The American Bahá’í/Volume 7/Issue 2/Text
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National Assembly sponsors 88 teaching conferences on March 27[edit]
Another phase in the continuing drive to speed the work of the Haiti takes place March 27 with 88 simultaneous teaching conferences sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly.
The conferences will be held in each of the electoral districts in the United States and all believers are enthusiastically invited to participate. The theme will be Each One Teach One.
The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, in an address in Foundation Hall at the House of Worship on January 11, said that if every Bahá’í teaches just one person, the process could lead to entry by troops referred to by The Universal House of Justice.
• The challenge of teaching—Page 2
The conferences begin at noon March 27 and will end at 10 o’clock that night. The focus will be on personal teaching—what to do and how to do it. Separate workshops for adults and youth will be included.
The programs are designed for the active involvement of all those attending. There will be music, special slide programs, lectures, a videotaped presentation by Dr. Muhájir on teaching and pioneering, and workshops on teaching and the use of literature, on declaration and enrollment, and on the nurturing process.
An approach to teaching to be coordinated by the National Teaching Committee, the Regional Teaching Committees, and District Teaching Committees will be outlined. Each of the 88 District Teaching Committees will be divided into from five to 10 teaching zones. A coordinator in each zone will help Groups set up activities designed to lead to formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies. Meetings with isolated believers will be set up monthly and individual resources will be determined and put to use in expansion and consolidation. Each person in each of the 88 districts will be able to participate.
Following the conferences, special teaching projects will be launched on March 28 in each district. The goal is to save jeopardized Local Assemblies, bring Groups to Local Assembly status, and open more localities by Riḍván.
Riḍván is new deadline for pioneer goals[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly has advanced by almost six months the deadline for reaching the international pioneering goals of the Five Year Plan.
At its January meeting, the National Assembly decided the 310 pioneers assigned by The Universal House of Justice must be at their posts by Riḍván, April 21. The previous deadline had been October.
This decision means that 123 pioneers must be recruited and trained in a very short time. However, the National Assembly indicated it is confident the American believers will respond to this urgent call.
Persons interested should apply immediately to the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. Pioneers should have a skill or profession in order to be self-sufficient; or have an income, such as Social Security; and have some knowledge of the language spoken in the country in which they are interested in teaching. Students may want to study abroad.
Greatest numerical need at present is for 48 pioneers in the Americas. Other needs include 25 in Europe, 23 in Africa, 15 in Asia, and 12 in Australasia.
The recent response of pioneers has encouraged the National Assembly. For example, 143 pioneers were settled in the six-month period ending December 31, compared to 81 for the same period in 1974.
And there has been a marked increase in the number of international traveling teachers. A total of 181 traveling teachers came forward in the six-month period ending December 31, compared to 78 for the same period in 1974.
| “Do you believe that this is the time of the coming of the troops to the Faith? Say, ‘Yes,’ because it is.”—The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir. See story at right. | |
| “You must teach on a scale unmatched by anything you’ve done in the past. It has to be a day-to-day, hour-to-hour thing. Get on the telephones with each other, talk it up, don’t let it drop for a moment.”—The Hand of the Cause of God William Sears at the Southern California Teaching Conference. See story on Page 4. |
Dr. Muhájir will aid U.S. programs
The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir will assist with several important teaching projects in the United States in the next several months.
Dr. Muhájir consulted twice with the National Spiritual Assembly during its January meeting and it was announced that he will help with a new Southern teaching program, other teaching plans to be launched soon, and with recruiting international pioneers and traveling teachers.
The Hand of the Cause of God was in the United States for about a month. In addition to the visit at the Bahá’í National Center, Dr. Muhajir spoke at both California teaching conferences, visited Oregon, Washington, Michigan, the Louis Gregory Institute in South Carolina, and toured Southern states. He also made trips to Alaska and Canada.
Dr. Muhájir has agreed to make several return trips to the U.S.
During his four-day stay at the National Center, Dr. Muhájir addressed a capacity audience in Foundation Hall at the House of Worship on January 11. He focused on pioneering.
“Now is the time of the harvest,” he said. “Latin America is particularly ripe now.”
The Hand of the Cause of God said that the beauty of this Formative Age of the Faith is that you can see the results of your work immediately. “We don’t have to dream about what will happen," he said. “We watch it happen."
He told the story of a Bahá’í in India who asked, “What is pioneering?” and was told, “Pioneering is when you close your shop here and open another shop there.” So he moved to a village and taught. He enrolled six, then seven, then eight Bahá’ís. But he could not find the ninth. He wrote the Guardian, “I’m so sorry, beloved Guardian. I am very happy here. I like it here. But I cannot find the
New Southern teaching program to be unveiled on March 27[edit]
A new Southern teaching program designed to reach large numbers of people near Atlanta, Georgia, College Station, Texas, and Columbia, South Carolina, will be announced at the Each One Teach One Conferences in the South on March 27.
The program will include regular teaching activities, proclamations, and conferences, and will be sustained throughout the remainder of the Five Year Plan. It will be coordinated by the Bahá’í National Teaching Committee and the newly appointed Southern Teaching Committee in close cooperation with Local Spiritual Assemblies and District Teaching Committees.
Goals already outlined by the Local Assemblies of Atlanta, College Station, and Columbia, and the District Teaching Committees will be explained at the March 27 conferences and volunteers will be sought.
Mrs. Joan Bulkin, secretary of the National
Rúḥíyyih Khánum meets with National Assembly, talks about pioneering[edit]
Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum met with the National Spiritual Assembly and addressed an overflow audience in Foundation Hall at the Bahá’í House of Worship on January 9.
Her consultation with the National Assembly concerned plans to distribute the film, filmstrips, and slides of her Green Light Expedition, which she and her film crew are editing. The materials will be offered through the Bahá’í Publishing Trust for the benefit of the American Bahá’í community, and details will be announced.
Every seat was filled, and more seats were set up near the open doors when the Hand of the Cause of God spoke in Foundation Hall that night. The audience included two Hands of the Cause of God, Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir and Zikrullah Khadem, Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members, and most of the members of the National Assembly.
In her talk, Rúḥíyyih Khánum discussed the Green Light Expedition and the people with whom she met.
She praised the capacity and receptivity of the American Indian people whom she met in the villages of Amazonia. She said that they have the attribute of nobility: a dignity of bearing, a presence.
She took some matches from her purse and lit a candle. “Each believer,” she said, “wherever he is, is like a lighted candle, lighted with the love of Bahá’u’lláh. He isn’t lighted because he signed a card. He is lighted because he has made an organic connection with the One sent by God to be a Manifestation of God for this age.”
She told of a village of Indian Bahá’ís which she visited 700 miles in the interior of Amazonia. These villagers had moved 750 miles from where they had become Bahá’ís, in Puerto Ayacucho, Peru. They were settled on land given by the government. “The villagers showed us a piece of land they’d set aside for a Bahá’í Center,” she said. “They probably hadn’t had Bahá’í visitors since they began their settlement. They are raising their children as Bahá’ís. They are enkindled. They are candles.”
“You have to think of what you want, and prepare for it, like a hunter who takes a certain weapon for a fish, another for a deer, another for a lion,” said Rúḥíyyih Khánum when asked for advice on personal teaching. “I look for faces with personality, spirituality, and try to teach that person. I told the pioneers in Africa, ‘Teach the grandmothers. They have the influence.’ Devote thought to teaching: observe and pray.”
Amatu’l-Bahá tells what it’s like to be lighted with the love of Bahá’u’lláh. She addressed an overflow audience in Foundation Hall.
The audience included two Hands of the Cause of God, Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members, and members of the National Spiritual Assembly.
The joyous season for Bahá’ís[edit]
The season for hospitality and rejoicing, for special remembrance of God, and for great joy has arrived for Bahá’ís.
It includes the Intercalary Days, the Fast, and Naw-Rúz, the Bahá’í New Year.
The Intercalary Days (Ayyám-i-Há) were established by the Báb as a special time for the happy expression of Bahá’í love and brotherhood through hospitality, the giving of presents, and visits to the sick and poor. The Intercalary Days are February 26 through March 1, and include five days this year because 1976 is a leap year.
The days are also spent preparing for the spiritual experience of the 19-Day Fast, from March 2 through March 20. Bahá’u’lláh ordained the Fast, in which Bahá’ís do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset, as a special time to seek God’s spiritual food by learning patience and detachment from desire.
