"The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds and through commendable and seemly conduct."
— Baháʼuʼlláh
A visual proof of a World Religion that strives for peace letting DEEDS prove what lies in the words....
The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds...
Let deeds, not words, be your adorning...
Regional Conferences of the Five Year Plan for the healing and the creating of a new world. The international Baha'i community is fighting to achieve the goal of a future when peace and harmony will be established on earth and humankind will live in prosperity. We believe that the promised hour has come and that Bahá’u’lláh is the great Personage Whose Teachings will enable humanity to build a new world.
The ''Plans'' are made to ensure the reality of wolrd peace on earht, in a systematic manner by the Universal House of Justice in Israel. In the Baha'i faith, The ''Plans'', are part of the administrative order. The idea most central to our lives as Bahá‟ís is that we have entered into a Covenant with Bahá‟u‟lláh. As you know, in all other religions, after the passing of the Manifestation, His followers had thousands of disputes among themselves and, as a result, split the religion into many sects. The cause of disunity was sometimes the desire for leadership of certain ambitious individuals. But, when differences of opinion arose between even sincere believers about what the Words of the Manifestation meant, no one had been authorized by the Manifestation Himself to settle the disagreements, and this contributed to conflict and dissension. Each set of interpretations led to the creation of a different sect.
Bahá‟u‟lláh has protected His Faith against such division by endowing it with a unique power, the power of the Covenant. Before His passing, He stated in the clearest terms, in writing, that after Him, all Bahá‟ís should turn to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, His oldest Son, was thus named the sole Interpreter of His Words and the Center of His Covenant. He had been raised by Bahá‟u‟lláh Himself, had recognized His Station even as a child, and had shared the sufferings of His Father. He was a most precious gift given to humanity, the perfect Exemplar of all Bahá‟í Teachings. 'Abdu'l-Bahá lived in 1844 and passed away in November 1921. His life was filled with affliction, but to everyone who entered His presence He brought the greatest joy and happiness.
After the passing of His Father, the responsibility for the Bahá‟í community fell on His shoulders, and He labored day and night to spread the Faith throughout the East and the West. We wrote thousands of Tablets to individuals and groups everywhere and clarified the Teachings of His Father. His interpretations are now an essential part of the Writings of the Bahá‟í Faith. By focusing on 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the Center of Bahá‟u‟lláh‟s Covenant, the Bahá‟ís of the world remain united in their efforts to live a Bahá‟í life and to create a new civilization. We remember that as part of our promise to Bahá‟u‟lláh, we are to love one another and, in 'Abdu'l-Bahá, we learn justice, generosity and forgiveness. More than anything else, by keeping our focus on 'Abdu'l-Bahá, we are always aware of our covenant with Bahá‟u‟lláh that we will not allow the unity of His followers to be broken and that, united as a worldwide community, we will labor until the oneness of humankind has been firmly established.
In His Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has named His grandson the Guardian of the Faith and after His passing, Shoghi Effendi became the authorized interpreter of the Teachings. For 36 years, he continued the work of His Grandfather, clarifying the Words of the Manifestation and firmly establishing His Faith in all parts of the planet. Five and half years after his passing, the Bahá‟ís of the world elected the Universal House of Justice, as envisioned by Bahá‟u‟lláh and clearly described by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian. The Universal House of Justice is the supreme institution of the Faith to which all the Bahá‟ís of the world now turn.
- 1–2 November 2008
“I feel that the Conference was exactly what we needed to inspire, encourage and boost our spirit in the Five Year Plan. Having studied the message from the House of Justice, I have no doubt that we will all arise and contribute towards the launch of the Intensive Programmes of Growth in the next six months. I am very excited.”
Ms.Musonda Kapusa - Lusaka
“It was such an amazing experience to see about 900 Baha’is joyfully gathering together. How I wish that could be how cluster meeting should be. I am very tired, but very happy.”
Mr. Adam Mwandira - Central Province of Zambia
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/lusaka.html)
- 8–9 November 2008
“No more time for side shows! We know exactly what to do, we have to help the surrounding clusters achieve their aims.”
Lucy Imison, Kenya
“Magnetic and electrifying event. There is an urgency for us to arise as reflected in the message of the House of Justice. It is evident that the old world order is falling apart and we must be ready.”
