply troubled to learn that death sencomply ce with dpe Process of law reviewed the death tences have been reaffirmed for Mr. Sirus Zabihi-Moghaddam senten lam and Heda and Mr. Hedayet Kashefi-Najafabadi, both members of the Kashif. Afte he review, the Supreme’ Jourt decided to Baha'i community of Iran, and that a new death sentence has THE FUND reject the verdict of capital punishment for the defen- been imposed on a third Baha’i, Mr. Manuchehr Khulusi. dants and sent their s to another competent court In all three cases it is clear that the individuals were arrested, for ret (From: Office of the United Nations High charged and sentenced to death solely because of their religious May 1 1300 ae aay Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, beliefs. Executing people for the practice of their religious faith Contributions received by Switzerland) is contrary to the most fundamental human rights principles. National Treasurer Now we have been informed that the previous death President Clinton continues to hold the Iranian government sentences imposed on Messrs. Zabihi-Mogha a responsible for the safety of the Baha’i community of Iran and Rectived since iGoalifor Kashe: padi hi been confirmed, strongly urges that these executions not be carried out. May 1, 1999: entire year: death sentence has been imposed on a third Baha’, ) The United States will continue to monitor closely Iranian $14,818,618 $27,000,000 Khulusi. treatment of the Baha’i community, and particularly the treatInternational public opinion condemns this latest act ment of those who remain imprisoned or under sentence of of inhumanity. We fervently pray and hope that the death for their religious beliefs. death sentences imposed on innocent men will not be We condemn Iranian government persecution of all minority carried out. ® faiths.



75 % of fiscal year has y passed




Other current information on the situation in Iran has been posted on the National Spiritual Assembly’s Web sites (www.usbnc.org and www.us.bahai.org). April 30, 2000 4

Web has help for our study of ‘Distinction’ Total cash-basis revenues

and expenditures








Variety of methods, tools Ck ae Iti . ie oe feces Distinction” for Baha’i National Fund . ., ultiva a theme document, which st num- May 1-January 31, 1999 available to communities as ti ber of verities and purposes behind the (latest available figures)

program of study.

  • Sections of the book Studying the

Writings of Shoghi Effendi, EDcicaaean an ample selection of ques sto s late individual or group

Publisher George Ronald has given $19,677,048


17,856

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

O ur National Spiritual Assembly has ed the Baha’is of the United during 2000 to .study of Shoghi ion of Baha’w’





ates important work: “The Disper



ff


fendi ah”
























(January-March), The Advent of Di taty 1 permission for this material to be Justice (April-June) and the ie Distinction - ilable. Expenditures letters in The World Order of Baha'u'llah * “Learning Activities” appropriate for | ©Perations capital and debt payments etc.) Guly~ Dee community deepening, Baha’ school Critical projects that could no longer and a study outline with a reading classes or training institutes. be deferred have forced our Bahai hedule. national operations into a cash deficit. Materials are ayulable for downloadSome communitie ing fr al _ Spiritual Share what your community is “study circles” to read the lette Assembly doing—let us know how you have Mail contributions to: and discuss them paragraph by para- help you approached the study of these National Baha’i Fund graph. It seems to be helpful to assign a www:usbneorg with your B: documents from Shoghi Effendi! 14> Linden ivomne facilitator in this situation. number, click on the “NSA Contact the Education and Schools Other communities have created Departments” icon at left then on the Office (phone 847-733-3492, Wilmette, IL 60091-2800 their own study guides for these doc- “Education and Schools Office” link to e-mail ).¢ Please write Baha'i ID # on check




uments, composed of study questions find:

91" Baha’i National Convention

+ April 27-350, 2000 + Sheraton Arlington Park + Arlington Heights, IL +

The National Spiritual Assembly looks forward to greeting Last name First name the elected delegates at the 91st Baha’i National Convention. The Convention will open Thursday evening, Baha'i LD number e-mail April 27, and close midday Sunday, April 30. Complete information on the Web: www.usbne.org Mailing address Day phone Visitors may pre-register with this form or a copy (separate copy for each person, please). Those who pre-register will be given priority for seating. Mail by March 8 to: Conventions Office, Baha’i National Center, Wilmette IL 60091 Please check if you will require: Wheelchair accessibility Sign language translation _ Convention OR: Fax 847-869-0247 Specify any other special assistance needed Acndioalis OR: Register through www.usbne.org wheelchair OR: e-mail Room Reservations at the Sheraton: Phone 800-344-3434 or 847-394-2000 » Fax 847-394-9868 accessible No phone registrations, please Contact hotel directly by March 28 * Ask for Baha’ contract room rate ($85 per room + tax)

Evening phone:



February 7, 2000 Tre AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ THe SECOND FRONT ‘page 7 [Page 8]NE

er ETE OE


wse

ae ree gen gay torte tren tere




dib Taherzadeh, a member of the Universal House of Justice nd descendant of faithful followers of the Bab, passed away after several weeks’ illness on January 26, 2000, in Haifa, Israel. He was 78. He nown among U.S. for his books, including The Covenant of Babawllih (1992) and the four-volume series The Revelation of Baha'u'llah (1974-1987), which provide: ‘orical and biographical perspective on Scriptures revealed by the Blessed Beauty. He had just completed another substantial work that will be published shortly.








, Iran, on April 29, steeped in age through both sides of his family. His paternal grandparents had become followers of the Bab in the 1840s in Yazd, while his mother was descended from Babis who were martyred in the Nayriz upheavals.







Mr. ‘Taherzadeh’s father, Haji Muhammad hir-i-Malmiri, was a Baha'i historian and teacher of wide


repute, and met Baha'u'llah.

His youth was marked by danger and ostracism in Yazd, a city characterized by hostility toward Baha'is. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Tehran and pursued advanced studies in Coventry, England. From 1950 to 1984, he worked as the chief engineer of an industrial company in Dublin, Ireland.

Mr. Taherzadeh served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the British Isles from 1960 to 1971. Living with his family in Dublin in 1972 when the Republic of Ireland gained its own national community, he was elected to that nation’s







Adib Taherzadeh, 1921-2000

Universal House member, author, member of Irish National Assembly



Adib Taherzadeh (lower right) is pictured with the first-ever National Spiritual Assembly of the Republic of Ireland at its formation in 1972. file photo


National Spiritual Assembly and served on it for four years.

In 1976, he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counselors for Europe. Mr. Taherzadeh continued to serve as a Counselor until 1988, when he was first elected to the

Mr. Taherzadeh’s wife, Lesley, and other funeral attendees take part in a procession through the Baha’i World Center gardens.

Universal House of Ju:

He is survi two sons, Tahir and Bahhaj; and two daughters, Vida and Maryam. A funeral service Jan. 30 at the International Teaching Center was followed by buri al at the Baha’i Cemetery in Haifa. #





‘Beijing plus 5’ is one of many efforts for gender equality

n September 1995 about 50,000 women and men gathered in Beijing, China, for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Several





hundred Ba from around the world took part in that gathering, which produced a “Platform for


Action” calling on parti ments to take action in 12 critical s of concern, including pover education, environment, violence, 2

health care.

ing go




This June, women throughout the world wii

in for Beijing Plus nat U.N. headin New York, taking the y to assess how much their governments have done to improve the lives in the five s since the Beijing conference.

Several related outreaches around the country have been organized by nongovernmental organizations, colleges and unive regional community organizations and the U. government to celebrate that progr

As a major nongov z zation committed to promoting ’s righits, the National Spiritual i icipating in various















Plus Five act



ing



enlisted the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Charlotte, Boston, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and Atlanta to provide a helping hand at regional Beijing Plus Five conferences scheduled there between October 1999 and March 2000.

The National Assembly's commitment to promoting the objectives of the U.N. Fourth World Conference on


SEE EQUALITY EFFORTS, PAGE 30

U.S. Congress votes for payment to U.N. following Baha’i-aided effort

le late November, Congress passed legislation to pay a substantial portion of the USS. debt to the United Nations. The legislation provided for payment over three years of $926 million of the approximately $1.6 billion that the United States owed the U.N., and it allowed enough money to flow to the U.N. before the end of 1999 to avert the automatic loss of U.S. voting in the General Assembly.

1996, the National Spiritua has worked in cooperation with other organizations to urge the U.S. government to pay its mounting debt to the







U.N. The American Baha'i community played an important part in that effort by periodically engaging in letter-writing and



phone meetings

if up at town held by members of Congress,



ing congressional offices, and working with other organizations at the community level to raise awareness of the U.N. funding situation among fellow citizens. These persistent efforts paid off with the passage of the fund slati is past fall. While payment of the U.S. debts is good news to U.N. supporters, the legislation imposes several conditions to be accepted by the U.N. before payments could be released. It requires the U

  • To forgive about $600 million owed by

the U.S.

  • To reduce future U.











sessment rates


for | eping from 31% to

  • To reduce future U.S. assessment rates

for regular dues from 25% to 2. Additional reforms mandate meas




improve the efficienc


transparency of U.N. operations. A major challenge facing the Clinton administration is to convince the other U.N. member states to accept the imposed conditions. The National Spiritual Assembly will continue to work with other orga: for improvement of U.S. policy toward the N. and strengthening of the United tes-United Nations relationship.







Baha’ communities are encouraged to continue their involvement in activities that foster public support for the U.N. and an improved U.S. relationship with the world The United Nation:




bod World Federalist ion and the League of Women Voters are examples of

ssociation, the



Assoc


national org: interested in the issue of U.N. funding and nproved U

zations with local chapters


To learn more about the United Nations, visit the U.N. Web site (www.un.org). Various letters from the campaign for U.N. funding appear on the Administrative Web Site (www.usbnc.org). Any questions about Baha’i activities in support of the U.N. may be directed to the National Spiritual Assembly through the U.S. Baha’i United Nations Office, 866 U.N. Plaza, Suite 120, New York, NY 10017 (phone 212-803-2500, e-mail

». Questions specifically on the status of U.S. funding of the U.N. may be directed to the National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of the Secretary for External Affairs, 1320 19th St. N.W., Suite 701, Washington, DC 20036 (e-mail




).@


page 8 THe American BanA’i ¢ News

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Traces Geoff and Michaela Smith Sis. 00. CD EDs


digian ith is represented in an uplifting and joyous to and se ings her refined and soulful songs with exceptional clarity, warmth and beauty. A delightful blend of diverse musical styles.



ig, BS





~ Mystical Realities: The Bab

Inspiring Stories of the Bab’s Revelation Minnesota Baha’t Institute

$16.00 CD (MRBABCD)

| Persian music, this is the first in a

of nine new CDs produced by the Minnesota Institute to convey the ory and mystical

{ Faith. This CD is excellent for study s and Holy Day commemora . The stories, prayers, and Tablets in this unique production will stir your heart and lift

will want to









pur soul. You nto it over and over again!





<ean\ Enlightened Heart

Christine Deibim



accompanied by Suzanne & Kingsley Swan $15.95 CD

(EHCD)

These exhilarating

and meditative

songs cover the full range from light and rhythmic to

reflective and deeply moving. The album features

the voi soprano C) ine Deihim, by professional duo Kingsley and Susanne Swan. Enlightened Heart is a thoughtful gift that will deeply touch the heart of any recipient.




Baha’i Prayers, AtThe Sacred Threshold

Selected and recited by Lisa Janti

Music by Bob Alcivar Flute by Sam Most $15.00 CD BEC D)








rational and spiritual insights for B: alike, helping us to draw nearer to areness of our own spiritual purpose. This CD is an uplifting addition at Feasts, firesides and other public events.

72 minutes


Songs From

Green Mountain Ben Koen

$17.95 CD (SGMCD) Produced in response to the call of the Universal House of Justice for devotional gatherings, this is a wonderful resource and tool for teaching, deepening, meditation, devotion, ts, Holy Days and other gatherings. Also a powerful tool for relaxation and healing, thi soundscape blends indigenous flutes and instruments of the world (featuring the ‘xiao’, a Chinese bamboo flute), live recorded streams and waterfalls, and recited prayers and passages from the Baha'i writings.






Jeff Jones

Live In Concert with The Doug Riley B3


Quartet $18.00 CD (JCD) Jeff Jones is a voe:



of emotional depth

repertoire spai decades and h is “Jeff Jone: He puts everything he has into his singing. This album features many familiar songs such as “Imagine,” Eye Is On the Sparrow,” “You've Got A Friend” and “One Heart Ruby Red.” Yet each of th andard covers have been touched by and made new with his unique and soulful sound.




77 Trym Celebration 5 WD) ‘Sty Congo Music $18.00 CD (CCMCD)

‘The sounds of this production are as diver: the performe: songs in - French, as we

of Congo. The album cont:

ons which combine the traditi ments and rhythms of Congo with synthesizers and modern sounds in a unique blend that will h: dancing and sing} original text of English and Fre may appreciate Baha’u’llih’s hope that these talented m








included with s, So that everyone sage of unity and ns can now share






OP) Quest for Peace $16.00 CD (QPCD)

As humanity enters the turn of the century, the call for peace has been raised in every land. Quest s of selections on the themes of hip, Hope, Peace, Faith and the Covenant. Thi: ic for music lovers, unique, improvisational, upbeat, and sweet. The first CD publication from Malaysia!


Love, Unity,




















NAME AS IT APPEARS ON CREDIT CARD



SHIPTO CODE TITLE Quantity | cost EACH | TOTAL DAYTIME TELEPHONE #( _) BILLTO UNITED STATES:ADD 10% (MIN. $4.00, MAX. $10.00) SUBTOTAL CANADA: ADD 15% (MIN. $4.00) SHIPPING a __ INTERNATIONAL: ADD 40% (MIN. $5.00,VIA AIR MAIL ONLY) Sleeae SALES TAX: SHIPMENTS TO GEORGIA ADDRESSES APPLY EXP. DATE SIGNATURE APPROPRIATE SALES TAX TOTAL


Baha’i Distribution Service * 4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd + Atlanta, GA 30336










February 7,2000 Tue American BanA’i ¢ BAnA’i DistRIBUTION SERVICE page II [Page 12]

SPREADING the TEACHINGS ©


Issues Pertaining to Growth, Retention and Consolidation in the United States

Summary of a research document by the National Teaching Committee

“The information is presented here to uplift the friends, promote a spirit of moderation, increase confidence, generate activism and channel the energies of the believers into more effective lines of action.” —National Teaching Committee

he N;

has relea


ional Spiritual Assembly da closing chapter to ing work by



the groundbrea the National Teaching Committee during the Four Year Plan, a chapter that will provide style and direction and mulate consultation about the teaching work of the upcoming Twelve Month Plan.






to Growth, Retention a tion in the United $ after review by the National Spiritual Assembly. This article is a summary; the full report is available for downloading from the Administrative Web Site (wwwausbne.org).

The report identifies trends of the Faith in America from an exhaustive study of Baha'i membership recor: since 1970. It details myths and realities of both the growth of the Faith and religion in America, and it examines the impact of the national media initiative as










_ talk show wins national award

he long-running Bahd’i-hosted

cable television talk show Reflections of Unity in Marin County, California, recently received the Judges’ Choice Award in the National Hometown Video Festival 1999.

A program segment __ titled “Raindrops of the Forest” received second prize in the SpiritualReligious category. Featured guest was author Joseph Sheppherd of

. Oregon, who expertly related the teachings of the Faith to indigenous peoples and how they live in harmony with their environment. Sheppherd’s books include A Leaf of Honey, Elements of the Baha'i Faith and The Island of the Same Name.

“This is great exposure for the Faith because the Reflections of Unity " programs are devoted wholly to matters relating to the Faith,” said show host Derek Cockshut.




a principal tool for increasing contact with seekers looking for new spiritual


direction. The goal of the report is to suggest



s of strategic focus” ir individual and collective pur in th



suit of by troops in the United Sta

advancing the process of entry tes. The committee provided the report to broaden the important deliberations of the friends as they chart a course of




growth and expansion; to pro’ rate and balanced perspecti


s on key


assumptions; and to introduce new insights to enrich the consultation on


analysis, the report affirms all the major strategic objectives set by the Universal House of Justice for the how those




and explores hin the context nd opportuni n be met wi ic challe:



ties faced by the believers in this country. ‘The National Spiritual Assembly

encourages the friends to read this report, the first of its kind on the The


Amet reli lands report will contribute to dis between the National Assembly Regional Baha’i Councils in developing the teaching plan for the Twelve Month Plan.





Changing consciousness

The research found Ameri consciousness witnessing an unprecedented shift in spiritual priorities, enhancing the potentia ns to be exposed to the Bab Research commissioned by __ the National Spiritual Assembly, the national initiative and the of the Four Year Plan , in combi


n religious



for more Ameri



interloc!




ion, to reposition



y address


g to more effect



Adhering to the objectives of the Four Year Plan, the teaching committee purstematic process for generating information and evaluating results. New cal survey methods were used exten sued as)




pract sively to probe issues, gain insight on

and performance and gauge




prospects for growth.

With various survey techniques, Bah perspectives have been probed on: ¢ Teaching.

  • Spiritual practice.

¢ Interracial contacts ¢ Fund participation. + Personal well-being.

  • Institutional confidence.
  • Many other issues.

Respondents to television broadcasts




and friendship.


Derek Cockshut (left) sits before the cameras with a recent guest on Reflections of Unity, former Universal House of Justice member David Hofman.

‘The program has been incorporated into the local media campaign and regularly displays the 1-800-22UNITE number for seeker calls. Over time the program has resulted in numerous responses and some declarations in the Faith.

Produced by Joy Wyiczorek and Anisa Productions, the program has been on the air each Wednesday

evening for more than five years on cable Channel 31 in Marin County. The show is under the auspices of the Local Spiritual Assembly and includes a predominantly non-Baha’s production team.

The winning episode was one of over 350 that have been produced. ‘The weekly program is also shown in several other counties in California.






and Web s their r

ors were surve'


ious bac themes. Focus groups were utili: non-Baha’is of many

including African-Ame


backgrounds, ns, Hispani


baby boomers, born


others, to understand audience reaction



to religious presentations and thei


thematic content.


‘This research was enhanced by rigorous consultation of literature in a number


of related fields, including op

research, cultural studies, the sociology of



religion and U.S. demographics, to better understand our experi nity within the overall cont trends in American religion.

The research studied what Baha’is think about the status of our own religion. An that the


nce 4



a commuxt of current



assertion frequently heard American Baha'i community is not growing but is in fact losing ground. But the facts show that in the mid-1960s the membership of the U.S. Baha’i community was about 10,000. Slightly more than 140,000 are on the rolls today, an incr of 1,400 percent. We have grown fa more ‘rapidly than any other religion in the United States. What is most impressive is that the figure does not include members of the Faith who transferred in from other countries, such as the many thousands of Persian believers.

‘This pattern of achievement has been true ever since the Faith’s inception in America. Although one can argue that we could and should have grown more rapidly, there can be no doubt that the growth of the Faith has kept pace with successful religious To have















even the most in the country. us in an elite category.

Our teaching efforts have been one factor influencing this growth. Another has been the growing receptivity to nontraditional religious alternatives in the population at large. At the transition from one mille


roups a


puts







nium to the nex!


lions of people including a new gene tion of younger people are continuing a sweeping re-evaluation of their options in a quickly changing spiritual landscape.






sider non-Chris an equal footing


tives Christianity. Also for the first time, a con on

derable number feel empowered to resist cultural pressure for conformity in making independent choices about religious commitments. Our opportunity has never been greater and coincides remarkably with the emergence of the



SEE ISSUES, PAGE 13


page 12

THe AMERICAN BAnA’i ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

February 7, 2000 [Page 13]” , “"SPREADING*THE*TEACHINGS



ISSUES,

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12


Pe ccecccccccccccccccs The challenge of retention

At the same time, retention of new

Baha'is is a dilemma, just as it is in other


religious groups. Our retention level was determi tl carne has an examination of


tion, While an identification of not be solely inferred from

such membership data, it is reasonable to

assume ata al


ation on the part of indi




e = [

Based solely on available s, our retention rate may be 50 percent or less. TI one of our most serious challenges even as we position ourselves to take advantage of accelerated opportunities for enrollments.



Bahd’is and seekers: parallels Regarding our makeup as a community and our ability to attract those who are the largest segment of society seeking new ion, there exist many sim




  • Baby ‘boomers still predominate among

Baha’fs and seekers, but there is growing diversity in both categories. More of both are younger, especially college-age women.

