The American Bahá’í/Volume 4/Issue 4/Text

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The American Bahá’í April, 1973

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[Page 1]

Decade of growth to be celebrated

Bahá’í teacher and new believers from western Tennessee.

Bahá’í Nine Year Plan blueprint for expansion

When The Universal House of Justice announced the start of the Nine Year Plan in April 1964, it said the Plan should, during its course, “witness a huge expansion of the Cause of God and universal participation by all believers in the life of that Cause.”

The extent to which these underlying concerns of the Plan have been fulfilled is evidenced by the manner in which the Bahá’í community has accomplished the specific goals set for it by The Universal House of Justice and by the rapid growth of the Bahá’í Faith in every continent of the globe.

Among the tasks set for the Bahá’í world community in the Nine Year Plan were:

— Raising the number of National Spiritual Assemblies to 108, nine times the number in existence at the start of the Ten Year Crusade in 1953.

— Raising the number of localities where Bahá’ís reside to over fifty-four thousand.

— ‎Buidling Building‎ two more Houses of Worship, one in Panama and one in Írán.

— The acquisition of 32 teaching institutes.

— The translation of Bahá’í literature into 131 additional languages, raising the total from 309 in 1963, to at least 440 at the end of the nine years.

Among the goals The Universal House of Justice set for itself included:

— Development of the relationship between the Bahá’í community and the United Nations.

— The holding of oceanic and intercontinental conferences.

As of March 1973, the Bahá’í community made the following progress in winning the goals of the Plan:

— 113 National Spiritual Assemblies have been elected to represent the different Bahá’í communities.

(continued on page 4)

Month-long Proclamation April 21-May 23

From April 21 to May 23, the Bahá’ís of the United States will join with their fellow Bahá’ís in 137 independent countries, and 196 significant territories and islands of the world in celebrating the successful conclusion of a nine-year international teaching plan, a period that has seen the unprecedented growth of the worldwide Bahá’í community.

The celebration will center on a month-long effort to proclaim the Message of Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, in every country where Bahá’ís now reside.

The proclamation will coincide with the holding of the Third International Convention at the Bahá’í World Centre, in Haifa, Israel, where the Universal House of Justice, the highest administrative institution of the Bahá’í world, will be elected.

In ten years, the Bahá’í community in the United States has tripled in size. There are now Bahá’ís in more than 6,000 localities around the country.

Expansion of the Bahá’í Community in the U.S. is marked by extraordinary growth among two segments of the population, namely youth and minorities. At the same time that youth are reacting to authority and discipline by experimenting with rebellion and drugs and that minorities are becoming increasingly disillusioned and separatist, the Bahá’í Faith in the United States is flourishing.

Black people, Mexican-Americans, American Indians, and other minorities are entering the Bahá’í Faith in large numbers. Almost sixty percent of all new enrollees in the last four years have been between the ages of 15 and 30. In significant numbers, they have entered a religion that prohibits the use of alcohol, drugs, premarital sex, and, in addition, requires obedience to the government of the land.

In the space of several weeks in late 1970, for example, nearly 8,000 rural Black people in the South joined the Bahá’í Faith, in large measure because of the extensive teaching work of Bahá’í youth in their area. This pattern has been repeated on smaller scales in other parts of the nation since that time.

(continued on page 2)

page 3 Basic facts

page 7 NAACP head honored

page 11 Teaching institute opened

page 15 Palermo Conference

Inside

[Page 2]

Universal House of Justice elected

Haifa, Israel, April 21-23, 1963. The first Universal House of Justice was elected here on April 21, 1963, one hundred years to the day after Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God), Divine Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, declared His prophetic mission to the world. The Universal House of Justice was created by Bahá’u’lláh to govern the affairs of the worldwide Bahá’í community, according to His laws and ordinances.

Five hundred-four delegate/members from fifty-six National Spiritual Assemblies voted for the nine men of the House of Justice. Two hundred eighty-eight of the delegates cast ballots in person.

The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh who died in 1921, contains the following description of the process of election of the Universal House of Justice, and a brief statement of its powers:

“And now, concerning The House of Justice which God hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s Faith and well-wishers of all mankind... Unto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text.”

The election was the main function of a three-day International Convention held at the World Centre April 21-23. The elected members of the first Universal House of Justice were:

Charles Wolcott, ‘Alí Nakhjávaní, H. Borrah Kavelin, Ian Semple, Luṭfu’lláh Ḥakím, David Hofman, Hugh Chance, Amoz Gibson, and Hooshmand Fatheázam. Four of the members were Americans, three were Persian, and two were British.

That day the Hands of the Cause cabled the Bahá’í world:

“On the occasion of worldwide celebrations of the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh to the throne of His sovereignty, with hearts overflowing with gratitude for His unfailing protection and overflowing bounties, we joyously announce to the friends of the East and West the election of the supreme legislative body ordained by Him in His Most Holy Book and promised by Him to receive His infallible guidance... To the jubilation of the entire Bahá’í world for the victorious completion of the beloved Guardian’s unique Crusade is now added the humble gratitude and profound thanksgiving of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh for the erection of the Universal House of Justice, that august body to whom all believers must turn, whose destiny is to guide the unfoldment of His embryonic world order through the administrative institutions prescribed by Bahá’u’lláh, elaborated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and understanding of their significance.”

The election itself was later described by Hand of the Cause of God Paul F. Haney, as follows:

“The election was held in the house of the Master and the Guardian in Haifa. The delegates gathered and entered the main hall silently and all were in their designated places by 9:30 a.m.”

“Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum gave a brief address of welcome and explained the mechanics of the election. There were two prayers only, preceding the election itself.”

“The 288 members of the fifty-one national and regional spiritual assemblies present proceeded to fill out their ballots.”

“Ballots were received from every national and regional spiritual assembly – fifty-six in all. Representatives were present from all but five of these fifty-six assemblies.”

“The roll was called, each National Assembly in alphabetical order. The members present placed their ballots in the ballot box and those from absentee delegates were called and deposited by the chief tellers.”

After the election, the members of the House of Justice flew to London where they made their first public appearance at Royal Albert Hall before 6,000 Bahá’ís attending the World Congress Celebration.

---

(continued from page 1) Decade of Growth

This special edition of The American Bahá’í is a review of some of the significant accomplishments of the Bahá’í community in the decade since the election of the first Universal House of Justice, on April 21, 1963. That election was itself the crowning achievement of another great teaching plan, the Ten Year Crusade, begun in 1953 by Shoghi Effendi, the late Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. During the Ten Year Crusade the number of national Bahá’í communities quadrupled (from 12 to 56), and the number of local Spiritual Assemblies, the basic units of Bahá’í Administration, increased more than seven-fold (from roughly 600, to more than 4,000).

The Nine Year Plan, launched in 1964 by The Universal House of Justice, was the fourth in a series of systematic teaching plans successfully carried out in this century by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith.

During these eventful nine years the Bahá’í Faith spread from countries, significant territories, and islands of the world, to the current 333. The number of National Spiritual Assemblies increased from 56 in 1963, to 113 today.

