The Five Year Plan 2011-2016 (Summary)/Increasing Intensity

The Five Year Plan 2011-2016 (Summary) by Bahá’í World Centre

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[Page 14]

Increasing Intensity

ven before the Five Year Plan was world had gained valuable experience in intensifying activities in those clusters where a programme of growth had been established. The last five years saw a further accumulation of experience and an efflorescence of the many capacities required for the effective implementation of an intensive programme of growth: carrying out meaningful conversations with an ever wider circle of acquaintances and inhabitants in a locality; expanding significantly the pool of human resources through robust institute activities; making effective use of gatherings for reflection; and enhancing the functioning of institutions and agencies serving at the cluster level. Often, the movement of a cluster from the first to the second milestone was greatly facilitated when the friends developed their capacity to converse with young people, invite them to participate in institute courses, and assist them to initiate core activities, particularly in the villages and neighbourhoods where they lived.

In striving to increase intensity, the challenge in some clusters with fledgling programmes of growth was simply to sustain and extend the healthy pattern of action already established. Elsewhere, the task was to revitalize intensive programmes of growth in clusters where the level of activity and the development of human resources seemed to have reached a plateau. In such communities the friends strove [Page 15] to create “that spiritually charged arena in which powers are multiplied in unified action”.16 The account below provides a striking example of how activity was intensified in one such community.

The Makeni cluster in Sierra Leone had a relatively small Bahá’í community and a few sustained activities when two pioneers—one of whom had substantial experience with the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme—arrived in 2011 as part of a special pioneering initiative. The pioneers began activities and met regularly with a small group of friends to consult as a team about the development of the cluster. One of their first steps was to help two Bahá’í youth establish a children’s class and a junior youth group. Additionally, a number of youth from the wider society were invited to attend an intensive study of Book 5 in Freetown, the capital city. Vital to the subsequent progress of the cluster was assisting this group of young people to develop a collective vision for the advancement of their community. During their study, they made plans to extend the process to a widening circle of their acquaintances, to support one another in their efforts, and to continue advancing in their study of institute courses. After returning to Makeni, they were able to establish new junior youth groups, involving about 20 youngsters. Many were attracted to the new groups, and some of the junior youth began organizing children’s activities. To nurture the spiritual development of the growing number of youth who had become engaged in community building, the team of friends supporting activities in the cluster encouraged and supported a few Bahá’í families to host regular devotional gatherings.

As the number of junior youth groups grew, coordinators emerged from among the animators, and the cluster became associated with the learning site for the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme in Accra-Tema, Ghana. The service projects of the junior youth groups and the efforts of the animators to mobilize their friends generated further interest in the programme, and dozens of additional youth arose to play a part. In parallel, the number of children’s classes grew to around 20, and a coordinator was appointed to accompany the teachers. The growth in the number of groups and classes increased participation at Nineteen Day Feasts and Holy Days, which in turn encouraged the Local Spiritual Assembly to meet more regularly and consult about how to enhance the quality of these gatherings and serve the needs of those participating in community activities.

The youth conference in Ghana in 2013 lent significant impetus to the process of human resource development in Makeni. A key objective after the conference was to increase the number of tutors in the cluster. After some of the animators completed their study of Book 7, more and more young people were able to study the main sequence of [Page 16] courses. A study circle coordinator was eventually appointed to accompany the tutors who were learning to facilitate Book study circles with their friends. A national youth gathering also contributed to involving more youth in the community-building activities. By 2014, the number of devotional meetings had grown to 38 with 279 participants, and an Area Teaching Committee had been appointed. At that time, there were 46 classes with 550 children and 92 junior youth groups with over 1,000 participants. The initial team of friends in Makeni had now evolved into a fully fledged scheme of coordination. Its members benefited from the support and encouragement of the institutions and from participation in national reflection gatherings. Within a period of just over four years, the cluster moved from having 8 core activities with 53 participants none of whom were junior youth to about 200 core activities in which over 2,000 individuals participated, with a corresponding increase in the number of human resources.

