A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
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More Pioneers to Go Forth |
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He has been very encouraged to see the way the Indian, and
now the Burmese friends have responded to his repeated call
for greater sacrifice and for more pioneers to go forth into the
teaching field. Your country is so vast that less valiant hearts
than those possessed by the indomitable Baha’is might well
have quailed before the tasks to be undertaken. But, on the
contrary, the Indian and Burmese friends have arisen and demonstrated
the calibre of their faith and courage in a manner
which excites the admiration of their fellow Baha’is East and
West.
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Now is not the time to rest on their oars, but rather to re-double
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their efforts and go on from victory to victory, and to
add new fame to their exploits, conscious that the eyes of their
fellow-believers are focussed upon them to see what they will
achieve next.
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He was particularly happy to see how active the beloved
Burmese friends are, and that through the efforts of some members
of their Community and Indian friends they have now established
a new centre in Kyigone, where a Spiritual Assembly
can exist. This is a great step forward, and he hopes many new
Baha’i Assemblies will be developed in Burma during the coming
Baha’i year.
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He was also very pleased to hear of the book exhibit held in
Kolhapur, and of the interest shown in our Baha’i literature
by persons of standing in the Community. Such exhibitions
offer a great opportunity to show the public what the Cause is
doing and what it stands for, and every advantage of them
should be taken.
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Although your Assembly has succeeded in getting out a
number of new language publications, you should not relax for
a moment in your efforts to translate and publish the New Era
in the remaining languages chosen, as this work is of the utmost
importance, enables you to teach new language groups the Faith,
and adds to the prestige of the Cause not only in India but abroad.
Although you have many obstacles to overcome the results
in the future will be great.
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He cannot impress too strongly upon the friends the need
for action: they must arise in still greater numbers to pioneer;
those who cannot go themselves should remember the admonition
of Baha’u’llah and send, through the N.S.A., someone in
their stead; the young people should learn to teach and go forth
in the field in the days of their youth and receive this great blessing;
more qualified teachers should arise, and circulate among
the new and weak Assemblies in order to consolidate them.
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The rich and varied material which you have been forwarding
during recent months to the Holy Land proclaim and
demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt the assiduous
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care, the magnificent devotion, the exemplary fidelity, the
increased efficiency with which you are conducting the
affairs, and consolidating the activities of a steadily growing
community. My heart swells with gratitude as I witness, in
so many fields, the striking evidences of the growth, the multiplication
and establishment of highly diversified communities
throughout the length and breadth of India and Burma, the
expansion of Baha’i literature, the rise of new institutions,
the growing consciousness and solidarity of the teachers and
administrators of the Faith, and of the contact that is being
established between them and the great masses of their countrymen,
at so critical a period in their history. However
much these communities have already achieved, they cannot
afford, for a moment, to rest content with the laurels that
they have won. Spurred on by these initial and superb victories—victories unprecedented in the annals of their Faith in
that land—they must press on, more diligently than ever, to
reinforce their unity, to deepen their understanding of the
spiritual verities of their Faith and of the administrative
principles underlying its new world order, to multiply its
nascent institutions, to broadcast its Message, to disseminate
its literature, to exemplify its spirit, to proclaim its truths,
and to swell the ranks of its unreserved supporters. The
greater the effort they exert along these lines, the more abundant
the measure of celestial grace that will be vouchsafed
to them from on high. That they may go from strength to
strength, that they may add still more glorious chapters to
the distinguished record of their immortal services to the
Cause of Baha’u’llah is my constant prayer and the most cherished
desire of my heart.
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