Moreover, the Bahá’í Faith is now firmly established in more than 60,000 localities. More than 14,100 local Spiritual Assemblies have been elected, 870 of them in the United States alone; and Bahá’í literature has been translated into more than 501 languages.

During this period the dynamism and diversity of the Bahá’í community were demonstrated by the range of international conferences held in different parts of the world.

For instance, in 1967, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s announcement of His Prophetic mission to the kings and rulers of the world, six international conferences were held simultaneously in Panama City, Panama; Frankfurt, Germany; Kampala, Uganda; New Delhi, India; Sydney, Australia; and Wilmette, Illinois. At the conference in Panama City, the cornerstone of the first Bahá’í House of Worship in Latin America was laid. The building was completed and dedicated in 1972.

A major goal of the Nine Year Plan, and a long-cherished goal of Shoghi Effendi, was attained in early 1970 when the Bahá’í International Community was granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

London, England, April 28, 1963 Six thousand Bahá’ís from two hundred and sixty countries around the world gathered here in the Royal Albert Hall for the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration that He was the Promised One of All Ages Who would bring the Kingdom of God on earth. For six days the Bahá’ís reviewed the dynamic century of growth and progress which sprang from that Great Revelation and exhorted each other to carry forward development of the administrative institutions of the Faith and the conquest of the hearts of all peoples throughout the entire planet. The high moment of the conference was the presentation of the nine members of the first Universal House of Justice who were elected days earlier on April 21, 1963, in Haifa, Israel.

THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. Material must be received by the 15th of the month prior to publication. Black and white glossy prints should be included with material whenever possible. Articles and news written in a clear and concise manner are welcomed from individuals as well as assemblies and committees. Address all mail to: The American Bahá’í Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.

[Page 3]

Basic facts about the Bahá’í Faith

The word Bahá’í comes from the name of the Founder of the Faith — Bahá’u’lláh (the Glory of God). Bahá’í simply means a follower of Bahá’u’lláh.

The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is called a world religion. There are three reasons for this.

FIRST, Bahá’ís live in more than three hundred countries and territories of the world. Bahá’ís are people who formerly had different and conflicting religious backgrounds. They had been Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Protestants, Catholics, or else they had no religion at all. They have found in the Bahá’í Faith a basis of unity that makes the competition of sects and denominations unimportant to them. Bahá’ís are people of different economic and social classes. Through a common devotion, rich and poor mingle as equals and work together to establish a world order for all men and women. They are people of different national and racial backgrounds. But the Bahá’í teachings have given them a higher loyalty - the loyalty to humanity. Bahá’ís have no “color line” or racial segregation. In this Faith, people of all races find equality with each other because they are equal before God.

SECOND, the Bahá’í Faith develops world-mindedness. Read these well-known Bahá’í quotations: ... “Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own selves.” ... “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”

THIRD, the Bahá’í Faith offers a clear pattern of world order. It does not have any secret mystic doctrines; it does not have any priesthood or professional clergy. People find this a practical, spiritual religion with the mission of uniting the world in one common faith and one order. Bahá’u’lláh declared that in our time religion must unite people or else it has no social value. He declared that religion must show men how to build a just world. He emphasized that justice is the greatest good in the sight of God. To show men how to achieve this, He outlined a pattern of world order.

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S VISION of a united world begins with each man and woman. Individuals must have high moral standards and a new basis of belief if they are to become citizens of one world.

BAHÁ’ÍS BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, even though men have called Him by different names. God has revealed His Word in each period of history through a chosen Individual Whom Bahá’ís call “the Manifestation of God.” He restates in every age God’s purpose and will. His teachings are a revelation from God. Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ, and Muhammad were Manifestations of God. Each gave men divine teachings to live by. Bahá’ís believe that true religion is the basis of civilized life.

SINCE THERE IS ONE GOD, these Manifestations of God have each taught the same religious faith. They have developed and adapted it to meet the needs of the people in each period of history. This unfoldment of religion from age to age is called “progressive revelation.” Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, is the Manifestation of God for our time.

THIS IS THE BASIS OF BAHÁ’Í BELIEF: one God has given men one Faith through progressive revelations of His Will in each age of history, and Bahá’u’lláh reveals the Will of God for men and women of the present age. This basic belief enables Bahá’ís to unite and work together in spite of different religious backgrounds.

THE ONENESS OF MANKIND is like a pivot around which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve. This means that men and women of all races are equal in the sight of God and equal in the Bahá’í community. People of different races must have equal educational and economic opportunity, equal access to decent living conditions and equal responsibilities. In the Bahá’í view, there is no superior race or superior nation.

Bahá’u’lláh declared that a House of Justice must be established in each community. This body, elected by the people, is to be composed of men and women so qualified that they may be “trustees of the Merciful among men.” Each nation will have a secondary or National House of Justice whose members elect The Universal House of Justice. The first Universal House of Justice was elected in 1963 by the 56 national administrative bodies existing at that time. Its headquarters are at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel.

Basic Principles

Bahá’u’lláh emphasized certain principles to help bind people together in a united world:

Men must seek for truth in spite of custom, prejudice, and tradition.

Men and women must have equal opportunities, rights, and privileges.

The nations must choose an international language to be used along with the mother tongue.

All children must receive a basic education.

Men must make a systematic effort to wipe out all those prejudices which divide people.

Men must recognize that religion goes hand in hand with science.

Men must work to abolish extreme wealth and extreme poverty.

THE BÁB: This Faith and these challenging principles originated in Persia (Írán) in 1844. In that year a young Man Who called Himself the Báb (or “Gate”) began to teach that God would soon “make manifest” a World Teacher to unite mankind and usher in an age of peace. The Báb attracted so many followers that the Persian government and the Islamic clergy joined to kill Him. And they massacred more than twenty thousand of His followers.

BAHÁ’U’LLÁH: In 1863 Bahá’u’lláh announced to the few remaining followers of the Báb that He was the chosen Manifestation of God for this age. He called upon people to unite; He said that only in one common faith and one order could the world find an enduring peace. He declared that terrible wars would sweep the face of the earth and destroy the institutions and ideas that keep men from their rightful unity.

The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are a ringing call to action. They offer hope, courage, and vision. The books of Bahá’u’lláh in English are The Hidden Words, The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, The Book of Certitude, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Prayers and Meditations, and Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. A selection of His writings is in the anthology called Bahá’í World Faith.

But Bahá’u’lláh was not greeted with enthusiasm by the religious leaders of Islám. As they saw His Faith spread, their hatred grew. They forced Him into exile first to Baghdad, then to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and finally to ‘Akká, Palestine. There He died, still an exile and prisoner, in 1892.

‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ: Bahá’u’lláh appointed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His eldest son, as the Interpreter of His teachings and the Exemplar of the Faith. Under the leadership of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the Faith was introduced to Europe and America. After He was freed from prison in 1908, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made several missionary journeys. In 1912 He was in America for eight months during which time He laid the cornerstone of the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette, Illinois.

SHOGHI EFFENDI: In 1921 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá died and left a will naming His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, the first Guardian of the Faith and the interpreter of the teachings. Under thirty-six years of Shoghi Effendi’s direction the Bahá’ís throughout the world have adopted an administrative order that is an application of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings for a world order. Thus Bahá’ís have begun to practice in their own affairs the social teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Basic Facts of the Bahá’í Faith is a pamphlet carried by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois.

