The Baha’is say that their Ruhi courses, their children moral classes and their youth programme is for betterment of the society.Here are the reports taken from Baha’i News letter “Reflection” which clearly states that these programmes are to attract and bring the Non Baha’is especially the Hindus to their programme and then go for direct Teaching of the Baha’i Faith.
I.
Reflections on Growth––Number 15, February 2007
Bihar Sharif
In the Bihar Sharif cluster the full-time institute
coordinators and secretary of the Area Teaching Committee (called area
facilitator) work closely together and constantly travel throughout the cluster
visiting the friends. The roads are poor and they must walk or travel by
bicycle—often going 20 kilometers a day. Each community in the cluster is
visited at least once a week. The coordinators and facilitator share
information weekly and do not draw sharp lines between their prescribed duties.
So, for example, the area facilitator might visit the Ruhi Institute Book 1
study circles to encourage the participants to initiate regular devotional
gatherings, and the coordinators may communicate with the teaching teams to
ensure that new believers and seekers are introduced to the institute process.
This collaboration and constant tending to the needs of the cluster has
resulted in a steadily increasing number of friends completing the sequence of
courses as well as hundreds of new believers.
The agencies of Bihar Sharif have also developed a
systematic method for decentralizing and promoting the growth process within
the cluster. When an area has two or three Bahá’ís residing within it, the
cluster agencies assist the believers to plan a meeting to which they can
invite their friends, neighbors, relatives, and other interested acquaintances.
Believers from other areas of the cluster assist the resident friends with
carrying out the activity. This gathering serves as an introductory fireside
and usually results in the establishment of a new Bahá’í children’s class and
perhaps other core activities. Through this simple, planned approach the
process begins, and with time and loving support from the cluster agencies, seekers declare
and the area evolves into a strong, contributing segment of the cluster. So
far, this has been tried in seven areas and generated active Bahá’í groups in
four of them.
Delhi
Children’s classes and junior youth groups have proved to
be excellent portals in India for gaining new participants for study circles
because they provide an opportunity to reach out to new families. This is well
illustrated by the recent expansion phase of the intensive program of growth in
the capital city, New Delhi. In May 2006, after several cycles with only fair
results, the community decided to make a consistent, intense effort to carry
out children’s classes, junior youth classes, and study circles. It identified
six neighborhoods and then set about establishing classes for children and
junior youth, primarily with the children of non-Bahá’í families. The Bahá’ís
worked hard to make the classes regular and to follow the prescribed curricula.
This careful approach created a strong bond among the children’s class
teachers, the junior youth animators, and the tutors within each of the six
neighborhoods. Of course, an essential component of the classes was service. As the parents
witnessed the transformation in their children and were impressed by their acts
of service, they became more open to the Faith.
During the expansion phase of the seventh cycle (January
2007), large devotional gatherings were held in each of the six neighborhoods.
The children and junior youth chanted prayers, presented skits, and gave
speeches about what they had learned. The speeches of the junior youth in
particular moved the hearts of the parents and the others present. After the
children were given refreshments and excused, the adults at each gathering were
subdivided into small groups of five or six, and teachers positioned in each. THE TEACHERS BEGAN
TO TEACH THE FAITH DIRECTLY TO THEIR SMALL GROUP. ONE PARTICIPANT RELATED WHAT
HAPPENED.
This was unprecedented for the Delhi community. We had no experience in
doing this. However, we had made up our minds––and did it with many, many
prayers and all the courage and audacity that we could muster. The adults were
divided into small groups, and each group had a bahá’í
who directly taught them the faith with the help of the “teaching album.”
we found the album to be a very effective tool. it
prevented us from losing our focus and enabled us to present the faith in a
logical sequence and to quote from the writings of bahá’u’lláh.in our previous
cycles of activity we had large-scale devotional gatherings; however, they were
not followed by direct teaching in small groups. we had talks—and the approach
was rather “impersonal”—hence these events had resulted only in increasing our
community of interest. in this expansion phase, the direct teaching in small
groups allowed for a more personal and intimate atmosphere. the teacher sat
with five or six individuals and constantly had eye contact with them. the
seekers felt more comfortable in a small group to ask questions and were at
ease when they were asked whether they would like to enroll as bahá’ís.
AS A RESULT OF THIS DIRECT TEACHING APPROACH IN
NEIGHBORHOODS, DURING THE INTENSIVE TWOWEEK EXPANSION PHASE OF THE SEVENTH
CYCLE, 206 PEOPLE WERE ENROLLED IN THE FAITH IN DELHI.
During the four cycles of the previous year, this cluster
had a total of about 100 enrollments. Most of the new believers are parents of
the children and junior youth attending the Bahá’í classes, and they have now
swelled the numbers of those entering Book 1. Because close working
relationships had already developed among the teachers of the children’s
classes, the junior youth animators, and the tutors, establishing study circles
with the new believers in the six targeted neighborhoods is being accomplished
with relative ease.
