Assisting Seekers of Truth – An “Amazing Experience,” Part 1

Last year, a self-described “outgoing” woman volunteered to follow-up in her Baha'i community with a seeker that was referred to her in her community. She describes the invitation to respond to a seeker who asked to learn more about the Faith as “...an amazing experience.”

In its 2010 Ridvan message, having enumerated the main developments in the global Baha'i community, the Universal House of Justice describes “yet another advance at the level of culture,” a change with “far-reaching” implications: the importance of accompanying souls on their journey. The Supreme Institution writes about the merits of “accompaniment”:

It signals the significant strengthening of a culture in which learning is the mode of operation, a mode that fosters the informed participation of more and more people in a united effort to apply Bahá’u’lláh's teachings to the construction of a divine civilization, which the Guardian states is the primary mission of the Faith

The Baha'i reached out to the seeker, also a woman, and invited her to her home. Along with her husband, together they began a conversation like Anna (in Ruhi Book 6), sharing fundamental verities of the Baha'i Faith. After one session of looking together at the content in the “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit” (Ruhi Book 1), this Baha'i writes: “she declared.”

They met again, and this time the newly-declared Baha'i confided with her and her husband that she had a tragic, personal loss several years prior, and how the Bahai Writings provided her with comfort during a difficult time.

Later, after she had declared, she shared with us that after seven years of feeling no comfort, she felt so assisted by the Baha'i Writings and felt she was reading the Word of God. She said that in that moment she had made her decision to become a Baha'i,  it seemed as if the Concourse on High was guiding us to put what she needed into her hands.

The Baha'i writes that, “we presented her with two Writings from Abdu'l-Baha” regarding consolation.

Through accompaniment together, the journey continued for this new believer, as she later attended her first unity Feast with the Bahia community, and her own husband joined her. The Baha'i teacher shared the joy she observed about these new friends...

They were both radiant at the end and she commented that she would have a sore face tomorrow from all the smiling. They were overwhelmed with the love and the diversity of the friends.

The Universal House of Justice assures the Bahais of the transformative effect that the quality of relationships have among friends, and our communities:

In relationships among the friends, then, this development in culture finds expression in the quality of their interactions. Learning as a mode of operation requires that all assume a posture of humility, a condition in which one becomes forgetful of self, placing complete trust in God...

Through this Bahai, we can begin to see the quality of this interaction on her service to another...

I am an outgoing person and I cannot imagine a more exciting and rewarding service than assisting those who are seeking the Truth.

To be continued: Part 2 of Assisting Seekers of Truth

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!

Enduring Results: “Everything made sense”

In its 28 December 2010 letter, the Universal House of Justice exhorts the Baha’is worldwide to:

…hold fast to the conviction that a direct presentation of the Faith, when carried out at a sufficient level of depth and reinforced by a sound approach to consolidation, can bring enduring results.

A married couple living the western United States recently entered the Baha’i community along with their children. Both hail from different countries in Europe, and both benefited from a direct presentation of the Faith, along with official follow-up, which had wonderful and enduring results.

As you’ll see, the wife became attracted through online research, and the husband's interactions with his wife and the Baha’i responding to their inquiry helped him embrace the Faith.

Despite living in the U.S. since the 90s, the wife regularly watches television from her native country in Europe. Last year she saw on report on woman and an Iranian Baha’i who married. She was particularly impressed by what the groom said about the Baha’i principle of gender equality.

So impressed, in fact, that she started researching the Baha’i Faith online. The Baha’is who followed up on her inquiries reported her as saying that “what she found out was exactly what she's always believed.”

The response coordinator shared that she:

…spent the entire day researching the Faith and knew all about the covenant, administrative order, and Baha'i laws, (e.g. prayer. and abstaining from alcohol). She really found out a lot and everything made sense to her. She mentioned the Twin Manifestations and that the Faith started in 1844. She was looking into the history of the Faith as well as the Teachings.

By the end of the same month, the wife declared her faith online and registered her children as well. In addition to her husband's interest and later enrollment, the wife's mother also registered online her interest in learning more about the Baha’i Faith.

In the same letter of December 28^th, the House of Justice asks the Baha’is to “strain every nerve” to ensure that the system we are working so hard to build “does not close in on itself but progressively expands to embrace more and more people.” In light of this married couple's sincere and open attraction to the Baha’i Teachings, the next sentence that the House of Justice pens is quite poignant:

Let them not lose sight of the remarkable receptivity they found—nay, the sense of eager expectation that awaited them—as they gained confidence in their ability to interact with people of all walks of life and converse with them about the Person of Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation.

The response coordinator did have the opportunity to speak with the husband about “the Person of Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation,” in the form of Anna’s Presentation, from Ruhi Book 6. The coordinator noted that he agreed with everything, affirmed the Baha’i laws that they discussed, and spoke about obligatory prayer.

The husband shared that as he grew up he became more uncomfortable with his upbringing in church, and had always believed in the unity of religion and of humankind. After his wife's enrollment, he began to read several Baha’i books and speak with her about joining the Faith. After contact with the regional coordinator, they decided to confirm his enrollment!

The oneness of humankind was also key in the wife's acceptance of the Faith, as the coordinator learned. Her prior marriage was with an African American man, with whom she had several children. The elimination of prejudice, the coordinator related, is something that she has always believed in.

After his enrollment in the community, the husband shared:

My wife and kids just became members and I have decided to join the Baha'i Faith as well. Thank you very much for all the work!