[Page 4]

Celebration set for end Nine Year Plan

(continued from page 1)

unities surpassing the goal by 5.

— Bahá’ís are now represented in more than 60,591 localities around the world, exceeding the goal figure by more than 6,000.

— The first House of Worship of Latin America was dedicated in Panama City, Panama in 1972.

— 117 teaching institutes have been acquired. The Plan called for acquiring 32.

— Bahá’í literature has been translated into more than 501 languages, while the Plan only called for the translation of material into 440 languages.

More than 1,518 minorities and tribes are now represented in the Bahá’í Faith.

In meeting its goals The Universal House of Justice has held fifteen intercontinental and oceanic conferences; and obtained consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council for the Bahá’í International Community.

Painstaking Work Required

The painstaking work required to accomplish the tasks set by The Universal House of Justice was to be done by individual Bahá’ís in every land. Indeed, in its Riḍván message announcing the Nine-Year Plan, the Universal House of Justice said: “The healthy development of the Cause required that this great expansion be accompanied by the dedicated effort of every believer in teaching, in living the Bahá’í life, in contributing to the Fund, and particularly in the persistent effort to understand more and more the significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation.”

The House of Justice also recalled to the Bahá’ís Shoghi Effendi’s prescription for the success of their Faith. “One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this Sacred Cause,” the Guardian had said, “namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.”

Pioneers Called Upon

Hundreds of pioneers and settlers from every land were called upon to relocate in new areas to fill the national, territorial, resettlement and consolidation goals of The Universal House of Justice.

Miss Helen Henry, Choctaw Indian believer, voting at Mississippi State Convention

Veteran Campaigners Added

“Once more, dear friends, we enter the battle but with an incomparably greater array than that which embarked upon the World Crusade in 1953,” The Universal House of Justice said. “To that small force of twelve national communities, now veteran campaigners, have been added fifty-seven new legions, each under the generalship of a National Spiritual Assembly, each destined to become a veteran of this and future campaigns.”

Standard Bearers of Faith

The Standard Bearers of the Nine-Year Plan were to be “those same divinely appointed, tried and victorious souls who bore the standard of the World Crusade, the Hands of the Cause of God, whose advice and consultation have been invaluable in the working out of this Nine-Year Plan.”

The House of Justice called on all the national communities to seize its tasks, consider at once how best to accomplish them in the time given, and raise its band of pioneers for the work ahead.

Seize Opportunities

“Now is the golden opportunity,” it said. “For whatever convulsions the waywardness of a godless and materialistic age may yet precipitate in the world, however grievous may be the effects of the rolling up of the present order on the plans and efforts of the Community of the Most Great Name, we must seize the opportunities of the hour and go forward confident that all things are within His mighty grasp and that, if we but play our part, total and unconditional victory will inevitably be ours.”

Nun joins Faith

For more than thirty years Kate Dwyer was a Roman Catholic nun in Melbourne, Australia. She lived a peaceful and happy life in a convent with sixteen companions.

On June 4, 1972, she enrolled in the Bahá’í Faith, resigned her position in the Church, and left the convent to undertake a new life.

“At the time of embracing the Faith I was the Superior ... that is the person in charge of the Convent where sixteen nuns were living,” Miss Dwyer later explained. “There was much love, peace and joy among us.”

She became interested in the Bahá’í Faith through personal contact with two Bahá’ís in Melbourne.

“Then followed the hardest decision I have ever had to make,” she said, “to leave that loving, happy community of nuns who looked up to me for guidance, strength and companionship. But the grace of God is stronger than any earthly ties.”

Since June Miss Dwyer has been a member of the Bahá’í community of Melbourne. Recently she joined a team travelling to Tasmania, to teach the Bahá’í Faith.

Left to right, Helen Pirkens; Kate Dwyer, former Catholic nun, and Mahvash Master.

[Page 5]

First Latin American Temple dedicated

Panama City, Panama, April 29, 1972. One of the most important goals of the Nine-Year Plan, the construction of the first Bahá’í House of Worship of Latin America, was accomplished in early 1972.

The Mother Temple of Latin America, located seven miles north of the center of Panama City, at the summit of a 700-foot volcanic rock formation, was dedicated April 29, 1972.

More than 4,000 Bahá’ís travelled to Panama from all parts of the world for the dedication ceremony, and a two-day Intercontinental Conference May 1 and 2.

Hand of the Cause of God Rúḥíyyih Khánum, who laid the cornerstone for the Panama Temple in 1967, represented the Universal House of Justice at the dedication.

At a gathering the evening before the ceremony Rúḥíyyih Khánum spoke of the longing of Shoghi Effendi to see more Bahá’ís in Central and South America, and of the triumph recently experienced by Bahá’ís in every part of the continent.

“It is hard to realize the significance of things happening in the Faith,” she said. “I am sure that the Bahá’ís of the black and white races are happy to have Indian Bahá’ís now. When a race enters the Faith we are erecting one of the walls of the Faith. We cannot visualize the future. But we know it is not going to be an American, or a Persian or an African future. As we build it together it will develop into a world future, a world civilization.”

At the opening of the Intercontinental Conference she read a message to Panama from the Universal House of Justice. It said in part:

“A crown to the labors of all who have striven to establish the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in Latin America, this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the rallying point for the Bahá’ís of those lands, whether they are of the blessed Indian peoples or represent the other races whose diversity enriches the nations of that hemisphere, will be a fountainhead of spiritual confirmations, and this mighty achievement will endow the Bahá’í community with new and greater capacities, enabling the friends in Latin America, and particularly in this privileged land of Panama, to win victories that will eclipse all their past achievements.”

More than 400 Indian Bahá’ís from 16 tribes journeyed to the gathering from distant towns and villages in the Republic of Panama and other South American nations. Among those represented were the Guaymi, the Cuna, the Choco, and the Guajiro.

The National Spiritual Assembly of Panama first solicited designs for the structure in 1965, at the request of the Universal House of Justice. The person chosen to design the House of Worship was Peter Tillotson, a young British architect. He was selected from a field of 54 architects submitting designs.

The specifications for the building were completed in 1969. Construction began on December 1, 1969, and was completed in early 1972.

The seating capacity of the Panama Temple is 550 people. The diameter at the base is 200 feet, while in the auditorium the diameter is 85 feet. The height of the dome is 20 meters, or 65 feet.

The building is composed of two units. One is the base, shaped like a nine-pointed star, with the auditorium in the center, and the second is the parabolic dome, covering both the auditorium and the circumferential balcony areas 16 feet above.

The pattern of the outer facing of the star points, done with red marble chips, is based on a pre-Columbian Central American Indian design.

Panama was chosen as the site for the first House of Worship of Latin America because of the great importance attributed to it in the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan. He wrote:

“Ye must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal, and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will become very important in the future. The Teachings, once established there, will unite East and the West, the North and the South.”

A symbol of world civilization

A Bahá’í House of Worship is called the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. The word is pronounced mash-reck-ol-as-car and means the Dawning Point of the Remembrance of God. The House of Worship is, among other things, a symbol of a future world civilization.

