Learning by doing in Denver

Denver, CO recently advanced to the A-stage. One of the believers gives a snapshot of the cluster’s progress. You can see how the friends are steadily building their capacity, and this is happening through two things: involvement in the training institute courses, and hands-on, on-the-ground experience in teaching.

This cluster is moving to a new level of operation through the institute process and active teaching.

Its recent devotional campaign and intensive Ruhi courses awakened the power of prayer and individual initiative. In one study circle, 3 participants enrolled in the Faith. A Book 6 refresher provided the opportunity to present the Faith to others. In a mini-teaching effort covering a two-weekend span, the friends gave presentations to their friends and acquaintances and also contacted residents of about 100 homes. 11 teaching teams have formed with 14 presentations shared. This occasion provided hands-on experience to the participants and a practical demonstration of what is possible. The atmosphere in the cluster has been taken to a new level of enthusiasm.

No matter the venue, teaching teams reach out

The friends in Westminster, CO (A) have recently launched an intensive program of growth. Their initial experiences are inspiring. One intriguing point from this brief report is that their teaching teams are leaving no stone unturned and using a variety of approaches. Some are visiting homes in neighborhoods, while others are systematically reaching out to their community of interest. In all cases, the teaching teams are finding ways to meet people and share the Faith.

This cluster advanced to the B-stage, and then quickly to the A-stage, with a high degree of ownership, enthusiasm, and an outward-looking orientation.

The cluster held a door-to-door teaching project during the B-stage to boost its community of interest. After advancing to the A-stage, the believers also decided to incorporate reaching out to friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers during the expansion phase of its newly-launched intensive program of growth. The friends began with a Book 1 refresher course. They formed 8 teaching teams with a calendar full of activities to which seekers could be brought. Teams visited homes went door-to-door in two areas and made appointments among their friends and associates to give presentations on the Faith. . . .

At one presentation to a couple, the listeners so loved the prayer that was offered during the presentation that they decided they would use it together in their morning devotions. They then critiqued the presentation, noting improvements that could be made in delivery.

Another team visited a lady who was at first hesitant because she had been ill. But she invited the friends in. When the team shared a healing prayer with her, she showed the utmost reverence. After the prayer, she seemed very relieved, exchanged contact information, and asked the team to come back and see her. The team can't wait to make its follow-up visit.

Learning and advancing

Here is a brief report from Lakewood, CO (B). It shows how, once a few dedicated souls rise up and experiment with teaching, that things start moving forward. They have carried out both teaching in neighborhoods and sharing the Message with their close contacts. They have also stayed flexible, focusing on areas where they are encountering the highest level of interest.

This cluster recently advanced to the B-stage with a relatively small Bahá’í population. It had taken on its first experimental teaching effort at the end of its time as a C-stage cluster. A few teaching teams were formed and visited an apartment complex where a local Bahá’í resides, with the intent of setting up a junior youth group. They did not encounter a lot of interest, so they switched course to a nearby complex. There was greater receptivity there and enthusiasm for teaching grew. Over the course of the weekend, the teams were able to give 4 presentations on the Faith. Over the next weekend, a follow-up meeting was held at the library, and 17 friends and family members and coworkers of Bahá’ís came out for the gathering! At the table where literature and interest cards were displayed, a signup sheet was added for a study circle on "Reflections on the Life of the Spirit." A few people signed up.

The power of optimism

One of the main goals of the recently concluded series of Regional Bahá’í Conferences was to instill optimism and confidence in the friends. The transforming power of this optimism is loud and clear in this report from Boulder, CO (A). The friends who could attend shared their enthusiasm with those who could not, and a fire of excitement was enkindled. An “Aha!” moment has occurred and the friends are now seeing that success is not just possible over there but right here at home as well. And they are acting on this “Aha”!

Boulder displays enthusiasm, love and unity, and dedication to the institute process.

