3 days of success as a B-stage cluster!

The South Hampton Roads ME/NH (B) cluster celebrated becoming a B- stage with a vibrant account of how they reached out to their neighbors to share the message of Bahá'u'lláh.

Dear Friends,

The South Hampton Roads ME/NH (B) cluster celebrated becoming a B- stage cluster with fun games at our reflection meeting last Saturday! Then, we launched our expansion phase in the afternoon with A___ W____ providing updated training in presenting the Faith using Anna’s presentation.

Saturday afternoon – our most successful results to date!

We went out into an interested neighborhood with three teams of teachers (7 Bahai friends) and Baha'u'llah guided us to several souls who invited us into their home to hear the presentation. We invited the friends to share a prayer with us when they did not have time to hear the presentation, and this was very positive.

5 people invited us into their home to hear Anna's presentation - the most successful result we have had in our collective efforts to date! All of these people would like to be revisited in coming weeks.

Sunday afternoon – we go to meet everyone

One team went out teaching sharing the presentation in 3 different homes. Combined, there are 13 children. We are making appointments to revisit all of these friends. One of these families, with 5 children, offered to host a children's class in their own home :)! Pray for the success of this new class!

One experience was particularly nice: the teaching team was knocking on a door when suddenly the neighbors across the street yelled out to us asking, "Who are you looking for?" The team yelled back, "we're meeting everyone!" This led the teaching team to walk across the street, meet the people who wanted to help them out and proceed to give the entire presentation to a mother with 6 children!

Another experience was very touching. A young woman was just arriving home. The teaching team had visited her home on Saturday but no one was home. This time, we were able to make introductions saying, "We’re visiting our neighbors talking about how we are all one family and all religions come from the same God and that is the teaching of the Bahai Faith..." The woman became interested and asked the team how to spell "Bahai." She took a prayer book, saying she had never heard of this before and would look it up, "I feel enlightened" she said.

Monday – A new Bahá'í!

We welcomed our newest member into the Bahai Faith this evening following dinner and Anna's presentation. She is 21 years old and an undergraduate student. Hip Hip Hooray!

We've learned that inviting our friends to come to our home to have dinner and hear a presentation about the Faith is well received! We follow up the presentation with a clear and direct invitation to become of member of this beloved community.

After just three days of the expansion phase, we have a lot of consolidation work ahead of us! Thank you for your prayers! We are getting better every time.

We will be teaching in Norfolk again this weekend.

Warmest blessings,

~Cluster Development Facilitator
South Hampton Roads, VA