Meaningful Conversations

As the friends at the forefront of activities learned to engage others in conversation about the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and invite them to contribute to the processes of change under way, the receptivity of certain populations, especially in neighbourhoods or villages, became evident. Not surprisingly, young people proved to be the most receptive.

The friends in Singapore strengthened their intensive programme of growth by focusing on a few neighbourhoods. One teaching team in the Bishan neighbourhood began by meeting to pray for the inhabitants of their community and to study passages describing the inherent nobility of man, the oneness of humanity, and the purpose of the community-building activities of the Faith. As a result of conversations with their neighbours, two children's classes were formed. Three sets of parents began studying the sequence of institute courses, and a devotional gathering was established. As the friends continued to reach out to more and more people in the neighbourhood, the number participating in activities rose to 40, and two new families formally embraced the Faith.

In the Pune cluster in India, the friends focused their efforts in four neighbourhoods. A group of five friends was assigned to each neighbourhood. They conversed with the inhabitants about the importance of spiritual education for children and junior youth and held a series of institute campaigns, which led to a sizeable increase in core activities in these neighbourhoods.

In the Jamundí cluster in Colombia, where the community was striving to intensify its activities, the friends considered how they could expand the number of people

Local Bahá’ís engage in meaningful conversations with their friends and neighbours in Pune, India. [Page 17] Friends study the first book in the sequence of institute courses in Bishan, Singapore.

with whom they were conversing on spiritual matters. In collaboration with the coordinator for children's classes, the Local Spiritual Assembly decided to focus on supporting the efforts of young people to serve the community by forming a team of three friends to organize intensive institute campaigns for youth. The team discussed the purpose and vision of the institute process with young people and invited them to study the courses. The first intensive session involved 12 youth who then invited their friends. In the second intensive session, 16 youth attended. An increasing number of people in the community joined the effort by serving as tutors or by providing hospitality and transportation. The friends in the cluster found, in this simple initiative, an essential strategy that was appropriate for the characteristics of the participants. Since youth were attracted to monthly institute campaigns, a new dynamic and rhythm in the institute process took root and contributed to advancing the process of growth in the cluster.

In one neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada, a local Bahá’í began a conversation with a mother about the spiritual education of her child and the possibility of starting a children's class in the area. Through her friendship with this mother, the Bahá’í met several more families with children and began having regular gatherings at her home. The first time the families visited, the discussion explored the concept of true friendship and the material and spiritual needs of their community. Over time, the gathering became a regular devotional meeting, and a children's class was also held. Later, a study circle was started with the mother and her friends, and the participants began to take more ownership of the activities in the neighbourhood. They made plans to expand the activities, organize a community gathering, and increase participation in the children's class.

TRUTHFULNESS

A neighbourhood children's class in Vancouver, Canada. [Page 18]

Raising Up Tutors

In the initial stages of developing a programme of growth, communities relied largely on support from more advanced clusters in raising up human resources. In time, a few friends gained sufficient experience and confidence to be able to serve as tutors of the first few courses in the sequence. This marked a new stage in the development of a cluster, and made it possible for more people to study institute courses. Indeed, having a cadre of local tutors was critical to increasing the intensity and dynamism of the community-building process.

At one point during the Plan, the institutions in Haiti realized that many of the 10 clusters with programmes of growth in the country—including newly formed ones—had been struggling to advance the community-building process. Those involved in the training institute reflected on how to raise up and accompany tutors and made plans accordingly. Teams of experienced tutors were formed to support the friends in these clusters. They were also encouraged to collaborate with the Auxiliary Board members and the coordinators. By organizing institute campaigns, institute seminars for tutors, and tutor reflection meetings, the teams helped local friends to move through the sequence of courses and to initiate and facilitate new study circles. The number of study circles rose markedly, which resulted in an increase in human resources committed to the community-building process.

Similarly, in Malawi, the training institute organized a number of institute campaigns across the country to raise up additional tutors. As the participants advanced from book to book, they developed a sound understanding of the institute process and were able to help many young people study the institute courses and begin to serve.

