The Bahá’í Faith: "It's a good fit."

Jenna decided she wanted to become a member of the Bahá’í  Faith and registered her declaration online at www.bahai.us.  Here is what she shared about her initial interests in learning more about the Faith.

“I am interested in exploring the Bahai Faith. I have recently spoken with a friend about beliefs of the Bahai Faith, and it seems to make more sense to me than Christianity. I have long struggled with the idea of organized religion, so have done very little to pursue connection with one particular church. I believe there is one God, and I crave a personal relationship with Him.  . . . phone contact would be best, as my husband would be skeptical about my interest with Bahai.”

The Bahá’ís who met with her share this about Jenna's journey.

Jenna has a daughter who will be seven in a few weeks. She considered registering her daughter as well, but wanted to be sure that the father was in agreement before doing so.  The daughter is currently attending children's classes at a local church in order to have some spiritual exposure.  She and her daughter have read Bahá’í prayers together; she is looking for parenting support among the Bahá’ís.  She has also reconnected with the old high school friend who first introduced her to the Faith almost 2 years ago.  Jenna is an educator and finds that the message of the Bahá’í Faith about the beauty of diversity and the goal of a unified world resonates with her both spiritually and professionally.  She shared with me that, "It's a good fit."

 

SED: 30 children plant a community garden for their neighborhood

Our cluster [in Florida] has a project for the last two years involving 30 children who attend children's classes from the wider community; one child is from a Bahai family who lives in the area.

Together, they planted a community garden as a service project for their neighborhood at the community center.

 

 

"I am interested in attending any scheduled activities"

“I am new to the [Alabama] area and would like to become involved in the community here.  Back in [California] there was a Bahai school my daughter and I would attend. . . I am interested in attending any scheduled activities.”

"I instantly felt comfortable with the [Bahai] teachings"

In early April, this message was shared about Jesse, a thirty-year old, who registered her declaration online.  She came across the Baha'i Faith while searching the web!

"I've always believed this way. Instantly I felt comfortable with the teachings."

She said she has always been a believer in Christ but she saw the unity in all the religions and believed there is only one God. She is interested in children's class for her 3 children and other core activities. Jesse is so excited with her new-found Faith.

Precious Souls Engaged in Community Building

In the Great Plains region of the United States, a wife and husband made the decision to study other religions besides their previous church. Living in a community where there were Baha'is, a family introduced them to the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Even though the Baha'i family eventually moved away, the couple continued their investigation of the Faith online. The wife and her husband eventually contacted other Baha'is in the area, and decided to join the community as members.

A Baha'i friend of this energetic couple shared how these two new believers had immediately begun to serve their new community: “They are both involved in core activities with the other Baha'is in the area. They all have home visits constantly every week. There isn't a week that goes by when they don't visit their other Baha'i friends.”

Amazingly, the couple's service to the Baha'i community does not stop here. They then decided to move to another city in their state in order to become “home-front pioneers” because there were few believers there. In fact, in deciding where they would move next, they chose a community in order to help form a local Spiritual Assembly!

The same Baha'i friend related that the couple visited another community:

“...to see how children classes are handled here. They are taking all the great things they have learned back to their home community. [They] plan to start children classes with children in their [own] neighborhood. These two have done so much to help contribute back to their community and they both have emphasized how they want to continue giving back.”

“Thank you for sharing their wonderful activities,” wrote a member of the Auxiliary Board for their region. “It’s exciting that these precious souls are so engaged in the community building and learning processes.”

Stay tuned: Watch for the next story about these dynamic new community members in a few days!

Junior Youth: A Community Transforming the World

In cluster after cluster around the country, the friends are learning more about the merits of the junior youth spiritual empowerment program, and its influence on the community and the household.

The Universal House of Justice in its November 14, 2012 message writes:

The merit of the junior youth spiritual empowerment program lies, first and foremost, in its effectiveness at enhancing the power of expression and the quality of spiritual perception within its participants and in assisting them to develop the capabilities necessary for a life of meaningful service to their communities. Repeated accounts from officials, parents, and young people themselves testify to the power of the program to shape character and bring forth the praiseworthy qualities latent in junior youth.

Recently, a mother with three children registered her belief in the Baha'i Faith on line at www.bahai.us, along with her children. She first heard about the Baha'i Faith when she was 10 years old from her sister who has now been a Baha'i for over 30 years.

Raised as a Roman Catholic, she eventually converted to Islam, and appreciated the Faith as a way of life and the restatement of spiritual laws brought by Muhammad.

She lived overseas while practicing Islam. However, she felt that she lacked a spirit of unity and community and looked up the Baha'is when she moved back stateside to the West Coast.