The Task of Building an Ever-Expanding Pyramid of Human Resources. Communities are encountering challenges as they endeavor to continually expand the institute process, an element essential to sustaining gr owth. Various challenges need to be addr essed. For example, some communities have exhausted their pool of believers and so must turn mor e to attracting the wider community, yet ar e uncertain how to achieve this. Others have dif ficulty stimulating the participants to move fr om one course to the next. Finally , numerous communities find that a significant number of those who complete the full sequence of courses ar e nonetheless hesitant to tutor a study cir cle.
II. Reflections on Growth––Number 29, August
2012
India
We had a campaign for Book 5 in a village in the Cuddalore
cluster, Tamil Nadu, and nine junior youth groups were established as a result
of the campaign. Sunita was one of the new animators, and her group started a
week ago. Her father drinks alcohol regularly, and our coordinator observed
this often. One day when the junior youth were meeting outside Sunita’s house
and discussing the character Musonda and reading the second lesson in Breezes
of Confirmation, Sunita’s father (who did not drink that particular day and was
sober) heard the whole conversation among the junior youth. He came out of his
home and asked Sunita what she was doing. She told him about Musonda and
together they both studied the lesson. Sunita’s father was so impressed with
the lesson. He felt bad about his life, thinking how a small girl like Musonda
was thinking more deeply than himself. He promised his daughter that he would
stop drinking from that day forward and asked her to go through the lessons
with him. He also asked Sunita to say prayers for him. Sunita responded by
saying that rather than saying prayers only for her father, she felt they
should pray for the whole of humanity.
On hearing this, Sunita’s father expressed his happiness
on how the Ruhi courses had changed his daughter into a responsible person
caring about society. He also expressed his desire to take up the Ruhi courses.
Sunita, who was so excited, immediately called the coordinator and shared the
news with him.
III. Reflections on Growth––Number 28,
December 2011
Nashik
An Auxiliary Board member
reports on how the friends in an advanced cluster are assisting a neighboring
cluster in efforts to initiate a program of growth and pass the first milestone.
It was decided in our
reflection meeting in Nashik that a team would visit the Surgana cluster to assist the two
dedicated young men who had pioneered there about three months ago. We formed a
team of five—three men and two women—and headed to Surgana so that we could
help with home visits that evening.
We had a wonderful discussion
with the pioneers about the current activities, the vision presented in the 28
December message, and how to pursue it. I felt that these two souls had come a
long way over the past three months of pioneering in that they had attained
such clarity in their thinking. They also expressed love for their pioneering
post and for the people, and one pioneer said, “I would not mind my bones being
buried here.”
We made a plan for the home
visits and teaching and headed out to visit families in Surgana proper. All
together we made six home visits, and the families were all large, educated,
and very receptive to the Faith. I am sure that in the near future they will
play a great part in building this community. They love the pioneers, which
shows that the youth have been serving in the right way, and soon they will
surely join the endeavors of the Faith.
We then visited a village in
the cluster,Wadpara, where a Bahá’í family lives. In the village some youth had
participated in an institute campaign and completed Books 1 to 3.
They knew we were coming and
were eagerly waiting for us. Of the 14 participants in the campaign, two were junior
youth and the rest above 15. Since there was no electricity, we sat in the dim
light of kerosene lamps, but could clearly see the light of faith in their
eyes. One of the pioneers said it was time for
prayers. It was unbelievable how many
prayers, in six different languages, were chanted without a moment’s
hesitation, one after the other! It brought tears of joy to our eyes to see
these youths so joyful and reciting prayers, some long and difficult, with
reverence. It was an amazing experience and we
were reminded of what the House of Justice
has written about the potential existing in villages.
I then asked one of the
pioneers if he had thought of asking these young people to join the Faith and
become part of this great work we’re doing. He said that he hadn’t, so I asked
if he wanted to do it tonight because by coincidence I had many declaration
cards with me. After some discussion, 12 of the youths happily declared their
faith. All of them are going to join the next institute campaign to continue with
the sequence of courses.
This cluster has great
potential. I know that the feet of “many great teachers” have trodden in this
area, but I feel sure that the systematic growth that is happening now is
thanks to the sincere and systematic efforts of the homefront pioneers and also
the support from the friends from Nashik.
Initiating a Program of Growth in a Cluster Where a Few Bahá’ís Already Reside: In manyclusters identified for programs of growth, a few Bahá’ís may live there, but the activity has been limited and the institute process has not taken root. A number of stories from different parts of the world describe the enthusiastic response members of institutions receive when they visit such communities and share with the friends a vision of growth that can unfold in their clusters.
0 comments:
Post a Comment