In both cases, most are urban or suburban residents, and most are from highgrowth areas of the South and Southwest, :

Women are the majority of the Baha’f membership, the majority of new believers and the majority of seekers. More than half of Baha’is, and of seekers who have responded to national broadcasts of Baha’s programming, are college-trained. A proportiona ate number are employed in ang, profe: ching : A challenge of critical y that is “aging up” is on attracting youth. youth. is












intaining a focus The emerging generation of



critical of churches for sidestepping the issue of racial unity. They are also more inclined than others to believe in the oneness of religion and to be offended by



Understand needs, concerns In observing the overall compe s and believers, distinct patterns But this is not to say that there are categories of people whom we should never teach, nor that individuals who fit tterns are the only ones that will

ive. Indeed, receptive people can any population. But the same s apply—we will be t reaching them to the degree that we understand their needs and concerns.

‘The national mec








princi more si





. But there are ation of the med

  • There are a multitude of distinct audi






Reaching out with the teacRs


Dozens of people, only half of them Baha’ Mahmoudi (right) deliver a talk on “New Thinking Needed for Issues from Personal to Global” at the Nine Oaks Baha'i Institute in Arroyo Grande, California. The institute regularly hosts well-attended public gatherings, presenting the Baha’i teachings with presenta’ The locally sponsored institute also holds monthly interfaith devotionals, regular concerts and other gatherings for all ages. Organizers have patiently amassed a mailing list of more than 300 contacts. Photos courtesy of Karen Parrish


listen recently to Homa


ns rich in the performing arts.



ence segments, each with its own concerns and needs. No single message can be expected to reach all segments.

Not all Americans are seekers, hence our media programming concentrates on the kinds of people who define themselves as seekers and the information they require to make reasonable judgments. Information that makes us comfortable sometimes makes others uncomfortable, which is one reason for testing of media messages.

milarities, not differences between ourselves , are the most persuasive points we make. People are attracted to the familiar and the pc tive.






@



Community deeds, not just words Above all else, the national med e does not solve the problem of growth. only one aspect of systematic outreach. It is not a replacement for personal teaching. Indeed, people informed through media must still be taught by willing and sympathetic believers, who will befriend seekers and lead them to faith.

The vitality of commu: to persuading a new gener: of the viability of the Faith a for them and the Growth occurs naturally in the community as the friends more skillfully address the needs ers define for themselves and orbit.














Conversion of seekers will be wiggered in significant measure by how they pe ceive the quality of Baha’f community life. community life must be a source of meaningful relationships, spiritual enrichment and practical help, as well as an which individuals can participate






Justas vi acommuni ty is the ation that our ranks do not sufficiently reflect the presence of African Ame American Indians and


Asi: as

. “Nontraditional” households, such ingle mothers, divorced parents etc; youth; members of the lower and upper income



and the less educated are all


In sum, the challenge of community will become in part to serve the needs and expectations of a more highly varied membership than ever before. This is the challenge of diversity before us—a diversity of needs and temperaments, influenced not only by race, but also by such factors as age, cl: education and religious background.




Building harmony

Harmonious coordination of various. activities essential to the teaching efforts. These include regular devotional meetings, the Nineteen Day Feast, regular firesides, training institutes and deepening programs for new and veteran believers, service projects, youth and children’s programs and the like. Individuals and Local Spiritual Assemblies must expend greater effort to involve the Auxiliary Boards and their assistants well as the Regional Councils in their











‘The National Teaching Committee also notes the need for a higher level of


or will not achieve growth, what has or has not worked in the past, what we may lack in spiritual capacity. Hardened discussion affects our ability to act with unity and is repelling to seekers of love and harmony.

‘The need for growth is urgent. The goal, however, is not merely to increase our numbers, but also to transform our



communities and our individual lives while also spreading the fragrances of the Divine Message into the world. The assessment of our own progress in advancing the process of entry by troops must take all these considerations into




account as we move forward. e in interaction with seekply change the realities of our common experience, will alter the pri orities of the Institutions, and will refine to achieve





our sense of what it pansion. Ou




sustained e:



and to apply that knowledge toward prac“ally assist the

process of entry by troops.





Look at what’s on the Web!

Teaching tools free

for the downloading


www.usbnc.org Log in with your ID number, then click on “Media Campaign” at left

  • An advertising layout, produced to

support the promotion of the video The Power of Race Unity, is available in HTML and Adobe Acrobat formats. Ads to support The Power of Prayer, Family: The Seeds of World Peace and upcoming productions will soon be available. Fireside Development Programs to support all three videos can be downloaded.

The Light of Unity







.

A downloadable newsletter for seekers, The Light of Unity, is available in a format that allows you to insert local community contact information.

The short television commercials will be available in streaming video format for use on local Web sites, as will Web banner ads on the themes of the national campaign.

.


“Webcam” view of the Cee Ol eum fesilly

F Thana

Houseot Worship er

www.us.bahai.org/how/webcam.html

Part of the public U.S. Baha’i Web site, the House of Worship Cam page shows a view of the Temple from the southwest, updated once a minute. Several independent Internet sites have at times listed this site among outstanding “webcam” sites, with the result that this page drew in 10,000 contacts in | 1/2 weeks in January!


WS ty

Peo lee mei)


www.usbnc.org Log in with your ID number, then scroll down the “What’s New” menu


February 7, 2000 THe AMERICAN BAnA‘i * SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

page 13 [Page 14]

RESP RATT

PETE

“SPREADING ®

= TH reset

THE*TEA


oT

SESE EEF EE

(CHINGS



Seekers give voice to search for truth

BY PATRICIA CAMPUZANO, SOOUNITE OFFICE

Bu every voice there is a life in need of the message of Baha'u'llah: “I saw you on TV,” “I want to know more about this religion,” “Your religion makes a lot of sense to me,” “How can I teach my children about this?”

Hidden in every voice is a plea for help. In a shy and tentative tone: “I wonder if you could please send me the booklet ...” or ina casual, almost defensive manner: “I kind of like what you said about unity ...” someone wants to take a step toward His Light.

There are voices that almost choke when they speak: “I am afraid to hope. This all sounds so good and I have been looking for so long.”

They all mean to come closer to God. And from the girl calling from the South spelling her name carefully, or from the Berkeley professor making clever comments, one hears a hunger and already a iment of having found the path to







I know the relevan r'llah’s Messag

call


le and power of Baha’ and people sense it.

A mother,




of thoughts” to teach her children.

There are also people who call depressed, lonely, even intoxicated in the middle of the night, their speech weak and sometimes rambling. But in their pain they are also hing. For Baha'u'llah holds the medicine for the maladies of the





Counselors carry


Hand Bull and Auxiliary Board members Brent Poirier and Kevin Locke converged on the Native Ameri Institute and nearby communities Nov. 6-8.



he vi: historic nature was summed up by Barnes in a talk afterward in Albuquerque, New Mexico:

“Friends, what I h: en in my visit to the Navajo Reservation these past two days, you have a duty to continue to teach the faith of Bahéa’u’lléh to the indigenous population of the Americas.”

The day of their arrival in Navajoland, people from the surrounding communities of Sanders, Houck and Pine Springs lined up early at the Big Hogan to greet their visitor from the Holy Land.

After breakfast, the friends entered the Prayer Hogan to say prayers. There, Barnes relayed greetings and love from the Baha’{ World Center—especially from Lauretta King, a native believer residing in the Holy Land.

Later, the Counselors, Poirier and








present world, and He holds His arms open to every kind of seeker, every sincere soul who thirsts for God’s new Message.

‘The heart breaks with joy when you hear the very young voice of someone who you know has just been instructed to go slow, to give the numbers one ata time. You write Mr. So-and-So knowing that you hear the voice of a child. And he gives his name proudly, for whether he was nagging his mother to dial the number or was asked to make the call, he is intent on doing a good job.

Then a young girl says, “I have no phone number at home. I'll wait at this pay phone for your call.” The heart breaks again. You know the time it takes for the call to be retrieved, forwarded and collected by the community is longer than the time she can wait by a pay phone. You begin to pray: “Open the door, provide the means, prepare the way, make safe the path ...” and continue to work. After a few more voi Is “OK, I am going to give you my address. [Whew!] You said you could send me some stuff.” You forward the precious call and thank God for His Mercy.

All these signs of expansion are exciting. But after as



s, she






er has caught the spark of faith, there is a further step to go: consolidation. Those seeds, once y have fallen by His C


ace on fertile





yaters of friendship and with the sun of knowledge.

Each soul embarked on the in’ tion of the Truth is in need of s

sponsorship. We have invited these souls




encouragement to


International Counselor Kiser Barnes, visiting from the World Center, addresses the friends in Albuquerque.

Locke met with the NABI boare National American Ind


Committee

The visitors were delighted to hear that the ajo culture, its symbols and language are the backdrop for all the training programs at the Institute.

Barnes and Left Hand Bull later hosted a packed community meeting for all community members in the Big Hogan.

The next day, accompanied by NABI

co-Administrators Je ty and Alice Bathke, Barnes and Locke visited Navajo believers






How does it work? Each community registers by either:

  • Requesting an application/confirmation

form from the 800UNITE Office at the Baha'i National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733 3497), OR:

  • Completing a form in the Administrative

Web Site (www.usbnc.org); click on “I800-22-UNITE” and then on “Voicemail

Box Application/Confirmation). Please allow 10-15 business days to

receive your voice-mail box number and

password, along with instructions for accessing your voice mail.

Each participating community will be assigned seekers who live in the ZIP code

areas for which that community takes responsibility. When your community

applies, you should supply a list of all ZIP codes within your jurisdiction. You may add other nearby ZIP codes only if other com munities have not claimed them. If you need help determining the ZIP

codes in and around your community, contact your local post office for a listing or try the Postal Service Web site (www.usps.gov).

GOK TELA

ieee Peli bu a

MAKING IT WorK IN YOUR COMMUNITY




Useful hints

Please return call-back requests within 24 hours. We must follow up immediately to preserve a caller’s newly awakened interest in our beloved Faith and to show our enthusiasm and credibility.

Have a personalized letter ready to mail to seekers who provide mailing addresses. Be sure the letter invites them to local events and includes the name and phone number of a deepened Baha’i who is committed to answering questions.

Keep your local public library well-stocked with Baha’i books and invite seekers to investigate the Faith independently.

Be sure to keep a variety of brochures and pamphlets on hand to liberally pass out to seekers according to their interests and needs.

800UNITE Office




Ree ea Ee

to the Banquet of His Word, we have xposed them to His Message and they

been stirred by it.

Now, we need to sustain them until they

Navajo believers

in Chinle, and Lukachuka Prayers were chanted or

every home he visited. Renowned

flutist Locke played for the friends. ‘The friends in Lukachukai held a spe




recited. at


cial meeting/fireside. Barnes spoke about the station of Bahd’u’lléh and His promise to bring all peoples together. He said our love for each other, as brothers and sisters, should be so strong a “welded” together.

The image well applies to an area that saw 300 to 800 Ce ations of faith in



are in ie proce: those early bel

Barnes ren at he would like the Baha'is to capitalize on N * talents in art, drama, dance and fol e aspects of culture can be p he suggested that a als be translated into the Navajo language, saying the importance of that initiative could not be stressed enough.

Before leaving the area, Barnes assumed his old hool teacher role international law at ile on Nov. 8.








Phone 847-733-3497 « E-mail speared



for them until



little plant is able to stand on its own after suffering the burst of transformation.



IN HONOR OR IN MEMORY

Honor those you love on their special days

or remember them after they’ve passed on

. . with your gift to the National Baba’t Fund. Each gift sent with an “In Honor” or “In Memory” form will be beautifully acknowledged by the National Spiritual Assembly.

You may get these Treasurer’s Office forms:

  • On the Web: Printable forms for

these special contributions are available on the Administrative Web Site (www.usbne.org).

© Through the mail: Printed forms are available from the Office of the ‘Treasurer, 1233 Central St, Evanston, IL 60201 (e-mail





page 14

Tne AMERICAN BaAnA’i ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

February 7, 2000 [Page 15]

YER TPA IER NET AY INTEC


SPREADING THE TEA CHIEN GST


Artistic expressions provide fresh view of teachings

rtists—people who express their Ag it through paint, clay, song,

movement, drama and more—are arising more and more to demonstrate through their hearts’ expression that, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, “Art can better awaken ... noble sentiments than cold rationalizing. ..

These are a few of many efforts in the

past few months to bring the Baha’ teachings into flowering—subtly or openly—through the arts.



Two perspectives on the “Valleys”

‘The theme of the seven mystical Valleys in the path of the spiritual wayfi deep-rooted one, and the Islamic world knows of it through the writings of the Sufi turies.




great E tre

poets of past ¢





‘’u'llih gave the world a definitive ment of the theme through His writ


ing of” ‘The breathtaking imagery and in the poetry liberal

in this epistle, quoted by ’u'llah, almost invites presentation on e of its emotional essence. A Baha’ tist on the West Coast and a per





dram forming family in New England have



taken diverse paths to expressing visions inspired by this mystical masterwork. Mansour ‘Taeed fused meditative mu: and images of the seeker’ n writing and directing Seven Valleys, a production that appeared in September and October in Irvine and Berkeley, Californ ttle, Washington; Vancouver, Canada; and Chicago, Illinois. While not expounding Baha'i teachings as such, the performance piece—in English and Persian—symbolically shows the journey of Has seven spiritual stages as Baha'u'llah explained them. Hasti is guided on a journey of discovery, doubt and redemption by Barbad, personifying his cor and Houri, personifying his spirit. On the same program was a Persian | music concert by Mohammad













New Hampshire—Marty, W. Caitlyn—have completed their s


Above left: “Glance at the Camera: Market in Otavalo,” from an exhibition in Washington, DC. Photo by Bahieh Amelia Khamsi Top right: The Quinn family on stage—Caitlyn, Wendy and Marty. Photo by Mark Sadan Lower right: Kourosh Taghavi, Shahrzad Khorsandi and Mansour Taeed in Taeed’s Seven Valleys.

The Seven Valleys and taken it on the road n several places in the United States and Car

‘They had performed parts of it for nearly two years, along with their other signature performance piece, The Magic Bird. Marty’ musical composition and drumming, dance and 13-year-old daughter Caitlyn’s singing and dance are performed before backdrops representing each “valley.

Many of their recent shows have been. arranged along with firesides or questionand-answer sessions with the audience.

In Buffalo, New York, a performance arranged as a benefit for the Western New York Food Bank sold out a 360-seat the











“Phalen Summer,” a pastel by Alyce Blue of St. Paul, Minnesota.


ater and generated substantial contributions of money and food. This effort drew positive local TV news coverage.

Tt was also notable for weeks of preparadelegation and deepening among several Baha’i communities in the region. Outreaches were made to longstanding community contacts and to Baha’is who had been out of contact.

A special touch of welcome was added: Everyone in the audience received a copy of The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys.

Other performances in early November came in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Carlsbad-Encinitas, California—the latter drawing 250 people including 100 guests of the Bal





Exhibition in DC

A photo exhibition in the nation’s capital by Bahieh Amelia Khamsi, a 20-year-old Swiss Baha’, cast an international spotlight on the Baha’f Faith at its launching Oct. 13 in the Ecuadorean Embassy.

Depicting the beauty of the people and countryside of Ecuador, the photos were taken during Khamsi’s youth year of service






centered on Otavalo, Ecuador.

During her visit to Washington, Khamsi took ample opportunity to describe her year of s e, and the Baha’f teachings, during interviews by:

  • The Spanish section of the Washington

Times.

  • Radio Payam-e Doust, a weekly Baha’i



Bahieh Khamsi




radio program in Pe:

  • The Babd’f Hour weekly radio program

in English. ¢ The Persian and Spanish departments of the Voice of America. The latter reaches well into Central and South America. The exhibition, which continued well into November, was organized by Mona Khademi of __ International —_ Arts Management.

An “artful” fireside

An informal exhibit of Regine Tierney’s paintings set the stage for a presentation on “Spiritual Influences on Art” on Nov. 6. About 30 Baha'is and their guests gathered ata home in Newark, Delaware

“The gathering’s participation was wonderful,” Tierney said, “and the individuals and paintings seemed to have reflected a strong spiritual light.”



Public art with a message ‘Twenty-two artworks by Al en by thousan at the Maplewood, Minnesota, city hall.

Blue, of nearby St. Paul, focuses on artwork that depicts harmony between people



were s s over the si


of different races and

cultures, and she

often shares _ the

Baha'i inspiration for

her work.

One great reward of the exhibition, she said, was that some people brought family and friends back to the city hall just to see the artworks. ®



Alyce Blue



February 7, 2000

Tne AMERICAN BanA’l ¢ SPREADING THE TEACHINGS

page 15 [Page 16]





Chandra Almony, a 24-year-old Baha’i from Missouri, writes from her service post in Namibia, “The Peace Corps is an excellent precursor to pioneering. | strongly believe that anyone who can endure the 26-28 months of Peace Corps can successfully serve the Cause of God almost anywhere in their future. The Mission Statement of the Peace Corps is ‘to promote world peace and friendship.” How wonderful it is knowing that when | wake up every day in my little village, striving to fulfill the Peace Corps’ primary goal, | am, simultaneously, striving to full goal of Baha’u’llah’s revelation!”

the




OneVoice campaign to sound the call on campus

A message from the National Youth Committee and the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men to all Baha’i Campus Associations and college students throughout the United States

D

As He sent them forth to conquer the hearts of humanity, the Bab add: ed to the Letters of the Living these soul-stirring words:


arly Beloved Friends,


“O My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery.

. Heed not your weakness and frailt


‘your gaze upon the invincible power of the

Lord, your God, the Almighty. ... Arise in His name, put your trust wholly in Him, and be assured of ultimate victory.”

it that we announce to the entire network of Bah: and camp ociations at colleges and universi round the United States the third a






Equality workers


A handful of young men at the Grand Canyon Baha’i Youth Conference Dec. 23-26 prepare to do their part for a workshop on equality of the sexes. Male and female participants each discussed equality issues separately, then gathered together to share thoughts. Photo by Jason Schlesinger





“My fervent prayer at the three Holy Shrines is that the bountiful Lord may bless His American friends who constitute the vanguard of His host in the Western world, and prosper them in their material affairs and pursuits, that the Cause which stands today in sore need of material help and assistance

March 6-12—just six weeks before the end of the Four Year Plan.

It is our ardent prayer that universities around the country be ab! with the activity of Baha’i youths striving to make yet further marks in this historic time, “this crucial turning point of a juncture, the like of which shall ne return.”

The OneVoice Campaign is scheduled to coincide with Wom History Month and the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace on March 8, and will take place during an early part of the Baha’i Fast.

The chief aim of this campaign is to deepen the influence of the principle of gender equality at every corner of our lives. Through such actions as the recitation of a special prayer on a national

e, well-organized study of the | Spiritual Assembly’s statement e Equality of ion of that school offi











nent to high tistic presenta ides, coordination of ¢


ind countless oth the OneVoice a triumphant suc


association has not 1 this year’s OneVoice raeeeialet or if you would like further information, please contact the National Committee for the Equality of Women

BAHA'I YOUTH SERVICE CORPS PARTICIPANTS OR YEAR OF SERVICE VETERANS

The National Youth Committee is researching the state of the Baha’i Youth Service Corps program in the United States. We want to identify strengths as well as areas that may need improvement. We are looking for:

  • People who, as youths, completed a term of service and are willing to be


may advance, rapidly and unhindered, towards the fulfillment of its destiny.”

—Shoghi Effendi, Bahd’i Administration, p.53




interviewed about their experience.

  • People who are interested in helping this research project by conducting

interviews, analyzing collected data, contributing to an evolving web site, and/or researching the Baha’i writings.

Some things your campus association can do for OneVoice:

  • Study the statement Two Wings

of a Bird: The Equality of Women and Men.

  • Present the statement to high

ranking school officials.

  • Pray.
  • Organize related firesides, speeches or artistic presentations.
  • Coordinate activites to promote

fatification of CEDAW. and Men or the National Youth Committee (e-mail or respectively; or find contact information on the Web,


sbne.org).

We eagerly look forward to hearing about your victories as you join youths from around the country in an effort to


promote the principle of the equality of




women and men that will ultimately “compel us to reshape our lives and House of Justice

assures us.


ays of their prayers and emphatically states that “the hosts of the Abha Kingdom stand ready to rush to the support of anyone who will arise to offer his or her acts of service to the unfolding, drama of these momentous days.”





