Waves of Pioneers Preparing in Ontario
With the launch of the Nine Year Plan, Bahá’ís and their collaborators are expanding their vision of growth in a number of ways, including considering how to respond to the needs of their sister communities and responding to the call of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá’í Community. Periodic […]
Humbly Learning About Contributing to Discourses of Society
As groups of friends and families across Ontario are gathering to study the recent guidance of the Universal House of Justice, they are noting the broadening focus of the Nine Year Plan, encompassing three interconnected areas of endeavour: expansion and consolidation, social action and participating in the discourses of society. While “the endeavours of the […]
“If not now, when?” Kawartha Lakes Reaches the Second Milestone
A group of friends in the Kawartha Lakes cluster have made an incredible discovery: the untapped potential of a good cup of coffee. As we will see, this much-loved yet unlikely protagonist was the catalyst for what is now an expanding nucleus of friends consulting, reflecting, and acting together on a weekly basis. This January, […]
Preparing for the Nine-Year-Plan: Turning to New Guidance Across Ontario
Families, teams of friends, entire communities and those serving on institutions turn with eagerness to new guidance for the Nine-Year-Plan.
“This is Our Community”: Nipissing-Timiskaming Reaches a New Milestone
The friends in Nipissing-Tamiskaming not only increased the number of core activities but are rooting certain processes in the community.
Sharing Prayers and Having Hope in Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk
A vibrant group of souls in the Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk cluster have been sharing prayers and developing an outward looking orientation. This large cluster touches Lake Erie to the south and is connected to both Welland and Hamilton and includes Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. There are three Assemblies […]
Thousands of Friends Across Ontario Commemorate the Centenary of ʻAbdu’l-Bahá’s Passing
Over the last month, thousands of friends have honoured the beloved Master in this, the Centenary year of His Ascension. The Universal House of Justice has described this time as “a year for profound reflection on the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the strength of the Covenant of which He was the Centre…”[1] In the efflorescence […]
Building Strength in Cobourg & Lindsay
With less than two cycles remaining of the current One Year Plan, dynamic intergenerational teams are surging forward in two Ontario clusters determined to establish an intensive program of growth before Riḍván 2022. They are aware of the remainder of this period of special potency and an extension on the time needed to establish as […]
Strong Nucleus, Strong Activities, Strong Friendships
In the wide-spread cluster of Lennox, Addington and South Hastings, a group of friends is discovering just how much a nucleus of friends who are working and consulting together and arranging activities contributes to the growth and well-being of their cluster. Since they started meeting in September, the group has been committed to meeting every […]
The Stony Path to the Second Milestone in Sault Ste. Marie
Written by Chandyn Bachiu Louisa van Lith has lived in Sault Ste. Marie (Soo) for almost her whole life. In the spring of 2019, through reading the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, she realized that herculean effort was needed in order to help those in the Soo begin to establish the activities that […]
An Assembly in a Learning Mode Spurs Growth at the Grassroots in Hamilton
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Hamilton has been consciously working towards building bonds of love and fellowship in the community and supporting initiatives at the grassroots. In the spirit of learning, the Local Spiritual Assembly reached out to the Toronto Assembly in response to an article published in Bahá’í Canada about advances in their community. […]
An Outpouring of Celebrations for the Twin Holy Days Across Ontario
Friends and neighbours gathered across Ontario to celebrate the Twin Holy birthdays of The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh on November 6th and 7th. The following accounts from six localities in both rural and urban contexts, are offered as inspiration for the plans being made towards the upcoming Centenary celebrations of the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. From Sophie […]
Ice Cream Aisles and Fishing Resorts: Home Visits On the Go
By the end of the first week of their home visit campaign, the Thunder Bay team had already had 40 home visits: “So we kept right on going.”
