# Naw-Ruz 1979: Baha'i Era 136

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Launching of the Seven Year Plan(see also Elucidation of Seven Year Plan Goals, below)
> 
> 
> To the Bahá'ís of the World
> 
> Dearly loved Friends,
> 
> The decline of religious and moral restraints has unleashed a fury of
> chaos and confusion that already bears the signs of universal anarchy.
> Engulfed in this maelstrom, the Bahá'í world community, pursuing with
> indefeasible unity and spiritual force its redemptive mission,
> inevitably suffers the disruption of economic, social and civil life
> which afflicts its fellowmen throughout the planet. It must also bear
> particular tribulations. The violent disturbances in Persia, coinciding
> with the gathering in of the bountiful harvest of the Five Year Plan,
> have brought new and cruel hardships to our long-suffering brethren in
> the Cradle of our Faith and confronted the Bahá'í world community with
> critical challenges to its life and work. As the Bahá'í world stood
> poised on the brink of victory, eagerly anticipating the next stage in
> the unfoldment of the Master's Divine Plan, Bahá'u'lláh's heroic
> compatriots, the custodians of the Holy Places of our Faith in the land
> of its birth, were yet again called upon to endure the passions of
> brutal mobs, the looting and burning of their homes, the destruction of
> their means of livelihood, and physical violence and threats of death to
> force them to recant their faith. They, like their immortal forebears,
> the Dawn-Breakers, are standing steadfast in face of this new
> persecution and the ever-present threat of organized extermination.
> 
> Remembering that during the Five Year Plan the Persian friends far
> surpassed any other national community in their outpouring of pioneers
> and funds, we, in all those parts of the world where we are still free
> to promote the Cause of God, have the responsibility to make good their
> temporary inability to serve. Therefore, with uplifted hearts and
> radiant faith, we must arise with redoubled energy to pursue our mighty
> task, confident that the Lord of Hosts will continue to reward our
> efforts with the same bountiful grace He vouchsafed to us in the Five
> Year Plan.
> Teaching Victories in the Five Year Plan
> 
> The teaching victories in that Plan have been truly prodigious; the
> points of light, those localities where the Promised One is recognized,
> have increased from sixty-nine thousand five hundred to over ninety-six
> thousand; the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies has grown from
> seventeen thousand to over twenty-five thousand; eighteen new National
> Spiritual Assemblies have been formed. The final report will disclose in
> all their manifold aspects the magnitude of the victories won.
> 
> In the world at large the Bahá'í community is now firmly established.
> The Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, the Chief Stewards of
> Bahá'u'lláh's embryonic World Commonwealth, is bearing a precious fruit
> in the development of the International Teaching Center as a mighty
> institution of the World Center of the Faith; an institution blessed by
> the membership of all the Hands of the Cause; an institution whose
> beneficent influence is diffused to all parts of the Bahá'í community
> through the Continental Boards of Counselors, the members of the
> Auxiliary Boards and their assistants.
> 
> Advised, stimulated and supported by this vital arm of the
> Administrative Order, 125 National Spiritual Assemblies are rapidly
> acquiring experience and growing in wisdom as they administer the
> complex affairs of their respective communities as organic parts of one
> worldwide fellowship. More and more Local Spiritual Assemblies are
> becoming strong focal centers of local Bahá'í communities and firm
> pillars of the National Spiritual Assembly in each land. Even in those
> countries where the Bahá'í Administration cannot operate or has had to
> be disbanded, countries to which have now been added Afghanistan, the
> Congo Republic, Niger, Uganda and Vietnam, the believers, while obedient
> to their governments, nevertheless staunchly keep alive the flame of
> faith.
> Spiritual Development of the Bahá'í Community
> 
> Beyond the expansion of the community, vital as it is, the Five Year
> Plan witnessed great progress in the spiritual development of the
> friends, the growing maturity and wisdom of Local and National
> Assemblies, and in the degree to which Bahá'í communities embody the
> distinguishing characteristics of Bahá'í life and attract, by their
> unity, their steadfastness, their radiance and good reputation, the
> interest and eventual wholehearted support of their fellow citizens.
> This is the magnet which will attract the masses to the Cause of God,
> and the leaven that will transform human society.