“= CONTACT:

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

phone 847-733-3499 e-mail


page 16

Tue American BanA’i * Yourn February 7, 2000 [Page 17]

~ CONSOLIDATING the



ae



ICTORIES

RR ER ei



=


Conferences urge vision for new generation

INFORMATION FROM DAVID SCHLESINGER, PHOENIX, AZ 2,000 people from all over the

pa U.S. and several countries were

immersed in principles and ideas for transforming the world through the hewet of equality, av the 15th annual Grand Canyon Baha’i Conference and Canyon Baha'i Youth 23-26 in Phoenix,




Conference, Dec. Arizona.



nd youth conferchildren’s session



learn to sumptions and men, raise up a new generation that understands gender equality, and improve the well-being of women in our society. Highlight presentations included those by:

  • Counselor David Smith, on spiritual

transformation.

  • Kambiz Rafraf, on the role of men in

stablishing equal:

  • Rebequa Murphy, on raising a new

generation, with emphasis on education and family example. ¢ Leonard Musta and Heidi Unterschutz on behalf of the Landegg Academy, on Baha'i education and how it can both practice and encourage gender equality. The organizing committees aimed not only to focus the conferences on gender equality—a main theme of the Four Year Plan—but also to recognize the important role of men, as well as women, in achieving it. Indeed, in Paris Talks ‘Abdu'l-Baha was quoted as say ing, “When men own the equality of women there will be no need for them to struggle for their rights!”

explored how B can transform our attitudes,

and behaviors about wome














All ages participated in acti:



ities on the theme of the equality of women and

men at the Grand Canyon Conference. Photos by Jason Schlesinger

Other key presentations and workshops were led by National Spiritual Assembly members Juana Conrad and William Roberts as well Dwight Allen, Katy Parsi, Mona Goharriz, Charlotte Kahn, John Foguth, Cynthia







Thomas, Homa Mahmoudi, Farshad Marvasti and others. ch day the National Persian-American Affairs Task


Force also held a well-attended major session in Persian.

Drama, music and other arts were integral, as the languages of emotion and reason reinforced each other to nudge people toward fresh understandings on many levels. Various Baha'i artists and performers made presentations every day on themes related to equality: ¢ A dramatic presentation by Erika

Batdorf of Massachusetts showed

people’s changing attitudes and

assumptions through the clothing men and women have worn.







© Singer-songwriter Stefanie Bouchard of Alaska presented her songs to the conference adults, but also provided musical support for the children’s program. Shahab Saeed of Utah created computer presentations that rose to the level of art. Sunday morning, at the end of the conference, hundreds of children joined the local Roses of Love Baha’ Choir and presented a mini-concert that was moving to many. The Youth Conference, dra about 450 participants, was highlighted by a workshop that was first divided along gender lines—with Beverly Sneed leading discussion among young women and Calvin Terrell facilitating the young men’s side—then brought together for an enlightening discussion of the roles of women and men in establishing equality. Other youth workshops were on topsuch as marriage and relationships,






ic:

‘WOW!’ collaboration aims to empower artists

Wen of One World were a powerful presence in their first-ever performances at the Grand Canyon Baha’ Conference—especially considering most of the artists didn’t know knew each other until a day or two beforehand.

This collaboration by artists from across the nation was the brainchild of Global Visions Arts Alliance of Denver, Colorado. The organization hopes similar productions can be staged around the USS. and internationally—utilizing local as well as national-level talent.

“WOW! is not just a show, but also a concept, and a very important part of GVAAS mission is to present weekend workshops to empower artists to create their own productions,” Global Visions reported.

In the concept’s Phoenix debut, the Grand Canyon audience witnessed some potent moments over three days:

  • A dance by Adrienne Stengel of

Indiana, in the classical style of south

India, depicted “The Moment before










the Moment” that Mulla Husayn

received the revelation from the Bab.

One man from the aud id he

could not stop crying.

A segment from an original drama,

Three Women, by Valerie Dana of

Colorado, portrayed an Iranian

woman whose son is imprisoned and

then martyred.

Ava Bowers of Georgia sang a setting

of a poem by an imprisoned martyr

awaiting execution.

he traditional version of “Ya

Baha’w’'l-Abha” was followed by a

Native American chant of the same

invocation, then a shawl dance done by

all women on stage.

Stefanie Bouchard of Alaska lamented

the death of indigenous cultures in her

ng “Watching the Mother Die.”

  • Beverlee Patton of Oregon presented a

monologue on the death of her mother, then danced in duet with Ameria Jones while Susan Lewis Wright of Colorado sang the reflective “Bird.”


.







  • A rap on the equality of women and

men featured a break dance by Justice Beitzel, company manager of the Diversity Dance workshop — in Washington.

  • A shimmering collaboration of many

performers centered on a musical setting of the short healing prayer.

° Wright’s song “Turn World Around” featured dance solos from varied cultures leading to a finale dance involving six women plus Jones’ 9-year-old daughter Aisha.

Four members of Global Visions’ board were intimately involved in the shows: Wright, president of Global Visions, was executive producer as well as a performer; Bill Weddle handled logistics at the Grand Canyon Conference; Archie Evans was stage manager as well as singing a duet with Ava; and Larry Peterson was technical director as well as an instrumentalist. In addition, Patton, the director, had worked with Wright for 15 months to make this vision a reality. @












Rebequa Murphy gives a presentation on raising a generation in the light of equality.

roles of women in varied cultures and religions family and career, social issues, the relationship between sexism and racism, and communication. Performing arts were key to this conference as well, with dramatic presenta






tions by Eric Cotecson and Parisa


Coleen Lovejoy and the Diversoul Descendants. A special coffeehouse area was set aside for youths to gather and share stories and experience

A proclamation concert, “One Family in Country Music,” immediately followed the conference, drawing an appreciative, largely non-Baha’i audience. Stefanie Bouchard and her father, Cliff, joined other family including the Maule Sisters and Nashville-based Ray Herndon and the Herndon Brothers, who all brought themes of equality to a type of music that goes to the heart of many Americans. #








Valerie Dana performs part of her musical drama Three Women at the Women of One World concert in Phoenix. Photo by Jason Schlesinger

To inquire about arranging a show or workshop in your area, please contact Global Visions Arts Alliance, P.O. Box 9006, Denver, CO 80209 (e-mail glob


February 7, 2000 Te AMERICAN BAnA‘i * CONSOLIDATING THE VICTORIES page I7 [Page 18]



quamasnncienorg


Youth always central

ince its founding in 1931, Louhelen

Baha’{ School has been a prominent center of education, training and fellows ship for Baha’ youth. The emphasis and focus has taken many forms over the years—from the Hand of the Cause Dorothy Baker teaching summer youth classes in the 1940s, to year-round sessions for children, youth and families, to ongo< ing training sessions for people working with these groups.

In a recent letter, the Universal House of Justice once again called our attention to the critical role of fostering children and youth in their spiritual growth and development:

“Strategies to advance the process of entry by troops cannotignore children and junior youth, if the victories won in one generation are not to be lost with the passage of time. It is imperative, then, that at this point in the process of systematization of the teaching work, definite steps be taken to ensure that the vision of the community fully embraces its younger members. The education of children, an obligation enjoined on both parents and institutions, requires special emphasis so as to become thoroughly integrated into the process of community development. This activity should be taken to new levels of intensity during these twelve months and then be further



id in the years imme diately after.” Universal House of Justice, letter of Nov. 26, 1999

Attending Baha’i school can be one of the most powerful life-forming experiences possible for a young person. Louhelen offers a nearly continuous series of programs designed to help younger members of the Baha’i community arise in full service to the Cause, and enjoy the loving and supportive embrace of their local communities.

Contact Louhelen for details on these spring and summer programs:



Children Parent and Child Weekend, May 12-14 Camp Loubelen Children’s Institute I, June 18-23 Camp Loubelen Children’s Institute I, June 25-28

Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Institute Junior Youth, April 28-30 Spiritual Empowerment Institute for Junior Youth, July 21-26

Youth

Youth Eagle Institute, April 21-23 Young Women’s Institute, June 2-4

Families Parent and Child Weekend, May 12-14 Persian-American Bahia’ Studies, June 30-Fuly 5 Family and Friends I, July 14-19 Family and Friends II, July 28-Aug. 2 Family and Friends Il, Aug. 4-9 Family and Friends IV, Aug. 11-16 Choral Music and Community Growth, Aug. 18-24 Homecoming, Sept. 1-4 @


J


Preparing for a new level of service


A recent Pioneering/Baha’i Youth Service Corps/SITA Institute at Green Acre Baha’i School, conducted by the Office of Pioneering, helped prepare nearly two dozen people for a new level of service to the Cause. For a li upcoming events at Green Acre, see the Calendar on the back pa: international goals, see page 39. Photo courtesy of Bill Thompson, St. Paul, MN


eit

of








Life-changing

bl (2 changed my life!” and “This is amazing” are the comments of two of the 28 friends who came to Bosch Baha’f School on successive December weekends for courses using Ruhi Institute materials.

Hamilton and Ruth Breton facilitated the courses, which offer participants the opportunity to acquire knowledge, spiritual insights and skills for service to the Cause of Baha’u’llah.

As with almost every growth-oriented activity, personal gain and reward is a function of individual initiative and effort. So what led one friend to say the


course changed her life?

Ruby Edgar is blind, but says, “We all have limitations.” Edgar transcribed an entire workbook into Braille a week before the session began, so she could participate in the memorization component of the course at the same level with others. She also shared fully in the many games and activities of both weekends, saying, “You’ve got to work hard and play hard,” adding the games help “to relax your mind and take in what you've learned.”

Tang Yang, a new Baha’i youth | in Turlock, California, shared Edgar's enthusiasm for the Ruhi course. Yang was so moved by his experience that upon returning home he organized a gathering of more than 40 adults youth “to do Ruhi, eat, and play the games we learned!”

Edgar will return to Bosch in the spring for the next-level Ruhi program. She also plans to share the materials with the believers in her community. “We all have the same bond,” she said. “We love Bahd’u’lléh. Then we get to share that with each other and it promotes unity.”






As we near the end of Four Year Plan and the start of the Twelve Month Plan, seize the opportunity to make a change in your life by attending a Ruhi course or other program at Bosch Baha’i School this spring.

Upcoming programs

March 3-5: Becoming a Champion of the Covenant with Derek Cockshut. The Master that without the Covenant, the C: would have fractured into a thousand sects in a single day. You can gain a deeper appreciation for the Covenant through study of the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.






April 14-16: Advancement of Women. Invited presenters include Javidukht Khadem and Dr. Hoda

Mahmoudi. This inspirational session brings together courageous women who have served the Cause exceptionally and women searching for an audacious mission of service in His name. Bring your t e daughters, sisters and friends and add your contribution to a weekend of empowerment, goal-setting and synergistic activities.




Call for papers

ABS seeks presentations on ‘A Century of Light’


the time when the community ies comes together to share and expand our knowledge, to present and discuss works of scholarship, to initiate and carry out collaborative projects, and to partake in the fellowship and contribute to the spirit of this unique enterprise.

This year’s conference, Aug. 31-Sept. 3, will be held in the Toronto, Ontario, area, and the theme is “A Century of Light: Who is Writing the Future?”

Proposals are invited for presentations and workshops on the following subthemes: ¢ The spiritual nature of reality: under standing the physical universe, advances in science and technology, implications for altering world views, science as an enhancer of life, information technology with its proliferation and implications.

  • ¢ The shift in consciousness leading toa

transformation of values and habits of. mind: women’s equality; elimination of

sm, ethnic prejudice and religious fanaticism; the end of clerical authority; the concept of government as a trust responsible for the well-being of all; the

movement for global ethics. *

  • The maturation of humanity, with its

signs of the coming of age of the human race: the transmutation of elements, uni ) versal-auxiliary languagéfa new orienta tion to governance and leadership.

The challenges of globalism: U.N.,

human rights and economic develop ment issues and world order.

Spiritual solutions: moral develop ment, replacement of immature pat yy, a new paradigm of justice, serviceas an exp sion of self, new approaches to deci

g, the imperative of a global per ion as the source of civ ilization, harmonizing the spiritual and material dimensions of









n






should consist of a 150-word abstract as well as biograp! nformation about the presenter.

Proposal deadline is April Deadline for papers is July 10.

Send proposals to Lynn Echevarria c/o Association for Baha'i Studi Copernicus St., Ottawa, ON, C: KIN 7K4 (fax 613-233-3644, e-mail


10.




For more information, see the Web site for the Association for Baha’i Studies (www.bahai-studies.ca).

Rooms can be reserved by July 30 at the Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Center (site of the conference):

+ Phone (U.S. or Canada) 800-422-8238 + Fax 905-542-4038

  • Web www.deltahotels.com

Specify the Association for Baha’i Studies to secure the special room rate. @


page 18

Tne AMERICAN BaAnA’i ¢ CONSOLIDATING THE VICTORIES

February 7, 2000 [Page 19]


on Welle ibe

Tangram Toward Unity!



¥ “For thousands of years ye have been ee '* * contending in warfare and strife. It is enough. We Sad Now is the time for unity.” a toe ae ~Baha’w'llah, quoted in The Promulgation of Universal Peace, ».522.fhe

' iang enjoys puzzles because he loves trying to solve especially likes “tangram” puzzles. Have you heard of Ec When Liang does puzzles for fun, he is prac- them? A “tangram” is an ancient Chinese puzzle. It is a 4" ticing being creative and innovative, which means doing square that is cut into seven pieces that you can make into things differently or in a new way. Liang thinks these animal, people, or object shapes. In fact, the only rule to qualities will help him in his work to teach about the — the game is that all seven pieces must be used and none of

>

Funds and to unify humanity. Do you like puzzles? Liang them may overlap

cavasevoerese mengedeen __... _TANGRAM * *

4 P (Cut the seven shapes like this) you Need: Directions:

  • Paper (1) Place paper on top of the tangram Liang provided.

+ Pencil (2) With pencil, trace the tangram onto the paper. ms ¢ Scissors (3) Take scissors and cut along the pencil lines.

he cutting out the shapes on the right you will have seven pieces of See the tangram. Now you are ready to create shapes. Before you start, study some of Liang’s examples. What kind of shapes can you make with a

tangram that shows unity? If you want to do more than one tangram, get

more paper and trace and cut again. Have fun! + me

a a person dancing x Ne 2», * z Fk : » a VW e a rabbit a sailboat

© iO sO P iPM OO; COONS Cie Gigs gis e

Brilliant Star

Come join the fun! Subscribe to Brilliant |

Star

SEE PAGE 33


e Pee eee? IoD eee ese ©,9,9 101010) 0 buoleleereaens

What kind of neat shapes did you make with your tangram?



Share them with Liang and other kids. Make sure you glue Baha'i Media Services your pieces onto another clean sheet of paper so they stay 1233 Central St. in place, and then mail it to our address at right. Evanston, IL 60201 \ e S



February 7,2000 Tne AMERICAN BaAnA’i ¢ BRILLIANT Stak Kip’s CorneR page 19 [Page 20]DEVELOPMENT*CONFERENCE


rt in

the path

of service

Annual development conference is filled with the expressive spirit

he arts came into their own this

year at the seventh annual

Baha’i Conference on Social and Economic Development for the Americas in Orlando, Florida.

Artistic expression was woven into the very fabric of the Dec. 16-19 conference and Dec. 14-16 by-invitation-only seminar, both sponsored by the Rabbani Charitable Trust.

Not merely for entertainment, not just as a proclamation tool, performance was fully recognized and utilized for its potential to foster the application of Baha’ principles to people’s lives.

Indeed, art was shown to be the spoken word’s equal as a means to “attract and confirm souls and put their feet on the path of service,” in the words of renowned painter Donald Rogers, former Counselor International ‘Te:









member of the ching Center. Every plenary session, “concepts core processes” workshop, case study presentation or interest group networking session was enriched with tional learning through the perfoi arts,” as coordinated by Leslie Asplund and Linda Bedford.

Rogers, for example, gave one session’s attendees a quick course in appreciation of modern art as a metaphor for the workings of the Holy Spirit. As images flashed on a screen he explained that just like the spiritual world it reflects, modern art is freed from the box of perspective. It has no center, foreground, ba single light












ckground or


source,

A lesson on improvising Cellist Gwendolyn Watson led classi cal pianist Mark Ochu in an impro’ tional exercis




to introduce ion on Trial and Error Learning” facilitated by Douglas and Dwight Allen. The then lent their insights to group discussion.

Management consultant Marcic underscored the lesson of Elizabeth Bowen’s “Community Building through SED: Mothers and Grandmothers” session with an often hilarious, sometimes poignant runthrough—complete with costumes—of songs illustrating the evolution of women’s outlook on life during the 20th century:

Percussionist David Closson set in motion a multi-rhythmic lovefest f turing audience members of all back grounds playing African instruments to



Dorothy






open his and wife Rosemary's session on “Best Practices for Race Unity Training: How to Apply Baha’f Principles. usan Lewis Wright set the mood for D and Raymond Choe study on “Transforming Children and Youth in Distress” with a song she fi performed at a memorial servic Littleton, Colorado, for victims of the Columbine High School violence. Louise Prof









t-LeBlanc held everyone with storytelling from indigenous culture.

Other ‘inspi

spellbound


tional learning” artists included singers Mary Davis, Christi Quinn, Chris and Lynn Rosser and Jerry York; actor/singer Chris Hampton; actor Jennifer Head; and artist Jalaliyyih






onference pai


icipants also benefited from a talk by Rogers on “Promoting the Arts in the Baha’i Community” and ngaged in two networking sessions on the arts. Meanwhile, artists huddled with representatives of the Rabbani Trust to explore the possibility of an



ts-focus conference.


Praise for the approach

Attendees lauded the weeklong blending of spirit and content.

Peter Adriance, non-governmental organization liaison for the National piritual Assembly’s Office of External ffairs, later wrote to Benjamin Levy, program director for the Rabbani Trust:

“... [NJever have I attended a conference of such duration that so successfully incorporated the arts an interactive approach into the learning process.

“You didn’t just tack a guitar player onto the front of a session and leave it at that. Creativity abounded in the diversity of style: nd in all of the I attended the artistic portion was fully integrated into the theme and facilitated the learning process.

“That, combined with the interactive format and the excellent content of the sessions, made for a very enjoyable, stimulating and inspiring experiens one which seemed to tap all the senses and encourage full participati th

Not that the week was bereft of musical performances intended purely for the 1,040 attendees’ enjoyment and upliftment.

Jack Lenz coordinated evening programs dedicated to the Universal House of Justice’s Who Is Writing the Future? statement; to the long-suffering Baha’is








nd




session










107 10" Like to Ge Wark:

OTN” Gees T

weit

nS 2K Shag ef Boe erecls

Above: A joyful sound emanates from the cello of Gwendolyn Watson of Rome, Georgia. Her solos, complemented with singing and whistling, delighted audiences all through the seminar and conference. Above right: Oscar Merritt of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, peruses offerings at the conference bookstore.

Right: Lloyd Ivey puts feeling into his lead vocals for the First Commandment Gospel Singers.

of Iran; and to our shared task of building a new World Order.

Featured were Lenz on piano, flutist Ron Allen, santour player Peyman Foroughi, pianist Nancy Harper, Styve Homnick on harmonica, singers Jeff members of First Commandment are Jones, Ladjamaya Mahoney and _ introducing Baha’{ themes into their Shokouh Rezai, and cellist Watson. musi

But the biggest response of all was After their appearances at the conferelicited by The First Commandment — ence, group members were besieged by Gospel Singers. believers seeking to have them perform

The eight singers and musicians in _ in their communities. #

this Delaware-Maryland-Virginia group come from a Christian background. Now that they are Bahd’is—the last three accepted the Faith the night before the conference started—the







page 20

Tue American BanA’i ¢ Development CONFERENCE

February 7, 2000




Aq

Stories and photos by Tom Mennillo


made by junior youths is presented at the conference for donation to the children’s enrichment program in Buffalo, New York.

Idea-sharing and relationship-building


one stopped and listened, myriad ideas could be heard bubbling to the surface as people “networked” formally and informally throughout the seminar and conference.

Two evenings were devoted to interest-group meetings. Each drew participants interestedein such areas of endeavor as agriculture and rural development, the arts, business and eco~ nomic development, education, equality between women and men, health and indigenous peoples.

Late-night consultations among representatives also were hosted by Partners for Prosperity, a Canadian-based nonprofit organization. Participants exchanged information on “nuts and bolts” and board development.

But most any hour of any day, smaller groups huddled in breakout rooms, restaurants and suites—even outside around the mostly empty pool.

Whatever the venue, Baha’is engaged in studying the Baha'i writings about their area.of interest, sharing papers, celebrating projects in progress, encouraging the development of new ones and making plans to continue their collaboration year~ round.





of projects


uch as finances, legal structur





Knowledge for the advancement of agriculture

‘Typical was the experience of friends sted i ture and rural development.

