Bonds of true friendship

Here is a supplement to our earlier posting about Aurora, IL (A). More than a year ago, the friends discovered a very receptive population consisting of several families from Burma, and an individual believer shares an update of some of the activities in this regard. What is really inspiring here is that bonds of true friendship have been formed between the Bahá’ís in the cluster and this population. This is not a superficial or fleeting connection, but something substantial that has grown over time. The friends are in it “for the long haul”.

The families continue to be in active contact with S and B, who have been holding Bahá’í children’s classes with the children on a weekly basis for more than a year now. S and B are absolutely stellar teachers. The children are memorizing passages from the Writings and learning Bahá’í concepts. . . .

Some if not all of the adults consider themselves Bahá’ís and have spoken of “making application” to “join the Temple” at some later date. They want to do this all at the same time. We have given them Burmese translations of the registration card and reviewed it with them.

One of the adults is teaching the Faith to another Burmese friend. He is interested in the Faith and wants copies of the prayer book and Ruhi Book 1 in Burmese.

One family had not seen me in a while and asked about me. So I made arrangements for myself and another Bahá’í to visit them. We did and prayed together—a little home visit, really.

The families were participating in a Burmese community event and so I arranged to attend with them. It was an enjoyable gathering, kind of like a “Taste of Burma”; one of the family’s daughters participated in a dance performance.

We also had Thanksgiving dinner with the families at S’s house last November.

It’s clear that over the months friendships between the families and various Bahá’ís in the cluster have been solidly established.

Another note of interest: The families have expressed an interest in visiting the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette. It may be a while before they are able to do this, but we are keeping this in mind for when the time is right.