In the photograph, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (seated at right), the son of Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, watched as the ground is turned in the ceremony marking the start of construction on the first House of Worship of America, in Wilmette, Illinois, May 1, 1912. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled more than 5,000 miles in the United States from April to December 1912, proclaiming the religion of His Father.)

In Chicago, on the evening of Tuesday, April 30 of that year, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed an audience of several hundred people, explaining the significance and purpose of the Bahá’í House of Worship.

“The real temple is the very Word of God,” He said, “for to it all humanity must turn and it is the center of unity for all mankind ... Temples are the symbols of the divine unifying force, so that when the peoples gather here ... they may recall the fact that the law has been revealed for them and that the law is to unite them ... That is why His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has commanded that a place of worship be built ... that all religions, races and sects may come together within the universal shelter ... It is the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.”

[Page 6]

European Temple dedicated

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me ...” Psalm 23.

Verses of the Twenty-Third Psalm, sung by German Opera Company baritone Norman Bailey, welcomed more than 1,500 guests to the dedication service of the first Bahá’í House of Worship of Europe, culminating more than a decade of work on the structure.

The completion of the House of Worship near Frankfurt, Germany, the Mother Temple of Europe, was described as “a project of untold significance and tremendous potential for the spread of the light of God’s Faith in that Continent,” by The Universal House of Justice.

In a letter to the European Teaching Conference, which began following the Temple Dedication, The Universal House of Justice said, in addition:

“One of the major achievements called for by our beloved Guardian at the outset of the Ten Year Crusade, this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár was triumphantly raised during its closing years as the fruit of long and arduous labors in the face of determined opposition and upon the sacrificial gifts of believers from all parts of the world.”

Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum represented the World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith at the two Saturday morning dedication services and at the public programs that afternoon.

A special inaugural program was held at 2:30 p.m. for officially invited guests, including regional and local authorities.

On July 5, the day following the dedication, more than 2,000 visited the House of Worship.

The German Temple seats 500 people and was designed and built by Teuto Rocholl, a Frankfurt architect. It is 158 feet in diameter, with 27 pillars supporting the internal dome.

The dome is fitted with 570 glass panels allowing an abundance of light to spill into the room below, and causing a continuous interplay between light and shadow.

Dedication Ceremony at Panama Temple.

Hands of the Cause give exemplary service to Faith

The Hands of the Cause of God are a number of individuals appointed by the late Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, to assist him with his work and charged with special responsibilities in the “twin functions of protecting and propagating the Faith...”

Renowned for Heroism

They are renowned for their heroic efforts to proclaim the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and their self-sacrificing lives.

The origin of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause can be found in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, and in His appointment of the first four Hands to serve Him in His own lifetime. He says of them:

Purify the Hearts

“Ere long will God raise up through Thee conquering Hands and subduing helpers who will come forth from behind the veils and will arise to win victory for the Manifestation of God, the All-Merciful, amongst all mankind. They will raise such a cry as to purify all hearts, for thus has it been revealed in a written Tablet.”

The Story of Louis G. Gregory:
A Hand of the Cause of God

Louis Gregory was born in Charleston, South Carolina, June 6, 1874. His father died when he was five years of age; until his mother married again, matters were difficult for her and her two sons, and they were sometimes hungry. The eager happy adventure of his childhood was marred by violence and hate when, on one terrible night, a hate inspired mob of white men seized and lynched his grandfather. His step-father was kind to him and when he became a youth apprenticed him to a tailor. Later, his step-father paid the expenses of his first year at Fisk University, and Louis supported himself and put himself through this university by obtaining scholarships, by work at cleaning, pressing, and tailoring for the students, and sometimes working as a waiter during the summer vacations.

After he graduated from Fisk he taught at Avery Institute, a small private school maintained by people from the North to help students of exceptional intellectual capacity. He had studied there as a young boy. After his period of teaching, he began the study of law at Howard University receiving his LL.B. degree on March 26, 1902.

When he had passed the necessary examinations he began the practice of law in Washington, D.C., where he formed a partnership with another lawyer, James A. Cobb. They continued as law partners until 1906 when Louis took a position with the United States Treasury Department.

Louis first heard about the Bahá’í Faith while he was employed with the Government in 1908 from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hannen, Bahá’ís of Washington, D.C.

For more than thirty years Louis Gregory was the mainspring behind the work for Race Amity. Whether as chairman of the Bahá’í National Committee for Race Unity or as a member, and he was either one or the other for a great many years, or as an individual, he was tireless in his activities in promoting unity.

In 1922 he became one of the nine original members of the first National Assembly elected by the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. He continued service with the National Bahá’í Assembly for 24 years.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said of him: “He is like pure gold. That is why he is acceptable in any market, and is current in every country.”

[Page 7]

Wilkins receives service award

Among the major teachings of the Bahá’í Faith is that men should strive to eliminate all forms of prejudice from their lives.

Ever since the Bahá’í Faith was first mentioned at the Parliament of Religions, in Chicago in 1893, the Bahá’ís have worked to impress upon the public, as well as on its own membership, the importance of this teaching.

Bahá’ís have, in addition, encouraged demonstrations of the universal applicability of this basic principle from the society at large. The Louis G. Gregory Award for Service to Humanity was developed to recognize and honor such demonstrations from people who are not Bahá’ís.

The 1972 Louis G. Gregory Award for Service to Humanity was presented to Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the NAACP, for his contribution to the cause of human rights in America and for his participation in the 1972 United Nations International Year for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination.

“The followers of the doctrine of love and amity between people are at times a lonely lot,” Mr. Wilkins said in accepting the award. “Yet they have much about which to be thankful because as great as the odds seem, they are not as great as they once were.”

He said the task of combating racism is not for the faint hearted and weak, but for those who “enjoy morsels of victory, adding them to other morsels, and watching attitudes change.”

“It is worthwhile to be a member of that small band of believers whose faith never waivers and whose deeds never cease,” he said.

The award was presented to Wilkins at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.

The Louis G. Gregory Award is presented periodically by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States to persons or organizations whose humanitarian services have significantly contributed to the rights and unity of mankind.

The award is named in honor of a black American, Mr. Louis G. Gregory, who served on the first National Spiritual Assembly.

Mr. Gregory was a teacher, a practicing lawyer, and a civil servant in the United States Treasury Department.

In presenting the award, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and a professor of history at Yale University, stressed the role of the Bahá’í Faith in improving race relations in America.

Roy Wilkins receives award from a member of the National Assembly.

Previous recipients of the Louis G. Gregory Award are Xerox Corporation for its sponsorship of the television series “Of Black America,” Clark Eichelberg, Chairman of the Commission to Study the Organization of Peace; the television series “Sesame Street;” and Dr. James L. Olivero, Executive Director of the Southwestern Cooperative Educational Laboratory.

Peter MacDonald, Director of The Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity

National Human Rights Conference

Chicago, Illinois; Sept. 13-15, 1968-Mr. Peter MacDonald, director of the Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity, told two hundred people gathered here in the YMCA Hotel for the National Conference on Human Rights that, “If only the Bahá’ís had discovered America things would have been different.” He went on to describe the desperate conditions of the half-million Native Americans now alive, two-thirds of whom still live on reservations. He said that among the one hundred and twenty thousand Navajos, seventy percent are unemployed—the highest rate in the nation.