Over the years, many have followed the progress of such initiatives as Eco Ag Service, a North Carolina-based app! ticeship program for young Baha’is interested in agriculture, and the agriculture special interest group within the Association for Baha’i Studies.

In recent months they’ve kept abreast of a social and economic development training program, also in North Carol known as Blue Ridge Encounters.

A document also circulated via e-mail of inte



en






a,



ncapsulating the kind ion that is sprouting a diverse crop of cooperation among Bahi’is in agriculture worldwide.

So when the friends met in Orlando, they had a core of knowledge from which to work.

Their first session was “Agriculture as an Eco: nator of Earthwatch



emina


ap talk Dec. 14 on stem” by Arthur Lyon Dahl, coordiithin the United Nations Environment Program in Geneva, Switzerland. Consultation followed.

At thi ion, green and white ribbons were handed out signifying the special regard the Baha’{ writings hold for the





aoa what must woman especially

ties 2


A young conference-goer jots down information on women in agriculture from the display for Eco-Ag, a service that matches young Baha’is with farm apprenticeships.


place of agriculture in society. The ribbons elicited questions

from other attendees throughout the week.

t, the interest group met Wednesday evening to re:

cuss quotations of Baha'u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha on the

“The Farmer Is the Primary Factor in the Body Politic.” A brown-bag lunch Dec. 16 focused on effective networking

worldwide.






Friday evening a second interest group session was held.

And days after the conference ended, a follow-up e-mail message reported progres: nism.


s on an ongoing networking mecha



Veterans of development become guides and learners

Pre-conference seminar brims with knowledge



Or enriching feature of the annual ‘onference on social and econom¢ development is the pre: nd participation of so many experienced practitione

More than 120 believers—many of them American _ pioneers—living throughout North, Central and South y of other countries arrived “ , Dec. 14, for the fourth annual by-invitation-only Baha’ Development Seminar for the Americas:

They included representatives of ongoing development projects, Baha’f agencies that interact with and foster the work of these practitioners, and selected start-up projects.

And before their third day together ended, this seasoned


nce










group assumed the role of mentors for the hundreds of friends who began arriving Thursday— helping along the people who were not so far along in their journey in social and economic develoment work.

Focus on ‘Prosperity’

Three main talks at the semir derived from an aspect of The Prosperity of Humankind statement of the Universal House of Justice, were designed to help participants focus their efforts

But most of the time they engaged in sharing perspectives born of yi the field.

They did that in small-group di: sions following “concepts and. core processes” and case study presentations

They met as well in networking groups devoted to specific interests.

Some even had so much to share, they conducted ions before the minar.







rs in



cus






One all-day affair for experienced practitioners examined “Externa





Local Initiati ional Cay and Sustainability” and a from Canada concerning Baha’i communit nomic development.

At the same time, Eco Ag Service, a North Carolina-based apprentice program for young Baha'is interested in agriculture, hosted a session in which Arthur Lyon Dahl of the United Nations Environmental Program ii Geneva, Switzerland, spoke on “Agriculture as an Ecosystem.” @


training n social and eco











February 7, 2000

Tue American BanA’i * Development CONFERENCE

page 21 [Page 21]DEVELOPMENT*CONFERENCE


rt in

the path

of service

Annual development conference is filled with the expressive spirit

he arts came into their own this

year at the seventh annual

Baha’i Conference on Social and Economic Development for the Americas in Orlando, Florida.

Artistic expression was woven into the very fabric of the Dec. 16-19 conference and Dec. 14-16 by-invitation-only seminar, both sponsored by the Rabbani Charitable Trust.

Not merely for entertainment, not just as a proclamation tool, performance was fully recognized and utilized for its potential to foster the application of Baha’ principles to people’s lives.

Indeed, art was shown to be the spoken word’s equal as a means to “attract and confirm souls and put their feet on the path of service,” in the words of renowned painter Donald Rogers, former Counselor International ‘Te:









member of the ching Center. Every plenary session, “concepts core processes” workshop, case study presentation or interest group networking session was enriched with tional learning through the perfoi arts,” as coordinated by Leslie Asplund and Linda Bedford.

Rogers, for example, gave one session’s attendees a quick course in appreciation of modern art as a metaphor for the workings of the Holy Spirit. As images flashed on a screen he explained that just like the spiritual world it reflects, modern art is freed from the box of perspective. It has no center, foreground, ba single light












ckground or


source,

A lesson on improvising Cellist Gwendolyn Watson led classi cal pianist Mark Ochu in an impro’ tional exercis




to introduce ion on Trial and Error Learning” facilitated by Douglas and Dwight Allen. The then lent their insights to group discussion.

Management consultant Marcic underscored the lesson of Elizabeth Bowen’s “Community Building through SED: Mothers and Grandmothers” session with an often hilarious, sometimes poignant runthrough—complete with costumes—of songs illustrating the evolution of women’s outlook on life during the 20th century:

Percussionist David Closson set in motion a multi-rhythmic lovefest f turing audience members of all back grounds playing African instruments to



Dorothy






open his and wife Rosemary's session on “Best Practices for Race Unity Training: How to Apply Baha’f Principles. usan Lewis Wright set the mood for D and Raymond Choe study on “Transforming Children and Youth in Distress” with a song she fi performed at a memorial servic Littleton, Colorado, for victims of the Columbine High School violence. Louise Prof









t-LeBlanc held everyone with storytelling from indigenous culture.

Other ‘inspi

spellbound


tional learning” artists included singers Mary Davis, Christi Quinn, Chris and Lynn Rosser and Jerry York; actor/singer Chris Hampton; actor Jennifer Head; and artist Jalaliyyih






onference pai


icipants also benefited from a talk by Rogers on “Promoting the Arts in the Baha’i Community” and ngaged in two networking sessions on the arts. Meanwhile, artists huddled with representatives of the Rabbani Trust to explore the possibility of an



ts-focus conference.


Praise for the approach

Attendees lauded the weeklong blending of spirit and content.

Peter Adriance, non-governmental organization liaison for the National piritual Assembly’s Office of External ffairs, later wrote to Benjamin Levy, program director for the Rabbani Trust:

“... [NJever have I attended a conference of such duration that so successfully incorporated the arts an interactive approach into the learning process.

“You didn’t just tack a guitar player onto the front of a session and leave it at that. Creativity abounded in the diversity of style: nd in all of the I attended the artistic portion was fully integrated into the theme and facilitated the learning process.

“That, combined with the interactive format and the excellent content of the sessions, made for a very enjoyable, stimulating and inspiring experiens one which seemed to tap all the senses and encourage full participati th

Not that the week was bereft of musical performances intended purely for the 1,040 attendees’ enjoyment and upliftment.

Jack Lenz coordinated evening programs dedicated to the Universal House of Justice’s Who Is Writing the Future? statement; to the long-suffering Baha’is








nd




session










107 10" Like to Ge Wark:

OTN” Gees T

weit

nS 2K Shag ef Boe erecls

Above: A joyful sound emanates from the cello of Gwendolyn Watson of Rome, Georgia. Her solos, complemented with singing and whistling, delighted audiences all through the seminar and conference. Above right: Oscar Merritt of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, peruses offerings at the conference bookstore.

Right: Lloyd Ivey puts feeling into his lead vocals for the First Commandment Gospel Singers.

of Iran; and to our shared task of building a new World Order.

Featured were Lenz on piano, flutist Ron Allen, santour player Peyman Foroughi, pianist Nancy Harper, Styve Homnick on harmonica, singers Jeff members of First Commandment are Jones, Ladjamaya Mahoney and _ introducing Baha’{ themes into their Shokouh Rezai, and cellist Watson. musi

But the biggest response of all was After their appearances at the conferelicited by The First Commandment — ence, group members were besieged by Gospel Singers. believers seeking to have them perform

The eight singers and musicians in _ in their communities. #

this Delaware-Maryland-Virginia group come from a Christian background. Now that they are Bahd’is—the last three accepted the Faith the night before the conference started—the







page 20

Tue American BanA’i ¢ Development CONFERENCE

February 7, 2000




Aq

Stories and photos by Tom Mennillo


made by junior youths is presented at the conference for donation to the children’s enrichment program in Buffalo, New York.

Idea-sharing and relationship-building


one stopped and listened, myriad ideas could be heard bubbling to the surface as people “networked” formally and informally throughout the seminar and conference.

Two evenings were devoted to interest-group meetings. Each drew participants interestedein such areas of endeavor as agriculture and rural development, the arts, business and eco~ nomic development, education, equality between women and men, health and indigenous peoples.

Late-night consultations among representatives also were hosted by Partners for Prosperity, a Canadian-based nonprofit organization. Participants exchanged information on “nuts and bolts” and board development.

But most any hour of any day, smaller groups huddled in breakout rooms, restaurants and suites—even outside around the mostly empty pool.

Whatever the venue, Baha’is engaged in studying the Baha'i writings about their area.of interest, sharing papers, celebrating projects in progress, encouraging the development of new ones and making plans to continue their collaboration year~ round.





of projects


uch as finances, legal structur





Knowledge for the advancement of agriculture

‘Typical was the experience of friends sted i ture and rural development.

Over the years, many have followed the progress of such initiatives as Eco Ag Service, a North Carolina-based app! ticeship program for young Baha’is interested in agriculture, and the agriculture special interest group within the Association for Baha’i Studies.

In recent months they’ve kept abreast of a social and economic development training program, also in North Carol known as Blue Ridge Encounters.

A document also circulated via e-mail of inte



en






a,



ncapsulating the kind ion that is sprouting a diverse crop of cooperation among Bahi’is in agriculture worldwide.

So when the friends met in Orlando, they had a core of knowledge from which to work.

Their first session was “Agriculture as an Eco: nator of Earthwatch



emina


ap talk Dec. 14 on stem” by Arthur Lyon Dahl, coordiithin the United Nations Environment Program in Geneva, Switzerland. Consultation followed.

At thi ion, green and white ribbons were handed out signifying the special regard the Baha’{ writings hold for the





aoa what must woman especially

ties 2


A young conference-goer jots down information on women in agriculture from the display for Eco-Ag, a service that matches young Baha’is with farm apprenticeships.


place of agriculture in society. The ribbons elicited questions

from other attendees throughout the week.

t, the interest group met Wednesday evening to re:

cuss quotations of Baha'u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha on the

“The Farmer Is the Primary Factor in the Body Politic.” A brown-bag lunch Dec. 16 focused on effective networking

worldwide.






Friday evening a second interest group session was held.

And days after the conference ended, a follow-up e-mail message reported progres: nism.


s on an ongoing networking mecha



Veterans of development become guides and learners

Pre-conference seminar brims with knowledge



Or enriching feature of the annual ‘onference on social and econom¢ development is the pre: nd participation of so many experienced practitione

More than 120 believers—many of them American _ pioneers—living throughout North, Central and South y of other countries arrived “ , Dec. 14, for the fourth annual by-invitation-only Baha’ Development Seminar for the Americas:

They included representatives of ongoing development projects, Baha’f agencies that interact with and foster the work of these practitioners, and selected start-up projects.

And before their third day together ended, this seasoned


nce










group assumed the role of mentors for the hundreds of friends who began arriving Thursday— helping along the people who were not so far along in their journey in social and economic develoment work.

Focus on ‘Prosperity’

Three main talks at the semir derived from an aspect of The Prosperity of Humankind statement of the Universal House of Justice, were designed to help participants focus their efforts

But most of the time they engaged in sharing perspectives born of yi the field.

They did that in small-group di: sions following “concepts and. core processes” and case study presentations

They met as well in networking groups devoted to specific interests.

Some even had so much to share, they conducted ions before the minar.







rs in



cus






One all-day affair for experienced practitioners examined “Externa





Local Initiati ional Cay and Sustainability” and a from Canada concerning Baha’i communit nomic development.

At the same time, Eco Ag Service, a North Carolina-based apprentice program for young Baha'is interested in agriculture, hosted a session in which Arthur Lyon Dahl of the United Nations Environmental Program ii Geneva, Switzerland, spoke on “Agriculture as an Ecosystem.” @


training n social and eco











February 7, 2000

Tue American BanA’i * Development CONFERENCE

page 21 [Page 22]*-DEVELOPME


‘Te CONFERENCE?


Main talks approach transformation from varied angles


‘hree major talks served as rallying points for the conference, providing a vision for those*venturing forth to apply the Baha’i principles in society.

Donald Rogers, former Counselor member of the ching Center, lent his many decades and his renown as a painter to an examination of “Promoting the Arts in the Baha’f Community.”

Rogers noted that in previous dispensations art was often commissioned for spiritual purposes. But never before, he said, have believers at the grassroots been asked to use arts to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

And the role of artistic expression in this time of transition, he emphasized, is not just in proclaiming the message for the day but in expanding the ranks of faithful and consolidating those gains.

He said it is up to Baha’t institutions to create a climate in which the talents and capacities of believers can develop and flourish. In that way, the arts of the old world—appealing primarily to our animal nature—will be put to use for the new spiritual age in a way that is transformative. is creating metaphors, Rogers ing the teachings for this d: through their works can provide “a taste of the Baha’ community at its highest level of consciousness” and help people identify with that community.

Patricia Locke, member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, echoed Rogers in her talk on “Developing Capacities for Transformative Action.

Focu:





















ing on indigenous cultures, she said Bahé’is who want to teach among a people must make an effort to learn about them—their etiquett



Elisha Choczynski Shorter (from left), Deana and Ray Choczynski do a skit on negative labels that can weigh young people down, as part of their presentation on the children’s enrichment project

they spearheaded in inner-city Buffalo, New York.


Enjoying a snack of the development conference’s famous cookies are (from left) Judy Carlberg of Fairhope, Alabama and pioneers Martha and Ron Posner of Venezuela.


Patricia Locke (above left) addressed the conference on “Building Capacity for Transformative Action.” Crystal Baker Shoaie (above right) gave the final talk, on “Living a Holy Life and Serving Humanity.”

tem, social structure, arts, world view, history and sys: tem of governance.

The reward for Baha’is who do this, she said, will be

ility to “more effectively demonstrate the beauty aith and knowledgeably interact and consult with people.” id much of the work has been done for us in documents prepared by such entities as the United Nations and the Organization of American States. In them we can find a wealth of information on indigenous peoples’ needs and views.

Crystal Baker Shoaie of Bolivia capped the conference by pondering how we can mirror forth the beau ty of the spirit in a talk titled “Living a Holy Life and Serving Humanity.”

Mirroring the spirit of her grandmother, the late Hand of the Cause of God Dorothy Baker, she












we


Donald Rogers, a modern artist, chats with Roseanne Groger, whose play about substance abuse targeting youth in Gallup, New Mexico, has won a national award.

must practice the laws of God in the same manner a musician practices. Any endeavor in which we put our heart, our holiness, becomes very different as a result.

She said we cannot educate ourselves fully, however, without service—“applying what we learn and learning from that experience.”

And we cannot do this by ourselves, Shoaie said. We “have to be serving something and consulting with others about it.” Put another way, “We can’t solve



problems first so we can unite; we need to unite so we can solve problems.”

Shoaie employed one more metaphor, saying our effort to create ever-wider circles of unity is like climbing mountains. We set a goal of reaching one summit, then once we’re there we see higher mountains and raise our goals—elevate our service—to surmount them. @



Breakout sessions give participants closer view of development work

Bee sessions at this year’s conference operated under a cardinal rule: that they be learner-centered, rather than revolving around presentations or performances.

This approach to “concepts and core processes” and case study workshops put the focus squarely on helping Baha’is build their capacty to understand and undertake social and economic development work.

The overall theme centered on The Prosperity of Humankind statement of the Universal House of Justice, with the more recent Who Is Writing the Future? document as an adjunct.

Thus, sessions during the seminar portion of the week began with inspirational keynotes derived from aspects of Humankind.

One was “Governance of Human Affairs and the Exercise of Authority” by Luis Henrique Beust of the Soltaniéh Educational Center in Brazil. Another was “Justice and Human Rights” by Matty Thimm of Albania. The seminar ended with “Eradication of Poverty” by Elizabeth Bowen of Mottahedeh Development Services in the United State:

During the conference, each “concepts and core processes” breakout session began with devotions, inspirational learning through the performing arts and a keynote, also from The Prosperity of Humankind.

The first day’s five keynotes were titled “Reconceptualizing the system of Human Relationships” and were delivered by Susanne amas and Louise Profeit-LeBlanc of Canada,


















he Prosperity of

Crystal Baker Shoaie of Bolivia, Linda Gershuny of Haiti, and Rebequa Getahoun Murphy of the United States.

The next day’s keynotes, on “Full Equality Between Women and Men,” were delivered by Patricia Locke, Carole Allen, Dorothy Marcic and June Manning Thomas of the United States and Donald Witzel of Venezuela.

A number of the s on facilitators were people with great experience in developing areas of the world from Africa to the Caribbean to South America. They dealt with topics as pragmatic as “Trial and Error Learning: Learning from Our Experiences,” facilitated by Douglas and Dwight Allen of the United States; as abstract as “Synergism through Top-Down and Bottom-Up,” by Judie and Michael Bopp of Canada; and as thought-provoking as “Community Building through SED: Mothers and Grandmothers,” by abeth Bowen of the United States and Janet Dexter of Ecuador.

Case studies, held every afternoon of the seminar and c











nference, integrated the arts in quite imaginative ways related to the topic

They included examinations of projects from Florida’s Lake Okeechobee area to remote areas of Ecuador and the Yukon.

Two case studies miliar to many Americans were on the Tahirih Justice Center, based in the Washington, D.C., area, and the Buffalo, New York, project spearheaded by Raymond and Deana Choczynski and their daughter, isha Choez Shorter.









page 22

Tue AMERICAN BanA‘i ¢ DeveLopment CONFERENCE February 7, 2000 [Page 23]


Local TREASURER’S

Corner w=

The Local Treasurer's Corner is 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 Ds

100% participation: One community's experience

‘he following story was shared with the Office of the

Treasurer by a local treasurer who precipitated a real change in support of her local Fund by helping the community to understand better, the critical nature of the Fund to the life of their Baha’i community:

It was very discouraging to hear that only 21% of the friends in our community gave to the Fund, so I decided to do something about it. I looked at participation over a threeyear period and suggested to the Local Spiritual Assi that I would like to report only on the active believers ticipation in order to motivate the friends.

After much prayer and reading of the Sacred Writings, I used the problem-solving techniques that I learned from Leadership Through Quality class nd concluded that the friends needed to be in closer touch with the Covenant.

We read quotes from The Covenant of Baba’u'llab and had discussions about it at Feast. Deepenings were held later on. Ateach t I read a different story about love, sacrifice and ve detachment ‘The point was:to have:the friends see the positive side. ead Of looking at what we don’t have, we look at what we do have and what we can do with what we have. were inspiring, some funny. Quotes from. the gs were used. I had some of the friends tell about s a result of giving to the Fund.

At Feast, before giving the treasurer's report, I had someone read the prayer for the Fund. I made Fund boxes available to each member of our community so the friends could put their change in them and bring them: to Feast. The children in chool happily agreed to count the change, so everyone When the money was brought ir s placed s and each one tagged to n i “Penny Fund Box Campaign” was a huge years later, the Penny Boxes are still worki

The Assembly's goal to the National Spiritual Assembly was divided in such a way that everyone saw in what category they could give whether it was $1 or $500. For example: if one person gave $500, another $300, two people gave $65 each and an additional 19 people gave $1 each, etc., based on the amount that was needed each month, we could achieve the goal.

Lots of excitement and enthusiasm was generated. With every newsletter we sent an envelope. At first there was no response, but slowly contributions began to come in from inactive believers and those who missed Feast. Phone calls were made to people who sent in their lopes, not only thanking them, but also sharing news.

‘The friends were delighted to learn that the percentage of participation was on the rise. Each time an inactive believer came to Feast, and/or gave to the Fund, his or her name was. placed on the list of active believers until 100% was achieved. This process took our community to another level and brought some believers, previously inactive, back into the fold.

































If you would like to contact this local treasurer to hear more about this experience with the Fund, contact the Office of the Treasurer (phone 847-733-3472, e-mail ).@

Assembly Development reps now number 120 across U.S.


ocal Assemblies now can call on any of 120

Assembly Development _ representatives across the country, who are trained to facilitate Module Workshops and to help Assemblies learn more about guiding their own maturation.

Seventy dedicated believers from every region recently completed an orientation, and they join 50 others appointed earlier as Assembly Development representatives by the National Spiritual Assembly. Each was recommended for that orientation by a Regional Baha’i Council, a Local Spiritual Assembly, an Auxiliary Board member or an existing representative.