> Obstacles and Opportunities
> 
> The conditions of the world present the followers of Bahá'u'lláh with
> both obstacles and opportunities. In an increasing number of countries
> we are witnessing the fulfillment of the warnings that the writings of
> our Faith contain. "Peoples, nations, adherents of divers faiths," the
> beloved Guardian wrote, "will jointly and successively arise to shatter
> its unity, to sap its force, and to degrade its holy name. They will
> assail not only the spirit which it inculcates, but the administration
> which is the channel, the instrument, the embodiment of that spirit. For
> as the authority with which Bahá'u'lláh has invested the future Bahá'í
> Commonwealth becomes more and more apparent, the fiercer shall be the
> challenge which from every quarter will be thrown at the verities it
> enshrines." In different countries, in varying degrees, the followers of
> Bahá'u'lláh at this very hour are undergoing such attacks, and are
> facing imprisonment and even martyrdom rather than deny the Truth for
> whose sake the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh drained the cup of sacrifice.
> 
> In other lands, such as those in Western Europe, the faithful believers
> have to struggle to convey the message in the face of widespread
> indifference, materialistic self-satisfaction, cynicism and moral
> degradation. These friends, however, still have freedom to teach the
> Faith in their homelands, and in spite of the discouraging meagerness of
> outward results they continue to proclaim the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to
> their fellow-citizens, to raise high the reputation of the Cause in the
> public eye, to acquaint leaders of thought and those in authority with
> its true tenets, and to spare no effort to seek out those receptive
> souls in every town and village who will respond to the divine summons
> and devote their lives to its service.
> 
> In many lands, however, there is an eager receptivity for the teachings
> of the Faith. The challenge for the Bahá'ís is to provide these
> thousands of seeking souls, as swiftly as possible, with the spiritual
> food that they crave, to enlist them under the banner of Bahá'u'lláh, to
> nurture them in the way of life He has revealed, and to guide them to
> elect Local Spiritual Assemblies which, as they begin to function
> strongly, will unite the friends in firmly consolidated Bahá'í
> communities and become beacons of guidance and havens of refuge to
> mankind.
> 
> Faced by such a combination of danger and opportunity, the Bahá'ís,
> confident in the ultimate triumph of God's purpose for mankind, raise
> their eyes to the goals of a new Seven Year Plan.
> World Center Goals
> 
> In the Holy Land the strengthening of the World Center and the
> augmentation of its worldwide influence must continue:
>  The Seat of the Universal House of Justice will be completed and
> designs will be adopted for the remaining three buildings of the World
> Administrative Center of the Faith.
> 
>  The Institution of the International Teaching Center will be developed
> and its functions expanded. This will require an increase in its
> membership and the assumption by it and by the Continental Boards of
> Counselors of wider functions in the stimulation on an international
> scale of the propagation and consolidation of the Faith, and in the
> promotion of the spiritual, intellectual and community aspects of Bahá'í
> life.
> 
>  The House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha in 'Akka will be opened to pilgrimage.
> 
>  Work will be continued on the collation and classification of the
> Sacred Texts and a series of compilations gleaned and translated from
> the writings of the Faith will be sent out to the Bahá'í world to help
> in deepening the friends in their understanding of the fundamentals of
> the Faith, enriching their spiritual lives, and reinforcing their
> efforts to teach the Cause.
> 
>  The ties binding the Bahá'í International Community to the United
> Nations will be further developed.
> 
>  Continued efforts will be made to protect the Faith from opposition
> and to emancipate it from the fetters of persecution.
> 
> International Goals
> 
> Each National Spiritual Assembly has been given goals for these first
> two years of the Plan, designed to continue the process of expansion, to
> consolidate the victories won, and to attain, where circumstances
> permit, any goals that may have had to remain unaccomplished at the end
> of the Five Year Plan. During these first two years we shall be
> examining, with the Continental Boards of Counselors and National
> Spiritual Assemblies, the conditions and possibilities in each country,
> and shall be considering in detail the capacities and needs of each of
> the rapidly differentiating national Bahá'í communities before
> formulating the further goals towards which each community is to work
> following the opening phase of the Plan. Throughout the world the Seven
> Year Plan must witness the attainment of the following objectives:
> 
>  The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of Samoa is to be completed and progress will be
> made in the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in India.
> 
>  Nineteen new National Spiritual Assemblies are to be brought into
> being: eight in Africa, those of Angola, Bophuthatswana, the Cape Verde
> Islands, Gabon, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia and Transkei; eight in the
> Americas, those of Bermuda, Dominica, French Guiana, Grenada, the
> Leeward Islands, Martinique, St. Lucia and St. Vincent; and three in the
> Pacific, those of the Cook Islands, Tuvalu and the West Caroline
> Islands. Those National Spiritual Assemblies which have had to be
> dissolved will, circumstances permitting, be reestablished.
