3 adults and 4 children in my neighborhood were enrolled into our Beloved Cause!

More exciting news is shared by the friends in Bloomington Indiana (A-stage cluser):

Weekly devotions proved to work better on Thursday afternoons; and it is through these devotions that the enrollments occurred. By being exposed to the Word of God at these devotions and through the book, "Healing the Soul" that they took home, a married couple in my neighborhood responded with earnest and asked me to please teach them more about Baha'u'llah. So, the following week, I went through Anna's presentation. They were so overwhelmed that they called a close friend of theirs to come and hear the presentation because this friend had been something of a spiritual mentor for them. He came and listened and said, "This is the truth. This is what I have been preparing you for." They stayed a total of 6 hours; and left with books. They also received other reading material a couple of days later from another believer who had started to accompany me in the process. The following week (June 25th), they were both very excited and said that they believed in Baha'u'llah, but still had some residual doubts resulting from their continued attachment to some of the teachings in Islam. After this gathering, I started daily home visits with the friend (spiritual mentor). My thought was that he might be the one to guide them. At one point during the first home visit, I was inspired to share with him the fact that an entire world community existed that shared these ideals. He was not alone (as he thought). He did not seem to respond to this, but the following day he said that he had been thinking about this and told me that he knew in his heart that there had to be such a community, but he didn't know where they were, and he never thought he would be blessed enough to see the day. The following day (yesterday, July 1st), he arrived first at the devotions and said that he and his friends knew that they had found the truth and were overwhelmed by the joy they felt. When the married couple entered a few minutes later, the husband said was, "I have been guided my whole life to this point. I cannot deny this truth. My heart knows this is true. Where do I sign?" I went to get three enrollment cards, and all three enrolled. The four children will also be enrolled as soon as I sit down with the mom to get this done.

This overwhelming experience of the past couple of months is proof beyond any words that anyone could tell me that by following the guidance of our Supreme Institutions, we will have the success that we long for in our hearts.

There is still much work to be done, and more fruit to gather. Hopefully I will write with more joyous news as the weeks and months unfold. Read more!

The Bahai Faith is the religion for me--because it teaches the things I've believed my whole life!

This is a story told by a recently enrolled 15-year-old who learned about the Bahai Faith from someone who was studying the Faith too.  His hope now that he is a Bahai is that his friend finds her way to the Faith as well.

Last year in November, I met my girlfriend for the first time when I went to my cousin's house for the holiday.  It turns out that she and my cousin were almost absolute best friends, so I ended up talking with the two of them . . . when we got to the subject of religion, she said she wanted to be a Bahai, which peaked my interest.  Now it wasn't until a month later when I started dating her that I began to study the Bahai religion.  A half a year later, I confirmed with my inner self that the Bahai religion was the religion for me, not because it was my girlfriend's religion, but because it is the religion that teaches the things I've believed in my whole life--the things that stopped me from believing the religion I was raised on.  I had been searching for almost seven years for a religion.  Every day since I confirmed my faith within myself as a Bahai, I have prayed that my girlfriend receives the ability soon to convert to the Bahai religion.  I hope that her parents see the error of their ways in retaining her to their beliefs instead of allowing her to choose her own path in the beautiful world.  The Bahai religion has made my life feel so much more sensible and I can only hope that it does the same for many more. Read more!

Junior Youth Demonstrate Qualities Through Service

 In its Ridvan 2010 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, the Universal House of Justice describes the special qualities of junior youth:  “altruism, an acute sense of justice, eagerness to learn about the universe and a desire to contribute to the construction of a better world.”  We are pleased to share this newsflash from Ann Arbor, MI (A), about a junior youth group that has put these qualities into practice, and drawn the attention of the wider community in doing so.

Greetings!

The junior youth group that is centered in the northeast side of Ann Arbor has just received a certificate of recognition from the University of Michigan.  This award was presented to the group by the University of Michigan's Meals on Wheels program for the monthly service the group has engaged in for nearly two years (Fall of 2008 to the present).

The photograph of the award has been added to our photo slideshow at the upper right corner of this blog! Read more!

Send us your SED stories!

 

Dear Friends, in light of the guidance about involvement in social and economic development from the Universal House of Justice in its Ridvan 2010 message to the Bahá’ís of the world, we warmly welcome stories not only of your teaching efforts but also your endeavors in the field of social action.  So send us your stories!

Read more!

The news is the cluster newsletter!

 

The last couple of years have seen the growth of an exciting new medium of communication and learning:  cluster-level newsletters.  We are always happy to see issues of these newsletters, and we recently received a VERY exciting example, that of San Francisco-San Mateo, CA (A).  It was full of data and tables, showing the number of core activities from cycle to cycle of that cluster’s intensive program of growth, as well as numbers of people who have completed the various training institute courses.  Want to know who’s on the area teaching committee or need to contact your cluster institute coordinator?—Their contact information is clearly listed right there!  So the newsletter becomes a means to facilitate learning and participation.  Here is an excerpt of one of the newsletter’s articles

Dear Friends in Cluster CA-NC 09,

We are now in the 16th cycle of our intensive program of Growth. The current cycle was launched with a cluster-wide picnic and barbecue held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in San Mateo, followed by our quarterly Cluster Reflection Meeting.  Approximately 50 people attended the barbecue and picnic and the Reflection Meeting.  Just prior to the Reflection Meeting, theBahá’í world received the Ridván Letter from the Universal House of Justice. . . .

