ONE PERSON�S SEARCH FOR A BETTER WORLD.

Ted Cardell

1952

At the age of 74 it seems appropriate to look back on all those years and try to find how it came about that one who was born on a farm in England, has lived in four countries and visited over 50 others, is now married and is living in a small town in the far west of America. We have four children, all happily married to non � English partners. So far there are 3 grandchildren.

When I was young, the British Empire was at its height and thanks to many intrepid Englishmen in past centuries,~ possessed colonies all over the world. Yet life had changed so much, that few Englishmen had ever been outside the shores of England and we rarely saw the face of a foreigner let alone a black one. The Empire was resting on its laurels, but unknown to anyone then, the Empire had come to an end and the whole planet was on the brink of the biggest and most terrible war ever known.

My brother, sister and I had a very happy, though protected childhood. We grew up on a mixed farm in the middle of England, ~4 t the ages of 24 & 23 Philip and 1, in our summer evenings started to learn flying r F~e ~r~ at a nearby airdrome. Quite suddenly, it seemed, world war two was upon us. We were both very excited at the prospect of flying Spitfires in defense of our country. Philip, who had put in more time flying than 1, was drawn into a rushed program to train spitfire pilots, while I was left driving a tractor on the farm: a most unjust situation I thought, because he was born to farm while I had a great interest in flying. I pondered deeply on this and found no answer.

Soon Philip was flying in the �Battle of Britain� defending our shores against the hordes of German bombers. When on leave, he would tell us some of his adventures. Unknown to the Germans, we had invented radar and this told us when the enemy was taking off on a raid. Our Spitfires had ~ le time to take off and lay in wait high above in large numbers. They would then dive on the bombers out of the sun and destroy ny. As a safety measure, they would keep on diving until well out ~he way. In other engagements many planes were lost on both sides, but the invasion of England by Germany was stopped for good. However, Philip was lost in the battle. With his plane damaged, he bailed out, but fell into the sea before his parachute had time to open. This was a great shock to all of us. Now I was the sole remaining male to carry on the family name. We did not know of any other males in the Cardell families, though years later we did discover other branches in Cornwall, where my father�s family came from.

We had all been raised as Methodists and went to chapel every Sunday. The Bible had become a great treasure to me, but I could not relate it to modern life except in matters of personal behavior. What, I wondered, is the future of the world? How does nature come into God�s overall plan? Was it just window � dressing for us to enjoy? In philosophising about it � Philip had given his life that all kinds of freedom would remain, a most worthy cause, but this had happened unnumbered times throughout history. I asked myself, �Would there always be wars on earth?� Years later a large stained � glass window was put into Westminster Abbey, London, to commemorate the �Battle of Britain� heroes; all their names were listed, including Philip. Later a school in Rhodesia was named after him. A book �The Last Enemy� by Richard Hilary, also a spitfire pilot and who later perished, told memories of Philip and others. My parents were deeply appreciative, but it could not bring back their son, and all the other sons who had been sacrificed to the perfidy of mankind through the ages.

The war went on fiercer than ever. There was no shortage of young men volunteering to fly Spitfires, but farming was upgraded in importance, for submarines were sinking food ships from America at the rate of 10 to 20 a week. So I was put on the RAF reserve indefinitely and told to produce food, because its was as vital a necessity as fighting. This reasoning did not satisfy me. After a year I applied for active duty, but was refused.

Back on the farm we were busy digging 80 acres of potatoes and it was my job to supervise 40 German prisoners picking up after the digger.

When we recaptured North Africa there were 40 Italian prisoners in addition to supervise. This might seem a difficult job, but not so, even though the German and the Italians had to be kept separate for fear of friction between them. The Germans were angry at the Italians for loosing their battles so easily and the Italians resented the Germans. But neither was keen to go back into the shooting war and most of them showed a strong preference for potato picking! For this reason, few guards were needed. Two English soldiers guarded each batch, but they had no bullets for the rifles on their shoulders. Prisoners who volunteered to work on farms were paid very little, so I asked them what I could do to make it worth their while to put in a good days work. They suggested a pack of cigarettes and half a loaf of bread each per day. I went off to town to get these. My father, who had put me in charge, came and found no one supervising, but all the prisoners working well. He was very surprised until I returned with a car load of bread and cigarettes and explained. Such incidents encouraged him to put more trust in my sometimes crazy ideas.

The work proceeded well but one day a German bomber appeared low over the farm, with three Spitfires in hot pursuit. The unequal battle ended quickly with the German crew bailing out as their plane dived into the ground. It must have been a humiliating experience for the prisoners, but I carefully refrained from discussing it with them. Later we heard that one wounded German airman was given a blood � transfusion while he was unconscious; when he woke up and found that he had been given Jewish blood, he tried to commit suicide. We were amazed at such prejudice. Inspite of all this, we became quite friendly with all the prisoners. After the war, six of the Italians stayed with us and worked on the farm for years. They all lived together in a farm cottage, did their own cooking and became happily integrated with the villagers. Some even married local girls.

Another incident was more humorous. On a day of deep English fog the Germans thought it a good idea to raid the power station near us. They actually navigated quite well and came out of the fog just near their target but too suddenly to drop the bomb. Our army gunners who had been camped on the roof of the generator house for many days, for just such an event, had felt that a foggy day was a good time to clean their gun and had it dismantled. Not a shot was fired by either side. The plane never reappeared and everyone had a quiet day and a long chuckle. A more sinister aspect of the war was to wake up in the middle of the night as a German flying bomb passed overhead. If the engine stopped, we knew it was for us. These machines were pilotless and timed to run out of fuel over some town and thus were not accurate, but ~hey held) quite a psychological impact. They travelled faster than the spitfires, so they were hard to shoot down, even in day time. However our pilots soon learned to wait for them high above the English channel. This gave them a chance to gain speed by diving. Thus they could catch up and destroy them. But it was very dangerous if they exploded, so the pilots learned to fly alongside the bomb and give its wing a lift with their own wing tip. Since it had no aileron control, it could not compensate for such an move and would spiral into the sea.

Later on the V2 rockets pounded London with impunity. At a descent speed of over 4,000 m.p.h. they exceeded the speed of sound, so the victims never knew what hit them. Again a high psychological impact on everyone. London was only 50 miles away from the farm so we could often see the searchlights weaving the sky looking for raiders. Tiny fireflies of light all over the sky were anti � aircraft shells bursting.

Soon our factories were producing many heavy bombers and the tables were turned. Eventually we were able to send fleets of over 1,000 bombers out in one night to attack the German cities. Many new airdromes were built, one next to our farm. Most evenings lots of these heavy bombers took off low over our village. The ever � present danger of engine failure on take off with a load of bombs was accepted by the villagers as the price to pay for freedom. One night a fully loaded bomber faltered on take off and skidded to a halt in the middle of our bean field. It did not explode, but onlookers said that the crew beat all records getting out and running for cover. Another evening a bomber hit a row of trees on take of f and crashed in pieces between the houses. All the crew were killed and floods of burning fuel swept into the chicken houses, but the bombs did not explode, so the village was spared.

A happier side of the war was that the crew members of both the British night � bombers and of the American day � bombers began to accept our open invitation to use the farm house and garden as a place to relax and play tennis. Our family always had strawberries and clotted cream in the summer and my Mother produced an endless supply of these to all the visitors. This was a totally new experience for the Americans and one which delighted them. It also required a lot of sugar which a special American friend was rationed due to the war. ~ne day lE~en~brought us a 10 pound bag of sugar taken from the American mess when the cook was not looking. My mother ordered him to take it back, but he maintained it was only justice in view of all the sugar she had given the visitors on their strawberries. When Ben added that he might get caught taking it back, mother gave in. Ben was a special friend; though only a corporal, he mixed naturally with the officers in our garden. One day he turned up with two big black eyes and a rueful grin. He had been out to a dance the night before and was cycling back as fast as he could to beat the closing of the camp gates. The rain, the dark and a few drinks all added up to him running broadside into a cow. He was knocked unconscious and woke up in hospital. He lost his stripes for being late back in camp. Ten years after the war Ben revisited us and brought his son with him. It was a most poignant event.

An intriguing experience for us was to hear how, outside the military environment on our farm, all American ranks treated each other as equals; a custom very different from the English who kept their ranks at all times. We soon came to enjoy it and one day Ben was playing tennis opposite a Colonel and gave him a sizzling drive he could not reach. Ben delightedly shouted: �Get on your bicycle Colonel!�

Often in the early mornings we would see 50 or more flying fortresses circling in the sky as they gathered into a tight formation before setting out on for Germany. The tight formation gave them a big advantage over the attaCking German fighters who had to face the combined firepower of many planes when they attacked. Looking back now, I can of the circling armada of plane still see in my mind the rising sun lighting up the contrails~while the earth below was still in shadow. But it was also a chilling reminder that we were at war and some of them would never come back.

With both our own RAF and the American crews, from time to time, well loved faces would be absent from our garden gatherings when they had crashed or been taken prisoners. Their companions would bring us the news and we would grieve deeply with them. My own sister, Margaret was much in love with a bomber pilot, Ty Nelson, who often visited us. One day he never came back. We were dimly aware that there must be families in Germany who were also grieving much over the loss of loved ones. On one occasion a night bomber was forced to return to base because a flare it was to drop and illuminate the target, had got stuck in the mechanism. As the plane came in to land at its home base~ ~he flare, which was set to go off at a low altitude, ignited and the plane crashed.

At about this time I joined a hockey team with both male and female members. We toured the area and often played mixed teams at airdromes. One day we were playing on the pitch at the end of a runway as a damaged bomber came in to land with only one wheel. We held our breath, spellbound as the plane touched down, lurched over to one side and skidded a long way before coming to a halt. It did not catch fire, and no one was hurt.

On another occasion one of our night � bombers was damaged over Germany but managed to limp to neutral territory in north Africa. They repaired it and flew home a week later. They arrived back at our drome just as a high ranking officer was cracking down hard on all crews because they often celebrated their return by flying low over the buildings � there had been some bad accidents. In the middle of the lecture the whole building shook with a giant vibration as our heroes swooped low over the building. The irate officer suspended the whole crew. The pilot was later transferred to towing air targets for other planes to shoot at.

About this time the Government created the �Home Guard;� an unpaid army composed of civilians. We were issued with uniforms and light arms and learned how to harass a German invasion with road � blocks and tank traps. Hitler had boasted that he would invade England and make it into a satellite state. I well remember Churchill announcing fiercely over the TV, �We will fight on the beaches, we will fight in the streets and in the towns house by house. We will never give in.�

As good as his word, he gave the civilians the means to add their bit to a bitter last stand in defense of their country. We used to train on Sunday mornings and I had to make a conscious choice between going to Methodist church and attending Home guard practice. I chose the latter because I felt it was time for action.

Soon I was commanding officer in charge of 25 men too old, too decrepit or too young to serve in the army. Looking back it is clear that we would have had little chance of stopping an invader equipped with far greater fire � power, but we might just have been able to delay them a little till our own army arrived. It was a tremendous moral builder and we had lots of fun too. One night I sent two patrols out on the same circuit, but unknown to each other, in opposite directions so they would meet in the dark. Fortunately, all ammunition was locked away, but they certainly learned how to act in unforseen circumstances. Later that evening they retaliated by hiding my motorbike.

Another day the Home Guard of our neighbouring village were having practice grenade throwing from a trench. The first man was told by the instructor, how to pull the pin, throw and duck. He pulled the pin out and reached back, only to knock his hand on the box of live grenades. � lis now live one with seven seconds to go, fell into the, ox. �What am I going to do now?� he asked the instructor. �Get the hell out of here!� Shouted the instructor. They both dived out of the trench as the whole box of grenades exploded.

Civilians were not allowed on the airdromes, nor in the planes, but now I had a uniform and it was easy for my RAF friends to take me on unorthorised trips in their planes. I was smuggled aboard a Halifax bomber and we took off on a practice bombing trip. They dropped all their smoke bombs but one, which they left for me. I was told how to direct then the pilot while aiming through the bomb � sight, and press the button. I thought I had done everything just right but no one ever saw where my bomb landed. On another occasion I flew in the latest mosquito bomber. It was so fast on the turns that I lost my breakfast and had to pay the ~round crew to clean up the plane afterwards!.

Ted�s biography (insert in middle of page 8.)

World War II must have caused millions of people to think more deeply about the meaning of life on earth and why all this chaos mingled with much joy. What could be the nature of some eternal plan into which all this apparent contradiction would fit? In the relative quiet years after the war, life was pleasant on the farm and Father gave me a lot of freedom to choose what work to do each day during the winter time I had plenty of free time to go for long walks and meditate about the mysteries of life. All the new people I had met because of the war had opened up a lot of new avenues to explore. I tried to examine my own mind and to identify and control my own thoughts. I remember vividly how, one day, as I was wading through the snow on the farm road and meditating on these matters, that I suddenly realised that my own thoughts govern what I do and think. �I am what I think!� I could choose what to think about, and look for new meanings and values.

Soon, however, I found that this very freedom was heavily influenced by conditioning inherited from traditions and experiences from the past. Every new thought had to be expressed by words with old connections and ideas. And with them came all the familiar emotions which seemed to determine~ my actions. There had to be more to it than this. In the days that followed I gradually learned to watch my thinking and tried to break out of the inherited pattern. Soon I discovered that when I became detached and relaxed, new creative ideas would surface, ideas which were not dictated by the past. This often led to a whole different view of any problem and gave me the power to try something quite new. This was particularly so in relation to religion, for this seemed to wield enormous influence on mankind and also to open constant new vistas. I used to study the Bible at times and one day, struck by the glorious vision it gave me, I said to myself � �This book is surely the most important thing in existence! For the rest of my life I will read a verse from it every morning for it will surely make a big change in me.

