PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR BAHA'IS ONLY 112 Unden Av., Wilmette, Ill. 60091 5econcl-c!ass postave paid at Wilmette, llllnois No. 465 BAHA'I YE AR 126 DECE M BER 1969 The Universal House of Justice Announces Contracts for Panama Temple JOYFULLY ANNOUNCE AWARD FOUR MAJOR CONTRACTS TOTAL­ LING FOUR HUNDRED SIXTY THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR DOLLARS ERECTION SUPERSTRUCTURE PANAMA TEMPLE. URGE ENTIRE WORLD COMMUNITY FOCUS PRAYERS DEDI­ CATE RESOURCES RAPID COMPLETION HISTORIC PROJECT G LORY BAHA'U'LLAH. The above cablegram from the Universal House of Justice ad­ dressed to all National Spiritual Assemblies was dated October 22, 1969. 50th Anniversary of 'Abdu'l-Baha' s Tablet to the Hague December 19, 1969 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of 'Abdu'l­ Baha's Tablet to the Central Orga nization for a Durable P ea ce a t the Hague. "There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace," the tablet states. 'Abdu'l­ Baha praised the m embers of the Organization as "pioneers among the well-wishers of the world of humanity." It is hoped that the friends will be able to observe this anniversary in some way that will boost their proclamation of the message of peace brought by Baha'u'llah. An article on the Tablet to the Hague will appear in the Winter issue of WORLD ORDER magazine; it will also be published in a pamphlet by the Baha'i Publishing Trust. 2 DECEMBER i 969 Let There Be Light On October 8, 1969, the Mayor of Wilmette, Kenneth Santee, threw a switch which turned on the new exteri­ or floodlighting system at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette. Alongside the Mayor was the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, Glenford E. Mitchell. Observing the historic ceremony were officials of the Village of Wilmette representing education, police, fire department, recreation, planning and other village de­ partments. In addition there were representatives of the manufacturers and installers of the new lighting system. Baha'is from the National Baha'i Center were also present at the event which took place at the entrance walk to the House of Worship. The ceremony was opened by the prayer for mankind read by Miss Gloria Woodson. This was followed with a short talk on the significance of the occasion by Glen­ ford E . Mitchell and then remarks by the Mayor of Wilmette, who expressed the pride of the Village of Wilmette in having the world-famous Baha'i House of Worship in its area. The photograph shown indicates the effectiveness of the new flood lights which have five times the intensity of the old and yet use less electric current. At the time the picture was taken the cleaning of the dome, first told of in the October BAHA'i NEWS, had been complet­ ed. The level immediately below, known as the cleres­ tory, was cleaned before winter set in, with the balance of the structure scheduled to be done next summer. The dome has also been coated with a colorless acrylic sealer which should help to maintain its present ap­ pearance for a period of years. Dr. Muhajir being met by Intercontinental B oard of Counsetiors, Auxiliary Board members and believers from Venezuela, Co­ lumbia, Ecuador. Peru and Bolivia at airport in Quito, Ecuador for International Conference. Five Andean Countries Host Counsellors' Conference Hand of the Cause of God Dr. Muhajir and the masses on a "large scale", proclamation of the Faith, Continental Board of Counsellors for South America and Baha'i education. were meeting in Bolivia when news reached them that the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador had set the Teaching Pian Initiated goal of 9,000 new believers to be reached before the Several believers responded to the call for interna­ Bolivian Continental Conference to be held in August, tional traveling teachers, and ultimately Raul Pavon 1970. Thus Quito. Ecuador was chosen as the site of an and Jerry Bagley of Ecuador were committed to a total international conference of the five Andean countries of more than two months' assistance to the National which was then being considered by the Hand of the Spiritual Assembly of Peru, interrupting their own Cause and the Counsellors in their deliberations. On expansion plan to help initiate a large scale effort August 8-11 representatives of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, beginning the first part of September in Peru. If plans Colombia and Venezuela; Auxiliary Board members materialize, at least two neophytes in mass conversion L eonor Porras. Habib Rezvani, Peter McLaren and will come back to Ecuador from Peru for further Charles Hornb~ -: believers from many communities in experience in expansion and consolidation. Ecuador in addition to Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhajir Ground work for the pooling of teaching materials and Continental Board of Counsellors members Donald from the various Latin American countries was laid . Witzel and Athos Costas met in Quito for an intensive Doris de Sanchez, who had traveled the mountain roads program of con~ult ation and planning on teaching the to Quito from Bogota, Colombia by bus with the veteran 4 DECEMBER 1969 Brazilian pioneer, Olavo Rovaes, related the success Summer School of Ecuador, of 494 new believers in the that they had had there with regular Saturday classes province of Azuay. for children for the past three years, to the extent that several children of less than fifteen years of age are Sum mer School Sparks Youth Pa rtici pation prepared to teach and two have made a trip to other cities and conducted public meetings. Ecuador Counsellor Donald R . Witzel, Auxiliary Board mem­ anxiously awaits her return in December to help train ber Charles Hornby and seventy other Baha'is partici­ youth educators. pated in the summer school, twenty-two of them youth. The youth promptly organized, mapped out their teach­ ing plans and raised funds. And thus two more startling The Importance of Winning the Indians events took place before astonished eyes: the vigorous The Proclamation Committee of the conference activity of Baha'i youth and particularly of young placed particular emphasis on the development of well women of Latin America, who must join their coura­ organized correspondence courses for inquirers and geous sisters in other continents in service to Baha­ Baha'i deepening. Patricia Conger outlined Ecuador's 'u 'llah as anticipated by the beloved Guardian. The plans for using this medium for proclamation. Dr. Universal House of Justice answered a cable from the Muhajir mentioned that 600 people have entered the summer school as follows: Faith in India through their correspondence course. He also encouraged the national representatives to develop DELIGHTED NEWS EXPANSION AZUAY SUCCESS SUMMER SCHOOL. plans for reaching the black people in their areas as PRAYING ATTAINMENT ALL GOALS LOVING REGARDS. well as the Indians. Shoghi Effendi often spoke of the Indian and Negro in connection with mass conversion For the Ecuadorian National Spiritual Assembly and in L atin America. the believers, this was just the beginning of a year-lon g Dr. Muhajir said: "The Master has mentioned 120 expansion program to attain the goal of 9,000 new countries in His Divine Plan, but He has chosen the Baha'is by the Continental Conference next August , and Irxiian people and emphasized that we should teach at the same time persist with consolidation in order t o them and we should give them special attention. The have seventy-five indigenous local spiritual assemblies beloved Guardian wrote in 1946 when there was only next RiQ.van, including those gained in previous years. one regional national spiritual assembly for all of Latin During all these activities in Indian teaching, the city America: 'A special effort should be exerted to secure of Cuenca was not neglected. Provin cial and Federal the unqualified adherence of members of some of these authorities were advised of the Indian teaching activi­ tribes to the Faith, their subsequent election to its ties, a public meeting was held at the Chamber of councils, and their unreserved support of the organized Commerce which was attended by all seventy believers attempts that will have to be made in the future by the from the summer school and some eighty inquirers, projected national assemblies for the large scale con­ who heard an excellent presentation of Baha'i teach­ version of the Indian races to the Faith of ings by Ing. Ramon Armas of Guayaquil. There was Baha'u'llah.' " also newspap er, radio and T .V. coverage. The H and pointed out that the first steps of these instructions of the Guardian have been carried out: the projected national spiritual assemblies were elected in 1961 ; contact has been made with many tribes and some have been enrolled in the Faith; they have been elected to local and national spiritual assemblies (each of the national spiritual assemblies of the five countries represented has Indian members). "But," he said, "the 'large scale conversion of the Indian races to the Faith ' is still missing, and that is the purpose of this confer­ ence." Mobilization a~er the Conference The active Ecuadorian teachers in the indigenous field were mobilized almost immediately after the con­ ference and moved south, " like an army" as Raul Pavon later said, into the province of Azuay and the city of Cuenca for the National Spiritual Assembly's planned "week of expansion." Each morning the twenty or more participants gath­ ered to divide into teams and be assigned their areas, and to turn in their reports and lists of Baha'is found the day before.