– 46 –

– 46 –

Learning to Reach Receptive Populations

In its message dated 17 January 2003, the Universal House of Justice noted the effectiveness of the pattern of growth established through the multiplication of core activities among Bahá’ís and their families and friends. It then went on to remark that

In many parts of the world, bringing large numbers into the ranks of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers has traditionally not been a formidable task. It is therefore encouraging to see that, in some of the more developed clusters, carefully designed projects are being added to the existing pattern of growth to reach receptive populations and lift the rate of expansion to a higher level. Such projects accelerate the tempo of teaching, already on the rise through the efforts of individuals.^[1]

In this connection, it was explained to one National Spiritual Assembly that “in general, focusing on receptive populations is one of the strategies of the Five Year Plan for accelerating growth.”^[2] On a number of occasions the House of Justice has underscored the importance of focusing efforts on receptive populations and systematically sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s message with them through appropriate methods and approaches. The framework of the Five Year Plan, however, offered National Assemblies a new way of addressing the question. In a letter dated 20 March 2002, the National Assembly of Austria was advised to select a cluster with a receptive minority population for special attention:

An important challenge now before you is to ensure that one or two clusters in Austria reach the level at which intensive growth programs can be established. This will involve, foremost, helping the institute in your country develop to a more advanced stage, endowed with the capacity to accompany a significant percentage of individuals up to the point in its sequence of courses where they can be trained to act as tutors and multiply the number of study circles in the clusters selected. Given the receptivity displayed in the past by some of the minority groups in Austria, for example the Turkish, you would clearly do well to choose at least one cluster with a large representation of such a population.^[3]

Every cluster, of course, has different demographic cross sections and will often have distinct social and ethnic groups. It is envisioned that, once the institute process in a cluster is well founded, activities will “move to the stage of reaching special populations.”^[4] The House of Justice, for instance, in a letter dated 5 August 2004 written on its behalf to the National Assembly of Canada, expressed the hope that the intensive program of growth launched in Vancouver would take advantage of the receptivity displayed among the Chinese-speaking population:

Your Assembly has no doubt already begun to give thought to how best to capitalize on the success. The House of Justice hopes that this development can be energetically exploited in pursuit of the teaching objectives of the Five Year Plan. Where clusters have advanced to such a degree that they are ready to take up the challenge of intensive growth, nothing is more promising than to encounter a significant opening among a minority population like the Chinese-speaking Canadians. Seizing such opportunities requires a major shift from the gradualist approach that meets the needs of clusters at earlier stages of progress.

The House of Justice is confident that, with your encouragement, the Regional Council will be able to devise an intensive program of activities focusing on the specific needs of Vancouver’s Chinese population. Apart from taking advantage of Ms. …’s very welcome willingness to lend assistance, it may also be wise for the Council to contact the Bahá’í Committee for China with respect to other human resources, teaching materials and practical suggestions.^[5]

As the above passage suggests, the success of efforts to bring receptive populations into the Faith depends, to some degree, on the ability of teachers who can present the message in a suitable manner. The role of the institute, then, is crucial in this respect. “A major object of the recent emphasis on establishing training institutes,” the House of Justice has advised, “is to increase the capacity of individuals to teach the Cause effectively.”^[6] An excerpt from the 9 January 2001 message of the House of Justice further explains the relationship between training and teaching:

With the work of institutes growing in strength, attention has now to be given everywhere to systematizing teaching efforts. In the document “The Institution of the Counsellors” just issued, we emphasize the role that the Auxiliary Board members and their assistants play in helping the friends to meet this challenge, both at the level of individual initiative and of collective volition. As individuals progress through institute courses, they deepen their knowledge of the Faith, gain insights, and acquire skills of service. Some of the courses devoted to teaching will no doubt treat the subject in general terms. Others will focus on various means of sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s message with specific segments of society, incorporating the wisdom gleaned from the teaching endeavors of the friends. This combined process of action, learning and training will endow communities with an ever-increasing number of capable and eager teachers of the Cause.^[7]