Margaret Ogembo, Kenya
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/nakuru.html)Johannesburg, South Africa
“I don’t think I’ve had an experience like this before. Over a thousand people, and I don’t know how many different languages. We’ve had big Baha’i conferences before, but never one where everybody has come for the same thing, everyone thinking of the same thing, everyone knowing what needs to be done.”
Naisan Samadi, age 28, South Africa
“The conference played a big role in recharging my batteries and saying to me, ‘there’s work that needs to be done.’ And I’ll do it happily.”
Tsepo Ngobeni, age 13, South Africa
- (http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/johannesburg.html)
- 15–16 November 2008
- “Everyone got to review what the Universal House of Justice is saying and to rethink their role in the Plan. The number of volunteers who offered to help was very encouraging. We start next Sunday!”
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/bangui.html)
Bangalore, India
“Over the past seven years the community has been growing in leaps. I was amazed to see people from real rural backgrounds standing on stage and addressing the audience. I can say this conference really humbled me.“
Bhargava - Hyderabad cluster in Andhra Pradesh
“Such tremendous response from each believer is astonishingly unbelievable. During my 30 years of Bahai life, it is for the first time that I could witness such a large gathering filled with absolute love and spirit amongst those present.”
Sudha Parasa - Hyderabad cluster
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/bangalore.html)
“Although all our belongings were taken from us on the way here, we made it to the conference.”
Francois Njiangani - Maniema Province, DRC
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/uvira.html)“After having traveled 305 kilometers by foot, I am full of joy to be here and to be able to attend this conference, and see the representatives of the Universal House of Justice.”
Mr. Akili Tambwe - Lulenge, DRC
- 22–23 November 2008
“Truly, the conference has been spectacular. I have lived for 60 years in the Baha’i community in Peru, and I have never been to such a marvelous event. ”
Martha Tirado de Lopez - La Victoria, Lima, Peru
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/quito.html)
“I have been a Baha’i for many years, but I’ve never seen a gathering of 2,800 people. It feels that so many souls are getting into Baha’i and getting close to Baha’u’llah.”
Sadhna Mitra - Bhopal
“I feel so good, so happy. I’m learning so many things. I have been a Baha’i for two months, not more than that, but all of these people are my family.”
Hikmat Busunke - Kathmandu, Nepal
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/newdelhi.html)
- “…possibly the largest, most zealous gathering of Baha’i friends ever held in this part of the world.”
“This weekend in Kolkata, we came as guests of the House of Justice, finding new friends and reaffirming old ties along the way, and we all stood up for Baha'u'llah. To those of you who are still unsure about participating in the Regional Conference in your area, this is a moment you may not want to miss.”(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/kolkata.html)
“I don’t know how to explain my joy, but I must say that I have a lot of work ahead of me as a Baha’i.”
Hans Ilunga Mangenda, age 15
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/lubumbashi.html)“We should no longer only be thinking about our own cluster, but we also need to have a global vision and help other clusters also to launch their intensive programs of growth.”
Baron Ntambwe Binichini
- 29–30 November 2008
“Listening to the experiences of other Bahá’ís from different countries gave me so many new ideas about what to do, Some of the people I met felt bad because before now they haven’t been that involved in the activities. Now I know how to help encourage people like this, including some back home in my own community who may feel the same.”
Manuel Lopez - El Chaco, Argentina
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/antofagasta.html)
Manila, Philippines 
“When we received the letter announcing the conferences, we knew we had to go.”
A young pioneer who attended with a fellow pioneer
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/manila.html)“I had just returned home from a long trip and had only 24 hours before leaving for this conference, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”
Participant from Asia
“Tears came to my eyes, when I observed that Baha’is arrived in humble circumstances, knowing no one, but were being received as brothers.”
Moses Tanyi
“Particularly I have been able to understand the role a pioneer can play within a three-month cycle in a cluster, beginning with the expansion right up to the movements of new believers through the sequence of courses.”
Miss Jupiter Benwi Kully - Tiko, Cameroon
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/yaounde.html)
- 6–7 December 2008
- “The gathering started on a high note and continued to build throughout two glorious days, culminating in a universal outpouring of concrete commitment….”
The Alaskans in attendance were enthusiastic and by the end of their own consultations in a workshop session felt that they could initiate intensive programs of growth by 2009. One speaker commented on the vast distances that people in Alaska travel, including one Baha’i who, for a year and a half, regularly made a 300-mile round-trip to tutor a study circle. It was also noted that some of the youth are becoming the most experienced members of the Alaskan Baha’i community.
