Vision to Victory Conferences/The Six Year Plan

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The Six Year Plan

In January of 1986 the Universal House of Justice announced the opening of the Six Year Plan, the latest in a series of plans designed to accomplish the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bah4. The goals of the Six Year Plan for each country were created by the Counselors and National Spiritual Assemblies, a development that signalized the maturation of the Baha'i institutions and marked the inception of the fourth epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith. The Six Year Plan is to culminate with the incep- tion of a Holy Year, commemorating the Centenary of the Ascension of Bah4’u’ll4h and the inauguration of His Covenant.

The main objectives of the Six Year Plan include: “carrying the healing Message of Bah4’u’llah to the generality of mankind; greater involvement of the Faith in the life of human society; a worldwide increase in the translation, production, distribution, and use of Bah4’ literature; further acceleration in the process of the maturation of national and local Baha’i communities; greater attention to the universal participation and the spiritual enrichment of individual believers; a wider extension of Baha'i education to children and youth and the strengthening of Baha'i family life; and the pursuit of projects of social and eco- nomic development in well-established Baha’i communities.”

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The Six Year Plan

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To the Baha'is of the United States

Dear Baha'i Friends,

This new year marks the seventieth anniversary of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, that sublime series of letters addressed by ‘Abdu’l-Bah4 to the North American Baha’is and which, constituting one of the mighty Charters of His Father’s Faith, have inspired your highly prized community to achieve during the first three epochs of the Formative Age what no mind can fully assess, nor tongue adequately praise. Now, at the inception of the fourth epoch of that Age, your National Spiritual Assembly, working in close collaboration with the Continental Board of Counselors and drawing upon the advice of the delegates to your National Conven- tion and of your Local Spiritual Assemblies, has the inestimable privilege of devising the plans that will chart your course during the next six years to the eve of the Holy Year when you will join your sister communities in commemorating the centenary of the Ascension of Bah4a’u'llah and host, in the City of the Covenant, the second Baha’i World Congress.

The performance of the American Baha’i Community during the Plan now coming to a close has indeed enhanced by its monumental success in various fields the splendor of its past accomplishments. Although it is yet too soon to sum up the results of your seven-year- long efforts, the highlights of the outstanding array of achievements finally to be reported will undoubtedly include: the astonishing progress of your relations with your national govern- ment, particularly in defense of our oppressed brethren in Iran; the remarkable campaign you have mounted to diffuse the Peace Statement to all ranks of American society, beginning with the presentation to your Head of State; the resounding conference and accompanying activi- ties which marked your observance of International Youth Year; the early attainment of your Local Assembly and locality goals; the enormous output of your human and material re- sources for international pioneering and traveling teaching; and the inauguration of your radio station, WLGI. Indeed, the primacy invested in your community by the beloved Master remains intact.

In a sense, the imminent launching of the Six Year Plan, with all the special features it will entail, is a salute to your immortal triumphs as “spiritual descendants of the Dawn- breakers” and a fresh reminder that you possess the vast, largely unrealized potential of a community blessed by Baha’u’llah with a unique destiny in the unfoldment of His mighty World Order. We appeal, therefore, to each and every one of you, whether or not you occupy any position in the Baha'i Administration, to respond wholeheartedly to the call of your National Spiritual Assembly to assist in meeting the goals to be set. As the beloved Guardian repeatedly stated in his letters to the American believers, it is the individual who has the power to act, and on whom, “in the last resort, depends the fate of the entire com- munity.” Onward, then, with your inescapable but glorious tasks!

Our prayers will be offered at the Holy Threshold for your guidance and the further success of your mighty endeavors.

With loving Baha’i greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

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The Six Year Plan

a Current Focus of the Six Year Plan

According to the National Spiritual Assembly, the immediate challenges of the Six Year Plan lie in four broad areas:

e to achieve a vast increase in the number of new believers;

e to foster the maturation of spiritual assemblies;

e to increase the Baha'i education of children, youth, and adults; and

e to achieve the goals of the Baha’i National Fund for contributions to the Arc Fund, to the Baha’ International Fund, for the repair of the Mashriqu’l-

Adhké4r, and to support the initiatives of the National Spiritual Assembly for the growth and development of the American Baha’i community.

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The Six Year Plan

Se Questions to Consider

Consider the following questions to review your understanding of the ideas presented in this section. You can use the space provided to answer the questions.

1. What are the major objectives of the Six Year Plan?

2. What is the current focus of the plan in the United States?

3. Does your community have a teaching plan to support the achievement of the Six Year Plan?

4, Do you have a personal and/or family teaching plan to support the achieve- ment of the Six Year Plan?