Reflections on teaching the Baha'i Faith

Fostering a sense of group-feeling, identity, as means to heal, grow

2012-01-15T21:56:00.002+01:00

The approach of this Liberian health worker to helping people traumatized by war would be applicable equally to spiritual "traumas"/problems stemming from a lack of faith in religious principles! The methods described here confirm the importance of the methods of the core activities, like devotional meetings, where an atmosphere of fellowship conducive to openness/sharing is fostered. Likewise, the importance of helping people to become aware of what is conducive to one's spiritual health, as through the Baha'i institute courses, children's classes and junior youth groups.

How do you help refugees suffering from conflict-linked trauma?

It helps to communicate to those suffering that they are not alone. We organize group sessions where we share our experiences. In these sessions, I sometimes share my own experiences of fleeing my country because it helps others to open up. The stories shared in our coping groups can be heartbreaking: one lady saw her husband getting shot dead in front of her, another lady survived a massacre in a church because she was buried under dead bodies.

What do you consider the most vital aspect of your job?

If I had to choose just one thing, it would be our role in helping to raise health awareness among refugee communities. Preventing disease is better than curing it. Awareness sessions further help refugees to come forward and discuss their problems. Some refugees are too shy to discuss their condition, others might not be aware about where they can find vital medication [at little or no cost]. Health awareness-raising can deal with these issues appropriately.

Source: "Giving back, Liberian health worker cares for displaced Ivorians", http://www.unhcr.org/4ef1e7206.html

Glossary list of terms in the Five Year Plan

2010-02-01T22:36:00.000+01:00

A useful dictionary/vocabulary list of terminology used with regard to the current Five Year Plan.

                THE A-Z OF THE FIVE YEAR PLAN

    Originally compiled by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom.
                   Adapted by the Regional Bahá'í Council of the Southwestern States