During the summer, large groups of city workers came to help on the farm. These people, for the most part, had never worked on a farm and for them it was a novel change from office work. Conversation with them also brought a new dimension to my own life. One introduced me to reading about spiritualism and other ideas. Over the following two years I delved into many cults and religions and collected a library of over 200 books on those subjects. This broadened my outlook far beyond the current Christian beliefs and no doubt drew me closer to a more universal view of life.

In 1945 the war finally ended and everyone tried to get back to a normal sane life again. The Home Guard was disbanded and told to hand in all its equipment. Before complying, I determined to use a few grenades for a useful purpose. I took them down to the river, pulled the pins and threw them in. Masses of stunned fish rose to the surface for me to collect. I left the little ones; they recovered and swam away. A good day�s fishing I thought to myself. I wonder if there is a way to commercialise on the idea?

I continued farming under my father for a few more happy years. My parents were deeply thankful that the war had not taken both their sons, as had happened in some cases. One family had lost all four sons. The response of the parents was to donate �20,000 for a new bomber to the RAF. They asked only that it be named after their family with the words: � Roberts Reply.� ~yes~ ~

Now the process of my spiritual awakening brought about a big change. Though bored with farming, I was happy at home, but all the big world was out there becoming to me. At the age of 29, just before harvest, I came to my parents, thanked them for all they had done for me ~and announced that I was sailing for Canada next week. They were amazed and my father said: �But you need to learn farming so that you can take over when I go!� I said: �Yes, I know you are right, but I have to go.� I told them I did not want to become a farmer and gave them my permission to sell the farm when they wished. What would have been my thoughts if I had been told that 25 years later I would come back with a wonderful wife, take over the farm and raise our four children there? My surprise would have been even greater if I were to know that I would soon find the answer to my quest for the meaning of life and also become a professional photographer.

I sold my motor � bike for �45, ($200 then) just enough to buy my ticket to Canada on the Queen Mary. Landing in Canada, everything about me was totally strange and exciting � the roll and squeak of the much larger than English trains; the money, the customs, the language and even the birds. I stayed a while in Toronto, the capital, where I applied to the employment department for work of any kind. I was given a cheap ticket to Winnipeg to work on a remote farm in the far north. The owner had only one tractor, but would not let me drive it for fear I might break something. My assurance that my father had 15 tractors & I drove them all had not effect, but I enjoyed the other work.

The first Sunday he invited me to go to his Pentecostal church. Sitting in the front row, I was the main target of the fiery preacher who, every now and then would pause and looking sternly at me saying: �All those who want to be save, stand up!� This did not move me in the least. Later I asked why such a small village needed two churches and was told people wanted freedom to follow religion their own way. This reminded me of a story I had heard where a stranger came into a small village and found three churches at one cross � roads. On asking why, he was told that there used to be one, and it was called; �The Church of God.� But they got to arguing about the Bible meanings and so, to be civilised, and to stop the argument, one group built the second church. They called it: �The Only Church of God.� Some time later there was more argument and by the same process a third church was built. It was named: �The One and Only Church of God.�!

harvest finished and winter approached, I was told that we could expect up to 40 degrees below freezing. I returned to Winnipeg and found a job in a wholesale warehouse. When the snow came it was 12 inches thick and did not melt, like in England. It stayed thick and pure white t at all winter. I had to wear ear muffs and watch,~ my nose did not get frostbitten :In the warehouse, I helped unload big trucks of food. One day, since there were no trucks, I sat down. The foreman said: �Don�t let the owner see you doing that.� I replied: �But there are no trucks!�. �Never mind, do something.� I took a brush and swept the entire warehouse. The foreman was amazed.

At lunch time one day, I was browsing in a bookshop across the snowpacked street. I asked the clerk if she knew of any interesting religious groups in town. She said: �Well I used to live in an apartment where there were Baha�is; I don� t know anything about them except that they believe all religions are one.� She gave me a phone number and because it caught my imagination I rang up. The person who answered was Ross Woodman. �What is Baha�i?� I asked. He suggested we meet for lunch next day. There he briefly described a picture I had never thought to hear. A new Prophet had appeared in Iran and He had declared all religions to be really one! I said to Ross: �Well then, you think that Muhammad was the return of Christ?� �Yes� he said: �but we must think rather of the return of the Holy Spirit, which speaks through each Prophet.� I wanted to know much more, but there was no time. I told him I was looking for a better lodging and he said that there was an empty room in his apartment building.

That whole winter I lived in a room on the same floor as Ross and we had many discussions. My life then was also mixed with the strenuous one of learning to ski. Every Sunday I joined a train � loaded with 300 skiers and spent the day in the hills 100 miles away. The train ~ ould back into a siding and provide a warm resting place when needed and also a hot lunch. I started to learn on the simple slopes, but later found that on a steep slope my body would react automatically in the correct way; this would save me wasting a lot of time learning by the slow method. This was dangerous, of course, and it did not escape my notice that each Sunday about 6 people with broken or sprained limbs were brought back to the train on sledges. However, this was an exciting experience I did not intend!to miss. Either the zest of youth or some guardian angel must have protected me. I well remember, one Sunday I decided to ski a slope labelled: �For experts only.� I joined the waiting line and as I came to the head of the queue, found myself looking down what seemed to be nearly a straight drop of 300 ft. What was worse, as I pushed off, o~e foot caught in the snow. By a super � human effort I forced it back onto the track just as the world began to rush past me at an incredible speed. The guardian angel must have been right alongside as I dropped almost like a stone. As I (we) reached the bottom, the sudden change from the near vertical descent to a horizontal direction collapsed both my lens and I shot out of the ski run. an undignified heap travelling at high 5~ 1 much to the astonishment of a crowd of onlookers who had come there to see perfect skill. It_ was clear to me that for the present, I had identified my level of skiing ~b ~ y while. and did not need to do that run again for quite a

Each Sunday evening, after returning from skiing, I would attend a discussion in Ross�s room where a lot of young people regularly gathered to hear him talk each week about a different world religion. Ross was the youngest professor in the university and had a captivating way of teaching the English classes there. Many of his students came eagerly to his firesides. For most of them it must have been the first time they had seen a real connecting thread between all the religions of the world. When the course finished, he invited outside speakers from different religious movements to tell us about their beliefs. \lone of them seemed to make much impression on the students; and when the Jehovah Witness spoke, the students found him prejudiced and illogical.

I bought some Baha�i books and began to study them seriously. I found a subtle beauty in the language in these; it attracted me greatly, even though there was much I could not understand.

About this time I was introduced to another Baha�i, Henry Provisor; many years ago he had whole � heartedly accepted the Baha�i Prophet, Baha�u�llah as the reappearance of the Holy Spirit. This meant That he a Jew, had also accepted Christ I was impressed. Henry was a professional photographer and was about to start giving a 13 week, one night a week, course for beginners. My friend, Ken Mac Laren and I eagerly enlisted. Henry did not confine himself to the technical side but emphasised creativity. He would say to us such things as: �Don�t copy others, look around you at the world; if you see something interesting, you are a normal human being, take it!� Sometimes he would take us all out in the snow at night, carrying tripods, so that we could learn time � exposures and also see the beauty of the lights on the snow. Many days I used to trudge alone through the snow along the river bank and into the woods, carrying a large camera I had bought. I submitted some snow pictures to the local newspaper in Winnipeg. To my amazement, they bought them all and started putting one on the editorial page each day. Henry ~ � as very pleased but surprised. He said they usually never bought more than one picture from each photographer. Maybe everyone else had given up taking snow pictures! I felt most of the credit for this success was due to Henry�s insistence that we all continually look around us for new and interesting things; I was learning a spiritual principle, as well as a photographic one.

One day Ross brought me an invitation from the local Baha�is to attend their Feast. One of their special meetings. I was to find it very intriguing. I h~li mus~ nav~ ~orl~lcier~d me aimos[ a Baha�i, but I did not think of myself in that way. I even said to Ross one day: �How did the Baha�is get all this spiritual knowledge without going into spiritualism?� To which he replied: �How did you get it without being a Baha�i?�

My regular reading of Baha�i Scripture continued. ( Unknown to me then, it was to continue for the rest of my life.) I felt it was leading me into a whole new way of life, and though often obscure, I could not put it aside. One day I was sitting alone in a cafe, drinking coffee and running over the idea that all the Prophets of God represent a continuing theme of spiritual unfoldment for mankind. It was very logical to me that God would send a series of Prophets through the ages, but that alone did not seem enough to show me that Baha�u�llah is the Voice of God for this age. I went through all I knew once more and again found myself unable to ~o further.

For some years I had felt the world was in a state of great change, such as was prophesied in the Bible, and hence it would be logical for Christ to return; �but what form would that take?� I asked myself. I went through my logic once again and suddenly felt that I had to use some other part of myself as well as my mind. Then I knew it was true! A ~ happiness filled me as I walked back to the apartment. As I knocked at Ross�s door and went in, some rebellious imp made me say: �Ross, at about 3.30 this afternoon, were you praying I would become a Baha�i?� �Oh, no Ted.� he replied. �All right then� I responded. �I�m in!�

Quite suddenly it seemed, life had taken on a definite meaning. No longer was God a vague, beneficent concept, but a reality Who takes a continuing interest in every little thing and person. I felt impelled to try and get a greater awareness of this discovery. Unconsciously I began taking the steps He Himself has laid down � reading the Writings and using His prayers daily. It was not surprising that I found each day a new thing. As Baha�u�llah puts it: �Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its Yesterday.�

I knew I had found astonishing truth, but like the boy who starts reeling in his catch and finds a giant fish on the line, I could not know then that I was following a path which offered to mankind the power to change the world. Just one of these bounties was going to be the end of war forever. Now, forty years later, I am also beginning to understand the mysterious hand which saved me from dying in a fruitless war, and decreed instead that I live to help bring this great vision for mankind into reality.

Soon, two more Baha�is came to live in the apartment building. We were to become close friends. Gerda Christophersen and her Native American Indian husband, Noel were both accomplished artists and they helped me understand more about the artistic side of photography. We spent many happy hours discussing the Faith and life in general. Some evenings oel would teach me how to dance to the Indian drums.

When spring arrived we decided to cycle together to the distant west coast and then go south through California. We each bought bicycles with luggage carries fore and aft, loaded our camping equipment and took a train over the long featureless prairie to Calgary. There we started our ride to the town of Banff, in the Canadian mountains. We stopped to rest at a cafe housed in small wooden shack. As I leaned my bike against the thin wall, it sagged inwards perceptibly. I knew then that I had too much luggage. The others found the same, and when we arrived at Banff we all decided to camp there and rest up. In fact we got so involved in painting and photography that we stayed there all summer.

In those days, Banff was a small, relaxed little town, surrounded by the Rocky mountains. Its financial potential had not yet been discovered by the business world and the masses of tourists who would follow. It is situated in a district of great beauty. Every day, until my money ran out, I would climb another mountain and try to photograph nature at its best, while Gerda and Noel were trying to put the scenes on canvas. In the evenings we would meet at the camp, cook our flapjacks and sausages and discuss the day over supper. The beauties of nature seemed to symbolise the inspiration I was now receiving from the Writings of Baha�u�llah which I was still studying daily in the quiet of those enormous peaks all around me.

On one occasion I went climbing with two friends in the camp, who were also nature lovers. When people have a common purpose it inspires them to even greater heights. They carried the tent and cooking utensils so we could stay out several days and I carried my big camera and my own sleeping bag. We spent the first night at Lake Louise camp ground. After erecting the tent, one of my friends decided, to go back by train to Banff and bring more equipment. It was not far, and he expected to get back to us late at night, so we cooked our meal and lay down to sleep.

We had been warned about grizzly bears ransacking camps for bacon or chocolate. I had a bar, so ate it, dropped the wrapping by my An hour later sleeping bag and fell asleep. , I was suddenly brought to full awakening by the entire side of the tent suddenly being split from top to bottom just where I had dropped the chocolate wrapping. It was pitch dark, but I did not need my eyes to tell me that it was a bear. I shouted at the top of my voice, putting as much anger into it as I could. The bear must have been even more surprised and run off, so we never saw him. There was no alternative but to stitch up the tent and go to back to sleep.

An hour later, a noise more sinister awoke me. Something was actually coming in through the tent doorway. It must be the bear again, this time becoming more bold. We would have to fight it � off. I aimed a terrific punch at about where I thought the bear�s nose should be and received a real howl of human pain. Our companion had just come in by the late train and had run into the full force of our counter attack! We finally placated him and all settled down to sleep.

The next day we climbed a high mountain then scrambled across a perilous hogs � back ridge to the next peak. There was no solid foothold for 40 yards, for it was loose shale all the way, so I knew I must not hesitate or I would slide down a thousand feet, so I quickly followed the others across. That evening we came down into the valley, pitched the tent and made a log fire to cook our supper, some �fool hens�, a name given to these partridge � like birds which had earned that name because of their habit of standing stock still when in danger. We had knocked over a few of them with stones.

We now returned to anff much refreshed by our contact with the wilds. Since I wanted to set up my own photo business soon I needed more experience, so I found a job at a local photo shop in to~ n cl~d worked there happily for some months. a~ ~e ~ hc u ~

By the end of summer, we all decided to give up our plan to cycle to California. Noel and Gerda put their bikes on the train and went back to Calgary. I took the train west, to Vancouver where I spent two weeks exploring the idea of logging, a well paid j3b, but finally took the train back east to Toronto. I needed a steady job in my chosen profession and there I thought, was the best place to find it. I was not mistaken, for soon I was working at a large portrait studio, mixing chemical ,, sweeping the floor, drying prints and learning the whole business from the bottom up. It was a very happy time, m~de all the more so because the Baha�i center was only a block away, enabling me to make a lot of new friends.

At one of the first 19 Day Feasts, the chairman � l announced: �The Assembly feels we need to give new believers the chance to learn public speaking, so tonight we are going to have a five minute talk by Ted Cardell�. I had never given a talk of any kind before and to gain some help I reached for a copy of the Hidden Words and read at random: �Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.� (H ~.66) I raised my eyes to the ceiling and said to the heavenly concourse: �Gee, that was all I needed!�.

