To the Bahá'ís of the World

Bahá'ís - The faithful followers of Bahá'u'lláh
World - "Know ye that by "the world" is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your maker ..." (GWB, p. 276)
- It also refers to the Bahaí world

Dearly loved Friends,

Friends - Traditional greeting of the beloved guardian to the Bahá'ís of the world

With great joy in our hearts and high expectations

Heart - "what can alone contain Me is the heart of him, that believeth in Me and is faithful to My Cause". -- (GWB p. 186)
Expectation - "We entreat God to graciously aid His servants. What this Wronged One doth expect from everyone is justice and fairness. Let no one be content with mere hearing; rather doth it behove everyone to ponder that which this Wronged One hath revealed."
- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 130

welcome to this Ridvan

Ridvan - " Arise, and proclaim unto the entire creation the tidings that He Who is the All-Merciful hath directed His steps towards the Ridvan and entered it".
(GWB,p.31)

season

21 April - 2 May each year
For more information read -
Gleanings, p. 27-35;
God Passes By, p. 153-5
King of Glory, p. 169

at a change of time, when a new state of mind is evident among us all. Abroad in our world community there is a heightened awareness of the value of

Value - To take account of; to heed; to regard as important or significant

process,

Process - Continued forward movement

the necessity of planning and the virtue of systematic action in fostering

Plan - Method or scheme of action
systematic - Method or orderly procedure; methodical in conduct, performance or habit
Action - Process of doing
Foster - To sustain and promote, cherish/cultivate/indulge

growth and in developing the human resources by which expansion can be

Growth - Stage or state in growing
Resource - Means of resort in exigency, expedient, stratagem
Human Resources - "The new Plan revolves around ...enhancing the vitality of the faith of individual believers, greatly developing the human resources of the Cause, ...". "Training of the friends and their striving, through serious individual study, to acquire knowledge of the Faith, to apply its principles and administer its affairs, are indispensable to developing the human resources necessary to the progress of the Cause".
Ridvan Message, 150B.E.

Expansion - Its past experience demonstrates that focused attention on expansion invariably brings good results. What is required at this stage of the community's development is an accelerating increase in the number of individual enrolments.
Ridvan Message, 153B.E

Sustained

Sustain - To maintain or cause to continue, to endure " ... Send down upon the, O Lord, the concourse of the angels in the heaven and earth and all that is between, to aid Thy servants, to succor and strengthen them, to enable them to achieve success, to sustain them, ....".
- The Bab, Bahá'í Prayers, p.161

"If you are to sustain rapid expansion and consolidation in the coming years, it is imperative that far greater numbers of dedicated and committed souls arise ...." .
- Ridvan Message, 153B.E

The will and determination needed to sustain large - scale expansion and consolidation can be created through a consistent and widespread institute programme aimed at exposing growing contingents of believers to the Creative Word, thus enhancing their spiritual capacities to diffuse the light of the Faith and to further the development of its institutions.
Ridvan Message, 153B.E

and consolidation assured

The coherence of understanding about common principle or relationship

Consolidation - To make solid, to unite
Assure - To secure, to confirm
Coherence - Connection or congruity arising from some

these prerequisites of progress cannot be

Prerequisite - Something required beforehand
Progress - To move or proceed from point to point

overvalued, nor can the importance of perpetuating them through well-ordered

Perpetuate - To give an enduring character or existence
Order - Methodical arrangement

training be overestimated. And so the arrival of our community at such a moment of consciousness is an occasion of

Overestimate - Beyond the conventional value
Consciousness - Awareness, that state of being which is characterized bythought

significance for us. We are deeply grateful to the Blessed Beauty to be able to recognize

Blessed Beauty - A title of Bahá'u'lláh
Able - Having sufficient power, to endure, to vouch for
Recognize - To acknowledge formally, to admit the fact

and acclaim it at the very beginning of the global enterprise being launched during

Acclaim - To claim, to call out loudly
Global - Pertaining to the earth in its entirety
Enterprise - A project which involves activity

these festive days.

Festive days - Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Bahá¡, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House, proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the splendors of His name, the All-Merciful. God is Our witness. Were We to reveal the hidden secrets of that Day, all they that dwell on earth and in the heavens would swoon away and die, except such as will be preserved by God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (GWB,p. 27-35)

The power of will generated by this consciousness characterized the conference

Will - Determination, motivation, strength of character
Consciousness - Awareness, that state of being which is characterized by thought
Characterize - To mark with distinctive features

of the Continental Counselors and the members

Continental Counselors - For more information read:
See Appendix: Counselors (Page 21)