The regional seeker response coordinator in touch with this family of receptive souls shares:

One child participates in a junior youth group, and another child is attending the area toddler class. The mother is [also] already well connected to her local Baha'i community—attending a devotional gathering and participating in a Ruhi Book 1 study which she hosts in her home. As she has learned about Baha'u'llah, and His Teachings on progressive Revelation, she said ‘it all made perfect sense’ and she sees that she's been taking steps towards becoming a Baha'i all her life. She is so grateful that she and her children are now part of a community that is working to transform the world!

Keetra's Prayer Party: the "potential is huge"

When Brad and Katy’s five-year-old daughter Keetra announced one day that she wanted to start a “prayer party,” they weren’t quite sure how to handle it. As you’ll see in the video linked below, they had never hosted a devotional gathering before.

Keetra’s father Brad even told her that she would have to make her own phone calls, with the hope (at that time) that he and Katy wouldn’t be embarrassed!

Two years later, Keetra still makes the calls, and her family continues to host the first Baha’i-inspired devotional gathering in their Arizona community.

In its 28 December 2010 letter, the Universal House of Justice writes that the Baha’i world’s “capacity to shape a pattern of life distinguished for its devotional character has risen perceptibly,” adding that:

In diverse settings, on every continent, groups of believers are uniting with others in prayer, turning their hearts in supplication to their Maker, and calling to their aid those spiritual forces upon which the efficacy of their individual and collective efforts depends.

As you’ll see in the video, one of the participants, Wendy, says that:

Everyone, I think, has a desire to be spiritual. And when I was a child, I felt as if I was questing for something. And maybe I still am, but I thinks it’s really good for the kids to have some outlet for that.

About the benefits of holding devotionals, Wendy adds:

I think the potential is huge. I think that pulling together in a spiritual manner really strengthens those bonds that we form with each other.

Here is the delightful video named “Keetra’s Prayer Party”:

Summing up what Keetra and her family have done, Wendy remarks:

Look at all of us who came together today because of Keetra. That’s an amazing thing for a kid to be able to do, for anyone to be able to do.

Junior Youth: “encouraging us all to strive for greater heights”!

A woman who coordinates a junior youth program in her home recently attended a weekend planning meeting, and went home with something unexpected—a map of her state.

At the end of the meeting during the clean-up, she writes that “the large, beautiful map” of the state “that graced one wall of our meeting room was offered to me.”

Despite friendly chuckles from fellow Baha’is at the meeting, surprised to see a rolled-up 4 foot by 6 foot map tucked under her arm, the junior youth coordinator had a plan:

My hope was that it would fit on one of the walls in my house so that I could display it and adorn it with markers of some kind to indicate where all the junior youth groups in our state are located.

Sure enough, she was thrilled “to find that it fit perfectly on one of my walls” where many young people coming to her home would be able to see the map.

In November 2012, regarding junior youth, the Universal House of Justice wrote:

The merit of the junior youth spiritual empowerment program lies, first and foremost, in its effectiveness at enhancing the power of expression and the quality of spiritual perception within its participants and in assisting them to develop the capabilities necessary for a life of meaningful service to their communities.

In addition, the House of Justice praised the power of the program “to shape character” and “bring forth the praiseworthy qualities latent in junior youth.” “By multiplying vibrant junior youth groups,” they added, communities can learn much, including “how initiating one activity can, quite naturally, lead to the emergence of others.”

In the coordinator’s home town there are currently two junior youth groups. The regular meetings are on Fridays after school, and they also have a homework group on Tuesday evenings. Over a year and a half the group has grown from five to nineteen, including several children, with 5 youth and adults supporting the group. The coordinator writes:

It has become a space in which adults, youth, junior youth and children can have meaningful interactions in the context of helping each other with homework but also socializing, sharing a meal, baking, and playing games.

On the Tuesday following the planning meeting, she was eager to see how the youth would react to the map and to seeing the locations of other junior youth groups in the state.

Several children gathered to study the map, and a discussion ensued. Why were there no junior youth groups in one half of the state? How can we have two groups in our town when the state capital has none? One junior youth noted that a certain town had a lot of groups.

And they came to a conclusion: they really needed “to grow the program all over the state.” The coordinator writes:

It was so encouraging to hear these observations and to see how the visual representation of the spread of the program across the state helped these junior youth to recognize that they are part of something bigger and that there is real value in this program beyond maintaining our own little groups.

Within this lovely story, one may see the vision of the House of Justice unfolding, how the pursuit of junior youth groups and other activities can “quite naturally, lead to the emergence of others.”

And the woman who sponsors the junior youth gathering and brought home the map sums up her experience by writing:

On the heels of our wonderfully intense meeting last weekend which focused our attention so acutely on a continental youth strategy which will manifest itself in movement of youth across our region with the aim of establishment, strengthening and intensification of the junior youth spiritual empowerment program--I wanted to share that the protagonists of this strategy certainly include the junior youth themselves who will no doubt keep encouraging us all to strive for greater heights of excellence in this regard.