The Fast is followed by Naw-Rúz on March 21, a special Holy Day for rejoicing. Naw-Rúz is celebrated widely after sunset on March 20 to proclaim the Cause with special get-togethers with friends of the Faith. Events include formal dinners, potluck dinners, picnics, public meetings, or parties.
Dates to remember[edit]
- February 20–22 National Spiritual Assembly meeting.
- February 20–22 Spanish-speaking Teaching Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sponsored by the Northern New Mexico District Teaching Committee.
- February 26–March 1 Ayám-i-Há (Intercalary Days).
- March 2 Feast of Alá (Loftiness).
- March 2–20 Period of the Fast. Begins sunrise March 2 and ends sunset March 20.
- March 21 Naw-Rúz (Bahá’í New Year).
- March 21 Feast of Bahá (Splendor).
- March 26–28 National Spiritual Assembly meeting.
- March 27 National Teaching Conferences in each of the 88 electoral districts. Sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly.
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Editorial The challenge of teaching What is our commitment—personally—to winning the goals that we read about, that we meet about, that we consult about? In our society we may sometimes feel that our individual contributions can’t make a difference. In the Bahá’í Faith, what we do individually makes all the difference. For example, if every Bahá’í in the United States confirms just one person in the Cause this year, the American Bahá’í community will double in number. Our most pressing responsibilities at present are to expand and consolidate the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in America. Recent progress has been pitifully slow. The number of Local Spiritual Assemblies has actually declined, and others are in jeopardy. Localities are being opened at an inadequate rate. The American Bahá’í community faces severe consequences if it is resting on its laurels, content with past victories. The entire community must, as one person, arise now if the goals of the Five Year Plan are to be won. The beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, warned that to cut short the chain of victories would shatter the hopes of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. To vacillate would deprive us of the privilege of being “established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion.” To rest on our laurels would be tantamount to a betrayal of the trust placed in our community by the Master. However, Shoghi Effendi wrote that he was firmly convinced the American believers would never permit such a failure, vacillation, or neglect. Our record was testimony of our ability to shoulder the responsibilities which any task may impose upon us, he added. As time passes, the present tasks become more formidable. The Universal House of Justice has given us an infallibly-conceived plan, and our national and local institutions have given us direction. But it is our individual responsibility to get the job accomplished. We must teach daily. Bahá’u’lláh promises that the “hosts of Divine inspiration” will descend as we teach our neighbors, our co-workers, and others. However inadequate our abilities, we must scatter the seeds of the Message and leave it to the power of the Blessed Beauty to enable those seeds to germinate as He sees fit. We must reinvigorate the spiritual forces, readjust our inner lives, and get to work before it is too late. We must open localities to the Faith at the rate of almost two every day and raise up Local Assemblies at the rate of at least nine every Bahá’í month. Shoghi Effendi wrote: “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.” |
Counsellors express appreciation for response to call for prayers[edit]
To the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in North America
Dear Bahá’í Friends:
The Continental Board of Counsellors for North America wishes to express its warm appreciation of your instant response to its invitation to join your prayers to those being offered by the institutions at the World Center and by the Counsellors, members of National Spiritual Assemblies, Auxiliary Board members and their assistants throughout this continent on November 12, the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. This wave of prayer which went up from the Bahá’ís, literally around the world, on that day cannot help but achieve its purpose, namely to quicken the spirit of sacrificial service and greater consecration in each and every follower of the Cause.
The banner of Bahá’u’lláh was raised by the selfless devotion, love, and sacrifice of His followers. The steady advance of His Cause has been achieved by the same spirit of sacrifice and selfless devotion of the believers. The destiny of all teaching plans and therefore of the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself rests ultimately with the response of the individual believer.
The time allotted for the fulfillment of all the life-giving objectives of the Five Year Plan, the current stage of the unfoldment of the Divine Plan itself, will soon be reduced to a very short period of three years. The urgency of our sacred tasks requires an immediate worldwide intensification in teaching the Faith.
What a blessed and privileged role each present-day Bahá’í can play in winning the objectives of this Five Year Plan! With hearts overflowing with gratitude and assurance of divine confirmations, with a renewed spirit of consecration and sacrificial service, let us each arise now and bring every goal of this divinely inspired Plan to complete victory!
- Warmest Bahá’í greetings.
- Continental Board of Counsellors for North America
Counsellors hold deepening for Alaskans[edit]
All four members of the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America conducted a deepening with over 200 Alaskan Bahá’ís on November 8. The Counsellors and friends met in Anchorage during the same weekend that the National Spiritual Assembly of Alaska dedicated its newly built Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds.
The new Alaskan National Center is a modern building in Anchorage with rooms for meetings of the National Assembly, and offices for the Secretariat and national committees.
Each of the four Counsellors gave a special presentation at the deepening conference. Counsellor Velma Sherrill addressed a special session sponsored by the Bahá’í Interracial Teaching Committee. The Alaskan Bahá’ís are striving to attract more members of Alaskan minority groups to the Faith. In Alaska, such groups are the Eskimos, Aleuts, Blacks, and Orientals. Mrs. Sherrill said, “There are lesser unities, such as those represented in family, clan or tribe, or nationality; but the wider unity embraces the entire human race.”
Counsellor Sarah Pereira said that Bahá’ís should develop an intense desire to widen their Bahá’í embrace, filling their daily lives with an understanding of the reality of the oneness of mankind. She cited the example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who, speaking before a racially mixed audience in Washington, D.C., in 1912, compared many-hued humanity to the flowers in a rose garden, each color accentuating the beauty of another.
Counsellor Lloyd C. Gardner gave a talk on the Divine institutions. He pointed out the need to recognize the responsibility of Local Spiritual Assemblies during the Five Year Plan, and the value of strengthening the Administrative Order.
Counsellor Edna True delighted the Alaskan friends as she addressed the conference on the “Meaning of the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” Her mother, the late Hand of the Cause of God Corinne True, accompanied by daughter Edna, had made her first pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1907. It was at this time that Mrs. True delivered to the Master the scroll containing the petition to be allowed to start the Temple project and signed by most of the American believers of that time.
In 1912, when the Master came to America and laid the corner-stone for the Mother Temple in Wilmette, He had honored the True family by being a guest in their home during one of His visits to Chicago. Recollections and other precious stories of this period were shared in abundance by Miss True, as well as accounts of her own pilgrimages to the Holy Land, beginning with the first one in 1919 during the lifetime of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The 20-acre tract purchased for a future Temple in the center of the picture. It is one of the highest points on New Providence Island.
Temple site is acquired near Nassau[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly has acquired a 20-acre tract on the island of New Providence, Bahamas, for a future Temple.
Negotiations were completed in November, and the acquisition meets another goal of the Five Year Plan.
Earlier, the National Assembly purchased a landmark building in downtown Nassau for a National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and acquired as a national endowment for the Bahamas an acre of land on Great Exuma Island, two other goals of the Five Year Plan.
The Temple site is on the north side of New Providence Island and is west of Nassau and east of Nassau International Airport. The site overlooks Lake Cunningham and can be seen from the major highway between Nassau and the airport. The land, 117 feet above sea level, is one of the highest points on the island.
Negotiations began in 1975 after Mrs. Rose Gronsund of Wilton Manors, Florida, in consultation with the National Properties Committee, found the site.
Mrs. Gronsund, experienced in real estate, located the owner and asked if her organization could purchase about three acres of his 20-acre tract. The owner replied that a minimum of 10 acres might be available, and he quoted a price. Later, Mrs. Gronsund and Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the National Assembly, met with the owner. They explained the principles of the Bahá’í Faith and outlined the purpose of the purchase. On a third trip, Mrs. Gronsund reached tentative agreement with the owner, but he said he would sell the entire 20-acre tract for the price quoted for 10 acres.
Mrs. Gronsund is now working with the National Assembly of Puerto Rico toward acquisition of a Temple site at San Juan, another goal of the Five Year Plan.
The site overlooks beautiful Lake Cunningham and can be seen by anyone who drives on the highway between Nassau and the airport.
Teaching[edit]
Believers work overtime at spirited California teaching conferences[edit]
The Each One Teach One conferences for Northern and Southern California drew about 1,000 Bahá’ís at San Jose and over 750 at Long Beach December 27–28.
