So marvelous a progress, embracing so vast a field, achieved in so short a
time, by so small a band of heroic souls, well deserves, at this juncture
in the evolution of a decade-long Crusade, to be signalized by, and indeed
necessitates, the announcement of yet another step in the progressive
unfoldment of one of the cardinal and pivotal institutions ordained by
Baha'u'llah, and confirmed in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
involving the designation of yet another contingent of the Hands of the
Cause of God, raising thereby to thrice nine the total number of the Chief
Stewards of Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Commonwealth, who have been
invested by the unerring Pen of the Center of His Covenant with the dual
function of guarding over the security, and of insuring the propagation,
of His Father's Faith.
The eight now elevated to this exalted rank are: Enoch Olinga, William
Sears, and John Robarts, in West and South Africa; Hasan Balyuzi and John
Ferraby in the British Isles; Collis Featherstone and Rahmatu'llah
Muhajir, in the Pacific area; and Abu'l-Qasim Faizi in the Arabian
Peninsula--a group chosen from four continents of the globe, and
representing the Afnan, as well as the black and white races and whose
members are derived from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Pagan backgrounds.
This latest addition to the band of the high-ranking officers of a fast
evolving World Administrative Order, involving a further expansion of the
august institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, calls for, in view of
the recent assumption by them of their sacred responsibility as protectors
of the Faith, the appointment by these same Hands, in each continent
separately, of an additional Auxiliary Board, equal in membership to the
existing one, and charged with the specific duty of watching over the
security of the Faith, thereby complementing the function of the original
Board, whose duty will henceforth be exclusively concerned with assisting
the prosecution of the Ten-Year Plan.
At these five Intercontinental Conferences the Hands of the Cause, whether
previously or recently appointed, particularly those associated with the
Conference being held in the continent they represent, as well as members
of their Auxiliary Boards, and representatives of the Regional and
National Spiritual Assemblies primarily concerned with the opening of the
virgin territories included in the continent to which they belong and of
the islands situated in the neighborhood of that continent, as well as all
believers, wherever their residence may be, are invited to be present.
To the Kampala Conference a representative of each of the United States,
the British, the Persian, the North-East African, the Indian and the Iraqi
National Spiritual Assemblies; to the Chicago Conference a representative
of each of the United States, the Canadian, and Latin American National
Spiritual Assemblies; to the Frankfurt Conference a representative of each
of the British, the German, the Italo-Swiss and the United States National
Spiritual Assemblies; and to the Djakarta Conference a representative of
each of the United States, the Canadian, the Persian, the Indian, the
Australian and the Iraqi National Spiritual Assemblies, should be sent in
the capacity of an official participant.
Any other members of these Assemblies, as well as any of the members of
the newly established National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies, are
welcome to be present at these five successive Conferences.