God's Work

A Bahai children’s class teacher shares about the importance of involving new believer, Sylviya, in one of the core activities. Their first encounter was in a laundry mat during a door to door campaign. After some time Sylviya shares that she believes her long journey after suffering much hardship in her native country was to discover Baha’u’llah.

Sylviya and I arrived at 4PM and our host welcomed us. We decided to relocate to a nearby apartment because some children were already there. Also (there was) a new African family, two adults and 3 children from Burundi just 3 days in the country. The mother and her children attended class along with our regular attendees. Sylviya began devotions with a prayer in her native language which was followed by the children who sang many of their prayers. We reviewed all the quotes we learned from the summer classes and hoped to begin a new quote next week. This group excels at singing to memorize their quotes from Baha’u’llah which is so imbedded in their culture. The children are extremely eager to read in English. We had key words from quotes on flash cards and with Sylviya translating, explaining the meaning of the quote with these cards. The children benefited from Sylviya’s translation. She is at the heart of these classes. After class she insisted that we do home visits and visited 3 families with invitations to parents to join us.  

Her children have been attending Feast regularly but she had only come once with her husband months ago. She now understands the importance of Feast because her English has improved greatly in 2 years. She enjoyed Feast and seeing the Bahais that she remembers from long ago. She was part of the consultation, she sang a prayer in Swahili for devotions and chatted away, non-stop in English for the social refreshment hour. When I dropped her home she whispered in my ear that she was sooooooo happy! AND ME TOO!!!

There are certain to be challenges but we will overcome them, learn from them and grow in our Faith. And not only in numbers! Nothing, nothing can compare to God’s work.

Accompaniment works both ways…

Betty, Children’s Class Coordinator

In her own words, Betty shares what she has learned, first hand, about the importance of prayer and accompaniment in building capacity within the community.

After months of inviting parents and children to begin children’s classes in their homes, and a couple of years teaching classes myself, I’ve learned to be open and flexible in all circumstances.  Most of all, I’ve learned the importance of accompaniment.  Accompaniment works both ways.  I accompany an individual(s) in the experience and the individual(s) accompanies me.  Through the process, we learn from the experience, and, through our collaboration, important steps are not overlooked when we prepare to reach out.  Those steps are:  creating a prayerful attitude, being in a posture of humility, radiating joy in share the message of Baha’u’llah and being content in accepting the result of our effort.   Here is one experience of receptivity at the first door we knocked upon.  It was truly amazing!

In our cluster, we have ‘prayer, plan and participate’ gatherings during the expansion cycle.  Generally, a few of the friends gather at a home before going out to teach.   This time, 2 friends and I made a date to visit an area of interest.  Prior to the day of our meeting, one of the friends drove around the area to see where the children lived, where she felt there might be receptivity.  On the day of our meeting, we gathered at a coffee shop.  We studied passages from the Sacred Writings, consulted on past experiences and prayed deeply for assistance and acceptance.  We were now ready to reach out.

We selected one apartment complex out of several.  It was interesting that we should select this one.  We parked the car and walked to the building.  Soon we heard children’s voices.  That led us to their door.  We knocked and a mother answered.  We learned that the children were planning (a) birthday party.  We introduced ourselves and entered into conversation about their party and their family.  Then, we talked about our interest in helping children and families learn how to develop spiritual qualities in the children by teaching children classes in their home.  We explained the elements of the class, that is, prayer, quotations, songs, stories, games and coloring.  Then, we three, spontaneously, sang ‘Ye are drops’ to the mothers and the children.  I asked one of the children if she would like to color.  Of course she would! (I have not experienced a child turning down coloring).  I handed her a coloring sheet from Ruhi Book 3, Grade 1 and crayons.  On the bottom of the sheet, was a quote both in Spanish and English.  As the child began to color, one mother read the Spanish quote. She warmed up to us and began to talk about the times they would be available for the class.  The rest is history.  The class started the following Monday with 3 children.  The parents babysit other children who will be attending. There are more children in the neighborhood, whom, we hope, will be invited as well.  We already knew who would be teaching the class so we did not have to delay the start date.  The families speak Spanish and are new to the area, so we feel it is important to invite other friends who speak Spanish to assist in translation.  The teachers now have bilingual prayer books and are encouraging the parents to say a prayer at the beginning of class.  As parents feel more confident, the teachers plan to encourage them to lead other elements as well.

From this experience, I learned the process could speed up when I take the steps to have a prayerful attitude and to sacrifice my own desire for a specific outcome for the outcome intended by will of God.

  

Perseverance in outward orientation…

This past February an online seeker inquiry was received by one of the communities in Virginia.  A local Baha'i who was asked to follow up with seeker sent a few emails, but did not receive a response.  The Bahia did not give up and since the seeker provider her home address she was sent a note by mail.  It was at this point that she received a response to find out her email never reached the seeker!  The seeker was then visited by the local Baha'is and was invited to several community activities, including a fireside, a devotional gathering and a book-one study circle.  The inquiring seeker attended all of these and was lovingly nurtured by the Bahai community.  It was at a Holy Day event that she made her declaration and signed her registration card.  It is astonishing to know that through perseverance of one person, the loving support of the community, and not giving up too quickly on those we have not yet met that she is now a Baha'i.  And to make the news of this story even more exciting, her husband has also been investigating the Faith too!