But maybe t~ne helplessness which that engendered was just right for that moment for, inspite of my stumblings, the talk was well received.

Perhaps the most important event for me in those days was the regular Saturday evening firesides at the large home of Laura and Victor Davis. These two wonderful people spared no effort to make a hospitable atmosphere for the large numbers of people who regularly came to hear a variety of experienced Baha�i speakers. Refreshments were also there in plenty and many fruitful discussion took place. Ross had been transferred to a new job in Toronto, and was a regular speaker. I began to understand some of the deeper aspects of the Faith.

After about 6 months, the slow season started at the portrait studio. The thought occurred to me that my parents would be grateful for a visit. I asked the owner if he could manage without me while I made the true readily agreed and offered to keep my position open until I came back. I then wrote my parents and said I was free for a while if they would like me to visit. They were delighted and sent me the money for a return ticket. Unknown to me then, I would not return to Canada for 30 years, and then in very different circumstances. After a few weeks at home on the farm I discovered there was a shortage of photographers in London; I found a job as staff photographer in Fleet Street, the center of the British newspaper industry. The firm made photo journalistic stories for magazines all over Europe. Every day they sent me out to do a story of human interest. I would bring back the photos and the information to the editor who wrote it up. It was thrilling to see my pictures come back to the office in all kinds of magazines. Even big newspapers and top quality magazines in England bought some.

I was now attending all kinds of Baha�i meetings and one day found that I could help build a new Assembly by living in Brighton, some 50 miles from London. A fast train got me to my job in less than an ~ r.~c~ i~ hour and a half, Several other pioneers came to Brighton also, among them was: Evelyn Baxter, Claire Gung, and Zeah Asgarzadeh. After two years of strenuous effort by all, we had enough new Baha�is to make the Assembly. It was a great victory.

For two years I had regularly sent to Shoghi Effendi, in Haifa, photos of many Baha�i activities in England and he always thanked me through his secretary. His short loving post � scripts added to these letters had drawn me close to him. I believe this happened to many other people who had written to him. One day, I wrote him offering to make a teaching trip through several countries of Europe on my motorbike. He wrote back thanking me but asked me to wait a bit and help with the homefront ~ChTrt~e British Isles was at that time struggling to complete a Five year Plan which he had given them. This was our first plan. It called for an increase of our Assemblies from five to nineteen. After two years we had built none, and in desperation our National Spiritual Assembly wrote asking his advice and prayers. He replied, suggesting we establish one assembly in Scotland, one in W ~ n~l ~nP in Tr ~ n~l ~n ~ t him know when we had done it.

This had been achieved and a bit more when I arrived from Canada but they were struggling with many other goals with only a year to go. An almost impossible task, it would seem. I think it was the suggestion of the Guardian that we invite John Robarts (later appointed a Hand of the Ca~ce) to come and do a teaching trip over the whole country. From memory, that is what I was told on my return to England.

John was chairman of the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly, and I had met hi: � n often in Toronto at the regular firesides in his home. In the winter evenings I would frequently make my way through the snow, in fur � lined boots, to his house. I could not go into his lounge with the boots, so left them at the door and went in to lay barefooted under the piano listening to the talks. The friends were all far too polite to comment on this til/ years later when I found I had become known as the barefooted seeker who lay under the piano and sometimes even went to sleep during the talk.

To return to the main story, John had been using prayer on a regular basis and even getting up regularly at mid � night to pray. Unusual results had followed. He had convinced many other people to use this method. They in turn had found results and came back to tell him. When he spoke at meetings in England, he gave endless accounts of such answers to prayer. In fact, he had so many wonderful stories that at each town he would enthuse about them irresistibly for over 5 hours with only a lunch break. The friends would listen enraptured, and many must have made a giant leap forward in their attitude to prayer.

As the last few months of the Five Year Plan neared there were still gaps in a lot of goal assemblies. This was not through lack of interested enquirers, but they needed something indefinable in order to see the truth. John now added something more (so I was told by those who heard him.) He would talk directly about Baha�u�llah, the proofs of his message and the appropriateness of His Message for the modern world. The meetings, I was told, would often end up with John holding cards aloft and calling upon those who believed, to come forward and sign. Some Baha�is were, I think, a bit shocked at such a direct call, but it seemed to be just what was needed. Many signed and the goals were won! Looking back 40 years it is quite difficult to recall all the wonderful details of those days, but the main features were unforgettable.

The next historic event was that the Guardian gave the triumphant British community a new �Two Year Plan.� Some of its main feature~ were, consolidation and opening up the continent of Africa to the Faith. .\~lanv People must have been astonished at Africa being on the plan, for only about 3 of us had ever been there, and conditions ~hoto were almost totally unknown. But what an adventure for those w ho would dare. And what joy it would bring to the heart of the beloved Guardian. If the Guardian felt we could do it, we would accept!

We were now to do something we had never done before, start opening up a vast continent. We knew that only with Divine assistance could we succeed. We also had so.ne very real resources because years ago the Guardian had sent some very mature Persian Baha�is to England. Hasan Balyuzi was one of these, and for many years he chaired our National Assembly with great wisdom and loving care. There was also Dr Hakim, who had lived in Haifa when Abdu�l Baha was alive.

Let me digress here to recount some interesting anecdotes I heard from these wonderful souls themselves. Hassan told a group of us how a certain over � enthusiastic Baha�i had been told by the National Assembly not to do a certain thing, but he did it anyway, was subsequently reprimanded by the Assembly and apologised. A few months were to pass and he did it again, was once more reprimanded and apologised. This happened again and the Assembly was consulting whether to take his voting rights away. Hassan said �But you can�t do that; he has already apologised!� He was right. They could not, for repentance is the way to get reinstatement of one�s lost voting rights.

Dr Hakim knew Abdu�l Baha well and felt that posterity should have as many good photographs of him as possible. He took many pictures of him with his Box Brownie camera, but became embarrassed, so one day he hid in a bush near to where the Master would pass. As the Master drew level with the bush, he stopped and said loudly. �Hakim, come out!� Sheepishly, Hakim presented himself before the Master, who said �Hakim, wherever I go, you put me in your little box!�

We also had Canon George Townshend in the community. I remember attending his class on Islam at Summer School, a most unusual subject for a canon of the church to talk on! His manner was humble but sure. He knew his subject well but did not wish to impose his views. This rare combination of qualities produced a rapt attention in the class. His faith was so certain, it was magnetic. He was highly erudite, as is testified by the fact that Shoghi Effendi sent him the finished script of �God Passes By� to review before publication. The Guardian also asked him to suggest a title for it, he suggested �God Passes By.� George Townshend was later appointed a Hand.

To return to the beginning of the Africa campaign, a matter very dear to the beloved Guardian�s heart; many British Baha�is, upon hearing of the plan, immediately started looking for jobs in Africa by searching the newspapers where Government jobs were advertised. I heard that a film featuring Humphrey Bogart was going to be shot in Kenya, and so I made an application for working as an extra, but was not accepted. Claire Gung, then living in Brighton, answered an advertisment for a matron at a boys school, was accepted & went to Africa. The Guardian later named her � �The Mother of Africa.� 20.

It was very clear to all African pioneers that we would be sacrificing most of the things in life which we had become accustomed to. These included even treasured events like Baha�i Summer Schools, conventions and all normal Baha�i activities. Little did we know that Africa, especially Nairobi was to become the scene of much Baha�i activity, of a type never seen before.

The Two Year Plan given to the British called for the establishing ol three groups only, in either east or west Africa. This was a last task by Shoghi Effendi for such a small community, but one carefully worked out to enable us all to develop higher capacity for future tasks. Soon pioneers were established in Uganda and Tanganika, many of them Persians. In Uganda this included Musa Banani, his wife daughter Violette and his son � in � law, Ali Nakhjavani. Kenya had some years ago received i~s first Baha�i, Marguerite Preston, who had gone out there to marry a farmer. I ~as keen to go there, so the Africa committee asked the Guardian if he would include it in his Plan. He gladly accepted, so I intensified my efforts to find a job there. I sent Marguerite a parcel of mt photographic work to show to possible employers but it was stolen, fortunately after she had showed it to some possible employers. Nothing grew out of all these efforts, so the Africa committee decided to buy me a return ticket so that I could look for work on the spot. I had about �200 cash of my own, and when that ran out, I was to return to England.

It was clear that life would not be easy for me in that far off country and it was not reassuring when my plane, after taxing out for take � off caught fire in one of its engines. The captain calmly came back to the passengers and announced: �I am not satisfied with the performance of the plane, we must go back to the terminal. A masterly understatement, I thought, as I watched the flaming engine through the window. We all unloaded and waited for 2 hours, then were called to board again on the same plane, and took off.

1~C�~, We landed~at Rome where I had planned to spend two days with the very small Baha�i community there. It was for me a great bounty. Not only was I :able to meet this lovely community, but afterwards I was shown round the ancient Roman ruins by Ugo Giachery. I took many photographs, one with Ugo�s feet astride the ruts in the street leading to the coliseum. Roman chariots had made those ruts thousands of years before my visit.

The next leg of the flight took me to Cairo where the Baha�is had a nice national center building. Here I was honoured to meet with 1~ct~) I the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt. They were delighted I was going to Kenya and promised their prayers. I was given a guide to take me sight � seeing and especially to the pyramids which were one short tram ride to the edge of the city. I gazed in awe at the sphinx and the incredible pyramids while Mustapha gave me pieces of their ~,oto ~ history. The sphinx has no nose because Napoleon smashed it off with a cannon ball! Travelling back into the city our bus ran into a large mob going in the opposite direction and shouting. I hung out of the window taking it all in, only to be hauled back into the bus by usta;~na. ~ � ndt are ~ney shou~in~ � ?� I asked � T hey ~ � an~ dependance from Britain and they are shouting �Down with the English, and you had better get you head down and keep it there!�

The plane took off for Khartoum the next day. When we landed, it was so hot I could hardly believe it, but there was a warm welcome from the Baha�is who were delighted to have an English visiting Baha�i. We had a most unusual dinner of goat meat and spices, followed by much discussion. That night we all slept out in the courtyard. It was the first time I had seen lizards running up the walls.

The next day I flew to Nairobi and stepped out of the BOAC plane into a whole new world. On the long ride to the hotel we passed through crowds of cheerful African people and saw their simple wattle and corrugated iron houses massed on all sides, while street hawkers were selling all kinds of things in a strange language. But when we came to the city center I found it much like a town in England.

It even had two super luxury cinemas which I found later, often got the new releases before England did. The climate was much better than in England, for although we were near the equator, yet the altitude was nearly a mile high. This brought the temperature down to comfortable levels most of the time. One very strange thing discovered later was, that all the shops and business were run by Asians, while the menial work was left to the African people. At the top of the ladder were the Europeans who had all the nice house with big gardens. I was to find that these divisions also carried quite different incomes.

The next two weeks were very busy, for I was visiting every photographic firm and~ne~spz ~er in the city; but nowhere was there a sign of a job. It was only a small economy and there was only one English speaking newspaper of note, and it had turned me down because it could not afford a full time photographer. My money was now gone and I was despondent; the only other kind of work I was trained for was farming, and I definitely did not want to do that. I could not even do manual work, for there were plenty of Africans to do that at a salary I could not live on. I went to my hotel room, lay down and weighed up the situation once more. It still looked hopeless, so I prayed for guidance. Soon I realised I was not alone; I represented the Baha�is of the whole world and the British ones were rny s � ;stainers. Besides, Baha�u�llah Himself had given the instructions to take the Message to every country, and I had come here to do my best. I fell into a dreamless but happy sleep.

The next morning a thought came to me to go back to the �East African Standard� newspaper. I went to the editor, Mr Kinear; he was a kind hearted and practical man and knew his job well, but somehow it had escaped him that in 3 months time, the newly married Princess Elizabeth, heir to the British throne and Prince Philip were coming to spend a few weeks in Kenya. The country had built a small house in the hills as a gift to them and they were coming out to live there for a while. Suddenly my future editor knew he needed a full time photographer, me.

I was told by Mr Kinear that the following week the whole country was holding a county show. Would I like to go as his photographer, on trial. If the photographs were satisfactory, I would be given the staff job. With a silent prayer for this last minute intervention, I thanked the heavenly concourse.

The Agricultural show was the main social event for the large farming p/~e~ 3 community. I photographed everything there, especially the horse jumping. The film was developed and printed and I went to see them in the editors office. Many of the pictures were good, but the most P~cio I important ones, the horse jumping, were all blurred. Yet all the others were good. This told me that the high speed shutter must be faulty. I had the camera with me and tried it on high speed. It made an unusual noise, which we both heard. The Editor was sympathetic and because the rest of the photographs were good, he appointed me staff photographer at �80 a month, a sum double what I had been getting in London. I u � as walking on air. He asked if I was short of cash and offered an advance of �50, also authority to build a darkroom, in an empty office and buy the equipment for it. Assignments would come each day from the news � editor.. The most important of all was the Arrival of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip for a two week stay in Kenya.

Most of the big London newspapers were sending their own photographers out to Nairobi to cover the arrival of the royal couple at Nairobi airport. However, Nairobi only had one radio station capable of transmitting photographs to London by a special machine. The first photograph to arrive there would get world importance and have the widest sales. Naturally our editor was keen that we should win both of them.

We found out that the London photographers had all made arrangements with the sophisticated RAF photo laboratory to do rapid development of their pictures. We did not stand much chance against such professionals but on discussing the problem with a friend, he said: �Do you want to try a wild idea?� �What is it?� I said. �Well, I once heard someone claim that you can develop film in a quarter of the time by using paper developing chemicals on the film, instead of conventional film developer. The quality is not good, and you must take it out of the chemicals exactly on time or the film will be ruined. Also you do not need to wash and dry the negative. Just rinse it off and print it wet by removing the glass film holder from the enlarger.� After several experiments, we found the right timing and method. We could now gain about thirty minutes over normal methods. But surely the opposition would surely als~��s~ch tricks. Only time would tell.