“These believers bring an outstanding array of experiences and facilitation skills, which promise to benefit Assemblies in their development process,” said Theresa Z. Mullen of the National Assembly’s Office of Assembly Development. “We are pleased that we will now be able to offer












nce to a wider number of Assemblies.” ion to the modules, the Office of Assembly Development also offers guidance of a more general nature by referring As programs and materials that will development.

Many other agencies and institutions offer nbly development ance, and Assemb) ncouraged to take advantage of the servi best suited to their needs. Programs developed by the Office of Assembly Development are based s expressed in surveys of Assemblies, and are continuously updated as participants provide feedback about the program:

Local Spiritual Assemblies wishing to suggest for consideration as future representatives may send recommendations to the Office of Assembly Development (see box below for contact information).











For more information or to contact a representative

u If your Local Spiritual Assembly wants to contact an Assembly Development representative to

facilitate a Module Workshop, and/or to steer the Assembly toward other programs and materials for its development, check the Administrative, Web Site to find out the names of representa



tives near you:

Ip

  • Log in to www.usbnc.org with your Baha’i ID number.
  • Click on “NSA

ements,” then link to “LSA Development.” There will be a link to Assembly Development Representatives information.

An Assembly may contact any representative directly, discuss the locality’s needs, and make

suitable arrangements.

For information on a wide range of Local Assembly development issues—including the growing list of Module Workshops on a variety of issues vital to Assemblies—consult the Web site, or

contact:

  • National Office of Assembly Development, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847

733-3490, e-mail »

  • In the Western States, the Regional Baha’i Council Assembly Development Desk (Phone 831

427-3053, e-mail or

Where Assembly Development representatives live: Western States

Arizona: Chandler, Lukachukai, Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma,

Califor Martinez, Mountain V Placi

Diego, s


naheim, Beaumont, Belmont, Concord,







n Jose, Santa Cruz, § Colorado: Aurora, Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Loveland.

Moscow.


Ibuquerque, Las Cruces.

s, Reno, Spark




Albany, Corbett, Florence, Grants Pass,

Milwaukie, Mulino, Oakland, Philomath. Utah: Centerville, Salt Lake Ci Washington: Edmonds, Everett, I Wyoming: Thayne.



aquah, Moses Lake.

Southern States Alabama: Florence Delaware: Dover, Florid: Georgia:



Wilmington.


Fort Lauderdale, J Adanta,


onville, Winter Springs.


onton, Kennesaw.


Louisiana: New Orleans.


South Carolina: Beaufort, Orangeburg. ‘Tennessee: Hendersonville,


Bedford, Dallas, Houston. mond,

gantown.

Central States Towa: Ames, Sioux C


is: Chicago, Des Plaines, Springfield. ‘ort en Indianapolis, South Bend.





Missouri: St. Charles. Nebraska: Aurora, Lincoln.

South Dakota: Elk Point.

Wisconsin: Green Bay, La Crosse, Racine.


Northeastern States Massachusetts: Acton, Hyde Park. New Hampshire: West Chesterfield. New Jersey: Ridgewood. New York: Rochester, Wading River, Webster.



February 7, 2000

Tre AMERICAN BAnA’i * ADMINISTERING THE CAUSE

page 23 [Page 24]“Craces which shall last forever’ The Four Year

In Part I of The American Baba’?’s retrospective series on the Four Year Plan, we traced how national, regional and local institutions formulated “strategic, flexible teaching plans” to advance the process of entry by troops—and how some communities responded to the national and regional plans.

Our National Spiritual Assembly and its agencies, guided by the Writings and the Universal House of Justice and in collaboration with the Continental Board — of Counselors,devised a National Teaching Plan and set in motion training mechanisms that would raise vital human resources.

Crucial to the plan were an unprecedented national media initiative, which drew heavily from research into seeking populations and patterns of Baha’ behavior, and a twin focus on race unity and equality of women and men.

Closer to the ground, regional committees and, later, Regional Baha'i Councils consulted with Auxiliary Board members and Local Spiritual Assemblies to identify opportunities, needs and resources in their areas.

Then, benefiting from the

national framework, they worked to

ensure that all the elements were in place to attract, nurture and confirm new lovers of Baha’u’lléh and to provide believers of all ages and backgrounds with avenues of teaching and service.

As our look back over the Four Year Plan continues, we turn to two more facets of the process of entry by troops in Ameri

Efficient administration and prompt consolidation: developing human resources; decentralization;


integration of adults, youth and —

children in all aspects of community life; collaboration between Rulers and Learned; refugee work; arts in community life; firmness in the Covenant; and developing social cohesion. }

- Strengthening Local Spiritual Assemblies: Regional Baha'i Councils’ role; tools offered by the Office of Assembly Development and the National Treasurer's Office; Assemblies broadening their range of responsibilities; com~munity efforts to support their

Assemblies; and Assembly forma- tion only on the First Day of Ridvan.

The main topics have been drawn from “Promoting Entry by Troops,” a document by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. @

Stories by Tom Mennillo * Part two of four parts

DEVELOPING HUMAN RESOURCE SKILLS, UNDERSTANDING

systematic study of the writings A: ch as our National Spiritual nbly recently requested would have been impossible when the Four Year Plan began.

Regional training institutes. Wilmette Institute. Permanent and regional Baha’i schools. All these resources will be called t the “two-y writings to gain a clear vi entire process of s lution under the Baha'u'llah.”

Core Curriculum. Verities. Ruhi The techniques learned in these training programs will be instrumental in helping the friends translate new understanding into deeper fellowship and more effective service.

As the Plan nears a climax, this interlocking system of education tools and centers of learning exists to “issue forth ever-growing contingents of believers capable of carrying out a wide array of services to the Cause, creating thus in every country the capacity to sustain the process of entry by troops,” as the Universal House of Justice foresaw in its letter of Aug. 6, 1996.






Fundamental




Regional training institutes

By Ridvén 1999, fully half of American Baha’is had taken at least on course offered by regional training in tutes, which were established as agencies of the National Assembly and are supervised by the Regional Baha’i Councils.

Since their administration was turned over to the Regional Councils, those institutes have grown in number, and are established in 26 locations:

Central States: Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio (Dorothy Baker); St. Louis, Missouri (Gateway); Metro Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Minnesota.

Southern States: Central Texas (Aguila del Cielo); Atlanta, Georgia, area; DC-Maryland-Virginia-DelawareWest Virginia (Crimson Ark); Kentucky, (Sam McClellan); Florida (Magdalene Carney); South Texas (Mathew Kaszab);





Middle Tennessee; North Texas; Oklahoma; South ii North Carolina (Supreme Talis

Northeastern States: Boston,

Massachusetts, area; Connecticut River Valley (Thornton Chase); Northern New Jersey; Eastern Pennsylvania (William Sears); Rochester, New York. Western States: Arizona; Colorado

The Wilmette Institute, a college-level venture into Baha’i education and train Plan | 1996-2000: A look back


nf


ing, combines academic study with service projects. Photo by Patricia Campuzano

(Columbine); New Mexico (Rio Grande); Oregon; Southern California; Idaho-Montana-WashingtonWyoming.

Many more Baha by dozens of local the country.

Some of the truly transformative courses offered incorporate elements of the national training programs such as Core Curriculum and Fundamental Verities. Others were created locally or were adapted from ones proved to be successful in other parts of the world.

Among successful courses being offered around the country are “Arming for Victory,” “Consultation,” “A Sense of Oneness: An Exploration of Moral Education” and “Teaching Christians.”



re being served tutes throughout


Wilmette Institute

This center of learning sponsored by the National Assembly has evolved considerably during the Four Year Plan, as it gains new insights into its mission of training adult Baha’is to be better teachers, servants and scholars in the Cause.

Its first major effort, the four-year “Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization” program, boasted its first graduates last summer. Each year this program entails months of home study, service projects and a summer study ses sion in the Wilmette area. To allow more people to take part, the Institute is reducing its tuition and time requirements.


In a further outreach, the Institute developed home-study courses that have attracted hundreds of pa ‘Two to six months in duration, these courses have dealt with either the Writings of Bahd’u’llah or the teachings of other faiths. The latter series evolved from courses at the permanent schools taught by Wilmette



This year new courses are being launched on the lives and writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahé and Shoghi Effendi and the history of the Faith.

Permanent and regional schools The more than 30 regional schools, with sessions lasting from three to 10

SEE HUMAN RESOURCES, PAGE 25



page 24

Tue American Band‘ ¢ Four YEAR PLAN

February 7, 2000 [Page 25]

RULERS AND LEARNE


( Gee between the Rulers and the Learned in the Four Year Plan started several months before the Plan actually began.

At their conference in the Holy Land in December 1995, members of the Continental Boards of Counselors were informed by the Universal House of Justice of an expanded role for the Institutions of the Learned— Counselors, Auxiliary Boards and their assistants.

After Ridvan, members of the Board of Counselors for the Americas consulted with the National Spiritual Assembly on U.S. plans and strategies. That consultation moved quickly to the regional level and involved Auxiliary Board memLocal Spiritual Assemblies and committe

We were told the Learned would become intimately involved during the Plan in developing human resources, through institutes and other centers of learning, to meet the needs of a rapidly nding community. They would help e and consoli And with an increa Auxiliary Board membe Protection, they would directly and sj tematically assist community activi ona wid

‘Two act s in which the Learned quickly injected their energies were the






se in the numba of for






twin foci of race unity and the equality of

women and men. The Counselors facilitated a consultative meeting to train all Auxiliary Board

members serving North America on “the most vital and challenging issue” and how they could help communities address issues of racial prejudice and unity.

The Learned similarly guided efforts

toward the advancement of women. A clarion call in support of the National Assembly's Two Wings campaign was a commentary published June 24, 1999, by Counselor Tod Ewing. The Learned also participated in local and regional

COLLABORATION BETWEEN BRANCHES OF INSTITUTIONS

efforts, including marriage and family

life training. When the Regional Baha’f Councils were created in 1997, several Counselors


were at their historic orientation to pledge their support and energies.


LOCAL GLIMPSES: DEVELOPING SOCIAL COHESION

ifferences in language, culture and age can keep people apart, both within the Baha’{ community and in

the wider society. But Baha’is in many places are actively bringing about social cohesion through their proclamation, expansion and consolidation efforts. On these pages are just a few of the efforts The American Baba’ has reported in the last four years.



Northwestern Oregon Baha’is in greater Portland, Oregon, are rallying around their youth in the spirit of the Four Year Plan.

The Spiritual Assembly of Milwaukie, with the support of neighboring communities and the Regional Council for the Western States, has charged the nine-member Portland/Vancouver Metro Area Youth Task Force with developing “the capacity of Baha’f youth to be teachers, administrators and active members of the Baha’i community.”

Armed with this mandate and support, the task force works with individual youths, Baha’f youth workshops and campus associations. Youths in the area are very active, with a full range of activities, a newsletter and forthcoming Web site. o>


New York City: Hundreds of Baha’is and friends gathered in June 1998 to celebrate the the local Baha’i community’s 100th anniversary. Archives were displayed and veteran community members were honored.




HUMAN RESOURCES, continuen From pace 24

POCCHOOOOOOOEOHOOEEOSE OOO OOH OOOO OHOEEOOOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOOH OOOO OOEOOOOEOS OSES OO OOS OO®


days, complement the year- round work of the regional tr: i and the permanent Baha’i schools and institutes.

Regional schools often provide the first opportunity for a new believer to deepen his or her knowledge of the teachings and history of the Faith in a systematic fashion and to partic






ate in “close and intense community life.”

‘¢ places believers return year after year for study, fellowship and recreation. And for many children and youths this is where their identity as is cemented.

a theme is chosen for the regional schools and a curriculum outline related to the theme made available by the national Education and Schools Office. During the Plan, the schools ystematically examined the roles of the individual, institutions and the community.

The five permanent Baha'i schools and insti are evolving in their ser¢ to the Cau!

In a continuing effort to decentralize, the National Assembly has changed the mandate of the Native Ameri Institute to a regional trai \s and appointed a board with programmatic responsibility to the Western Regional Council.

















Youths at the Four Corners Baha’i School don safety belts and helmets for a popular ropes course, which simulates rock climbing. This regional Baha’i school, one of several dozen in the U.S., serves a diverse popula 653-5033, e-mail louhelen@usbne.org). jonwide network of trainers makes rious programs readily available at the local level.





Fundamental Verities courses

Also developed under the supervision of the National Assembly were a series of courses designed to deepen and con secrate new and veteran believers.





very Believer Is 4 “To Serve the Cover


tion in the Civilization

Southwest. Chri: The course seri available through the Ba tribution

Core Curriculum Courses offered to foster community

Similarly, the mandate of the Louis G. Gregory Baha’{ Institute is under revision that will enable it and WLGI Radio Baha'i to better serve the surrounding communities, with supervision by the Southern Regional Council.

Bosch, Green Acre and Louhelen Baha’i Schools, meanwhile, continue to serve the spiritual and_ intellectual growth of the Ame’ Baha'i commu Service, 4703 Fulton Industrial Blvd., Adanta, GA 30336 (phone 800-9999019).



Ruhi Institute Once viewed primarily as a means to consolidate new believers from other cultures, the Ruhi Institute course books help any Baha’ learn to integrate the Word into teaching efforts, In

life training; preparing youth for n ge and family life trai ; and, most ntly, youth facilitator t

These courses were developed under the supervision of the National







nity with residential sessions for all age groups. These increasingly self-sufficient campuse§ also attract rentals from otside groups, and Louhelen serves as home of the National ‘Teacher Training Center.



Assembly to support the development of human resources

They are available through the National Teacher Training Center at Louhelen Baha’i School (phone 810


Ruhi study circles, becoming widespread among youth, new believers and veteran i jon and memoriza


lowship and service activitie


February 7, 2000 Tue American BanA’i ¢ Four Year PLAN page 25 [Page 26]





was ju Four Year





Assembly had recogfrom the Universal that some aspects of administration should move from onal to the regional and local ‘That way the National Assembly



This transition prompted form: of Regional Teaching Committees later, Regional Baha’i Councils (see the Dec. 31, 1999, issue for more details). But other efforts were spawned to help make decentralization work.






Connecting Assemblies

In late 1996, a half-million-dollar pilot project involving five Local Assemblies in the West was launched as the first step in building, from the d up, an infrastructure to support He growth of the Faith. ioned, the network—dubbed Loa Spiritual Assembly Automation and Integration (LSAI)—will allow many institutional functions to be automated at the grassroots level.

Communities will be able to generate and organize data for local use in the areas of membership, contributions, teaching support, document; management and communications. They also will gain access to information being shared by the institutions of the Learned, the National Assembly and its agencies, regional committees, permanent schools and institutes and fellow









In the pilot phase, five Assemblies (Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Los Angeles, San Diego, and

a) pore fond





Bal


Un | “wo major thrusts of the U Ri the Four Year Plan been reloc:


Baha'i refugees and teaching and consolid In aiding Per over the years w



h such agenci


nowledge and standing has helped the office advise refugee:



potential refugees, a in Bahé




‘The office’s assistance to commu: to bear fruit. committed to t


‘Anetwork of Bahi and their children



-house. The o!


and is being produced print materials for us




Conference at Bosch Southeast Asians now hold princi


‘efugee Office (USBRO) during


lation of Southeast As



is, the office h: s the U.

is who enter other countries ylum, and work with Spiritual Assemblies affected by the influx of

ities with large numbers of Southeast


‘hing and consolidating refu; maintained through period publication of a Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin, which has been redesigned ¢ produces by those working with the Southeast Asi An annual Southeast Asian Community Builde


School has developed to the point that al roles in conducting it.

Over time, much of the refugee work is expected to be decentrali; phases, with the Regional Baha’{ Councils gaining more responsibilities. #

A mid-1999 Youth Summit at the Baha’i National Center served as a jumping-off point for decentralization of the National Youth Committee’s work. Young people from all four regions consulted on ways to develop the youth movement and energize young believers in every part of the country.

office at the Baha'i National Center to plan, test, build and fund a set of software modules

As the Internet evolved and home computer products became more powerful, the focus shifted to choosing and integrating a set of Web-based tools, rather than developing entirely new software. One of those tools will be an e-mail system that will provide every community with a address that would be consistent from year to year, even when community membership changes.

Testing in the Western: localities should be finished by Ridvan, and the next step would be making the first LSAT software set generally available. It would allow Assemblies and other authorized community members to use a secure Web site to update the national database on new believers, addre: s and transfers, and tracking of










Down the road, an enhanced set of

tools would serve local communiti y gain the responsibility of keeping master records in their own secured databases.




More regional thinking creation of Regional Baha'i Counci formalized the balance between centralization and decentralization in the United States, agencies and committees of the National Assembly acted to redefine their own roles.

‘The National Teaching Comr and later the National Youth Comr began to make great shifts in their duties—no longer to direct and supervise efforts at the grassroots, but to research, serve and assist. Each in its own way is creating a base of knowledge and helping develop materials to support the friends’ regional and local projects.

Meanwhile, the Regional Councils gained some responsibilities the






NATIONAL AGENCIES EVOLVE AND HELP CREATE NEW TOOLS


a hing Committee had held. The Councils now oversee and promote homefront pioneering, travel.






, plan largess and projects, and stimulate youth workshops, campus associations and other channels for service.

Ethnic teaching committees and t forces appointed by the National mbly felt the challenge as well to regionalize their functions in the face of unique opportunities.

Thus, the National African-American ‘hing Committee consulted with the










committees (starting in the States), while maintaining pilot pro




grams in such ¢ nta, Los Angeles and Detroit. The National Chinese “ ing Ta

Force encouraged Chinese-focus study groups in the four regions and init ystem for tra tors in use of specially developed Chinese materials. The task force also focused its attention on identifying a least two target university communities in each of the four regions.

And the National Latin-American Teaching Task Force provided data to support Hispanic teaching efforts, as that work increasingly has become the responsibility of the Councils.

Following the same current, the National Persian-American Affairs Task Force created regional task forces to bring its work of consolidation, education and unification closer to home.

And the Office of Pioneering orgaed its work along regional bounds to help thousands of friends realiz« their desires to serve the Cause in other countries. ®








niz




TWO-PRONGED APPROACH SERVES IRANIANS, SOUTHEAST ASIANS


LOCAL GLIMPSES: DEVELOPING SOCIAL COHESION


ion and settlement of Iranian


drawn on relationships built igh Commissioner for




nd the quarterly


its

and sells video and




s Roundtable Discussion


ed in




Central California: Just this year, dozens of youths in the inland Highway 99 corridor have been attracted to the Faith through Project 99, a community-building effort that reaches out to Southeast Asians in cities such as Sacramento, Modesto, Merced and Fresno. Beginning as a literacy and virtues program for immigrants in one apartment building, it has grown and incorporated weekly study of Baha’i writings as well as artistic activities. Volunteers drive long distances regularly to keep the project going.




page 26 Tne American BanA’i ¢ Four YEAR PLAN February 7, 2000 [Page 27]= Oem ORR


USE OF THE ART SHOWCASING OUR DIVERSITY AND INSPIRING US TO UNITY

N doubt, Baha'is have a long way to go in our use of the arts. But that’s not from lack of effort—it’ a reflection of enormous potential.

And that potential has been brouight into relief by the many and varied efforts made during the Four Year Plan.

Chief among them, at the urging of the Universal House of Justice, has been the advent of regular devotional gatherings.

Where else in Nashville, Tennessee, but at the Baha’{ Center can you find Scottish bagpiping, Irish dancing, Turkish singing, African drumming and Spanish-language prayers on a Saturday night?

‘The occasion is a monthly Baha’i-sponsored “unity ” that brings together people of all ages, religions and cultures for an evening of fun, fellowship and food.

Under sponsorship of the Nashville and mblies, the devotional en aE en






arts into the Day observances Particular!



two population groups that the Baha'i community traditionally In education, the Core Curriculum heavy use of the arts, a and regional Bal hools and children’s programs at Unit ‘Convention—employing the special issue of Brilliant Star tnagazine. ‘The National Arts Task Force of the National Teaching Committee facilitated deepening of American friends on effective arts use through a series of pullout sec






Louisiana/Texas: Michael and Karen Sadar-Watt of Slidell, Louisiana, traveled to perform a stage play based on the lives of Louis and Louisa Gregory, ground-breakers in the cause of racial unity.

tions in The American Bahd’t and sponsorship of arts conferences.

The Baha'i youth workshop movement has maintained its momentum, with about 80 workshops organized in the U.S. alone to deepen youths and help them proclaim and teach the Faith.

But perhaps the greatest strides in the past four years have been made in going beyond proclamation to expansion and consolidation using the arts.

