The new 20-page ‘activities’ booklet, compiled by the BCNI / TI Task Force as part of the Unlocking the Hearts’ campaign, has now arrived. This booklet, based on a design developed for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Republic of Ireland, is the ideal literature for handing to your friends. It is a ‘browsing’ type booklet, which portrays the activities available in the Bahá’í community in which our friends can participate. This handy-sized booklet is now available for purchase from NI Book Sales Manager Beman Khosravi at a low price of £0.50. For those that like a bargain, you can buy them at £0.42 for a quantity of 50, and as low as £0.35 if you buy 100 off.
As part of the Unlocking the Hearts Initiative the Training Institute for Northern Ireland decided to lend a helping hand to the Friends in Carrickfergus Community. Instead of holding their regular meeting as scheduled on Tuesday 12 April, they organised a Devotional Gathering in the Quality Hotel in Carrickfergus on the theme of ‘Unity of Mankind’. The programme featured music and writings on this theme from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Bahá’í Faith, Buddhism, Cicero, Freeman Dyson, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Junior. An audio-visual presentation ‘The Golden Rule’ was shown which focuses on the need for the renewal of religion and emphasises the essential oneness of all Faiths.
The gathering was attended by twenty four guests in total, nine of which were members of our Community of Interest. This was an excellent turn-out due in no small measure to the efforts of the Carrickfergus Friends. The atmosphere was great and the evening was enjoyed by all.
The following are guidelines provided by Edwin Graham, the child protection liaison member of the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland:
1. All tutors of institute courses where any of the participants are under 18 years of agemust have a completed PECS check: if they do not, they can only tutor study circles with exclusively adult participants.
2. A PECS check is mandatory for all tutors/teachers/junior youth animators in certain other circumstances. Examples include (a) courses where under 18s are in any way involved, eg as participants in service components of Books 3 and 5 (where under 18s are direct participants) or (b) courses where tutors are aged between 16 and 18 years, eg junior youth group animators working with junior youth groups.
3. Participants in Books 3 and 5 do not need a PECS check if they do not intend to take classes for children or young people under the age of 18. However, when undertaking the service components of these courses an individual with a PECS check, e.g. the tutor, must be present at all time in a supervisory capacity.
Hard at work at Daniel Agahi’s Study Circle
We are having growth in our Book 1s. Congratulations to Susie Agahi who has started another Ruhi Book 1 SC, to Orang Agahi who has started another Book 1, to Nason Maani who has started a Book 1. Well done to all those who have asked people to join these study circles.
Given that Daniel Agahi is also holding a Book 1 the Agahi home may need to be renamed to the ‘Study Circles Mansion’. Here’s hoping for lots more mansions along the lines of ‘Children’s Classes Mansion’, ‘Devotionals Mansion’ and ‘Firesides Mansion’.
Given the number of Book 1s and Book 2s we have recently had and the increasing number that are coming about, then naturally we will be getting a little more intensive as we go through the higher books in the sequence. So expect to see some Book 3s entering the frame.
Report by Area Coordinator: Mahan Hashemi-zadeh.
Book 2 intensive Study Circle held in Claudy facilitated by Earl Redman
INTRODUCTION to 'Walking the Straight Path' (for 13 yr olds) Stories have traditionally been a means for conveying moral concepts from one generation to the next. The Badí Foundation in Macau draws on this tradition by bringing together twenty stories from different cultures in ‘Walking the Straight Path’. Each story is relatively short and followedby a series of exercises designed to further comprehension, build vocabulary, and enhance moral reasoning. Short quotations for memorization are also provided.
Give the JUNIOR YOUTH the opportunity to change the future for all of us.
Junior Youth Coordinator, Afnan Hashemi-zadeh.
For further information, please contact your Area Coordinator, or visit the Training Institute for Northern Ireland's website
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