The editor nnw told me to advertise for a laboratory assistant to do all the printing. Soon, a smiling Indian named Rodriguez was working in the darkroom and turning out consistently good work, Still more thing~ needed to be arranged. One of � the reporters had a motorbike which could ~ through the massed traffic expected at the Royal arrival. We laid careful plans for him to take the film from me as ~ho~o as soon as the royal arrival had been photographed and transport it quickly to Rodriguez for developing. He would then rush it to the radio station. When the day came, everything worked perfectly. Our picture arrived first in London. � Everyone was delighted.

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited many places to witness life in the British colony of Kenya, always with a large group of photographers in attendance. On many occasions I was close enough to Her Majesty touch her if I wished, so the photos were good. One Sunday morning they were to attend a very small church �up country� from Nairobi, ~ here there were many large European farms. Unknown to me, all photographers had been asked to give the royal couple privacy on this one occasion. Hence, I was the only one to turn up. Whilst standing waiting with the stewards of the church I was introduced to a well dressed African named Mwangi. A steward explained that this man had built the whole church himself. Labourers had carried all the supplies, but he had personally laid every brick. He was to be presented to Her Majesty. Impressed, and also sensing a story, I photographed both him and the church. Noticing that the latter was packed full with white farmers and their families, I remarked to a steward: �I suppose there is a seat of honour reserved for Mwangi?� �Oh no! �Was the reply: �We don�t allow �niggers� in our church!� �But he built the church!� I remonstrated. He shrugged his shoulders. I recorded the Queens arrival and her introduction to Mwangi, then her entering the church. Hurrying back to Nairobi with my �scoop� I told the story to the news � editor. But he declined to print it. It was too inflammatory for this time of celebration.

I was not happy and took the story to the Christian Council of Kenya, an inter � church organisation They were upset and advised me to first talk with the Bishop of Mombassa. I phoned him and explained, but he was angry and told me that if I valued my job I would drop the whole matter. This, of course made me more angry. The following day Musa Banani and his family arrived in Nairobi to take a plane to Haifa for pilgrimage. The beloved Guardian had recently reopened this honour after many years of closure due to covenant breaker activity~ and this was the first group to go from our area. I visited them at the Avenue hotel where they were staying. Over supper, I related to them all the above events and asked for advice from Mr Banani. As Ali, his son�in�law translated ~c ~ my request, I wondered how such an unjust situation should be handled, and expected him to suggest a brilliant solution. He did exactly that with the brief words: �You did not come to Africa to save the Christian church. I suggest you forget it. I did!�

Part of the royal tour was for the Princess and Prince to follow a trail into the jungle and like any other tourist, spend the night in a giant treehouse over looking a watering hole where all kind of animals came to drink under the protection of night. There were plenty of white hunters with guns present to protect them; also many trees had steps nailed onto them for getting out of the way if attacked. That night, as they were watching the animals under floodlights (which the animals ignored for some reason), a message arrived from England: King George V, her father, had died suddenly. Princess Elizabeth was now Queen of England.

Everyone was shocked at the unexpected passing of the King, but were somewhat awestruck to realise that Kenya was now entertaining the Queen herself. As she made her way back to Nairobi airport and England, the photographers with one accord agreed not to take any photographs of her. This was out of consideration for her personal loss.

The sudden succession to the throne caused considerable interest all over the British Empire. Rightly assessing this, our editor now produced two large booklets of all our pictures of her taken in Kenya. One was published in London and one in Kenya. They were sold widely all over the Empire, for people wanted to know all about their new Queen.

With the departure of the Queen, life returned to normal in Kenya. I began making friends with the Africans I met in the city and also on the trips I made up country, 300 miles to the north and west where life was much more simple. The newspaper had loaned me the money to buy a car because I often had to travel quickly to news � making events. On one occasion I was sent by air to Dar � es � Salam (Arabic for �the abode of peace,�), to Mombassa and to the island of Zanzibar. The purpose was to get a good stock of photographs for future used A government agent, who was my local guide and translator.

I even arranged for me to take a photograph of the Sultan of Zanzibar with his wife. We met on the palace steps at 10 a.m. Looking at them from close up, I gasped inwardly with surprise. The Sultana, his wife, had taken this occasion to be photographed without a veil; no doubt a praiseworthy effort for women�s rights. But she had re � placed the veil with a thick layer of white powder, except for the eyes. She looked like a hollow � eyed ghost standing smilingly beside the richly apparelled Sultan. I took the picture and, bowing in respect for their distinguished persons, stepped back before leaving. A few years later The Sultan lost his throne as an African government took over the island.

~c 2 Zanzibar was a Moslem country, as was much of the coastal part ~ � ho~3 �~ i~en~a. r early the Arab dhows would sail south to Mombassa for their loads of wood which Arabia needed for many purposes. The pk~ 4 radio station broadcast in Arabic and a Moslem mulla gave talks on pk~ J their faith. At the radio station I was introduced to the chief Mulla. ~�h~� ~ He was waiting to give his daily live broadcast. Over a cup of tea, we conversed through an interpreter. Since he was reputed to be very influential and popular, I opened a religious discussion with him and introduced the Baha�i Faith. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss. He listened attentively while I gave a brief account. When I invited questions he smilingly declined. After a while I said �You cannot possibly be agreeing with everything I have said!� He courteously replied: �No, but I am waiting for a later occasion when we have more time and one of us can convert the other.� I then realised I had made little progress and was glad when he excused himself to make his usual daily broadcast. This was my first and only attempt to discuss religion with a Mullah. Later the beloved Guardian told the pioneers to avoid discussions with Moslem authorities because their ideas were so fixed and it might even arouse opposition.

Back in Nairobi, I found life very interesting and wrote regularly to my parents in England about my experiences. They were not Baha�is they were at that time, but. happy I had found a spiritually motivated path of service. However, they were worried about their only son being in such a strange land. In those days, Africa was looked upon by Europeans as the land of wild animals, dangerous things and mystery. While growing up in England, I had seen a horror film entitled �West ~f 7~n7ih~r� I remembered this now and realised ruefully, that here I was now living in Nairobi, west of Zanzibar! I dismissed the thought with a chuckle. Everything looked fine, I had a good job in a partly modern city in an interesting country. Little did I know that soon I was to become involved in some very real horrors, the photographing of the Mau Mau revolution from a~ front line position.

The dramatic change from English life where a black face was almost never encountered, to the African scene was greatly stimulating. So many things were different: it is hard to know where to start describing them. Being young, 31, and single, I had few worries about life and was constantly running into totally new situations. First, the sky wa~ always sunny with fluffy white clouds, winter and summer. Nairobi was only 100 miles south of the equator and it should have been unbearable, but located at 5000 feet above sea � level, it was very pleasant. The early white settlers had chosen the site well. Next, I became aware that white faces were definitely a minority, especially outside the city. The Africans lived in poverty, yet seemed happy in general, though of course they were gradually awakening to the luxuries of the Europeans. Occasionally I ran into a situation of anger against the whites, but mostly there was a happy ~:oo~ raLio11~ witli ~he African~ {loin~ all the menial jobs in the city, and u~ually IeLIViI)g their wives and families in the reservation to lo~ l; after ~heir SI1LII11b;~ I1eSe were small plots of land which grew slllaller ~ucll tilne a u~.u~ died alld his ~hamba was divided b~tweell his ~a,~ ullil~ll~e~. It WLI; I � ~aIIY an explosive situation because there were very large e~tal~s own~(l by whites, many of whom never came near them. An obvious one was owned by Lord Delamere, about 20 miles outside t~lail � ol)i and ils 20,()0() acl � es extended literally over the horizon, with nothing on it but a few grazing cattle and a volcano name Longonot. It extended ri~ht dowll the rift valley for about 50 miles. rented a be(l � sitter in the home of a nice old Jewish lady, about a mile from the city center. I was advised not to go out at night because People had been attacked and robbed. So I always used my nice new Ford Consul which the newspaper had financed for me. The main street of the city was line(l wi~h rows of jacaranda trees, aiR~AIei~ lovely blue flowers ~lorifi~d,~ � .v~1 � ytllillg. There were many other brilliant flowers lilie boul gallvilliLl buslles lining streets and gardens, lending a relaxed and happy atmosphere to the European are~s. In the large African suburbs it was quite different, for people lived in mud and tin huts with few facilities. Yet city life was always attracting people in from the reserves.

Kenya only has one port, Mombasa. Since it is at sea level, everything from there is very tropical, and so the early settlers went inland~ where the altitude made life more comfortable; but this necessitated building a railroad 350 miles long. They brought in large numbers of Indians from India to do this; when it was completed, most of these Asians stayed on and became shop keepers and the like. In fact they completely took over and cities 211 ~he shops in thP ~o vns~ hen 1 arrived there were three distinct cultures Whites, Asians and Africans. Their salaries declined dramaticalLy with each step. Outside the towns, the only road which was tarmac led from Nairobi to Nakuru, 100 miles to the north where most of the European farms were located. All the other roads were dirt, but well kept. Nevertheless it was quite an adventure to travel up into the northern part of the country, and people often had their windscreens shattered by a stone shot up by an approaching car.

Although about half of Kenya is desert, yet the rest is very fertile and almost tropical. This meant that the most common vegetation is the banana plant, which grows everywhere. Large areas are suitable for all kinds of wild game and hence it is a favorite tourist center for people from abroad. In fact only 15 miles outside Nairobi is a game park with nearly every kind of animal. And there are no fences. Good dirt roads allow tourists cars to travel all over this park Frequent notices tell tourists to stay in their cars and keep the windows up. Apparently animals have no fear of cars and do not even associate them with life, so it is a haven for photographers. However one road goes right across the I.said to my friends: �I hope the lions can read En~li~�

In the course of ~my job I mixed with some very friendly staff members and got drawn into some social life. I even joined the local mens hockey team. Only the fit can survive that for, at 5,000 ft the air is too thin to sustain heavy exercise for long. When t~ah first arrived at the time of a critical match it was a real challenge to nlav the whole game without a drink of water.

Perhaps this is the time to note that, apart from Egypt and Sudan where the Master Himself and some early Baha�is had spread the Faith, there existed in all of Africa but three known Baha�i; two lived in South Africa, Agnes Carey and Reg Turvey, and Marguerite Preston in Kenya. The first two were elderly and Marguerite, as mentioned earlier, had died in an air crash. Now there were two groups of new pioneers, one in Kampala Uganda, and one in Dar � es � Salam in Tanganyika. It was not surprising then that being alone in Kenya, I felt close to Baha�u�llah.

This was a very real and precious experience for me but as the coming Christmas 1952 approached, I realised that I had no real human friends nearer than Kampala, 440 miles away; and I had only met one of these. Although I was now a three year Baha�i I fully committed to celebrating Baha�i Holy days instead of the Christian ones, ~ Q~. were obviously the ones to be marked socially. Yet some impulse led me to write to the Banani family in Kampala and invite myself over there for the Xmas holiday period. I did not even know whether I would be an imposition on them. The warmth of their reply galvanised me into action. I put the idea to my editor and he agreed, asking me only to take some stock pictures for the newspaper wherever I went.

If I had known the rigours of such a journey on dirt roads, with few towns, washed out roads and unknown conditions, doubtless I would have spent Xmas in Nairobi. Most fortunately, I did not, for the love and kindness I received from those wonderful people in Kampala were to leave a permanent joy in my life. But let me return to the journey it~elf. n my brand new shining Ford Consul car, loaded with all the provisions could think of, and all my photographic equipment, I set off to Nakuru, 100 miles away. This was the only part of the trip done on tarmac. Twenty miles outside Nairobi it wound down the 2,000 ft escarpment into the rift valley, signs of this gigantic geological fault stretch north thousands of miles, even into Egypt. My journey would take about 12 hours, I calculated, and could be done in one day with luck.

No serious difficulty appeared until nightfall, when a giant of a thunder storm seemed to deposit its entire contents on my road. Even the windscreen wipers and headlights could not give me a clear view, but I soon realized that a few other vehicles were also trying to navigate a dirt. road which had been washed away. I need hardly say � African roads do not have the foundations we are used to in Europe.

To go back would have been as impossible as going forward, so I chose the latter. My new car bumped and groaned as we moved from one hard rocky place to another. Finally we came to a large expanse of water of unknown depth. Logic suggested I stop and take off the fan belt which is usually to blame for lifting water up from deep water and spraying it over the spark plugs � bringing one to a dead halt in the middle of the hazard; but with torrents of rain descending, to open the hood would have drenched the engine anyway � so I cautiously urged the car on, declining the third alternative of trying to get to the side of the road where I could be sure there was enough mud to stall any car. Soon the other side of the water appeared and the car scrambled out aq~ After this episode, nothing ahead seemed to daunt me and soon the town of Kisumu was reached. It was on the border of Uganda and also on the shores of Lake Kisumu itself. Here I found a hotel for the night.

Next day the skies were a clear innocent blue with hardly a cloud to be seen. By midday I had arrived at the home of the Banani family in Kampala and was given a very warm welcome and a large meal. For the next few days there was a lot of lively discussion as I recounted my recent experiences on the road and told them about my life in Nairobi. There was also much talk about the teaching work which was going on steadily and each day some African friends came in to hear about the Faith.