After the conference, one participant summed it up this way: “The gathering started on a high note and continued to build throughout two glorious days, culminating in a universal outpouring of concrete commitment….”
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/portland.html)
“Just befriend, befriend. That’s what we’re all about.”
Ms. Seowah Kahn - Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Dakotas
“It was so nice to have such a spiritual focus for our marriage. We could be enjoying material happiness in the Bahamas but we would be broke. We would rather be here with the friends, hearing inspirational stories and making plans for our future.”
Deirdre Imagere, who spent her wedding weekend at the conference
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/chicago.html)
A young man from the Atlanta area told about two youngsters, 13 or 14 years old, who are eager to participate in institute courses and gain experience so that in the future they can help with classes themselves. They want to emulate those they see serving around them, especially the animators of their junior youth groups, he said.
A young woman from northern Virginia described two areas that shifted from centralized children’s classes to neighborhood classes. She said the change was fraught with challenges, but the new classes now have nearly 100 children from the wider community and are enjoying a new richness in culture.
In Palm Beach County, Florida, a newly enrolled Baha’i hosted the celebration for a holy day and invited her neighbors. The neighbors outnumbered the 15 or so Baha’is and soon five of the newcomers decided to join the Baha’i community, too.
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/atlanta.html)
Almaty, Kazakhstan
“I took note of every word said during the talks. They … gave me vision of where we are moving as a world community, starting from the early days of the Faith until the present time.”
Jamal Artylova - Almaty, Kazakhstan
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/almaty.html)“Love filled my soul. The message calls us to arise to respond to the needs of humanity when the process of disintegration is so immense, compared to how much we have yet to build.”
Vera Dubovskaia - Shimkent, Kazakhstan
- 13–14 December 2008
- Stamford, United States
“The speakers presented the familiar elements - the core activities - in a new light; as organic, developing facets of a new civilization.”
Scott Walters, New York
“…we are building a new world civilization. You will no longer see a devotional meeting as just an end in itself. A devotional meeting becomes a moment in this process….””
Hooshmand Sheshbaradaran - Hoboken, New Jersey
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/stamford.html)Dallas, United States
“I’m always afraid because of my limitations. But I’m not going to be afraid now.”
Afsaneh Salehian - Texas
“This conference is inspiring. So much love is shown. I notice the Baha’is have a quality of humbleness and love for each other.”
Lighting technician working at the venue
- (http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/dallas.html)
“Such an historic event was not planned by the House of Justice merely to be an event that would energize the friends for a few months but rather for many years to come….”
Matthew Cornelius
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/losangeles.html)“This conference is about definitions and specifics, how things are and what needs to be done.”
Kourosh Derakhshan, student
- 20–21 December 2008
- Two relatively new Baha’is, both women, recounted their own personal transformation as they participated in the training institute courses and began their paths of service; one as a teacher of a children’s class in her own neighborhood, the other as a tutor of study circles. Both of their husbands, in seeing their work and devotion, have gone on to become Bahai’s, and all four will soon finish the sequence of courses. The two teenage children of one of the couples have joined their parents in the study circles. Both women have already begun to accompany others in their respective clusters in reaching out to their friends and neighbors, offering classes to children, and inviting people to study circles.
São Paulo, Brazil
“My biggest challenge is that I am extremely shy…. So now, what I do is, I invite people to my house, and also invite someone else from my cluster, and before I know it, I’m talking and teaching.”
Maria Cristina Santos - Bahia
“This is the largest group of Baha’is I’ve ever seen, and I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
Sabino da Silva Oliveira - Belem
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/saopaulo.html)
- 27–28 December 2008
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
“In understanding the letters by the House of Justice at the workshop, I realized they know that the challenges we face are not easy and pray we may not be daunted as we strive to serve the community.”
Ashwin Kalai Chelvan, a youth from Malaysia
“I was once a painfully shy boy, unable to make friends, and would never dream of speaking up. Yet here I am, standing here in front of thousands and sharing my experiences.”
A youth at the conference
- (http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/kualalumpur.html)
- 3–4 January 2009
“They had so much confidence especially around carrying out service projects. That’s where a new … identity started forming among the group,”
Clare O'Brien - Oxford, England
"Thirty families are now taking part in initiatives which the Baha'is have started, including children's classes and junior youth groups."
