February 11. On this date in 1960, the Custodians wrote all Hands of the Cause of God and NSAs "some highlights on the progress of the Faith, gleaned from news reaching Haifa from all over the Bahá'í world" noting "Great indeed is the power of Bahá'u'lláh!"
To the Hands of the Cause of God throughout the World
February 11, 1960
Dear Fellow-Hands:
It was agreed at the Conclave that the Hands residing in the Holy Land should from time to time circulate some of the news contained in the reports and letters that flow in to the World Centre. We enclose the first of these News Letters which we trust you will find helpful in your teaching and other activities.
We are asking the National Assemblies to share this with the friends through their own News Letters.
With warm Bahá'í love,
In the service of the beloved Guardian,
HANDS OF THE CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
To All National Spiritual Assemblies
February 11, 1960
Beloved Friends:
Enclosed is a communication from the World Centre, giving some highlights on the progress of the Faith, gleaned from news reaching Haifa from all over the Bahá'í world.
We feel that such a News Letter from the Holy Land, which we plan to issue from time to time, will be of interest to the friends and provide a source of inspiration and encouragement.
Please share this bulletin with the believers in your area through your News Letter.
With warm Bahá'í love,
In the service of the beloved Guardian,
HANDS OF THE CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
NEWS FROM THE WORLD CENTRE OF THE FAITH
February 11, 1960
Dearly beloved Friends:
The Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land have received many requests for news direct from the World Centre, and it has been our hope for some time to share with the believers selections from the glad-tidings which reach us here. The two years which have elapsed since the passing of our dearly beloved Guardian have imposed such heavy burdens that it has been impossible hitherto for us to undertake this informal news letter to the friends, which we hope to be able to send out from time to time in the future.
Through the grace of Bahá'u'lláh, the day-to-day work of the World Centre has continued very much as it did in the time of our beloved Guardian, but of course without the divine inspiration, the wondrous wisdom and love which it then received through the Sign of God on earth.
As the friends have no doubt noticed from the correspondence coming from the Hands in the Holy Land, we have been blessed with the assistance on different occasions of many of our fellow-Hands. That is why the signatures on the letters are not the same at different times. Some of us are occasionally absent for necessary reasons, and then one or more of the Hands from another place has come to our assistance and acted as a substitute. This has greatly enriched our meetings by bringing us the viewpoints of our fellow-Hands, and enabling them to acquire an intimate experience with the problems facing the Bahá'í world in the course of the prosecution of the Ten Year Crusade.
In view of the vast territories of the Western Hemisphere, and the fact that two of the Hands of the Faith of that area have moved to the Holy Land, for service at the World Centre, it was decided at the recent Conclave of the Hands that in addition to William Sears, Hermann Grossmann should serve as a Hand of the Western Hemisphere for the remainder of the Crusade. He is now in South America, actively assisting the two South American Regional Assemblies in the attainment of their Crusade goals.
Many of the Hands, realizing how little time is left to us to achieve the World Crusade goals of our beloved Guardian are now engaged in extensive travels. Ugo Giachery, is making a tour of Central America. John Robarts, has left Africa for an extended visit to Canada to assist the friends in attaining their home-front goals. Adelbert Muhlschlegel, is spending some months in Scandinavia and Finland, assisting the Regional Assembly of these countries in the all-important work of teaching and consolidation. 'Ali-Akbar Furutan one of the Hands serving in the Holy Land, is at present making a lengthy visit to Iran, encouraging the believers to arise as pioneers for centres abroad, as well as in Iran itself. Shu'a'u'llah 'Ala'i is visiting centres in the Indian sub-continent, the Northern Pacific region, and Japan. The other continental Hands are carrying on their activities at a heightened pace. At the present time the Hand of the Cause Tarazu'llah Samandari, is working in Haifa on the identification of the handwriting of the innumerable Tablets collected in the International Bahá'í Archives. His long association with the Faith, dating from the days of the Blessed Beauty Himself, has made him familiar to a unique degree with the penmanship of the Bab. Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and their various amanuenses, and ideally fits him for this important service. The prominence of the edifices associated with the World Centre of the Faith is steadily increasing in Israel, like a constellation that mounts the heavens as the hours advance. The peace and beauty which streams from the inner Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh and the splendour of the Haram-i-Aqdas which surrounds it; the Shrine of the Bab. the International Archives Building, and the extensive surrounding gardens of both buildings, are becoming recognized more and more as outstanding sites in this country. Indeed it can be truly said that nothing comparable to these buildings and gardens exists anywhere in Israel, or for that matter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Innumerable postcards, greeting cards, photographs and books publicize the Holy Shrines and their environs in Haifa and 'Akka, A ceaseless stream of tourists from abroad and from different towns in Israel flows into the Shrine gardens daily; tour buses and school buses pour hundreds of sight-seers into the Bahá'í Holy Places; and there can be no doubt that just as the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America is a great silent teacher, as the Master said it would be, so the Shrines here have likewise become mighty teachers of the Faith. We feel sure that in the future a rich harvest will be reaped from the many souls who have visited their sacred precincts. It is surprising how many of the visitors inform the friends who show them around that they have Bahá'í friends or relatives in other countries. Ten years ago this was a remark rarely heard, but it is now becoming commonplace, and testifies to the extraordinary progress the Faith has made all over the world -- a progress directly attributable to the unremitting labours, the determination and the self-sacrifice of our beloved Guardian.
