Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand

Shoghi Effendi has asked me to reply to your kind letter of 11th April. He is delighted to hear that you propose starting a Bahá’í Magazine for Australia and New Zealand and suggests as a suitable title “The Herald of the South”. Every 19 days a letter will be sent from Haifa to Mr and Mrs Hyde Dunn giving the news of the Cause. Owing to the restricted facilities for multiplying copies which are at present available here, I fear it will not be possible to send another copy to you, but doubtless you can arrange with Mr and Mrs Hyde Dunn to have their copy passed on to you for the magazine. We are glad to hear that notwithstanding the absence of the Blundells and Margaret Stevenson, the friends in New Zealand are remaining united and active. We hope that when the pilgrims return the faith and enthusiasm of the believers will be greatly deepened and strengthened and that many new believers may be attracted. I had a long letter from Effie Baker yesterday. She is very devoted and whole-hearted and will be a valuable worker for the Cause, I think, and a great help to Father and Mother Dunn. When she wrote, Margaret Stevenson had gone to Scotland and Mrs and Miss Blundell were in Bournemouth. Effie Baker hopes to make a return visit to Haifa on her way back to Australia.

Shoghi Effendi assures you of his prayers on behalf of your mother, yourself and all the Australasian friends and his hopes that the proposed Magazine may greatly help the spread of the Glad Tidings in Australia and New Zealand.

With warmest greetings and best wishes,

[From the Guardian:]

Your charming letter truly gladdened my heart. I will follow the development of your magazine with keen interest 9 and assure you of my desire to help and promote its interests to the fullest possible extent. I am enclosing the photographs of the shrine and gardens recently laid out in the close neighbourhood of the Shrines of the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I assure you of my love, appreciation and fervent prayers.