“When you see those who are not here,” the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears advised the friends at Long Beach, “try to share with them this spirit. Try to touch their hearts. We need them.”
The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir also addressed the Long Beach conference and spoke the next day at San Jose.
Other speakers included National Spiritual Assembly members Richard Betts and William Maxwell at San Jose, and Franklin Kahn and Firuz Kazemzadeh at Long Beach; and Auxiliary Board members Paul Pettit and Fred Schecter at San Jose, and Anthony Lease at Long Beach.
Workshop sessions at both conferences ran overtime because of the enthusiasm of the friends for discussion of teaching methods and experiences. Called by Dr. Muhájir, volunteers arose for international pioneering and traveling teaching. There were also volunteers for homefront work. For example, 45 persons at the Long Beach conference volunteered to assist with teaching in two jeopardized Local Spiritual Assembly areas, San Juan Capistrano and Colton.
Both Hands of the Cause of God stressed the urgency of the times.
Mr. Sears said: “The beloved Guardian said that some opportunities come once in a lifetime, some may occur again after 100 years, some will never come again. I feel, somehow, that this is one of those times which will not come again.”
“I remember my grandfather,” Mr. Sears said, referring to the relative he so lovingly described in his book God Loves Laughter. “I’d say to him, ‘Could I have a last chance?’ And he’d say, ‘As my recollection is, you’ve had 27 last chances.’ And I’d say, ‘What I really need is a last last chance.’
“And I think the Blessed Beauty has given us so many last chances. ‘Our last, irretrievable opportunity,’ one of the Messages said.
“I think we’ll seize this chance. We’ll know why the Master said, ‘Why are ye silent? Shout! Why are ye seated? Move!’ ”
Dr. Muhájir said, “Personally, I think the time of the coming of troops to the Faith was yesterday, in the time of the beloved Guardian. In 1934, the beloved Guardian wrote to the Bahá’ís in India: this is the time to go to the masses. To Bolivia he wrote: where are the masses of Indians? There were only two Indian Bahá’ís in Bolivia in his lifetime. Now, there are thousands.
“In India, they tried newspapers, talks, etc. By 1961 they realized that the masses were villagers. In the first village they visited, all became Bahá’ís; the second village—all Bahá’ís. But this was after Shoghi Effendi.”
Dr. Muhájir recalled that the Guardian instructed the United States and Britain that when they had enough administration in every county, they could proclaim the Faith to the masses.
“Where to bring troops to the Faith in California?” he asked. “Wherever your counties have enough Bahá’ís.
“Your teaching must start from individuals,” he said. “A plan for bringing in troops should not only involve youth, or a lecture, or advertising and publicity. It should involve everyone, of every capacity. Let us work together, and everybody do whatever he can.
“When I see someone enrolling in the Faith I say, ‘Now you are a new-born person. Leave your fears and come with the
The joy of sharing teaching experiences was evident at the Each One Teach One conferences in California in December. The friends gathered at Long Beach, above, and at San Jose, right, to participate in workshops and hear stirring talks by Hands of the Cause of God, Auxiliary Board members, and members of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Follow-up conferences generate enthusiasm[edit]
Participants in Each One Teach One follow-up conferences in Illinois and New York November 15–16 enjoyed the intimate sharing of personal teaching methods afforded by the small gatherings. Workshops had involved large groups at the statewide Each One Teach One conferences at Brockport, New York, and Joliet, Illinois, November 1–2.
The friends, responding to the National Spiritual Assembly’s call to the individual believer to arise and win the goals of the Five Year Plan, gathered in 10 localities in New York and 10 in Illinois.
The purpose of the conferences was to stimulate each Bahá’í to set a goal to teach daily. The sharing of personal teaching techniques pointed out ways of winning this goal. One person said that success came from starting each day with a teaching prayer and the conviction that a waiting soul would be found, and making sure to carry a supply of Bahá’í literature. Another man, who is a factory worker, related that he teaches the Faith at work by doing everything as perfectly as he can. When people ask him why he is working so painstakingly, he tells them. Many friends remarked that they made sure they were visible Bahá’ís, with Bahá’í pictures on their desks at work and Bahá’í rings on their fingers.
The workshops underlined the need for strategic teaching. Each Bahá’í can examine himself and determine how to use talents and skills to reach seekers with similar leanings. For instance, Bahá’ís may attract seekers by offering to share their skills or interests with others.
The difference between firesides and public meetings was stressed in the workshops. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer states that “The friends must realize their individual responsibility. Each must hold a fireside in his or her home, once in 19 days, where new people are invited, and where some phase of the Faith is mentioned and discussed. If this is done with the intent of showing Bahá’í hospitality and love, then there will be results.” This quotation is included in Each One Teach One, the handbook for the personal teaching conferences.
Discussion at the conferences was also aimed at pointing out the differences between proclamation and teaching, and between declaration and enrollment.
Proclamation is informing the public of the fact and general aim of the Bahá’í Revelation. Teaching is nurturing a seeker toward declaration and deepening that seeker after declaration. The Universal House of Justice has written: “Teaching may also be likened to kindling a fire, the fire of faith, in the hearts of men. If the fire burns only so long as the match is held to it, it cannot truly be said to have been kindled; to be kindled it must continue to burn of its own accord. Thereafter more fuel can be added and the flame can be fanned, but even if left alone for a period, a truly kindled fire will not be extinguished by the first breath of wind.”
The friends also reviewed the difference between declaration and enrollment. A declaration is a statement of belief by the seeker. In signing the card, a person indicates belief in Bahá’u’lláh, willingness to obey His commands and institutions, readiness to receive basic information on the Faith, and a desire for membership. To enroll a declarant, the appropriate administrative body ascertains that person’s readiness, confirms it by giving him the basic information contained in the pamphlet On Becoming a Bahá’í, and then adds the new name to the membership rolls.
New York personal teaching sessions met in Albany, Beacon, Buffalo, Hamburg Village, North Hempstead, New York City, Potsdam, Rochester, Islip, and Victor. Illinois friends met at Chicago, Edwardsville, Elgin, Evanston, Park Forest, Peoria, Springfield, Rockford, Urbana, and Wilmette.
Teaching rally excites friends at Quincy, Fla.[edit]
Bahá’ís of North Florida enjoyed a teaching rally in Quincy, Florida, December 12-14. The District Teaching Committee of North Florida is working toward formation of a Local Spiritual Assembly in the small tobacco town of Quincy by Riḍván.
The committee has been sponsoring monthly rallies in various North Florida localities for a year. Guidelines for the rallies are based on the three conditions which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states in the Tablets of the Divine Plan are necessary for Bahá’ís to attain their spiritual station: firmness in the Covenant, fellowship and love among the believers, and teaching the Cause. Rally agendas included deepening, social, and teaching activities.
A diverse group of Bahá’ís of all backgrounds ranging in age from eight to 70 and in Bahá’í experience from three months to 45 years, actively participated in all phases of the Quincy rally. They came from all over North Florida and a busload, including the key speaker, arrived from St. Petersburg, in Central Florida.
The rally began with a Friday evening social sponsored by the Local Assembly of Tallahassee. Saturday morning deepenings covered the modern Bahá’í relationship to the Dawn Breakers and dignified teaching. Role-playing was used to demonstrate and find solutions for teaching problems.
The District Teaching Committee then briefed the friends on the requirements of high-quality teaching and on how to report teaching results. All teaching teams kept records of their activities and submitted a written report to the committee after the rally.
The teams had lunch and prayed together, and then went into the town. One team went to the town square. Before the rally, an advance team had obtained a permit to put up a large banner and arrange a literature display.
Two teams went to visit Bahá’ís who had entered the Faith during a teaching effort in 1971. Most of these people had not been contacted by Bahá’ís since their declarations. The advance teams visited them before the rally and they were eagerly expecting the teaching teams who conducted impromptu deepenings and taught the Faith to neighbors who had been invited by the Quincy Bahá’ís.
Other teams invited people to two public meetings.
The advance teams had found meeting places and arranged newspaper publicity, which included a version of the Bahá’í Bicentennial ad placed by the National Spiritual Assembly in the Life magazine Bicentennial issue.
Dignified invitations to the meetings were mailed to Quincy residents, information kits were given to the newspaper and the police, books were presented to the library, and posters were put up in store windows.
