Youth Conference – letter to the Feast of Kalimát 2013
13 July 2013
1 Kalimat 170 B.E.
To all believers in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Co-workers,
We are passing through days of special importance for the advancement of the spiritual and social well-being of the people of the United Kingdom, as friends everywhere are engaged in reaching out to young people between the ages of 15 to 30 and inviting them to join in a “movement” that, using the “potent” “methods and instruments of the Plan”, is working “towards a better society”. The upcoming Youth Conference-taking place at Warwick University from 30 August to 1 September-is a pivotal moment in the efflorescence of this movement, as many hundreds of youth will gather there “to reflect, to commit, to steel themselves for a life of service”. Registration for the conference is due to open imminently and, such is the importance of the days and weeks to come, we wish to share with you a few thoughts on the nature and purpose of this movement and to describe some of its features.
A three-day gathering recently took place in Frankfurt under the auspices of the Counsellors in Europe in order to train a number of facilitators, 14 of whom will participate in the Youth Conference in the UK. These facilitators have now returned to their homelands where they will each in turn train four other youth from their area as additional facilitators. Each of these four additional facilitators will aim to gather around them some 20 or so youth of all ages. The intention is that this group of 20 youth will prepare for the conference together, register for it together and perhaps even travel to it together. At the conference these groups will be together, consult, study and reflect together and, after the event, they will serve together in their clusters and neighbourhoods. Naturally, bonds of fellowship, love and unity will build between the participants in each group such that they will be able to support each other, care for each other and accompany each other in every way. The aim is this:
‘If a small number of people gather lovingly together, with absolute purity and sanctity, with their hearts free of the world, experiencing the emotions of the Kingdom and the powerful magnetic forces of the Divine, and being at one in their happy fellowship, that gathering will exert its influence over all the earth. The nature of that band of people, the words they speak, the deeds they do, will unleash the bestowals of Heaven, and provide a foretaste of eternal bliss. The hosts of the Company on high will defend them, and the angels of the Abhá Paradise, in continuous succession, will come down to their aid.’ (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 80)
Thus, to begin arranging themselves in groups of youth as described above, we ask the youth, and those working with them, to be in touch with their Auxiliary Board members without delay, as they will be able to connect anyone attending with their nearest facilitator. A list of Auxiliary Board members, their area of service and their contact details, is enclosed. Please note that those attending are encouraged to register together as a group, if this is possible.
We take this opportunity to assure parents that vigilant attention is being given to assure the care and well-being of the participants throughout this process and at the conference itself. In this regard, special care is being given to those attending who are under 18. The youth will of course take responsibility for their own care and well-being but, in addition, parents and guardians should feel assured that every effort is being made to ensure the availability of appropriate supervision so that all are safeguarded during the conference.
The National Spiritual Assembly has been deeply touched by the manner in which the world- embracing series of 114 youth conference has been guided by the Universal House of Justice, every feature of which has been directed by that infallible Institution. The content and timing of the programme itself, as well as the workshop materials that will be central to the event, have been prepared under its guidance and approval. Ours is now the task of taking whatever steps we can, during the remaining fleeting days that proceed this momentous occasion, to reach out to as many youth as possible in our neighbourhoods and wider circle of contacts, converse with them and find those souls who wish to join with the Bahá’í community in actively working towards the betterment of society. That your efforts should be divinely confirmed and rendered victorious is our ardent supplication to the Blessed Beauty.
With our warmest love and abiding gratitude,
National Spiritual Assembly
Click here to download PDF of this letter
Click here to download the list of Auxiliary Board members
Continue reading