The plans made by him are continually bearing fruit. Since his passing, with the exception of a few remaining territories in the Soviet zone of influence, every single virgin country specified by him in the Ten Year Crusade has been opened to the Faith. Paul Adams succeeded, as the friends know, in opening Spitzbergen in 1958, and this devoted young Knight of Bahá'u'lláh, after overcoming many difficulties, was able to return this winter to that far northern outpost. During the last few months Jeanne Frankel and her mother, Elizabeth Bates, were able to enter the Cocos Islands. This goal of the Ten Year Plan had been previously opened to the Faith by Frank Wyss, Knight of Bahá'u'lláh from Australia. Unfortunately he was refused permission to remain, but Jeanne has been more fortunate, and the wonderful news has recently reached us that she now has a group of Bahá'ís in that far-off tropical island. Great indeed is the power of Bahá'u'lláh!
It is not possible to go into details of the progress being made all over the world; however, some of the highlights are indeed thrilling. Recently in Swaziland the Faith has been listed as a fourth religion by the Government. Last year it was possible for Collis Featherstone to visit, at the invitation of some of the Maori chiefs in New Zealand, a centre of Maori culture and to present the Faith to the leaders of the people. As all religious teaching has been forbidden in that area because of the conflicts the different Christian sects aroused amongst the people, this was indeed a unique honour conferred by the Maori leaders upon a representative of our Faith. The chiefs were deeply impressed and requested that literature be left for their people to study. The third all-American Indian Bahá'í Assembly was formed last April in Bolivia, and since then many hundreds of Indians have entered the Faith-outstanding steps toward fulfilment of one of the dearest hopes of the beloved Guardian, who urged the friends on many occasions to remember the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in the Divine Plan, that if the original inhabitants of America accepted the Faith they would become as enkindled as the original inhabitants of Arabia who accepted the Prophet Muhammad.
Among the many outstanding advances in Africa may be cited the extraordinary number of enrolments in Uganda and Kenya, which are now on such a scale as to present a serious problem to the administrative bodies responsible. There are just not enough Bahá'ís to keep up with the work of checking the declaration cards that come in! The mass conversion desired and foretold by the beloved Guardian is now taking place in this area, as well as in the Malayan Archipelago and other areas of the Pacific. It presents a great challenge and a wonderful hope for the future. Schools run by Bahá'ís for the Africans are perforce increasing throughout the continent as the Faith spreads and the Bahá'í membership increases so rapidly.
In view of the urgent need for pioneers to fill the goals in Latin America and Europe, it is encouraging to note that there is a strong internal movement of pioneers. At least ten German Bahá'ís have arisen and volunteered to go to the aid of their sister communities in neighbouring countries. This is a great step forward, as the German Bahá'í Community has had special responsibilities and honours conferred upon it by both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian. In Latin America also, many pioneers are leaving the established communities, to settle in the goal cities where Local Assemblies must be formed this coming Ridvan.
Plans for the construction of the Mother Temple of Europe in Frankfurt are at last beginning to take concrete form. The German National Spiritual Assembly, in view of past frustrating experiences had refused to purchase outright the Temple property until such time as permission to build was assured from the authorities. This now having at last been obtained, the deeds to the property have been transferred to the name of the Assembly. The architect's working drawings are well under way, and as soon as weather permits, actual work on the site will be commenced. As the friends are aware, the Mother Temple of Africa, situated in Kampala, will be dedicated at the beginning of next summer. The Mother Temple of Australia is advancing at a rapid pace, and although the exterior of the building may be completed by the coming Ridvan plans for its dedication are being made for the following year, in other words, 1961. The funds for these two Temples, thanks to the munificence of the beloved Guardian himself, and the generosity of the believers, have been assured; but the greater part of the funds needed to construct the German Temple has still to be raised, and this presents a serious challenge to the Bahá'ís throughout the world in completing this vital goal of the Fourth Phase of the Crusade before 1963.
The many pilgrims who visited the Holy Land will remember how often the beloved Guardian mentioned his heavy burdens, and that he was over-worked and concerned over the multitudinous problems which faced him. This work and these problems have fallen to the lot of the Hands of the Faith, who have been obliged and privileged to assume the burden at the World Centre. We ask the believers to remember us in their prayers as we remember them in ours in the Holy Shrines. We realize that only the grace of Bahá'u'lláh can assist us all-His followers all over the world-to bring to a successful conclusion the mighty plan of our beloved Guardian. We also realize, however, that the grace of God must be attracted by a magnet in this world. The magnet, we know, is purity of heart, dedication in service, obedience to the Divine commands, and willingness to sacrifice. We urge all of the friends, whoever they are and wherever they are serving, whatever their station in life, their age, their education or abilities, to remember their individual and collective responsibility for executing the Plan of God. Let them study the Guardian's World Crusade, and determine in what manner locally, nationally, on the home front or in the international arena they can most effectively assist in laying the foundation of that supreme edifice, the Universal House of Justice.
In the service of the beloved Guardian,
HANDS OF THE CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
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