Visayas Boosted as Friends Gather in Cebu
With the aim to raise understanding of the Plan of God for today, friends from all over the Visayas attended the Regional Institutional Conference at the Baha’i Center, Cebu City from April 8 to10, 2011. There were 27 adults, 26 youths, 11 junior youths and 6 children in attendance who came from different provinces, towns and cities. With the help of two Auxiliary Board Members, four National Spiritual Assembly Members and the members of the Regional Baha’i Council for Visayas, the participants felt very happy to study the Ridvan 2010, 28 December 2010 Message and 1 January 2011 messages of the Universal House of Justice that one of the participants recounted how much he had learned during the meeting and hope to share the same in his own cluster. One of the friends said that he felt happy because he was able to pioneer for months in one of the clusters in the region and together with the help of the friends in the cluster strengthened the latter’s program of growth. Others recounted that teaching maybe quite hard to do before the meeting, but with the enhanced understanding they got and the clearer vision in mind, the task at hand becomes easy and the plans made achievable. The friends regained their spiritual vigor to teach the Cause and dedicated their lives for Bahá’u’lláh by giving more time and effort for the Baha’i activities to be done not only the clusters where they reside but also in the neighboring clusters(areas) as well.
On the first day, the 28 December 2010 message from the Universal House of Justice was read and was considered a ‘love letter’ from God Himself whom we all love and die for. The ‘House’ is the mouthpiece of God in this day to guide mankind towards betterment of the world. The keynote address given by Dr. Humaida Jumalon started with a brief history of the religion in general and specifically of the Baha’i Faith. The achievements we have done in the past ten years helped us to accomplish the further plans we are to undertake in the next five years. The first quotation of the Unit 1 of Book 1 was briefly reviewed so to remind the friends of the common vision of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. “Every word that precedeth from the Mouth of God has the capacity to instill a new life into every human frame”, she concluded.
Conference photos:
Moreover, Mrs. Jane Zehtab-Jadid emphasized on the milestones in which every clusters in the world are to pass to gauge the level of growth they are in. More than 1,600 clusters in the world have passed the first milestone wherein programs of growth with some degree of intensity have been established; around three hundred of which have passed the second milestone where a continuous and steady flow of human resources are going on per cycle together with the increase in participation by the friends in the community as administered by the local institutions and agencies like Local Spiritual Assembly and Cluster Teaching Committee, respectively. Mr. Altair Carpio added that the ones mentioned so far are just the “skeletal” or framework of the message but the component parts of such will be read, studied further and consulted upon in the break-out groups in the next sessions during the meeting. He furthered that the message has a ‘sequence’ being followed – the first part gave a bird’s eye view of the status of the Faith all over the world. Then, the message gave us the idea how we have reached this stage of development. We were reviewed through the message in terms of programs of growth and how to intensify such with the vision in mind of what is to come and the challenges that lie ahead. Mr. Marianito Dabalos reiterated more about the participants of the Plan namely the individual, community and the institutions which are interconnected through a process of consultation, action in the field and reflection of the action taken. With understanding raised and the vision being clearer, we develop the love for the Cause and labor for it assiduously.
During the reflection part of the session, one of the friends commented that teaching is a law that each of us should do and that can be done in many ways – devotional gatherings, home visits or even just through casual conversations. Another shared that together with the better understanding that we will gain during the study of the messages, we also have to strive and even sacrifice to translate the plans we are to make in the field of action. Moreover, one participant commented that teaching is something we do sincerely with confidence and perseverance bearing in mind that setback or challenges are inevitable and just part of the process to improve teaching methods.
Advancing the frontiers of learning according to Mr. Dabalos is driven by the institute process which has limitless potentialities as stated by the Universal House of Justice. The institute is the instrument to both expand the reach of the Cause and consolidate the same to be part of the pool of human resources. As we grow in both number and vitality, the society-building power of the Cause is made manifest to the world.
Analysis of Growth
By the second day, the participants were grouped by clusters to which they belong to review the recent progress in the cluster, assess the current conditions in clusters, appraise the strength of human resources available and analyze the challenges that face the community. New learnings or developments at the cluster level include the approach by neighborhood or villages made by each clusters with established program of growth through sending letter requests to participants and their parents if still minor, joining in PTCA, Sangguniang Kabataan/Barangay. Council meetings to introduce service programs, holding Junior Youth Festival/ Camps with participants residing in the community where such is being held, and inviting friends to study circles by encouraging them first in a meaningful conversation. Assessing the current human resources of the clusters, it was learned that there is enough friends who can work on the core activities but only needs more encouragement and accompaniment. Commitment of the friends to labor assiduously for the Cause together with coordination among the cluster agencies and the Local Assembly are essential to move the cluster to higher level of development. The inseparable process of expansion and consolidation were further discussed with enthusiasm as the friends examined the current approaches of teaching the Cause in the context of receptive population in neighborhoods and villages and empowering them through the institute process for them to take charge of the progress of their own community.
Opening New Programs of Growth
On the third day, the friends gather themselves by cluster to consult among themselves how they can help other clusters in the region to establish new programs of growth. At start the friends are very cautious of the number of clusters they are pledging to establish programs of growth but Kuya Altair Carpio advise them not to underestimate their capacities for the love for Bahá’u’lláh (“Huwag nating tipirin si Baha’u’llah”). So after some consultations, the friends were able to come-up with a total of 27 new clusters to establish program of growth over the next 5 years which will be initiated by 56 volunteer-pioneers out of the seventy participants, the youngest pioneer aged five while the oldest is seventy. One thing so inspiring happened during this momentous session is that when the call for pioneers was made, all the friends stood up and no one was left seated. This incident made Mr. Carpio very touched that he recounted, with tears about to burst out, “this is my first time to witness that all volunteered to pioneer since the first regional conference I attended”.