The teams shared dinner on Saturday evening and then, with seekers, heard music and a talk on human rights and America’s spiritual destiny.
On Sunday, the visiting Bahá’ís, the newly befriended Quincy Bahá’ís, and their guests saw a filmstrip program on Bahá’í history. They taught in town during the afternoon, and then met again for another public meeting.
Regular study classes for Quincy Bahá’ís and seekers are already organized in the town.
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Faith.’ So how much fear and how much Faith do we have?”
Emphasizing the power of faith, Mr. Sears said, “If we arise, beloved friends, all the wonder of earth and heaven is ours right here. Never forget Bahá’u’lláh’s promises.”
The friends at the California conferences poured the inspiration so freely given them by their speakers into their workshop sessions, and rejoiced in the results which pointed out that teaching methods are universal.
Specific suggestions involved demonstrations of love and service, such as: giving presents to non-Bahá’í friends for Ayyám-i-Há; answering Christmas cards with Naw-Rúz greetings; giving Bahá’í books as gifts; sharing Bahá’í prayers when appropriate; always carrying Bahá’í literature; wearing Bahá’í jewelry; decorating work space and home with Bahá’í pictures; writing school papers about the Faith or principles of the Faith; inviting neighbors to block parties; working with children and youth in such organizations as scouts and 4-H clubs; using the Bahá’í ID card when asked for identification; listing Bahá’í administrative experience on job applications; joining a class or club to meet new people; and always thinking of yourself as a pioneer.
“I believe that teaching is as important as your prayers,” said Dr. Muhájir. “If you are under 15 or over 65, you know you are not supposed to fast. But you are supposed to teach. Till your last breath, you are to teach. Do you know the story of the two children who were late to school? One said, ‘Let us sit and pray that we won’t be late.’ The other said, ‘Let us run and pray at the same time.’
“Really, we must teach and pray at the same time.”
Mr. Sears also pointed out the need for action. He said that Bahá’í prayers tell us what God will do for us. Bahá’í Tablets tell us what we must do for God. He read many passages from Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and from the writings of Shoghi Effendi and The Universal House of Justice. Reading a quotation which described the glorious station of the true believer, Mr. Sears said, “When I was on pilgrimage, at that wondrous table, the Guardian said that if we understood Bahá’u’lláh’s station and our station we would fall to the ground and press our foreheads to the ground with gratitude for being able to breathe just one breath in this day.”
Mr. Sears and Mr. Lease read many promises of assistance to teachers from the Bahá’í Writings. As the presentation flowed, Mr. Sears asked the friends, “Do you believe this? Talk to me!” until he received a resounding, “Yes.”
Auxiliary Board member Anthony Lease, left, reads the Writings about teaching and the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears follows the script, awaiting to ask Mr. Lease to repeat certain phrases at the Long Beach conference.
Long Beach: time for music
San Jose: time for study
The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir is welcomed to the San Jose conference. At right is William Maxwell Jr., member of the National Assembly.
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Teaching Committee, said that regular teaching activity will be organized in goal areas surrounding the Atlanta, College Station, and Columbia Assemblies under program coordinators trained by the Southern Teaching Committee and the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee. People who volunteer at the March 27 conferences will be trained and scheduled through the program coordinators.
The talents of the local Bahá’ís will be developed through workshops and on-the-job training. For example, Mrs. Bulkin explained that one person would be assigned to complete a specific task in a specific locality by a certain time. He would then do the same job in another locality, then in a third locality until he became proficient. A new assignment would be made and he would repeat the process.
This regular teaching activity will lay the foundation for proclamation events during Labor Day weekend in September with national figures represented in three selected areas simultaneously. Scheduling of time and place will be worked out by the Southern Teaching Committee and the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee with respective Local Assemblies.
More teaching will follow the proclamations, leading to a centrally located victory conference in December. The victories and teaching experiences of the friends will be shared, there will be social activities and music, and new goals will be announced.
In order to support and sustain the teaching activities, the Southern Teaching Committee and the South Carolina Regional Teaching Committee will plan a series of proclamation events to be held in 1977.
The new Southern teaching program is designed to provide a coherent experience for a seeker so there is an orderly progression from first hearing of the Faith to study of it, which will likely lead to declaration, followed by enrollment, deepening, and participation in a group and then formation of a Local Assembly.
The focus of the plan will be to reach all strata of society, achieving some reasonable degree of representativeness, Mrs. Bulkin said. This means, in particular, that the middle classes and more affluent members of society cannot be neglected.
Many teaching approaches will be used, but the foundation will be firesides.
Mrs. Bulkin said that the National Teaching Committee is looking at this program in a different way than the program launched in the South in 1970. “Instead of importing a lot of resources to these areas, we intend to concentrate our effort on nurturing local resources.”
House of Justice offers prayers for Local Assembly Program success[edit]
The Local Spiritual Assembly Development Program has gained momentum. The Universal House of Justice is fervently praying for its success, and all believers have been asked to help.
At the end of December, 56 Local Assemblies had completed the 30-hour training program, and that number is expected to be about 250 by Riḍván.
“The Universal House of Justice is fervently praying that your praiseworthy efforts will help the Spiritual Assemblies throughout the United States to become the responsible and mature institutions described by the beloved Master,” the Department of the Secretariat at the World Center told the National Assembly in a letter December 17.
The National Assembly has asked all believers to nurture and assist Local Assemblies by acquiring a copy of Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies (see story on this page) and by making it possible for Local Assembly members to attend the training sessions through moral support and encouragement, providing adequate funds, and offering assistance to children of Assembly members.
Purpose of the program is to strengthen and develop Local Assemblies, a vital objective of the Five Year Plan. In its Five Year Plan message of 1974, The Universal House of Justice said that success “will demonstrate the solidarity and ever-growing distinctiveness of the Bahá’í community, thereby attracting more and more thoughtful souls to the Faith and offering a refuge to the leaderless and hapless millions of the spiritually bankrupt, moribund present order.”
The Local Spiritual Assembly Development Program is gearing up to train 1,400 Local Assemblies by the end of the Five Year Plan. At present, 143 two-man teams have been trained to assist Local Assemblies make the most effective use of the materials developed for the program. Additional teams will be trained this month and in March.
Response from Local Assemblies which have completed the program continues to be enthusiastic.
One Assembly reported: “We are eagerly and joyfully partaking of the delectable banquet our blessed and endowed institution has prepared for us. Each and every promise of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, our Heavenly Father, manifests itself in its utmost perfection when applied according to His Teachings. In this program we are imbibing the combined aspects of divine and spiritual knowledge and we are drawing upon our spiritual understanding to stretch our imagination.”
Another Assembly wrote that “the training will assist all of mankind toward establishing the Kingdom of God on His Earth.”
Manual will be available for sale[edit]
Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies, a manual used in the Local Spiritual Assembly Development Program, will be offered for sale to all believers through the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
The 154-page bound manual will be available by Naw-Rúz and complete details will be announced soon by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
The National Spiritual Assembly has eagerly invited all believers to acquire a copy of this document, learn from it about the functions of the Local Assembly, and act in accordance with the guidelines it provides. The National Assembly added that this is one way in which the believers can nurture Local Assemblies.
Compiled by the National Assembly, Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies brings together in ready reference the principles, policies, and procedures by which the Local Assemblies should function. The manual includes extracts from the Bahá’í Writings, principally from messages from Shoghi Effendi and extracts from letters of The Universal House of Justice.
Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies is part of the Bahá’í Comprehensive Deepening Program and will fit in a three-ring looseleaf notebook.
How to keep your Bahá’í mail coming[edit]
Is your Bahá’í neighbor getting his American Bahá’í and other Bahá’í mail and is the postman skipping you?
It may be that you have moved recently and failed to notify your former Local Spiritual Assembly, Group, or District Teaching Committee and the Office of Membership and Records at the Bahá’í National Center.
Procedures have been established at the National Center for prompt notation of changes of address. Individuals who move should complete the address change form on the back of The American Bahá’í and also notify their Local Spiritual Assembly, Group, or District Teaching Committee (for isolated believers).
Because of the vast expansion of the Faith in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was necessary for the National Assembly to adopt a computerized mailing system.
Each month, local institutions receive a list of their members as computed at the National Center. Members whose American Bahá’í or other Bahá’í mail have been returned include a “mail return” notation on the list. This means that no further mail will be sent from the National Center until the correct address has been determined. Verification of the correct address is the responsibility of the Local Assembly, Group, or District Teaching Committee. Seminars have been held at the local level to review procedures and to underscore the importance of prompt and regular processing of membership lists.
