The Omagh Bahá’í Community had a visit from an old friend and Bahá’í ambassador, in the form of 95-years-old Mrs Margo Bates, now living in Adelaide, Australia. This year is the third time that Margo has visited Omagh and her fourth time in Ireland. She called in, with travelling companions Lana Errey and Helen Repanic after competing as a swimmer, in ‘The World Masters Championship’ games, which took place three weeks earlier in Edmonton, Canada. There she broke four world records, including knocking 45 seconds off the 100 metres freestyle: she left Canada with six gold medals, which increased her tally to 136!
While in Omagh, on 11 August Margo Bates visited and spoke at the ‘Blind Centre’, in the town (since her visit five years ago her sight has deteriorated badly and she is now registered blind) and at the sheltered housing, ‘St Julian’s House’, where Malcolm Lake’s mother latterly lived. In the evening, she spoke to a gathering of friends, at the Lakes’ house. Prayers were said and sung and she invited the non-Bahá’ís to investigate the Bahá’í Faith. She also entertained, on piano.
The weekend was spent profitably also: Margo and Helen went sightseeing, attended a fireside on Saturday evening at Marie Bailley’s house at Whitehead. They were present at a picnic, on Sunday, attended by friends from the north and west of the Region—in the ‘Roe Valley Country Park’, Limavady. While Margo and Helen were in County Londonderry, Lana was attending the seventh anniversary memorial, for the victims of the 1998 Omagh Bomb, along with Harry Coyle and Vida Lake.
In the evening, there was another gathering, this time at the Hedayati home, attended by two parents of the Bomb victims. The party left for Dublin, on Monday morning.
A press-release and photographs were submitted to the two local papers and were published. A copy of the release and a press cutting were also submitted to the local radio, on Saturday, but unfortunately the interviewer needed more notice to carry out an interview on the Monday. All-in-all though, a thoroughly worthwhile and busy three days, with lots of teaching and proclamation!
ML
The first in the new series of “Deepenings in Derry” took place on 2 September when Colin Palin gave a presentation on “Using Technology—Serving the Faith in the 21st Century”.
Colin showed how computer technology already influences every aspect of our lives, and how we can make use of the opportunities offered, in order to proclaim, teach, and serve the Faith. Examples included computer presentations (a format used in the deepening) to bring together sound and vision in order to put the message over more effectively, and the use of the World-Wide Web. This latter was now so taken for granted, Colin said, that if an organisation didn’t have a website this meant people were less likely to take it seriously: a very good reason for local Bahá'í communities to have a Website.
ISP
The Bahá'ís of Templepatrick held a devotional evening in the Templeton Hotel dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The devotional was held on Friday 16 September to coincide with the National Day of Prayer taking place in the United States on the same day.
The programme for the event included music and readings from Bahá’í, Christian, and Buddhist scriptures as well as contributions from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and The Dalai Lama. The programme concluded with a multimedia presentation featuring images of New Orleans followed by two minutes silence for those who lost their lives. Mr Reggie Clarke, a native of Virginia who now lives in Hillsborough, introduced the theme. He provided an explanation of the extreme weather systems that prevail there as well as the complex social, economic and political factors which have exacerbated conditions in New Orleans. Reggie’s introduction helped to make the event more meaningful for all those present, who gained valuable insights into the many difficulties, which hampered evacuation and relief efforts.
AA
Ruth Patience, of Cullybackey, who has declared her Faith in Bahá'u'lláh.
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