‘Touring shows have given Baha’i communities an opportunity to touch the hearts and minds of seekers with the content and spirit of a message, then systematically nurture them over time once the production has left town.

Included have been the River of Life riverboat tour led by ‘Tom Price, which through an unprecedented publicity efforts drew thousands to the boat in cities large and small; Global Vision Arts Jolorado and beyond, coordinated by Susan Lewis Wright; The Noble Thief, Chris Hampton's dramatized tale of transformation; The Kingfishers Wing, the story of Bad? as told by Bill Ge Woman and







The Story of e-woman depiction of

the Harvest Tor One Human spearheaded by E1

Annual concerts) in’ such Canton, Ohio, and Rochester, New York, also have put the Faith on a wider stage, as have media reviews of art exhibitions New Mexico, Texas and other locations.

Music at the Mother Temple of the West received new invigoration when the Baha’i House of Worship Choir was re-established in 1997 and a full-time music director was hired for the first time in several years.

The learning curve for communities can be steep, but help is available. ter HEARTS (Heaven and rth Arts Resource and ‘Teaching Service), a social and economic project in Washington state that provides education and assistance to communities striving to more effectively spotlight the talents of Baha'is.











LOCAL GLIMPSES: DEVELOPING SOCIAL COHESION


Los Angeles, California

Area Baha’is’ recent participation in a sacred music festival was the latest in an accelerating pattern of service and unity-building that is benefiting residents citywide.

‘The Baha’f Center was the site of two performance events for the nine-day festival: a display of musical solidarity between Jews and Arabs and a “Sounds of Oneness” concert featuring the Jeffrey Barnes Baha’i Gospel Choir.

In recent years, especially since completion of the Unity Center component of the Baha’f Center, local Baha’fs have engaged in several ongoing outreach programs, including the Sunday worship program, Los Angeles Baha’f Youth Workshop, coffeehouse, race relations video series, youth dinner discussions, Thornton Chase Baha’i School, Cali’s Wild Dore youth gathering, Baha’i college clubs, the Multicultural Organization for Neighborhood Arts, the Children’s Enrichment Program, the bookstore and regular Baha’f discussions. #



Flint, Michigan: Baha’is and their friends iinvolved in YOUTH2, a development project, have made Race Unity Day an opportunity to for the young and young at heart to have fun together while promoting social progress.


Skokie, Illinois

‘The friends in Skokie decided to bridge a perceived gulf between Persian- and American-born believers—spurred by a youth, Jonathan Ellis, who asked his parents whether more could be done to create unity.

Jonathan’s parents, Gwen and Caswell, consulted and decided to hold a “unity gathering” at their home. Their Iranian brothers and sisters could tell of coming to America and the American friends could share elements of their lives.

Amid a feast of Persian delicacies, East and West got to know each other that evening. Amazing stories of courage and patience flowed. And, upon leaving, each guest received a long-stemmed rose.

The gathering proved to be a good beginning for bonding of hearts. It will not be the last; a Persian family is making sure the gatherings continue regularly.





The Bahai Association for the


Advancement of Arts and Media (BAAAM) also aims “to cultivate excellence in the expression of the spirit and

Ba to esata late pclesial within and beyond the Baha’ community.”


FIRMNESS IN THE COVENA KNOWLEDGE MOVES US AHEAD THROUGH TROUBLES

irmness in the Covenant, along

with a realization that only our best will do at this critical juncture in the advance of humanity, has underlined every plan devised and every action taken the past four years.

The Covenant was very much on believers’ minds as the Plan began. Some individuals’ criticism of institutional actions and representatives had crossed the line into questioning the authority of institutions. Just as bad,




the criticism had been voiced not within proper channels but in the most public of ways through the new medium of online communication.

This disturbing pattern prompted discussion of the Covenant at the 87th National Convention and a letter dated July 2, 1996, expressing “the ardent prayer of the Universal House of Justice that any friends who find themselves at odds in this endeavor will have confidence in the guidance it provides

for them, will renew their study of the Teachings and, for the sake of Baha’u'llah, strengthen their love for one another.”

The National Spiritual Assembly soon after called for a period of study of the Covenant. ‘Tra es on the fundamental verities of the Faith provided further grounding.

So, even as Covenant-breaking activity in Illinois and West Virginia was sorrowfully disclosed, the community






of the Greatest Name could firmly and confidently move ahead.

And these last few months of the Four Year Plan coincide with the beginning of a two-year study program for that involves numerous s on the Covenant. The first focus is on “The Dispensation of Baha’u'llah,” a letter by the Guardian that thoroughly sets out the flow of divine authority — through — our Administrative Order.





February 7,2000 THe AMERICAN BanA’i * Four Year PLAN

page 27 [Page 28]






le: ay ahead when the divine nstitution of Regional Baha’s Council was created in mid-1997.

Guidelines accompanying _ the Universal House of J S 30, 1997, letter to National Spiritual Assemblies called on each Regional Council to “devise and execute expansion and consolidation plans in close collaboration with the Local Spiritual Assemb nd the bel within its area of jurisdiction.”

In rying out that task, Councils were to take aim at one overarching goal: “{T]o create strong Local Spiritual Assemblies which will be the focal centers of Baha’{ activity, will exercise their ally important role in the development of the Faith and will demonstrate their ability to regulate the affairs of their local communities.”

‘The collaborative relationship that has developed between the four Councils and Local Spiritual Assemblies has become a model of mutual love and respect against a backdrop of the National Teaching Plan and the Four Year Plan aim of a “significant advance in the process of entry by troops.”

And since the beginning—when Local Assembly members in each region first elected the Councils in November 1997—this relationship has played out uniquely in four regions possessing individual strengths, challenges and opportunities. 7

















Central States

The Regional Baha'i Council for the is called on Local emblies to establish e: sion and consolidati selected population » participate to a greater degree in the national media i tiative, and advance their administrative functioning.

As part of this effort, the Council has focused on helping Assemblies develop their own abilities—consultative, planning, setting, resource management, ete.

‘Ten target metropolitan areas were targeted by the Council for attention. The Assemblies in the: in the estimation of the Coun demonstrated a working relationship with Auxiliary Board members, are involved in intercommunity collaboration, have teaching and consolidai plans in place, hold regular firesides and devotional meetings, and are home to or have the potential to support a regional tr ig institute.

‘Two areas have been singled out for focused media outreach projects and further efforts aimed at community building and fostering the role of the individual.

In all these metro areas, an emphasis is placed on training believers in the s neéded to support plans of the Local Assemblies. The Council also has consulted swith the National esereiy®



an


imed at

















REGIONAL COUNCILS GAIN CRUCIAL ROLE

Office of Assembly Development on how best to promote use of Assembly development modules, particularly rural areas, and on possible development of a plan for encouraging Assemblies to it the Baha’i National Center.





Northeastern States

The Regional Baha'i Council for the Northeastern States has engaged in a multipronged approach to Assembly development, including acknowledgment of meritorious deeds, a series of “love letters” to Assemblies and encouragement of local race unity dialogues.

In a region where individual town and cities have historically resisted collaborating to meet common goals, the Council ss the maturation of Assemblies as a means to aid individual expression of creative energies.

Encouragement of this impulse came to fruition when the Baha’i “open university” in Iran was threatened with closure. Many groups and Assemblies in the Northeast arose to act systematically with letter-writing campaigns and efforts on local campuses.

The Council also has worked side by side with coordinating teams in Boston, Massachi s, and Syracuse, New York. A product of this collaboration was a neighborhood race unity dialogue in Boston that the Council, the C-Team, the National Teaching Committee and area organizations cg-sponsored.












__LOCAL GLIMPSES: DEVELOPING SOCIAL COHESION


Dover, Delaware Growth of the



Spiritual 4 often to guide.


A period of te: emerged with more resolve than ev

belief in Bal




taught others, those others taught the parents of these teens were aski

were generating.


the thought of spawning a Bahé

event. The Bab


en masse to undertak


Faith in Dover has been likened to a ball hurting downhill that the Local sembly need only nudge every so

In one year, Dover doubled its active core of

believers. In two years, Dover tripled it. s the Three Year Plan had crippled the community, but Dover Baha'is And when four people being separately taught declared their Wllih in rapid succession, the friends knew they were on to something.

‘That something was youth—specifically, junior youth. One youngster taught another, they ll more. And g about the Faith to which their children gave allegiance.

Tt was then that the Dover Assembly decided to put youth at the heart of the community and harness the tremendous energy these young people


A series of monthly youth retreats began, with youth workshop. Eight teen-agers attended the first weekend : retreat. Soon about 35 teens coming from up to two hours away were showing up for the combination deepening, workshop practice and social

community as a whole has been rejuvenated. Adults have committed themselves the Core Curriculum training. Even those without children have been seen accompanying youths to activities. @


Greater Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Youths organized a special night of honor for the area’s older Baha’is, which drew about 130 people. Held to help strengthen the bond among members of the community, the gathering ended with each older community member receiving a rose.


believer.


attended. And a v:




St. Cloud, Minnesota An Assembly deepening program in greater St. Cloud led to a two-pronged teaching project in honor of a late, well-loved local

Tealso has had “a transforming effect with our Baha’i community,” a report from the Assembly states.

‘The area saw a great increase in declarations. Feasts are betteriety of activities have blossomed, ranging from personal firesides to Bahd’is joining the citys Human Rights



Western States

In the far-flung and diverse American frontier, the Regi the Western te: Conventions to launch front pioneering and traveling teaching effort to restore nt Wyoming has received s ttention, with secondary priorities being New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

More than 150 believers volunteered at Conventions to pioneer on the homefront. Thirteen state coordinators have aided this effort to settle pioneers and bring in teachers. As a result, Wyoming went from no Assemblies in 155 B.E. to Assemblies in Cheyenne and Laramie in 156 B.E.

A working draft for intercommunity collaboration has been devised with help from experienced As: throughout the region. Five in the West also have participated in testing and development of the Local Spiritual Assembly Automation and Integration project of the National Assembly.

Montana was designated a pilot state for Assembly development because of its potential. Projects launched have included a statewide Assembly training weekend using development modules, with coordination by Counselor Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, the Auxiliary Board members and. the Office of Assembly Development.
















Southern States

The Regional Baha’i Council for the Southern States began its Assembly development work by identifying five challenges: feeling a personal spiritual connection to Baha’u’lléh; having a clear sense of mission; teaching with confidence and courage and acquiring effec tive teaching skills; nurturing an environment that is loving and accepting and embraces diversity of all kinds; and ensuring effective and sustained collabon the twin arms of the strative Order.

Assemblies responded to these challenges with overwhelming support. Interestingly, they identified an additional concern in this hectic world: finding adequate time to devote to planning and implementation.

This pointed up the emerging role of regional training institutes a: rallying communities and giving believers the skills they need to fully carry out embly plans.

The Council sponsored a conference of regional training institute board members in which Auxiliary Board members and_ represen of the Office of Assembly Development also























s and state teaching have played a significant role at the grassroots in strengthening Assemblies and helping to turn jeopardized Assemb and groups into functioning Assembli




page 28

THe AMERICAN BanA’l * Four YEAR PLAN

February 7, 2000 [Page 29]


NATIONAL OFFICE MAKES VARIETY OF TOOLS AVAILABLE


W* Local Spiritual Assemblies—

new and experienced—need help

to function more effectively, they can call

on a number of resources:

  • Assembly development modules.

© Developing Distinctive Communities.

°A Miracle of Governance: The Local Spiritual Assembly and its companion workbook.

  • Regional foru
  • The Weekend Visit program.



Babat





ating this mul ted “hand up” for local institutions is the National Spiritual Assembly's Office of As: Development, established at as part of the Office of Commu Administration and Development. The office’s principal tool, the d ment module, covers such topics as teach FUND AWARENESS

A SPIRITUAL VIEW









merican Baha’is entered the Four Year Plan having just sacrificed mightily to help erect the edifices and terraces on Mount Carmel. Other

Funds of the Faith benefited as contri butions reached unprecedented levels.

But new challenges lay ahead in the quest to attract souls while building the infrastructure necessary to welcome them into our embrace: decentralization, the national media initiative and capital expenditures, to name a few.

Against this backdrop the national Office of the Treasurer carried out its mission to educate the friends, mainly through their elected Assemblies, on the spiritual nature of giving.

Most visible of these efforts was the Stewardship and ~—_— Development Seminar program. Baha’js around the country were trained starting in early 1997 to help Assemblies meet and manage the material resources needed to build thriving Bahé’{ communities and, ultimately, the Kingdom of God on earth.

Each of the hundreds of seminars conducted during the Plan had two components: the nuts and bolts of loc: treasury management, including issues such as tax deductibility, receipt pr: tices, fund raising and considerations in Center acquisition and operation; and deepening on fundamental spiritual principles of giving to the Funds.

Parallel to this program, the office:

  • Revised the booklet Stewardship and

Development: A Desktop Reference for Spiritual Assemblies and Treasurers.

  • Refined the annual Assembly goal

program to encourage more communities to pai

  • Published information on planned

giving and on the practical and spiritual value of preparing a will.

  • Regularly apprised believers of how

their dollars were being spent.
















ing; consultation; connecting hearts to the Fund; fostering race unity; the equality of men and women; integrating the arts into Baha’ community life; and stress management.

More than 100 believers from all four regions have been trained to facilitate module deepenings and otherwise repret the offi Another major tool is Developing netive Baha'i Communities, the nearly reference manual

s. A revision was completed in is year it went online so Assembly members could download the entire document or revised p for free.

A Miracle of Governance w by the National Assembly in 1997 to help












as produced

communities d ‘The 43-minute video features National Assembly member



talk by Firuz


Kazemzadeh organized into four major topic areas: the station, duties and functioning of the Local Assembly, and the relationship between the Local Assembly and the individual.

Pauses built into the video allow for contemplation or use of the companion workbook exercises between segment







of Assembly Development in cooperation with the National Teacher ini Center.

Regional forums for Assembly development began in mid-1996 with a pilot gathering at the National Center of 29 Assemblies within a 50-mile radius of the Baha’i House of Worship.





community cooperation, the forums been held in several metropolitan areas.

The office’s Weekend Visit program acquaints Local Assembly members with resources available to them at their National Cente

‘These draw members of three or four Assemblies at a time for a weekend of tours, meetings with members of the National Assembly and representatives of its agencies, and time for sharing with other participating Assemblies. , the Self Assessment ions to provoke mbers on a








thought amon number of func! plemented by the document Find Assistance in Achieving Goals. During the Four Year Plan, the office also has encouraged local recognition ceremonies for new Local Assemblies so they are introduced to the community at large and to other area Baha’ institutions.


1pWhere to






LOCAL GLIMPSES: SUPPORT FOR ASSEMBLIES



1 al Spiritual Assemblies. throughout the United States have devised teaching plans aligned with the national and regional plans.

But, as the Universal House of Justice noted in its May 19, 1994, letter to our National Spiritual Assembly: “The power of action in the believers is unlocked at the level of individual initiative and surges at the level of collective volition.”

‘The vignettes under this heading typify the support of the friends for their institutions during the Four Year Plan.


Palm Coast, Florida: When this city’s Local Spiritual Assembly was first formed, it was the first to be celebrated with a recognition ceremony. The public gathering was organized under guidelines from the Office of Assembly

Development.


form small teaching groups. #


gies of Florida Baha'is into teaching proje: Any Assembly or group in the state could call on the organiZation’s servic

ers’ bureau, conferences, teaching projects, displays/booths, consolidation, teaching materials, a traveling teacher bureau,

quotation hotline, newsletter, resources and development for target issues, and evaluation of each phase of the Plan. Lights of Baha’u’llih also has labored to inspire the Florida friends to make and act upon personal teaching plans and

Florida

A grassroots organization called the Lights of Baha’u’llih Institute was established early in the Plan to channel the enerities aimed at advancing the process of entry by troops. , including firesides, teacher training, a speak


and other ac





RIDVAN REQUIREMEN AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEEPENING


If requiring that Local Spi only on the First Day of Rid Justice said the responsibility for e!





U.S. Assembli


| Assemblies once again form an, the Universal House of cting a Local Assembly “rests primarily on the Baha’fs of the locality.”

‘The National Spiritual Assembly anticipated that about 250 -—primarily in mass-taught and rural areas— would be affected by the change at Ridvan 1997. In fact, the temporary net loss of Local Assemblies came to fewer than

Ridvan.

200 over the next two years, and the total number of recog nized Assemblic


s has begun to rise again (see chart). Believers and institutions that helped in the past to form

these Assemblies were urged to turn their full attention to

deepening the friends’ understanding of the Baha’{ electoral

process.

Aiding in this task, our national body identified relevant resources and published answers to many common questions

about Assembly elections. #

Assembly formations by year

As anticipated, the number of recognized Local Spiritual Assemblies nationwide fell after the Universal House of

Justice required that all local Baha’i communities act on their own to form or elect Assemblies on the First Day of

Assemblies recognized each year, according to the Membership Office at the Baha’i National Center:



February 7, 2000 Tue American BAnA’i ¢ Four YEAR PLAN

page 29 [Page 30]

SSEMBLY KESPONSIBILI DEVELOPMENT, COLLABORATION ARE ON THE RISE

ocal Spiritual Assemblies across the

‘United States are flexing new muscle as they devise, execute and sustain initiatives:

Northern Virginia

Three Assemblies in northern Virginia have teamed up to sponsor an intercommunity social and economic development project.

In early 1997, seven area Baha’is were trained as facilitators by Mottahedeh Development Services, an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Their new skills were put to immediate use as the Assemblies and then their communities brainstormed on pressing needs.

This led to formation of a support group for single parents. Now in operation for more than a year, the support group has met regularly.

Recently, this project has been augmented by a tutoring/mentoring program for children and youth.

The intercommunity effort has had its share of challenges, including how to communicate clearly and_ sensitively over a wide area and among people of diverse backgrounds.

But the sponsoring As: mblies and project organizers have worked through these issues and emerged stronger for the experience—thanks partly to input from seasoned social and economic development practitioners who used the northern Virginia project as a case study at the 1998 Rabbani Trust conference in Orlando, Florida.





Focus on National Fund ‘The National Baha’i Fund was running a $1.9 million deficit at the worst possible time—as the U.S. community

geared up in late 1997 for its largest media initiativ

So three Spiritual Assemblies in Florida took up a challenge from Tod ng for Florida believers to contribute their share toward eliminating the shortfall and, just as important, inspire others throughout the land to do the same.

The — Assemblies approached Auxiliary Board member Charles Cornwell. With his help, a letter went out to every Assembly, Group and iso



lated believer in the state describing the proposed campaign, called Elevate and Educate.

‘The responses that started coming in almost immediately not only achieved higher contributions to the Fund but indicated a real change in how believers view giving.

As Ewing predicted, the effort spread. Auxiliary Board member Farah Guchani-Rosenberg took it to Assemblies in Louisiana and Mississippi. Fund raisers were held as well in





Georgia.

And echoes of this campaign were heard nearly two years later and 3,000 miles away when the Assembly of Washington County North, Oregon, rallied that state’s believers to attack an $8.5 million gap between the National Fund goal and contributions.

The Assembly's campaign, From Oregon with Love, aims to increase state believers’ contributions to the Fund by $250,000 and spur similar action by the friends nationwide. @




LOCAL GLIMPSES: SUPPORT FOR ASSEMBLIES


the community in 1997.

of a Baha’s couple. @



A rally for UNITE was one of several activites that gained new contacts for

Huntington, West Virginia ‘ Baha’fs here turned up the heat of their activity for the Cause after a low point in 1997. Witha helping hand from the friends in Charleston and from Auxiliary Board members, area Baha'is have played highly visible roles in several community events such as the UNITE (Uniting Neighbors in Truth and Rally and the Huntington YWCAS “Eliminating Racism and Hate Crimes” program. They also established a small Baha’f center through the generosity


ality)



Portland, Oregon Individuals’ commitment to serve is the key to success as the Spiritual Assembly here has systematized its process for boosting participation and effectively executing plans.

Before choosing members of committees, the Assembly studies the messages of the Universal House of Justice and the National Teaching Plan, then calls in the Auxiliary Board members and assistants and experts on, various subjects to consult on a shared vision.

The Assembly next identifies the committees needed and devises for each a set of goals and tasks.

With that in hand, the Assembly. approaches friends whose capacities fit the tasks and asks them to medita~ tively decide whether to commit a year of service to that role.

Lastly, the Assembly immediately meets with the newly named committees to go over their mandate and get them off on the right foot. @






EQUALITY EFFORTS, continuen From pace 8


eooe


Women is further illustrated by its role in helping to create a national NGO, U.S. Women Connect (www.uswe.org),

HUQUQU’LLAH




a focal point for global communications in North America on Beijing Plus Five.