January 2007

A
A CLUSTER
          The Universal House of Justice describes an A-cluster as an area where "strong
communities of deepened believers will be in a position to take on the challenges of systematic
and accelerated expansion and consolidation." Such a cluster has attained conditions propitious
for intensive growth. See also CLUSTER.
ACCELERATION
          Training is important because it gives more and more Bahá'ís the skills, knowledge, and
spiritual insights they need to carry out "accelerated expansion and consolidation." (Universal
House of Justice, 12/26/95) The process of entry by troops has got to advance, but it must also
accelerate – it must advance faster and faster!
ADVANCING THE PROCESS OF ENTRY BY TROOPS.
          "Advancing the process of entry by troops will continue as the aim of the Five Year
Plan—indeed the aim of the series of Plans that will carry the community to the end of the first
century of the Formative Age." (Universal House of Justice, 1/9/01) See also PROCESS OF ENTRY
BY TROOPS
ANIMATOR
          Someone who is trained to run a set of courses for junior youth (ages 12-14). These
courses are "Breezes of Confirmation," "Walking the Straight Path," and "Drawing on the Power
of the Word."
AREA COORDINATOR
          See CLUSTER INSTITUTE COORDINATOR
AREA TEACHING COMMITTEE (ATC)
          A group of individuals appointed by the Regional Council right before a cluster is
declared an A and is getting ready for an intensive program of growth to help, in collaboration
with the Cluster Institute Coordinator (CIC) and the Auxiliary Board member, to coordinate
cluster activities, plan campaigns, and mobilize individuals who have arisen to serve.
ARTS
          The arts have played, and will continue to play "a major role in extending the influence
of the Cause" (Universal House of Justice, Ridván 1996). Artistic activities are an essential
element of any study circle, and the Bahá'ís are encouraged to incorporate the arts into all aspects
of Bahá'í life. "A graceful integration of the arts into diverse activities enhances the surge of
energy that mobilizes the believers." (Universal House of Justice, 12/27/05)
    5YP A-Z                                                                                 Page 1 of 15
ASSISTANT
           Assistants are appointed by Auxiliary Board members to help them with their various
duties. They serve in a specific area (e.g., a cluster or community) or field of endeavor (e.g.,
youth). The "active involvement of several assistants to Auxiliary Board members in promoting
community life" is one of the signs that a cluster is ready for a program of intensive growth.
AUXILIARY BOARD MEMBER
           The Continental Board of Counsellors appoints two Auxiliary Board members for every
part of the United States, one for Propagation and one for Protection. They offer advice to
individuals and institutions and encourage the friends to act on their own disciplined initiative.
B
B CLUSTER
           Clusters where "established communities will be gaining strength through a vigorous
institute process" (Universal House of Justice, 1/9/01).
BRANCH COURSES
           "The main sequence [of Ruhi courses], much like the trunk of a tree, supports courses
branching out from it, each branch dedicated to some specific area of training." (Universal House
of Justice, 1/9/01). For example Ruhi Book 3a, Teaching Children Classes, Grade 2, joins the
trunk at the Ruhi Book 3 level. In addition, in the United States, the Core Curriculum for training
teachers of children's classes ha s been designated as a branch joining the trunk at the Ruhi Book
3 level.
BUILDING MOMENTUM
           A document produced by the International Teaching Centre in April 2003, which
reviewed the learning which had been gained worldwide, two years into the Five Year Plan. A
video called 'Building Momentum' was also produced, looking at the experience of successful
clusters around the world.
C
C CLUSTER
           Clusters which "contain a few isolated localities and groups" (Universal House of Justice,
1/9/01), often encompassing a broad spectrum of Bahá'í activity where the institute process has
not yet been established. (Building Momentum 2.2)
C* CLUSTER
           C clusters with 100 or more Bahá'í youth and adults.
CAMPAIGNS, INSTITUTE
           See INSTITUTE CAMPAIGNS.
CAMPAIGNS, PRACTICE
           See PRACTICE CAMPAIGNS
    5YP A-Z                                                                               Page 2 of 15
CATEGORIZATION OF CLUSTERS
         There are four types of cluster defined by the Universal House of Justice, often referred
to as A, B, C and D. This is not a statement about a cluster's status. Rather it is a way of
evaluating its capacity for growth. When we know how strong a cluster is, we will know the best
way to make it even stronger.
CHILDREN 'S CLASSES
         One of the four core activities of the Five Year Plan. "The establishment of children's
classes is … an indispensable element of any plan for the sustained, large-scale expansion of the
Faith." (International Teaching Centre, July 2000)
CLUSTER
         A cluster is a geographic area defined by the Regional Bahá'í Council to enable the
friends to think about the growth of the Faith on a manageable scale and to design and
implement plans of expansion and consolidation close to the grassroots of the greater
community.
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT FACILITATOR (CDF)
         An individual appointed by the Regional Council soon after a cluster is categorized as a
B level cluster to help coordinate and plan intensive practice campaigns, intensive training
campaigns, and cluster reflection gatherings, in collaboration with the Cluster Institute
Coordinator (CIC) and the Auxiliary Board member.
CLUSTER INSTITUTE COORDINATOR (CIC)
         Formerly known as Area Coordinators, appointed by the Regional Training Institute and
assigned to specific clusters. They train tutors, follow their progress, ensure they have access to
the materials they need, and organize meetings fo r them to come together and share experiences,
as well as coordinating and tracking study circles throughout their clusters.
CLUSTER COORDINATOR
         An advanced cluster may get to the stage where it needs a cluster coordinator, responsible
for making sure the core activities in the area steadily multiply.
COLLABORATOR
         All the participants in a study circle, including the person serving as tutor, are
collaborators. A study circle is not made up of a teacher and students – everyone learns.
COMMUNITY OF INTEREST
         "The movement of clusters from each level of activity to a higher one is well in hand and,
as it proceeds, the kernel of avowed believers is being joined by a larger circle of people, still not
Bahá'ís but enthusiastically involved in core activities of the [Five Year] Plan." (Universal House
of Justice, Ridván 2004) The "community of interest" is the circle of people who are involved in
core activities on a regular basis while not yet being enrolled Bahá'ís. Evidence from advanced
clusters suggests that the larger the community of interest over the course of a year, the faster the
rate of enrolment.
CONSOLIDATION PHASE
5YP A-Z                                                                                  Page 3 of 15
         One of the phases of an intensive program of growth. "One of the primary objectives of
this...phase is to bring a percentage of the new believers into the institute process so that an
adequate pool of human resources will be available in future cycles to sustain growth." "The
nature of the consolidation phase...largely involved nurturing the interest of seekers and
accompanying them in their spiritual search until they are confirmed in their faith." (Universal
House of Justice, 12/27/05)
CONSULTATION, ACTION, REFLECTION
         Three steps needed for increasing our effectiveness in planning and teaching. We practice
the art of consultation to reach decisions on how to proceed with our teaching plans. Having
reached a consensus, we then move into the field of action, without fear of failure, assured of the
support of institutions and individuals, and open to learning. We come back from the field to
reflect on the lessons learned in action so that they may be articulated and incorporated into plans
for the next cycle of activity.
COORDINATOR, AREA
         See AREA COORDINATOR
COORDINATOR, DEPUTY REGIONAL
         See DEPUTY REGIONAL COORDINATOR
COORDINATOR, REGIONAL
         See REGIONAL COORDINATOR
CORE ACTIVITIES
         The Universal House of Justice refers to study circles, devotional gatherings, children's
classes, and junior youth groups as "core activities." (Universal House of Justice 12/27/05) They
are among the initial goals that every community should try to achieve, and they should be open
to all the people living in a locality, whether Bahá'í or not.
CORE CURRICULUM
         A branch course for training teachers of children's classes.
CORE GROUP
         Training institute coordinators, Auxiliary Board members/assistants, and Area Teaching
Committees. "The implementation of such a program [of intensive growth] will require the close
collaboration of the institute, the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants, and an Area
Teaching Committee." (Universal House of Justice 1/9/01) Sometimes referred to as a "troika"
or "triad."
COURSES
         Every Training Institute Board adopts a sequence of courses, which it uses to raise up
large numbers of believers who can "foster and facilitate the process of entry by troops with
efficiency and love." (Universal House of Justice, Ridván 153) The sequence of courses that has
been adopted by the Training Institute Boards of the United States is the program created by the
Ruhi Institute.
CO-WORKERS
         See FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND CO- WORKERS
5YP A-Z                                                                                 Page 4 of 15
CULTURE OF GROWTH
          "Chief among the requirements for motivating believers and nurturing a culture of growth
is the capacity to foster an encouraging environment where, as the Universal House of Justice
wrote in its 9 January message, 'teaching is the dominating passion of the lives of the believers'
and 'mutual support, commitment to learning, and appreciation of diversity of action are the
prevailing norms.' In the same message, the House of Justice also stated that an upsurge in
teaching activity depends on 'sustained encouragement'" (Building Momentum 3.1.1)
CYCLE OF GROWTH
          The process of growth within a cluster. A proportion of the Bahá'ís within a cluster move
through the sequence of training institute courses to raise up resources for expansion and
consolidation of the community. An outcome of this is the multiplication of the core activities
within the cluster. These core activities are opened to the wider community, so that the number
of non-Bahá'ís involved in core activities grows steadily, thus increasing the community of
interest. Many of the new believers in the cluster come from these individuals, who are invited
to join study circles, thus further building resources for multiplying the core activities and
opening them to the wider community. Teaching initiatives and campaigns, both individual and
collective, drawing from the people and skills raised up by the training institute, lead to further
growth in the community of interest and the Bahá'í community itself. Thus we have a self-
sustaining cycle of growth.
D
D CLUSTER
          A cluster that is not yet open to the Faith; there are no Bahá'ís living there. The Universal
House of Justice suggests that virgin territories are opened to the Faith by home front pioneers.
DECEMBER 27, 2005 MESSAGE
          A message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards
of Counsellors outlining the main features of the second Five Year Plan (2006-2011).
DEPUTY REGIONAL COORDINATOR
          Deputy Regional Coordinators are appointed by the Regional Training Institute and
assigned to specific territories, usually matching those of each Auxiliary Board member. They
oversee the Area Coordinators in helping to train and support tutors and coordinating and
tracking study circles.
DEVOTIONAL GATHERINGS
          One of the four core activities of the Five Year Plan. A devotional meeting is a gathering
of Bahá'ís and their "not- yet Bahá'í" families, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to pray and
meditate. It can be as small as one Baha'i and one seeker only. "Bahá'ís are encouraged to use
the revealed prayers of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb as well as those of 'Abdul- Bahá. It is
permissible to have prayers and readings from the sacred scriptures of other religions. The form
of the programme would appear to depend in part on the setting, the occasion, and the purposes
of the gathering.' (Memorandum from the Research Department to the Universal House of
Justice, 9/19/01)
    5YP A-Z                                                                                Page 5 of 15
E
ENCOURAGEMENT
          "When training and encouragement are effective, a culture of growth is nourished in
which the believers see their duty to teach as a natural consequence of having accepted
Bahá'u'lláh." (Universal House of Justice, 1/9/01) For growth to occur, we must encourage
each other to carry out a rapidly increasing number of core activities. Auxiliary Board members
and their assistants, as well as Local Spiritual Assemblies, must look to how they can foster
individual initiative.
ENTERPRISE, SPIRIT OF
          "The rise in activity around the world testifies to the success of these courses in evoking
the spirit of enterprise required to carry out the diverse actions that growth in a cluster, at
whatever stage, demands." (Universal House of Justice, 1/17/03)
ENTRY BY TROOPS
          New believers entering the Faith in large numbers.
ENTRY BY TROOPS, PROCESS OF
          See PROCESS OF ENTRY BY TROOPS
EXPANSION PHASE
          One of the phases of an intensive program of growth. "The expansion phase, often a
period of two weeks, demands the highest level of intensity. Its objective is to widen the circle of
those interested in the Faith, to find receptive souls and to teach them. Although this phase might
include some element of proclamation, it should not be seen as a time to hold a few events for
this purpose or to undertake a set of activities that merely convey information. Experience
suggests that the more closely teaching approaches and methods are aligned with the capacity
acquired from the study of the institute courses the more rewarding the results." (Unive rsal
House of Justice, 12/27/05)
F
FAMILY
          See FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND CO- WORKERS
FEAST
          See NINETEEN- DAY F EAST.
FIFTH EPOCH
          "…the Faith of Baha'u'llah now enters the fifth epoch of its Formative Age." (Universal
House of Justice, 1/16/01) The Formative Age began in 1921, with the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-
Bahá. It has been marked by a series of epochs – the fifth epoch opened at the beginning of
2001.
FIRESIDES
    5YP A-Z                                                                                 Page 6 of 15
           Warm, intimate, small gatherings where seekers feel comfortable to come and ask their
questions and get involved in a profound spiritual encounter. One of the principal means of
teaching open to every Baha'i. The Universal House of Justice notes that those seekers who
attend devotional gatherings, and parents whose children attend Bahá'í children's classes, are
often "eager to attend firesides and join study circles." (1/17/03)
FIVE YEAR P LAN
           A series of four Five Year Plans was launched by the Universal House of Justice at
Ridván 2001, and it will last until Ridván 2021. Its main aim is to advance the process of entry
by troops. Its main features were outlined in the January 9, 2001 message from the Universal
House of Justice.
FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION
           "The elements required for a concerted effort to infuse the diverse regions of the world
with the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation have crystallized into a framework for action that now
needs only to be exploited.... Experience in advancing the movement of clusters from one stage
to the next is now so widespread that the methods and instruments are well understood. The
institute process must be strengthened so that a sizeable number of friends proceed through the
main sequence of courses. Intensive institute campaigns that pay adequate attention to the
practice component will be essential in this respect. The number of core activities should be
steadily multiplied, and outreach to the wider community systematically extended. Meetings of
reflection will have to be held periodically in order to monitor progress, maintain unity of
thought and mobilize the energies of the friends. And schemes for administering the growth
process should gradually be put in place, as circumstances demand." (Universal House of Justice,
12/27/05).
FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND CO- WORKERS
           The people with whom we come into contact most frequently, from which we cultivate a
community of interested. "It is evident, then, that a systematic approach to training has created a
way for Bahá'ís to reach out to the surrounding society, share Bahá'u'lláh's message with
friends, family, neighbours and co-workers, and expose them to the richness of His teachings.
This outward- looking orientation is one of the finest fruits of the grassroots learning taking
place. The pattern of activity that is being established in clusters around the globe constitutes a
proven means of accelerating expansion and consolidation." (Universal House of Justice,
1/17/03)
G
GRASS ROOTS PLANNING
           In the Five Year Plan, planning is taking place at the grass roots. When the friends gather
at a reflection meeting, their planning is based on the human resources that are available. For
instance, a reflection meeting is unlikely to plan to hold ten study circles at once if there are only
five tutors in the cluster!
GROWTH, CULTURE OF
           See CULTURE OF GROWTH
GROWTH, INTENSIVE PROGRAM OF
           See INTENSIVE PROGRAM OF GROWTH
     5YP A-Z                                                                                Page 7 of 15
H
HOME VISITS
           "Conceived as a means for exposing believers to the fundamentals of the Faith, 'home
visits' are giving rise to an array of deepening efforts, both individual and collective, in which
the friends are delving into the Writings and exploring their implications for their lives."
(Universal House of Justice, 12/27/05) They may involve studying a prayer with a person or a
family, sharing a deepening theme with them, or recounting stories of the Faith. Home visits are
an important practice element of many of the courses of the Ruhi Institute.
I
INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE
           "The role of the individual is of unique importance to the work of the Cause." (Universal
House of Justice, Ridván 1996). It is the duty of every Bahá'í to teach the Faith: "Let him not
wait for any directions, or expect any special encouragement, from the elected representatives of
his community, nor be deterred by any obstacles which his relatives, or fellow-citizens may be
inclined to place in his path, nor mind the censure of his critics or enemies." (Shoghi Effendi,
The Advent of Divine Justice). The capacity of the individual is nurtured through "a sequence of
courses that seeks to build capacity for service by concentrating on the application of the
spiritual insights gained through profound study of the Writings." (Universal House of Justice,
12/27/05)
INSTITUTE CAMPAIGNS
           Institute campaigns help move groups of friends through the Sequence of courses quickly
without reducing the number of hours spent on a course. It means completing the same course
and its practices in their entirety, but in a shorter period of time, perhaps days instead of weeks or
weeks instead of months. (International Teaching Center, 11/28/04)
INSTITUTE PROCESS
           See TRAINING INSTITUTE PROCESS
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
           The Five Year Plan is about bringing about growth; the aim is to advance the process of
entry by troops. To achieve this, institutions (like Local Spiritual Assemblies) need to show new
strengths and capacities. This is achieved more easily when the members of those institutions
have first hand experience of nurturing growthfor instance, they have completed the sequence
of courses and their practices.
INSTITUTION OF THE COUNSELLORS
           This institution was brought into being by the Universal House of Justice to carry forward
the work of the Hands of the Cause of God. Nine International Counsellors are appointed to the
International Teaching Centre which is based at the World Centre. The House of Justice
appoints a Continental Board of Counsellors on each continent (the number of Counsellors on
each board varies) for five-year terms.
INTENSIVE PROGRAM OF GROWTH (IPG)
    5YP A-Z                                                                                 Page 8 of 15
           When a cluster is ready – and not before – it should establish an intensive program of
growth. The Regional Council will determine when a cluster is an A-cluster ready to initiate an
Intensive Program of Growth. It will have satisfied the propitious conditions (see P ROPITIOUS
CONDITIONS ) Typically each cycle of an IPG lasts about three months. Each cycle of activity
consists of three phases: 2 weeks for expansion, 10 weeks for consolidation, and 1 week for
reflection and planning. The first few cycles may not produce many declarations, but should
increase the number of individuals in the community of interest.
J
JANUARY 9, 2001 MESSAGE
           A message of the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards
of Counsellors gathered in the Holy Land at that time, outlining the main features of the Five
Year Plan.
JANUARY 17, 2003 MESSAGE
           A letter written by the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the world. "...cogent
analysis of the progress of the Bahá'í world in advancing the process of entry by troops since the
beginning of the Five Year Plan." (ITC, Building Momentum, April 2003)
JUNIOR YOUTH
           Young people between the ages of 12 through 14 (pre youth)
JUNIOR YOUTH COURSES
           A series of courses adopted by many training institute boards for the training of junior
youth, facilitated by trained youth animators. The courses are "Breezes of Confirmation,"
"Walking the Straight Path," and "Drawing on the Power of the Word." More books are under
development.
L
LEARNING MODE
           "Learning in action is becoming the outstanding feature of the emerging mode of
operation." (Universal House of Justice, 1/17/03). At reflection meetings, the friends are
sharing experience, learning from the results of their actions, and making new plans on the basis
of what they have learned.
M
MAIN SEQUENCE
           "The books of the Ruhi institute should constitute the main sequence of courses for
institutes everywhere." (Universal House of Justice, 12/28/05)
MEMORIZATION
           The Ruhi Institute courses emphasize the importance of memorizing the Sacred Texts and
Writings so that we may freely impart them to friends and seekers.
    5YP A-Z                                                                               Page 9 of 15
MOVEMENTS, TWO ESSENTIAL
          See TWO ESSENTIAL MOVEMENTS
MULTIPLICATION OF CORE ACTIVITIES
          The movement of clusters towards the stage where they are ready for intensive growth is
directly linked to the multiplication of core activities. This requires an increase in the number of
trained individuals who carry out the core activities. However, "a proliferation of core activities
that does not serve the purpose of involving a growing number of seekers" should be avoided.
(Universal House of Justice to a National Assembly 8/18/05)
N
NEIGHBORS
          See FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND CO- WORKERS
NINETEEN- DAY F EAST
          Monthly gathering of the Bahá'í community to pray, consult, and socializea divinely
ordained a cornerstone of Bahá'í community life. "As the spiritual foundations of the community
are fortified in this way [i.e., through 'the steady multiplication of core activities, propelled by the
training institute'], the level of collective discourse is raised, social relations among the friends
take on new meaning, and a sense of common purpose inspires their interactions. Little wonder,
then, that a study carried out by the International Teaching Centre shows that, in some fifty
advanced clusters surveyed, the quality of the Nineteen Day Feast has improved." (12/27/05)
O
OPEN TO ALL
          The Universal House of Justice tells us that the core activities of the Five Year Plan must
be "open to all the inhabitants of the locality", i.e. whether they are Bahá'ís or not (Universal
House of Justice, 1/9/01). Experience has shown that when seekers know there is no pressure or
proselytizing involved, but rather a genuine desire to share the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, they
readily return to Bahá'í gatherings on their own.
OUTWARD- LOOKING ORIENTATION
          Creating an "open to all" culture requires a concerted, courageous, and imaginative
effort. Bahá'ís are striving to expand their social circles and friendships. Reordering our lives,
including the services we render to the Faith, will allow us more time for interaction with friends,
family, neighbors, and co-workers. (Building Momentum, 4.4) "...[A] systematic approach to
training has created a way for Bahá'ís to reach out to the surrounding society, share
Bahá'u'lláh's message with friends, family, neighbours and co-workers, and expose them to the
richness of His teachings. This outward- looking orientation is one of the finest fruits of the
grassroots learning taking place" (Universal House of Justice, 1/17/03). "From among all those
they encounter – parents of neighbourhood children, peers at school, colleagues at work, casual
acquaintances – they seek out souls with whom they can share a portion of that which He has so
graciously bestowed on humanity. Increase experience enables them to adapt their presentation
to the seeker's needs, employing direct teaching methods that draw on the Writings to offer the
message in a manner both forthcoming and inviting." (Universal House of Justice, 12/27/05)
    5YP A-Z                                                                                  Page 10 of 15
P
PORTALS
          "These core activities, which at the outset were devised principally to benefit the
believers themselves, are naturally becoming portals for entry by troops. (Universal House of
Justice, Ridván 2002)
PRACTICE CAMPAIGNS
          A campaign conducted for the purpose not only of increasing core activities and
community of interest, but of enhancing participants' skills in the elements of teaching
campaigns, such as working with teams and reaching out to seekers. Practice campaigns are
usually conducted in a B cluster in preparation for becoming an A cluster and launching
intensive programs of growth. "As would be expected, experience demonstrates that the more
closely the teaching efforts and approaches have been related to the capacities acquired from the
study of institute courses, the more fruitful has been the outcome. For this reason, in many
instances offering refresher courses, particularly sections of Ruhi Institute Books 2 and 6,
immediately prior to the start of the expansion phase, has proven highly beneficial." (ITC 6/8/05)
PRACTICE, RUHI
          See SERVICE, ACT OF
PRIORITY CLUSTER
          A cluster which shows great promise or capacity for growth. "Focus in almost every
country has now turned to stimulating the movement of its priority clusters from their current
stage of growth to the next." (Universal House of Justice, 1/17/03). This focus is intended not
only to promote growth in these clusters, but it also to help other areas to develop more quickly
as well through the lessons learned in the stronger areas.
PROCESS
          "…to advance the process implies that [the] process is already in progress and that local
and national communities are at different stages of it." (Universal House of Justice, Ridván
153). The process of entry by troops is not something that will "just happen" it is a stage of
growth that the Bahá'ís can bring about through their own actions.
PROCESS OF ENTRY BY TROOPS
          The process of preparing for mass enrollment and ensuring that new believers are not
only enrolled but retained as active members of the community. New believers entering the
Faith in large numbers should not happen in short, uncoordinated bursts, but through a sustained
process. As the situation is ripe, and "the stage is set," anytime we hit a nerve, the possibilities
will overwhelm us. Therefore, in advancing the process of entry by troops, the challenge is to be
selective.
          It requires a means of systematically training a number of those new declarants to take on
the challenges of promoting the process of entry by troops themselvesthis is what the training
institute process is for.
PROPITIOUS CONDITIONS
    5YP A-Z                                                                               Page 11 of 15
          A cluster's readiness for a program of intensive growth can be assessed in relation to
having attained conditions propitious for intensive growth, which includes:
          § Believers being fully involved in institutes courses, with a significant number having
               completed the current sequence and who understand the pre-requisites for sustainable
               growth
          § Presence of a critical mass of 40 to 50 friends who have completed the Ruhi sequence
          § Increase in the number of Bahá'ís in the cluster
          § Multiplication of core activities and their integration, providing "portals for entry by
               troops"
          § Regular participation of seekers in the core activities
          § Vibrant community life
          § Well attended, vibrant, and lively cluster reflection meetings
          § Commitment to an ongoing learning process
          § A high degree of enthusiasm and a strong sense of ownership
          § Ever growing number of individual and collective teaching initiatives
          § Pronounced spirit of collaboration among the institutions
          § Increased institutional capacity. Reasonable degree of administrative capacity
(Building Momentum 2.4)
R
REFLECTION MEETING
          Also known as a reflection gathering; held from time to time in A, B, and some C
clusters. "A natural vehicle for multiplying core activities has been reflection meetings. … In
such gatherings the institutions and the believers, many of whom are involved in the institute
process, study the relevant Five Year Plan documents, share experiences, and consult on the
achievements and strengths wit hin the cluster." (Building Momentum, April 2003). The friends
at reflection meetings also set short-term goals for themselves.
REFLECTION PHASE
          One of the phases of an intensive program of growth. "Key to the progress of an
intensive programme of growth is the phase dedicated to reflection, in which the lessons learned
in action are articulated and incorporated into plans for the next cycle of activity. Its principal
feature is the reflection meeting-as much a time of joyous celebration as it is of serious
consultation. Careful analysis of experience, through participatory discussions rather than overly
complex and elaborate presentations, serves to maintain unity of vision, sharpen clarity of
thought and heighten enthusiasm." (Universal House of Justice 12/27/05)
REGIONAL BAHÁ 'Í COUNCIL
          Elected bodies that govern the teaching affairs of the Bahá'ís of a region within a nation.
In the United State there are five Regional Councils, for the Central, Northeastern, Northwestern,
Southern, and Southwestern regions. "The main task of a Regional Bahá'í Council is to devise
and execute expansion and consolidation plans in close collaboration with the Local Spiritual
Assemblies and the believers within its area of jurisdiction." (Universal House of Justice
5/30/97).
REGIONAL COORDINATOR
    5YP A-Z                                                                                 Page 12 of 15
           Individual appointed by the Regional Training Institute to oversee the services of the
Deputy and Area Coordinators serving the institute process, often a member of the regional
training institute.
REGIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE
           See TRAINING INSTITUTE
RUHI INSTITUTE
           "…in Colombia … a systematic and sustained programme of education in the Writings
was devised and soon adopted in neighbouring countries." (Universal House of Justice, Century
of Light). This program was the sequence of courses devised by the Ruhi Institute, and
subsequently adopted by the majority of national communities around the world. The House of
Justice said this was because national communities found them "most responsive to the Five
Year Plan's needs." (Universal House of Justice, Ridván 2004).
S
SECTORS
           A sub-division of a cluster, usually in large metro areas. "For the most part, large urban
areas under the jurisdiction of one Local Spiritual Assembly have been designated single
clusters, these in turn being divided into sectors, so as to facilitate planning and implementation."
(Universal House of Justice, 1/17/03)
SEQUENCE OF COURSES
           The Universal House of Justice stresses that each training institute must choose "a
sequence of courses which, building on one another, [will] gradually endow the students with the
knowledge, skills and qualities needed to serve the Faith with increasing effectiveness."
(Universal House of Justice, cited in ITC, Training Institutes and Systematic Growth, Feb. 2000).
So it is important that friends proceed through the courses systematically, one after another – the
skills they acquire in one course will be built upon in future courses, and it won't help to study
them out of sequence!
SERVICE, ACTS OF
           For every course in the sequence devised by the Ruhi Institute, there is a specified act of
service or "practice activity." A participant is not considered to have completed the course if the
act of service has not been carried outafter all, what is the use of training that involves theory
but no practice? As an example, the act of service in Ruhi Book 1 is to visit another person and
study a prayer with them.
STORYTELLING
           A practice activity, or act of service, for Ruhi Book 4, The Twin Manifestations, is to
learn to tell stories about the lives of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh to share with friends and seekers.
STUDY CIRCLE
           One of the four core activities of the Five Year Plans; a delivery system for the sequence
of courses chosen by the training institute. In essence, it consists of a group of friends, meeting
on a regular basis in a local area, with one person serving as a tutor. Everyone involved is a
collaborator, and each participant is actively involved in the process of learning – they are not
passive!
    5YP A-Z                                                                                Page 13 of 15
SYSTEMATIZATION
           "Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well- conceived plans …
it implies an orderliness of approach in all that pertains to Bahá'í service … Systematization is a
necessary mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act." (Universal House of Justice,
Ridván 155)
T
TEACHING TEAM
           A small groups of friends, preferably living near one another, who band together to teach,
often as part of a teaching campaign or intensive program of growth. The team consults on
approaches for teaching, acts collectively and individually, supports each other through prayer,
and reflects together on lessons learned. "Plans being devised for this [expansion] phase
invariably involve the implementation of carefully designed teaching projects and campaigns of
home visits and firesides, often through the mobilization of teaching teams." (Universal House of
Justice, 12/27/05)
TRAINING INSTITUTE
           An institution appointed by the Regional Council and the National Spiritual Assembly in
consultation with the Continental Board of Counselors. It is responsible for overseeing the
training institute process within a region and is under the supervision of the Regional Councils.
It appoints a Regional Coordinator, Deputy Regional Coordinators, and Area Coordinators, and it
selects and creates training material.
TRAINING INSTITUTE PROCESS
           Training institutes "have as their goal one very practical outcome, namely, the raising up
of large numbers of believers who are trained to foster and facilitate the process of entry by
troops with efficiency and love." (Universal House of Justice, Ridván 153). In order to achieve
this, they adopt a sequence of courses which will endow students with the knowledge, skills and
qualities they need for this purpose.
TROIKA
           See CORE GROUP.
TUTOR
           A person who serves as a tutor of a study circle has been trained in the methods of the
Ruhi Institute, so that he or she can help every participant in the study circle to gain the
maximum benefit from the course. He or she is a collaboratorthe model is not that of a teacher
with a classroom full of students.
TUTOR REFLECTION MEETING
           A gathering organized by an Area Coordinator for the tutors of an area so they can share
and analyze experiences, answer questions, and enhance skills.
TWO ESSENTIAL MOVEMENTS
    5YP A-Z                                                                                Page 14 of 15
           "The Five Year Plan … requires concentrated and sustained attention to two essential
movements. The first is the steady flow of believers through the sequence of courses offered by
training institutes, for the purpose of developing the human resources of the Cause. The second,
which receives its impetus from the first, is the movement of geographic clusters from one stage
of growth to the next." (Universal House of Justice, 12/22/01)
W
WORLD ORDER LETTERS
           Letters written by the Guardian that analyze the world situation, published in The World
Order of Bahá'u'lláh. The Universal House of Justice urged the Bahá'ís to study these letters in
its Ridván message of 2003.
Y
YOUTH
           Bahá'ís of ages 15 through 20. "Multiplying [the core] activities ranks high among the
priorities of institutions everywhere, and you should not underestimate the importance of the part
Bahá'í youth must play in this mighty endeavor. Who more than the young people of our
communities can lend the collective energy needed to achieve so necessary an increase in the
level of activity?" (Universal House of Justice, to the youth forums held in the Western States,
4/10/03)
Z
ZONE
           The term sometimes used by regional agencies to refer to the territory covered by an
Auxiliary Board member.
    5YP A-Z                                                                              Page 15 of 15