An orientation for tutors in South Queensland, Australia.

In the Dili cluster of East Timor, a group of participants studying Book 7 were prepared to begin serving as tutors. After completing this course, the group discussed how they would help others study the institute courses and enhance their capacity for service. They invited 35 youth who were family members and friends of the participants of existing study circles to an event where they shared what they had learned in the institute process and encouraged them to also begin studying the courses. Seven study circles of Ruhi Book 1 were promptly formed by these newly trained tutors, and within a week the number of study circles doubled to 14, with 170 participants. This remarkable progress, taking place in a short period of time, helped raise the tutors’ enthusiasm for the institute process in the cluster. [Page 19]

Educating Children and Empowering Junior Youth

In settings both urban and rural, the friends continued to meet the challenge of promoting programmes for the spiritual education of children and the spiritual empowerment of junior youth. Factors that contributed to progress in these two areas included: an increased capacity to converse with young people from the wider society and invite them to serve as teachers and animators; helping them progress through the courses of the training institute; assisting them as they formed classes and groups; holding gatherings for reflection; and striving to ensure that, whenever possible, children's class materials for multiple grades and the whole range of the texts of the junior youth programme were available in the appropriate languages. The account below shares the experience of one cluster.

At the beginning of the Plan, two friends from the Gran Canaria cluster in the Canary Islands attended a seminar at the learning site for the junior youth spiritual empowerment programme in Madrid, Spain. At the time, Gran Canaria had four junior youth groups, and the community had gained some experience with a few elements of the programme. The seminar helped the two friends to visualize the potential in Gran Canaria for expanding the programme and to set goals and make plans to achieve them.

A list was made of Bahá’ís who may be interested in serving as animators, and each was visited to discuss the programme and study relevant guidance from the Universal House of Justice. The friends making the visits also shared stories about the transformation of junior youth in the cluster who had previously participated in the programme, and this helped to provide the potential animators with a clear vision and sense of purpose. Seven individuals joined a study of Book 5 and, with the help of the junior youth participating in the existing groups and their animators, 6 new groups were formed, bringing the total number to 10. A few months later, a cohort of youth took part in an intensive study of Book 5. The friends developed a pattern of regularly offering the study of [Page 20]

Special Pioneering Initiatives to Intensify Growth

At the beginning of this Plan, the Universal House of Justice announced that it would "regularly call the attention of selected National Assemblies in different parts of the world to specific urgent pioneer needs". To advance the process of expansion and consolidation by raising human resources dedicated to community-building endeavours in certain countries or international regions, assistance from outside would be needed for a period to realize the potential for greater growth and development. The primary objective of such initiatives was to foster intensive programmes of growth in each country or territory involved and build the capacity of individuals and institutions to assume responsibility to sustain and extend the work. The initiatives entailed placing in specified clusters pioneers who possessed sound experience of the Plan, particularly in working with youth and involving them in the institute process and the junior youth programme. In this regard, neighbouring countries and other designated countries were asked to help by providing pioneers from their own national communities.

Drawing on the experience and insights gained from the Caribbean initiative, which concluded in 2012, thirteen special initiatives were established around the world in the last five years: five in Africa (Angola; Burundi; Liberia and Sierra Leone; Mozambique; and Tunisia); one in the Americas (Santiago cluster, Chile); four in Asia (Georgia; Korea; Laos and Thailand; and the Russian Federation); one in Australasia (the Pacific); and two in Europe (the Balkans and the Baltics). Collectively, these special initiatives involved 40 countries, 83 clusters, and several hundred pioneers.

A junior youth group in the Peñalolén eighbourhood of Santiago, Chile.