And, indeed, our work entails creating a community large enough to answer the needs of society and accepting more new members like this family. The Universal House of Justice writes:

…let them not forget the lessons of the past which left no doubt that a relatively small band of active supporters of the Cause, no matter how resourceful, no matter how consecrated, cannot attend to the needs of communities comprising hundreds, much less thousands, of men, women and children.

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.

“I have become connected with my spiritual side”

In its Ridvan message of April 2012, the Universal House of Justice writes: “To observe the Baha'i world at work is to behold a vista bright indeed.”

Here is the heartwarming story of Angela, a woman who recently declared her belief in Baha’u’llah after researching the Baha’i Faith online. Living in the south-central region of the United States, Angela realized that she had reached a new stage in her spiritual journey when she discovered that the worldwide Baha’i community shared her own, deeply-held convictions.

In its Ridvan 2012 message, the House of Justice describes the significance of our efforts to share the message of Baha’u’llah:

In the life of the individual believer who desires, above all, to invite others into communion with the Creator and to render service to humanity can be found signs of the spiritual transformation intended for every soul by the Lord of the Age.

The House of Justice caps the same passage with a vision of the unfoldment of divine civilization:

In the spirit animating the activities of any Baha'i community… can be perceived an indication of how a society founded upon divine teachings might develop.

It is thus a wonderful confirmation of our efforts as Baha’is, both online and in person, to witness both the clarity and depth of Angela’s acceptance of Baha’u’llah’s Teachings.

Sharing her story, Angela writes that she first heard the word Baha’i from a friend who had joined the community. Roughly one year ago, while engaged in her own spiritual search, Angela once more heard about the Baha’i Faith. She writes:

When I saw the term (Baha’i) again, I began to research it and find out more about the Faith. The more I read and learned about the Faith, the more I realized that my beliefs go hand in hand with the teaching of the Baha’i Writings.

She also describes the disconnect between her personal belief in oneness and the views espoused in church:

Although I believed in God, I felt like something was seriously missing. I had gone to church many times but the thought that two thirds of the world would go to hell if they did not accept Jesus as their personal savior bothered me. I love Jesus but I also love and respect Mohammed and Buddha. I always felt like an outcast because I believed in all religions and one God.

In addition to the teachings on spiritual unity, Angela found meaning in sharing her new faith with our worldwide community:

Becoming a Baha’i and knowing that there is a community of six million people who share the same belief is very comforting to me and I couldn’t believe that there is in fact a religion that believes what I believe in. I am excited to have joined such a wonderful community and I am looking forward to studying the Baha’i Writings.

She completes her story with this affirmation:

Life is a beautiful, mysterious experience with many lessons to be learned. I feel like I have become connected with my spiritual side and I am looking forward to feeding it every day. God bless.

Angela declared her faith in Baha’u’llah online. The Baha’is in her area contacted her to confirm her enrollment and were thrilled to receive this lovely description of her spiritual search. They report that Angela hopes within the month to start Ruhi Book 1 with a study circle tutor in her community!

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.

"I Am Whole Now"

Here is the beautiful story of two brand new believers from Texas—a husband and wife who embraced the Faith within the same month, but followed their own spiritual journey and conducted their own independent investigation. The wife was the first to declare. She recalls:

When I was 15, I moved in with a relative because of the poverty and abuse I had experienced. I was searching for something to heal me, and I found Christianity—the faith of this relative. Now I'm almost 21, and I don't think Christianity fits my beliefs any longer. So I started searching again.

Earlier this week, my husband told me about a religion that one of his high school teachers had been a member of, called Bahá'í. He told me what little he could remember, but I felt it was exactly what I was searching for. I decided to do some research on it, and found the Bahá'í website where I requested that someone call me with more information. Then, that very same day, someone contacted me! It was like God meant for this to happen. But the day she contacted me was a really bad day—I had just been fired from my job—and I couldn't handle talking to anyone; I barely spoke to my husband that night. So yesterday afternoon she called me back and we discussed the Bahá'í religion.

As soon as she started talking I felt myself changing. When she had finished, I felt like a new person, like a hole in my heart that had been there for so many years had been filled. I joined immediately. I knew that this was what I was searching for.

I woke up this morning feeling like a new person! I won't go back to having that hole in my heart again. I can't put into words how this has made me feel—amazing, ecstatic, loved—all those words do not explain it. I am whole now.

Nineteen days later, there was more joyous news: her husband, who had originally told her about the Faith, also declared! Here is how he described his spiritual transformation:

Since I became Bahá'í, I've have more of a peace about myself. I love it! I decided that Bahá'í is true from researching it through independent investigation. It was all purely logical.

This is a definite transformation for me spiritually for me because I was Christian for so long, and that's one of the major "mutually exclusive" religions since it denies other faiths. Going from a religion like that to one so open as Bahá'í was a significant change, although not a difficult one for me. I always held the belief that all religions were based around a universal truth, but I could never find a religion that actually expressed that, and I was too scared to change my religion due to familial pressures. I tried to change my interpretation of Christianity to suit my beliefs, but it never really worked.

My very first encounter with Bahá'í was during my senior year in high school. My history/psychology teacher told us about her Bahá'í faith, but she never delved too deeply into it. This is understandable of course, as she probably would have been fired very quickly for doing so in a public school system. So I thought, "That's cool," and never really researched it until recently. Once I did, it just made logical sense, plain and simple.