Accessed at http://teachingandprojects.com/

Intensity implies focus on ongoing, not new, activities

2010-01-29T17:33:00.000+01:00

An interesting learning from the Northeast US.

The three areas of focus for this cycle are:

Increasing the level of intensity during this two week period
Engaging in more active accompaniment: both asking for help and offering our assistance where needed
Directly teaching the Faith and effectively consolidating those who declare

We should note that the call to increase intensity does not necessarily mean doing more activities but rather focusing on activities about which we are passionate and sharing that excitement with those around us be they friends, family or co-workers.

Love,

The Area Teaching Committee

Befriending, sharing Message with each and all; sensitivity to openness

2009-12-08T01:09:00.001+01:00

Below find two comments from an active teacher of the Faith - Gil - that summarizes in simple language many of the learnings that have been gathered about effective teaching methods. The first was posted to the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles" while the second was shared personally. They are being reproduced with his kind permission.

November 30, 2009

My beloved Baha'i Friends,
I am not sure, either, about what the Universal House of Justice want us to do, but I do have an idea of what, IMHO, would be the kind of Teaching that Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, and the Guardian wanted.

Now this is the message that I get from all of them: Become a very virtuous person that could win the trust of his neighbors and acquaintances both on and off the job. After getting to be their friend, or even maybe as you become their friend, you would gently tell them about the Baha'i Faith. You invite them to your house for dinner or just an evening of conversation or cards or maybe chess. This is the type of fireside that I suspect 'Abdu'l-Baha was talking about.

Now because you, the Baha'i is well versed in religion, you might mention something about it. When this happens, the person might ask you what religion you belong to. Now When you say the Baha'i Faith, he or she will ask what is that...

I was talking to a crowd about a month or so ago and when I told all people there that I was a Baha'i, a young lady said that she knew about that religion and would I give a talk to the Unitarian Church she belongs to about the Baha'i Faith. Now you know, after she pulled the gun on me, I gave in and volunteered to do the talk (that a joke). Now let's talk about making more and more friends. Well if you gently gave them the Story and they were not interested you don't persist unless you know that's what they are wanting you to do.

About thirty years ago I asked one of the Hands of the Cause what should I do in then (in the case that someone isn't interested). He said: "Make new friends." I know it will take time and sacrifices, but what can we give God but our lives teaching the Faith. Well, that is what he said. The point that I am trying to get across is that you make a lot of friends, and then make them Baha'is with your actions and your words. If this hasn't worked then I would say follow the Universal House of Justice's lead and study the Ruhi (courses), but I think that you will be able to do both. I am also in favor of anyone teaching in any way they want as long as they can get new members and make the Faith stronger. I know that all of you have these same thoughts but I just thought that I would try to put them all together.

With the Love of Baha'u'llah ...

Gil
(Second comment:)

My friend, when I first became a Baha'i, nobody I ever talked to knew about the Baha'i Faith, but now when I talk to people I am not surprised to know there are several who know about it, has some relative who is a Baha'i, or maybe even read about it.

Let me tell you a little episode that I went through when I was teaching on the street. After a long day of going up and down streets and telling everyone we could about the Faith, we went to bed that night tired. The next morning I went to an area that I had be chosen to teach in. The very first person said: "I know about that; yesterday a man told me about it just two blocks over." Another time I went into an ice-cream shop and was asking if anyone knew about the Faith. A black man in the back said he did. He learned about this white middle class religion from one of the students at college in Edinburgh, Texas. More and more are hearing about it and even though they don't become Baha'i right away, they store the information and who knows what may make them declare? Some of this is in the Hand of God, but we have our responsibility too. And that is to show the Faith in words and actions. Also to show them our love.

Gil

Used with the author's kind permission.

Courage, conviction to introduce Faith as heart suggests - relating it to world events, history

2009-09-30T19:36:00.003+02:00

Our blessed Baha'i teacher-friend, Richard, in the following report clearly shows the result of following 'Abdu'l-Bahá's advice:

When you are about to begin your address, turn first to Baha'u'llah and ask for the confirmations of the Holy Spirit, then open your lips and say whatever is suggested to your heart; this, however, with the utmost courage, dignity and conviction....

(From "Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha", Sec. 216 p. 269; Source is here)

I introduced the Faith in a manner that was totally different from anything I had said in the past. I had not planned what to say. It was spontaneous and came out of my subconscious.

I was at a meeting of the Mecklenburg minister's alliance this week, and was asked by an area coordinator of a church what the Baha'i Faith was.

I stated, "The Baha'i Faith was sent to the world by the same God Christians believe in. It was 165 years ago or the year 1844.

The Baha'I Faith refers to Terrorism and atomic weapons. If their message and teachings had been listened to and applied we would not have had the two world wars and other wars.

As well as other reasons, all the wars in the past 165 years have occurred because the Religions of the world have ignored or actively
worked at turning the world's people of against God's word through the Baha'I Faith. Inspite of this, Baha'is have grown to over 6 million
members in every nation on earth with many of it concepts being implemented by the governments of the world.

20,000 Baha'is were killed in public the 6th year of the initial founding of the Baha'I Faith. Religious opposition continues to this day. The Baha'is teachings consist of 200 books and a world organization to implement these teaching.

The Baha'i Faith's teachings are sent by God as a blue print for world peace and security with God's power to make it happen. If this blue print had been adopted in 1844, this plan and God's power would have prevented all the wars of the past 165 years. In the future the Baha'i teachings will bring the "Kingdom of God On Earth". Two new Divine teachers gave these teaching and this blueprint is now being put into practice by the flowers of the Baha'i Faith.

God asked Ishrel God through Christ asked the Jewish people to accept Christ over 2,000 years ago.

Baha'is understand that God is asking you as an individual and your church to investigate the claim of the Baha'I Faith that God has sent the Baha'is to renew God's spirit in the world and bring world peace.

You asked me what the Baha'i Faith teaches, therefore I offer you the chance to receive a free book to prove this claim that two new Teachers have been sent again by God to the world. May I give you our material that makes this claim.

He responded by saying, "Yes." I handed him my personal card and he gave me his card to send him material.

The above statement only took 2 minutes!!!!! !!!!!!!!! ! Wow!!!!!!!!! !!!!!
WHAT I SAID TOTALLY CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD! I had not planned out what I had said and did not follow through as I now will with a plan of follow up. I am going to use the same approach with refinements to dramatize this entire idea with pictures and materials.

So often in the past people have responded to us Baha'is in a brief moment like (this is interesting or Baha'is believe like I do and they see no need to pursue it further.)

I am sure this approach came out of my sub-conscious in response to my desire to challenge them to make a commitment to pursue the Faith further in a brief moment like this.

Shared by Richard on 29 september on the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles." Reproduced with his kind permission.

Teaching nurse the Faith at blood-taking

2009-08-11T18:39:00.001+02:00

This simple teaching story was posted by our creative and steadfast friend Richard to a group list 10 August 2009:

I went for my physical today. I had already taught the doctor, nurses and office staff so I did not mention the Faith to them again. Then I went to give blood for my physical and I had not seen this nurse before.

I was warm, loving and appreciative with her as I try to be with everyone. I mentioned her radiant smile and thanked her for taking my blood. She responded in a very appreciative way.

I then said to her that I was going to give her a gift and it would be the most important gift she would ever receive if she liked the gift. I said the gift is telling you about a new way of life that practices seeing every person that we come into contact with as spiritual beings instead of seeing how tall or short they are, or their race, religion, politics.. etc. I am part of an organized movement that thinks in this loving way. You have probably never heard of this group, they are the Baha'is.

She responded with, "NO I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THEM, EXPLAIN IT TO ME!"

I then taught here the Faith and gave her my personal card, the world map, and the beautiful Baha'i pamphlet. I asked her to pull us up on the world wide web.and call me at the number on the card I gave you.

All this only took a few minutes. She seemed to be impressed.

WOW! So much in such a short period.

Reflections on the RIDVAN 2009 Message - a talk by Dr. Peter Khan

2009-08-01T00:52:00.002+02:00

Obtained through an email list 26 July 2009.

REFLECTIONS ON THE RIDVAN 2009 MESSAGE

A talk by Dr. Peter Khan

3 July 2009

                        THE RIDVAN MESSAGE

I'm very very pleased to have the opportunity to speak about a document as significant and of such far reaching importance as the Ridván 2009 Message.

As you know it was and is unique, as far as I can tell, among the various messages of the Universal House of Justice in its brevity and in its tone. It comes hard on the heels of a remarkable event, unprecedented in the history of the Cause, or indeed in the history of the religion throughout the world; and that was the convening, at the instruction of the Universal House of Justice, and with the invaluable assistance of the Members of the International Teaching Centre, of a series of 41 Conferences held throughout the length and breadth of the planet, attended by some eighty thousand people.

As you are, I am sure, aware, that series of conferences had a galvanizing effect on the Bahá'í Community throughout the world and ultimately on the larger society. It was a tangible demonstration of the global spread of the Faith and it created a most welcome surge toward the goal of 1500 Intensive Programs of Growth by the end of the present plan.

This Ridván Message can be regarded as celebratory in term: celebrating the fact that we have achieved an important milestone in reaching some 1000 Intensive Programs of Growth by Ridván 2009, and expressing the confidence of the Universal House of Justice that the goal of the Five Year Plan would be accomplished.

My purpose tonight is not to dwell specifically on those details, but rather to share with you my thoughts about what I see to be two underlying issues, the exploration of which I believe to be crucial to a deeper understanding of this Ridván Message and indeed of the direction in which the faith is now going.

These two issues which I will address in turn have firstly to dwell upon the significance of Bahá'í activity at the present time in the history of the world, and secondly to examine the question of change in religion.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BAHA'I ACTIVITY

The Declining Process

                        It is, I think, generally accepted by the mass of the people of the world that there are, to a certain extent, two processes at work in the world today, a process of decline in the quality of life, and a growth in positive elements including the emancipation of deprived minorities, a global perspective through internationalism, and the use of technology for beneficial ends. This recognition of the existence of two processes is not something which has been characteristic of the mass of humanity over many years. If we survey the history of the 20th century there have been periods of great euphoria, associated generally with either the election of a charismatic political leader or with an event which seemed to hold unlimited promise such as the demolition of the Berlin wall, in 1989. But over the last 20 years it appears to me that the mass of humanity have come generally to recognize that things are not going extremely well, with the emergence of some very pressing and portentous problems.

And I think if you talk to the casual observer of the world scene he or she will say "there are two things happening at the same time, decline and growth."

Obviously we have our Bahá'í teachings on this subject but that's not the point at the moment. The conventional reaction to this process of decline becoming increasingly apparent in the world today takes a number of forms. Most people anticipate and hope that it will only be temporary: "Things are not so good at the moment, financially with the crisis, political volatility, in Africa or Asia, or Central or South America, or in other countries, but with a bit of luck it'll get better and we'll go back to the way it was before, with a calm settled society."

So there is a general anticipation of the temporary nature of that decline. Almost universally its extent is underestimated and its ultimate severity is not accepted. There is a universal ignorance about its fundamental cause; rather people are inclined to ascribe its cause to what we would describe as symptoms: political changes, the rise of education, the intemperance of certain minorities, the emancipation of women and so on. And most people expect, and indeed hope, that some panacea will arise which will solve it, which will remove all the clouds, and humanity will proceed in a peaceful and harmonious manner toward its future.

It is necessary for us to look at these perceptions in the light of the authoritative statements in the Bahá'í Writings. I do this because I think the challenge we face as Bahá'ís is a challenge to avoid unconsciously absorbing the attitudes of the larger society, but rather to form our attitudes from the authoritative texts of the Faith. These authoritative writings are in many ways dramatically different from the prevailing view in our society. I share with you a few of the statements of the Guardian on this subject. In one place where he refers to the magnitude of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, he says:

For the revelation of so great a favour a period of intense turmoil and wide- spread suffering would seem to be indispensable.[1]

In another place Shoghi Effendi writes:

                        Deep as is the gloom that already encircles the world, the afflictive ordeals which that world is to suffer are still in preparation, nor can their blackness be as yet imagined.[2]

And one more passage, at risk of totally depressing my audience, is a very detailed and quite colorful passage from the authoritative Writings of the Faith, from Shoghi Effendi, in which he refers to the future in some detail:

Adversities unimaginably appalling, undreamed of crises and upheavals, war, famine, and pestilence, might well combine to engrave in the soul of an unheeding generation those truths and principles which it has disdained to recognize and follow. A paralysis more painful than any it has yet experienced must creep over and further afflict the fabric of a broken society ere it can be rebuilt and regenerated.[3]

                        I call your attention to the phrase "broken society" which is almost echoed in the Ridván Message which refers to the "broken world."

It is apparent to me, as our Writings anticipate, that the declining process in the world will continue for an extended period. No time scale is given, but it may well be decades or indeed centuries. And during that time the extent of the breakdown of society, the ills afflicting mankind, will be of a magnitude and extent and duration far beyond our capacity to comprehend at the present time. As it continues, we might well anticipate a variety of reactions from the people around us.

