Part 10 (1/2)
(36) April 12, 1957
(36) April 12, 1957
Dear Baha'i Friends:
Will you please deliver to the Convenor of the Alaska Baha'i Convention the enclosed envelope containing the Guardian's Message to the friends and which is to be read to them at Convention.
To gain time this is being sent thru Rome and mailed by a Pilgrim.
With Ridvan greetings, R. Rabbani
P.S.-The Guardian requests that you acknowledge receipt of this communication by cable to him.
(37) April, 1957
(37) April, 1957
To: Delegates and Visitors a.s.sembled at the Convention of the Baha'is of Alaska
I welcome, with joy, pride and thankfulness, the convocation, on the northern fringes of the Western Hemisphere, and in a region that must needs play a prominent part in the shaping of the destinies of mankind, of the first Alaskan Baha'i Convention. So auspicious an event const.i.tutes an important milestone in the progressive unfoldment of the Baha'i World Spiritual Crusade, and represents the fruition of the valiant efforts exerted, in the course of several decades, by the American Baha'i Community, which has striven so steadfastly to ensure the emergence of independent Baha'i Communities in that hemisphere.
So great a triumph, crowning so much patient and painstaking labour, won at the hour when the Baha'i World Spiritual Crusade is entering the second year of the third phase in its irresistible unfoldment, must be celebrated through the initiation of a subsidiary Six-Year Plan on the part of the newly-formed Alaskan National Spiritual a.s.sembly, for the purpose of speedily increasing the number of the followers of the Faith; of multiplying its Centres; of adding to its existing Local Spiritual a.s.semblies; of inaugurating a National Baha'i Fund; of establis.h.i.+ng a Summer School; of initiating local Baha'i endowments; of incorporating the newly-emerged National Spiritual a.s.sembly as well as all firmly grounded local spiritual a.s.semblies; of obtaining recognition for the Baha'i Marriage Certificate, as well as the Holy Days on which work is forbidden; of stimulating the conversion of both the Eskimos and American Indians, and of purchasing a plot of land to serve as the site for the future Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of Alaska.
I appeal to the members of the American National Spiritual a.s.sembly to persevere in their highly laudable endeavours on behalf of a Community so small yet so valiant and promising, and to ensure by every means in their power the steady development and consolidation of the inst.i.tutions of an Order to whose rise and establishment they have so conspicuously contributed.
May the process now set in motion gather momentum in the years lying ahead, through a liberal effusion of the grace of Baha'u'llah, and may those whose privilege it is to stimulate its development, be guided in every step they take, and fulfill every desire they cherish for its ultimate consummation.
Shoghi
(38) May 16, 1957
(38) May 16, 1957
To the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha'is of Alaska
Dear Baha'i Friends:
Your loving letter of May 5th has been received by the beloved Guardian, and he has directed me to acknowledge it on his behalf.
The contribution made by your new a.s.sembly to the International Fund is greatly appreciated. Receipt is enclosed.