The National Conference on Human Rights was designed by NABOHR, the North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights, to be more than a discussion of injustices.

The conference was organized around workshops where information was shared for the purpose of making action recommendations.

“There is no generation gap, but a spiritual gap. Youth are being denied their God-given right to serve society,” said Mr. Edward F. Carpenter, headmaster of Harlem Preparatory School. “The problem of youth today is their denial of self, soul, God and their lack of knowledge of the spiritual. As a result, they turn on and tune out. We must recognize that human rights has a twin brother named human responsibility.”

Mr. I.O. Funderburg, executive vice-president of the Gateway National Bank in St. Louis, called for business to examine its conscience. Business, he said, must share part of the blame for the frustration of minority groups since it contributed directly and indirectly to the development of the ghettos and to civil disobedience. Business must engage in a massive program of providing training and jobs to minority groups.

The closing address was given by Mr. Glenford Mitchell, secretary of the U.S. National Bahá’í Assembly. He reminded those attending that over one hundred years ago, Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, called for a restructuring of society to assure justice for all peoples and to eliminate all forms of prejudice. Bahá’ís, he said, see human rights as God-given rights.

NABOHR, the North American Bahá’í Office for Human Rights, received a silver anvil from the Public Relations Society of America for its outstanding program in support of International Human Rights Year in 1968. Mrs. Natalie DeBono and Mrs. Juliette Buford, director of the NABOHR office, receive the award for the National Spiritual Assembly.

[Page 8]

Intercontinental Conferences 1967

The six Intercontinental Conferences described below were called by The Universal House of Justice on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of Bahá’u’lláh’s announcement of His mission to the rulers, leaders and peoples of the world.

The Conferences were intended, The Universal House of Justice said, to serve as “centers of spiritual illumination inspiring the friends to redouble their efforts in further expanding and consolidating the Faith of God, to arise to fill the remaining pioneer goals, to undertake travelling teaching projects, and to offer generously of their substance to the various funds, particularly to the vital project of erecting the Panama Temple.”

A significant activity related to the Conferences was the presentation to the heads of national governments, various other officials, and leaders of thought, of The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, a collection of messages to the kings and rulers of a century before. The presentations were made by the National Spiritual Assemblies, under the guidance and supervision of The Universal House of Justice.

Panama City, Panama, October 7. More than six hundred believers assembled on top of a low mountain a few miles outside this capital city for the first Latin American Intercontinental Conference. They were there to commemorate Bahá’u’lláh’s proclamation to the rulers, leaders and peoples of the world a hundred years earlier, and to lay the cornerstone of the new House of Worship in Panama, the land which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said would, in the future “gain great importance.”

Representatives from all the Central, South and North American nations, from the Caribbean islands together with two hundred and thirty-nine native American Indians of the Guaymi, Cunas, Caribs, Guajiros and other peoples, heard Hands of the Cause Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Jalál Kházeh describe the destiny of this great movement.

Hand of the Cause Mr. Samandarí

Singling out the Indian believers, Rúḥíyyih Khánum said, in part:

“We make a great mistake in this world when we think that unity in the concept of Bahá’u’lláh means uniformity... When you analyze it, the people of the world today, whatever political bloc they belong to, whatever party they adhere to, whatever religion they follow, think the best thing would be if everybody was like themselves; but this is not the Message of Bahá’u’lláh. God created us different. This is our honor, this is our blessing, this is our distinction. It means that each group of the human race has developed its own capacities. It has its own gift to bring to the family of human beings.

So I ask particularly the Indian Bahá’ís to remember this and to be immensely proud of their past and immensely proud of being Indians. They remember, as I remember, that it was the white people who did a great deal to destroy their history. They made them feel that the history of the white man was greater than the history of the red man. But this is not the Message of Bahá’u’lláh. The Message of Bahá’u’lláh is that they have a great future and they have a great capacity.”

Wilmette, Illinois, October 7. From Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and the continental United States, three thousand Bahá’ís were united for a few days here at the Most Holy House of Worship in the Bahá’í World.

Ṭaráẓu’lláh Samandarí, Hand of the Cause of God, brought loving greetings from The Universal House of Justice, and shared his precious personal memories of Bahá’u’lláh.

He told of being in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh just seven days before His death: “As the Blessed Beauty lay in His bed, He spoke of the importance of preventing disunity and unhappiness among the Bahá’ís, of investigating the motives of people, and of being alert. It will take strength to meet the great upheavals which the Guardian has said were certain to take place: first in the Holy Land; second in Persia; and third in America.”

For the first time in history, a conference telephone call was made connecting six continents simultaneously, recalling the first telegraphic message, “What Hath God Wrought?” tapped out by Samuel B. Morse on May 23, 1844, the day the Bahá’í Faith began.

Frankfurt, Germany, October 7. Among the seventeen hundred Bahá’ís who participated in the Intercontinental Conference here, were representatives from all the countries of Western Europe and groups from as far away as Turkey, Iceland, and Írán, the birthplace of Bahá’u’lláh.

Hand of the Cause of God, Dr. Adelbert Mühlschlegel spoke of the dire need for Bahá’ís to teach Bahá’u’lláh’s Message to all mankind. He quoted Shoghi Effendi:

“All must participate, however humble their origin, however limited their means, however deficient their education, however pressing their cares and preoccupations, however unfavorable the environment in which they live... The field is indeed so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that no follower of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, worthy to bear His name, can afford a moment’s hesitation.”

Kampala, Uganda, October 7. Lugogo stadium here was the meeting place for the four hundred and fifty Bahá’ís from twenty-four nations participating in the African Intercontinental Conference. Representatives from seventeen countries in Africa, two in the Indian Ocean, and five from other parts of the world were identified by roll call.

A great drum sounded the call to consultation at the beginning of each session and prayers rose in many tongues, chants, and choruses of African believers, black, brown and white.

Simultaneous translations informed the wide representation of tribes and peoples about the proceedings. The messages and greetings that poured in from the Holy Land, the other Conferences, many parts of Africa and friends around the world brought a warm feeling of oneness.

(continued on next page)

Presentation of the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the President of Ecuador, Dr. Otto Arosemena G.

[Page 9] (continued from previous page)

Hand of the Cause of God, Enoch Olinga reminded the believers that, “Though we are far apart, we are one in spirit and this will be our strength.”

He quoted from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Great mercies and blessings are promised unto you provided your hearts are filled with the fire of love, that you live in perfect kindness and harmony, as one soul in different bodies... Take no thought of yourselves or your lives, whether you eat or whether you are ill or well, whether you are with friends or foes, whether you receive praise or blame — for all these things you must not care at all. You must die to yourselves and to the world. Behold a candle, how it weeps its life away drop by drop in order to give forth its flame of light... As you have faith so shall your powers and your blessings be.”

New Delhi, India, October 7. More than three thousand Bahá’ís from Asia, Africa and other parts of the world gathered here at the national Bahá’í Center to lay plans and gain inspiration for the final phase of the Nine Year Plan.