Friends from this cluster traveled to the Northwest Regional Bahá’í Conference in Portland and came back home on fire. A celebratory meeting was held with short talks by friends who had attended the event and who were engaged in the core activities. The cluster was energized by this meeting because the friends began to realize what was possible right in their own area, not just in some far-away cluster. . . .

Suddenly, the reflection meetings grew to standing room only at the Lafayette Bahá’í Center in Boulder County. People began to increasingly volunteer to do things, and they started bringing their friends. The community of interest surged to 41. There were 28 people who completed the sequence recently in this cluster, with many tutors ready and willing to arise to meet any need. The community has transformed and taken on an increasingly outward-looking orientation.

A local children's class now hosts 14 children, 13 of whom are from the wider society. This is due to a recently arrived Nepalese Bahá’í family that dedicated itself to talking with as many neighbors as possible and getting the classes running. The devotional gathering at the Lafayette Center was re-started and now has seekers coming, including the parents of children in the classes. The friends are talking to people and are very excited about the prospects for accelerated growth. Soon a teaching project in an apartment complex will begin. The Area Teaching Committee is very optimistic, especially since the friends arranged themselves into 8 teaching teams at the recent reflection meeting.

Attitude of learning brings progress in Fort Collins

Fort Collins, CO (A) has recently embarked on an intensive program of growth. The following report is full of activities: believers advancing through the institute process, devotional gatherings, firesides, children’s classes, teaching teams, and lots of joy! What is interesting is how the friends are exemplifying a learning attitude: They reflect on their experiences, stay flexible, experiment, and as a result become even more effective. Go Fort Collins!

Engagement in the institute process within this cluster has turned the Northern Colorado Baha'i Center (just south of Fort Collins in Loveland) into a hub of activity. 4 declarations of faith were made within the past month in this newly advanced A-stage cluster, and an additional declaration took place at a fireside during the recent intensive teaching effort. . . .

Over the first weekend, 8 teaching teams formed, and commitments were made for devotional gatherings, firesides and children's classes. The friends also planned to set up junior youth groups and to expand the community of interest. With 8 teams participating, it was possible to visit 500 homes over the first weekend. It was estimated that about 15 percent of the people the teams met were interested in talking to the Bahá’ís. The friends were excited to embrace a new believer who is the grandmother of children participating in the neighborhood class and who is now herself participating in Book 1.

The friends consulted on their experience over the first weekend and wondered if there might be other parts of the cluster with even greater receptivity. So they turned their attention to one neighborhood where one of the friends resided. Two teams went to this area, and were able, within a short time, to speak with 12 people. Out of these 12 people, 9 were very open to hearing about the Faith! The teaching team’s willingness to experiment and to be flexible with their plans was rewarded with success: 9 out of 12 people interested!

A small united group works wonders in Miami Beach-Coral Gables

The effects of the Regional Bahá’í Conferences continue to resonate. You can totally feel the joy in this report shared by one of the friends in the Miami-Dade, FL (A) cluster. This story involves two localities in the cluster, each with a handful of dedicated believers. Inspired by the Atlanta conference, the friends focused their efforts on two main areas: establishing a junior youth group, and reaching out to their community of interest. The rest is as the report says, “Very Cool News”.

Very Cool News. . .

Dear Friends,

At the Atlanta Conference, a small cadre of Miami Beach and Coral Gables Baha’is got together. The members of these two sister communities vowed to make increased efforts to accelerate the processes of the 5-year plan in the coming months.

The first step taken was the holding of a joint Feast within 48 hours of the friends’ return from Atlanta. That was quickly followed by the establishment of an intensive Book 5 study circle populated with a dozen friends from both communities including one seeker who herself has an 11-year old son and who wanted to understand the process before involving him in a junior youth group. In addition, an exceptional young man of fifteen who, together with his mother, have been investigating the Faith avidly, was invited to attend an entire day of the Book 5 course. As a result, he committed to inviting his friends to join a junior youth group. By the end of the course, a large set of animators will have been raised up for the cluster! . . .