Membership data at the National Center is about 96 percent accurate. The aim, however, is 100 percent accuracy.
If you are going to move, please inform your local institution.
Youth participated in a work-study program at the Bahá’í National Center in late December and early January. Above left, glue is applied in the maintenance department; above right, the files are checked for proper arrangement; and right, secretarial duties are performed with joy.
Youth work, study administration[edit]
One of the 32 youth who participated in a work-study program at the Bahá’í National Center December 28-January 9 remarked: “Being close to the House of Worship, being able to meet with and hear talks by a Hand of the Cause of God, a Continental Counsellor, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly, and an Auxiliary Board member, creates a loving atmosphere and feeling which is so different from the surrounding world.”
During the two-week project, the youth spent weekdays from 8:30-4:30 doing work assignments at the National Center offices. Their afternoons and evenings were filled with special sessions: an afternoon with the Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem; an afternoon with Counsellor Edna True; a talk on the Bahá’í Administrative Order by Glenford E. Mitchell, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly; and an afternoon with Auxiliary Board member Thelma Jackson. They shared the Feast of Sharaf with the Wilmette community, enjoyed a party and square dance, and visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Their study sessions gave special attention to the Local Spiritual Assembly, American Bahá’í heroes, the history of the Temple and a tour of that edifice, reaching and teaching American minorities, the need
Positions open at National Center[edit]
Several positions remain open at the Bahá’í National Center for friends who have skills in the following areas:
Executive Secretaries: Required skills include fast, accurate typing; good shorthand; knowledge of filing systems; ability to compose letters; and administrative experience within the Faith.
Administrative Support: Requires extensive clerical skills; ability to handle dictation; good grasp of letter composition and administrative experience within the Faith. Experience with automatic typewriters would be helpful.
Activities and Program Coordinator: Duties would include developing, scheduling and monitoring a variety of activities related to specific committee mandates. Must enjoy personal contact, be skilled in oral and written presentations; have the ability to handle a diversity of job assignments, and have administrative experience within the Faith.
If you feel that you qualify for any of these areas, and are, or will be available to serve at the National Center, send your resume and a letter of recommendation from your Local Spiritual Assembly, Bahá’í Group or District Teaching Committee to: Personnel Affairs Assistant, Bahá’í National Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
Projecteers teach in India and Sri Lanka[edit]
Twelve American Bahá’ís participated in special traveling teaching projects in India and Sri Lanka in December and January.
They spent about 10 days in the Indian state of Kerala to assist in teaching and consolidation work in connection with the stirring Project East-West undertaken by the youth of India. The projecteers were in Sri Lanka about a week to aid that National Assembly in winning the teaching and consolidation goals assigned by The Universal House of Justice. Two of the traveling teachers are under 21 and two are over 50.
Before flying to Bombay, the projecteers completed a special training workshop Dec. 19-21 at Louis Gregory Institute at Hemingway, South Carolina, to prepare them for the trip. The workshop included a simulation of conditions in India and Sri Lanka. The hot water was turned off, special meals were prepared, and they hiked through the woods near the Gregory Institute. A cold shower removed the mud and relieved the aches and they returned to the warm classroom unified.
The classroom work included a talk by Auxiliary Board member Elizabeth Martin on the importance of Sri Lanka and India in relation to the Five Year Plan.
Dr. Pattabi Raman of Amherst, Massachusetts, a native of India, discussed the history of the Faith in India and successful teaching methods there.
Truitt and Behin White (she is a native of India) talked about the culture, attitudes, and mores of Indians and how an American should conduct himself there. Truitt met Behin when he pioneered to India in 1973. They were married and came to the United States to complete school. Now they plan to return to India on a permanent basis.
Traveling teachers completed a training workshop at Louis Gregory Institute in December prior to going to India and Sri Lanka. At left, Frank Stewart appears puzzled over the Indian food served by Auxiliary Board member Elizabeth Martin. In center, John Woodall, Bob Rosenfeld, and Truitt White, from left to right, discuss a point. At right, some of the projecteers learn what to expect on their exciting trip.
Training begins April 2 for border teaching[edit]
A training program will begin April 2 in Mexicali, Mexico, to prepare for a special international teaching project on both sides of the borders of the United States and Mexico.
The plan was devised by the National Assemblies of Mexico and the United States and their appropriate committees.
American Bahá’ís who wish to participate must speak fluent Spanish, be able to travel alone, be in good health, be able to withstand difficult living conditions, have a capacity for expansion, consolidation, and deepening activities, and be at least 18 years of age.
Volunteers should apply through the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. Participation in the training program will be by invitation only.
At the outset, the teaching project will center around Mexicali and Tijuana, Mexico, and El Centro and Chula Vista, California. The immediate goal of the program is to raise Local Assemblies in the four areas by Riḍván.
Plans also include teaching and consolidation work in the Yucatan and along the eastern U.S.-Mexico border.
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for personal teaching, pioneering, and the special role of youth. On weekends, the projecteers served as guides at the House of Worship.
“Being personally involved in the National teaching effort gives you a different perspective, a sense of immediacy,” commented a young man who worked in the shop in the basement of the House of Worship, helping to build the Bicentennial display which will be placed in national airports this year. He came to Wilmette from Dallas, Texas, with seven other projecteers in a two-car caravan.
The youth represented every region of the United States, and one was a native of Jamaica. The youngest member of the project was 16, the oldest 24; one had been a Bahá’í for just a month, another for eight months, others for three to five years, and some had been raised in Bahá’í families.
A young man who was working in the archives, cataloging historic papers, said that he felt “spiritually reinforced by the emphasis on perfection that you find everywhere, and by the feeling of dedication at work, in classes, and even in the family I’m staying with.”
All the youth were housed with Bahá’í families in the Wilmette area. Their participation in the project not only brought them bounties, but was a source of bounty to the National Center, because the tireless volunteer work of the youth accomplished thousands of dollars worth of labor.
“I think I’m one of the most fortunate youth in the country,” a 19-year-old carpenter said.
The project was the fourth of its kind at the National Center, and the largest. Another project is planned for March 21-April 2. Projecteers participate by invitation only. Interested youth can apply by writing to the National Youth Committee, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Getting close to the subject at the youth work-study program.
Prices set for trips to International Conferences[edit]
Prices have been established for travel arrangements to most of the eight International Teaching Conferences scheduled by The Universal House of Justice this year and in 1977.
The conferences will be held at Helsinki, Finland, July 6-8; Anchorage, Alaska, July 23-25; Paris, France, August 3-6; Nairobi, Kenya, October 15-17; Hong Kong, November 27-30; Auckland, New Zealand, January 19-22, 1977; Bahia, Brazil, January 28-30; and Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, February 4-6, 1977.
In order to get the maximum benefit of these conferences, the attendance of believers from the United States is being planned with the close cooperation of Bankers Trust Travel Planning Service of New York City, a large international travel bureau with extensive resources in foreign countries.
It is important that you notify Bankers Trust immediately if you plan to attend any of the conferences. Many of the host areas need an estimate of the number attending in order to complete the arrangements.
Write to Bankers Trust Travel Planning Service, in care of Godfried A. Breur, 280 Park Avenue, Floor 10 West, New York, New York 10017. Do not write to the Bahá’í National Center.
Deluxe, first class, and tourist accommodations have been arranged at most of the conference sites. First class accommodations, including air fare, will be $893 from New York for Helsinki. Deluxe rooms are more and tourist are less. The Paris first class rate from New York will be $845. Nairobi first class rate from New York via either Amsterdam or Haifa will be $1252. The charge for Hong Kong via New York will be $1308. Prices will be affected by the gateway utilized other than New York.
Education[edit]
How to acquire free and inexpensive children’s materials[edit]
Last in a Series
The quality and quantity of children’s materials from non-Bahá’í sources that can be adapted for use in Bahá’í children’s programs is increasing. However, how one defines Bahá’í child education greatly influences the choice and use of materials.