Others living there included Mrs Banani and Violette, the Banani�s daughter. Violette was married to Ali Nakhjavani, who was doing full time travel teaching, deputised by Mr Banani. (who could not speak either English or any African language.) There was also Ali and Violette�s very young baby, Bahiyyih. This reminds me of an amusing incident. Since there was much poverty in Kampala, there was also considerable crime. The night before my arrival, Bahiyyih had been robbed of all her bed � clothes with out being awakened. The bed, being under the open but barred window, had been an easy target and the thief had slowly pulled all the blankets & sheets through it. Baby Bahiyyih was discovered next morning, still sleeping peacefully on a bare mattress.

Claire Gung, as mentioned earlier, had been the first Baha�i pioneer to arrive in Africa. The Banani family were next. To my knowledge, no Baha�i had any experience at all in teaching the Faith to the dear African people, so we all had to start from scratch. For the Banani�s this meant prayer, more prayer and yet more prayer. The Guardian said later to a pilgrim, that Musa Banani�s prayers were the cause of all the highly successful teaching done in Africa. Aziz Yazdi once told me that Musa Banani had always been a fierce business man in Tehran, but when the Guardian had appealed for volunteers to open up the African continent, Musa Banani became a changed man and a spiritual giant. Musa Banani, his devoted wife, their daughter Violet her husband, Ali Nakhjavani dropped everything and set our for Africa. Arriving in Kampala, they bought a house and settled down. Ali obtained a job teaching in a local school, but after six months . Mr Banani appealed to him to become his permanent deputy. Ali confided in me that it was a strange feeling to give up his career and accepted this full time service in the Faith; a service which was to be of indefinite length. How were we to know then, that here was a future member of the first Universal House of Justice, which would be elected in 1963.

Ali started making long teaching trips �up � country� and contacting friends of the African people they knew in Kampala. We will never know the full details, I suspect, but there must have been some remarkable experiences and there were certainly very great results. Ali was so devoted to awakening the spirit of the people that he accepted all difficulties with a humorous serenity. For example, when he developed an allergy against curry, an African dish served to special visitors, he continued to eat it and take the tablets later to cure the allergy. He became much loved by the people and it was not surprising that these efforts of Ali and the help of later pioneers awakened the hearts of the people. There started at first a trickle and then a flood of declarations. The Guardian was delighted and announced the victory to the Baha�i world.

But let us return to Christmas 1952. At the time of my arrival in Kampala, the pioneers and Africans had reach nine in number. Two of these were away teaching, but it was my privilege to photograph seven of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Kampala and send the picture to the beloved Guardian in Haifa. He hung it over his bed at Bahji, so dear was this victory to his heart.

When it was time for me to return to Nairobi, I asked if there was a different route than the one which had been so perilous coming to Kampala, Ali told me of a detour further north and I set off full of hope and followed, of course, by Banani prayers for my deliverance from the floods. This road seemed much better, but soon I came to a about 100 yards which was thinly flooded. I charged it at a good speed, but soon became stuck. While wondering what to do next, I became aware that there were people nearby. lt was obvious that they would be glad to give me a push through the mud for a small consideration. With signs I asked for this and offered them ten shillings. They were all in high spirits and I secured a fine photo through my windscreen, showing them leaning all over the hood discussing the offer. It was agreed, and soon the car was sliding through the mud to the tune of melodious chanting. In fact the mud was so thick that I did not even have to steer, so I got out, locked the door as we went along and stayed back to take a photo of my new car sliding through the mud. These photographs are now cherished additions to my album. When we reached dry ground I thanked them heartily and added a bonus payment. The rest of the journey was uneventful, thanks to daylight and a bright sun. When I went to the newspaper office next morning and told some of the reporters about this incident, they laughed heartily. Apparently it was a custom for the people living in the reservation to dam up a stream and divert it down a road, in order to catch motorists and earn a little cash. I could not help but chuckle at their simple logic.

A few weeks later I was joined by a most welcome pioneer, Aziz Yazdi. When the Guardian had announced the Africa Campaign, Aziz, then a businessman living in Tehran, had set up a small office to collect information about Africa and encourage people to pioneer there. He had become so interested in such a prospect that he pioneered to Africa himself; leaving his wife and four young children in the new house they had saved up for over many years. He arrived in Nairobi, filled with devotion and eagerness to start teaching; but this would have to wait. First he must set up an import, export business to earn a living. Meanwhile, in order to earn a little cash, he answered an advertisement for actors to work on a movie which was soon to be made. They dressed him up as a fierce Arab and took photos; but he did not get the job.

Aziz family would join him when he had secured work of some kind. Meanwhile we rented a house together and set out to find interested Africans with whom we could discuss the higher meaning of life.

Making friends was easy, for they responded gladly when we offered them a lift on the road. As we took them to their destination, we quickly became friends and were able to show how the Message of Baha�u�llah could solve all problems. We then went back and picked up others. Soon we were able to invite several to our house. We found that language was no real problem for many spoke English. They were interested in the Faith, especially as our lack of racial prejudice was new to them; but even after two months we were no nearer finding deep interest. Finally, Aziz suggested we get up for dawn prayer every morning and implore help from >Baha�u�llah. We chose a little summer � house in the public park as our meeting place and called it our Baha�i temple, Dawn was at 5.30 a.m. and after two weeks, my work began to suffer through lack of sleep, so we prayed at home instead.

One day another Baha�i arrived in Nairobi. Richard St. Barbe Baker, who with two friends, had just driven across the Sahara desert from west to east, planting dates stones in the oasis they came across. He had just parted with his two friends, and I found him by accident, parked on the main street. Of course, here lies a tale, for no normal person would do such a thing without a definite purpose. St.Barbe had one. Forty years before the present widespread concern over the environment, he was saving whole forests of trees all round the world. He had founded a �Men of the trees organisation� and single handedly had interviewed governors, presidents and the like to suggest saving their precious trees. Being very distinguished looking and powerfully motivated from hidden sources, he would look these world leaders in the eye from a position of equality and they listened carefully to his philosophy. He had been instrumental in saving a redwood forest near San Francisco, and other forests in Africa and Europe. He had spoken with the president of � ~htt ~ on the merit of planting trees and it was done. He had spoken earnestly with the President of Israel himself and persuaded him to order the planting of massive amounts of trees for the good of the nation. He had visited Kenya many years before my own arrival there and suggested to the Governor how ~reat a deed it would be if he encouraged the Kikuyu tribe to plant gum trees in their reservation. This very month he had been invited by Chief Njonjo to attend a ceremony in his honour, for those trees were now 50 feet high and were greatly treasured by the Kikuy ~

Before I had left England for Africa, I had met him by chance in Trafalgar Square, London. He and his friends had parked their Landrover next to a handcart whose owner was selling dates in the street. Through his amplifier Baker was encouraging the crowds to buy dates for their lunch, eat them and put the stones in his barrels, so that he could plant them in the Sahara. They had gone to with a will and filled his barrels with date � stones, much to the delight of the astonished salesman. ~ow he had fullfilled his promise to the London lunch crowd and planted the date seeds in oasis after oasis, all the way across the desert. I hardly need to say that Baker was not contented with saving or raising forests in many countries. His real goal was to energise many governments, and especially those on the edge of the Sahara, to reclaim the Sahara desert itself.

This vision may have been before its time, but he was determined mankind should get the idea. He had done research and found there was evidence of underground rivers there. He had spoken with Prime Ministers, Heads of States, and he had cajoaled, pleaded and written books about it; now he had demonstrated its feasibility. If an old man of 68 could diagonally cross that desert and plant ~eeds, so could others, if thev wis.led.

It fell on me to be the news photographer who recorded his arrival in Nairobi and brought him to the news editor. For a day, he was front page news; then he was off again on another project. He did not slacken his efforts to improve the planet until he died in his early ninetie~. The beloved Guardian had greatly encouraged him and had become the first life member of �The Men of the Trees� an international organisation which St.Barbe Baker had founded many years before.

Here I should also mention Marguerite Preston who had moved to Kenya some years earlier when marrying a Kenya farmer. They now had two fine boys about 5 and 7 years of age. Marguerite was a Baha�i of some experience but had found it difficult to teach the Faith in Kenya while living �Up � country� and with a non � Baha�i husband. However; she was very eager to help us in whatever way possible. I remember having lunch with her as she was preparing to visit her relatives in England. Her m ain worry was that she was f Iying the next day and had not made a will directing that her two boys be raised with a good knowledge of the Faith, if she should die on the flight. Next day, the radio gave the news of her plane flying into a mountain in Sicily, on its way to England. There were no survivors. We grieved with her family in their sore loss. I told them of Marguerite�s last wish, expressed to me verbally and asked if they would like us to help the children know about the Faith, but they wished to raise them in their church. We could do nothing.

Life went on as usual, but one day our milkman, who delivered on a bicycle with a large carrier, ran into a tree with an awful crash. We rushed outside to help. He was uharmed but surrounded by smashed bottles and spilt milk. Figuring that he would have to pay for it, we each gave him some money and he went off singing cheerfully. We looked at each other in surprise. �Did he do it deliberately?� Aziz asked me. We never found out.

Meanwhile, a few weeks later, the Banani family returned from their pilgrimage. They again passed through Nairobi on their way back to Kampala and I was greatly priviledgedto listen to their experiences and drink in the divine fragrances of those holy places. I had sent a message by the Bananis to Ruhiyyih Khanum, saying that I was saving up to go on pilgrimage. They now gave me her reply: �You have enough money, come now!� At first I was dumbfounded, for my bank account was about empty. Also I had only been in my new job a few months; how could I ask for annual leave? Yet, emboldened by Ruhiyyih Khanum�s reply, I felt motivated to give it a try. After all, the editor was very pleased with my work, and I did have a pay check due.

Sure enough, he was glad to give me a reward for good work well done. I had 9 days for pilgrimage and sent a cable asking the Guardian for permission. He gladly accepted. I began trying to understand the spiritual significance of a pilgrimage. Additionally it occured to me that no professional photographer had, to my knowledge, yet recorded those holy places. All the Baha�i world had were the amateur photos taken by Effie Baker; I had seen these printed in the �Dawnbreakers�. But how could I do justice to such an historic project in only nine days, and also make a pilgrimage?.

It seemed to me that the only solution was to ask the Guardian for an extension of 10 days. Before asking his permission I went down to the travel office and booked the extended reservation to make sure of it. I thought this could be changed if the extension was not granted. Then I wrote to the Guardian himself, asking for the extension. I was hard for me to believe that my editor would grant a further ten days, but when I explained my problem he willingly agreed. A few days later came the Guardian�s reply: �Do not advise more than 9 days.�

I went back to the travel office and tried, unsuccessfully, to change the booking back to the original 9 days. I could only hope that it would come before the day of take � of f, but it did not. What was far worse, I now received a further cable from Haifa: �Postpone pilgrimage � Shoghi.� Five days later, on April 13th 1952 came yet another: �Obstacle removed welcome � Shoghi. The reason for recording all this detail will be seen later, in the light of what happened in Haifa. All these cable originals are still among my treasured possessions. The cause of the temporary postponement, I learned later, had been some serious trouble with the covenant breakers who lived in the house next to the Guardian.

When the day of my departure arrived, I presented myself at Nairobi airport with three cameras, more equipment and a large suitcase containing tinned food and a fresh African paw � paw; for I had heard there were food shortages in Haifa. Knowing that I was far over weight, I carried in my pocket �50 in cash to pay for it. As my baggage was weighed, I prepared to pay, but the sympathetic lady in charge smilingly ignore the weighing machine and waved me through. I gasped in relief, but then realise that I would be breaking the law by taking ~50 cash out of the country. I reached into my bag and, taking out a plain envelop, pushed the surplus notes into it, addressed it to myself, put a stamp on it and, leaning over the barrier, mailed it in a providential mail box. Another miracle! When I finally returned to Nairobi, I found that money waitin~ for me at mv address!

Landing at Lydia airport in Israel, I was passing through customs wondering if I had any forbidden things. The official asked me for the purpose of my visit: �Baha�i pilgrimage.� I replied.� Without inspection, he passed me through with the cheery word: �Please give my regards to Shoghi Effendi!� Even then, when there had been few Baha�i pilgrims, all government officers had learned to trust and honour Baha�is. This was due, no doubt, to the exemplary lives of both Abdu�l Baha and Shoghi Effendi and their frequently expressed coricern in word and deed for the state of Israel. We read how Abdu� I Baha was knighted for his real contributions to alleviate the sufferings of the people when they were in desperate need. Shoghi Effendi continued this relationship by such acts as sending greetings to the Prime Minister on the State anniversaries and by sending a check to help alleviate suffering when disasters occured.

Following the instructions of the Bananis, I took a bus to Tel Aviv, ten miles away, and spent the night at a hotel. Enquiring in the morning about transport to Haifa, 100 miles to the north, it appeared that the cheapest way was a sharing taxi called a �sheroot.� After a cramped two hour journey with many locals, we rounded the spur of Mt. Carmel and caught the first glimpse of the Bab�s Shrine. At that time there was no golden dome~ but I had the feeling that great spiritual bounty awaited here for those who could accept it. Though pictures of this holy mountain and its sacred Shrine were not often seen in those days, yet the regular letters from Shoghi Effendi to believers and Assemblies around the world had built in us a deep awareness of its spiritual significance for mankind. I was to find that life there was redolent with the loving kindness which we had read about in accounts of the days when Abdu� I Baha had lived there.

I was dropped off at number 10 Harparsim Street at a building then known as the �Western Pilgrim House,� later to become the first seat of the Universal House of Justice. Ugo Giachery, whom I had last met in Rome on my way to Kenya, hosted my initial tour of the building and explained the custom that each evening, all the friends gathered in the main lounge awaiting the arrival of Shoghi Effendi from his house across the road.