The Vitality of the Training Institute

In April the Universal House of Justice wrote that “primary responsibility for the development of human resources in a region or country rests with the training institute.”

Having participated in a training session hosted by the Magdalene Carney Bahá’í Institute, the Children’s Classes Coordinator of the Baton Rouge, LA cluster (A-stage) returned home inspired to pursue new goals:

A family gathering was organized to ask for parental involvement and input into the classes. The parents suggested that we have more diversity of children in the classes.

It was requested that children’s class schedules be available for all the teachers, parents, and the community three months in advance, and that a list of substitute teachers be developed.

Visits were made to LSAs in the cluster to share the learning gained from teaching children’s classes, as well as the plans for an upcoming Bahá’í summer camp, and the types of support needed.  LSA funding support was received.

To assist with children’s classes, new resources were actively sought.  One parent was found from the Community of Interest (who is currently studying Book 3, and also helps out with the Bahá’í summer camp).  She has been able to invite other children to this summer camp, as she lives in the neighborhood and the neighbors trust her.  This parent and her Book 3 tutor have being doing home visits to attract more children to the classes.

Concrete, practical, and useful developments -- thanks to inspirational training.

“To ensure that the proper measure of vitality is pulsating through this system should continue to be the object of intense learning in every country over the course of the next twelve months.” (Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2010)

Pioneering to a Neighborhood

The Area Teaching Committee of the Phoenix, AZ cluster (A-stage) recently shared the following:

Having a Bahá’í living in a neighbourhood who is willing to establish friendships with the neighbours, and start a process of community building via the core activities, can be a highly rewarding asset.  We are witnessing this in several neighbourhoods.

New York City (A-stage) is talking about the same thing:

Once we identify a receptive population and neighbourhood — and specifically an apartment building or block in a neighbourhood — we have learned to focus our human resources to amplify the strengths and abilities of home front pioneers and teachers on the ground. Having capable souls living in these buildings is essential, and to these key resources we have invited skilled teachers/tutors to commit three-to-five hours per week to lift the level of activity and learn about spiritual community building in these micro-settings.

In Waukesha, WI (A-stage) a believer who left one locality to pioneer to a neighborhood in a different locality communicated with her Regional Council about the benefits:

…We can see already what a difference it makes to the people in the neighborhood that I am living here. Our main focus has been to establish children's classes, and then have other core activities spin off from that. Our Area Teaching Committee had chosen this neighborhood for attention a little more than two years ago during an expansion phase of an early IPG cycle. We found it to be receptive, and had children's classes during the summer of 2008. We had continued to find receptivity during successive cycles, but without a permanent place in the community it was hard to get a foothold. I have been here for just over two months, and we have confirmation after confirmation that we're on the right track. Our children's class is growing, as are our relationships with parents.

This calls to mind the emphasis placed by the Universal House of Justice on pioneering in this Plan:

Equally important will be the support lent to a cluster through an influx of pioneers. The desire to pioneer arises naturally from deep within the heart of the individual believer as a response to the Divine summons. Whosoever forsakes his or her home for the purpose of teaching the Cause joins the ranks of those noble souls whose achievements down the decades have illumined the annals of Bahá’í pioneering. We cherish the hope that many will be moved to render this meritorious service during the next Plan, whether on the home front or in the international field -- an act that, in itself, attracts untold blessings... Priority should be given to settling short-term and long-term pioneers in those clusters that are the focus of systematic attention, whether as a means of reinforcing endeavours to lay the groundwork for accelerated growth or stabilizing cycles of activity under way. (27 December 2005)

Learning to explain who we are and what we are trying to do

 

This brief report from a neighborhood association meeting Long Beach, CA (A) is truly inspiring.  It is yet another example of the high interest in the core activities.  But more importantly, it shows the growing capacity of the friends to engage the wider society, explain who we are and what we are doing, convey our sincerity (all these things take learning by doing, by the way).  An unexpected surprise at the end of the meeting is an additional reason to smile.

Monday evening, 3 of the friends (including the Area Teaching Committee secretary) attended the neighborhood association’s monthly meeting in order to explain the purpose and benefit of Bahá’í children’s classes. . . .

Questions were asked by some of the members of the neighborhood association’s committee.  At first a couple of them had some reservations, but as the meeting went forward, some of the residents of that neighborhood gave very positive comments about the endeavor, expressing the real need for it.  So most everyone present agreed the children’s classes could be worthwhile.  They also came to understand the Bahá’ís have no ulterior motive but are have the purpose of community building, of which children’s classes are a central focus.