Olinga Tahzib, 18 - Coventry, England
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/london.html)
“They teach us lots of great things. We learn how to pray.”
Youngster from a children’s class in Abidjan cluster
- (http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/abidjan.html)
- 10–11 January 2009
- “The evening was truly uplifting and purposeful, as both the skits and musical presentations were expressions of the country's experiences in the teaching field.”
“I knew about the activities but did not know what it was supposed to look like all together. Now I see it's an organic process.“
Catherine Bigonnesse, 23 - Sherbooke, Quebec
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/toronto.html)Guadalajara, Mexico
“This is a spiritual enterprise, not just activities here and there.”
Soraya Shirazi, 22 – Guanajuato
“Even though the buses were already lining up outside the conference site, it was difficult to imagine that it was already over. Yet the spirit of the conference will spread….”
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/guadalajara.html)
- 17–18 January 2009
“I have never attended a conference like this and I learnt a lot. I will go home and share with my friends and the believers from my cluster the stories of this wonderful conference.”
Sawato Kiyapa, 26 - Gogodala Cluster, Papua New Guinea
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/lae.html)“The effect of this conference is that it has made me want to return home immediately to carry out the work of the Faith.”
Tebano Bobai - Solomon Islands
“The feeling I will take home with me is gratitude to the House of Justice for enabling us to get together like this.”
Michele McIsaacs - Saskatchewan
“We are weaving threads devoid of ego and pride, creating a system that propagates through teaching and service. We are weaving a carpet that is the base upon which everything will be built in the future.”
Anthony Jjumba - British Columbia
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/vancouver.html)
“A beautiful and unique opportunity to share experiences, to learn, and to obey the institutions.”
Yolanda Rodríguez Villarreal - Panama
“I have decided to begin a Book 1 study circle with the students of the school where I teach.”
Efrain Gonzalez - El Salvador
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/managua.html)
- 24–25 January 2009
“I had no idea so many people would be attending the conference. The consultations have helped greatly to deepen my understanding of how we must act.”
Ms. Sasha Kononova, 28 - Ulan Ude, Russia
“The journey here took one and a half days. There were 30 of us on the bus, and we were singing all the way. I have learnt many things so far and feel that I now know much better what to do when I return to Uliastai.”
Ms. Ninge, 16 - Uliastai, Mongolia
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/ulaanbaatar.html)
“I found the conference to be clarifying, with an amazing spirit. I am very excited about going back to my cluster and serving. I feel a sense of urgency.”
Regina Middleton, 24 - Melbourne, Victoria
“I’ve seen friends I have known for quite a while who have been involved in the activities and have been so transformed. Hearing those stories has shown me that I can be involved and transformed in the same way.”
Bruce Saunders, 44 - Perth, Western Australia
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/sydney.html)
“It's like changing fuel – first we were growing slowly and now the Universal House Justice tells us that we must go faster, and we can do it because we have the institute process.”
Esther Medina - Telde, Canary Islands
“We have had a historic opportunity to learn how to generate change. We only have to follow the guidance of the Universal House of Justice to succeed in our plans.”
Afonso Veiga - Oporto, Portugal
- (http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/madrid.html)
- 31 January–1 February 2009
“I feel so empowered and inspired. What I need to do now is to immediately translate this inspiration into action. …”
Diana Asdollah-zadeh - New Zealand
“The conference has helped me grasp the rapidity with which change is happening in the Baha’i world.”
Naveed Rastegar - Tonga
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/auckland.html)
“The unity of religion and the harmony of its followers is essential for peace. Your gathering here is proof that this is possible.”
Mr. Aem Thoeurn - Government representative
“I am pumped up to serve and motivate and inspire, and I plan to serve full-time back in Vietnam as the junior youth coordinator. I hope the other youth catch the fire, too. It is us that will make the difference….”
Chau Le Tuan Phuong, 25 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
(http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/battambang.html)
Upcoming conferences
- 7–8 February 2009
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Padua, Italy
- 14–15 February 2009
- Istanbul, Turkey
- 21–22 February 2009
- Baku, Azerbaijan
- Accra, Ghana
- 28 February–1 March 2009
- Kiev, Ukraine
Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon
him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to
the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of
the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility."
— Baháʼuʼlláh
http://news.bahai.org/community-news/regional-conferences/
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