That same evening, there were about ten of us waiting to refresh our eyes with the sight of his blessed face, the �Sign of God� on earth. Most of the members of the International [Baha�i] Council were present (a body which the Guardian had appointed the previous year to preceed the election of the Universal House of Justice) also Ethyl and Jessie Revel who had been doing secretarial work here for some years, and Ugo Giachery ~ � ho was supervising the erection of the crown and dome on the Bab�s Shrine in accordance with Sutherland Maxwell�s designs. Mr Maxwell, the Guardian�s father � in � law, had been invited by him to spend the remaining years of his life living in the Guardian�s home, and to help him with the design and construction of the Shrine. The stone cutters in the Icalian quarries were, it was said, astonished at the perfection of ~Ir Maxwell�s designs, and it was unnecessary to make working drawings beforecutting the stones.

At 7 p.m. a maid � servant came up the circular stairs from below and announced: �Shoghi Effendi is waiting for you.� Naturally, I hung back to ~all these esteemed people to go down the stairs first, OUt ~or some r~aCGn they were all waiting for me. �The beloved Guardian is waiting to hear about Africa, Ted!� Said Ugo. In some confusion, I headed for the stairs and descended. At the bottom stood a@@ Shoghi Effendi: �Welcome, Welcome� he said: �We have been expecting you for a long time.� He embraced me and it seemed that �Abdu�l � Baha Himself had spoken. �Marhaba! Marhaba!� he would have said. The Guardian was short in stature, but an air of calm, loving and strong purpose emanated from him. He was wearing a black taj and long black jacket. I remember noting that there was a small threadbare place on it just where the coat would brush against the desk through many long hours of writing to friends everywere and also in translating the holy Texts. We went into the dining room and he seated me just across the table from himself, with Ruhiyyih Khanum at his right. The others took their chairs without saying anything, but taking in every word. The very great respect and their instant obedience to his every request, spoke volumes to this very new Baha�i. I was instantly impelled to conform my own attitude to their own.

The Guardian asked me about the journey, Nairobi, my job and how in Kenya was the Faith progressing? �So far there are no declarations Shoghi Effendi.� I said. �But we are persevering in prayer and in finding ways to talk with the African people. It is a beautiful country and they are all friendly.� He smiled and said: �You will soon have an Assembly in ~airobi.� His words were full of assurance. Silently, I wondered ho~v it would come about. He was not put off by the lack of visible results. I felt that, since his prayers must have been regularly surrounding our every effort, matters were falling into place with certainty, the chosen ones were being steadily consumated; and so it turned out.

As dinner proceeded, I remained silent, content to wait for the Guardian to sp~ak. He did not eat for some time, but questioned me further about Africa, to which he was giving high priority at that time. He carefully considered my replies, then said: �It is very important to get the Faith established in Africa before materialism and politics get a hold on the masses.� I said: �It has already got a hold on the people in the city� He replied: �Yes, I understand, but you will find the people in the villages much more receptive to the Faith.� The way he discussed matters gave me increased confidence because it was spoken as between equals and I felt no pressure from him, just consultation on what was to be accomplished. This kind of caring, helpful attitude typified all his words during the time I was at his table.

Later, he talked about the British believers, how they were ingenious in rerouting many Iranians to goal areas as they arrived in our country. He mentioned also that the British probably had the highest percentage in the Baha i ~iorlcl, for believers pioneering on the home front to fill the goals, each year. From memory, it was about 48%. He mentioned what a big loss it had been to us when the Hofman�s had been forced to reduce their Baha�i activities to devote more time to their own publishing business, I had been present at convention in England last year when, just before election, David Hofman had spoken to the delegates in words such as these: � �Dear friends, I am not allowed to try to infl~uence your vote, but I feel I must read to you from a letter we have just received from Shoghi Effendi. Quote: �I feel you should consider withdrawing from the considerable services you have been giving to the aclrninistration, in order to allow you to devote much more 36. time to your business, until it is stronger. David and Marion Hofman had both been on the National Spiritual Assembly of England for some years and this took much of their time from the business which was in difficulties. In this example, the common sense appproach of Shoghi Effendi is seen balancing worldly duties with service to the Faith. The Hofmans were not elected to the National Assembly that year and for several vears thereafter. Their business improved. �~ihat we did not know therl was that in 1963 L)avid Hofman would be one of nine to i~e elected to the first Universal house of Justice.

Baha�i temples were next discussed and the Guardian listed the possible si,es for the possible sites for the next one: Cairo, Haifa, Tehran or Kampala were all mentioned. As we now know, Kampala was built soon after that time. It became a magnet and an inspiration for over 20,000 Baha�is who would soon come into the Faith in Uganda alone! When that tremendous growth took place, we heard that India had enrolled over 100,000 believers. Some cre said: �They are far ahead of us!� �Not so!� exclaimed Hasan Sabri. �We only took five years to do this and India took 100 years to get their 100,000!� We read that the Faith �va s taken to India during the lifetime of Baha�u�llah.

To return to Haifa in 1952, Shoghi Effendi explained that pilgrimage is not for the purpose of seeing ~he Gtlardian, nor for obtaining information about the Faith, but to experience the spirit Ol the holy Shrines and the holy places associated with the Revelation. Here ~ should mention that all pilgrirns weregently told not to take notes at the Guardian�s dinner table. He wanted their full attention to be centered on the spiritual experience of the pilgrimage.

However, each night after supper, when the Guardian had returned to his home across the road, we would gather in the lounge to compare notes and write down what we agreed had been said. I filled a notebook and am now trying to relate those memories as clearly as possible. Of course these pilgrim notes have no authority, but the Guardian encouraged al~ pilgrims to share their experiences and notes, as long as it was made clear thatAYare just personal impressions and nothing more. Re � reading them now 38 years, later I can still clearly visualise those surroundings and the Guardian as he talked with all of us in that blessed Spot.

I asked if the Africans had ever had a Prophet. He said: �Yes, but not in Africa.� �Could it have been the Sabean Prophet?� �Possibly�

�In each Revelation there is one mystery which is not explained; in Christianity it is the virgin birth, and in the Baha�i revelation it is the station of the Master.

He spoke of the 9 stages of the evolution of the Faith. 1.) Ignored. 2.) Persecution. 3.) Recognition. �In most countries we are still in 1 & 2, but the Egyptian court had already declared Baha�i a seperate religion from Islam. This is a victory!� Regarding the other six steps, the Guardian asked us not to talk about them to the public, lest it aroused unnecessary opposition. Stage 2 is not likely to be completed in this century, but all nine would be achieved before the Golden Age.

�America will be Pured in the crucible of war to prepare her for her mission.

One evening Ruhiyyih Kahnum asked the Guardian why no women would serve on the Universal House of J ustice. Perhaps she w as asking this for my sake, for she must have been fully conversant with the Guardian�s thoughts on this matter. The Guardian�s reply contained some things which I had heard before, such as, �it is a difference of function, not of women�s rights, and the w isdom of it w ill appear in the future.� He went on: �It is not women�s function to run armies or be a Prophet. The greatest work in the Cause today is teaching, and in this the women will excel more than men; they are more courageous, bolder and have more talent in this than men. Men and women are complimentary in their functions.�

�God�s way is not men�s way. What price glory? The w hite race in Africa learned great lessons � to be free from prejudice, establish equal opportunity and give precedence to minorities.�

The East has given inspiration to the West and the East must now learn practical lessons from the West.�.

One evening, after Shoghi Effendi had left us and returned to his house, we all sat consulting together in the upper lounge and writing down what we could remember. The discussion turned to a court case involving the Guardian and the Covenant � breakers.

It concerned the demolitlon of a small house close to the Shrine at Bahji, owned partly by the Covenant Breakers and partly by the Guardian. It was of great importance to Shoghii Effendi to beautify a large areas around the most Holy Shrine. This inferior building stood in the way. No one knew what the court would decide. Ugo Giachery commented: �How much Shoghi Effendi was suffering tonight.� From this remark, it was clear to me that although Shoghi Effendi was the �Sign of God on earth� with all the ?rotection and guidance that implied, yet continual watchfulness and a great deal of mental and ethical effort, as well as much prayer, was required of him at all times.

The unrelenting opposition by the Covenant � breakers to every project the Guardian embarked upon in the Holy Land must have taken a great toll of his strength and constantly delayed progress. It is illuminating to look back on the steps by which he steadily eliminated them from the Baha�i properties and reduced them to impotence, even while working on many other projects for the Faith. This can especially be seen in the stages by which he removed them from Bahji and its surroundings. It was my bounty to hear the details from others in these late night discussions.

It may come as a shock to many Baha�is to hear that Bahji Mansion, where Baha�u�llah passed away in 1892, continued to be occupied by the Covenant � breakers for 40 years, until 1932. Even after that time they were still occupying the outbuildings until 1957, the year of Shoghi Effendi�s passing. To return to 1927, they had allowed the Mansion to fall into a terrible state of delapidation. They asked Shoghi Effendi to repair the roof for them. He replied that he would not start until they evacuat � the rP.Dairs ed the building, which they did. Before~ were finished, he persuaded the British High Commisioner (Israel was then a British Protectorate) to declare the Mansion a Holy Place. This excluded it from all private occupation permanently. The Covenant � breakers were thus excluded from from reoccupying it ever again. ~hen we look back on the exemplary life of Abdu�l Baha, we can see that had won the admiration of the authorities. He was eventually kni~hted by theBritish Government for services to the people and the British army. This was obviously of great help to Shoghi Effendi in his communication with all the authorities in Palestine.

Shoghi Effendi now started refurnishing the Mansion after the style of Baha�u�llah�s time and added display and archival material. He had a s;mpie beu pu~ in one cf the bedroGms for himself, so that he could stay over night on this task of great love. When I eventually sent him a photograph of the first Assembly in East Africa, the one elected in Kampala, he put it over his he~i in that r ~ m.

Another evening Shoghi Effendi spoke long and in detail about the attempts made by the Covenant � breakers to cause trouble for the Master when he was buying the land surrounding the Shrine of the Bab. When he had erected the first simple building, they reported to the Sultan of Turkey that it was a fortress for starting a revolutionary movement, but Abdu�l Baha was able to prove their accusations false. After the 1950 war, when many thousands of Arabs fled and the State of Israel was found on ~ G2.~ ed, we were able to acquire several properties Awhich had belonged to the Covenant � Breakers. In the more recent times, Shoghi Effendi pointed out that Hitler was an enemy of the Baha�is and if he had captured all of north Africa, he would have gone into Egypt and Palestine and he would have exterminated the Baha�is as had happened in Germany and Russia. But he was preordained to fail. The Mufti of Jerusalem would also have been a big danger to the Baha�is in these circumstances.

Another topic touched on by the Guardain was prayer. He said very clearly that it is not enough to pray about a problem; one needs also to think about it and then to act.

The next evening started with a severe test for me. As we entered the dining room, I was directed to the far end of the table and two newly arrived pilgrims took my place opposite Shoghi Effendi. I had become so magnetised by his presence that it had never occurred to me such a thing could happen. As the Guardian talked to the new arrivals, I began remonstrating with myself for being unhappy; the Guardian was still there, but I found myself perforce, relegated to listening only, as did the members of the International Council. My mind had wandered from the Guardian�s words. As at a great distance I heard him say: �Tomorrow a delegation from the Baha�i International Council will present a letter of felicitation to the Governor � � f Haif2 ~ n the occasion of the 15th annual celebration of the founding of the State of Israel. I want you to go with the delegation.� I looked up, and the whole table were looking at me, as was the Guardian. �Yes Shoghi Effendi� I managed to say. �It will help them to realise how widespread the Faith is, because you are from Africa.� I was uplifted and joyful to be given a task like this, but nothing could replace being able to look across the t~hle into his w arm, steady eyes. Ugc Giachery ~lason Remey and I performed this mission the next day; we were received with much warmth.

Jessie Revel reported that locusts were devastating trees in Tel Aviv, only 100 miles away. �What shall we do if they start destroying our shrine gardens? �We shall replant them� Was the Guardian�s reply. He then turned to me and said: �Your next job is helping to found the institutions of the Cause in Kenya.� Such was his caring nature, that he had sensed my mood and reached out to me.

Two days later, the Guardian�s Buick, with his chauffer, Carlo driving, took Ruhiyyih Khanum, Nellie French (another new pilgrim) and myself 20 miles around the bay to Acca to visit the �Most great prison� where the Blessed Beauty and many of His followers and family had spent over two years under the most terrible conditions. As we entered this massive, bleak building, we tried to imagine the arrival of the Holy family. We ascended by an open stairs to the third floor and entered a large area surrounded by a number of cells. To our left, the first cell had a brass plate above the door stating �Baha� i Holy Place�. It was explained to us that the Israeli Government had made a law that all the Holy places of every religion in the country should become the property of that religion and be marked in this way. Through the iron bars we could see a cell with three windows and a raise portion of the floor where Baha�u�llah usually laid out His mat to sleep. Bars covered the windows also. We entered and sat on the rush mats to pray and visualise those incredible times, less than 100 years ago. Afterwards we saw the skylight l igh up in the ceiling of the central hall where the Purest Branch had fallen to his death. We recalled his request to His father that his life be a sacrifice for the world and especially that pilgrims should be allowed to visit the Blessed Beauty.

Leaving the prison we went along the road behind the maCcive sea battlements for about 200 yards to the House Aboud. For seven years the Holy family had lived here, after the prison. Yet the whole city was a prison for them and Baha�u�llah Himself was confined to a few rooms. His own bedroom has a v erandah on three sides, and we were told that pacing this narrow path, looking out to sea, was His only permitted exercise. On the end of a long divan rested a taj which He had worn. It ~I as reverently covered by a delicate embroidered cloth. Again we and His Presence prayed and tried to visualise those daysA. Another room had been Abdu�l Baha�s and in this room Baha�u�llah had written much of the Aqdas, as well as letters to the Kings of Europe.