Busloads of Bahá’ís from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mysore, Gujarat and other provinces, people from major cities and every corner of India, including remote tribal representatives, participated.

Bahá’ís from eighteen Asian countries and four western countries and even from Africa and Australia attended this unique gathering. They came by plane from Persia, numbering about four hundred, including some people from the tribes.

The next largest representation outside of India was from the Arabian countries. National Spiritual Assemblies represented were: India, Ceylon, Arabia, Laos, Thailand, North East Africa, Philippines, Iran, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, South and Central Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan.

Hand of the Cause of God, A.Q. Faizí, representative of The Universal House of Justice, spoke about the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi, and his thirty-six years of ceaseless labor.

He then asked the Indian teachers to come upon the platform. Among them was a badly crippled old man who walked with crutches, on the tips of his toes. This old man had gone through the villages of India enrolling thousands under the banner of the Faith.

Also called to the stage were five of the first Tibetans to become Bahá’ís from among the Tibetan refugees in northern India.

Sydney, Australia, October 7. Believers numbering more than three hundred fifty from Australia, New Zealand, Western and American Samoa, French Polynesia, British Solomon Islands, Fiji, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Írán, Marianna Islands, New Hebrides, Portuguese ‎Timer Timor‎, Territory of Papua and New Guinea, Tonga, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, the Philippines, the U.S.A., Canada and Great Britain, attended the Australasia Intercontinental Conference here.

During a consultation about teaching, some unique problems were described. Mrs. Mabel Aritera of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands spoke of the excellent relationship developing with the magistrates in these islands, but explained that in over two million square miles of sea there are only forty to fifty square miles of land. She said there was great need for traveling teachers, as there have been only three visitors to these islands since 1953.

The final session of the conference began with the presentation of the nineteen pioneers who had arisen during the conference. Mrs. Giachery, wife of Hand of the Cause Dr. Ugo Giachery, read the prayer, “O Thou Incomparable God.”

The chairman of the Australian National Assembly told of the presentation of The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the Chief Justice of Australia.

Alvin Blum, pioneer to Honiara, raised the call to universal participation and spoke briefly of the bounty of pioneering.

Indigenous believers from New Guinea came forward to tell how they had adopted the Faith.

Mr. Hamuel, a tribal chief from the Solomons, enacted the story of his people and his acceptance of the Faith with a sparkling vivacity and humor.

An Australian Aboriginal from the River Murray greeted the Conference on behalf of his people, and friends from Hawaii and New Zealand came forward to express their greetings.

Then there was the poignancy of the Maori farewell and the words which carried everyone on wings of peace to “the Land of the Long White Cloud.”

Presentation of the Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to His Majesty King Phumipon Adulvadet of Thailand by members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Thailand in 1967.

Hand of the Cause Mr. A.Q. Faizi being introduced to Mr. Morarji Desai, Deputy Prime Minister of India. Looking on are Hand of the Cause General Ala’i (center) and Hand of the Cause Dr. A.M. Varqa (extreme left).

[Page 10]

Two Southern teaching plans

South Vietnam

Saigon, Vietnam, September 1972. In five years the Bahá’í community of this war-torn nation has more than tripled in size, from a modest 40,000 in 1968, to a more significant 121,000 today.

More than 23,000 of the Bahá’ís are Montagnard tribesmen, an indigenous people of the central highlands who do not speak Vietnamese.

The two big difficulties for the Bahá’í community, according to the National Spiritual Assembly of Vietnam, are the war situation and the economic collapse of the nation.

Because of the serious fighting it is difficult to move around the country to maintain contact with all localities, and sometimes it is exceedingly dangerous.

On a visit to the United States in late 1970, the secretary of the Vietnamese National Spiritual Assembly, described Bahá’í life in his country.

Sometimes Bahá’í youth will be walking to a village where there is no transportation and will be caught in a crossfire between two armies, Mr. Le Loc said. One such youth who was wounded in this way was visited in the hospital by the Bahá’ís of Saigon to “share his suffering” only to find that he was happy and impatient to be out of the hospital so that he could continue teaching the Faith.

Mr. Le Loc told how the Bahá’í Faith was outlawed by the Diem Regime in 1953, and how seven months later, when the government toppled, was reinstated in good standing. Mr. Le Loc himself was involved in seeing that the new Constitution of South Vietnam made mention of a Supreme Being.

In Vietnam, religions are largely supported by the government. Thus, when the Bahá’ís refuse, politely, each year the large offers of money, it gives the believers a special spirit which is resulting in almost total participation in the fund. Vietnamese families are encouraged to donate a penny a day to the fund, and many raise an extra plot of vegetables to sell and donate to the fund.

A Vietnamese teacher.

Because the Bahá’í Faith is the only religion in the country which is not receiving money from the government, and also has steadfastly refused to take sides on political issues, a great deal of trust has been developed. The government is assured that the Bahá’ís are teaching religion and not communism, and the Viet-Cong realize that the Bahá’ís are involved in spreading the Bahá’í Faith rather than in military activities.

Southerner signs declaration card

Bahá’ís in South Carolina

South, U.S.A.

Dillon, South Carolina, February 1971. Like a hungry flame, news of the new Faith of God spread itself from town to town and village to village across nearly ten thousand square miles of Carolina farmland.

Inspired by the cry of “Win Increasing Numbers,” a meager handful of Bahá’ís — many of whom had come from distances — spread out from Dillon, South Carolina, seeking souls who would respond to their message: “Have you heard the good news? ... God has sent a new Prophet to the world ... His name is Bahá’u’lláh, The Glory of God ... His Laws will eliminate poverty, prejudice, injustice ...”

1971

And the souls responded. On the first day, a week before Christmas, a few hundred. By the holiday itself, nearly two thousand. In a few more days, four thousand. And the teaching goes on; increasing numbers are being won.

Already, nearly 150 localities where people have never been blessed by hearing the healing message of God have been opened to the Faith. A dozen are among the largest Bahá’í communities in America.

The new believers themselves can best tell the story, and it is perhaps their soul-felt comments that will endure in the history of these days as told in future ages.

“Lord, Lord — I’ve waited all my life to hear this message” is frequently their response, often accompanied by tears of joy and happiness. “Please, come with me to tell my mother” is another. “Would you give me one of those (pamphlets), so I can tell my friends about this?” is heard. “The world needs this – I hope it isn’t too late.”

Many of the new Bahá’ís dropped whatever they were doing and joined their new friends, leading them to neighbors, relatives and acquaintances. Success is added to success, victory to victory to victory.

Inspiring stories are told and retold at the end of each day.

Ministers of small churches meet Bahá’ís on the streets, and invite them to come and sing their songs and tell their story to their congregations. It has happened that the congregation became Bahá’í and the minister, too.

One team of Bahá’í teachers spent a whole half-day trying to get from one end of a two-block-long street to the other. They never did get all the way, but that street now has 74 new Bahá’ís among its residents.

Comfort is not important. The weather is often freezing cold, drizzling with rain or blown with snow. The Bahá’ís sleep in uncomfortable and crowded quarters, eat food they couldn’t describe ten minutes later, and teach. And the people respond.