> 
>  The Message of Bahá'u'lláh must be taken to territories and islands
> which are as yet unopened to His Faith.
> 
>  The teaching work, both that organized by institutions of the Faith
> and that which is the fruit of individual initiative, must be actively
> carried forward so that there will be growing numbers of believers,
> leading more countries to the stage of entry by troops and ultimately to
> mass conversion. This teaching work must include prompt, thorough and
> continuing consolidation so that all victories will be safeguarded, the
> number of Local Spiritual Assemblies will be increased and the
> foundations of the Cause reinforced.
> 
>  The interchange of pioneers and traveling teachers, which contributes
> so importantly to the unity of the Bahá'í world and to a true
> understanding of the oneness of mankind, must continue, especially
> between neighboring lands. At the same time, each national Bahá'í
> community must aspire to a rapid achievement of self-sufficiency in
> carrying out its vital activities, thus acquiring the capacity to
> continue to function and grow even if outside help is cut off.
> 
>  Especially in finance is the attainment of independence by national
> Bahá'í communities urgent. Already the persecutions in Iran have
> deprived the believers in that country of the bounty of contributing to
> the international funds of the Faith, of which they have been a major
> source. Economic disruption in other countries threatens further
> diminution of financial resources. We therefore appeal to the friends
> everywhere to exercise the utmost economy in the use of funds and to
> make those sacrifices in their personal lives which will enable them to
> contribute their share, according to their means, to the local,
> national, continental and international funds of the Faith.
> 
>  For the prompt achievement of all the goals and the healthy growth of
> Bahá'í community life National Spiritual Assemblies must pay particular
> attention to the efficient functioning, in the true spirit of the Faith,
> of their national committees and other auxiliary institutions, and, in
> consultation with the Continental Boards of Counselors, must conceive
> and implement programs that will guide and reinforce the efforts of the
> friends in the path of service.
> 
>  National Spiritual Assemblies must promote wise and dignified
> approaches to people prominent in all areas of human endeavor,
> acquainting them with the nature of the Bahá'í community and the basic
> tenets of the Faith, and winning their esteem and friendship.
> 
>  At the heart of all activities, the spiritual, intellectual and
> community life of the believers must be developed and fostered,
> requiring: the prosecution with increased vigor of the development of
> Local Spiritual Assemblies so that they may exercise their beneficial
> influence and guidance on the life of Bahá'í communities; the nurturing
> of a deeper understanding of Bahá'í family life; the Bahá'í education of
> children, including the holding of regular Bahá'í classes and, where
> necessary, the establishment of tutorial schools for the provision of
> elementary education; the encouragement of Bahá'í youth in study and
> service; and the encouragement of Bahá'í women to exercise to the full
> their privileges and responsibilities in the work of the community--may
> they befittingly bear witness to the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf,
> the immortal heroine of the Bahá'í Dispensation, as we approach the
> fiftieth anniversary of her passing.
> A Time of Testing: A Time for Clinging to the Covenant
> 
> As lawlessness spreads in the world, as governments rise and fall, as
> rival groups and feuding peoples struggle, each for its own advantage,
> the plight of the oppressed and the deprived wrings the heart of every
> true Bahá'í, tempting him to cry out in protest or to arise in wrath at
> the perpetrators of injustice. For this is a time of testing which calls
> to mind Bahá'u'lláh's words, "O concourse of the heedless! I swear by
> God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have
> surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: 'Taste ye what
> your hands have wrought!'"
> 
> Now is the time when every follower of Bahá'u'lláh must cling fast to
> the Covenant of God, resist every temptation to become embroiled in the
> conflicts of the world, and remember that he is the holder of a precious
> trust, the Message of God which, alone, can banish injustice from the
> world and cure the ills afflicting the body and spirit of man. We are
> the bearers of the Word of God in this day and, however dark the
> immediate horizons, we must go forward rejoicing in the knowledge that
> the work we are privileged to perform is God's work and will bring to
> birth a world whose splendor will outshine our brightest visions and
> surpass our highest hopes.
> 
> THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
> Elucidation of Seven Year Plan Goals
> 
> Naw-Ruz 1979
> 
> To National Spiritual Assemblies
> 
> Beloved Friends,
> 
> In the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of the
> world and in its letters to individual communities setting the goals of
> the first phase of the Seven Year Plan are a number of references which
> it wishes to amplify for your guidance. Not all will apply to every
> national Bahá'í community, but you will all undoubtedly find interest in
> reading even those which do not immediately apply to your specific
> situation. The points we have been asked to set forth are as follows.
> Local Spiritual Assemblies
> 
> In August 1970 the House of Justice sent to all National Spiritual
> Assemblies a compilation of the words of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and
> Shoghi Effendi on the Local Spiritual Assembly. To supplement this
> fundamental and most important guidance we now enclose a compilation of
> extracts from the letters of the Universal House of Justice written
> between 1966 and 1975, covering the importance of Local Spiritual
> Assemblies, their development, the supporting role of the Auxiliary
> Board members and their assistants, and suggested goals for Local
> Assemblies.
> 
> In selecting goal towns for the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies
> a National Assembly should ensure that there will be a wide distribution
> of Local Assemblies throughout the country.
> 
> National Assemblies should consider calling upon every Local Assembly to
> meet at least once every Bahá'í month, and to appoint a local teaching
> committee wherever it is desirable to do so and has not already been
> done.
> Pioneers and Traveling Teachers
> 
> The need for the services of pioneers and traveling teachers remains
> very great. In the goals for the initial two-year phase of the Plan few
> specific assignments for the sending of pioneers and traveling teachers
> have been made. In recent years a steady stream has begun to flow, and
> the Universal House of Justice calls upon the followers of Bahá'u'lláh
> in the stronger national communities to arise to join this stream.
> Enclosed are two lists showing those countries which are particularly in
> need of pioneers and traveling teachers at the present time. You should
> publish these as soon as possible. They are also being supplied to the
> Continental Pioneer Committees, and those friends who arise will be able
> to decide upon their area of service in consultation with their National
> Assembly and the appropriate committees. The international funds of the
> Faith are now very limited, and this adds to the need for pioneers and
> traveling teachers to be self-supporting.
> Youth Teaching
> 
> Experience has shown that youth can render valuable service in many
> activities of the community, and particularly in taking the message to
> the members of their own generation. Those in schools and universities
> have many opportunities to teach their fellow students and faculty
> members, and many can be particularly effective by attending a school or
> university in a pioneer goal. During vacations youth can often render
> outstanding services as traveling teachers. Traveling in teams has been
> very useful.
> Border Teaching
> 
> It is very important that there be collaborative teaching between
> national Bahá'í communities in border areas, both by travel teaching
> across the border and in the organization of joint teaching campaigns on
> both sides of it. Each National Spiritual Assembly should study this
> possibility and, if it finds such projects profitable, should seek the
> collaboration of its sister National Assemblies and request the advice
> and assistance of the Continental Board of Counselors.
> Teaching Conferences
> 
> These conferences, whether national or regional, in addition to
> providing good opportunities for fanning the enthusiasm of the friends
> and fostering their unity, have been effectively used by many National
> Assemblies as working conferences where reports are given of the status
> of the goals of the Plan and of the urgent needs and priorities; and,
> where necessary, calls are raised for pioneers, traveling teachers and
> funds.
> Summer and Winter Schools
> 
> The Guardian once described the institution of the Summer School in a
> letter written on his behalf, as "a vital and inseparable part of any
> teaching campaign." In April 1972 the House of justice issued a
> compilation on the importance of Bahá'í Summer Schools, and it commends
> this to every National Spiritual Assembly for study. In only a few
> countries has it been possible or timely to acquire properties to house
> Summer and Winter Schools; in most they are still held in rented
> premises, and the House of Justice stresses the importance of holding
> them at as low a cost as possible in a place that is easily accessible
> to the friends, so that large numbers of believers and inquirers can
> attend. It is hoped that this activity will become at least an annual
> feature of the Bahá'í community life in every land.
> The Bahá'í Education of Children
> 
> It is important to hold regular Bahá'í children's classes to give the
> children a thorough grounding in knowledge of the teachings and history
> of the Faith, to imbue them with its spirit, to establish loving ties
> between them and to provide them with that firm foundation in the Faith
> which will enable them to grow up as staunch and enlightened servants of
> Bahá'u'lláh. Non-Bahá'í parents will often welcome the opportunity of
> having their children take part in such classes, and this, in addition
> to the benefit it confers upon the children, may well be a means of
> attracting their parents to the Faith.
> Tutorial Schools
> 
> This is a term, originally adopted in the Bahá'í community of India, to
> describe the simple type of school, organized and conducted under the
> auspices of the Bahá'í administrative institutions, wherein one teacher
> is employed to conduct classes in reading and writing and elementary
> subjects for the Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í children in a village. In
> addition to the academic subjects he also conducts Bahá'í classes for
> the children and, in his spare time, makes a valuable contribution to
> the teaching and consolidation work in his own and neighboring Bahá'í
> communities. The school may be held in the open air, in one of the
> houses of the Bahá'ís, in the local Haziratu'l-Quds, or in a simple
> building constructed for the purpose, as conditions allow.
