Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand Part 2

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker:

I cannot refrain from expressing in person my deep sense of grat.i.tude and indebtedness to the beloved co-workers in that land for their splendid achievements in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha'i activity. I feel truly proud of your accomplishments. I will continue to supplicate for every one of you the Beloved's imperishable blessings.

Rest a.s.sured and persevere.

Shoghi.

LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 26TH, 1935

September 26th, 1935.

Beloved Baha'i co-worker,

On behalf of the Guardian I wish to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th of July last, with the enclosed copy of the minutes of the N.S.A. of the Baha'is of Australia and New-Zealand. I wish, in particular, to express his gratification at the news of the success of the last meeting of your N.S.A. held in Sydney. It gives him, indeed, much pleasure and encouragement to realize that your a.s.sembly meetings are conducted with such a good deal of order and efficiency, and above all, in such a perfect spirit of unity and fellows.h.i.+p-the few other obstacles and difficulties left, he feels confident, will in due time disappear. The foundation has been now firmly laid down, and the work is bound to develop and expand. The friends should, therefore, be confident, and should exert their utmost that the inst.i.tutions they have so painstakingly and laboriously established should flourish and yield their fruit.

In connection with the N.S.A.'s decision regarding the appointment of Mrs.

Axford and Mr. Inman to keep records of Australian and New-Zealand activities for the "Baha'i World"; the Guardian wishes you to a.s.sure your fellow-members in the a.s.sembly that he fully endorses their choice. He also wishes you to impress the newly-appointed correspondents with the vital importance of their task, and to urge them to acquit themselves of it with thoroughness, efficiency and vigour.

Regarding dear Mr. Hyde Dunn's health; Shoghi Effendi is grieved beyond words to learn that he is growing so weak physically. Will you kindly a.s.sure him, as well as Mrs. Dunn, of his supplications for the amelioration of his health and for the complete restoration of his forces.

In closing will you also convey his love and greetings to the members of the N.S.A. and a.s.sure them once more of his continued prayers for their welfare, protection and guidance,

Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker:

The detailed report of the activities of the national a.s.sembly-the furthermost pillar of the Universal House of Justice which the high endeavours of the believers of Australia and New-Zealand have reared-has filled my heart and soul with immense joy and grat.i.tude. The Beloved is surely watching over and continually blessing your splendid accomplishments, the plans you have conceived, the methods you have devised, the efforts you are exerting, the services which you have rendered. I will continue to pray for the consolidation and uninterrupted expansion of your laudable activities in the service of so glorious and mighty a Cause. Never relax nor despair. The tender plant which your hands have raised and nurtured shall grow and will ultimately gather beneath its shadow the whole of that far-off and promising continent.

Persevere and be happy.

Shoghi.

LETTER OF JANUARY 3RD, 1936

January 3rd, 1936.

The N.S.A. of the Baha'is of Australia and New-Zealand

Dear Baha'i Friends,

Miss Effie Baker is leaving for Australia with the consent and full approval of the Guardian.

As you know for over ten years she has been devotedly working for the Cause in Haifa, as keeper of the Western Pilgrim House and also as the custodian of the International Baha'i Archives. During this long period of service she has accomplished much for our beloved Cause, and she is now in need of some rest after so many years of strenuous labours. She is going to join her mother, and will, it is hoped, prove of great help to the friends throughout Australia and New-Zealand in both their teaching and administrative activities.

The Guardian hopes, therefore, that the friends will give her all the opportunity she needs to help in the extension and consolidation of the Cause throughout Australia and New-Zealand.

He is entrusting Miss Baker with a beautiful and most precious present for the friends; it is one of the finest photographs of the Master which, he wishes your N.S.A. to place in your National Baha'i Archives. He is, in addition, sending through her for the believers a bottle of attar of rose extracted by the friends in Persia.

With loving greetings and all good wishes for a most happy and prosperous New Year.

Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.

LETTER OF APRIL 15TH, 1936

April 15th, 1936

Dear Miss Brooks,

On behalf of the Guardian I acknowledge with thanks and appreciation the receipt of your letter of March 12th with enclosure. He is grateful for the warm a.s.sistance extended by your N.S.A. to Miss Effie Baker, and hopes that she will be of valuable a.s.sistance to you all, specially to the friends in Melbourne. The task of organizing the believers in that center is no doubt a very responsible one, and the Guardian trusts that she will be able to fully acquit herself of it.

Regarding the "Herald of the South" magazine, Shoghi Effendi very much appreciates the fact that in spite of the many difficulties that your a.s.sembly had to overcome this review is being regularly published, and that its standard is gradually improving. He would call upon all the English-speaking friends to contribute, as often as they can, such articles for publication in that magazine as would serve to make it a more direct and effective teaching medium for the spread of the Cause throughout Australia and New-Zealand. He is advising the American N.S.A.

to specially ask the cooperation of the American believers for that purpose, and hopes that the response they will make to this call will be such as to further encourage you in your splendid efforts for the publication of this national organ of the Faith in Australia.

The Guardian would appreciate receiving detailed reports of the activities of the local a.s.semblies, and would be very thankful if you send these to him as regularly as you can.

In closing may I ask you to convey his loving greetings to your distinguished fellow-members in the N.S.A. and to a.s.sure each and all of them of his supplications for their welfare and guidance. He also wishes you to express his best wishes to dear Father and Mrs. Dunn, and tell them how happy he is to learn that they are keeping in good health.

Yours in His Service, H. Rabbani.

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker:

I am so glad to have received your letter and to have realised the progress of your activities. I trust and pray that the work in which the National a.s.sembly is so energetically and devotedly engaged may steadily expand and be further consolidated. The teaching work is the corner-stone of its activities, the sole basis on which the administrative structure can flourish. A strenuous, systematic and continuous effort should, both individually and collectively, be now exerted to attain this supreme objective. With a heart full of grat.i.tude I will pray for the success of your endeavours.

Shoghi.