The Bahá’í Writings include many guidelines for the education of Bahá’í children (see Bahá’í Teacher’s Handbook, Volume I, “Bahá’í References on Education” available from the Bahá’í Publishing Trust). However, there is no one “right” answer to the question: What is Bahá’í education? The goal of all Bahá’í education is to instill a love of learning in the child and to develop his talents and potentialities for the service of mankind. With an expanded view of Bahá’í child education, an infinite world of learning materials is available to the teacher. The sources for such materials are vast. This article will suggest sources for free and inexpensive children’s materials.
Bahá’í Publishing Trust[edit]
The Bahá’í Publishing Trust is an excellent source of children’s materials. The materials can be most easily ordered from your community librarian. They can also be obtained directly by individuals in communities without librarians. Contact the Publishing Trust for details: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
The materials include a comprehensive set of lesson plans for children ages 5-14; teacher manuals; children’s workbooks; and illustrated story books. In addition, the Bahá’í Publishing Trust also produces quality audio-visual aids for use with children. For example, the filmstrip “The Red Velvet Story” shows how children can teach the Faith; the filmstrip series “Land of Resplendent Glory” is a wonderful tool for lessons dealing with Bahá’í history; and the cassette recording “Hear the Song of the Wind” contains beautiful music which can enliven any Bahá’í class. Write for a catalog.
Public Library[edit]
The public library in any community has a large variety of learning materials at little or no cost. Available materials include books, magazines, records, movies, filmstrips, pictures, and reference books. Selected children’s books used in Bahá’í context can be most useful. They can be used to discuss moral issues, illustrate a basic principle, help children identify and label their feelings, or learn about foreign cultures. Books also provide a stimulus to the child’s imagination.
Newspapers, magazines and periodicals are also available in libraries. They are an excellent source of materials which are published frequently and give up-to-date information. In them you may find many exciting ideas to use in your classroom. Often listed in these magazines are free materials and information offered by advertisers. For example, the magazine entitled The Instructor contains a section at the back called “Materials Information Center.” Free information and materials can be selected and the advertiser sends the items requested directly to the teacher. You can also find magazines which can be used directly with the children. Cricket, Highlights for Children and National Geographic’s new publication for children entitled World are perhaps the most useful for Bahá’í children. Often, they provide background information on foreign countries, craft ideas, or stories which can act as motivators for the discussion of Bahá’í principles. When looking for information on a special subject, use the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. It is an index to many different magazines. It is arranged according to subject, title, and author.
Pamphlets and brochures are another valuable source of information. The librarian may have a special cabinet called the “Vertical File Index” in which pamphlets and brochures prepared by various organizations are kept. Pamphlets of the U.S. Government Printing Office are particularly valuable to the Bahá’í teacher. They often contain “how to do it” information, giving directions in a step-by-step manner on subjects ranging from nature study to cooking.
Library services are available to the Bahá’í teacher. In addition to materials, the library provides special programs which include story hours for children; film and handicraft hours for young people; exhibits; reading motivation programs; inter-library loans; and special interest programs for adults. Bahá’í teachers can take advantage of these services. For instance, the story hour can be used as an activity for the pre-schoolers or the primary age children. Once a week, or month, children can be taken on a library field trip. Check ahead to see that the story corresponds with the unit you are studying in your Bahá’í classes. Prior to the trip, the teacher can review with the children the need for manners and politeness. Older children can be taken to the library to view films, listen to records, or do an independent study project. Such activities should be directly related to the topics being studied in the regular Bahá’í children’s class.
Children learn how to use materials for education. This picture was taken at the Southern California Teaching Conference in Long Beach.
Major Organizations[edit]
Many organizations dedicated to the public interest produce materials suitable for the Bahá’í children’s class. Three sources which are particularly useful for Bahá’ís are:
- UNICEF: Write the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, 331 East 38th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016
- B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League: Main Office, 315 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10016
- The National Conference of Christians and Jews: Main Office, 43 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019
In major cities, check the phone book for the nearest office of these organizations.
UNICEF materials include publications, teachers’ kits, books, filmstrips, slides, music, films, and displays. Write for a catalog.
The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the National Conference of Christians and Jews provide information on field trips, films and filmstrips, scripts, panels, workshop and leadership training. The materials they supply present a positive approach to building better relationships among all peoples. They stress religious, racial and ethnic understanding.
Private Companies[edit]
Companies frequently provide free educational materials for instructors. For example, Intercultural Associates, Box 217, Thompson, Connecticut 06277, produces a brightly colored wall calendar which is available free. It is entitled “An Indian Calendar.” It lists the dates of secular and religious festivals. This would be a particularly useful aid in a unit on progressive revelation. They also produce other audio-visual aids, pamphlets, and a newspaper six times a year. Most of their materials are available free. The A. B. Dick Company, 5700 West Touhy, Chicago, Illinois 60600, produces a pamphlet entitled “The Creative Teacher.” This suggests ways to enliven your class. It is filled with absorbing and meaningful material which can be easily adapted for Bahá’í children’s classes. The Chevron Chemical Company, Public Relations, P.O. Box 3744, San Francisco, California 94119, produces a “Child’s Garden.” This is a useful pamphlet which gives specific instructions on how to work with children in the garden. It stresses the element of discovery.
Other Religious Publishing Houses[edit]
Many religious sects, particularly the newer, youth-oriented Christian groups, have produced material which (with appropriate caution and careful editing) can
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ninth Bahá’í. I cannot make a Local Spiritual Assembly.” The Guardian replied that he should not worry, an Assembly would be formed.
Soon after this, the Guardian passed away. The grief-stricken pioneer wept loudly. His neighbors heard him and asked what happened, and how could they help? He explained that the leader of his Faith, the beloved Guardian, had died. “Pray with me,” he asked. And they did. They enjoyed the prayers so much that they asked to return and pray again. Eventually, 40 became Bahá’ís.
Dr. Muhájir stressed that the Faith has spread to every part of the globe because of the sincerity and capacity of pioneers.
He issued a call for pioneers and about 20 Bahá’ís came forward. Each explained why he wanted to go and each was given a form by the International Goals Committee. Others in the audience responded to Dr. Muhájir’s call for traveling teachers.
“If you can go, go,” Dr. Muhájir said. “If you can’t go, go anyway. Go traveling teaching.”
Dr. Muhájir, far right, is pleased with the response his call for pioneers brought.
The true spirit of sacrifice for the Fund[edit]
Did the pioneering spirit die with the invention of the automobile and the discovery of electricity? One wonders what it would be like to live without the conveniences to which we have been accustomed in this technologically oriented civilization. A recent letter enclosed with a pioneer couple’s personal contribution to the Bahá’í National Fund provided a touching glimpse into the rigors and the joys this life-style purveys.
Writing from a post in the Americas where they live in a three-room house with a wood-burning stove, no running water and seven tenants, and where they serve an active Bahá’í community made up of a majority of native believers, these pioneers at times literally don’t know where their next meal will come from. Yet they strive to give regularly to the Fund with some degree of sacrifice.
Whatever the hardships which encompass them, peace and contentment can be discerned through their words: “We are surrounded by much that we consider worthwhile, both in terms of scenic beauty and in the beauty of the soul, reflected in the bronze-skinned faces of the people with whom we are working and serving.”
Development of their local Bahá’í Administration has been a slow process. The natives are, by nature and tradition, a gracious people with very involved family ties. Therefore, the rules must sometimes be bent to avoid hurt feelings. The couple writes: “It has taken over a year for the native believers in this locale to learn the difference between an Assembly meeting for Assembly members only, a Feast for the believers only, and a fireside which can include everyone.”
“Now,” they report, “the community is beginning to learn about the Bahá’í Fund(s), and in just one month local Fund participation has nearly doubled. Earlier this year a sheep was donated by a 74-year-old believer on the occasion of a Holy Day observance. It made a satisfying stew for the 33 persons in attendance, and as it would have brought $25 on the open market, we recognized this as a generous contribution to the local community.”
Distressing news of the Bahá’í National Fund brought this response from a husband whose hands are calloused and blistered after a year of axe-wielding for firewood and building needs, and from a wife who in spite of high blood pressure frequently walks to work in ankle-deep mud or knee-high snow: “We were hurt for the Faith, and ashamed for the American Bahá’í Community. We contemplated the words of Shoghi Effendi: ‘It is therefore imperative for the individual American believer, and particularly for the affluent, the independent, the comfort-loving and those obsessed by material pursuits, to step forward, and dedicate their resources, their time, their very lives to a Cause of such transcendence that no human eye can even dimly perceive its glory.’ ”
Is the pioneering spirit dead? On the contrary! Many Bahá’í pioneers, both on the homefront and abroad, daily experience the joys of sacrifice in the path of their Lord. Their desire to see the American Bahá’í Community share in that joy and arise to play its part in winning every goal of the Five Year Plan is understandable.
