Such heart-warming, soul-stirring examples of Baha'i initiative and
enterprise; such splendid testimonies to Baha'i solidarity, perseverance,
courage, fortitude, and self-sacrifice, displayed in rapid succession, and
over so immense an area of the globe's surface, and in the face of
mounting opposition on the part of those who envy the ever widening glory
of the Faith or fear the influence of its all-pervasive power, have shed
on the opening chapter of this Crusade a luster which the passing of time
can never tarnish. The third phase of this momentous enterprise--the
opening of which is, at this hour, being signalized by the emergence of no
less than three additional Regional Baha'i Assemblies in the African
Continent--must cast on the annals of this prodigious Crusade an
illumination of such brilliancy as will eclipse the splendor of this
luster.
The glorious and stupendous work already accomplished, singly and
collectively, in the course of three brief years, in five continents of
the globe and the islands of the seas, both at home and abroad, in the
teaching as well as the administrative spheres of Baha'i activity must, as
the army of Baha'u'llah's crusaders marches forward into new and vaster
fields to capture still greater heights, never be jeopardized or allowed
to lag or suffer a setback. The prizes so arduously won should not only be
jealously preserved but should be constantly enriched. Far from suffering
the long and distinguished record of feats which have been achieved to be
tarnished, assiduous efforts must be exerted to ennoble it with every
passing day.
The newly opened territories of the globe must, under no circumstances, be
allowed to relapse into the state of spiritual deprivation from which they
have so recently and laboriously been rescued. Nay, the highly edifying
evidences proclaiming the expansion and the consolidation of the superb
historic work achieved in so many of these territories must be rapidly
multiplied. The local assemblies that have been so diligently and
patiently established must under no circumstances be allowed to dissolve,
or their foundations be in any way endangered. The mighty and steady
process involving the increase in the number of the avowed supporters of
the Faith, and the multiplication of isolated centers, groups and local
assemblies must, throughout this newly opened phase of the Plan, be
markedly accelerated. The incorporation of local assemblies must proceed
with a rapidity that will throw into shade the progress achieved in this
respect during the first two phases of the Plan. The remaining unopened
territories of the globe outside the Soviet orbit, now confined to no more
than four lonely islands, must with the least possible delay, be won over
to the ever spreading dominion of Baha'u'llah, consummating thereby the
most far-reaching and thrilling of all the enterprises launched through
the concerted efforts of His valiant followers. The one remaining Temple
site destined to be bought in the Swedish capital must be speedily
acquired. The six remaining Haziratu'l-Quds, some in Latin America, others
in the European continent, must likewise be rapidly established. The
Baha'i endowments in the countries still deprived of the benefits of this
divinely appointed institution must be forthwith purchased. The task of
completing the translation of Baha'i literature into the languages listed
in the provisions of the Plan must be carried out with renewed
determination and vigor. The Baha'i Publishing Trusts that are as yet
unestablished must be founded at the earliest possible opportunity. The
sacred obligation of purchasing the remaining chief historic sites in the
birthplace of the Faith, and particularly the scenes of the Bab's
incarceration and martyrdom, must be discharged as expeditiously as
possible. The search now being conducted for the purpose of identifying
the resting-places of the Father of Baha'u'llah, of the Mother and the
Cousin of the Bab must be pursued with the utmost diligence and
circumspection. The construction of the Mother Temple of Europe, so vital
and yet so long overdue, must be speedily commenced, whilst a parallel
effort must be exerted in Africa for the erection, without delay, of a
similar institution which the phenomenal progress of the Faith in that
continent has made imperative. The Construction of the Home for the Aged,
marking the inauguration of the first of the Dependencies of the Holiest
House of Worship in the Baha'i world, must, now that the site in the
proximity of the Temple has been acquired, be started and expeditiously
carried forward. The process of incorporating the newly formed National
Spiritual Assemblies, whether regional or independent, must be initiated
soon after their formation, and should be continually stimulated with
every increase in the number of these assemblies in all the continents of
the globe. Above all, an effort unprecedented in its range and intensity,
must be exerted for the speedy multiplication of local spiritual
assemblies in all the territories where National Spiritual Assemblies,
whether independent or regional, provisional or permanent, are to be
established, for the purpose of broadening and strengthening the
foundations on which these potent national institutions--the pillars of the
future Universal House of Justice--must rest. Immediate attention should be
focused on the multiplication of such institutions in areas where these
National Spiritual Assemblies are to be established in the near future,
such as South and Central America, the Arabian Peninsula, Southeast Asia,
Pakistan, Alaska, Japan, New Zealand, Scandinavia and Finland, the Benelux
countries, the Iberian Peninsula and France, as well as those territories
in which national assemblies are to be established at a later stage in the
course of the unfoldment of the present phase of the Plan, and the date of
the formation of which will, to a large extent, depend on the rapidity
with which these local assemblies are formed.