May 25. On this date in 1999, the Universal House of Justice wrote all National Spiritual Assemblies "the level of expenditure required from the Bahá’í International Fund is rising sharply" beyond "the need expressed in its 20 June 1995 letter to you for the contribution of ten million dollars each year until the end of the century" for the construction of the Arc.
25 MAY 1999
To all National Spiritual Assemblies
Dear Bahá’í Friends,
303.1 With the Four Year Plan proceeding rapidly toward its conclusion, the Universal House of Justice has decided that it is necessary to provide you with information about the international funds of the Faith. We have been asked to convey the following.
303.2 As a result of the sacrificial contributions from believers everywhere for over a decade, the vast construction project on Mount Carmel is moving toward conclusion with unprecedented speed. The House of Justice is confident that Bahá’ís throughout the world will continue to meet the need expressed in its 20 June 1995 letter to you for the contribution of ten million dollars each year until the end of the century.[1]
303.3 A new challenge has emerged as a result of the progress of the Faith both at the World Center and throughout the planet. It is becoming evident that the level of expenditure required from the Bahá’í International Fund is rising sharply, due to a combination of the following factors. The Edifices and Terraces on Mount Carmel must be maintained at a standard appropriate to their character and the dignity of the Faith; measures must also be instituted to handle, in an appropriate manner, the greatly increased number of people expected to visit the Terraces and to provide protection from damage. The emergence of the World Administrative Center on the Mountain of God in all its splendor is attracting increased attention to the Faith, and thus creating new opportunities for extension of the influence of the Cause. The achievements of the energetic and dedicated prosecutors of the Four Year Plan in all parts of the planet, establishing new institutions of the Faith and increasing its human resources, have raised the tempo of the administrative activity at the World Center, and call for the assignment of more resources to ensure that its work is carried out efficiently and with dispatch. The need for property acquisition in both Haifa and ‘Akká areas to safeguard the serenity of the environs of the Holy Places, to which reference has been made in an earlier letter, remains pressing as the process of urban development in this area accelerates.
303.4 The House of Justice draws your attention to the necessity for increased support of the Bahá’í Fund at an international level with full confidence that the impressive record of sacrificial endeavor by the believers will be sustained in their response to the situation described here. The formulation of budgets at a national and local level should be carried out in the light of these conditions. Above all there should be no interruption to your sustained effort to assist the friends in your area to acquire a deeper understanding of the spiritual obligation binding upon all, irrespective of their circumstances, to contribute to the Funds of the Faith. In particular, those believers who have been blessed with material resources beyond those necessary for their essential needs should ponder deeply the responsibilities resting upon them at this time when the requirements of the Cause are so pressing.
303.5 The prayers of the Universal House of Justice will be offered at the Holy Shrines for the confirmation of their endeavors to assist in the advancement of the Faith.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
FOR DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT
Notes
[1] See no. 204, pp. 445-46.
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