First will be denial: "You know it's not as bad as you're saying, you're acting like a Jeremiah, things are getting better".

That denial will ultimately give rise to searching for a scapegoat, for the problem: that thing has caused it. It may be a particular minority, it maybe the Romani gypsies of Northern Ireland affecting that society, it may be the Jewish people in the Middle East, or it may be some other minority in another part of the world. The spread of education is an attractive villain: "People are going off to school, learning all kinds of crazy ideas and coming back and disturbing society."

Female emancipation is a tempting target, "If women would stay at home, the kids would be much more settled and behave a lot better, and there'd be more jobs for the men, and things would be as I were in the Saturday Evening Post of the 1940s' and '50s." That, I think, would give rise to volatility in a search for extreme solutions: "Something is terribly wrong, we've got to find what the answer is. Is it this or it's that? "Extreme solutions would be embraced and discarded, and we see some signs of that in the political process today in a number of countries, in the fact that elections swing from the extreme left to the extreme right. When each person is elected, the people become disillusioned, even in some cases driving him from power before his term is concluded; in other instances, they suffer him but they then elect somebody of the extreme opposite polarity. This would give rise further to an intense desperation of search and ultimately to despair and to hopelessness about long term planning: "what is the use of anything? Why try?"

                        Shoghi Effendi in one place refers to the declining process, and says its ultimate end is in "barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction[4]." The mercy is that fewer and fewer components of humanity will remain with it to this bitter and untimely end.

                        The Role of Religion

                        What is the fundamental cause? Why did it all happen? Where did it all come from? There are varieties of causes, there are some brilliant analyses which have been published in the literature of the present society and which attempt to trace the origins of the turmoil and unrest in the world. By and large they are very good: they're insightful, they're analytical and they're perceptive, but they leave unanswered the question "where did that come from." It's a way children are when they say: - "Who made me?" – "God" – "Where did God come from?" – "Go away."

                        Bahá'u'lláh has addressed this ultimate question, this fundamental question of human society in which He refers to the basic cause of the decline in the world as that of the loss of adherence to true religion. He says:
                        Religion is a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world...           Should the lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue, and the lights of fairness and justice, of tranquility and peace cease to shine."[5]

                        It is in that context that one reads in the Ridván 2009 Message references to the oppression throughout the world and reference to the fact that our purpose and the purpose of Bahá'u'lláh is to liberate humankind from the yoke of oppression.

What - we might ask - has oppression to do with the loss of religion? The answer is found in the Kitab-i-Iqan, where Bahá'u'lláh says:

What "oppression" is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?[6]

This is the ultimate oppression, not putting people in prison or driving them to become refugees to another country or depriving them of their human rights. The greatest oppression is that of a human soul yearning for the truth, yearning for the knowledge of God, not knowing where to go for it and from whom to seek it. There can be no greater oppression than that. This is the yoke of oppression, that Baha'u'llah has come to lift from mankind and that is what the Ridván 2009 Message is all about.

                        Today we see the desperation of the search for truth and meaning. It takes its form in adherence to a variety of substitutes for true religion. For example, the rise of religious extremism and authoritarianism from religious leaders I would see as evidence of the decline of true religion.

                        Shoghi Effendi in Promised Day Has Come refers to the downfall of Islam, its loss of power and influence. How are we to evaluate that in terms of present day events which seem to indicate the very opposite, the resurgence of Islam, either Shi'te or Sunni, in a variety of countries of the world? I see that as evidence of the downfall, rather than the rise of Islam. Religious leaders have had to forsake spiritual influence for the naked exercise of power, often in its cruel and brutal form, in order to maintain their position and their authority.

Religious extremism, be it Christian, be it Muslim, be it Jewish, be it Hindu, or Buddhist, represents the decline of true religion and the onset of oppression.

                        The fermenting of hatred and division in the world, I see as an example of this oppression: trying to identify some external group to whom one can turn all one's frustration, one's anger, one's venom, as part of achieving inner peace and satisfaction.

Another form of oppression I see is the search for instant meaningful solutions: the sense of hunger, the sense of something that is missed out on life, with the years going by, and translated into a search for an instant meaningful solution, which of course can give rise to break down in marriage and in society generally.

Indulging in extreme behavior to fill the spiritual vacuum, and maybe absorption in alcohol, involvement in narcotics or in promiscuity, or even deliberately seeking dangers in extreme sports, underlying that I see the oppression of a soul searching for meaning, looking for the truth, exactly as Baha'u'llah describes in Kitab-i-Iqan, and being driven by the desperation of that search to become involved in things we know are self destructive as well as unsatisfying to that need.

                        Another form of that oppression is the worship of idols. These are not idols of stone, wood or metal but political idols, entertainment idols, sporting idols. Look for example at the sentiments expressed in the world in the last few days with the untimely death of Michael Jackson. So much of what is being said has a quasi religious character: "Michael is not dead, Michael still lives, Michael will live on in his music". Fans gather outside the gates of Neverland Ranch, flowers are put there, seventeen thousand people will go to the stadium on Tuesday for the commemorative service. He'll end up like Elvis Presley, where you make a pilgrimage to Tennessee once a year, and so on.

With the worship of idols, we can of course very comfortably and very satisfactorily look down on the pathos of the behaviour being displayed but we can also recognize in it the desperation of search, of human beings like you and me who look for something to which they can devote their deepest feelings, something beyond themselves, driven by a sentiment that ultimately can only be satisfied by true religion. This search finds its present form in the worship of idols, including political idols, the quasi-religious sentiments with which charismatic political leaders are hailed when they first come to power and later the opposite occurs; the worship of sporting idols with the sense of devotion that normally is ascribed to religious practice. The absorption in irrational beliefs and theories represents yet another element of this oppression.

Why am I saying all this?

I'm saying this because I believe we, in our adherence to the precepts of the Ridván Message should see that our devotion to the spread of the Bahá'í Faith is the fundamental solution to the declining process. We dwell on the nature of the declining process, as described vividly by Shoghi Effendi, not to become depressed, not to become discouraged, not to afflict each other with gloom and doom, but rather to find in the human suffering around us the motivation to serve the needs of the Cause, to contribute to the fulfillment of the present Five Year Plan and all the other elements to come in the future as part of advancing the process of entry by troops. We find motivation not only from the prayers, from the inspiration of the Writings, from the example and the encouragement of others, but also from the pictures on television of suffering, from what we know people are going through in Darfur, or Somalia, or Western Africa, or Cambodia, or other places.

                        In that we see a new energy to serve the needs of the Faith: they are directly correlated. It's not an indirect correlation, how Bahá'í work aims fundamentally and directly at the relief of humanity from the decline.

As I'm sure you all know, service to the Faith is in many times inspiring, energizing and liberating, but let us also recognize that at times service to the Faith is tiring, frustrating, discouraging, and fraught with disappointment. It is part of the human condition and at such times our inspiration is drawn from the mission given to us to, as the Ridván Message says, aid Bahá'u'lláh to lift the yoke of oppression from humanity.

The Nature of Civilization

The Ridván 2009 message refers to the role of the Faith in "rebuilding a broken world". Shoghi Effendi has referred to the present society in terms of the threat to the fabric of civilized life. He says:

If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it has been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.[7]

"The day is approaching" – he foreshadows - "The day is approaching when its [civilization's] flame will devour the cities..."[8]

          He refers to the future glorious destiny of mankind, but he asks the rhetorical question:

                        Must the inauguration of so vast, so unique, so illumined an era in human history be ushered in by so great a catastrophe in human affairs as to recall, nay surpass, the appalling collapse of Roman civilization in the first centuries of the Christian Era?[9]

                        As you know the Roman Empire took about 400 years to collapse, it didn't suddenly go bang, it declined and cracks appeared and then the whole thing progressively fell apart. Shoghi Effendi refers to the prospect of the present-day declining process leading to the fall of civilization, and in this case not simply in one part of the world, as in the Mediterranean world of Rome , but rather on a world scale. It's worth our while taking a moment to review the fall of the Roman Empire . Much has been written about it, by a variety of authors extending back to Gibbon and Spengler, among others. But I'm interested in a couple of contemporary authors. Kenneth Clark, wrote a book titled "Civilization" and he referred to civilization as an entity that occurs at various times in history, and he said its nature is such that however complex and solid it seems it is actually quite fragile.

                        Those of you who recall the pictures on television at the time when hurricane Katrina afflicted New Orleans will have seen there a slight glimpse of the fragility of civilization, (although that was of course a temporary thing). Clark goes on to point out that the downfall of Roman civilization was due to a number of factors: the rise of fear, fear in the unknown, including fear of the mysterious supernatural; a lack of confidence in society, in philosophy, in laws and in one's own mental processes, and in a decline in behavior, not so much in terms of immorality or promiscuity, but a lack of energy and vigor. Another of the most interesting studies of civilization is that of Radhakrishnan, the Indian philosopher and former Vice President of India who wrote a most entertaining book "Eastern Religions and Western Thought" in which as a non Christian he looked at that period of history with the fall of the Roman Empire and the ultimate rise of Christianity. He also ascribes a fall of the Roman Empire to be due to a variety of causes: greed and corruption. He refers to the growth of vast fortunes and widespread poverty throwing society out of balance, a most intriguing concept and phrase. And he summarizes what happened and said it was a period of disorder, the collapse of the higher intellectual life, the decline of righteousness, a time when philosophy failed, literature languished, and religion became rigid and superstitious.

We face the danger in our world of the collapse of civilization. We know that our religion aims to give rise to a world civilization. We know that it will come, an incontrovertible promise of Bahá'u'lláh, but the transition may well involve a massive and prolonged decline of civilization in its old form and the gradual rise of the new.

It seems to me that the Bahá'í Faith is, as far as I can tell, the first religion to self consciously see its ultimate purpose in the creation of a new civilization. My knowledge of history is limited, I'm an engineer, we don't read books or anything like that, but it seems to me that when I look at, say, Christianity, the early Christians were bent on survival, bent on taking the glad tidings of the coming of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles as well as the Jews in the Mediterranean world and they succeeded. As Christianity developed so the Byzantine civilization arose. The early Arab followers of Muhammad gave no indication that they saw the glories of the civilization of Baghdad , Cordova, Damascus and Cairo in their future. It was initially a matter of eradicating paganism from their midst.

                        Our religion self consciously states from its various earliest days that its aim is to produce a new civilization and in that sense it formulates its strategy along those lines.

Let us say we had mysterious powers and we're given a blank sheet of paper and told: - "Set out the requirements for making a new civilization". And we think about it, consider what is a civilization, it's obviously more than Palm Pilots and PCs, and things like that, there's something much more fundamental to it.

How do you make a civilization?

A civilization involves a foundation of behavioral change through spiritual transformation. We can agree on that. A civilization depends upon certain moral and ethical, spiritual characteristics, but what else? What is the framework of the new civilization we are conceptualizing in this hypothetical example of given a blank sheet of paper and asked "please, set out a framework for a civilization"?

We would want to have certain things:

- We'd want an institutionalized practice of individual and community worship, for a variety of reasons

- We would want individuals comprising that civilization to engage in an exploration and application of divine teachings to daily life, so that we can build up a civilization in a reasonable and productive manner

- We would want civilized society to be imbued with a sense of altruism to the service of humanity. We don't want selfish greedy people, but people who are altruistic, who think of the larger good.

- And essentially we would want them to transmit civilized values to the new generation of children and youth.

                        If you were to agree that those are the elements of the framework of a civilization then I must tell you, you have fallen into my trap, because what I have described are the elements of the core activities of the Five Year Plan. What I have referred to are things such as the devotional meetings, the institute process, study of the Ruhi Books, the focus on service to humanity, children's classes, youth classes, the junior youth activities.

                        The point I make is that we are engaged, obviously in the spread of the Faith, in pursuit of the endeavors of the Five Year Plan and beyond, but far more than that we are establishing the roots of new civilization in our day-to-day activities of the present plan. This doesn't mean that civilization will magically spring into being like the goddess Athena, rather it will come gradually, slowly, generation upon generation, decade upon decade, and century upon century, to realize its fruit in the Golden Age, but its roots are to be found in the activities of the present day at this time in history.

                        HANDLING CHANGE IN RELIGION


                        The Religions of the Prophetic Cycle

Let me now turn to my second point, in terms of underlying issues in the Five Year Plan. I want to draw your attention to the phenomenon of change in religion.

                        I want to offer you the assertion that all the religions of the Prophetic Cycle contain within them a basic contradiction: this doesn't mean there was any deficiency in their Founder, but rather it was a evolutionary stage of human history. That contradiction I see in the fact that each of these religions had as a mission it accomplished very successfully, the liberation of the human spirit which produced creativity, innovation, invention and ultimately social evolution. And the contradiction arises from the fact that if you do that, the behavioral pattern prescribed at the beginning of the religion becomes out of date. That happens because the religion is successful: it produces civilization, produces creativity, produces change in behavior and the like, and so its initial behavioural principles, whether they're given by the Manifestation, or by a group of clerics, become out of date.

                        This contradiction, then, produces division in the religious community. There is division between those who cling doggedly to authority and resist change: "Never mind. This was given to us by whatever either the church fathers, or the Founder of the religion Himself, we'll continue to hold to it", and so you get a dogged resistance to that change and ultimately fanaticism in defending the original form. And the other extreme we have those who embrace change, are at the cutting edge of society, who follow change, but of course they cannot agree on the authority: so you have the division in sects, the rise of Protestantism and the like, in terms of a commitment in change at the highly expensive price of a loss of authority; also there is a insecurity with that change. We see this in each religion.

In Islam we see it nowadays with the desperate attempts to recover the pristine spirit of Islam through a return to Shari ' a Law, and all the problems that brings. We see it in the attempts to return women to the relatively secluded life and lack of freedom which was characteristic of the early days of Islam, whether it was ordained by Muhammad or not is another question. We see also the attempt to restore the strictness of the dietary laws that were necessary in the early days of Islam. In all of these we see this tension.

                        In Christianity the same tension arises: the prohibition on divorce, applicable in the early days becomes a source of tension today; the church priestly authority, appropriate at the time when there was mass illiteracy, when one needed to turn to a leader or figure of authority, becomes another issue; and of course dietary laws. What is interesting is that Shoghi Effendi has referred to this tension and he says:

The cleavage between the fundamentalists and the liberals among their adherents is continually widening.[10]

And he relates that to one of the facets of the declining process. A part of the decline is the increase in this tension between the two polarized extremes of these religious communities of the Prophetic Cycle.

Change in the Bahá'í Faith

We now come to the Bahá'í Faith. Obviously it must deal with change, and it must deal with it in two quite distinct, but somewhat related dimensions: one is legal and the other one is psychological.

Within the structure of Bahá'í Law the problem is straight forward: the authority Bahá'u'lláh conferred upon 'Abdu'l-Bahá and in turn upon the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice provides an impregnable stronghold for the legal authority to implement an appropriate degree of change. In the case of the House of Justice, the authority is given to implement change is quite fascinating, it has several components to it. They include:

- The right of the House of Justice to carry out progressive clarification and application of Bahá'í Law gives it authority to make change. For example Huqúqu'lláh: it was around in the books for a long time, but it became universally applicable in 1992. There are a number of other laws in the Kitab-i-Aqdas not yet applicable, change will occur as the House of Justice decides to apply them.

- The right of the House of Justice to make and change subsidiary laws is also a legitimate application of the legal authority of the House of Justice to make change, obviously within the limits prescribed.