Through the dedicated efforts of pioneers and collaborating institutions and agencies, new programmes of growth were established, those already in existence were strengthened, and institutional capacity was enhanced. In Liberia and Mozambique, advances in the movement of clusters and institutional capacity led to the re-establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly in both countries. By the end of the Plan, the community in Liberia was sustaining well over 200 core activities with about 2,100 participants, and in Mozambique the number of core activities had surpassed 60 with a total of over 600 participants. In eastern Angola, there were nearly 150 core activities with more than 1,200 participants by Ridván 2015, progress that led to the formation of the first Regional Bahá’í Council in that country. In the Balkans, an Administrative Committee was formed in Kosovo.

The main focus of the pioneers was to strengthen the institute process, giving particular attention to the junior youth programme. Within two and a half years, the junior youth programme in Burundi advanced from 11 groups with 102 participants to 48 groups with 745 participants. In the Manica cluster in Mozambique, the programme became well-established in one of the [Page 21] neighbourhoods where 9 groups with 85 participants were sustained. Two pioneers settled in the Ulan-Ude cluster in the Russian Federation and, as they learned the Russian language and established relationships with local believers, they became progressively more effective in their efforts to attract youth. As a result, they assisted a group of youth to progress through the institute courses and supported two junior youth groups that were formed in different neighbourhoods. Collective teaching projects also began to feature regularly as part of the three-month cycles of activity.

In countries that had a special initiative under way, gatherings were regularly convened for pioneers and others involved in the initiative to study guidance, reflect on learning, and plan the next steps. The friends in Laos and Thailand noted that the reflection meetings for all pioneers serving in these countries helped them to advance, sustain enthusiasm, and develop a collective spirit.

The unfoldment of the institute process in these regions also fostered change at the level of culture. For example, in the Balkan region, which in the past had experienced the horrors of a war that divided the countries and the people, a discourse around peace emerged. The special initiative there contributed to laying a new path of progress and to the elimination of long-standing prejudices among young people. At the youth conference for countries in the Balkans held in Tirana, Albania, in 2013, the majority of participants were from the wider society. At the beginning of the conference, the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Kosovars were unaccustomed to spending time with one another. "I had never talked with a Serb", a Bosniak youth said. However, the more they engaged with the conference materials, the more their fellowship was cultivated. On the last day, these youth went on stage holding hands and said, "For us in the region, this is a new beginning, a new chapter of history that we want to contribute to writing."

Dawn prayers on a beach during an intensive institute campaign in the Caroline Islands.

Advancing the Process of Entry by Troops

A children's class in Rrashbull, Albania.

A pioneer from the Philippines uses the arts to connect with the community in the Russian Federation. [Page 22]

Source of Courage

The source of course and power Is the phon of Wont of Good power

A children's class in a neighbourhood in the United Kingdom.

Foret about your Stow up for what Defend those in ne Rely upon His. mig Teach the Word of Go be murageous in your dead Fallow the path To happiness it ads

Book 5, mostly during school holidays. This strengthened the overall process of human resource development in the cluster, which was later given additional impetus by the 2013 youth conference in Madrid.

Soon after the initial surge in the number of groups, junior youth began attending cluster reflection gatherings and sharing with the community the songs they had composed. Witnessing the enthusiasm and capacity of this age group awakened the entire community to the potentialities inherent in junior youth and the value of the programme; many friends were compelled to intensify their teaching efforts to reach larger numbers of youth and junior youth. As more friends participated in the teaching work throughout the cluster, it became inevitable that, whenever a junior youth group was formed, a children's class would also be established in the same area. The two activities came to mutually reinforce each other. For example, by observing their older peers, the children developed a stronger desire to offer service and became aware of the next step in their spiritual education. In general, lessons learned in the junior youth programme were successfully applied to other lines of action. The devotional character of the cluster was strengthened as the groups initiated devotional meetings for their families and developed the habit of praying together. In neighbourhoods where there was a concentration of junior youth groups, the heightened level of activity opened the doors for collaboration with like-minded organizations in the wider society, including schools, which began to seek the practical help and advice of the Bahá’ís in their efforts to contribute to the well-being of their localities. [Page 23] Friends in Nepal discuss the spiritual and material progress of their community.