Sometimes the ground is fertile, and the first day’s teaching in a brand-new city will yield 100 new believers. The second day, 150 will respond. Sometimes, it is infertile. Nobody will respond, even after three or four days.

[Page 11]

South Carolina Bahá’í Institute Opened

Buildings of Louis Gregory Institute

Hemingway, South Carolina, October 22, 1972. More than 800 people attended the opening ceremonies of the Louis G. Gregory Bahá’í Institute here October 22, 1972, established to train Bahá’í teachers for work in the Southern states.

Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, formally dedicated the institute and opened it for classes. The new dean of the Louis G. Gregory Institute, Harold C. Jackson, formerly from California, also addressed the gathering.

The cluster of buildings that form the institute are located in a peaceful countryside surrounding, in the heartland of South Carolina.

Many thousands have recently accepted the Bahá’í Faith in the Southern states, particularly in South Carolina, and the new institute will train teachers capable of dealing with those complicated developments.

During the past four years, James Seals and Dash Crofts, both Bahá’ís, have released four albums and become America’s spiritual super group. Singing original songs about Bahá’u’lláh and the transforming power of His revelation, they have found a massive audience thirsty for spiritual truths and soothing sounds. They play a musical synthesis of African rhythms, country and western harmonies, jazz changes, Indian ragas and down-home folk lyrics: unity with diversity through song. Their most recent album, “Summer Breeze,” jumped to number six nationwide for a time, and the currently popular single release, “Hummingbird,” an expression of their love for Bahá’u’lláh, is moving up the charts.

KIVA FILMS: Left to right, Mark Sedan, David Walker, and Kirk Smallman of Kiva Films, on location at the Second National Youth Conference. KIVA Films has made a series of excellent short films for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States that capture the spirit and dynamism of the growing community. “It’s Just The Beginning,” which was the first of their Bahá’í films, records events at the Second National Bahá’í Youth Conference held in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1970. It has already been seen by more than three million people around the world and has attracted the hearts of many to the Cause.

Some of the Bahá’ís of the Falkland Islands, off the coast of South America. A Local Spiritual Assembly was recently elected there for the first time.

[Page 12] 1968 Youth Conference in Wilmette, Illinois

Fiesch, Germany, Youth Conference, 1971.

Third National Youth Conference Set for June

Youth have emerged as a force in the Bahá’í world because of their receptiveness to the Message of Bahá’u’lláh and their determination to give that Message to others. In the United States separate goals were set for the Bahá’í youth in the Nine Year Plan, virtually all of which have been accomplished. The activities of youth have been largely responsible for the rapid expansion of the Faith in the United States, as well as in areas such as Europe and Latin America.

Two recent Bahá’í youth conferences in the United States gave an indication of the growing spirit and determination of Bahá’í youth to carry out their assigned goals and responsibilities. A third National Bahá’í Youth Conference is scheduled for June 20-24, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Chicago, Illinois, June 22-23, 1968. The First National Bahá’í Youth Conference was held here by the National Spiritual Assembly to inform American youth about the important role they must play in achieving the goals of the Nine Year Plan.

A Five Year Youth Plan designed by the National Spiritual Assembly as a subsidiary to the goals of the national plan, called upon the youth to pioneer in foreign countries, double the numbers of Bahá’í college clubs, carry out special service projects directed to minority teaching, and contribute generously to the National Fund.

Chicago, Illinois, June 19-21, 1970. More than two thousand Bahá’í youth gathered here for the second National Youth Conference a brief two years after the first National Conference and learned that new goals had been specially designed for them because most of the earlier ones had been won or surpassed.

Specifically, the National Spiritual Assembly noted that more than the required twenty-five pioneers had arisen. Bahá’í college clubs had multiplied from sixty-one in 1968 to one hundred thirty-four in 1970, with at least one in every state, and special service projects directed to minority teaching had been effectively carried out.

1972 Pakistan Youth Conference.

1972 Costa Rica Youth Conference.

4th National Bahá’í Youth Conference, Poona, India, 1972.

[Page 13]

Thousands attend Oceanic Conferences

At Riḍván (April 21) 1969, The Universal House of Justice announced to the Bahá’í world that a series of eight Oceanic and Continental Conferences would be held between August 1970 and September 1971. The purpose of these conferences was to stimulate and aid proclamation of the Faith as well as the promotion of all the goals of the Nine Year Plan.

The eight conferences, strategically located around the globe, attracted thousands of believers and resulted directly in mass proclamations and the arising of hundreds of pioneers needed to meet the goals of the Nine Year Plan.

Following is the schedule of the conferences in the order that they occurred:

Mauritius, (Indian Ocean), August 14-17, 1970.

La Paz, Bolivia, (South America), August 14-17, 1970.

Kingston, Jamaica, (Caribbean), May 21-22, 1971.

Suva, Fiji, (Pacific Islands), May 21-23, 1971.

Monrovia, Liberia, (Africa), January 1, 1971.

Singapore, (South China Sea), January 1, 1971.

Reykjavik, Iceland, (North Atlantic), September 2-5, 1971.

Sapporo, Japan, (North Pacific), September 3-5, 1971.

This brief account of the Kingston, Jamaica Oceanic Conference exemplifies the activities at the various conferences and illustrates why they generated a powerful spiritual momentum.

Kingston, Jamaica, May 21-22, 1971. More than 1,200 people from every national Bahá’í community of Central and South America, and from the United States, attended the Intercontinental Conference in Kingston, Jamaica, May 21-23.

The nearly six hundred in attendance from the United States traveled to Kingston by ship, picking up representatives from Puerto Rico, the Leeward, Windward, and Virgin Islands, in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, en route.

Hands of the Cause Zikrulláh Khádem and John Robarts represented The Universal House of Justice in Kingston. A message from the House of Justice was presented to the conference. It said in part:

“The Americas have been a melting pot and a meeting place for the races of men, and the need is acute for the fulfillment of God’s promises for the realization of the oneness of mankind. Particularly do the Master and the Guardian point to the Afro-Americans and the Amerindians, two great ethnic groups whose spiritual powers will be released through their response to the Creative Word. But our Teachings must touch all, must include all peoples. And, in this hour of your tireless activity, what special reward will come to those who will arise...”

A telephone hookup was established May 23 between the Kingston conference and the international conference being conducted simultaneously in Fiji, in the South Pacific, on the anniversary of the first telegraph message in 1844.

Mr. Glenford E. Mitchell, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, appealed to descendants of those who were brought to the islands as slaves, to arise and join their white brothers in proclaiming the Bahá’í Faith to humanity.

“Every people has a contribution to make to the building of the Kingdom of God,” he said. “In this part of the world, the contribution must be the unity of the black and white. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that this unity would be an assurance of the peace of the world.”

Mr. Glenford Mitchell (seated), and Dr. Daniel Jordan speak to a gathering of Bahá’ís in Jamaica over the radio of the New Bahama Star.

Jamaican believers at Caribbean Conference converse with Hand of the Cause Mr. Khádem.

Musicians welcome Bahá’ís arriving on the New Bahama Star to Jamaica.

[Page 14] Mr. Takeichi Moritake, first Ainu believer

1971 Fiji Islands Intercontinental Conference.

Continental Conference. La Paz, Bolivia, August 1970.