Shoghi Effendi has referred to the Faith as it developed in the future and he says:

"The Bahá'ís should not always be the last to take up new and obviously excellent methods, but rather the first, as this agrees with the dynamic nature of the Faith which is not only progressive, but holds within itself the seeds of an entirely new culture and civilization."[11]

And this right, the legal right of the House of Justice to make and change subsidiary laws is part of the apparatus of the Faith to remain progressive and at the forefront of cultural civilized change.

- The House of Justice is also given a remarkably broad authority, as stated in its Constitution; it has the right to found Institutions, to usher in the World Order of Baha'u'llah: this is an enormous degree of power and authority assigned to the House of Justice as its legal right in this religion.

Nevertheless it remains the challenge to the Bahá'í community to deal with the psychological dimension of change. I mention this because one tends to be secure if there is no change: one does the same old thing day after day, you do it in your sleep, you do it without even thinking, and everything is stable and comfortable. Change disturbs all that, and one just tends to be resentful of it: "this is not the way it used to be, I have very fond memories of childhood and the pattern of behaviour of that time." Shoghi Effendi has in a number of places warned us of avoiding extremes. It tells us for example:

                        It is our primary task to keep the most vigilant eye on the manner and characteristic of the characteristic of the growth of the Faith,...lest extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible freedom on the other, cause it to deviate from that Straight Path which alone can lead it to success.[12]

                        And there are a number of other passages which deal with the same theme. There's one of the House of Justice.

                        "In past Dispensations believers have tended to divide into two mutually antagonistic groups: those who held blindly to the letter of the Revelation, and those who questioned and doubted everything. Like all extremes, both can lead to error.[13]

                        I mentioned this because one is more comfortable clinging blindly to the letter of the law:

- "Why are you doing this?"

- "Look, here it's written black and white, read for yourself. It's so clear!"

And yet we are warned to avoid the extreme of clinging blindly to the letter of the law, just as Shoghi Effendi warns us against extreme orthodoxy. And 'Abdu'l-Bahá also of course warned us against this rigidity. In one place, this was a statement attributed to him, it's in Star of the West, he says:

"Holding to the letter of the law is many times an indication of a desire for leadership. One who assumes to be the enforcer of the law shows an intellectual understanding of the Cause, but that spiritual guidance in them is not yet established."[14]

                        It's quite a sobering passage from 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

At every stage of the unfoldment of the Cause, where there has been change it's been a test to the believers: my reading of Bahá'í history, is that the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, included actions which were a test to a number of the believers. It included His focus on the west - "there are still plenty of people around here to teach the Faith to, why worry about Canada or United States or Australia and other remote places?"

                        "We'll get to them eventually"-; the Tablets of Divine Plan, a cause for the scattering of the friends all over the world, the setting up of organization in His Will and Testament.

These were a test to a number of devoted believers of that time. The same applies to Shoghi Effendi; his conduct was a test to some and of course the mist of history obscures this now, decades have passed; at that time there were a number of believers, sincere devoted believers, troubled by what Shoghi Effendi did. They didn't become Covenant breakers, they did not doubt the validity of the Covenant, they were faithful believers, but they were troubled: "Why did he stop going to the mosque every Friday, when his grandfather, the perfect exemplar, had done that? Why did he adopt western clothes in contrast with his predecessors?" "Why from 1921 to 1937 did he focus on raising the Administrative Order? Was he not turning it into an organization rather than a dynamic spiritual free-from-constraint religion?" "Why did he call upon us to expel from the community those who flagrantly violated a Bahá'í law? Where was love? Where was forgiveness? Where was a sin covering eye?" and so on "Why did he activate living Hands of the Cause and ultimately Auxiliary Board Members?" This was a very interesting strategy: initially the first ones were designated posthumously until we got a little more used to the concept and then the time came to appoint living individuals.

                        The House of Justice, in its conduct over the years has provided the same degree of test through change. Sincere, devoted, highly faithful believers were tested. When the House of Justice, in one of its first actions, combined the Eastern and Western pilgrims, I've talked to a number of people who were deeply tested by that. They remained faithful to the Cause, they remained devoted, but they were shaken by it. The decision that the Huqúqu'lláh, in the absence of the Guardian, should come to the House of Justice was a test to many. The establishment of the Continental Board of Counselors tested a number of individuals who had some misgivings about appointed people and titles and all the rest of it, and then of course the Teaching Centre; the establishment of Regional Bahá'í Councils, even though the Constitution of the House of Justice has the right to found institutions, this was a test to the believers: "what will happen to the National Assemblies? Why was their power been taken? We got by very well without Regional Bahá'í Councils for decades, why do we need them now?" Etcetera.

                        The House of Justice far greater latitude than that, and I think if we would live for another century, we would see all kinds of changes in the future.

I dwell on this as my final point because the House of Justice in 1996 began a process of quite significant change and that change is a test to some sincere and devoted believers. The concept of clusters has been a challenge to some, not to everybody, but to some: "what about the LSA, are we going to forget about that? Shoghi Effendi gave us the LSA? Why do you need the cluster?"

The priority given to the core activities such as and the focus on the intensive and prolonged group study of the Ruhi books, has been a test to some: "it means we can't have firesides? We can't have deepening classes? What about all the things in the Writings? Is that all we have to study?" And the like.

The focus on Intensive Programs of Growth has been a test. The deeper involvement of the International Teaching Centre, the Counselors, and Auxiliary Board Members in the life of the community has been a test, not to disputative or contentious believers, but to a number of devoted believers who remember the old days, who remember when life was simpler: they went to Feast, we had a fireside, we went to deepening classes and occasionally did something else. Life was simple, life was straight forward, it was entirely comprehensible, and then along came this whole apparatus using words that do not appear in the Writings, as far as one can tell from earlier times: Cluster, Intensive Program of Growth, Core Activity and the like.

                        This is a challenge of change. It can be avoided very simply by allowing the Faith to remain static and to wither. We cannot do this, we have no choice, we have to build the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. Things have to expand and develop in ways we cannot yet comprehend. This requirement of necessity is that change can and must occur if the Faith is to fulfill its ordained destiny and its future.

We must overcome any psychological barrier to change, any misgivings, any concerns and troubles. We must recognize that when there is change you get extremes. In this case the change since 1996 have produced in a few people a very colorful extreme: the accusation that the Ruhi material is only applicable to the Third World . This is very interesting, it's very colorful, because when you open a Ruhi book what do you find there? The sacred Texts! The authoritative Writings.

If you look at Book 1, there are passages you can spend your life contemplating, just as devoted Christians have spent their lives contemplating the phrases of the Lord's Prayer. Another extreme is the accusation that we are ignoring Assemblies, feasts, firesides, and deepenings; the false accusation that Anna's presentation could be given by a parrot; these are an extreme distortion which reflect one's unease and frustration at the change that has been brought about by the House of Justice.

                        The automatic equivalence in the minds of some between the House of Justice call to direct teaching, to present the coming of Bahá'u'lláh in more direct terms, based upon the condition of the world, based upon the spiritual hunger of mankind, trivialized and gravely distorted into a call for the universal application of door to door teaching. These are all expressions, to my mind, of the unease of capable and devoted believers who are struggling with change. Of course when you go to one extreme you get the other extreme, you get the criticism of those who are not involved in the Institute Process, extreme statements to not bother with the LSA or with firesides, the confusion between priority and exclusive, and so on.

This is the challenge we face and it's inherent in the Ridván 2009 Message. The solution is childish simple; the solution is so simple, it hardly worth mentioning. The solution is no more and no less than unreserved acceptance of whatever the central authority of the Cause, in this case the Universal House of Justice decrees.

                        If we would hold to that, if we would contemplate it deeply, if we would absorb the implications and meaning of unreserved acceptance and implementation of whatever the Central Authority in the Cause decrees we are safe. Nothing can trouble us, we are in an impregnable stronghold, and we would become part of this massive movement of humanity to rescue the world from the perilous disorder, the intense suffering of the declining process and to usher in the ordained new world civilization in the Golden Age of the Cause.

[1] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 168-71.

[2] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 168

[3] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 193

[4] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 187

[5] Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 125.

[6] Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 31

[7] Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 31

[8] Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 3

[9] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 201

[10] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 183

[11] Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 283

[12] Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 42

[13] Compilations, Scholarship, p. 16

[14] Star of the West, vol 6, no. 6, June 24, 1915, page 44

A cluster’s plan of activities for the consolidation phase

2009-06-22T18:48:00.001+02:00

Here is a succinct summary of activites going on in the Intensive Program of Growth of a cluster in the Northeast shared by email recently.

"With so firm a foundation in place, the foremost thought in the mind of each and every believer should be teaching. Whether in their personal efforts they teach their friends in firesides and then involve them in the core activities or use these activities as their primary instrument for teaching, whether as a community they make their work with children and junior youth the initial thrust in a cluster or focus first on the older generations, whether in their collective endeavours they visits families in teams as part of an intensive campaign or call on seekers in their homes periodically over time.... What all must acknowledge, irrespective of circumstance, are both the crying need of a humanity that, bereft of spiritual sustenance, is sinking deeper into despair and the urgency of the responsibility to teach with which we each have been entrusted as members of the community of the Greatest Name." -- Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2007

Even though the expansion phase is over, the teaching continues. Below find the your cluster's plan on how to continue the teaching work, Please send thoughts, stories and feedback as the Cluster Agencies learn from this process.

Creating lasting spiritual bonds with friends, family, co-workers & neighbors
(A) Sharing the fundamental verities of the Faith
(B) Starting core activities: use vision of the Universal House of Justice (quoted below from 28Dec08)

Devotional gatherings: Efforts to hold meetings that strengthen the devotional character of the wider community
Children's classes: Offer classes that foster the spiritual development of children
Junior youth groups: Form groups that channel the energies of junior youth
Study circles: Establish circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on equal footing and explore the application of teachings to their individual and collective lives

Accompanying others
(A) Encourage based on vision from the guidance and encourage them to share that vision with others
(B) Please call at least one other person to share with them the plan and the vision for the rest of the expansion phase
(C) Think of one person with whom you'd like to work to teach during the expansion phase

One in a group of young men calls to teachers asking what are doing, hears presentation and declares

2009-05-17T00:12:00.001+02:00

Friday, May 15, 2009

"Baha'u'llah is for everyone, not just for those we think look like a Baha'i"

Southern Nevada (A) recently launched another cycle of its intensive program of growth. There were many joyful results: 10 individuals declared their belief in the Cause, and numerous study circles, devotional meetings and children's classes were established. Of the many inspiring teaching stories received from this cluster, we are sharing two here for the important lessons they convey.

The first is basic common sense, but something definitely worth reflecting on because it is easy to forget:

We were able to engage many people while walking through the neighborhood simply by saying "Hi" to everyone and by making eye contact. If we hadn't taken this initiative we would have missed the chance to meet and talk with __, who then declared their belief in Bahá'u'lláh. . . .

The second is a reminder to not make assumptions on people's interest and receptivity based on their looks or outfit.

Today we had two new people on our teaching team. It was their first time going out direct teaching and they were so excited. Having that amazing energy with us today helped us to have great success. After we visited all our assigned buildings with little more than a half presentation and a couple of follow ups. We were walking to our car to return to the Bahá'í Center. A group of young men was standing out in front of the apartment, and as we walked by, one of them called out to us. He looked to us like the least likely person to be interested in the Faith based on how he was dressed. But he asked us what we were doing, so we started sharing Anna's conversation with him. At the end of it he declared and said that he wanted to tell his good friend about everything that he had just learned. We learned the true meaning of "don't judge a book by its cover." Bahá'u'lláh is for everyone, not just for those we think look like a Bahá'í. The best part is that our two new teachers were so excited and cannot wait for next weekend's direct teaching effort.

Teaching while under surgery!

2009-04-10T13:53:00.002+02:00

Another two delightful stories from our active teacher Richard about making the best of every opportunity to teach! Shared on the 'gnats into Eagles' Yahoo! group, and used with his permission.

4 April

I just found out there are many different areas of the heart that each have specialists. One is electrical. My appoitment today in this area showed that I needed a pacemaker now. He wanted to send me to the hospital and have a PACEMAKER put in yet today but couldn't get into the hospital till Monday which was also full but he had me come in at 6 am to get it done...

I told the doctor that I loved the knowledge of different cultures and asked if he would mind me asking what his Religon was. He appreciated the interest and replied Sikh. I showded that I knew what Sikhs were and told him I was a Baha'i. He said he was very familiar with the Baha'is.

I then said to him, "I came to you 'seeking' help with my heart, and I find that 'seeking' knowledge.about my heart introduced me to a true 'Sikh" in ever sense of the word and it is so rewarding to me to have a Sikh help me with my 'seeking'. It is good to be in Spiritual hands!"

He is about 40 and enjoyed my sense of knowledge and poked fun at my humor (or lack of it), whichever it is.

10 April

It is now a day after I had my pacemaker put in. Pulse was 40 down to 20 for the past year. Now it is a steady 70. Wow! I guess my body now has nearly twice the blood flow for the same period of time. That has got to give me a rush!

There were 6 people in the operating room for the hour of the surgery. I taught the Faith to one of them for the entire operation. When my Sikh doctor saw [my wife], he said with a smile that I talked Baha'i the entire operation. I could only see one person's face and it seemed right to keep talking about the Faith. While the doctor was working on my heart, hopefully I was God's scalpel to operate on the doctor's soul.

I cannot believe that I could be recovering considering a hole was cut into my chest, a foreign object was put into my body, two wires were threaded through a vein into my heart with 2 screws being inserted into my heart with the attached wires.

Could it be that teaching is a medicine that is healing me?????????? ???

I mentioned or taught the Faith to about 20 different staff there. I have promises that some will pull up the web site. One went right to the hospital's computer and pulled up Bahai.org and he was very touched and last night he came to my room and we talked for over an hour. He wanted to come again tonight. But I was ready to go home.

It seems logical to me that I was responding to God's call to make teaching the "Dominating passion of my life."

Love you,
J. Richard Hoff

Response to persecutions: Single-minded dedication to the prosecution of the Five Year Plan

2009-03-22T00:39:00.001+01:00

May this excerpt from today's momentous message from the Universal House of Justice marking the Anniversary the interment by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Bab in their permanent resting place on God's holy mountain, inspire us to still greater sacrifice in fulfilling our sacred responsibilities for our beloved Cause -

"All of us long for the alleviation of [the] trials and tribulations [of the friends in Iran]. What we must realise is that this longing may best be expressed through single-minded dedication to the prosecution of the Five Year Plan. All of us then should seize the opportunities that present themselves for the advancement of the Cause, confident that the victories won will bring abiding joy to the members of the long-suffering, renowned community in the native land of the Blessed Beauty."

http://www.bahainews.ca/en/090321-naw-ruz

The Universal House of Justice

21 March 2009

To the Baha'is of the World

This Naw-Ruz marks the centenary of one of the outstanding events in the Apostolic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, the interment by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Bab in their permanent resting place on God's holy mountain. In the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha: "The most joyful tidings is this, that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab ... after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel."

In commemoration of that triumph of the Cause, the members of the Universal House of Justice, accompanied by the members of the International Teaching Centre, have today offered prayers of thanksgiving in the Shrine of the Bab on behalf of the worldwide Baha'i community, expressing gratitude for the unfailing divine protection vouchsafed to the Cause of God. In their solemn contemplation, their hearts were stirred as they recalled the indelible image of the Master left to posterity when, on this day a hundred years ago, having with His own hands laid that peerless Trust in its final place of repose, He rested His head upon the edge of the blessed casket of the Bab, and "sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him". They remembered, too, the manifold obstacles with which He had been confronted in constructing this sacred edifice and His unbounded relief at having accomplished one of the principal objectives of His Ministry.