The turning point came when one of the neighborhood association committee members asked the Bahá’ís, “Have any of you been to Samoa and visited the Bahá’í temple there?”  The friends said they had not.  He then continued, “Samoa had been having some problems with its youth, and the Bahá’ís’ program really turned things around.”

After such a positive endorsement, the meeting concluded, and the neighborhood association will contact __ with a decision about using the community room for the children’s classes.  When we left, we met two young women who are interested in helping out with this.

If it hadn't been for the dog . . .

 

. . . then some of the friends in Monterey County, CA (A) MIGHT have spent several months away from the children in their children’s class!  This story made me laugh, but it also made me think.  It’s a sign of the immense interest in core activities, often much higher than we assume.

Last summer in __, 2 of the friends held a children’s class in their neighborhood, and they planned to offer the class again this summer.  But apparently the children were not going to wait a whole year! . . .

One recent Sunday afternoon, __’s husband was out walking the family dog.  All of a sudden a little boy pointed to the dog and said “Hey, I know that dog!”  The boy remembered that this was the “teacher’s” dog.  The next thing __’s husband knew, an army of children was following him home!  When the children saw __, they said, “When are we having the class again?”  So she told them that she and the other teacher would come the next day!

When the 2 teachers arrived the next day, they found the little boy and his sister, who then helped them round up another 15 or so children.  One of the teachers explained to the children that because of her new work schedule, she would not be able to come to class every week, so that another co-teacher would be needed to help out.  She asked the children to raise their hand if they had an older brother or sister in high school that might like to help teach the class; one of the children said her older sister might be interested.  So she was invited to come the following week.

When the older sister came, one of the teachers gave an overview of the children’s class and invited her to join a training—she came to the __ home the following weekend and started Book 1!

,

A growing pattern of core activities and co-workers

 

In the Ridvan 2010 message, the Universal House of Justice urges the friends to spend this coming year working with receptive populations to “find those souls longing to shed the lethargy imposed on them by society and work alongside one another in their neighbourhoods and villages to begin a process of collective transformation.”  What does that process of reaching out look like on the ground?  This story from Fort Collins, CO (A) provides a wonderful example.  The believers are engaging residents of a neighborhood, who earnestly want to help their children of all ages, in the various core activities.

Dear friends,

What a wonderful time in our Faith!  On Tuesday, K began tutoring a Book 1 study circle in __.  4 youth came and were so excited that they want to bring other friends.  Adults, parents of the children, all over the park have expressed interest in taking it in both English and Spanish.  We have to be flexible because their work schedules are constantly changing. . . .

The pre-youth activities are growing, beginning with 2 friends and expanding in a few short weeks to 6.  J was standing outside the clubhouse two weeks ago and a girl came up asking if this is where the special classes were being held and could she join.

The children’s classes continue to grow, both grade levels, and it is felt that we have to start another one to cover the children in the southern part of the neighborhood—one lady who lives there is very excited.

We have been working with one youth who is taking Book 3 to be a children’s class teacher, but she wants to know about the Faith now.  So we will step back with her and offer Book 1.  We also paid a home visit to a man who says that he had been trying to think of ways to help the pre-youth in the neighborhood but had almost completely given up.  WOW!  It sounds like he will be interested in a Book 5 study circle, which we can begin next week.

In the Ridvan 2010 message, the Universal House of Justice tells us that:  “The significance of this development should not be underestimated.  In every cluster, once a consistent pattern of action is in place, attention needs to be given to extending it more broadly through a network of co-workers and acquaintances, while energies are, at the same time, focused on smaller pockets of the population, each of which should become a centre of intensive activity.”

When we do what we are supposed to the results follow

 

In case you were wondering if the goal of vibrant communities with neighborhood-level core activities only happens after an intensive program of growth is launched, read this absolutely beautiful story from a C-stage cluster in the Central region.  In this case, an individual “felt the fear and did it anyway”, arising to serve, reaching out to their neighbors, working very hard and consistently to start a devotional meeting—and now there are several core activities in the neighborhood.  The struggles—and the confirmations—in the story speak for themselves.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to inform you of the following activities in my neighborhood.  Although I had been virtually inactive for the past few years, I was recently inspired on my recent pilgrimage, most specifically by the evening talk given by one of the members of the International Teaching Center, Mrs. Rachel Ndegwa.

While listening to her talk I gained a new understanding of what I needed to do when I returned to my community.  Indeed, I had such a burning desire to rush home to do service that I could barely contain myself in my chair and spent the rest of the pilgrimage planning and praying for what I would do when I returned.  More than anything I prayed for steadfastness, that my enthusiasm would not wane when I returned. . . .

Briefly my plan was to start a neighborhood devotional gathering.  When I returned I designed an invitation and the first devotional program.  Then I went out into my neighborhood.  I went alone.  Indeed I did not tell anyone about my plan except for my daughter who had accompanied me on pilgrimage.  I felt that I needed to do it alone—to prove to myself that this would and could work even in the most stripped-down fashion—all alone.  I remembered Martha Root's lonely travels and how much she accomplished.  And I remembered a prayer by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about being alone and yet still serving.

