Haifa, Israel,
June 23, 1953
Miss Gretta S. Lamprill, Secretary,
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand
Dear Baha'i Sister:
Your letters of June 18, July 29, October 7, 21 and 24 (2), November 10
and 18, 1952, and February 19, May 18 and 21, 1953 have been received by
the beloved Guardian, and he has instructed me to answer you on his
behalf. The various enclosures as well as material forwarded under
separate cover were also received.
Owing to extreme pressure of work here, which is getting worse all the
time, he has not been able to answer any N.S.A. letters from any country
for almost a year. He regrets this but unfortunately it was unavoidable.
As you can see, all your communications reached him, but he was too busy
to reply.
He appreciated your Assembly's gift of books gotten out by the Child
Education Committee, and assures you that the four copies of the bulletin
"Herald of the South", "Baha'i Youth Journal" and other material which you
sent, are quite satisfactory.
The thing that is most difficult for the Guardian is to have to read
through a sheaf of material in order to extract the salient information on
such vital subjects as pioneer activities, important decisions of the
National Assembly or the Teaching Committee etc. Two words in the text of
your letter might convey important items in a succinct and summarized
manner.
He was delighted to hear that as many as thirty of the Australian
believers are planning to attend the New Delhi Conference, and that a
large number of N.S.A. members, if not all, will be present. In a way, the
New Delhi Conference is one of the most important of all four conferences
to be held during the Holy Year, because at it, eight National Assemblies
must be represented and their joint teaching endeavor covers vast areas of
the globe, areas practically hitherto untouched by the Message of
Baha'u'llah.
He was glad to hear that the Convention this year and the Pacific School
held afterward had been such a success.
He was sorry to learn that after all, it was not possible for Mr. and Mrs.
Katzmann to go to New Britain. He hopes that they or others will follow
through this project, as it is an extremely important one.
The best photographs available of the Shrine of the Bab at present are to
be obtained from the American N.S.A., as films are placed at their
disposal, and they can fulfill your requirements. He suggests you get in
touch with Mr. Holley.
Shoghi Effendi hopes that at the New Delhi Conference the contribution
which the representatives from Australia and New Zealand will make will be
vital and will carry the work forward much faster. It will be a truly
unique opportunity for the representatives of so many National Assemblies
to consult about the vast pioneers regions which will be entrusted to
their care, and every advantage should be taken of it, as it may not recur
again ever.
With warm Baha'i love,
R. Rabbani.
P.S. The Guardian has been greatly encouraged by the way the believers of
Australia and New Zealand succeeded in their Plan carried out the last few
years. He hopes for still greater things from them in the days to come!
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The victorious conclusion of the Plan formulated by your Assembly, which
posterity will recognize as a landmark of the utmost significance in the
development of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the Antipodes, has filled my
heart with joy and thanksgiving, has evoked profound admiration in the
hearts of the followers of the Faith in both Hemispheres, and fully
qualified the Baha'i Communities in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania to
embark upon their Ten-Year Plan, which constitutes so important and vital
a phase of the global Crusade launched by their sister Communities in
every continent of the globe.
This new milestone in the history of the Faith in Australasia signalizes
the opening of a new chapter in the progressive unfoldment of the Mission
of these communities--a Mission that embraces both their homelands as well
as the neighbouring Island of the South Pacific Ocean and where their most
brilliant exploits, testifying to their heroism and devotion, must be
achieved and their greatest victories won.
A twofold task of far-reaching importance, at once thrilling and arduous,
now faces them, involving the steady multiplication and consolidation of
the nascent institutions of the Faith in Australia, New Zealand and
Tasmania and the erection of the Administrative structure of the Faith in
the islands and archipelagos beyond the shores of the Australian
continent.
The despatch of pioneers to the seven virgin islands assigned to the
National Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand is the first
and most vital objective of the newly launched Ten-Year Plan, requiring
urgent consideration, careful planning, and energetic action, in the
course of the current year. Every effort should be exerted and the utmost
sacrifice should be made, to ensure, ere the opening year of this great
and historic Plan draws to a close, the settlement of at least one pioneer
in each of these Islands--an achievement which will seal with success the
opening phase of the collective enterprise auspiciously launched by your
Assembly on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the birth of
Baha'u'llah's Mission.
Second in importance and far-reaching in its repercussions is the
selection and purchase by your assembly--an undertaking to which Baha'i
National Assemblies, as well as I myself, will contribute--of the site of
the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in the Antipodes, to be situated either
within or in the immediate outskirts of, the city of Sydney, the leading
and oldest Baha'i Centre in the Australian continent, and which already
houses the National Administrative Headquarters of your assembly.
These two essential obligations, as well as the task of consolidating
steadily the prizes already won in the administrative field in that
continent, must take precedence over all other obligations assumed by the
prosecutors of the Plan, and will, if fulfilled in time, constitute a
splendid prelude to its systematic execution and eventual consummation.
The valiant and youthful Baha'i communities established in Australia, New
Zealand and Tasmania, which despite their limited resources, the smallness
of their numbers, their relative inexperience, and the various obstacles
which have confronted them in the past, have proved themselves capable of
such memorable feats, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of
Baha'i activity, will, surely, refuse to hesitate or falter at this
crucial and challenging hour in the unfoldment of their destiny, and will
never allow themselves to be outdone by their sister-communities who share
with them the high and inescapable responsibility of contributing to the
final triumph of this, the most gigantic and momentous collective
undertaking launched since the inception of the Formative Age of the
Baha'i Dispensation.
I appeal to their elected national representatives to direct, with all the
means at their disposal, the operations of the Plan, and encourage
constantly the members of the Communities they represent to lend, each
according to his or her resources and capabilities, every possible
assistance to this common task. I entreat, moreover, all local assemblies,
groups and isolated believers to support, unstintingly, every measure
devised for the effective prosecution of this same task, and to continue
in this meritorious endeavour until every single objective of the Plan is
attained.
May the followers of the Faith in that far-off continent, who can already
boast of such a proud record of stewardship to the Cause of Baha'u'llah,
illuminate its annals, in the course of the coming decades by deeds of
still greater renown, by acts of still more glorious sacrifice, and
prepare themselves to worthily contribute, at the appointed time, to the
world-wide celebrations which will commemorate the Centenary of His
Declaration.
Shoghi.