Ethiopian Bahá’ís New Delhi Conference.

A group of Cuna Indians at dedication of Panama Temple.

Cuna prophecy foretells coming new religion

The Cuna Indians live in the San Blas islands, off the Atlantic coast of Panama.

In 1963 more than 2,000 Cunas accepted the Bahá’í Faith during a visit to their island from mainland Bahá’ís.

The Cunas prophetic heritage includes a promise that God will send people to them from the outside world with a new Book, a new Message, and a new Name. They believe that Message will teach them to live in harmony with all mankind. The Cuna word for God is Bahá.

A teaching team recently visiting the island of Ustupo in the San Blas group succeeded in enrolling the Cuna chiefs (Sahilas) and spokesmen (Voceros) in the Bahá’í Faith.

Although the Sahilas and Voceros had always treated religious visitors with dignity and courtesy, they steadfastly refused to align themselves with all previous religions.

[Page 15]

Palermo reinforces teaching momentum

People attending the commemoration entering the Shrine of the Báb.

Recent aerial photograph of Bahjí showing extension of the garden surrounding the Shrine and Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh.

Palermo, Sicily, August 23, 1968. The first Bahá’í Oceanic Conference drew more than 2,300 believers from sixty-seven countries to this island in the Mediterranean Sea.

The conference was the prelude for the visit to the Holy Land by 3,000 Bahá’ís on the occasion of the centenary of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in Akká Prison on August 31, 1968.

The purpose of the conference was to stimulate a dramatic upsurge in teaching to win the goals of the Nine Year Plan, more than half of which were still to be accomplished.

In Haifa, on the afternoon of August 31, 1968, the visitors gathered for the commemoration close to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, considered by Bahá’ís the holiest spot on earth. What follows is a brief eye-witness account:

“As four o’clock approached all stood as honored Hands of the Cause and members of The Universal House of Justice entered single file to be seated in front of the Mansion of Bahjí, the home of Bahá’u’lláh during His last years.

“Signaling the beginning of the commemoration Rúḥíyyih Khánum, emphasizing the significance of the occasion, read, in Persian, words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about His Father, Bahá’u’lláh. Characterizing the Cause as a great love affair, she said, “we must come to feel Him (Bahá’u’lláh) as the nearest thing in our midst.”

“Then, filing in solemn procession, the Hands of the Cause, the members of The Universal House of Justice, followed by the assembled Bahá’ís, began circumambulating the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.”

100th anniversary commemoration of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in the Holy Land, held in the vicinity of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in 1968.

The Shrine of the Báb.

[Page 16]

NEWSBRIEFS

Professor Daniel Jordan at 1970 National Education Conference. He spoke of the need to teach spiritual, moral, and aesthetic competence, in accordance with Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

New York Chinese teaching project launched by the National Spiritual Assembly.

The launching of 1,200 balloons during the opening days of Youth Conference in Switzerland.

A Navajo Bahá’í.

Aerial view of the Temple land in Haifa. The obelisk which was erected last year can be seen at the center of the photograph (surrounded by a small, square garden).

[Page 17]

Bahá’ís gain consultative status at U.N.

As part of its commitment to the unification of mankind and to the development of a world system of government, the Bahá’í Faith has maintained a close interest in the United Nations and its social and economic programs from the time of its birth in 1945.

A major goal of the Nine-Year Plan, and a long-cherished hope of Shoghi Effendi, was attained in early 1970, when the Bahá’í International Community was granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, after more than twenty years of sustained and persistent efforts to this end.

Under this new arrangement, committees of the United Nations would seek the opinion of The Universal House of Justice on matters within its sphere of concern and about which it might provide insight.

“Significant achievement adds prestige influence recognition ever advancing Faith Bahá’u’lláh,” a telegram from The Universal House of Justice announcing the accomplishment said in part.

Class 2 consultative status, the type exercised by the Bahá’í International Community, is held by only 150 organizations throughout the world. A permanent office, with an accredited international representative, is maintained by the Bahá’í International Community at 866 United Nations Plaza in New York.

“Our aim is the establishment of universal peace in the world and our desire to see justice prevail in every domain...”

The first breakthrough in relations with the United Nations came in 1947 when the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada (later separated into two National Assemblies) was accredited to the U.N. as a non-governmental organization, qualified to be represented at conferences of the world body by an official observer.

A year later, the eight National Spiritual Assemblies then in existence (there are now 113 National Assemblies) were recognized collectively as an international non-governmental organization, under the title of Bahá’í International Community. Recognition passed directly to The Universal House of Justice in 1967.

A United Nations General Assembly Session.

All non-governmental organizations make contact with the United Nations through its Department of Public Information, Section for Non-Governmental Organizations. Non-governmental organizations are accredited to the United Nations to disseminate information about the U.N. to the various groups they represent.

Although accreditation as a non-governmental organization means only that observers can be present at conferences and proceedings, through attainment of consultative privileges in 1970, the Bahá’í International Community received status within the United Nations itself.

In recent years, the Bahá’í International Community has taken an active part in such gatherings as the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, Sweden, June 1970; at the Environmental Forum, held in conjunction with the environment conference; the Second United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New Delhi, February and March 1968.

A significant action was taken in July 1947, when the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine requested from Shoghi Effendi, as head of the Bahá’í Faith residing in Haifa, an expression of the Bahá’í attitude on the future of Palestine.

“Our aim is the establishment of universal peace in the world and our desire to see justice prevail in every domain of human society, including the domain of politics,” the Guardian replied.

He also made clear his concern that “the fact be recognized by whoever exercises sovereignty over Haifa and ‘Akká, that within this area exists the spiritual and administrative center of a world Faith, and that the independence of that Faith, its right to manage its international affairs from this source, the rights of Bahá’ís from any and every country of the globe to visit it as pilgrims (enjoying the same privilege in this respect as Jews, Muslims and Christians do in regard to visiting Jerusalem) be acknowledged and permanently safeguarded.”

In addition to participation in United Nations regional and international conferences, four Bahá’í documents on areas of concern to the U.N. have been formally submitted. These are: “A Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights,” 1947; “A Bahá’í Statement on the Rights of Women,” 1947; “The Work of Bahá’ís in Promotion of Human Rights,” 1948. In 1949, a letter was addressed to the U.N. explaining the Bahá’í concept of worship.

Victor de Araujo, Chairman of the Non-Governmental Organizations Executive Committee, (right), is the representative of the Bahá’í International Community at the United Nations.

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Creating a new race of men....

unity with diversity

House of Worship, Sydney Australia

Fiesch Youth Conference, 1971.

Indian teacher.

Hands of the Cause of God in front of the Shrine of the Báb.

Palermo Conference, 1968.

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flowers of a single garden

Bahá’ís of Areifa, New Guinea.

Mr. Tony Pelle, Public Relations.

Bolivian children.

Bahá’í meeting in Vietnam.

The old City of ‘Akká. The Citadel where Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned is in the center foreground.

Pamphlet display in Mantova, Italy.

A meeting with the Montagnard tribespeople of Vietnam.

[Page 20]

The Bahá’í Faith

A decade of expansion