Fostering a Spirit of Teaching

Sharing the Word of God and teaching the Faith were part of every effort to reach out to receptive souls and populations. The focus of teaching was, naturally, suited to the capacity and interests of the listeners. At times these conversations centred on ways of contributing to the betterment of society, while on other occasions the friends offered a direct explanation of the fundamental verities of the Faith, which sometimes led to the enrolment of individuals in the Cause of God. The two accounts below provide examples of how institutions and agencies have collaborated in helping individuals to share the Message of Bahá’u’lláh with a growing number of people.

At the start of the Plan, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kolofo'ou in the Tongatapu cluster in Tonga studied the 28 December 2010 message from the Universal House of Justice. This study enabled it to assess the community and identify areas that required strengthening. It had become clear that the number of core activities had stopped growing, so the Assembly recognized a need to revitalize the teaching work. Together with the Area Teaching Committee, it organized a neighbourhood teaching campaign over a period of three days. During this collective effort, as teams of individuals sought to engage contacts in conversation, often teaching the Faith directly, they experienced a profound sense of joy. By the end of the cycle of activity, 10 new core activities had been established in the neighbourhood, and many new relationships had been formed, some of which were reinforced through regular home visits during the consolidation period. The experiences from the campaign were shared with the whole community to convey the enthusiasm and energy generated and to ignite the flame of love for teaching in others. In reflecting on the campaign and its fruits in the weeks that followed, the friends recognized that the close collaboration of the teaching teams- working together to support one another and to collectively achieve the goals- contributed to their success.

In the Falcão Real cluster in Brazil, a well-planned, 10-day teaching campaign held during an expansion phase greatly influenced the dynamics of growth in the cluster's initial stage of development. [Page 24] from other clusters in the region came to participate and gain experience, which they then shared in their own clusters. During the campaign, more than 50 friends embraced the Faith, eliciting new levels of energy in the community and propelling the number of core activities past 100.

Gatherings for Reflection

Consultation and reflection on action remained an integral part of the growth process as a programme of growth advanced. With the introduction of cycles of activity and its phases of expansion, consolidation, and reflection—the meeting at the end of a cycle often constituted the first formal opportunity for reflection among the active participants in the Plan.

Such meetings afforded an opportunity for the friends to study the guidance of the House of Justice, learn from one another's experience, assess the progress of their cluster, and determine the next steps to be taken. As the pattern of activity expanded in a cluster, gatherings for reflection and learning also emerged for teachers of children's classes, animators, and tutors.

In Hong Kong, reflection gatherings for tutors provided a place for them to study and deepen on the messages of the House of Justice and to consult on how, in the context of a bustling urban centre, they could improve the quality of their study circles. The visit of an Auxiliary Board member from a neighbouring country proved to be a great source of encouragement. The Board member shared practical insights from lessons learned in a community that faced a reality similar to that of Hong Kong. At follow-up gatherings, tutors were encouraged to invite their friends and family to participate in study circles. After these meetings, a heightened sense of courage, unity of thought, and mutual support began to emerge in the community, which resulted in increased efforts to teach the Faith directly and to initiate more study circles.

Youth and adults consult and plan together at a reflection meeting in Belarus. [Page 25] Firt A cluster reflection meeting in the Canary Islands.

Emergence and Strengthening of a Scheme of Coordination

With advances in the process of growth, the small nucleus of friends initially engaged in active service to the community grew in size. Some of these friends with more experience in the educational activities helped others new to the process to take their first steps in an arena of service. Over time, as more people began to serve as children's class teachers, animators, and tutors, such an informal arrangement proved inadequate.

In response to this growth, a few friends were called on to serve as coordinators of the educational programmes and were able to offer time and energy to accompany others.

As the consultative process among the coordinators strengthened, the pattern of action, reflection, and consultation seamlessly spread to more pockets of the cluster. The formation of an Area Teaching Committee at this stage helped to facilitate the organization of cluster-wide reflection meetings, foster the devotional character of the community, encourage collective teaching activities, and mobilize individuals and teams to disseminate the pattern of activity to other parts of the cluster.