I begged Bahá’u’lláh to allow me to just speak to people I saw on the street even though there were probably not going to be many on a Monday afternoon.  As I walked by my next-door neighbor's house, I saw that their two daughters, both young adults, were in the front yard.  I approached them, gave them the invitation and devotional program, invited them, and then chit-chatted about our dogs.  As I left their yard, I felt a sigh of relief and momentum build.  "That wasn't so hard," I told myself.  Within 25 minutes, I had handed out 5 invitations which was exactly my goal for that day!  In particular I felt good about one woman who seem to magically walk out of her front door as if waiting for me.  She had a lovely smile, and we greeted each other warmly.  She commented positively on the program, saying that she was gratified to see a quote from the Qur’án.  She told me she was Muslim.

I learned from this first outing that by saying, "Hi, I'm your neighbor," people let down their guard and listened to what I had to say.  These were my neighbors, and they were happy to greet a fellow neighbor.

The next few days went out again, but I was less successful in handing out invitations.  I felt disappointed.  The next day, I was awakened by a knock on the door.  It was my Muslim neighbor!  She came in and told me that she had shown the program to her husband.  She explained that her husband was in the process of establishing a non-profit organization to create a community center for youth.  She showed me a flyer which explained his plan and pointed to the bullet that said that they would like to provide classes on the history of world religions to youth.  She told me that her husband had sent her over to ask me if I would be willing to teach such a class.  I said, "Yes!  Indeed, let's start right away here in the neighborhood.  We don't need to wait for a physical center to be built."  She said, "okay" and we decided that her children would be the first students.  I was elated beyond words!

Two days later, this beautiful soul came to our first neighborhood devotions with all her beautiful children.  And we had our first children's class right away following the devotions.

In the meantime, that Wednesday, we had the first Ruhi Book 1 study circle in our home that my daughter had organized by inviting a couple of her friends with whom she had spoken about spiritual matters and who had shown receptivity.

Within 10 days of initiating our plans, our home had turned into a neighborhood gathering point hosting 3 core activities!  I was overjoyed and grateful beyond belief.  I offered many prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude.  I was also in awe of the process and the wisdom of our Institutions.

Three weeks passed and we continued having devotions, study circles which had grown to 5 participants, and children's classes which had grown to 9 children.  I realized that this enterprise was going to be one that required a long-term commitment, and a lot of hard work.

In the meantime, since the first day that I had gone out, I had re-visited my next-door neighbor.  I had found out from the daughters that the mother was ill.  I made her some freshly squeezed orange juice and knocked on her door.  Her husband answered and ushered me into the living room.  While on pilgrimage I had prayed specifically for this family.  Indeed, I prayed fervently on more than one occasion as I had always had a good feeling about them.  The daughters especially were very sweet girls and I had enjoyed my conversations with the mother.  So, that day, when I went into their home, it felt like a new beginning.

We spoke for nearly 2 hours.  I told her that I had recently returned from pilgrimage and had been praying for them.  I went home feeling very happy.

I continued to call this neighbor a couple of times a week.  One day, she said she would come over.  And she did.  When the time seemed right I explained about the study circle and said it is sort of like a Bible study.  She immediately showed interest.  I explained a bit more about it, and she said she would like to come.  I was pleasantly surprised.  She asked me if she could also bring her daughters and her son.  She explained that she had not been involved in her church for several years, but she would like her children to come also to receive spiritual education.  I explained that I also offered a children's class that her son would be welcome to attend, and she gladly agreed.

Today her son joined the children's class.  He was the only white boy in a class of 8; the rest are African Americans.  Even though the predominant ethnicity in this part of Indiana is white, the class has turned out to be mostly black.  The children all get along—here is this little boy sitting happily between two black children watching a movie after children's classes.

So far, 4 neighborhood families had participated in at least 1 core activity, and all core activities now have neighborhood participation.

I have left out many details.  There are other contacts and conversations that have not reached a point of fruition.  But all of this involves small, daily interactions with neighbors—people who share my block and with whom the possibility of creating a new kind of spiritual community in our neighborhood exists.  I feel that it is the small acts, the imperfections, the uncertainties that make the story so compelling—even as I have lived it and now recount it.

The main point of this story, and the main lesson I have learned, is that when we do what we are supposed to do results follow.  I consider myself to be an ordinary Bahá’í with plenty of flaws.  I had lost hope.  Then, by the Grace of God, I found the solution through the blessing of pilgrimage, and was not only confirmed by the actual experience as described above, but by the Ridvan Message that came out while I was in the midst of my efforts.

I have been so busy, that I still have not participated in other community activities such as the Feast or Holy Day gatherings.  I know that I will, but I have been actively engaged in what I know I need to do, and the confirmations keep coming.  I am sharing this story because many have told me that they are inspired by it and that I must share it.

