Over the weekend of 14 - 15 April the coordination team for Northern Ireland, now under the direction of the newly constituted UK-wide Training Institute, hosted a province-wide Tutor Encounter at the Residential Centre of the Folk Park in Omagh. Some 20 tutors joined the coordination team for two days of sheer delight, fruitful consultations, sharing of experiences, refresher training, assessment and planning.
Attending the event was Auxiliary Board member, Mathew Kennedy, whose inspired interventions throughout the weekend lifted the vision and significantly contributed to steeling the resolve of the tutors - spurning us to arise with renewed dedication to raise up, train and accompany an ever-increasing number of human resources to serve the Cause of God.
Following on last year's event the team once again created a truly warm, spiritual and inviting environment, complete with the by-now-familiar tent, its tasteful decorations, the flowers, the samovar, the candles, the large bowl of oranges and, of course, the precious photograph of the Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The large dining hall of the centre was literally transformed, truly a physical symbol of the spiritual transformation tutors strive to bring about as they accompany their fellows through the sequence of courses and beyond to the point where, in their turn, they too arise as active supporters of the Faith.
Keith Munro, representing the Bahá'í Council, set an appropriate tone for the encounter, sharing with those gathered a vision set forth by our beloved Guardian at the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade 54 years ago. At that time the "Sign of God on Earth" unveiled to the mind's eye of the believers a majestic ten-part process, inaugurated some six thousand years ago. The objective of this process? The growth and fruition of the Tree of Divine Revelation, a prelude to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. All were reminded that we are presently engaged in the earliest stages of the tenth part of that process, During this part the Faith is destined to penetrate the inner-most being of souls who inhabit our clusters, reaching every city, town, village and hamlet and bringing in its wake, entry by troops into God's Cause throughout the planet.
Brief, heart-warming and appropriately-chosen audio visual presentations introduced each of the themes covered at the encounter. All delighted in the materials covered - the same ones that had so inspired the UK-wide tutor encounter held just two months previously in Coventry.
Greater emphasis on the vital nature of accompaniment as we walk together with others on a path of service. A mounting number of case studies that show with crystalline clarity the effectiveness of home visits, seen as an integral part of building a new world civilisation. And finally insights into the delivery of courses for junior youth and children brought home even more clearly the importance of sharing without delay with these receptive populations the moral and spiritual training the courses provide.
Those of us who act as tutors are truly grateful. This event made us feel warmly accompanied by our coordinators in the work we striving to perform in service to the Faith.
Report by Jim Holmlund
The National Training Institute for the United Kingdom met on 7 - 8 May in Donegore Village with its Regional Coordinators for Northern Ireland. The Institute plans to meet systematically with all its Coordinators throughout the United Kingdom. This proved to be an excellent opportunity for the Coordinators to gain further understanding and fresh insights into the process as the Institute members shared their experience and ideas. By sharing details of the progress of the process in other clusters the long-term vision of the Co-ordinators was greatly enhanced. Similarly, the Institute members were able to glean a clearer grasp of the progress of the process at the grassroots in Northern Ireland. The two days proved to be mutually beneficial encounter. We wish the National Institute every success in its vital path of service.
Report by Edwina Agahi
"A friend of mine had being showing a keen interest in the spiritual teachings of the faith, he already new I was a Bahá'í so we began to speak about how to attain "true happiness". I began to give him a little of the Bahá'í perspective on this issue telling him that man is essentially a spiritual being and true spiritual fulfilment was only possible through following the guidance of God, in our case this was through the teachings of Baha'u'llah. I also told him our attachment to worldly things is what impedes our soul's flight towards God. He expressed enthusiasm at these teachings and agreed that to exercise moderation and detachment were fundamental to spiritual progress. My friend then expressed some concern that he felt he had never made a spiritual connection before and asked me for advice on how to do this. I then gave him the prayer "O God refresh and gladden my spirit" by 'Abdul-Bahá and explained to him that prayer was key to making a spiritual connection and brings us closer to God, he showed great receptivity to all that had been discussed.
We had been meeting regularly and at one meeting he told me that he was interested in reading about the Bahá'í Faith and wanted a book. I was happy to give him a book but also felt that this was an opportunity to invite him to a Book 1 course. He accepted and we hope to be starting soon."
Cluster 1 (Northern Lights): Mahan Hashemi-zadeh
Cluster 2 (Stars of the West): Vida Lake
Cluster 3 (Hainsworth): Anne Munro
Cluster 4 (Seven Valleys): Sina Rezvani
Junior Youth Coordinator for Northern Ireland: Edwina Agahi
Children’s Class Coordinator for Northern Ireland: Pat Jamshidi
Regional Coordinator for Northern Ireland: Arjang Agahi
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