A century ago, the Faith was emerging from a period of severe crisis during which the incarceration of 'Abdu'l-Baha by His inveterate antagonists in the Ottoman Empire had been renewed, a grievous assault on the unity of the Cause had been launched by the Covenant-breakers, and an upsurge in the persecution of the heroic Persian believers had produced a fresh wave of sacrifice. In the immediate future there lay dazzling victories. The strenuous and fate-laden journeys of 'Abdu'l-Baha to the western world would release incalculable spiritual powers destined to give rise to unprecedented progress of the Faith in the American and European continents He visited. The Tablets of the Divine Plan would set in motion processes designed to bring about, in due course, the spiritual transformation of the planet. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha would establish the basis for a future world order.

Today the Cause of God is again confronted by cruel and relentless opponents seeking in vain to eradicate it in the land of its birth. However, this is occurring in a world far different from that of a hundred years ago, when the Faith was largely unknown and its defenders were few. From all parts of the world the followers of Baha'u'llah appeal for justice, while providing, in the example of their lives, compelling evidence of the absurdity of the accusations levelled against their Iranian brethren. In this appeal they are joined by fair-minded people of all backgrounds, including thousands of Iranians who express their concern at the denial of the human rights of their Baha'i compatriots.

The sacrifices of the Bab and the dawn-breakers of the Cause are yielding abundant fruit. Energized and confident, the followers of the Greatest Name throughout the world have mobilized their resources in a vast and concerted endeavour to offer the healing balm of Baha'u'llah's Teachings to the multitudes of humanity. The magnificent progress achieved over the past century demonstrates the invincible power with which the Cause is endowed. It is but a portent of the ultimate realization of the oneness of humankind.

[signed: The Universal House of Justice]

The Art of Teaching Heart-to-Heart: A comment

2009-03-22T00:08:00.002+01:00

This edifying comment on the question of the need for those accepting the Faith to sign declaration cards was posted by our experienced teacher-friend Richard to the Yahoo! newsgroup "gnats into Eagles" on 19 March. Used with his kind permission.

The writings state we should deliver the Message in a simple language addressed to the heart. The writings state we should teach in such a manner that "the seeker should SPONTANEOUSLY be IMPELLED to embrace the Faith."

Over the 48 years I have been a Baha'i I have worked at learning to put these factors into a spiritual context of presenting the Faith.

I have well educated people with good minds just sit and nod in agreement and allow me to enroll them without coments or questions. I felt their mind shut off and they were in a spiritual condition that felt so very right with them.I could see the body language as they leaned forward and some touched my hand. When asked if I could bring them into the Faith they said yes. They never saw the card and when it was present to them for a signature they put their name on it in what seemed such a natural thing to do. Now remember many asked many questions! It happened to different people in different ways.

Our society says, don't trust anyone, don't sign any thing till you ckeck it out with a lawyer.

The Guardian's wife said, she would never sign that enrollment card that stated, "I will obey [the Baha'i] laws and institutions."

Many Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies have never had an enrollment card to be signed. It is a U.S.-thing. Sign them up!!!!!!!!!

I have had a number of special people who have accepted the Faith turn 180 degrees away from any futher involvement when they were asked to sign up!!!

The signing up changes the dynamic from Heart to Heart to a legalistic or should I wait to learn all about the laws and institution before I sign. It turns into into a "head" [rather than a "heart"] trip.

Now remember I get enrollments each year and with the exception of Natives which you don't have to have a card signed, and I have had to get cards signed all my Baha'i life.

Love,
"A spiritual-accepting enrollment-getting Baha'i"
Richard

A further of his perceptive comments (of 20 March) which highlights an effective attitude in teaching the Faith:

"I find when I have warm feelings about a situation that I can communicate with whoever it is in a more effective manner. So I resist thinking about anything negative about what is going on. I just look at what I can praise."

Flexibility re card signature in declaration process

2009-03-18T15:18:00.001+01:00

Useful guidelines from the U.S. National Assembly on the process of registering those declaring their faith in Bahá'u'lláh - as relayed in the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles."

The Regional Council [for the Southern States] recently received additional clarification regarding the new "registration cards" and processes for registering a new youth or adult believer.

The National Spiritual Assembly [of the United States] no longer requires the signature of a new believer on the card if he/she has accepted Baha'u'llah as the Manifestation of God for this age. The teacher of the new believer can
fill out the card for him/her and quickly pass it along to the involved Local Spiritual Assembly. The new believer can sign the card if he wishes to but it is not required.

If the new believer is registering his/her children or junior youth, the parent's signature is still required.

This is a significant change in our processes for teaching and we encourage you to consult on this and relay this information onto your teachers in the field. The Regional Council will also send correspondence to the Local Spiritual Assemblies to this effect.

Loving regards,

[C.M.]

Assistant Secretary for Cluster Advancement
Regional Bahá'í Council of the Southeastern States

Core activites aspect of Baha'i peace education

2009-03-11T14:50:00.009+01:00

A concise presentation of the Core Activities

Integrated into the Faith's ongoing community development, and central to the expansion and consolidation of the Faith:

Referred to as the Core Activities of the Baha'i community, they constitute a four-fold process of community development for peace involving small community study circles, devotional gatherings, neighborhood moral and spiritual education classes for children, and gatherings for youth. Learning is facilitated by local community members who complete tutor training programs and subsequently engage the wider community in creative, culturally appropriate applications of development activities. They are described in more detail in Table 1. The Core Activity initiative began in Colombia some 20 years ago and has since spread to over 100 countries in all four continents. Local, regional, national and international statistics and anecdotal summaries on the progress of the Core Activities are gathered every three months from all Baha'i communities around the world. From the local to the international level, statistics and lessons learned are analyzed and used for increased understanding, to stimulate areas of promising growth and to encourage local human resource development. Anecdotal data is compiled thematically into regular international circulars informing the Baha'i community around the world about progress made towards community development for a peaceful world.

Table 1: Core Activities

Activity	Goal
Ruhi Study Circles	To build communities of learning composed of Baha'is and their friends, colleagues and associates, that promote individual and collective spiritual transformation through study and practical application of thematically grouped sacred texts. Two of the seven units of study are devoted to the spiritual education of children and youth, an understanding of their spiritual destiny in the processes of peace building, and encouragement of all youth and adults in the community to mentor, teach and value children.
Neighborhood children's classes	To engage Baha'i and non-Baha'i children and their parents in moral and spiritual transformation and competency development through service learning.
Junior youth gatherings	To engage adolescents of all or no religious affiliation, between the ages of 11-14, in peer clusters of positive influence and mutual support. Junior youth animators are frequently young adults who work creatively to address issues of identity, moral leadership and build skill in contributing towards solving local problems. The young adults also serve the function of role models for the younger teens and provide them with alternatives to risky behaviors while developing confidence and leadership capacity.
Devotional gatherings	Devotional gatherings. Goal: To provide neighborhood forums for people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, to say prayers together, read from sacred writings and discuss spiritual themes in a collaborative and artistic manner.

Each of these four themes operates in local, regional, national and international settings. They involve a unique blend of structure and agency balancing guidance from Baha’i Sacred Texts, administration and mentorship from Baha’i Institutions who regularly seek dialogue and feedback opportunities to inform decision making, and individual initiatives that are encouraged and supported by the Institutions.

From the document Baha'i Faith and Peace Education, by Marie Gervais, University of Alberta Canada

[DOC] Baha'i Faith and Peace Education chapter

What are Core activities? What are Baha'i Core activities?

Children's education - enthusiastic response to a crying need

2009-03-03T21:28:00.002+01:00

This story is from Chantelle's blog. One ordinary girl doing an extraordinary service (in China) - check out her reporting!
http://chantellesadventures.blogspot.com/2009/02/lane-lives.html
More on moral education: http://bahai.org/features/moral_ed

Sunday, February 22, 2009

lane lives

Amazing experience yesterday. A Chinese friend and I went around the lane I live down asking parents if they would like to come over to my place to hear a presentation on character education for their children, a free service we are offering in the neighbourhood once a week. We had an overwhelmingly positive response. So great! It was such an interesting process to even discover where and how my neighbours live, in such a contrast to my comforts. Peter, my little 7 year old friend I met when I was locked out of my flat a few months ago, took my friend and I to each home he had friends at, running ahead, winding down dark dark hallways and up the steepest wooden stairs with absolutely no light, to find a family of three in a room about 4 by 5 meters big, kitchen, toilet, double bed, cupboard, table, stick figure crayon drawings on the wall from the little girl, all smack bang next to each other, sitting eating lunch and watching tv together. My friend told them what we were offering and the grandmother was very interested and happy and said she'd come along. A lot of them could not understand that it was free, we had to repeat that over and over again! The next kid…peter ran ahead weaving in and out of the alleyways, taking us again what seemed like going through someone's house but it was the communal hallway, people brushing their teeth in cups, or hanging their socks out on the communal line, or cooking lunch in the shared kitchen, what a sight. We knocked on the door of this tiny room/house to find a little girl about 6 years old cuddled up in her blankets in her bunk bed alone, her parents don't live in Shanghai she told us so she lives with her grandma who was out working. Peter kept talking to her about the class with lots of enthusiasm and she gave us her grandma's number to call. The sight of a tiny girl in this room/house with only a bunk bed (the top bunk bed was used as the cupboard full with clothes, food supplies, toilet paper, you name it) and a single bed for her grandma, was just so shocking and yet so beautifully simple how they live. Considering I live next door to them and live like a queen, I felt guilty...but it's all relative I guess, well more like it's all learning, and we all have different capacities, especially when it comes to living conditions! I am definitely the 'spoilt westerner' whose comfort levels differ somewhat!
We met another 5 parents, some in the middle of their work, dry-cleaning clothes in a steamy tiny space with a child sitting on the bench, all so excited about this programme, and they came into my flat looking around the place in awe and amazement, I felt ashamed in a way to live like this after seeing how they live but they were so sweet and open. A couple of kids came along to and I fed them popcorn, they took one bite and spat it out! They had never had salty popcorn before, in china it's always sweet (I had gotten this packet from the western supermarket!) so cute, but also a small reminder 'when in china be like the chinese'.
My friend and I were initially so nervous, worrying how the parents may re-act to this but they were so positive. A young mother kept saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you. All our kids do when they come home is play, its good for them to have this.' A lot of the parents could not read, we discovered as we gave the power point presentation, but that did not matter. We shared the quotation from Baha'u'llah that 'Man is a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can alone cause it to reveal it's treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.' We asked them what is a mine? How is a human being like a mine? What do we need to develop? And discussed the importance of parents and mothers especially as they are the first educators of children. We even touched on the dual nature of man, the three different types of education Abdul Baha spoke of - material, human and spiritual. How they are all very important but we seem to lack spiritual education in our current school systems and how it is really the most important one of the three.
"Material education is concerned with the development of the body. Human education is about civilization and progress. It deals with government, administration, charitable works, trades, arts and handicrafts, sciences, great inventions and discoveries. Spiritual education consists in acquiring divine perfections. This is true education, for by its aid the spiritual, the higher nature of the human being is developed."

I was just so happy to have them in my house and to be having this kind of conversation with people that had just passed me on the street, said 'Ni hao' and that was about it! Yet again China blows me away, the purity of their hearts and openness of their minds.
On a different note one mother pointed out she makes the slippers that I had offered people to wear! Those details just hit it home to me, and a friend reminded me that 'the meek and humble shall inherit the earth', and seeing their responses to our neighbourhood children's class, you can sense that. And for all the extremes of wealth and poverty that are smacked in your face here in Shanghai, knowing that these gorgeous people have such a high spiritual destiny, puts my heart at peace.

So next Saturday, here go… 7 kids coming to my place for Baha'i inspired children's classes!! My Chinese friend will run it and I'll assist! Soooo excited!!

Striving to teach out of LOVE, not sheer obedience - Hoff stories

2009-02-24T23:32:00.002+01:00

Another enlightening story shared yesterday by our active teacher-friend Richard Hoff that highlights the importance of having a pure motive when teaching. At one point he refers to the injunction given by the beloved Guardian to each believer: "Never must they let a day pass without teaching some soul, trusting to Baha'u'llah that the seed will grow." (Guidelines for Teaching, #1995)

Dear Friends,

My wife agrees with me that in my case "teaching is the dominating passion of my life." I am not disagreeing but often it is not as simple as it seems.

I put teaching a new soul every day above purity of heart. Example: Decades ago I was so immature that I would get mad and rebellious. [My wife] says, even then I was better than I was when she married me.

This one time I committed to go reservation teaching and decided to back out. [My wife] pushed me into going. I was mad. I was driving the car with her and two youth. I saw a hitchhiker! I stopped and had [my wife] get in the back and had the hitchhiker sit by me. Bla, bla, bla and I got his card signed.

Then I had the others deepen him and we took him with us to the Baha'i home on the reservation. When we got there, I knew [my wife] was upset. She took me aside and told me how offensive that teaching experience was to her. She said you didn't love him, you just wanted another notch on your gun handle (an old western term).

I went from being mad at the world to thinking, WOW! I realized I taught him because I had not been obiedent to teaching some soul that day. I instantly changed into being engaged and loving again. I taught out of obiedence to teach someone every day.

Was I a pure channel? No I was antaganistic, mad and angry. That experience has had a profound effect on my life.

BUT I WAS OBIEDENT TO TEACHING A SOUL EACH DAY!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! !!

Therefore for me, I make it a point to get involved with a new person every day that I am able to do so. Often I even get out bed when I am sick and got to a store to meet new people. By the way, it physically helps me to get well.

I don't think one can be a pure hearted teacher unless they learn to talk to new people, no matter if they are in a spiritual low, they do it anyway. The Spirit Of Baha'u'llah gudies us when we are engaged in delivering the message. We do it right and we flub it. That's the way we learn.

The writings say the twin pillars for our growth are REWARD AND PUNISHMENT.

love you,
J. Richard Hoff

Sacrificial effort to attend Baha'i conference

2009-02-24T22:27:00.001+01:00

This is one of many amazing stories about efforts endured to be able to attend one of the Regional Baha'i conferences, this one in Accra, Ghana. Read the full conference report here.

Balthazar Da Silva, 32, Guinea Bissau: "Coming here, I thought I'd never arrive. I missed one flight, and to be able to arrive in time for the conference had to go from Guinea Bissau to Dakar, Dakar to Bamako, Bamako to Abidjan, Abidjan to Ethiopia, Ethiopia to Lagos, Lagos to Accra. But it was all worth it!"

Quotes on love on Valentine's cards distributed

2009-02-17T22:38:00.001+01:00

One believer in Norway was creative and audacious enough to create Valentine's cards with quotations on love from the Writings which she gave to friends and contacts, and left at conspicuous public places (including the bus) for people to read and become inspired by!

Using seeker's background as starting point for teaching

2009-02-17T22:31:00.001+01:00

Here is an enlightening teaching story from an experienced teacher of the Faith.

P and I met for the fifth time with the wonderful African American couple...They are of the retired upper crust of our nation. He was very active in the civil rights efforts during the 60/70s.

As I have explained in my previous posts, it really takes skill to teach him the Faith. Today he stated talking about how the lightning strikes, and then there is thunder, and rain, then the fruit comes. He likened this to what happened with Martin Luther King Jr. as lightning and the follow up as thunder and rain.