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be adapted for Bahá’í use. Some examples are: (1) Creative Resources (a division of Word Incorporated, Waco, Texas 76700). This group publishes a series of minicourses under the series title of “Serendipity Books,” suitable for children and youth. Sample titles are “Man Alive,” (self discovery), and “Serendipity” (personal relationships). (2) Word Inc. also distributes records, tapes, song books, and sheet music under the name Lexicon/Light Music. (3) Mass Media, 2116 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, and 1720 Chouteau Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, is a good source of rental films centering on religious themes. Many of them are good “discussion-starters.” Write for catalogs.
Film Distribution Agencies[edit]
The best known agency distributing films free of charge to the user is Modern Talking Pictures, 2323 New Hyde Park Road, New Hyde Park, New York 11040. You pay only for the return postage and insurance. Ask for the “Free Loan Elementary Films” catalog.
Several companies around the country rent films to non-profit groups. Check your public library for names and addresses.
Public Media[edit]
The powerful influence of the media to which children and adults alike are constantly exposed must not be overlooked. The question is, however, how does one shut out the decadence and seek out the good? There is useful material available from these sources if it can be used selectively. Two examples are the TV shows “Free to Be You and Me,” and Dr. Seuss’s “Sneetches.”
A valuable aid if you wish to use TV as a resource is the “Teacher’s Guide to Television.” It provides lesson plans, a bibliography, and a related film list for programs of outstanding educational value for an entire semester on ABC, CBS, NBC, and NET. A pre-paid subscription for the year costs $3.60. The address is: Teacher’s Guides to Television, P.O. Box 564, Lenox Hill Station, New York, N.Y. 10021.
Stores[edit]
Stores can also be a good source of free or inexpensive teaching materials. Some of the possibilities include: bookstores, record stores, toy stores, hobby stores, art supply stores, professional supply houses (especially education supply houses), and Christian bookstores. Check the yellow pages. Stores frequently are a good source of free materials for craft projects.
Thirty-two eager Head Start children perform one of several delightful songs at Durango, Colorado, program.
Communities observe Human Rights Day[edit]
United States Bahá’ís observed United Nations Human Rights Day in various ways December 10.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Durango, Colorado, made its fourth annual Human Rights Day Award presentation to the Durango Head Start Program. The program is outstanding for its encouragement of parent involvement and service by other community members such as residents of nursing homes, college and high school students, businessmen, and others.
The mistress of ceremonies sang two songs and then introduced 32 eager children who sang for the audience of over 130 people, including their parents and teachers. Chris Cholas, chairman of the Durango Assembly, gave the representative of Head Start a certificate of appreciation and the book Foundations of World Unity by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Each Head Start child received an illuminated copy of one of the Master’s prayers for children.
In Cottage Grove, New York, the Local Spiritual Assembly hosted a program in the high school library. The program featured three speakers.
Elizabeth La Husan, a student of the condition of women in Latin America, spoke of women in Chile. Violet Orr, a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and coauthor of a book called 1997, spoke of the activities of her organization. Dari Thomas, a Bahá’í, offered quotations from the Bahá’í writings on the role of women.
Inquirers received Bahá’í literature and other books on worldwide activities of women from a large table. Bulletin boards featured Bahá’í posters.
The event was publicized with newspaper ads, radio announcements, phone calls to local clergy, and posters.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Laconia, New Hampshire, sponsored a musical fireside with three members of the Harvard University Bahá’í Club. Anthony Vance, guitarist, sang several songs. Sue Tonkonogy and Takeo Igusa shared thoughts on the Faith. Mr. Igusa also played the piano. The filmstrip Out of God’s Eternal Ocean was shown.
The meeting, which was intimate and warm, was held in Gilford, which is a goal area for the Laconia Assembly.
Guitarist Anthony Vance, center, performs at a musical fireside at Gilford, New Hampshire.
Speakers at the Cottage Grove, New York, program were, from left, Elizabeth La Husan, Dari Thomas, and Violet Orr.
News briefs[edit]
Proclamation reaches wide audience[edit]
Susan Harding, Fred Baker, and Lola Baker at Gulfport radio station.
Radio station WTAM in Gulfport, Mississippi, invited three Bahá’ís to speak on a talk show in December. The topic for Fred Baker, Lola Baker, and Susan Harding was the Bahá’í teachings on women’s rights.
However, Mr. Baker had been invited to speak at a proclamation meeting at a Bahá’í home in Bay St. Louis on the same date as the radio interview. He elected to participate in the radio program.
Undaunted, the Bay St. Louis Bahá’ís and their guests tuned in to WTAM and listened to three speakers instead of one. A question-and-answer session followed, and dinner was enjoyed in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
The Bay St. Louis Group has proclamation meetings once a month, alternating between two Bahá’í homes.
Bahá’í float wins award in Tustin parade[edit]
Bahá’ís of Tustin, California, won the “Most Original Float” award in the Tustin Tiller Days Parade on October 18.
The Bahá’ís used music and radiant children in diverse dress to proclaim the theme of their float—“America’s Highest Hope: International Harmony.” Thirty Bahá’í children from all over Orange County rode the float.
Berkeley features talk about the Master[edit]
In a talk, “Memories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” Ali Yazdi described his first glimpse, as an 11-year-old boy, of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Ramleh, Egypt, in 1910. Mr. Yazdi was addressing 75 guests at a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Berkeley, California.
Speaking at the University of California on November 2, Mr. Yazdi told of his school days in Ramleh, where Shoghi Effendi, then 13 years old, was his classmate; and of student years at the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, where Shoghi Effendi studied.
Mr. Yazdi reminisced about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the difficult days of World War I; of a farewell visit with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1919 in Haifa; of a visit to Oxford University with Shoghi Effendi as his host; and of a visit to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Cause of God, in Haifa in 1928.
A member of the audience commented, “What a priceless resource the newer generations of Bahá’ís have in the memories and the lives of such long-time servants of the Cause.”
Cause is discussed on radio talk show[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Mashpee, Massachusetts, saw the influence of radio in their community when someone called a talk show to inquire about the Faith. A Bahá’í who was listening to the radio while he worked called the station and gave an impromptu fireside: a 10-minute discussion of the Faith with the talk show host.
He was later informed that the station received about 22 inquiries about the Faith.
The Bahá’ís of Mashpee had put a proclamation ad in the Mashpee Bulletin newspaper.
Bahá’í interviewed on Phoenix TV station[edit]
Laurie Henderson, left, and Gary Worth, right, discuss Bahá’í exhibit with Dr. and Mrs. Samandar Ha’i at Tempe, Arizona.
Doors to publicizing the Bahá’í Message opened in the Phoenix, Arizona, area when the Phoenix television program “Today in Arizona” featured an interview with Dorothy Ha’i, speaker for a proclamation by the Tempe Local Spiritual Assembly.
The hostess of the show asked Bahá’ís to return for a longer interview, and the co-host of the show asked Bahá’ís to be guests on his talk show on a major Phoenix radio station.
Dr. Ha’i and her husband, Samandar Ha’i, spoke at a commemoration of United Nations International Women’s Year on October 3 at Arizona State University. The subject was the equality of men and women. The program was sponsored by the Tempe Assembly and the Bahá’í Association of Arizona State University. A display called “Some Outstanding Women in the Bahá’í Faith” complemented Dr. and Mr. Ha’i’s talk.
Classes are held in Tempe goal area[edit]
The Tempe Inter-Community Bahá’í Family School opened on the morning of September 13 in Guadalupe, Arizona. Guadalupe, a small, newly-incorporated town with a majority population of Mexican-Americans and Yaqui Indians, is a goal area of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tempe.
The Tempe Assembly opened its Family School as a center for teaching, deepening, and inter-community fellowship. Nearly 40 men, women, and children, Bahá’ís and friends, from seven communities, gathered at a Catholic elementary school in Guadalupe for the first Family School session.
The school’s first series was four weeks long and had the theme of the equality of men and women. The second series, recently begun, is six weeks long, with the theme of the elimination of prejudice. People of all ages are attending the school each Saturday morning, sometimes traveling as far as 50 miles to participate.
