Carefully planning, then . . . action!

Hartford-Tolland, CT (A) has recently launched its first cycle of intensive growth. In this story, note how the the friends are carefully reflecting, thoughtfully planning, making commitments, and then rolling up their sleeves and plunging into service.

Dearest Friends in the Hartford-Tolland cluster!

If you weren’t able to attend this historic meeting, please know that it was a great success! We had 44 attendants, including children, junior youth, youth, adults and one seeker. We also had two new Bahá’ís present. There was an atmosphere of celebration and excitement. Everyone was engaged and committed to teaching.

The teaching stories shared gave everyone a deeper understanding of the “sweetness of teaching” that comes from sharing the Message, either individually or as part of a collective teaching projects. Several people shared that their participation in a door-to-door teaching campaign and their very positive experiences with it—including one declaration—transformed their perceptions of this approach.

During the meeting, over 30 people committed to sharing the Faith with more than 80 of their contacts. Teams were formed to carry out direct teaching in neighborhoods and in parks. Several specific neighborhoods were identified in which to conduct door-to-door teaching. Each team is going out on their own and will report to the ATC secretary.

Thirteen people participated in an active refresher session to practice giving Anna’s presentation. This brings the number of adults, youth and junior youth who have participated in such refreshers over the last few months to more than 30; and these individuals been actively sharing this direct teaching presentation.

A couple days later, one adult and two youths visited a home. When the door opened, the person saw the name “The Bahá’í Faith” on the front page of the booklet and said, “Bahá’u’lláh.” This individual also recognized the photo of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The teaching team was surprised and asked how they knew of the Faith. This individual explained that they knew Bahá’ís in their home country over 20 years ago. She invited the team to come back on Friday.

Loving greetings,

Your Area Teaching Committee