THE RIGHT OF GOD

Payments to Huqtqu’llah should be made to “The Baha’i Huqiqu’llth ‘Trust” (please write your Baha’ identification number on your check)

and sent to one of the ‘Trustees:

  • Amin Banani,

394-5449, fax 310-394-6167, e-mail

  • Stephen Birkland,

Santa Monica, CA 90402 (phone 310 ‘Arden Hills, MN 55112 (phone

651-484-9518, fax 651-415-1766, e-mail

  • Sally Foo,

671-9125, fax 609-671-0740, e-mail

  • Daryush Haghighi,

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 (phone 609 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

Office of the Secretariat, Baha’f Huqiqu’llah Trust: Rocky River, OH 44116 (phone 440-333-1506, fax 440-333-6938, e-mail oa



ecoce


eccce



However, the best demonstra the National Spiritual Assembly’s role in encouraging the U.S. government to keep to its commitment made at the Beijing conference is the leadei role it has taken in efforts for U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on



the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women The U


2EDAW).

. government in 1995 made the Beijing conference to AW by 2000. That docuides a universal def

s nination i men, establishing government’s dome: al lifoteign policy to combat discrimination.

A longtime leader for women’s rights, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, introduced S. Res. 237, a resolution calling for hearings on CEDAW and Senate action by March 8, International Women’s Day. As a cochair of the Washington-based nation











al Working Group on Ratification of

CEDAW, the National Spiritual


ition of

ecccccccccce


nbly has played a er developing strategies to achieve universal Senate sponsorship of this resolution. The action plan calls upon people

around the coun to encourage their


of this plan can be revi

ing either the Administrative Web Site (www.usbne.org) or the public Web site (www.us.bahai.org/cedaw) of the National Spiri \s

With the help of the National Committee for the Equality of Women and Men and the Office of Women’s Affairs, Baha’is who hav indicate dy an interest i by the National Sp schedule meetings with certai ators or their foreign affairs le; tive aides during the Senate winter









he National Spiritual Assembly is deeply thankful for the efforts of each Baha'i and every Local Spiritual Assembly that arises unhesitatingly to carry out its requests. #



page30 THe American Ban’ ¢ Four Year PLian/Continuep February 7, 2000 [Page 31]

ied notices in The Ame

Bahd’i ave 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 Nati Spiritual Assembly; the friends should e: e judgment and care in responding.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES






AT THE BAHA'I NATIONAL CENTER EVANSTON, ILLINOIS Executive Assistant, National Teaching Office. Helps National ‘Tea


iching Committee secretary: Coordinates projects related to National


hing Plan; helps develop reports; communicates with other agencies; prepares articles for The / knowledge of Bal


merican Babi’i. Needs bachelor’s degree;

ngs/administration;


project 1


nagement experience; writing, speak



ing, analytical ski


word proc spread


sheet, desktop publis! travel required.

International Consultant, Office of Pioneering 2 positions). Recruits, cou patches i


sels, trains and disfernational pion


, youth volunteers



and trav current volunteers:


g teache


and those returning to the States. Needs exe

lenv ec


munication and organizational skills and computer/word processing skills; office


experience preferable. Should understand cross


cultural interactions, international affairs etc. Staff Producer, Media Services. Full range of video/audio production tasks, especially writing/development of Babd’y Newsreel. Will keep day-to-day production process in order; research, gather news, write and edit finished Newsreel stories, at times without assistance; help develop network of correspondents; arrange for duplication/distribution. Needs knowledge/experience in all production aspects of broadeast journalism; flexibility, organizational skills, familiarity with Baha'i administra~ tion.

Conservation Coordinator, Conservation. Does inspection, recordkeeping, testing, research for Conservation Program at Baha’ House of Worship; maintains Conservation Team infor


mation systems; manages some projects; must work at heights. Needs three years’ experience in engineering technology or conservation’ preservation work; degree in engineering technology, museum science or related field; skill sketching, word processing.

Maintenance Team Leader, Properties. Will manage facility/building maintenance and

es at


engineering staff to provide timely se: minimal costs; plan, estimate, schedule maintenance requests and projects; assure that all ‘equipment and buildings are efficiently and effectively maintained. Needs at least five years’ experience in all areas of building main



tenance (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpenuy, painting, cleaning ete.) with three to five years as a maintenance manager; valid driver's license; supervisory command of English. Clerk, Mail Services. Handles incoming/outgoing mail; carries out shipping, receiving, distribution, storage duties. Must be computer-literate, especially in Microsoft






Office programs. Must speak, read and write English; needs valid driver’ license. Administrative assistant (part-time), U.S. Babé’i Refugee Office. Prepares correspon dence to refugees and to Baha’, government




URGENT NEEDS


1s Office of the Treasurer, Evanston: Assistant Controller. Responsible for National ritual 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 all areas of financial operations. Must be organized, skilled in communication, able to function in fast-moving, consultative environment.

Office of the Treasurer, Evanston: Program Coordinator I. Helps devise strategies for increasing regular participation in Baha’f Funds and contribution levels; helps Local Assemblies apply principles underlying Fund contributions; helps administer Weekend Visit Program; helps prepare and present training materials. Must be well-grounded in the fundamental verities of the Faith; skilled in written/oral communication; able to coordinate many tasks; should have bachelor’s degree in human service field, experience in program design and management. Meetings and Travel Office, Evanston: Hospitality Planner. Will promote a loving, attentive and pleasing atmosphere for National Spiritual Assembh. and Baha’f National Center meetings. Will plan menus, set up and clos down meetings, buy supplies, maintain stockroom; will collaborate with Office of the Secretary and Properties office and occasionally a with travel requests. Flexible work schedule available to accommodate intermittent weekend meetings. Aptitude for decor and flower arrangement is desirable. Louis G. Gregory Bahd’i Institute, Hemingway, SC: Administrator. Responsible for Institute development, programming, operation and mainte: nance with its new mandate, including service to its local community and a focus on social and economic development. Must have proven administrative abilities (planning, coordination, budgeting, staff and volunteer management); in-depth understanding of Baha’ teachings, administration and community life; commitment to behavior that meets Baha’f standards and serves as a positive model. Office of the Treasurer, Evanston: Payroll/Accounting Assistant. Will maintain payroll in all phases of process; assist Accounting Manager and support accounts payable and cashiers’ functions; prepare reports; assist with contribution processing and annual audit. Needs associate's degree in accounting or equivalent train4 \¢/experience; strong organizational and communication skills; extensive eT knowledge of mainframes and software such as Windows, Excel, WordPerfect;

















familiarity with accounting staff functions such as A/P, A/R and ACS.

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



and other agencies involved in refugee resettlement. Develops reports, maintains records, helps process Southeast Asian Baha'i refugees. Helps compile and write the Southeast Asian Helpers Bulletin, articles for The American Baba’ and other publications. Needs proven ability to work with confidential information, strong skills writing and speaking English.


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

Network Administrator/Engineer. Responsible for configuration, maintenance and security of all computer networking infrastructure (LAN and WAN) including servers, 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 LAL. Handles initial requests for support, escalates support issues to help desk when necessary. Develops waining-related materials,



assists promotion and education. Database administrator, Coordinates database development. Responsible for Enterprise SQL inclu


ing security rights, table design, normalization. Responsible for design and implementation of user and departmental applications asefront ends to SQL using MS Access, VB or other tools as determined.


AT BAHA'I PUBLISHING TRUST Witmerre, IL.

General Manager. Responsible for creation and execution of publishing agenda, polici munication with other departments; operation, product quality and financial results of publishing enterprise? Acts as its public and legal spokesperson. Helps achieve National Spiritual Assembly's wishes to ensure that authoritative texts and related Baha'i material


mooth



are available to Baha'is; and to develop a presence for Baha’ literature in retail bookstores and libraries. Needs high-level skills in communication, organization, consultation, presentation, negotiation, problem-solving; expertise in publishing and business management, including financial, personnel and marketing; ability to meet changing deadlines and establish pri ties while holding firm to a long-term goal; bachelor’ degree, publishing experience,




knowledge of Baha’ literature and principles.

AT BAHA'I DISTRIBUTION SERVICE Futton County, GA Manager. Will oversee general direction, policies/strategies, interdepartmental collaboration, business operations; ensure high level of service to the community, performance of financial


mandates and safeguarding of employee welfare; recruit, train and develop personnel dinate marketing/customer service, buying,


|; coor information services and fulfillment. Needs


high-level skills in communication, organiza




problem-solving; expertise in publishing and business manag

ples; bachelor’s degree; five years’ experience in ness management/development, specifically ancial management; knowl


nel and,


perience in distribution or publishing. Customer Service Representative. Will take and enter orders for Baha’f literature and other handle custom


product information requests (including content and use of books or other products) and complaints; provide feedback on trends and concerns in the community. Must have knowledge of Baha'i literature and inter


national/national Plans; a year’s experience in

customer service relevant to above duties; abil



ty to speak English clearly and precisely; abi


y and cordially under pres~



in word processing or data entry; six months’ experience in phone orders and general office work.


If interested in any of these Baba’t National Offices posts, contact the Office of Human Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-7333430).


At GREEN Acre BAHA'I SCHOOL EuloT, MAINE

ili Coordinator. Helps with

inspections, preventive and routine mainte


Assistant Fe

nance, exterior and interior repairs. Must


have proven skills in housekeeping and maintenace of buildings, equipment, vehicles and grounds.

If interested, please contact Jim Sacco, coadministrator, Green Acre Baha’ School, 188, Main St., Eliot, ME 03903 (phone 207-4397200, e-mail

LOUHELEN BAHA’! SCHOOL Davison, MICHIGAN

Outreach Coordinator, National Teacher Training Center. Will support implementation of Core Curriculum programs in local communities and otherwise support the work of the National Teacher Training Center. Needs formal or informal educational experience; familiarity with Core Curriculum training programs; experience training children, youths and adults. Properties Associate. Open in June. Full range skilled maintenance and manual labor, to care for Louhelen’s facilities and grounds yearround. Needs experience and training in any or all of the following: carpentry, construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, grounds etc. If interested in either position, contact Rick or Barbara Johnson, Louhelen Baha'i School, 3208 S. State Road, Davison, MI 48423 (phone 810-653-5033, e-mail

or see the Web site






ACROSS THE COUNTRY Administrative Assistant, Regional Baba’t Council-West, San Francisco, CA. Clerical/ ional tas!


organi 1g, processing correspondence, phone duty, ordering supplies ete. Needs skills in computer word processing/data entry and general office tasks; patience, effiattention to detail, ability to




ciency, initiative,

SEE CLASSIFIED, PAGE 32


February 7,2000 THE AMERICAN BantA’i* CLASSIFIED _ page 31 [Page 32]

NERA REN RET SI TPT PO TT TT IST PI eT

TET rare P PLANETS EIT TE I TT ET TT I CTT MEMORIAM =



Fizolah Valapour was homefront pioneer in Iran, physician, businessman

hee Valapour’s courageous heart gave out after years of problems, Nov. 13, 1999, in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Charleston Spiritual Assembly received an e-mail message on Nov. 29 from the Baha’i World Center:

“The Universal House of Justice was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of Dr. Fizolah Valapour. Hi: vices in the pioneering and administrative





fields in the Cradle of the Faith and in the are lovingly remembered. Kindly inform his dear family and friends of its ardent prayers in the Holy Shrines for the progress of his soul throughout all the divine worlds and for the comfort and solace of his loved ones.”

Born in 1930 in Tehran to Munirih and Lotfallah Rahimzade, Valapour attended medical school in Isfahan and ‘Tehran.



He married Nasrin Rahmani.

After his residency, the family pioneered to Sari in the state of Mazindaran. In addition to his medical practice, he became a successful businessman.

The family came to America in 1979 because of the revolution. In Charleston, their hospitable home became a center of Baha’ activity. Valapour served on the Local Assembly all his years in the city.





Gladys L. Abas Rogers, AR November 2, 1999

Jose B. Acebo Las Vegas, NV December 16, 1999

Las Vegas, NV December 11, 1999


Charles Craft Albuquerque, NM November 28, 1999

Laura C. Craig Orlando, FL November 27, 1999

Margarete H. Acebo Merle J. Danielson Anacortes, WA October 7, 1999


IN MEMORIAM

In appreciation of 20 years of serv the Charleston Baha’is sponsored a tribute to the Valapours on Aug. 29, 1999. ‘The surprised couple reacted with characteristic humility: “We’ve done nothing; we’re just Baha’is.”

Surviving, in addition to Nasrin, are a son living in the United Arab Emirates; and daughters living in the Dominican Republic and Baltimore, Maryland. #







‘Tom A. Freeman Redding, CA May 10, 1999

December 13, 1999

Effat Khierkhah La Jolla, CA December 18, 1999

December 28, 1999

James S. Locke ‘Tacoma, WA December 23, 1999

Frances P. Grandy Virginia J. Kreis | Beth D. Maglothin Violette Nawi Alice Reid

New York City, NY Diamond Bar, CA Honduras Norwood, NJ Mansfield, OH

December 14, 1999 October 3, 1999 July 4, 1999 December 14, 1999 September 15, 1999 Sidney Harper Loretta J. Ligon John L. Mathis Victoria Nestande Jamshid (James) Sabet Las Vegas, NV Schererville, IN Milledgeville, GA East Lansing, MI Laguna Hills, CA

November 14, 1999

Luella M. Balsiger = Gary L. DuBois — Ardith M. Heaney Mele Lino Dale EF. McCall Martha Orage —_— Margaret G. Tangler Palm Desert, CA Rockford, IL. Helena, MT Bradenton, FL Willingboro, NJ Beaufort, SC Rocky River, OH November 26, 1999 August 19, 1999 November 24, 1999 July 1999 October 1, 1999 July 1999 December 3, 1999 Daisy Barbor Willie F. David Albert L. Hodges Lucille McCarrell Gust Pappas Ernest White Orange, VA Delray Beach, FL Milwaukee, WI Me Chicago, IL, Glendora, CA Milwaukee, WI September 13, 1999 August 1999 January 2000, November 29, 1999 July 25, 1999 December 1999

Ruth T. Merritt Jack G. Reichenbach Northglenn, CO May 8, 1999

October 17, 1999

Lake County, FL. December 9, 1999

January 4, 2000



CLASSIFIED, continuep From pace 31

eecccccccccccce


maintain confidentiality and work with mini


mal supervision; knowledge of Bah

and administratior

achings at least high school diploma. Must have acces


to regula


transportation


to or within San Francisco, Contact Regional

Baha’i Council for the Western States, 266


415-759-1991, e-mail ) PC Hardware/Software Configuration, Information Services. Positios voluntary. Need ability to repla parts and/or software in PCs, then reconfigure system. We are looking for people living near, or willing to travel to, Bak


and install




schools,


offices and communities in all parts of the

country to perform these services when the i nits. A few days’

need arises and


heduling p orientation/training at Baha’ National Center is requested. Contact Office of Hum Resources, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201 (phone 847-733-3427, fax 847-7333430).



INTERNATIONAL China: Numerous openings for E.



ers and professionals willing to tra


in this rapidly developing country

information contact Susan Senchuk (phone

847-733-3506, fax 847-733-3509, e-mail ).

YOUTH




AT THE BAHA'i House OF WorsHiP Summer youth jobs, Temple Conservation Team. Coleg:


tion tech


age sum:


\er conse!

nicians work in teams completing projects in


building and landscape maintenance, special Johnson (


ing, detailed inspect documentation. The meticulous and challenging work of caring for the ‘Temple requires

considerable self-dis d maturity, but



no preservation experi quired. Applications are due by March 15 interviews will be scheduled and e di

information or to receive an application packet,


phe


1c


ployment


ions will be made by early April. For more

contact the Conservation ‘Team (phone 847853-2320, e-mail »

PIONEERING / HOMEFRONT


Please consider taking a pioneering post to save the Local Spiritual Assembly of Cortez, Colorado. This community in southwestern Colorado des


perately needs to increase adult membership by 3

to 5 before Rid nformation about a



middle school teaching opening will t


sent upon request. Please contact Sharon Babbitt, Colorado homefront pioncer coordinator for the Regional Baha'i Council of the Western States. (e-mail

).

The Ba 0 Louisiana at Monroe invites Baha'i students


lub of the University



to consider this university. ULM is an academ:

ically challenging and beautiful school, with


strong programs in gerontology, pharmacy,

Iv is

nursing, pre-medicine and 1


located in north , with b



and cypress trees with hanging moss through chris



out the campus. Interested LM Baha’i Club fa Institute of Gerontology, ULM,

Monroe, LA 71209-0330 (offi phone 318-342-1467, home phone 318-361-3906, email ).



COCCHCSEEEEOHE OEE OE EOE EEHHOOOOHES ESO OO OSES OOOO OOO OOOEHESH OOOO


Centerville, Utab, i teachers to help us form a Spiritual Assembly at Ridvan. With a pleasant small-town atmo seeking pioneers and



sphere, we are within easy commuting dis


tance of Salt Lake City, Ogden and Hill Air Force Base. Universities and colleges are a

short distanc health


ay. Jobs are ayailable in

» the art


ne


d the computer sciences (including software development and Web programming). Winter sports abound and a variety of performing arts thrive, With diverse teaching opportunities, the Centerville community can offer ample hosthers. For further





n, please contact Paul and Karen Webb (phone 801-298-4507, e-mail ).



Doraville, Georgia, in Metro Adanta im . We ha Assembly with a handful of


you to come and pione


Baha’fs and children; we need to increase our

core of active believers. Doraville has




diverse ind white populatic Wright-Hulett (phor



n 50,000 but no. Id like to help by travel population of more ¢

Assembly. If you w


ing teaching or homefront pionce


Newark, please contact Hillary C the New York City Secretariat (phone 212674-8998, e-mail ).


Sole eoccecccce

WANTED


Mottahedeh Development Services is seeking assistance with its computer distribution project. If you plan on travelling to Suriname or Poland and could transport a computer for the of

those countries, or if you would like to donate

use of the national community in eith


a functioning laptop as a gift in kind, please contact Hillary Chapman (phone 212-6748998, e-mail h

ARCHIVES

‘The National Baha’i Archives is seeking original letters written on bebalf of the Guardian to the following: E.B.M. Dewing Dickerman, Fred Diehl, Naon




zabeth ed


Diet




¢ knowing family mem bers 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 847-8532359).



‘The National Baha’s Archives has prepared a series of biographical sketches of prominent

African-American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian Babé niti


the use of local commu


in Black History Month, Race Unity Day and other special events observances. There is also a partial chronology of U.



activities. Any local comm wishing a set of these sketches may send a

request with a mailing address to the National Baha'i Archives, 1233 Centra IL 60201-1611 (phone 847-86





page 32

Tue American BanA’i ¢ In Memoriam/ContinueD: February 7, 2000 [Page 33]"SEEKING*YOUR-RESPONSE


BAHA'I SUBSCRIBER SERVICE © 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? Reflections on the Twentieth Century”
  • 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 survey

Education in Iran, and


@’f Institute for Higher


global response to the attempt to close of the B:


er issues about rel us freedon a world communi





on the B or Higher Education in Iran”


  • Robert H. Stockman: “Th

and John d Subscriptions: US—$19 / year, $36 / 2 years Outside U.S. surface mail— $19 / year, $36 / 2 years Outside US. air mail—

$24 / year, $46 12 years

Single copy: $5 plus shipping/handling

  • Ghangiz, Geula, Ma

Woodall: Community: The Case of the Bahs’is in Iran”

  • Wilma Ellis:
  • Robert Hariman:

Jealth Care in a Per


Religious Freedom Abroad”

jity and Christian ¢ of Folly”

  • Amin Banani reviews Juan Cole’s Modernity and

adical Soci



Detachment in Erasmus’ Pra


the Millennium


Brilliant Star

Bimonthly children’s magazine by the U.S. National Assembly Subscriptions: US—$I8 / year, $32 / 2 years Outside US. surface mail—$18 / year, $33 / 2 years Outside U.S. air mail—$28 / year, $52 / 2 years Single copy: $3.50 plus shipping/handling See page 19 for Kid’s Corner

One Country

Quarterly about development by the Baha’i International Community Subscriptions: US—$I2 / year, $22 / 2 years Outside US. surface mail—$16 / year, $30 / 2 years Outside US. air mail—$20 / year, $36 / 2 years Single copy: $3.50 plus shipping/handling

Herald of the South

Quarterly by National Assemblies of Australia and New Zealand Subscriptions: US.—$28 / year, $50 / 2 years Outside U.S.: Contact Herald of the South,

Ingleside NSW 2101, Australia;


The American Baha’i

10 times a year; available by subscription to Baha’is outside the continental U.S. Subscriptions: US.—$24 / year, $45 / 2 years Outside UL. surface mail—$32 / year, $60 / 2 years Single copy: $3 plus shipping/handling

e-mail Single copy: $8 plus shipping/handling



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

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Sold to (if different from recipient): Address

City State, ZIP Country Is this a gift subscription? (Circle one) Y N Home phone Fax

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TAB 2/7/00



This eight-page brochure from the Office of the Treasurer contains some Baha’i teachings and practical advice on:

  • Importance and advantages of a

will

  • Five steps to creating a successful

will

+ Checklist for preparing a will

  • Burial instructions
  • Bequests to the Baha’i Faith


Individual copies may be requested free. There is a nominal charge for ordering

Planned giving methods include:


these brochures in quantity.

