The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahai Community Part 26

17 May 1938

Dear Mr. Hofman,

I am instructed to acknowledge the receipt of your communications addressed to our beloved Guardian dated December 24th, January 10th, February 13th and March 22nd together with the enclosed minutes of the meetings of the British N.S.A., as well as the copies of the "Baha'i Journal", all of which he has read with closest attention and keenest interest.

He has noted with gratification that the Teaching Conference held in Manchester during last December was successful, and that the meetings were all pervaded with a spirit of unity and of fellowship. He has read with deep satisfaction the report of the above Conference which you had sent, and indeed trusts that the decision and plans that have been adopted will, through their faithful application in the course of this year, serve to greatly accelerate the expansion of the teaching work throughout the British Isles....

P.S. Shoghi Effendi has just received your letter of May 16th and wishes your a.s.sembly to make strenuous efforts in connection with the incorporation of the N.S.A. He would advise you to approach Lady Blomfield, Major Tudor-Pole and Lord Lamington.

The Guardian wishes me to inform you that you have been appointed by him a member of the International staff of editors of the "Baha'i World". He wishes you to start from now collecting the necessary material for the next edition and to send them gradually and directly to Mrs. French.

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker,

I greatly welcome the determination of the English believers to concentrate their energies on the teaching work, and I pray from all my heart for the success of their high endeavours in this all-important field of Baha'i service. Individuals as well as local a.s.semblies must arise and co-operate and persevere and refuse to allow any obstacle, however formidable, to dim their hopes or to deflect them from the course they have so spontaneously chosen to pursue. Kindly a.s.sure them of my constant prayers for their success.

Shoghi

Letter of 30 June 1938

30 June 1938

Dear Baha'i Brother,

I am instructed by the Guardian to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated May 31st, enclosing two copies of the newly published booklet prepared by the British N.S.A. for teaching purposes, and also the latest issue of the "Baha'i Journal", and the report of the Convention proceedings for this year.

He has read with keenest interest and with deep gratification the Annual Report of your a.s.sembly and has been very much impressed indeed by its comprehensiveness, and by your ability in presenting the facts in such a lucid and effective language. He has sent the text to Mr. Holley for reproduction in the next "Baha'i World", as an appendix to the International Survey of activities.

Although the range of Baha'i activities throughout Great Britain during this past year has been considerably restricted as a result of the departure of many travelling and visiting Baha'i teachers, yet the fact that the friends were, in spite of that and other handicaps, able to maintain the course of their activities const.i.tutes a clear evidence that the English Baha'i Community is at last able to stand on its own feet, and has sufficient resources, both moral and material, to enable it to carry on, without any external help, the heavy task that has been committed to its charge.

The Guardian wishes you to a.s.sure your fellow members on the N.S.A. and through them the friends throughout Great Britain, of his fervent prayers that throughout the course of this new year they may evince such a unity, zeal and renewed consecration to their task as to further demonstrate the strength of their position as a self-supporting and ever-growing national Baha'i community....

[From the Guardian:]

Wishing you and your dear co-workers the utmost success in your high and meritorious endeavours,

Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi October 1938 (Third Summer School) a.s.sURE YOU PRAYERS HEARTILY RECIPROCATE GREETINGS.

SHOGHI

Letter of 24 October 1938

24 October 1938

Dear Baha'i Brother,

Your communications written on behalf of the British N.S.A. and dated June 23rd, July 8th and September 15th with their enclosures have all been duly received and their contents noted with interest and satisfaction by our beloved Guardian.

Regarding the papers you had enclosed in your last letter relating to the N.S.A.'s application for incorporation, he has read these with the closest attention, and has already communicated to you his approval by cable, and wishes me now to urge your a.s.sembly to proceed with this matter without delay and to make every effort to have the whole thing completed in the course of the next few months, preferably before the termination of your a.s.sembly's term of office next April....

The Guardian has read with considerable interest Mr. Balyuzi's booklet on "Baha'u'llah", and hopes that the two companion essays on the Bab and the Master on which he is working will be soon completed and ready for distribution, as he feels they can be of a valuable help to the friends in their teaching work.

With the renewed a.s.surances of his prayers for the confirmation of your services, and reciprocating your greetings....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear co-worker,

The energy, loyalty and resourcefulness with which your a.s.sembly is conducting and extending the manifold activities of the Faith in these days of stress and trial deserve the highest praise. Your achievements const.i.tute indeed a landmark in the history of the Faith in that land. I urge you, with all earnestness and with feelings of abounding grat.i.tude, to redouble your efforts and to persevere until your highest hopes and plans in both the spiritual and administrative spheres are realised and fulfilled. My prayers are always with you.

Shoghi

Letter of 27 November 1938

27 November 1938

Dear Baha'i Brother,

I am directed by our beloved Guardian to express his thanks for your letter of the 2nd inst. written on behalf of the N.S.A.

He has noted your a.s.sembly's request for his advice as to what forms of national service friends may volunteer for in times of emergency. While the believers, he feels, should exert every effort to obtain from the authorities a permit exempting them from active military service in a combatant capacity, it is their duty at the same time, as loyal and devoted citizens, to offer their services to their country in any field of national service which is not specifically aggressive or directly military. Such forms of national work as air raid precaution service, ambulance corps, and other humanitarian work or activity of a non-combatant nature, are the most suitable types of service the friends can render, and which they should gladly volunteer for, since in addition to the fact that they do not involve any violation of the spirit or principle of the Teachings, they const.i.tute a form of social and humanitarian service which the Cause holds sacred and emphatically enjoins.

The Guardian has noted with genuine satisfaction what you had written about your recent visit to ... and his earnest desire to become of increasing service to the Faith. We will certainly pray that he may fully avail himself of the manifold opportunities that now lie before him of spreading the knowledge of the Cause in hitherto closed and conservative circles, and of thus drawing to it the attention of thoughtful and responsible people throughout Britain.

With the renewed a.s.surances of his prayers for you and for your dear fellow members of the N.S.A....

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and trusted co-worker,

The marvellous zeal, unity, understanding and devotion exemplified by the English believers in recent months, individually as well as through their concentrated efforts, const.i.tute a landmark in the progressive development of the Faith in that land. They who have risen to the height of their present opportunities stand at the threshold of unprecedented achievements. They must labour continually, exercise the utmost vigilance, proclaim courageously, and cling tenaciously to the principles of their Faith, spiritual as well as administrative, and resolve to endure every sacrifice and hardship, however severe, for the vindication, the consolidation and recognition of the Faith they profess and are now so admirably serving.

With a heart filled with pride and grat.i.tude I pray continually for their triumph.

Shoghi