I enthusiastically agreed and articulated my understanding of this as lightning that saved the nation from more riots and greatly enhanced our country with ability to deal with the racial bigotry in the USA. Now remember he has studied the Faith some and sees the Faith as no more relevant than all the other great things such as King.

I stated that people like him and I have been the thunder and rain that followed King's lightning, and have found a profound feeling of accomplishment in our lives and this is as it should be!

I then suggested that I feel some of us have developed a "COMFORT ZONE" that has interfered with our ability to see the lightning that only the Baha'i Faith has brought that would have gone a long way to prevent all the major wars including the first and second world wars and the terrorism that is threatening the world today.

I asked, "Can I explain the part that the Baha'i teachings have brought as a lightning rod that would have mitigated or prevented these wars?

He was hooked!!!!!! The door was open wide.

I stated, "The Baha'is were given a blue print at their founding to reorganize the concept of religion and politics. The Baha'is accept that the present organizations in the world that accept racial togetherness are good. But the Baha'i lightning states and empowers a focus for every Baha'i to go way beyond agreement and provide the thunder and rain in the following areas:

An advanced language that states, we are one race the human race.

The color of peoples skin is likened unto a flower garden of black violets, red roses, white lilacs, etc.

It is God's plan for everyone on earth to move as quickly as possible to a world-embracing concept of organization that believes we are citizens of the world. We understand that after the first world war the League of Nations was a step in this direction, and the UN advanced this concept. And now God will advance the world's organization so that we see ourselves as "One nation-the earth." No one can prevent it. The Baha'i focus on a unanimous belief in the world embracing understanding necessary to bring warring nations together. This is done by one person at a time embracing these teachings.

Our 6 million + members are organized with no clergy. In its place the Baha'is elect with a secret ballot 9 members to make decisions. No one is a leader! The body of nine appoints a member to speak for any particular program. Then they set up committees that function in the same manner as the elected. It is a program that necessitates members stepping forward. It is without the drawback of clergy being empowered and paid. It brings the best aspects of democracy empowering organizational change. It works and is used on the local, state, national and international level.

Also the election process makes it possible for women to have the same input and status as men. Plus a multitude of other aspects for global change.

The membership of the Baha'is is preparing individual participation for involvement in all aspects of a global society.

The Baha'is lightning has struck! The thunder has been gaining momentum since 1844, over 100+ years. And the Baha'i rain is falling and the growth from the rain is worldwide.

(Then further proofs were given from world and Baha'i history)

He was very interested... It was wonderful!

Dedicating devotional to passed relative effective

2009-02-17T21:52:00.001+01:00

An 85-year-old woman from the Adana cluster in Turkey told how she had started devotional gatherings three years ago, dedicating them to her late husband. Fourteen of the people she invited have since joined the Baha'i community, and all were at the conference. "I thank Baha'u'llah and wish to be able to continue these devotionals as long as I live," she said.

http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/istanbul.html

Podcast of talk on the Plan, Paul Lample, Aug 2008

2009-02-07T21:50:00.001+01:00

This was posted to the US-Baha'i administrative website.

September 08, 2008

The National Spiritual Assembly is delighted to share with you an audio recording of an inspiring talk given by Mr. Paul Lample, member of the Universal House of Justice, at the Nashville, Tennessee, Bahá'í Center on August 24, 2008.

Abundant with vital insights on the great spiritual enterprise our worldwide community has embarked on, this talk can be downloaded or listened to in streaming video from the below links.

Note: To download to your disk, many browsers require you to "right-click" on the link (or "Ctrl-click" on a Macintosh) and choose a "Save" or "Download" option from the menu that pops up.

Click here to stream or download the entire audio file (1 hour, 6 minutes; 30 MB).

To stream or download smaller segments of a few minutes each, use the links below:

Segments 1/2 (3 MB)

Segment 3 (4 MB)

Segment 4 (2.7 MB)

Segment 5 (1.8 MB)

Segment 6 (2.8 MB)

Segment 7 (6.7 MB)

Segment 8 (10 MB)

Segment 9 (6 MB)

Segment 10 (6 MB)

Segment 11 (6 MB)

Segment 12 (2 MB)

Segment 13 (4 MB)

Segment 14 (1.5 MB)

Segment 15 (5 MB)

Segment 16 (0.7 MB)

Outreach focusing on Junior Youth and Children's Classes

2009-01-24T21:01:00.000+01:00

Here is a refreshing and informative report from Northern Ireland:

“NORTHERN LIGHTS” SERVICE PROJECT

A service project in Northern Lights cluster over 15—16 November aimed to set up one children’s class and one junior youth group. It resulted in the establishment of one junior youth group, initially with 10 junior youth, and two children’s classes, one for 5 – 7 year olds initially with three children and one for 8 – 10 year olds initially with seven children.

“The plan was to have teams of two people go out in their respective assigned streets and offer a children’s class and a junior youth group. We would offer that same day a ‘’taster session’’ of about 45 minutes long to give people the chance to see what we would do in a children’s class or a junior youth group. On the first day eight of us met at 7.30 am for a spiritual mix of individual and collective prayers, deepening and consultation. After this four teams of two went out to their assigned streets and/or parks that were within walking distance of the local Community Centre. We knocked on doors as well as meeting people on the streets to inform them of the opportunity to join either a children's class or a junior youth group by inviting them to the taster session that was going to happen that day. Nine children and 10 junior youth attended the taster session.

Given the excellent turn out on Saturday the team after much reflection and consultation decided to forego outreach on Sunday and instead decided to visit the parents of the children and junior youth that came on Saturday. The main purpose of the visit was to inform the parents of the content of the course and child protection procedures. Also we knew there was a possibility that those whom we made contact with on Saturday who didn't come to the taster session may turn up at the taster session on Sunday.

There were seven of us on Sunday. We met at 8.00 am for a spiritual mix of individual and collective prayers, deepening and consultation. Following this, three teams revisited the homes of children and junior youth that had attended on Saturday. All but two homes were contacted with positive responses. The other two homes were followed up soon after. For the Sunday taster session we had five junior youth attended, of which three were newcomers. One child attended, but had also attended on Saturday. And on Sunday evening we reflected on a great weekend of learning through experience.”

AHZ

CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
Issue 141 - 2 Sharaf 165 BE - 1 January 2009 CE

http://www.btinternet.com/~iain.s.palin/bc4ni/comm/ti.htm#project

Small teams easy to organize - report from teaching project in N. Ireland

2009-01-01T22:03:00.000+01:00

Here is a report of a few interesting teaching encounters under a project in Northern Ireland recently. It concludes:

Because our team is small and organization is comparatively easy the Auxiliary Board Member encouraged us to engage in collective teaching at regular intervals.

OUTREACH IN NEWRY

The first outreach weekend in Newry took place on 22-23 November and proved an interesting and rewarding experience. After prayer, reflection and study on the Friday evening and Saturday morning the teaching began. A participant reports:

“It was bitterly cold, but we were amazed at how some people stood in their doorways and connected with us. There were of course those who did not wish to know what we had to say, but over the course of the two days there were a number of souls who showed some degree of receptivity, and three whom we felt were our priority in follow up. We found young people from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to show receptivity, although language was often a barrier. We experimented the second day with trying not to use the word religion early in the presentation as we had found that this created an unfavourable reaction. During consultation we realized that two of the teams were expressing feelings around needing somehow to integrate the invitation to the study circle taster into Anna’s Presentation, so we decided to experiment in this area. We made some presentations beginning with the fact that we were inviting people to participate in a course about spiritual subjects such as the purpose of life.

We had a number of confirming experiences.

In one we met a Polish man whose English was not good but who seemed interested in the faith from the little he understood. We arranged to visit again the next day, this time bring Anna's Presentation in Polish. When we arrived at the arranged time, the man was still in bed following a party the previous night, but we told his friend why we had come and asked if he would be interested in hearing the presentation, and he said he would, brought us in and engaged with great interest in the presentation. We stayed for an hour. Then he had to leave for work but invited us back, saying he could talk to us for an entire week because he had so many questions and thoughts! All through the project we had met several Polish people but though many of them were receptive, we had difficulty teaching them because of the language barrier; but now we have found a Polish man with good English who we pray may be the key to teaching his fellow countrymen.

In the bitter cold a young girl (clad in her pyjamas) came to the door, and listened intently to what we had to say, the introduction was prefaced with a few words about the fact that we were offering a course about spiritual subjects and the purpose of life. Notable about this girl was her radiance and friendly demeanour. A few pages into the presentation it was apparent that she was very cold we paused and remarked on this, she agreed but asked us to continue. We told her about the taster that evening, she looked very interested and said that she was a catholic but was very open-minded and would like to attend.

As we walked together to the estate in which we were teaching, we saw two youths coming towards us and decided to speak to them. We had a lively discussion with them about religion, amazed at their insights and perception and touched by how deeply they thought about and understood things. We really came to understand the extent to which that generation is lost and angry; and the extent to which they despise religion as it has been taught to them. Then one of the young men who had been silent for much of the time angrily expressed his inner torment. We spoke to him about his choices, about how he could use his passion to fuel self-harm and destruction, or use it as fuel to rescue his generation and those coming behind him; and we invited him and his friend to train to work with junior youth.

They offered us the advice that they both felt from their own experience that we needed to be working with eleven and twelve year olds, that it's already too late by the time youth reach 13 and 14! They took flyers from us advertising the taster session and giving a phone number, address and web address. We did not really expect them to show up at the taster, and sure enough they did not show up; but we both felt that one of the young men was in crisis that day, and that our meeting with them was fortuitous, gave him hope, and will bear undoubted fruit in the future.

The teaching team was very happy with the project and we look forward to following up with those receptive souls, whom we feel were sent to us by Baha’u’llah. Because our team is small and organization is comparatively easy the Auxiliary Board Member encouraged us to engage in collective teaching at regular intervals. We are planning another outreach at the end of January.”

LTO’M

http://www.btinternet.com/~iain.s.palin/bc4ni/comm/ti.htm

CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
Issue 141 - 2 Sharaf 165 BE - 1 January 2009 CE

One starts the conversation, the other shares the presentation

2008-11-16T22:10:00.000+01:00

(Bangkok, 16 November)

Here is an excerpt from two very interesting reports from a teaching project held at a university in Bangkok:

"What we learnt most from our experience from going teaching at the University is courage, because this time we had to teach people who we did not know..."

After many prayers and planning, we broke into teaching teams and went direct teaching at Ramkhamhaeng University . This site was decided upon for several reasons: a higher number of people are available to approach, the student population tends to be younger and more open to new ideas, and the university is closely located to many of those who would be available for consolidation.

Our group of three went straight to an area of study Salas where many people were sitting. We sat down looking for small groups of one or two individuals. We saw a group of two young women, and without hesitation, walked up and introduced ourselves. We asked if they were free to listen for about 20 minutes about the Baha'i Faith. They confirmed, and we broke out Anna's presentation. We went through the first part of the presentation until we came to the time to ask our "checkpoint" questions. We asked if "the teachings they heard about would be hard to follow?" They answered 'no'. We asked "Did they believe that Baha'u'llah was a prophet of God for today?" They answered 'yes'. Encouraged by their responses, we then collected contact information and chatted for a few minutes. One of the young women hadn't slept the whole night as she had worked the night shift at a local mini mart so we said our goodbyes.

- Aa.

Last Saturday, we had a chance to go teaching at the Ramkhamheng University which we had a chance to teach two people. First was Mr. Salit. Since this was the first time that our team (I and Jit) decided to go out and teach total strangers, we were so nervous and scared. It took us a while to finally build up the courage to go up to strangers but finally we decided to approach Khun Salit. We planed it in such a way that one of us would be the one who starts the conversation and the other would share the Anna’s presentation. This time Jit went in first to approach him and I was the one who shared the Anna’s presentation. The sharing part went smoothly; he did not ask many questions, probably because he was shy. Afterwards we gave him a pamphlet to keep for further information and asked for his contact number...

What we learnt most from our experience from going teaching at the University is courage, because this time we had to teach people who we did not know at all which is something we have never done before and is very difficult. There were times when we got rejected or perceived as weird, but after a few times it gets easier, even though that day no one we taught declared, our hearts we filled with joy and happiness.

- Ar.

(Reported from the Bangkok Cluster Growth Committee)

Learning about planning and human resources

2008-11-15T21:22:00.000+01:00

(IL, 14 November)

Here are a couple of key learnings gained in the Chicago, IL (A-stage) cluster:

Study circles can be very effective when they are in small groups, for example a 2 or 3 people including the tutor. It helps respond directly to a seeker’s needs, there is no time wasted in waiting to put together a group, and after the study circle has started, there is more flexibility.

Planning in the last few cycles has been first strategy based and second resource based. A key learning has been that planning should be resource based first and then strategy based as well. This is related to learning gained about teaching and the institute process. We have learned that if the friends participate in the institute process without being involved in teaching, it slows down the teaching work, just as we have learned that if people participate in teaching without also being involved in the institute process it creates challenges for follow-up activities with new believers. A balance of both is needed for growth, so the cluster institute coordinators are working with the tutors to strengthen the friends’ understanding of—and participation in—the institute process.

http://teaching.bahai.us/2008/11/learning-about-planning-and-human.html

No development without emotional stirring, no achievements without sacrifice

2008-09-05T21:18:00.000+02:00

Here is an anecdote about our role as individuals from a talk held by a prominent Bahá'í recently:

No development and spiritual transformation can take place without our emotions being stirred, and no achievements can be accomplished without sacrifice. The goal ahead of us is, to

1) prepare ourselves spiritually

2) do what is our own unique part with a pure motive

3) ask the Concourse on High for guidance and leave the rest to the Almighty

4) prepare ourselves to receive the answer when it comes.

Also be aware that time is short.
Try to make some time so that you can do more of the things that make your heart leap in your chest with the feeling of being part of something BIG - something much bigger than both little you and I, and six billion other souls can comprehend.

If it doesn't come to anything, you can safely suppose that it was not meant to be and perhaps does not fit into God's Greater Plan.

In general, what will benefit us most is to center our energies in whatever concerns the well-being of mankind.

(Some relevant passages from the writings:)

"Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self."

Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 87

"Forget your own selves, and turn your eyes towards your neighbor. Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men."

Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 9

Book review: ATTAINING THE DYNAMICS OF GROWTH

2008-09-01T22:16:00.000+02:00

Here is a concise book review of the recent important publication from the International Teaching Center, with a Foreword by the Universal House of Justice.

The book is for sale through Baha'i booksellers/Publishing Trusts. Pasted at the end of this blog is the text of the book's introduction.

http://www.btinternet.com/~iain.s.palin/bc4ni/comm/bookrev.htm

CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland, 1 September 2008

BOOK REVIEW

ATTAINING THE DYNAMICS OF GROWTH (GLIMPSES FROM FIVE CONTINENTS)

A DOCUMENT PREPARED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE

What a very moving document indeed, seeing the friends in different continents engaged in the same activities as ourselves, striving to present Baha’u’llah’s Message ‘’in a manner both forthcoming and inviting’’ (message dated 27 December 2005 written by the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors). This document picks one advanced cluster from each continent, gives us an account of their activities as they advance the process of entry by troops and finishes with an inspiring closing analysis.

For anyone who usually doesn’t read the introduction to a document or book or other, I would highly encourage you to read this introduction ( by the Universal House of Justice) as it puts you in the right frame of mind. A glimpse of the introduction; at the beginning the Universal House of Justice tells us ‘’you will, we hope, not be content only to read the narrative but will try to identify the principles, qualities, and approaches that have made possible the progress achieved.’’