I do not know what lies ahead, but I do know that what has occurred in the past 6 weeks is more than I ever imagined possible.

See the parents already as participants, see ourselves already as part of the neighborhood

 

In the Ridvan 2010 message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world, the House of Justice states that “. . . efforts need to be made to systematize further the provision of spiritual education to increasing numbers of children, from families of many backgrounds . . .”  Some intriguing and amazing insights about children’s classes have come from Washington, DC (A), where experience with children’s classes, how to sustain them, how to involve the parents, and how to encourage and accompany the teachers, were the topic of an article in the recent issue of the Learning About Growth in the Southeast newsletter.  We are very excited to include some excerpts here, starting where the children’s class teachers shared the Faith directly with the students’ parents, and many of the parents subsequently declared:

The declarations from the first visits have changed the way the children’s class teachers—and others in the cluster—are thinking about growth.  Actually seeing families of children in the classes embrace the Cause has emphasized that building community together with these parents is the purpose of what we are doing as we “extend efforts widely to involve ever growing contingents of participants in classes that become centers of attraction for the young and strengthen the roots of the Faith in society…”  These first experiences have emboldened the teachers to continue, helped advance understanding of how to invite families to the Faith, and shown that growth is possible. . . .

It has been useful to look at what has happened with the teachers over the past 3-4 cycles of growth, particularly in terms of coordination.

There is an increasing ability among teachers to describe what they are doing, and a friendly rapport between the teachers and coordinator that has led to frequent reporting, in the form of phone calls right after a class, descriptive emails or even short text messages about how something went, in person meetings suggested by the teachers or by the coordinator.  This open and regular communication, along with visits to the classes and to the families, helps determine patterns of questions and experiences that become areas of consultation at teacher gatherings.

Like in many other clusters, themes of focus include keeping accurate data, ‘learning how to learn’ about the classes, including refining teachers’ abilities by learning how to talk with each other about how the classes are going and returning to sections of Ruhi Book 3 to see how to improve current classes, developing relationships with children’s families; and keeping track of how each child is doing in the class.

A few other things have stood out as useful for the coordinator to do in this cluster to contribute to an atmosphere in which neighborhood children’s classes are initiated and maintained, and growth around families emerges as possible.  They include:

Emphasizing to teachers not to give up too soon or decide that things are not going well in general simply because they did not come out as expected one or two (or more) times.  Listening and asking a few questions about what seems to be going right has shifted conversations away from breaking down and toward building.

Asking frequently how things are going, and not being satisfied with short answers.  An example of this is the following excerpt from the coordinator’s notebook: Sometimes when a teacher says “No one comes” it actually means something else.  When asked, “What does that mean?  Who didn’t come?” the teacher said, “I felt bad that A, B, and C didn’t come since they usually come every week and it sounded like someone was in the apartment when we knocked but no one answered the door.  At first I thought this was really bad, and I wondered if their parents don’t want them in the class any more, but when Isaw them later one of the parents explained they had something planned that day, and that’s why they didn’t come.”

Learning together with the teachers how to see the impact the class has on the children and the community and to take that seriously – understanding that the children, their families, and the community where the class is held are actually paying attention to us whether we realize it or not.

Encouraging teachers to stay in touch with the parents, even informally, remembering that even if we don’t see the parents the children are telling them what they are doing in the class.  A good example of this was seen on one of the teaching visits to a mother with two children in a neighborhood class.  This mother welcomed the teachers warmly, listened carefully about the content of the classes and about Bahá’u’lláh, and embraced the Faith right away.  Her home is actually a place where a number of children and youth ‘hang out’, and her daughter, who is in the class, was there with some friends.  When her mother said the prayer ‘O God, refresh and gladden my spirit. . .’, the girl came quietly from the other room and sat.  When her mother finished, she said, “I want to read that too.  I know a lot of prayers.”  She read it in a lovely, loud, reverent voice. And then, picking up another booklet, she opened to the page of the photograph of the Master, held it up to her mother, and said, “This is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.  I know a lot of stories about Him.”

Seeing all of the family members as already being participants.  An example of how one teacher was actually surprised at the declaration of one of the mothers in a class illustrates the importance of cultivating this vision and seeing the parents as people already influenced by Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, who want His teachings for their children and themselves.  Since the children of this family had missed a number of classes and the teachers had not seen the mother for a while, it did not seem that she was interested in the Faith. However, they were still very interested.

Seeing the teachers—and helping them see themselves—as people who are inside the community and care about how it can grow.  They teach the classes, and also can explain well about the classes to families and other community members; talk informally with the families; get invited to neighborhood events. They are alert to possibilities to tell others in the community about the class and to open new activities such as devotional meetings, study circles, junior youth activities.