This passage indicates that, as experience is gained in reaching out to a population, the learning that is acquired can then be systematized in courses that are offered by the training institute. As more and more individuals take part in the courses and gain the knowledge, spiritual insights and skills needed to bring people from among the population into the Cause, teaching activities multiply, enrollments increase, and further learning occurs which can be incorporated into the courses. “Training and teaching, then, become two parallel processes that fuel each other,”^[8] explained the 1998 document “Training Institutes.” “Training courses raise the enthusiasm of the friends for teaching and help them acquire the necessary skills. Increased experience in the teaching field is reflected in the constantly improving content of training courses.”^[9]

Such courses, then, can be regarded as the chronicles of the evolving experience of the Bahá’í community in sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s message. They report what the community is doing and learning. They systematize both the knowledge being generated through collective action and the results of that systematization. As endeavors to reach different populations and social groups intensify through programs of growth in the coming years, it is imagined that significant effort will be dedicated to developing branch courses in this way. A letter dated 26 June 2002 written on behalf of the House of Justice underscores the need for such courses:

The 9 January 2001 message of the Universal House of Justice likened an institute’s main sequence of courses to the trunk of a tree, from which branch out other courses. One can already observe a degree of diversity emerging as branch courses begin to appear in some programs, designed to meet specific training needs. The elaboration of such courses will necessarily proceed in a gradual fashion since effective course content will depend on the amount of learning and experience acquired in the field of action.^[10]

Training, however, will not be sufficient to raise the tempo of teaching, as explained in the 9 January message:

Training alone, of course, does not necessarily lead to an upsurge in teaching activity. In every avenue of service, the friends need sustained encouragement. Our expectation is that the Auxiliary Board members, together with their assistants, will give special thought to how individual initiative can be cultivated, particularly as it relates to teaching. When training and encouragement are effective, a culture of growth is nourished in which the believers see their duty to teach as a natural consequence of having accepted Bahá’u’lláh. They “raise high the sacred torch of faith,” as was ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s wish, “labor ceaselessly, by day and by night,” and “consecrate every fleeting moment of their lives to the diffusion of the divine fragrance and the exaltation of God’s holy Word.” So enkindled do their hearts become with the fire of the love of God that whoever approaches them feels its warmth. They strive to be channels of the spirit, pure of heart, selfless and humble, possessing certitude and the courage that stems from reliance on God. In such a culture, teaching is the dominating passion of the lives of the believers. Fear of failure finds no place. Mutual support, commitment to learning, and appreciation of diversity of action are the prevailing norms.^[11]

Clearly, much work remains to be done in this regard. While a number of populations have been identified for special attention in recent years, the Bahá’í community is still at the initial stages of systematizing the knowledge it is acquiring in teaching the Faith among them. These populations include “the Sami and the other peoples of the arctic and sub-arctic areas as far north as Spitsbergen,” mentioned in the Riḍván 1996 message to the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Europe, as well as the inhabitants of “the islands of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the North Sea” and “the Romany peoples, who have begun to show such receptivity to the call of Bahá’u’lláh.”^[12] Arabic speakers in North America have been urged to focus on “attracting souls from amongst the Arab population” within their clusters,^[13] and the National Assembly of the United States has been advised that, among the Muslim population, Kurds and Afghans may be particularly receptive.^[14] In 2002 the National Assembly of Uganda was asked to assist in spreading “the spirit of the teachings among seeking and receptive souls” in Sudanese refugee camps in the northern part of the country.^[15] And Bahá’í youth have been encouraged to “seek out receptive souls” in “schools, at…universities, and in the workplace.”^[16] Along these lines, the Riḍván 1996 message to the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Latin America and the Caribbean drew attention to the fact that

… the climate of search prevailing among both the leaders and the masses in your countries, which has emerged following the ideological upheaval of recent years, is of special significance. Two sectors have been particularly and differently affected and are athirst for the life-giving waters of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation: on the one hand, the teachers in the national school systems and, on the other, university students and their professors. Historically, both have exerted widespread influence in your societies, and should you teach them systematically, you will certainly reap abundant fruits.^[17]

These are only a few of the populations that, it is imagined, will be the focus of the serious attention of the Bahá’í community in the years to come as it pursues the aim of advancing the process of entry by troops and strives to bring together “the diverse members of the human race in ever closer association.”^[18]