> 
> The teacher's salary as well as the other costs of the school are
> provided out of fees paid by the parents, supplemented, if necessary and
> possible, by allocations from the local or national funds.
> 
> In the Tablet of the World Bahá'u'lláh states that "Everyone, whether
> man or woman, should hand over to a trusted person a portion of what he
> or she earneth through trade, agriculture or other occupation, for the
> training and education of children, to be spent for this purpose with
> the knowledge of the Trustees of the House of Justice." In many
> countries this duty is fulfilled through the taxes that the government
> levies for the support of the state educational system, but there are
> other lands where no such facilities are provided and the Local
> Spiritual Assemblies may well begin to fulfill this aspect of their
> duties by encouraging the local friends to contribute to a special
> education fund which can be used for the support of tutorial schools or
> to assist the children of indigent believers to obtain schooling.
> Publications
> 
> Every National Spiritual Assembly should have a well conceived plan for
> the provision and dissemination of a balanced supply of Bahá'í
> literature for the believers and for the teaching work. In translation
> and publication, priority should be given to the Sacred Texts and the
> writings of Shoghi Effendi, for without access to the life-giving waters
> of the Holy Word, how are the believers to deepen in their understanding
> of the Teachings and convey them accurately to others?
> Recordings
> 
> In addition to the publication of Texts and teaching materials for the
> friends, it would be helpful in areas where the degree of literacy is
> not high, to find ways to teach the friends Bahá'í songs, poems, stories
> and brief quotations from the Writings as well as prayers. This can be
> done through the use of cassette tapes or radio broadcasts.
> 
> The goal given to certain national communities to make recordings of the
> Holy Texts is not intended to imply the large-scale production of
> cassette tapes but rather the development of locally based programs for
> the recording on cassette tapes of passages in the indigenous languages.
> Such tapes can then be carried by traveling teachers to outlying areas,
> used in the teaching work, or left behind if there are tape-recorders
> locally available.
> Communications
> 
> Keeping the friends informed of the news of the Faith is so important
> that every National Assembly is urged to devote attention to the prompt
> and regular dissemination of its national newsletter, supplemented,
> where necessary and feasible, by regional and local news organs. Some
> National Assemblies have also found that cassette recordings can be
> useful for communicating with friends in outlying areas, and radio
> programs can, of course, fulfill a similar purpose.
> Correspondence Courses
> 
> Such courses have proved their usefulness both for teaching the Faith
> and deepening the knowledge of the believers, and their production has
> been given as a goal to some national communities. If any National
> Assembly assigned this goal is not certain how to proceed, it may
> consult with the Continental Board of Counselors or write to the
> Universal House of Justice which will put it in touch with those
> National Assemblies most likely to be able to help.
> Properties
> 
> Many properties have already been acquired in the course of previous
> plans. It is important that these properties be properly maintained in
> good repair. National Spiritual Assemblies should set aside sums
> annually in their budgets for the maintenance of national properties so
> that when a repair becomes necessary the funds will be available without
> creating a sudden crisis for the national fund. As far as possible,
> local Haziratu'l-Quds and other local properties should be kept up by
> the local friends themselves.
> 
> It is also important to make full use of the properties of the Faith for
> the purposes for which they were acquired. Well maintained and regularly
> used properties will not only be a means of fostering Bahá'í community
> life, but will add to the prestige and dignity of the Faith in the eyes
> of the non-Bahá'í public.
> 
> A number of properties called for in the Five Year Plan, such as
> district and local Haziratu'l-Quds and local endowments, have not yet
> been acquired, usually as a result of local circumstances beyond the
> control of the friends. These goals should continue to be diligently
> pursued so that they will be attained as soon as conditions permit. If
> there are insuperable difficulties which make such a property
> unobtainable in the foreseeable future, a full report should be sent to
> the Universal House of Justice.
> 
> For goals requiring the acquisition of additional local Haziratu'l-Quds
> during the initial phase of the Seven Year Plan, no budget has been
> provided for assistance from the International Fund.
> 
> The Universal House of Justice is eagerly anticipating an upsurge of
> activity in the years ahead, and assures you all of its fervent prayers
> in the Holy Shrines for the rapid progress of all aspects of the new
> Plan.
> 
> 
>         With loving Bahá'í greetings, 
>         The Universal House of Justice
>
> — *Naw-Ruz 1979: Baha'i Era 136 (Used by permission of the curator)*