Then, lea~ � ing the city, our car took us two miles into the country north � east of Acca. The whole valley was ~ery fertile and luxurio~, Our dirt road led us to an imposing stone archway, the entrance ~o~ to an oasis. �,~ e entered and crossed a wooden bridge over a stream and were greeted by a gardener. He had set out a table very old and chairs under the shade of someAmulberry trees to welcome us. An ornamental garden seat had been built under these trees on one side of thi~ small retreat. On this seat, Bah�u�llah had often rested and talked to His followers in the later years of His life. The gardener, who was also the custodian and lived nearbv, brought a horse and invited us to watch while he harnesd it to a beam, centered on some ancient machinery atop a tvell As the horse circled the well, water was drawn up by a chain of cups and spilled into a pipe which carried it to a fountain in the center of the garden. The peaceful clank of the harness, the songs of birds and the splash of the fountain as it rose from a pedistal produced an air of magic in that fragrant spot. The water overflowed and ran down a channel past Baha�u�llah�s seat at the back of the garden and into what used to be another streamA~ This stream bed was some years ago now dried up because~the British army had blocked it to reduced the incldence of mosquitoeC and malaria. We saw in imagination the Blessed Beauty sitting talking with His followers and wondered what He had said to them there. Ruhiyyih Khanum had brought a picnic lunch which she now laid out. We sat eating and listening to the fountain and the birds, each occul~ied with his own thoughts.

Afterwards we were shown a small dwelling where Baha�u�llah had sometimes slept. Some of His blankets and personal possessions had been arranged in this bedroom, no doubt by the beloved Guardian or Ruhiyyih Khanum. Baha�u�llah had named this small island �The Ridvan Garden� in memory of that other Ridvan garden in Baghdad. After this, we went further north a few miles to visit the house of Masra�ih where Baha�u�llah had lived for two years after leaving the prison. There were orchards and fields surrounding the with blossoms house and the air was fragrantA. We came upon the ruins of an ancient aqueduct which Baha�u�llah had been instrumental in getting repaired. Now with mains water everywhere, it was once more silent. We entered the mansion and ascended the stone stairs which had known the feet of the Blessed ~eauty. His bedroom looked out over the beautiful scenery. It ~ as, we read; a deep joy to Him, aftPr 9 years in Acca, without the sight of a blade of grass. varlous At dinner that evening the Guardian talked about,l forms of Govern ment. He said that the British triple stage elections were nearest to Baha�i and is a government �!f the peor~ h~,~ the best of the people. America should learn this method. As sem blies In the future, Local A in large towns may have double stage elections. Back to Africa, Shoghi Effendi praised the teaching ~ ork of Ali Nakhjavani. �I am very proud of what they have done so far.� Ali and his brother were raised in Haifa by the Guardian when their parents had died. one of my fellow pilgrims Shoghi Effendi said that Nellie French, one of my fellow pilgrims, had, in a way, done the did same work as Martha Root (who did it at an earlier time, when there were few institutions.) The blessings of the Master had enabled her to give the Message far and wide, especially in Italy. The thought occurs to me that, at this present time, years later, manv isolated Baha�is are still doing this in places far from the cities.

In those days, all pilgrims were the guests of Shoghi Efendi. Western pilgrims lived in the house across the street from the Master�s house and the Oriental pilgrims lived at the house near the Shrine of the Bab, much higher up the mountain. It was the beloved Guardian�s cust~m to have dinner each night with the Western pilgrims, so that they could talk informally with him. In the afternoons, he would walk round the Shrine gardens with the Oriental pilgrims and talk as they went. Of course, each group felt it had a priceless privilege in this arrangement and felt sorry for the other group, so everyone was happy! The next day, being the 9th of Ridvan, we were~invited to the Oriental pilgrim house where the Guardian gave a talk on the meaning of this Holy Day. He spoke entirely in Persian, because I was the only Westerner present. However, much to my embarassment, he stopped in the middle and gave me a shortened account of what he had been saying. I felt touched by his consideration. Looking back, it was clear that he was making sure a minority did not feel left out. Afterwards, we all went to the Shrine of the E~ab. Surprisingly the ladies entered a door on the north side of the shrine and the men into a door on the south side with the Guardian.

I should explain, there are 9 rooms inside the shrine of the Bab, � � 71~ all about equal in size and arranged in three rows. The center room of the middle group is the holy spot where the Bab�s remain are enshrined; each side there is aroom for the pilgrims who approach a low step and offer their prayers, the men on one side and the ladies on the other. Each can see into the center chamber fror.1 opposites sides, through a wide mesh curtain

Later, Ruhiyyih Khanum explained to us that in future, it would be changed, but now it was too much of a break with tradition for Oriental men and ladies to pray together. She herself, of courae, properly I ed t ,e ladies. But to return to the 9th Day of Ridvan; Shoghi Effenai stood just inside the door as the men entered, and anointed them with attar of roses as each stepped in. The first two Persians tried to kiss his feet, but he raise them up and moved them along. When we were all gathered, Shoghi Fffendi came to the threshold and recited the prayer of Visitatior. in Persian; It hangs, framed, on the wall just to one side. He then th~ knealt at the threshold for a few moments ard backed out to the door, keeping his face to thethreshold. Weall followed his example. The Guardian led us ne)~t into the front section of the buiding where lies our beloved Master. Similar devotions were followed there.

Both center rooms were covered with masses of flowers, arranged with great care. All present must have been much uplifted in spirit as we spent some time walking round the beautiful gardens afterwards.

A few days earlier, Shoghi Effendi had requested me to take photographs of the inside of the Shrine of the Bab, now that it was specially decorated for Ridvan. He said he would advise me when this should be done.

While we were waiting in the Pilgrim House one evening for the Guardian to arrive for dinner, Ruhiyyih Khanum suddenly appeared alone and said �Ted, the Guardian says that now is the time to photograph the Shrine of the Bab. Dr Hakim will come with you and the Guardian�s car is waiting to take you up to the Shrine. If you hurry, you will be back in time for at least the last h~lf nf the Guardian�s dinner.

Shoghi Effendi had told me I was to feel free to take the photographs in any manner I wished. He had then remarked, �Have you noticed that with colour photos, if you slightly underexpose, th~ ~olors will be more brilliant?� It was the early days of color photography and I was amazed that he was so knowiedgable about it. � He continued, �If you place the camera centrally, the picture will be perfectly symetrical, as you look through to the inner shrine.� This I took careful note of and made sure of taking before anything else. However I also took one slightly off center, for I felt this ,ave more depth. With three cameras, I took many pictures and we finally arrived back at the Pilgrim ~iouse about 11 p.m. The Guardian had long finished his dinner and gone back to his home across the street. Ruhiyyih Khanum was waiting for us with a plate of sandwiches and must have noticed my exhaustion and disappointment at missing dinner with the Guardian. We said good � night and everyone retired.

Next morning, Ruhiyyih Khanum came across to the house after breakfast and said, �Ted, the Guardian says that, if you feel it wise, you may cable your editor in Nairobi to ask for a ten day extension of pilgrimage.� As mentioned earlier, due to my own fumbling and miscalculations I had plagued my editor with a number of different schedules and felt niost embarrased, about it. Now I was considering upsetting my editor�s affairs even more, and by a simple cable which would not allow me to explain or apologise. �It is too late Ruhiyyih Khanum, I said

�I dare not take the risk of upsetting my editor.� �Well, think about it Ted, and whatever you decide is alright with the Guardian He feels there will be a lot to photograph, more than you can do in nine days.� After much thought, I discussed the matter with Ugo Giachery and decided to send a cable. Anything was worth an extra ten days. Together we walked down to the main post office in town, a half hour�s walk; and since it was then nearly midnight, we went round to the rear entrance and found a way in, sent off the cable and came back to the pilgrim house. We said goodnight an went to our rooms. As I was getting into bed I suddenly remembered I had put the wrong return date on the cahle. There was no option but to get dressed, go down town and send off a corrected cable. Once more I was getting into bed and realised that again I had made a mistake. I dressed and returned to the post office. And yes, a third time I saw a mistake and had to send off a third cable. Now my editor would surely lose his patience, but curiously I did not in the least worry about it. Sufficient that the Guardian had given me a chance to spend ten more days in the Holy Land, taking photographs for him. It did not occur to me that there was very much more in this matter than I was aware of, but subsequent events amply repaid all my worries. For two years I felt too ashamed to tell anyone about it, but one day Aziz and I were chatting about the Will of God and many things, so I recounted my bungling experience. �Hmm!� he remarked �maybe God was trying to tell you something?�~ �What could that be?� I enquired. �Perhaps that if an event is the Will of God, then whatever mistakes we make, it is still going to happen.� �That is curious�, I said �The last thing the Guardian said to me as I departed was, �We are very glad you were able to stay the extra ten days, it was evidently the Wirl of God.� As you will have guessed, two days after sending off the three conflicting cables I received a reply �Extension permitted.�

On another occasion, the Guardian discussed the rescue of the Bab�s body which was thrown outside the moat of the city after the execution. There is a tradition that the remains of the Imam would be preserved. The Mullas thought that wild dogs would devour the remains and thus prove to the public that the Bab was not the promised Imam. However, some of the believers bribed the soldiers to turn their backs while the Holy remains were spirited away and hidden in a silk factory. The son of this factory owner had just arrived on pilgrimage and the Guardian welcom;ed him warmlv.

The Guardian spoke of the great significance of this Day, saying, �~dam and all the other 7i c?he~s were preparing the world for Bah�u�llah Who w � ould cast His shaddow over the next 500,000 centuries. Six thousand years of preparation to be followed by 500 centuries of fullfillment. There will be other Manifestations Who will repeal the Aqdas (if They wish) and there will even be minor Prophets after the Thousand or more years. We must distinguish between the Baha�i cycle and the Spiritual cycle of 5u(~,0( � J centuries. � �~o � he repiied in answer tO a questicn, �The Guardians are not minor Prophets.�

There had been 200 pioneers from Persian to Arabia. No other such efflux had occured except to Africa.

One morning Ruhiyyih Khanum arrived as Ugo and I were having breakfast in the pilgrim house. The Guardian wanted photographs taken of many of the holy relics in the archives room. These were at present kept in the back section of the Shrine. She would come with me and bring them out into the sun to be photographed. So, on Thursday, May 1st 1952, the Guardian�s car took us up to the Shrine where began the difficult ask of finding a suitable backgound for laying out these precious relics. Here, in the brilliant sunshine we photographed many of these personal possessions of the Holy Ones � the Bab�s copy of the Koran and His own Bayan and ring. As I was arranging these to photograph Ruhiyyih Khanumcame out of the Shrine saying: �Hold out your arms Ted.� I did so, and she laid the Bab�s green robe upon them. I stood speechless. [Include story of �The Robe�.]

Later we photographed the personal effects of Baha�u�llah, His seals, His pens and pen case, His rings and taj.

The following day, I was sent to Bahji in the Guardian�s car. Here Salah, the custodian, took charge of me. He was an Arab who had great devotion for the Guardian. To him, looking after the holiest place on earth was a most great responsibility, one to which he devot~d body and soul without restraint. He lived very simply. He showed me into Abdu�l Baha�s tea � room, as it is known. Here, while the sparrows flew in and out of the door, � busily building their nests in the big rafters, we ate from a picnic basket which Ruhiyyih Khanum had thoughtfully provided. He told me stories of the early believers and of the history of Bahji. As we talked, the chirping of the sparrows gave the place an air of peace and upliftment. After a prayer, he led me to the Shrine an~ vpening cne (loor, snowed me the threshold of the room where Bah�u�llfih�s earthly remains rest. I stood as one in a trance, hardly daring to believe that I had at last arrived at this most sacred spot. What does one do in such circumstances?

Sala must have been a bit shocked that I just stood there; he said in a quiet voice �Ted we generally kneel and pray here. His remark was meant with the best intentions, but it struck me as an intrusion between Bah�u�llah and me. I knelt at the raised threshold and prayed a while and meditated some more and then looked around me. I was in a kind of conservatory garden with tall plants filling the center, and in one corner the door to a roorn where the holy casket lay under a large embossed brass plate in the floor. Beautiful flower filled vases stood at each corner and on the threshold were sprinkled rose petals, some of which I guiltily swept into my prayer book, not realising that they had been put there for just this purpose. ~S ~n o. Ornamental lamps glowed in many places, giving a warm feeling. They were antiques, made of pewter. The heat of the plain of Acca had made � them droop under their own weight. Another prayer, and we both backed out, to reclaim shoes and cameras outside the door.

Next we visited the mansion itself. The ground floor was all service areas, and we mounted to the main living part, up a lon~ fliaht of stone stairs. It did not escape me that my feet were literally following in the footsteps of the Blessed Beauty. Upstairs, I entered a large central hall with various rooms opening from it. They were partly furnished according to those custom of those times and partly used to display Baha�i books and documents from many countries.

A curtain covered the door of a large corner room. Sala pulled it aside and motioned me in. Leaving shoes ~ camera outside, I entered Baha�u�llah�s bedroom. His bed and slippers lay on a lovely Persian carpet which covered the whole floor. His taj, covered by lace, rested on one end of a long divan which graced the far wall; mute but powerful reminders of the holy Presence Who had lived here for twelve years. I imagined Professor Brown coming in as I had done and hearing a mild, dignified voice sa ~ ing ���raise te tc God th � ~; .hou h_st at~..ined.

The next day Salah and I walked the two miles to Acca and as we wandered through its ancient byways he told me that all the streets of Acca haci touched the feet of Baha�u�llah or the Master. I tried to imagine Them also sitting in a cafe in one of those streets, drinking coffee and talking with the people tnere. The Master, Salah told me, had made many secret visits of charity in Acca, usually while the city slept.

I had asked Ruhiyyih Khanum, when I arrived, how was it possible for me to make a pilgrimage and also take photographs? TheA did not seem compatible. She sympathised and suggested that one idea would be to leave the cameras in my bedroom on alternate days. Sometimes I did this, for every day was a king of days; how could I be concerned with photography.? And how could I not have a camera with me at all times to record those holy places and the inspiring momentC spent there? Now, as we followed the winding alleys carrying my large camera bag between us, I was able to get many pictures which will in future enable those who will never manage to make the pilgrimage, at least to glean some of the atmosphere of that holy city and its august Prisoner.