Raising up new teachers by inviting people who have not yet participated in children's classes to try teaching a class, helping with a class, starting a class, and encourage current teachers to invite others to teach with them.  These people can be Bahá'ís who have completed Book 3 (including those who completed when there was less emphasis on the action element of the book), anyone else from among the Bahá'ís who might be willing to try, and friends of the Bahá'ís

The classes have really nurtured a Baha'i identity

 

The Universal House of Justice in its Ridvan 2008 message to the Bahá’ís of the world has expressed the hope that Bahá’í children’s classes can become “centres of attraction for the young” and “strengthen the roots of the Faith in society.”  And in neighborhood after neighborhood around the country, that is exactly what is happening.  Here is one example from Scottsdale, AZ (A) of a child that has developed a Bahá’í identity as a natural result of their participation in the class.

The following is a story that our friends shared with us at our study circle in a receptive neighborhood.

There is a children’s class in that same neighborhood.  The mother of one of the girls in the class had recently given birth, so one of the new Bahá’ís went to visit this mother.  During the conversation with the parents, this girl made it clear to everyone that she considered herself a Bahá’í.  The children’s classes have really attracted the hearts and affected the character of the children and have nurtured them to build a Bahá’í identity.

"My house is your house, what can I do to help you?"

 

What does it mean to “raise up a protagonist”?  How are core activities “the foundation of a new civilization”?  In fact it’s not so complicated.  Here is a beautiful story from Newport Beach, CA (A) that literally speaks for itself.  In this case, a parent sees the value of children’s classes and their positive influence on their child, and THAT is what drives their involvement.  And the Bahá’ís’ explanation of our goals is just as simple and crystal-clear:  To make a better world.

We had a great day today.  The “Moms class” continued inside T's house.  The hardship of the rain brought us a bounty as N, the mother of one of the children in the children’s class, extended her gracious offer from last week and hosted the children's class in her home.  The class went well, and afterward N said her son watches through the window for us to arrive each week.  She said the children's class had so much positive impact on her son that she wants to do anything she can to help us.  She told us, "My house is your house, what can I do to help you?"  She then asked why we are doing this.  We explained that we are trying to make a better world by teaching spiritual education to children.  One of the teachers then went on to give her some information from Anna's conversation.  She cut up fruit for the children and made us feel welcome.  It was a wonderful experience I wish you all could have felt.  It was confirmation that all the work, all the teaching efforts, all the institute courses, practices and core activities can be rewarding for those who have not yet had the bounty of hearing the words of Bahá’u’lláh.  There are opportunities to make a difference in the lives of many receptive souls.

Keep it simple and start right away

Here is the touching story of an individual who declared her belief in Bahá’u’lláh online.  The regional seeker response specialist worked with the local friends to complete her enrollment and follow up with her.  The loving advice and encouragement of the regional specialist helped get the process going on the right track:  don’t hesitate, start with full enthusiasm, love and respect, and everything then moves forward with swiftness and joy.  Again, the vision of building spiritual communities was a central part of the initial conversations.

The regional specialist contacted the Local Spiritual Assembly with this report:

Alláh-u-Abhá

This evening I had the privilege of meeting __ over the phone.  We went through Anna's conversation and she is affirmed.  Praise God!  I found her to be intellectual and spiritual.  She came across the Faith after leaving church this Sunday, being a bit annoyed about how it went, looked up at the sky and asked God for a sign.  She wanted to be led to her heart's desire, the truth.  Next she sat down at the computer and started with 'the basic three' (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).  While on one of the sites, a word she had not seen nor heard of popped up:  Bahá’í.  She was curious and clicked on that link.  She did not get up for four hours.  (God answers all sincere prayers.) . . .

After we went through Anna's conversation together, we talked about how Bahá’ís are building the Kingdom in neighborhoods.  All the core activities interest her.  Since she has children, she liked the idea of having Bahá’í children's classes with her children in their home.

So, a few suggestions are:

Keep it simple when it comes to the children’s classes.  Include prayer and singing in each lesson, but start it right away and build on it as you go.

Identify 3 adults who live near her who want to devote a year to helping with the children’s class, and who can tutor a Book 1 study circle when the time is right.

She is eager to continue to learn, serve and be involved.  Do not delay in calling her and asking if you can visit and start a children’s class at her home.  She is ready to dive into the ocean.  So visit and say, “I brought my favorite quotation, would you like to hear it?”  Then really discuss why it touches your heart.

The next steps regarding completing the registration process are to complete eMembership.  Her information is now in the 'pending' queue of  eMembership.

So, I would suggest:

Call her by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Ask her if a couple of people could set up a home visit before a week goes by.  Either have 2 women, or a man and a woman, be on the team.

Congratulations on this wonderful addition to the community of the Greatest Name!

The local friends then reported later:

Hi!  Quick update:  Last night was our cluster meeting.  __ was there, plus 4 new Bahá’ís.  She is radiant and has now registered all of her kids as Bahá’ís.  This is a real expression of her trust in the Faith.  It was a very exciting and spirit-filled meeting for all of us.