Faith explained in San Leandro church[edit]
Bahá’ís of San Leandro, California, read prayers, played music, and explained the history and teachings of the Faith to over 200 people at a Bicentennial interfaith worship service in San Leandro on Thanksgiving Day.
The audience, gathered in the Mormon Church, included representatives of the city council and the local clergy.
The Spiritual Assembly of San Leandro has two representatives in the San Leandro Bicentennial Committee, Church Division. During the planning of the interfaith worship service, the Bahá’ís offered to provide music for the program.
A Bahá’í couple from San Leandro explained Bahá’í beliefs and sang two songs emphasizing unity. They then led the audience in singing “God Bless America.” The chairman of the Assembly read ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Prayer for America, and a Bahá’í couple from the Burlingame community sang “Amazing Grace” and the prayer of Bahá’u’lláh which begins, “O my Lord, make Thy beauty to be my food.”
After the service, many people thanked the Bahá’ís, and members of the Mormon Church invited them to sing in the church again. Bahá’í literature was available in the church foyer, and many people took pamphlets.
Mr. Medley honored at San Jose festival[edit]
A member of the San Jose, California, Bahá’í community was awarded the Marcel Ragonese Memorial Award at the 18th annual United Nations Cultural Festival in San Jose on October 18.
The award honors community service. It was instituted and presented for the first time this year. Allen Medley, winner of the award, has been in charge of physical arrangements for the festival for six years. He is affectionately known to festival participants as “Mr. World Citizen.” His award plaque read, “To Al Medley, our world citizen, from a grateful committee.”
The Bahá’ís of San Jose have had a booth in the festival every year for 13 years. This year, their theme was the oneness of mankind. Many pamphlets were taken by seekers from among the 20,000 residents of San Jose and surrounding towns who attended the festival.
Bahá’í books and materials[edit]
Five new titles now available[edit]
Messages from The Universal House of Justice: 1968-1973
Messages from The Universal House of Justice: 1968-1973, just published, comprises communications spanning that institution’s second term, Riḍván 1968 to Riḍván 1973. The volume is a sequel to Wellspring of Guidance, which was published in 1969. These selected messages, beginning with the results of the election of the second International Convention, portray the major developments of the latter half of the Nine Year Plan. The communications also convey the guidance, advice, and comments of The House of Justice on a variety of questions confronting the Bahá’í world community at various stages of the Plan.
Except for three messages, all these communications have appeared in part or in whole in the various Bahá’í journals. Bahá’ís will be able to refer to the messages more easily now that they are gathered in one volume. Cover design by Conrad Heleniak. 129 pp., index.
7-25-08 cloth..................$4.00
Bahá’í Literature[edit]
The Heavens Are Cleft Asunder
by Huschmand Sabet
The Heavens Are Cleft Asunder is an introduction to the Bahá’í Faith by a man who is well-known as a lecturer on the Faith in the German-speaking countries of Europe. This is a translation of the German book, whose publication stimulated a wide and immediate response from theologians and in various journals.
Mr. Sabet believes that religion has become petrified in its institutional and dogmatic shell and that true reformation and renewal can come only through a new revelation from God. His book examines in some depth these crucial issues: Does the modern world of scientific progress still need religion? Can the existing religions meet mankind’s desperate need for unity? How does the Bahá’í Faith offer the world spiritual and moral guidance and an effective program for the reorganization of society on a world scale? In answering these questions, the author has written an excellent introduction to the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. 138 pp., chronological table, bibliography, references.
7-32-14 cloth..................$5.00
Bahá’í: Follower of the Light
by Ray Meyer
A new and unique introduction to the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’í: Follower of the Light combines brief explanations of the Faith’s history and teachings with selections from the Bahá’í Writings and attractive line drawings. The text and illustrations on each page are artistically arranged to invite the reader to ponder and reflect as he learns about God’s religion for this Day. Among the topics covered in the book are “Bahá’u’lláh,” “Revelation Is Progressive,” “Prejudice Fades Away,” “Equal Status of Men and Women,” “Prayer,” “If You Are of Another Faith,” and “The Bahá’í Administrative Order.”
Everything about Bahá’í: Follower of the Light, from its direct and simply-written explanations of Bahá’í Teachings to its layout and illustrations, makes it unlike any other booklet available from the Publishing Trust. An excellent gift for seekers and for new Bahá’ís. Illustrated by Pamela Poulter. First published in Australia. 71 pp. 5¼ x 8⅛ inches.
7-31-96 paper..................$.75; 20/$14.00; 100/$65.00
Star Study Program[edit]
“The aim of the Star Study Program,” writes the National Spiritual Assembly, “is to help believers catch a spark of the love of Bahá’u’lláh and become deepened in the basic teachings of the Faith.” At the core of the program is a series of nine booklets—the newest of which is Bahá’í Laws—which can be used for teaching and deepening institutes and for individual study.
Bahá’í Laws
Bahá’í Laws, just published, is the third of the nine booklets which make up the core of the Star Study Program. The booklet’s nine brief and easy-to-read chapters cover submission to the will of God, obligatory prayer and fasting, teaching, learning a trade or profession, chastity, marriage and divorce, prohibitions, wills and burial, and loyalty to government. Handsomely illustrated by Gordon Laite. Venetian red cover. 5½ x 8½ inches. Star Study Program. 15 pp., notes.
7-64-60 paper..................$.40
Bahá’u’lláh
This short, captivating booklet discusses Bahá’u’lláh’s early life, His acceptance of the Báb, His Declaration and proclamation, His sufferings, His Writings, and His Ascension. Illustrated by Lori Block. Star Study Program. 15 pp., notes.
7-64-50 paper..................$.40
The Local Spiritual Assembly
This Star Study Program booklet describes the station, duties, and organization of the Local Spiritual Assembly, as well as the institution’s relationship with the believers and other aspects of its operations. Illustrated by Gordon Laite. Star Study Program. 17 pp., notes.
7-64-58 paper..................$.40
Back in Stock[edit]
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era
by J. E. Esslemont
Now available with a bright new cover design—the definitive introduction to the Bahá’í Faith. 286 pp., index.
7-31-05 paper..................$.95
Materials for Children[edit]
The Wonder Lamp
by A. Q. Faizi
This delightful new booklet by the Hand of the Cause of God Mr. A. Q. Faizi is an allegory about the coming of the Manifestation of God. Appearing mysteriously in the springtime after a long and devastating winter, the “Wonder Lamp” is a “huge, gigantic lantern, aglow with all the hues of the rainbow and the warmth of the sunshine.” Children dance merrily around the lamp, but princes passing by cover it with gifts, obscuring its light, darkening the world, and scattering the children.
The climax of the story occurs when a gigantic tempest sweeps the earth and the children return, raising their voices “to mention the most great Name of God, the Creator of the whole universe.” Children grades 5 and up enjoy reading The Wonder Lamp themselves, while younger children learn from having it read to them at home or in children’s classes. Bahá’í Publishing Trust of India. 6½ x 8 inches. 23 pp.
7-52-54 paper..................$.75; 10/$7.00
The Wonder Lamp/Banishments/Sing His Praises (cassette)
The Wonder Lamp is a musical adaptation of the story by Mr. Faizi described above. The Banishments of Bahá’u’lláh, another musical presentation, describes Bahá’u’lláh’s exiles. Both of these are narrated by Sam McClellan with Mildred McClellan at the piano. Sing His Praises features songs written and performed by Creadell Haley. Children can learn from and enjoy this cassette in Bahá’í classes or at home. Times: 15, 8, and 12 minutes, respectively.
6-70-01 cassette..................$3.75
Rúḥíyyih Khánum meets with National Assembly[edit]
Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, center in front row, is pictured with members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. She consulted with the National Assembly concerning distribution of materials from her Green Light Expedition. At right in front row is her traveling companion, Violette Naúkhjavání. Others are members of the National Assembly. They are, left to right, front row, Franklin Kahn, Dorothy W. Nelson, and Magdalene Carney; back row, Richard D. Betts, William Maxwell Jr., Firuz Kazemzadeh, Daniel Jordan, and Glenford E. Mitchell. See story on Page 2.
88 teaching conferences scheduled March 27—Page 1
Bahamas Temple site is acquired—Page 3
Local Assembly Program gains momentum—Page 6