On 29 October, an event was held at the Lake home to raise funds for the Edinburgh Centre. We invited Bahá’í friends from nearby communities and from the Republic and they came from Cookstown and Letterkenny. Iain Palin was asked to deliver an address for the occasion and he arrived, complete with kilt and sporran (och aye)! Several participants wore ‘something Scottish’ to accord with the theme for the night. Neighbour Drew Barbour was encouraged to add to the evening’s Scottishness by playing his bagpipes, which he began while walking past the house! A not inconsiderable sum was raised, much of it enhanced by the addition of ‘Gift Aid’ (but please note that just a little more is needed!).
A week later, four of the Omagh Bahá’ís travelled to the National Festival in Scarborough and—from 5-7 November—met with their four children living in the northern half of Britain, other friends from Northern Ireland and the (something-like) 1,400 Bahá’ís (mostly) from the mainland. From Northern Ireland, notable was the contribution of Fidelma Meehan—who started the Saturday morning programme—and four of the members of ‘Greine’, whose CD “One before you go” (recorded by John Giffin, in his Markethill studio), sold like hot cakes! The band played beautifully for the first devotional (it was organised by the Northern Ireland Bahá’ís) on the Saturday morning and was extremely well-received. At Omagh Integrated Primary School, on the day before the first ‘Eleven Plus Exam’, Vída Lake (who works at the School) organised a very much-appreciated, ‘Tranquillity Zone’ for the children who were taking it. To mark the Holy Day for the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh on 12 November, Declan Devine and son Oisín from Letterkenny were asked to come to present the Faith at the morning Assembly of the School. On the evening of that day, at the Lake house, there was a gathering, to which Bahá’ís and friends were invited. The programme included a devotional and readings by children and the showing of the video entitled The Prisoner of ‘Akká with a meal afterwards.
ML
Newtownards community recently hosted a fund-raising evening for the new Edinburgh Bahá'í Centre. Story telling was punctuated with food (including, of course Scotch broth) . Our story-teller for the evening was that well known Kenneth McKellar look-alike Keith Munro who entertained and inspired us with a rich fund of stories about the faith. We are very grateful to him for coming all the way from Derry and to our friends from Killinchy, Comber, North Down and Castlereagh , all of whom contributed greatly to the evening's success. A total of £400 was raised for the new centre.
YJ
On 26 November Dr Keith Munro presented the latest “Deepening in Derry” on the life and services of Hand of the Cause Leroy Ioas. As if the inspiring deepening, which made use of PowerPoint, and photos of the Hand of the Cause wasn’t enough we were also given the rare gift of being able to hear Mr Ioas give his own talk to us! Recorded in 1958, his talk, from Dr Munro’s archive allowed us to hear from the Guardian’s Hercules ourselves, transporting us right back to the earlier days of the faith, and the guardianship. For all it was a treat, first a powerful deepening and then to play host to one of the great figures in the history of the Faith.
“Strive for equality and justice, even in the face of great opposition”. This is the message the life story of Louis Gregory gave me. Derry played host to Edwina Agahi who presented this deepening on the life and death of this Hand of the Cause on 17 December. His was a life that faced inequality because of the colour of his skin. In a day when even some Bahá'ís failed to follow the teachings on racial equality he was an inspiration. All attendees left revitalised by his story and grateful to the time and work Edwina had put into the deepening.
CTP
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