403. Dedication of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands, Apia, Western Samoa

403

Dedication of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands,

Apia, Western Samoa

August 1984

To the friends gathered in Apia, Western Samoa on the occasion of the

Dedication of the Mother Temple of the Pacific Islands

Dearly loved Friends,

403.1 In these historic days we are witnessing a major triumph in the development of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Not only is the raising up of this House of Worship a further significant fulfillment of the Blessed Beauty's promise, it also presages a brilliant future in the Pacific for His Faith, whose quickening light is casting its rays on the peoples of this vast ocean. In his message to the Bahá’í world in April 1957 the beloved Guardian, referring to the Pacific, wrote, “... Bahá’í exploits bid fair to outshine the feats achieved in any other ocean, and indeed in every continent of the globe ...”

403.2 In reviewing the religious history of the Pacific during the Bahá’í Dispensation we recall that it was only a short time prior to the Declaration of the Báb that the Teachings of Christ spread throughout these islands; that the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh were first proclaimed there when the Hand of the Cause Agnes Alexander arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in December 1901; that at the beginning of the World Crusade in 1953 only a handful of islands had had any contact with the Faith; and that at Riḍván 1959 when the first regional National Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific was established in Suva there were in its area but twelve Local Spiritual Assemblies in nine island groups. Witness now what has happened in the quarter century since 1959.

403.2a ‒ The first reigning monarch in the world to embrace the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is the Head of

State of Western Samoa whose official residence is near the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.

403.3a ‒ There are now a total of thirteen National Spiritual Assemblies in the homelands of the

Polynesians, the Melanesians and the Micronesians.

The Caroline Islands

Fiji

The Hawaiian Islands

Kiribati

The Mariana Islands

The Marshall Islands

New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

The Solomon Islands

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

403.2c ‒ Two additional National Spiritual Assemblies are to be formed at Riḍván 1985: those of

The Cook Islands and the Western Caroline Islands.

403.2d ‒ Nearly five hundred Local Spiritual Assemblies are established.

403.2e ‒ Bahá’ís reside in nearly 2,000 localities.

403.2f ‒ There are more than 31,000 believers in the Pacific.

403.2g ‒ Bahá’ís constitute more than one percent of the total population in eight national

communities in the Pacific.

403.2h ‒ The seventh Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the world stands in all its glory on the mountainside at

Tiapapata. This spot has now become the spiritual heart of the Bahá’í communities

in the Pacific basin.

403.3 The new Temple of light is the outward expression of the illumination of hearts and minds by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, that process initiated in these islands at the turn of the century and now reaching a mighty crescendo. The effulgent light of His Teachings has aroused stirrings in the friends, impelling them to apply these heavenly principles in their personal lives and in the daily activities of their communities. Just as the spiritual illumination of the Bahá’ís is symbolized in the Temple, so the development of local community life in all its aspects, whether administrative or social, which flow from the fountainhead of faith in God's Revelation, will reach a fuller expression in the form of various dependencies around this edifice—dependencies which the Guardian described as “institutions of social service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant.”

403.4 The dedication of this noble edifice will undoubtedly mark the beginning of a new phase in the growth of the Faith in this hemisphere. The portents of success are many and varied. The friendliness and spiritual perceptiveness of the people of the Pacific, the freedom enjoyed by the friends in traveling and sharing their faith with others, the absence hitherto of organized and concerted opposition to the Faith, the relatively low level of infection by the forces of materialism so rapidly invading every part of the world, and the genuine simplicity of the mode of life of the peoples of these islands—all combine to make of the Pacific a region rich with promise for the further dramatic spread of the Faith and for the efflorescence of its community life.

403.5 Let the joyous spirit generated at this conference, reinforced by your common endeavors and crowned by your participation in the dedicatory ceremony, be the generating impulse for a mighty surge of teaching activity which will yield a vast increase in the number of followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the far-flung islands of the Pacific. As the Seven Year Plan hastens towards its conclusion, you have a priceless opportunity to take advantage of the favorable

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conditions in your region to win victories in the Plan which will astonish the world and will fulfill the great promises enshrined in our Writings. Our prayers ascend at the Holy Threshold for the success of your selfless endeavors in the path of His Cause.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice