From Mahan Hashemi-zadeh (from Newtownabbey now in Sweden): I have been here now for just a few months. I am starting to learn the native language, but thankfully English is widely spoken here. My wife and I are renting out a flat in a small town in the suburbs of the city (Stockholm). We were informed that there are three other Bahá'í s living in the area—three Persian ladies of varying ages.
Just to rewind back a bit, shortly after moving into our flat the study circle coordinator asked us to start a Ruhi Book 2 with a few youth, which turned out to be two youth (now three) of which one had recently declared. So we decided to visit two of these Persian ladies (who knew each other well) as a Book 2 group and study a prayer with them. Everyone appreciated the occasion and as a result one of the Persian ladies has started a weekly devotional which my wife and I support. A couple who are not Baha'is (also Persian) had come along to one of the devotionals and realising that this may be our only opportunity we arranged to visit them and share a presentation of the Faith. We have visited them twice now and shared with them the presentation laid out in Ruhi Book 6, and they also continue to come to the weekly devotional, if work permits. In fact the wife of the couple has recently started Book 1. Also in the Book 1 is the third Persian lady in our area who has recently declared. Now moving onto something different, my wife who is pretty much a native of the country decided to meet up with some old friends, as she felt they had an excellent opportunity to teach and begin core activities in their neighbourhood. During our visits to this family we have been accompanying and encouraging each other to be more direct in our approach and also in our conversations with people. As a result together as a group we have presented the Faith to several of their friends, have started a Book 1 which includes one of their friends and their six year old daughter has invited one of her friends to the weekly children's class. All in all we have become more courageous and focused in our teaching efforts.
Currently plans are being made to have a teaching campaign in their area during the next expansion phase. If you have been reading then you would remember that initially the Book 2 consisted of two youth which is now three. We were informed that a third youth wanted to do Book 2 so we invited her to join. During a conversation between this youth and my wife, my wife discovered that she had a good rapport with her religious education teacher. So my wife enquired about the possibility of the youth asking her teacher if a presentation of the Faith could be shared with her class. The youth thought this to be a good idea and asked her teacher who also thought this to be a good idea. So in December my wife and another Bahá'í friend will visit her school to speak about the Faith and the core activities (in particular junior youth groups). Dobby Robinson and family (from Coleraine now in the Far East) are keeping a blog, so do have a look at http://expeditionrobinson.blogspot.com/
“The House of Justice is confident that...your community has the capacity to dispatch at least 250 pioneers, either short-term or long-term, for service in the international field during the course of the Plan.” For further information on these and other pioneering opportunities, please visit the website: www.bahai.org.uk/pioneering/index.html e-mail: oiptt@bahai.or.uk
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