First is London. We learn about their Intensive Programmes of Growth, how the teaching teams played a pivotal role in moving the process, utilising study circles as environments for teaching, their challenges and glimpses of their growth. I very much enjoyed the stories too.

Next up was Norte del Cauca (Colombia). This is where the Ruhi Institute was born. We read about the mobilisation of the friends to teach, the multiplication of core activities, being more systematic in their Intensive Programmes of Growth. As their human resources were increasing one of their challenges identified was to empower the friends to acquire a greater consciousness of their responsibility to contribute to community life. Joyfully at the end of this case study we are once again reminded that all of theirs activities were spiritual enterprises.

Bihar Sharif (India). An amazing story of how the Bahá’í community transformed from the grass roots up through the acts of individuals, how they manage large-scale expansion and consolidation and in building capacity in the next generation (children and junior youth).

Tiriki West (Kenya). We read about how the local population was very receptive to the Faith but consolidation was a major hurdle and how it was then addressed. We learn about community life, teaching teams and the rapid expansion of children’s classes and junior youth groups.

Finally we visit South Tarawa, Kiribati (located in the South Pacific Ocean). This case study focuses heavily on the involvement of youth in the process of expansion and consolidation. There is also a lovely piece on reflection meetings.

After the five case studies we come to the closing analysis. The closing analysis is like the ‘ending of a good book’ and so I shall not spoil it for you. Needless to say, reading each case study carefully will enhance your appreciation of the ending.

AHZ

If you are a US-Baha'i, the whole book is available (with a password) through the national website (www.usbnc.org) in PDF-format (a pretty large file, about 60 MB).

Attaining the dynamics of growth

Glimpses from five continents

Prepared by the International Teaching Centre

Bahá’í World Centre

April 2008

Contents

To the delegates attending the Tenth International Bahá’í Convention . 2

London, United Kingdom . 5

Norte del Cauca, Colombia . 15

Bihar Sharif, India . 25

Tiriki West, Kenya . 35

South Tarawa, Kiribati . 45

Acceleration of Learning . 55

To the delegates attending the Tenth International Bahá’í Convention

In just a few years, the intensive programme of growth has emerged as a powerful means for the expansion and consolidation of the Faith on a large scale. Leading the process of learning that impels progress are scores of clusters where the friends have, through painstaking, systematic effort, come to understand how best to implement the cycles of activity that constitute such a programme. So instructive is the experience of these clusters, we asked the International Teaching Centre to choose one example from each continent and prepare a document that would demonstrate at once the diversity of conditions in which the believers everywhere are labouring and the coherent vision that unites them as they advance the process of entry by troops. The document consists of five case studies and a closing analysis. It is inspiring indeed, and we commend it to your study.

While the case studies offer an impressive account of the activity in each cluster, you will, we hope, not be content only to read the narrative but will try to identify the principles, qualities, and approaches that have made possible the progress achieved. What should become clear to you is how aptly the friends and institutions in the clusters have managed to exploit the framework for action referred to in our 27 December 2005 message to breathe the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation into places as diverse as the crowded city of London and the tiny island group of Kiribati.

Immediately apparent from the description of all five clusters is the degree to which the friends have relied on the power of divine assistance; this has fortified them in the field of action and enabled them to persevere in the face of inevitable difficulties. Equally evident is the sense of purpose that animates their endeavours—a purpose complemented by the attitude of learning they have espoused. Even more striking, however, is the way these attributes are perpetuated in the body of believers as it grows in size, for in all cases they have come to characterize not only individual action but also the community’s as a whole. So focused is the collective energy of the friends as they carry out the central tasks of the Five Year Plan, whether in taking individual initiative or participating in organized campaigns, that they are catching the first glimpses of what it means for their powers to be multiplied in unified action.

In reading the case studies, you will note how the approaches adopted and the system of administration employed serve as means for facilitating the dynamics of such unified action. In every cluster, fellowship and support are the watchwords in this respect. Whether they are paying a visit to a family’s home to draw them into a conversation about the Faith or helping one another to perform acts of service as part of their study of the institute courses, it is the joy of accompanying other souls on their spiritual journey that motivates the believers.

This same motivating force guides the institutions and agencies operating in the cluster in their efforts to administer the intensive programme of growth. Clearly the complexity of the coordination schemes in the five clusters varies to some extent. Yet, irrespective of the level of complexity, the administrative mechanisms in place represent a response to the desire of an increasing number of friends who are eager to express the ardour of their faith in action; these provide them with the support needed to participate in teaching teams, to host devotional meetings, to conduct children’s classes, to form junior youth groups, and to establish study circles. That the institutions and agencies involved are able to maintain such a responsive form of administration testifies to the high degree of organizational skill and flexibility they have attained.

In the closing analysis, the International Teaching Centre examines the strategies being employed to transfer the experience gained in advanced clusters, such as the five described here, to those in earlier stages of growth. The effect of such transference has been remarkable. What sometimes required several years for the friends in one cluster to accomplish can now be learned in another in a relatively short span of time. Often within a matter of months, as pointed out by the Teaching Centre, a dynamic pattern of activity, reflecting the equal emphasis placed on the twin processes of expansion and consolidation, can be established. Invariably, the believers take immediate ownership for the programme of growth, and unity of thought is soon reached. As they begin to put into practice what they have learned through the study of institute courses, especially related to direct teaching methods, they see their efforts confirmed and preconceived notions about the lack of receptivity fall away. Their commitment to the process of growth is raised to higher and higher levels as they are drawn into decision making at the reflection meeting. Plans laid down by the institutions and agencies serving the cluster become increasingly effective as their ability to interpret the experience acquired by the friends is gradually sharpened. They are able to think strategically, to set priorities, and to use resources judiciously. Moreover, they identify believers capable of shouldering added responsibilities in pursuit of plans and channel the energies of growing numbers in service to the Cause. The community thrives as it lovingly embraces new believers. In short, the process of capacity building in the three protagonists of the Plan accelerates at a tremendous rate. It is this development that heartens us most and which gives us confidence that the potential of the Five Year Plan will be realized.

The Universal House of Justice

Ridván 2008

"I become better friends with people when I have spiritual conversations with them"

2008-09-01T22:08:00.000+02:00

Here are some inspiring and helpful stories about teaching methods and observations (red color added).

Alex

http://www.btinternet.com/~iain.s.palin/bc4ni/comm/ti.htm

CommuNIqué - Newsletter of the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland
1 September 2008 CE

"MOMENTUM" - TRAINING INSTITUTE NEWS

LEARNING FROM “NORTHERN LIGHTSs”

These are actual quotes from people involved in activities in the “Northern Lights” Cluster. They are shared with us by the Area Teaching Committee. These aren’t “Dear Friends, We must….” exhortations—these are the real thing, in “handy bite-size chunks”!

1. How did a new believer come to recognize Bahá'u'lláh?

“We met someone at a social occasion who seemed very interested in the Faith so we arranged to visit her the following week to tell her more.

We went to her house and used ‘Anna’s presentation’ to explain the Faith and covered up to the story of the Báb stopping along the way for discussion.

Soon after she came to our place and we continued the presentation with her. After the presentation we asked her what she thought about it. She said she was deeply affected by it. We asked her if she believed in Bahá'u'lláh and she said yes. We then explained that as Bahá'ís there are laws we all follow and an administration that we must obey. She accepted and declared.

We learned the power of ‘Anna’s presentation’ to help seekers recognize the station of Bahá'u'lláh.”

2. Accompaniment

“I was asked to join a study circle and assist in the accompaniment of the study circle participants.

All the participants naturally become friends during the study circle and with one new friend we would meet up and talk about spiritual things, study a prayer, go to the cinema and other social events.

This new friend had many questions about the Faith and was investigating it, so naturally I offered to share a presentation of the Faith which he was very happy with. I shared ‘Anna’s presentation’ in my own words and with a booklet beside me for prompting.

Importantly I believe I made it clear to him that Bahá'ís believe in Bahá'u'lláh as the Manifestation of God for today and that if he wished to join us in building a new world he was very welcome.

I learned during and after the presentation that he knew the Faith was global and was for everyone.

He said he was still investigating the Faith. Being direct and clear with people gives them the opportunity to make informed decisions. I will accompany him in his investigation of the Faith.”

3. Making lists to help me be more systematic

“My teaching team met prior to the expansion phase. At that meeting and after I made a list of people I wanted to share the Faith with and what I needed to do with each individual.

I decided to visit a new friend with the intention of raising our conversations to a spiritual nature. It was excellent. We talked about the importance of work, family, building healthy relationships and much more. Time flew by as we both really enjoyed sharing our thoughts. I explained that many of my thoughts and views are inspired from the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith.

He was impressed to hear that as Bahá’í we try to serve mankind. This led into me sharing about the core activities. I explained and gave him the vision of what study circles are for and invited him to join one.

He said he would like to. I am learning that I become better friends with people when you have spiritual conversations as you then begin to understand better their thoughts and views on life. People are more than happy to hear about the Faith. I wonder if I am sometimes hesitant!

He is my new friend and naturally I plan to home visit him and meet up at social events. I’m sure also that sometime soon I will share ‘Anna’s presentation with him’. He is on my list of people who want to do a book 1 and as a trained tutor I am working on inviting others to form a study circle.”

There are many more examples of progress and learning in the Area Teaching Committee’s newsletter. The Bahá'í Council recently asked the ATC to make it available to the Friends throughout NI—please read it, you’ll enjoy and learn!

Experience inviting to a study circle

2008-08-02T11:30:00.000+02:00

This happened just last week. Since then, two more newfound seekers, another Chinese girl and a Polish man, expressed their wish to join the study circle to learn more about the Faith! We will be having our first meeting this Sunday.

We were a mixed gender team who had invited a (Chinese) friend of ours to a devotional/fireside last December which she said she had enjoyed. Since then, she had been busy until June finishing her thesis. On Friday we invited her in a message through Facebook to know what the Baha’i Faith is about, since we hadn't had the opportunity to really tell her about it. We said that, in brief, the Baha’is are engaged in building a new world civilization, and ultimately transforming the present one. We are learning to apply the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh in our personal lives and social relations in order to build a peaceful and just society. We then invited her to learn about the Faith on Sunday at a team member's place.

When she came, we gave her most of Anna's presentation. She said that she was generally not religious, but she turned out to be very open and commented positively on what we said. Then we had dinner, and afterwards brought out Ruhi book 1 to give her a taster. We briefly told her its purpose, opened the book to the first exercises of unit one, and did three of the questions. Then we skipped to the part on prayer and answered the first couple of questions together. We asked if she would be willing to participate in a study circle starting next weekend, to which she agreed, and even suggested we have it at her place!

Musical fireside using 'Anna's presentation'

2008-08-02T10:28:00.000+02:00

This is from an inspiring post (slightly edited) on Chantelle's blog:
http://chantellesadventures.blogspot.com/2008/07/wellington-to-singapore.html
Note the discerning use of arts and media as a means for attracting hearts when presenting the sacred Message of Bahá'u'lláh:

[I] had an incredible experience back home, we had a musical fireside the second Saturday I was back at my house, and [my father] who's not a Baha'i brought along his new tenant who had shown an interest in the Faith when she saw the newspaper article in his office with my massive face on it saying "Baha'i baby."
- "Are you a Baha'i?"
- "No, my daughter is, she just got back from Israel, she can tell you all about it."
So we organised this event, with her in mind, going through 'Anna's presentation' with songs dispersed throughout and two videos, and slide show with quotes on....
It was AMAZING, we had three interested people come, and [after the presentation] we all naturally paired off and went through in more detail what we had covered using the flipcharts....for about 45 minutes we did that one-on-one type deepening and the room was alive... [My mother] handed out dessert and we continued, then the lady [my father had] brought came to me and said "I just told Chelsea and I would like to tell you that I would like to formally become a Baha'i" - Stunned look on Chantelle's face....
"Wow...yes oh my gosh...thats great"
Of course we have no declaration cards...but yeah...she just instantly recognised Baha'u'llah in those two hours...
She is from India, had been living in NZ for two years, and told me, at the age of 13 she [had encountered a man in New Dehli who informed her about] the building of the 'new Baha'i Temple'. From that moment on she was intrigued by this Faith...and then as a 32 year old living in NZ....she finally finds out more deeply about it and declares...
What a gift.
I sat and talked with her at her place quite a few times..., it was like meeting my sister in a way...we just got each other!!

Chantelle adds in an email to me about what they did after the media presentation, studying together one-on-one:

[Basically, the initial, general] presentation took highlights of [Anna's presentation], such as relationship to God, Manifestation, Baha'u'llah, the Covenant, Oneness of humanity, and then we went through step-by-step in more detail of Anna's presentation in flipchart form so they [could] internalise what they just saw and dig [deeper] into concepts.

Thank you, Miss Brader!

(Emphasis added. Used with permission of the author. - A.)
(This post is mirrored here: http://inspirationforbahaiteaching.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/reaction-to-a-multimedia-fireside/ )

Invite the hearer to join a core activity or fireside

2008-08-01T17:18:00.000+02:00

It occurred to me that while presenting the Faith through "Anna's presentation" I could focus my intention on involving the listener in one of the core activities (be it a devotional meeting, study circle, or children's-/junior youth class) or a fireside--perhaps, instead of inviting the person to declare his faith directly. Here in Norway especially, given the high level of skepticism to and negative (historically motivated) perceptions about organized religion. this may be a wise approach. Besides, by participating in these activities the person is actually doing the Baha'i work of building a new civilization, and is thus, in a sense, a "Baha'i" believer!

Whosoever works for unity and fellowship is a servant of Bahá'u'lláh, and Bahá'u'lláh is his assistant and helper.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, PUP p. 324

Whosoever is lacking in love for humanity or manifests hatred and bigotry toward any part of it violates the foundation and source of his own belief and is holding to forms and imitations. Jesus Christ declares that the sun rises upon the evil and the good, and the rain descends upon the just and the unjust--upon all humanity alike. Christ was a divine mercy which shone upon all mankind, the medium for the descent of the bounty of God, and the bounty of God is transcendent, unrestricted, universal.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, PUP p. 41

If men followed the Holy Counsels and the Teachings of the Prophets, if Divine Light shone in all hearts and men were really religious, we should soon see peace on earth and the Kingdom of God among men. The laws of God may be likened unto the soul and material progress unto the body. If the body was not animated by the soul, it would cease to exist. It is my earnest prayer that spirituality may ever grow and increase in the world, so that customs may become enlightened and peace and concord may be established.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, PT p. 108

The children of men are all brothers, and the prerequisites of brotherhood are manifold. Among them is that one should wish for one’s brother that which one wisheth for oneself. Therefore, it behoveth him who is the recipient of an inward or outward gift or who partaketh of the bread of heaven to inform and invite his friends with the utmost love and kindness. If they respond favourably, his object is attained; otherwise he should leave them to themselves without contending with them or uttering a word that would cause the least sadness. This is the undoubted truth, and aught else is unworthy and unbecoming.

Bahá’u’lláh, ToU 41

A place to share experiences with teaching the Faith

2008-08-01T17:00:00.000+02:00

In carrying out the act of teaching the Baha'i Faith, a natural concomitant is reflecting on experiences gained.

This blog intends to document some thoughts, ideas and experiences related to this activity.
You may also wish to visit another of my blogs at http://inspirationforbahaiteaching.wordpress.com/.

Alex

(Header image is Copyright of the Bahá'í International Community, www.media.bahai.org)