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 in all clusters where it has begun – to raise the number of clusters where a programme of growth has become intensive to 5,000 by Ridvan 2021. A “herculean labour” will be required, they said, and many sacrifices will have to be made.
“But faced with the plight of a world that suffers more each day bereft of Baha’u’llah’s elixir, we cannot, in conscience, ask anything less of His devoted followers. God willing, their exertions will prove worthy to crown a hundred years of toil…”
In the 29 December letter, the House of Justice underscored the importance of ensuring that the process of consultations being initiated with National Assemblies by the Counsellors, to assess the implications the global goal holds for their respective communities, is quickly extended until it reaches the grassroots.
The friends in the Ontario region were encouraged to attend special gatherings that were being organized to study the 29 December message. Approximately 7 gatherings have been held in the span of a few short weeks!
The enthusiastic response of the friends to the 29 December message is reflected in the stories in this report. The friends, who rejoiced in the company of one another, were eager to reflect on their actions “…in its light and draw insights therefrom…”
They also began to identify the conditions needed for a cluster to accelerate growth, and planned according to their own current conditions. “Foremost among these conditions is an institute process gaining in strength, given its centrality to fostering the movement of populations.”
Many wrote letters to Abdu’l–Baha, conveying their love and deepest appreciation for His Covenant, for the Tablets of the Divine Plan He bequeathed North America, offering to lay before Him, by the end of the new Plan, the fruits of their steadfast and diligent labours.