Ontario’s Virtual Baha’i Summer School: Fellowship, Music and Reflecting on the Life of the Master
Written by Emma Persaud From Friday, the 20th of August until Sunday the 22nd, people gathered in various groups across the province for a summer school. The focus was on making plans and laying the foundation for the Nine Year Plan to come. A special session was held on the first evening, with Dr. Firaydoun […]
A Tutor Reflects: Robot Competitions and Spiritual Perception in London
“Consort with all men, O people of Bahá, in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. If ye be aware of a certain truth, if ye possess a jewel, of which others are deprived, share it with them in a language of utmost kindliness and good-will. If it be accepted, if it fulfil its purpose, your […]
“She Elevates my Soul”: Friendship on Georgina Island
Mandana Sabet has been visiting Indigenous communities in Canada and Greenland since she arrived in Canada decades ago. Alongside Bahá’í friends in Newmarket and Georgina, in the York North Cluster, Mandana has been building relationships with families living on the Georgina Island reserve for some time. She recalls a friend calling her to say there […]
“We became a food hub”: The power of collaboration in Vaughan
Sunder Singh grew up in India. When she was 14, she met three fashionable Persian women in the marketplace. They were so kind and friendly that she invited them to her home. For the rest of her life, she remembered this encounter. “The gentleness about them stayed with me,” she says. She also remembered the […]
Zooming on Manitoulin Island: The Spirit Island
Written by JP Mayer and Pam Jackson How would you conduct a children’s class without children being present? Ask Ina Swain and Pam Jackson, two friends who live on an island in the Sudbury-Manitoulin cluster. When you live far from children and grandchildren but your heart aches to serve, you get creative. When one door […]
Touching the Hearts Through Service and Artmaking in Ruddington
The Ruddington Drive neighbourhood is comprised of seven apartment buildings with a population of about 3,200 people in the North West of Toronto. Newcomers from China, Iran, Hong Kong and South Korea make up close to 60% of the population and almost 30% of the population are young people. Since 2014, the expanding nucleus of […]
Seeking Untapped Potential: An Expanding Nucleus in North York
Sara Louie Daliran came to Canada from Iran 15 years ago. Early in her university education, she married her husband, Reza, who is from a Muslim family. Soon after they were married, the couple began studying the books of the Ruhi Institute, and two years later he enrolled in the Faith. Since that time, and […]
A Reflection on Pioneering: Delivering the Message
Be thou a summoner to love, and be thou kind to all the human race. Love thou the children of men and share in their sorrows. Be thou of those who foster peace. Offer thy friendship, be worthy of trust… Loose thy tongue and teach, and let thy face be bright with the fire of […]
Malika’s Magical Mask: Brampton Collaborators Publish a Children’s Book
In Springdale, a neighbourhood in Brampton, the community of friends serving and praying together has grown significantly and stirrings of social action have become apparent. The process of growth began in the Springdale neighbourhood of Brampton in 2011. In the years since then, numerous cohorts of young people have graduated from the junior youth program […]
Walking with Hope in Sudbury
Helen and JP Mayer have been having devotional gatherings at their home in Sudbury, Ontario for several years. After pioneering in China for seven years, they draw on their experience of communicating through body language: “It’s amazing what a smile can do. Everybody has the potential to be open-hearted if you approach them very attentively […]
Highlights from Bethany: Kitchen Transformation: From Grimy to Gleaming
Confirmations seem to fill the walls of the Bethany Baha’i Centre of Learning as dedicated volunteers work to bring the centre up to code. Emad Toukan, Property Manager at Bethany, invited Hamed Saberi to give input into the kitchen renovation at the centre. Not only is Hamed a professional kitchen designer and cabinet maker but […]
Highlights from Bethany: “See Saw Margory Daw:” Who Can Learn to use a Chainsaw?
While Aida Ghodrati never expected to become a proficient chainsaw operator it fits well with one of her life’s goals: breaking down gender stereotypes one by one. Just because men usually operate chainsaws doesn’t mean a woman can’t learn how to use one, she decided. Ghodrati is a mechanical designer who spent half her life […]
“How could we offer something without leaving our homes?” Dawn Prayers in Stratford
The Oxford-Perth cluster first advanced beyond a couple dozen activities just last year, through holding more frequent institute campaigns every cycle. These regular institute campaigns strengthened a dynamic youth movement and opened pockets in the cluster to children’s classes and junior youth groups, and soon the cluster could see a path towards the vision of […]
The Power of Intergenerational Friendships in Stratford
In the Oxford-Perth cluster, the friends have seen dramatic growth with respect to devotional gatherings over the past few cycles. The spirit of intergenerational accompaniment and friendship is strong in the cluster and is solidified through both a pattern of collective worship, as well as an outward-looking orientation. The passing of Mary Helen Hazen, a […]
“We’re all really like family”: Distinctive Conversations in Cornwall
Accounts from a number of clusters illustrate the way that all activity begins with a “simple strand of love,”[1] and one of the ways in which this love is felt through elevated and distinctive conversations. This thread of love weaves a “pattern of patient and concentrated effort, cycle after cycle, to introduce children, youth, and adults […]
Online seasonal school to be held this summer
Two of Ontario’s seasonal schools are joining forces to host an online school this year due to the ongoing circumstances with COVID-19. Kawaa’aataae and Shining Lamp Bahá’i Schools have released the registration form for a three-day school to be held from 31 July to 2 August. The program has sessions for all ages to take […]
New Ruhi Book 10 unit focuses on accompanying one another to serve
ONTARIO – The first unit of Ruhi book 10 has arrived, and study of it is already underway. On the first weekend of June over 40 participants that included the Bahá’í Council, Institute Board, Auxiliary Board members, and regional teams gathered in Toronto for the first Ontario study of Unit one Ruhi Book 10, entitled Accompanying […]
McQuesten’s first neighbourhood Ridvan celebration is a success
By Mona Rahimpour HAMILTON: The McQuesten neighbourhood in Hamilton recently had its first Ridván gathering. Invitations were printed, and over a two week period the team made visits to invite the families of children, junior youth and youth who had been involved with the institute programs. While the group was unsure what kind of response […]
Five ways to find Bahá’í Books in Ontario
ONTARIO – From the Holy Writings to the texts of the Ruhi Institute, from uplifting stories of Abdu’l-Bahá to the biographies of the Hands of the Cause – there is always a need for Bahá’í literature to reach the grassroots. The energy, the vigilance, the stleadfastness displayed by these heralds of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and […]
Ontario starts reaching for 5,000 goal
ONTARIO – Much anticipation surrounded the arrival of the 29 December 2015 letter from the Universal House of Justice, addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors. In it, the House of Justice describes how learning has crystallized from the accumulating experience of the Baha’i world, and calls for growth to be accelerated […]