Last week, several of the attendees of the Book 5 course reached out to their friends and neighbors, who were anxious for their children to begin the junior youth process. Thus began Miami Beach’s FIRST EVER JUNIOR YOUTH GROUP! Seven junior youth committed to join the group. The most exciting aspect is that they are all children of seekers encountered via the Book 5 intensive, as well as the friends’ own recent teaching activities!

In Coral Gables, last week, a core of believers vowed to begin nightly activities for the duration of the expansion phase of the cluster’s current IPG cycle. Activities were planned to rotate nightly between devotionals, study circles and firesides. Neighbors were invited to attend any of the nightly activities; the friends have also been teaching on one of the local college campuses. One professor was so interested in what he heard that he passed along a list of teaching services offered by the Bahá’ís to several other faculty members by email. One of these has already called the Bahá’ís and expressed an interest in sharing information about the Faith with his students.

While the friends who participated in the initial direct teaching endeavor Coral Gables felt the receptivity to the Faith was not very warm, they were astounded to discover that two of the contacts made during that effort quickly appeared at one of the firesides. One of those seekers was so inspired that he returned to the very next fireside, and then expressed how “inspired and motivated” he felt and vowed to continue his investigation in a study circle. The friends have been galvanized by those nightly meetings which will continue over the next week and which have gained momentum and energy night after night! In addition, a new Book 1 was started in the Coral Gables community with a number of new seekers and the energy coming from that process is described as formidable!

At the Feast one of the new believers shared a teaching story. This friend, inspired by his attendance at the Atlanta conference, had recently made an inventory list of, get this, one hundred and twenty contacts! He vowed to systematically call on each of these contacts to offer them an opportunity to learn about the Faith in either a fireside or by individual visit. This new believer was quite disheartened at first since he had made some thirteen contacts from the list only to be rejected in every case. He did not give up, however. Having completed the animator training, the new believer studied his list and identified a small number of contacts who had junior youth aged children. His first two calls to those identified yielded great receptivity and both contacts agreed to have their junior youth join his group. One of them was anxious to hear more about the Faith and the new believer made an appointment to visit her this very morning! Needless to say, that new believer is on fire and the feelings of doubt generated by the initial rash of rejections are only now a vague memory.

Please pray for the continued success of the Coral Gables and Miami Beach friends who have been ignited by the Atlanta conference and the results already generated by their collective resolve to arise with new focus and commitment.

Tangible coherent progress

This report from Alameda County South (Fremont), CA (A) is a wonderful example of a cluster steadily progressing. Three months after the Regional Bahá’í Conference, its inspiring effects are now tangibly reflected: More believers are arising to teach and start core activities, the cluster launched an intensive program of growth, and all the friends’ various efforts are supporting each other in a coherent way.

One of the friends notes that the Regional Bahá’í Conference in Los Angeles “created tremendous energy in the believers”. For example: . . .

Some arose afterwards to offer devotional meetings in their neighborhoods and at their workplaces, which has boosted the number of devotional gatherings in the cluster.

Some started study circles.

Some worked to sustain a jeopardized children’s class by finding a new location for it.

Attendance at the last reflection meeting increased.

During the expansion phase, friends from neighboring clusters lent their support, so together we had 11 teaching teams during the first weekend and 7 teams the second weekend. Friends from our cluster are now carrying out home visits and sharing deepening themes with a family of new believers.

Also noteworthy are the insights being gained about core activities. In particular, experience is showing that they all support each other:

One of the key elements for the success of the children’s classes has been the steadfastness and consistency of the teachers of these classes. Further, the children who attend these classes are themselves the most effective means of inviting other children to the classes.

Children’s classes can be a bridge to study circles: A teaching team met a youth who expressed interest in teaching a children’s class, and they have started a study circle with her.

Institute courses help start devotional meetings: As a result of a Book 1 refresher course, a family has now started in their home a devotional gathering followed by a fireside.

Devotional meetings open doors for teaching: As a teaching team visited homes in one neighborhood to invite people to a devotional meeting held there, it provided opportunities to present the Faith directly.