New declarations in Knoxville

Exciting news from Knoxville, TN (A), which has seen 6 declarations so far since the latest expansion phase in its intensive program of growth. The stories show the power of Anna’s presentation and the connections between teaching and consolidation.

Alláh’u’Abhá! With our hearts full of joy, the Knoxville area teaching committee would like to report some of the recent successes with teaching in our cluster.

Since the start of the 11th cycle of our intensive program of growth on May 3rd and due to the systematic, organized efforts of direct teaching with Anna’s presentation we have been blessed with 6 more declarations, 5 of them in the last ten days!

Each one of these beautiful souls declared after hearing Anna’s presentation and all of them expressed in one way or another how it was such a powerful presentation of the Bahá’í Faith and that they were moved by the spirituality and love in the Bahá’í Faith. Each of them also said they had been looking for something like the Bahá’í Faith for a long time! The new members of our Bahá’í family want to attend devotional gatherings, want their kids to participate in children’s classes, want to study Ruhi 1, and want to start deepening themes.

The letter dated February 24, 2008 from the International Teaching Center states that,

“The spirit of unity and enthusiasm that animated the teaching work will need to be carried through the consolidation phase so that all of these precious followers of Bahá’u’lláh are warmly embraced. To support them on their spiritual journey, a systematic increase in core activities that respond to the needs of their entire families will be required. Home visits should become part of the social fabric of the communities in a cluster, and not merely a numerical target to achieve.”

So now our community’s challenge is consolidation, which will involve home visits to these new believers to share the deepening themes and to foster a relationship of friendship and trust, as well as to introduce them to the institute process. Most of these new Bahá’ís have specifically asked for home visits and expressed their desire to study more of the Bahá’í Writings. On that note, if you are interested in helping with any of these efforts, even just for one hour a week, please let us know.

Additionally, if you would like to join us in using Anna’s Presentation with door-to-door teaching in the Knoxville Area, feel free to let us know! If you are not sure if door-to-door teaching is for you, and you would like to just come out and observe how the process works or be someone’s “prayer buddy” that would be great too!

We ask that you keep the Knoxville cluster teaching efforts and the receptivity of the Knoxville area in your prayers.

With love,

Your area teaching committee