What a special Ridván Letter it is!  The letter is filled with love, guidance, and encouragement.  In addition, we were all congratulated for accomplishing the goal of creating 1500 intensive programs of growth one year prior to the end of the Five Year Plan.

Throughout this year, the final year of the current Five Year Plan, we are all encouraged to read and study the letter individually and in groups as much as possible.

Throughout this newsletter you will find several passages from the Writings of the Faith, selected portions of the Ridván letter, relevant information on our current cycle of growth, cluster statistics, important dates, teaching stories, and contact information for the Area Teaching Committee and Cluster Institute Coordinators.

Please know that the Area Teaching Committee and Cluster Institute Coordinators are here to serve you.  If you have any questions regarding teaching activities going on throughout the cluster or would like to start or be involved in any one of the core activities you are welcome to contact any of the persons listed below.

With Love,

Your Area Teaching Committee

The newsletter also gives a summary of the goals from the last reflection meeting:

26 regular home visits

1 new fireside

2 new study circles

2 new devotional meetings

2 children’s classes

Expand the community of interest by 27

Teaching teams have also pledged to strengthen and deepen friendships and relationships with their community of interest by hosting social activities such as picnics and barbecues, a housewarming and tea time.  The current teams include:

East Palo Alto

San Mateo

Western Addition

Team Biosphere

Burlingame

Read more!

Encouragement in action

 

It is a joy to watch one of the friends in action as they encourage and accompany the other friends in their service.  What follows is an excerpt of an email from a regional seeker response coordinator to a member of a cluster’s core team about a seeker in their cluster who had contacted the 800-22UNITE phone line.  Some interesting aspects of this message (besides its overall loving and uplifting tone!):  Asking the core team member to match the seeker with human resources in the cluster who have received the relevant training from the institute courses, encouraging the local friends to ascertain the seeker’s interests and needs so that appropriate follow-up steps can be arranged, and reminding the local friends to coordinate and share information with each other so that their response to the seeker can be as effective as possible.

Dear J,

As the seeker response coordinator for our region, I’m emailing you (and will phone you today too) as the cluster development facilitator for your cluster, to see if you might be able to find us a local experienced Bahá’í to promptly contact (by mail) this new seeker residing in __. . . .

A couple of days ago, __ left a message on the 800-22UNITE phone line and asked for Bahá’í literature to be mailed to him, which the National Teaching Office has done.  I am eager to pass on to you his information so that you might be able to arrange as promptly as possible for a local Ruhi-trained Bahá’í to write a warm note to him, mention the seeker’s 800# call, ask if he received his literature, has any questions about the Faith, would like a home visit, other literature, etc.

As he has only supplied his mailing address, and only requested literature (i.e., he did not request visitors), postal mail is currently our option for communicating with him and striving to nurture his attraction to the Faith—perhaps accompany him into core activities, if we are able to learn if his interest lies there.

Something he said in his message implied that he might already be meeting with a local Bahá’í.  If he did meet with a Bahá’í, it might mean that a door has opened for further interaction, nurturing, teaching, etc.  Therefore, I would like to ask if you could try to learn if any Bahá’ís in the area did meet with him?  If we can learn he is in contact with a local friend, you or I could talk to that person to see how it went, and then arrange appropriate follow-up through home visits, etc.

I’ll wait for your reply before sending you __’s contact information.  Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or ideas you might have about making contact with him.  We are trying to swiftly arrange for Bahá’í contact with this seeker, since we know that the sooner he experiences warm contact and conversation, the more likely his flame of interest will be sustained and assited to grow.

Read more!

Empowering Local Spiritual Assemblies to empower their communities

 

What is the role of a Local Spiritual Assembly in the Five Year Plan?  This has been a key topic of learning throughout the country.  One Regional Bahá’í Council has organized a series of training workshops in which several Local Spiritual Assemblies come together to reflect on this question and learn from the experiences of other Assemblies, as well as consider certain specific steps that they can take.

A few months after the workshop the Regional Bahá’í Council followed up with the participating Local Spiritual Assemblies and asked them to share what insights they gained and how they have tried to apply this learning to their work.  What follows is a very inspiring response from one Local Assembly—you can see how their example helped encourage some of the veteran believers to participate in the institute process, which has further empowered them to serve!

Dear Friends,

First we wish to say how grateful we are that our Regional Council provided such a wonderful experience at the training workshop.  We came away with a better understanding of the role of Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Five Year Plan, along with new energy to implement the lessons learned to the working of our own Assembly. . . .

[After studying more and consulting together] we each now have a very clear understanding of the role of the Assembly in promoting and supporting cluster growth and that it is the role of the Assembly to lead by example in this area. . . . our Assembly members stand ready to assist the friends in planning devotional gatherings, accompanying them as they begin home visits, etc.  To this end we are particularly pleased to advise that during this past year approximately nine of the Persian friends in our community began the study of the Ruhi books in a combination of Farsi and English.  With the assistance of one of the Persian members of our Assembly, these friends have now completed Books 1, 2 and 3, and will soon begin Book 4.

In addition, they have also worked on sharing Anna’s conversation together so to become more comfortable sharing the Faith in English.  Two of these friends have now become teachers for the two children’s classes that have recently begun again in our community.  Their assistants are some of the younger youth who have also completed these courses.

Read more!