  • Providing for the Baha’i Faith in The National Spiritual Assembly has

your will established a Planned Giving Program to + Making a gift of securities help believers make a variety of financial + Making a gift of real estate arrangements for themselves, their fami* Making a gift through life insur- lies and the Faith. ance Receiving income from your gift: To order The Writing of a Will or to find

  • Charitable Gift Annuities out more about planned giving:
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts + Phone 847-733-3466 or e-mail

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, TL 60201 (phone 847-733-3508, fax 847-733-3509, e-mail ).


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

  • Names and ID numbers of all Baha'is 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? ®


MULTIPURPOSE FORM CLIP oR Copy AS NEEDED


For which activity or inquiry?

City State, ZIP


Phone E-mail

Special information (please include dates if reporting international teaching trip):









February 7, 2000 THe AMERICAN BAnA’i * SeeKING YouR Response

page 33 [Page 34]ETERS SL ER % TET ETN ee TTT GRR ae Lees ELSI “NEWS


House of Worship Special Visit is a spiritual journey

n June 1972, 18 adults and an 8 year-old child attended the first of

the now-annual Special Visit programs. These gatherings began for the purpose of welcoming the friends to the ‘Temple for an in-depth experience with the Mashriqul-Adhkar and the Baha’i National Center. This event, a very spiritual journey giving the believers an Opportunity to connect with thei material and spiritual center on this continent, was the inspiration of the staff of the Baha’i House of Worship. Through the 26 years since then, the Special Visit program remained a











Baha’i voice informs paper's religion coverage

IV this editorial board meets, its nembers — represent Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Islamic, Hindu and Baha’f viewpoints.

Ic is the editorial board for the Faith & Values section of The Record, the major daily newspaper in Bergen County, New Jersey. The unpaid body meets monthly to plan and assign stories for the bimonthly section.

Recent articles by Baha'is have included an essay on the history of the Faith in the region and a teen-ager’s account of how the Baha’ teachings help make him proud of being in an interracial family.

Regularly, members of various faiths contribute articles on such topics as marriage, religious freedom, holy days, world peace and the commonality of all religions.

This ecumenical endeavor was born of the Interfaith Brotherhood-Sisterhood of Bergen County. With that organization, Bahé’is have helped shape a well-publicized annual Brotherhood-Sisterhood Breakfast in the past few years. The February 1999 breakfast brought in 500 people for a talk by David Ruhe, former member of the Universal House of Just

‘The editorial board took shape in 199: when leaders of northern New Jersey major faiths were invited to the newspa per’s offices in Hackensack. Pat Kinney represents the Spiritual Assembly of ‘Teaneck on the board and helped draft its mission statement.

Kinney says the occasional disagreements on editorial policy have produced some surprising results.

“When I was assigned to do a story on Baha’i persecutions in Iran, a representative from the Muslim faith attended an edi torial meeting to try to kill the story,” d. “Then Father Donald Sheeha tholic priest, stated, ‘I am confident that Pat will present this story with

“One by one, around the table in the boardroom, two Protestant ministers, a Hindu lay person and another Muslim stated their confidence that the Bal would simply state fact without bias.”














fairness.’




ai article

much-anticipated event on the calendar of the House of Worship in Wilmette.

Some aspects of the Special Vi: gram include discussions with representatives of the Pioneering and National Teaching Committee offices. Learning about the meaning of the emple and the work of the Baha’i National Center, collecting firsthand knowledge of current concerns and initiatives of those institutions, the sharing with new friends and devotional time, both personal and structured, are all included to enrich the visitors as they revitalize their commitment to the











Cause of God in a challenging, exciting time to be a believer. The weekend retreat becomes a deepening by experience in one’s own relationship to the Faith.

“The Special Visit Program has. always been a very ‘special’ activity at the House of Worship and very close to my heart ever since that first one in 1972, which was an experiment, now institutionalized,” said Caswell Ellis, House of Worship director. “One need only feel the love and experience that spiritual connection that takes place between the visitor and our staff and to








hear expressions of the hearts that indeed confirm the efficacy of the pro


itor comments the completion of such a program reflect this. Recent participants in this program have celebrated the warmth, the learning and the encouragement they experienced as meaningful enrichment for their growth and capacity to serve.

original idea from 1972, intact and functional, is available to all the friends in 2000. Pl use the form below to register with the Activities Office of the Baha’i House of Worship.








é



A SPIRITUAL

OAS

Highlights burs of Bahi’t House of Worship, Baha’f Home, Media


Baha’i House of Worship

SPECIAL VISIT REGISTRATION FORM

Y¥z are invited to participate in the 2000 Special Visit Program at the ‘ar in Wilmette, Illinoi:

the friends who live farther from the Mother Temple a spiritual h a memorable experience with thi: friends and family who are not enrolled Baha’is, with the understanding that some activities may require supplementary expla

Mashriqu’'l-Adhks



to relis|

Please select the weekend for your visit (either visit may be canceled if advance registration is too low): — July 6-9 (6 p.m. Thursday through 2 p.m. Sunday). Register by June 8. Pleas the Martyrdom of the Bab, the afternoon of July 9.

_— Aug. 3-6 (6 p.m. Thursday through 3 p.m. Sunday). Register by July 6.

Registration (please clip or copy this form)

Family name of your travel group:


‘These visits are crea ed to offer


in which is may bring



- Bak


cred pl



on for these vi


ors.

join us for the commemoration of



Services, Publishing Trust, *

How many in your party?



Archives, National Center

.

Presentations on properties and restoration

Audiovisual and film programs

  • Baha’ Bookstore shopping

Enrichment sessions from the offices of Pioneering and National


ry

If not from U.

Address.

State


, which country?

‘Telephone—Home L

ZIP Code

Work


‘Teaching Committee, Wilmette Institute and House of Worship

Fax

E-mail


Garden teaching and guiding opportunities

Option to read in daily devotional programs in the Au


litorium:


List namet


and Baka’{ ID number(s) of all registrants; attach additional sheet as needed. Indicate ages of childten/youths (ages 4 and up may register).


Classes and activities for children (age 4 and up) and youths


Group photo; lakeshore park with beach;



ime opportunities Complete program for children


ages 4 and up (infant/toddler

re not provided)




number register)

Howard Johnson's Skokie can provide a g Hot buffet breakfast included. If y




ments with the hotel. If you wi




Please send fees with this form; International visitors, please send fees by cashier

up room rate (Per nigl

h to select your own accommod:



Accommodations



Please plan to lodge with members of your own family or with friends of the same gender. This office cannot match roommates.


A. ___ Would you like to stay at the Howard Johnson? Number of rooms needed__ Number of people in each room_

B. ___ Would you like us to send you a list of other hotel

C. ___ Will you stay with friends in the area? Phone #_ tes gle Ps Return this form to:

Spiritual Oasis, Acti Office Transportation/meals House of Worship Bus transportation will be provided to and from the Howard Johnson. ‘Two lunches and occasional inden Ave. snacks are included. Other meals and transportation will be on your own. mette, IL 60091 "TAB 2/7/00 Please direct inquiries to the Activities Office (phone 847-853-2327, e-mail: U

Adult $25, Youth (12-20) $20, Child (4-11) $10 nake checks payable to the Baha’

queen bed $89/I-2 people; double beds $90/1 person, $95/2 people).

1 check option “A” below, we will register you with the hotel, but you must handle all fin: ions, we will send you a list of area hotels.

Services Fund. check in U.S. dollars.



‘al arrange






page 34 THe American BanA’i ¢ News

February 7, 2000 [Page 35]

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February 7, 2000 Tre AMERICAN BanA’i ¢ PERSIAN page 35 [Page 36]

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page 36

The AMERICAN BAnA’i * PERSIAN February 7, 2000 [Page 37]

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Persian Translation of the Message of the Universal House of Justice Dated January 19, 2000

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page 38 THE AMERICAN BAnA‘i ¢ PERSIAN

February 7, 2000 [Page 39]*INTERNATIONAL*NEWSe


Dr. Varqa helps inspire 1,500 at conferences in Europe

Ex pean Baha'is had the bounty of

s by the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Muhammad Varga at two major conferences on the Huqéqu’lléh in Barcelona, Spain, and Hofheim, Germany.

Accompanied by Firaydoun Javaheri, a Counselor member of the International ‘Teaching Center, Dr. Varqé—who serves as Trustee of the Huqtiqu’llih—addressed the October conferences at the request of the Universal House of Justice.

At Barcelona, nearly 500 Baha’fs from 12 countries heard Dr. Varga deliver ing talks, highlighting of the law of Huqiqu’llah includ





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Dr. Varga visited the children in a separate hall.

One participant wrote, “I am strongly convinced that this memorable conference will have permanent effects not only on those attending, and on those who enabled the attendance of the participants (i.e., wives, husbands, parents or friends who helped with finances or caretaking), but will also have long-lasting effects through them on the rest of the commu




nity at large in the attitude towards fulfilment of the law of Huqiiqu’llsh and other laws of Baha’u’llah.”

In Hofheim, some 1,000 participants gathered from 41 countries. “In his uniquely gentle, loving and touching manner,” the German National Assembly reported, “Dr. Varqé addressed the friends on both days, giving them spiritual ights into the sacred law of Hugtiqu’llsh encouraging them in their services to the beloved Cause, and helping them to realize their precious trust and pledge as followers of the Blessed Beauty.”

Dr. Javaheri’s talks emphasized the constant interplay of the spiritual and the material. He illustrated the right attitude d Huqtiqu'llih through stories of African believers. Further, he dwelt on the importance of a systematic approach to advancing the Faith, above all with regard to individual teach:

Several other Counselors also addressed both gatherings, and members of the Board of ‘Trustees of Huququ’llih ir Europe, the Regional Boards of T and the representatives of Huqtiqu’llh were introduced. Devotions in the European House of Worship shared by many friends concluded this unforgettable event. ©












Marching toward peace





The Badi‘ Youth Workshop of Venezuela performs during last summer’s March for Love, Friendship and Peace, organized by the Caracas chapter of the United Religions Initiative. Baha'i International News Service photo



TEACHING


  • Chile: A national-scale media campaign and intensive teaching in two

receptive areas are under way since the National Spiritual Assembly held a National Unity Gathering during September in Santiago.

Nearly 200 friends from Chile met

Pioneering, traveling teaching needs categorized

hi I The pioneer calls of the Three and

‘our Year Plans encouraged the friends to consider the entire world as their arena for pioneering and traveling teaching. Those responding to the call are asked to examine their own particular experiences, inclinations and possibilities, and after prayer and consultation, choose a destination. This is the most recent list of countries and territories. (Universal House of Justice, letter dated March 7, 1999)

CATEGORY 1

The needs are especially pressing.

Africa: Mauritania, Rodrigues

Americas: Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, Martinique, Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Australasia: Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna

Europe: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Corsica, Croatia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Macedonia, ‘Malta, Slovenia, Yugoslavia

CATEGORY 2

The Faith is established, but pioneers. are needed to stimulate the process of growth and to help open new centers.

Africa: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo Republic, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, St. Helena, Swaziland

Americas: Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman




Islands, Chiloé Island, Dominica, East Leeward Islands, Easter Island, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Juan Fernindez Islands, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ‘Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands, West Leeward Islands

Asia: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Armenia, Asiatic Russia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Georgia, Japan, Korea-South, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Ogasawara Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Sri Lanka, ‘Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan

Australasia: Christmas Island, Eastern Caroline Islands, Fiji Islands, Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, Norfolk Island, Solomon Islands, ‘Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Caroline Islands

Europe: Albania, Andorra, Azores, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus-Northern, Czech Republic, Denmark, Elba, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Madeira, Moldova, Monaco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Sicily, Slovakia, Ukraine

CATEGORY 3

The process of expansion and consolidation has a significant momentum, but there is a need for pioneers who can undertake specific tasks, such as arousing the interest of prominent people, strengthening the communities in certain areas, or assisting with projects of


social and economic development.

Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Céte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, ‘Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Americas: Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and ‘Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela

Asia: Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sabah, Sarawak, Taiwan

Australasia: Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa

Europe: Canary Islands, Iceland

CATEGORY 4

Pioneers are greatly needed, but entry is difficult due to restrictions on Baha’ activity, lack of security, or other circumstances that may present serious difficulties. These conditions present a need for believers who will resourcefully seek out opportunities for pioneer ing. Africa: Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,

Sierra Leone,

Asia: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Indonesia, Korea-North, Laos, Turkmenistan, Vietnam Europe: Spitzbergen @

Office of Pioneering, Baha’i National Center, 1233 Central St., Evanston, IL ¢ 847-733-3508 ¢

with four Counselors and all nine National Assembly members at the conference, which was aimed at inspiring action with concrete plans, goals and a sense of direction.

“During the weeks following many friends arose to work,” the National Assembly reported. “The projects in the Mapuche area and the Copiapo area are both in motion.”

Several Counselors and National Assembly members stayed to record a series of short programs that are being broadcast on 33 FM radio stations owned by a Baha’i. This organized effort includes a toll-free telephone number and a volunteer staff of phone answerers.

  • Togo: A Local Spiritual Assemblyorganized teaching project resulted in

enrollment of nearly 60 people in three regions of the country.

A team traveling to Vo prefecture and Afagnan sub-prefecture contacted Bahd’is living there and opened several new localities. According to reports, 21 people enrolled in the Faith in Amégnran, 24 in Dzrékpo-Hagou, 7 in Gninoume and 3 in Vogan Ville.

‘The next month, another team in Zio prefecture team enrolled three new believers in villages. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Lomé 5 has plans for a follow-up program based on the institute process.


EDUCATION


  • Trinidad and Tobago: The Baha’i

Faith has been included in the religious section of the Complete Social Studies Course textbook written by A. Hospedales, J. Rocke and M. Browne, and published == by ~— Caribbean Educational Publishers. The chapter highlights the concept of progressive revelation, explains the Station of Baha'u'llah, and lists some basic principles of the Faith. The book is used in secondary schools across the country.


February 7, 2000 Te AMERICAN BaAnA’i ¢ INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

pages? [Page 40]


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


FOR INFORMATION ABOUT EVENTS sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly School, phone 207-439-7200; fax 207-438-9940; e-mail or its agencies at the Baha’i National Center, please phone 847-869-9039 and ask for the relevant deparunent. Numbers and e-mail addresses for the

permanent Baha’ schools and institutes are: Bosch Baha’{ School, phone 831 Green Acre Baha’i

Louhelen Baha’i

fax 843-558-9136; e-mail (NABD), phone and fax 520-587-7599; e-mail a


hool, phone 810-653-5033; fax 810-653-7181; e-mail Louis G. Gregory Baha’{ Institute, phone 843-558-5093; Native American Baha’ Institute



MARCH

3-5: “Becoming a Champion of the Covenant” at Bosch.

10-12: “Riim{ and the Baha’i Faith” at Bosch. 17-19: Seekers’ Weekend at Bosch.

23-26: “Establishing Training Institutes: Arising to Serve” at Green Acre. Completion of Ruhi Institute Book 1 course is required. 24-26: Naw-Riiz Family Weekend at


24-26: Two programs at Bosch: “The DawnBreakers, Part 2”; Ruhi Book 2 course, “Arising to Serve” (Book 1 course is 31-April 2: “Baha’f Marriage and Famil Building Stronger Comm 31—April 2: “Fundamental Veriti New Civilization” at Bosch; s S April 28-30 and May 19-21. Recommendation by an Assembly, RTI or Auxiliary Board member required.

31-April 2: Two sessions at Green Acre: “Removing Obstacles from the Seeker’s Path: Reaching Atheists, Materialists and Others Who Avoid Religion”; Spiritual Empowerment Session for Junior Youth (Grades 7-9).

31-April 3: Advanced Core Curriculum seminar at Louhelen.






APRIL

‘7-9: Two sessions at Louhelen: “Teaching

Christians”; “Ethics and Spirituality in Medicine.”

7-9: Ruhi Course, “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit,” at Bosch.

7-9: Social and Economic Development Facilitator training by MDS at two locations: Green Acre (session 1) and Louis Gregory Institute (session 2).

14-16: “Advancement of Women” at Bosch. chment Retreat for


and Economic Development ing by MDS at Louhelen. Bosch: Youth

ing and Traveling




Preparation: for Pion leaching; “The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah.” 21-23: Youth Eagle Insti at Louhelen. 21-23: “Consecration, Love of God and Teaching” at Green Acre.

27-30: 91st Baha’i National Convention,




Sheraton Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, IL.


Seating is Oren) Bal isitors who register. See page 7 for details and registration form. 28-30: Spiritual Empowerment Institute for Junior Youth at Louhelen.

28-30: “Socio-Economic Development” at Bosch.



PAID SERVICE

OPPORTUNITIES AT BAHA’{ NATIONAL OFFICES


Assistant Controller + Program Coordinator (Treasurer) Publishing Trust Manager * Hospitality Planner Coordinator, Louis G. Gregory Institute

See pages 31-32




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


Accompanied by her father, Cliff (left), Stephanie Bouchard of Alaska performs at a coun


MAY

3-9: “Encouraging the Artist,” retreat for musicians, artists and dancers at Bosch.

5-7: Spiritual Empowerment Institute for Junior Youth at Louhelen.

5-7: Kansas Regional Baha’f School, “Cultivating Distinction”; near Junction City, KS. With David Freeman and Lynn Wieties. Lodging on site. Registra: a Derby, KS (phone 316-788-5378, e-mail

Pre-register by April 15.

Sear acred See How the Arts Create





”; “Heroines of the Faith” (second presentation).

“Young at Heart: The Older Person and the

Community” at Louhelen. 26-28: Conference of Nir, “Make Thou This Garden to Flower: Using the Arts to Advance Entry by Troops”; Elizabethtown, PA. With David and Margaret Ruhe, Vaughn Loudenbach. Registrar: Mark Dunmire, Harrisburg, PA 17104 (phone 717-234-0916, ail 26-28: “Cultivating Distinction” at Green Acre. 26-28: “Consecration, Love of God and Teaching” 26-29: “Health for Humanity” at Bosch. 26-29: Georgia Baha’i School, “Developing Distinction and

nship in the World Order of Baha’u’llah”; Hampton, GA. gistrar: C. Lavonte Steele, Marietta, C 3A 30068 (phone 770-509-9686). 26-29: Utah Baha’i School, near Zion National Park, UT. Indoor sleeping or camping. Registrar: Shokouh Imani,

Layton, UT 84040 (phone 801-771-0586) or e-mail

or fax 801-451-7993. Register by May 15.





at Louhelen.








A. NAME(S)

try music concert

that served as a 1

Photo by Peggy Schlesinger

proclamation event Pape after the Grand 2.__ —— Canyon Conference, Ahem, OSI Dec. 26 in Phoenix, ID# Arizona. Rea




Street Address

B. NEW RESIDENCE


ADDRESS

C. NEW MAILING ADDRESS.

Street Address


Apartment # (if applicable)

Apartment # (if applicable)


FEBRUARY 7, 2000 City


MULK, ‘ALA © B.E. 156






City State Zip code State Zip code D. NEW COMMUNITY E. HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER Name of new Baha'i Community Moving Date Area Code Phone Number Name FE WORK TELEPHONE NUMBER(S) ‘Area Code Phone Number Name Area Code Phone Number Name


listed above.


G. WE RECEIVE EXTRA COPIES BECAUSE: we do not have the same last name. We do not want extra

copies, so please cancel the copy for

the person(s) and ID number(s)

H.1 WOULD LIKE A COPY

Our household receives only ne copy of The American Babd’é. 1 wish to receive my own copy. I have listed my name, ID number and address above.



the last names and addresses Di cota scire tabs tt match. We have listed above the fall names of family members as they should appear on the national records, their ID numbers, and the corrections so that we will receive only one copy.







Tue AMERICAN BanA’i

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