Back at Bahji for one more night and day, I was forced once again to unite pilgrimage and photography. The beloved Guardian had asked me to photograph all of the inside of the shrine of Baha�u�llah. Sala left me quite alone during this and the deep silence and fragrant atmosphere kept me as in a spell while I went about considering composition and exposures. That night, as on the two previous nights, I slept in the mansion of Bahji. My room was the nearest one to the Shrine and for a long time I paced the verandah which circles three sides of the Mansion. It was a clear night and I could see Mt.Carmel and the floodlit shrine of the Bab across the bay, about 15 miles away. The wind blew softly through the gum strees surounding Bahji while I prayed for spiritual guidance. I could look down on the Shrine of Baha�u�llah only 50 feet away and meditate on the inconceivable significance of this Revelation and its import for mankind.

The next day was spent visiting the prison in ~cca and later, the house of Aboud where Baha�u�llah had been incarcerated for over seven years. While there, He had, I believe, written again to the Kings of Europe. He had also composed much of the Aqdas. Abdu�l Baha had been married there. I wandered along the battlements of the sea wall and pondered on the Muslim tradition �Ble~sed is he that counts 40 waves in Acca.

My stay in Acca had come to an end; I had missed about four dinner times with the Guardian and hurried back to Haifa by public bus. The friends there were busy preparing a special dinner to entertain some of their J ewish friends from the city. R~hiyyih Khanum said ~ �I am determined to have friends that I like and have a good time with them. The International Council members and the Hands present were all joining in with the festivities, but I could only think that I would be missing another dinner with Shoghi Ef fendi, a steep price to pay for such a party.

The next night at dinner, the Guardian asked me about my experiences at Bahji ~nd I tried, stumblingly to put some of them into words. Although none of the extensive gardens at Bahji one sees today had even been created then, yet the whole area had seemed most holy and far beyond mortal understanding. Coming back to the inner Shrine itself, the Guardian asked my impression. I felt it was a most fitting and unusual Shrine whose items had been assembled with great care and devotion. I mentioned the lights held up by sagging light brackets and wondered if they could be straighted? He said �They are antiques and would probably crack off if we tried it. This reminded me of his other remarks on my second day of pilgrimage. He had sent Millie Collins with me to the Shrine of the Bab. Over all the great beauty there, I had noticed a marble pillar on which stood meth ldtulips, painted gold. When he had asked for my impressions, naturally l,~praised the most wonderful Shrine and the extensive gardens, so expertly laid out; but I also expressed surprise at the metal flowers. The answer was very simple. �In the hot summer, no other flowers survive!�

The Guardian went on to emphasise the great need for developing the World Center in Haifa, together with the administration all over the world. It will be the world nervous system. He spoke with great love of those who had done so much towards this � Martha Root, May Maxwell, Keith Ranson Keller, Dr. Susan Moody and the Dunns in Australia. �They are now buried all over the world according to the Master�s instructions. �Go ye into all the world.� �We must always think in terms of �World Crusade, World Order, World Plan and World concepts in everything.�

He spoke of the com ing World Plan 1953 � 1963 which would take the Faith to every part of the Globe. He will send instructions to each of the coming Inter � continental Conferences.

Here I must pay tribute to the efforts of all the friends who sat at the Guardian�s dinner table and afterwards, as we sat in the upstairs lounge, helped each other record all the remarks the beloved Guardian had made that evening. As I have mentioned, the Guardian did not wish any notes to be taken at the table. �Pilgrims come to experience the Spirit of the Holv Shrines, not receive information.� He is reported to have said. It goes without saying that all these records I have are just pilgrim notes and nothing more. There is no authenticity in them. They are notes of wonderful hours spent with the Guardian; I pass them on with the hope that they may help the reader to glean just some of the spiritual food that was offered to us during those soul stirring days.

He touched on the subject of the coming world calamity mentioned by by Bah�u�llah in Gleanings: (p.l 19;1) �. . . there shall suddenly appear that which will cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the E)ivine Standard be unfurled . . .� He emphasised that this refers to a literal catastrophy, world � wide. There would be no escape for anyone, the Baha�is would suffer with the rest of mankind. All we can do is to get on with the teaching and help to alleviate it. This disaster would affect every part of the world systems and would awaken mankind. There would be mass conversion after it. In Africa, this mass conversion may come before the calamity. It depends on the qualities of the Baha� is!

At that time, the Covenant � breakers were still active and the Guardian mentioned that their machinations had prevented him for three months from considering the coming Inter � continental Conferences. He said that the covenant breakers are now few and des~erate.

He went on to talk about the materialistic civilisation so rampant In the world and reminded us of Baha�u�lah�s statement that in excess it leads to turmoil and burning of cities. �Divorced from the spiritual it will lead to a breakdown. It should be complimentary. Moral stimulus comes from the Prophets.� He affirmed.

The Guardian went on to say: �The impulse of the colonial people for independence is good. We should encourage it but guard against its extremes.� Little did I know that I was soon to be involved in the British Government�s handing over of Kenya to independence. When that happened in 1963 I was a Government servant and had to help train the local people to do my job. All �whites� were to be replaced by Kenyans. We all wondered if they would be able to do the work, but for many years they made a very good job of it under President Jomo Kenyatta.

The Guardian described the misuse of the Press media in U.S.A. They influence the masses and this is not democracy. On the confrontation between the U.S.A. and Russia he said that we should side with neither for both are wrong, one is extremly materialistic and the other atheistic. The Baha�i administration is not democratic but embodies the best parts of all systems, with much more besides.

�Palestine has acquired spiritual potency due to the Prophets. It is also the junction of the three continents. The Holy Land is now becoming the world spiritual center as well as the world administrative center under Baha�u�llah�s dispensation. They will never be seperated again, as in past dispensations.� We now own 50 cares on Mt.Carmel and all of it is exempted from taxes. Five acres are for the coming temple. To buy land here now is strategic, spiritually.�

Continuing the m atters touched upon by the Guardian, he said that Turkey now has three Local Spiritual Assemblies and wanted a National Assembly, but it was premature. He followed with :�lt has taken twenty years to build the institutions so that the Holy Spirit can function through them.� He had just received a postcard from the Pacific, telling of the declartion of the first among the brown races. �Now we have all the races. He said. �The Bab�s relatives took the Faith to China.�

At this time the GuardiarL was gathering the members of the newly appointed International Council, which was to preceed the election of the Universal House of J ustice. R~hlyyih Khanum asked him if Ted should take a photograph of them, but he said that it was too early.

Shoghi Effendi asked Mason Remy if he had modified part of the drawing for the Haifa temple, as requested. Mason went out and brought in the design for the cupolas which will cap the pillars and laid it before the Guardian. He considered it for a while and the said: �Yes that is better.� From this I inferred, that althought Mason was designing the temple, yet the Guardian w as supervising every little detail and Mason was merely his pen. How could we have known that on the Guardian�s passing, only six years hence, Mason Remy would become a Covenant � breaker by claiming to be the next Guardian, against all the conditions laid down by Abdu�l Baha.

The Guardain was asked the meaning of �Gog and Magog� as mentioned in the Bible. He said that perhaps they symbolise good and evil, but as long as the teachings throw no light on the matter, we must be liberal and follow the scholars or those who are expert in these matters. Other interesting rem arks were that each Prophet in the past had appointed a successor, but none of them had written it down on paper as an explicate authority. Paul usurped Peter and started the first schism in Christianity. The Califs usurped Ali. But in this Faith it was explicit.

Someone asked what are the things we should emphasise in teaching today. His reply was that we should tell of the existence of God; the immortality of the soul; the necessity for religion; the oneness of humanity; the coming of age of humanity. We should concentrate on the main teachings of the Master, not on tradition or prophecies. Appeal to the reason of the individual, not to his feelings. Teach the necessity for true religion, as seperate from creeds.

The Guardian continued: �What is the purpose of God�s creation? It is the purpose of all the Prophets � to prepare mankind for the recognition of the station of Baha�u�llah. �Some Answered Questions� and the �Iqan� are the most important for teachers. We must both spread the seed and try to make converts. . . Later, �The Guardian will be above all the leaders of mankind. The Hands will each be the center of a !star ~ st~r �

There was an interesting sequel years later to my question to the Guardian, about the antiques lamp holders in the outer court of the shrine of Baha�u�llah. Earlier I have reported that he had said they might break if we tried to straighten them. In 1973 I was again visiting the Shrine. After prayers I once more looked at the droopping lamps in the outer court and wondered what would be the penalty in eternity for breaking one of them. I took hold of the nearest one and straightened it up. It did not break! I did the next and still no disaster. I resolved to stop if any broke, but I was able to straighten all the rest without a break and was overjoyed at the improvement. The Guardian had long since passed to the Abha Kingdom of course (in 1957). The Universal House of J ustice was now in charge. I told Amos Gibson what I had done and he looked pleased. Five years later I was again on pilgrimage as a delegate. When I entered the shrine I saw that every one of the lamps had sagged back to its original position! The summer heat on the plain of Acca had been too much for the soft metal.

To return to the beloved Guardian�s dinner table in 1952, one evening he was in a light hearted mood. He looked at me with a loving twinkle in his eye: �The English teaching effort is like its weather, a steady drizzle. Oh but a much appreciated drizzel! Now the American teaching effort is also like its weather. When they receive a letter from me they rush off and do thing with great energy, like their stormy weather. After a few weeks it dries up and I have to send them another letter!� I saw him really laugh for the first time. It was clear that he had great love for both communities and was trying to urge them on.

�The world is now like the Roman empire was, prior to its collapse. There are few leaders left in England and the U.S.A. There is poverty in art and finance. General Eisenhower president � what a pity!

�Christianity did not have the institutions that we have at this stage Now the question is, do we have the courge and the spirit? The Popes were the true citadel and had great courage.

The Guardian said: �Recently, Musa Baha�i, 8 Covenant � breaker, had Invited the British Consul to a party to spread lies about the Faith. We took counter � measures to inform the authorities of the difference between ourselves and the Covenant � breakers.�

�We should not observe uniformity in prayer and worship at the Shrines. But we all stand for the Prayers of Visitation.

�The soul is much more important than the body, and the body is more important than a member. The soul uses the body to progress higher. The soul is the revelation of Baha�u�llah. Each part of the body must play its part. It is the same in the Faith. Some Persian Baha�is feel the Cause is to advance Persia, but they must sacrifice everything to the purpose of Baha�u�llfih and then have loyalty to their country.�

Baha�u�llah said: �If the Cause had appeared first in Europe, it would have attained ascendancy over the thought of mankind because of the freedom of intelligence in the background culture. The culture of Europe was due to Socrates who studied with the Jews, a result of Moses efforts with a decadent, thieving race in Egypt.

�America is desperately in need of material help against Communism. America is the citadel of the Faith, but their materialism is based on the negation of justice. The Outer citadel will crumble but the inner will survive. There is a fear creeping over the Americans, greater than the fear of any other nation ever. (This was in 1952)

On the last day of my pilgrimage, I was privilaged to meet the beloved Guardian in his reception room with only Ruhiyyih Khanum present in addition. The notes I made afterwards while waiting for my plane at the airport were as follows: �Please tell the British believers how much I admire their organising ability, their devotion and their many services to the Faith.

Please send me the proofs of all the photographs you have taken and I will indicate which I would appreciate having enlargements of and how many of each. When you send them, I will send you a check.�

I was much disturbed at the idea of accepting any money for this and hastened to assure Shoghi Effendi: �O, no, Guardian, this is my contribution. I do not wish to charge you anything.� I said. He looked at me very directly and said quite firmly: �You must allow me to have an interest in this.� �Yes Shoghi Effendi.� I said obediently.

He then said: �All the photographs you took inside the Shrines of the Bab and Baha�u�llah, please send to me; but all of the others, you must feel free to sell to the friends. David Hofman sells his books to the friends, and you can sell the photographs.�

Inwardly, at this moment, my deepest concern was that I was now leaving Haifa where the very air seemed heavenly, and where the human relationships must surely be a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven Itself. Some of this must have shown itself in my face for the Guardian said �Do not be sad; you will come back, you will come back!� I wondered how this could ever be, since I now had nothing left in the bank at all and an uncertain job. (Later note in 199 . I have now been back 8 times.)

The Guardian went on: �We hope you will have a Local Spiritual Assembly in Nairobi by the time of the Africa Conference in Kampala next year. (1953) We live for the ~ay when the first African believers will arrive in Haifa. Perhaps youwill bring them.� We did achieve our Assembly within a year. What is more, in 1963, only eleven years later, the entire National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa came to Haifa as delegates toh,~ee~ect the first Universal House of Justice. There were five African members and four pioneers in that Assembly, including myself. But the beloved Guardian was no longer there to receive them.

Shoghi Effendi�s last words to me in this world were: �We are glad you were able to stay the extra ten days. God meant it to be. Now that you have been here, you can come any time you want in spirit.� He embraced me firmly on each shoulder, and left.

Back in Nairobi, Aziz and I continued our efforts to make friends with the African people and of course our prayers were much inspired by Shoghi Effendi�s encouraging remarks. One Saturday afternoon some friends turned up at our house for a fireside. I shall never forget the rapt attention with which they listened to Aziz talking about Baha�u�llah. One of these was an old woman from the Kikuyu tribe; she seemed especially interested. She had suf fered much but still had faith in her Creator. She urged us to go and introduce ourselves to some adult students at the medical school. I remember two of their names, Jacob Kisombe and Joseph. When the friends had gone home, Aziz was still uplifted by the apparent deep nature of the proceedings. �You know Ted,� he said �their enthusiasm was so heart warming, that if I were not alrady a Baha�i, I would have declared myself!

How mysterious and unaccountable are the ways of God! We pray and then go out and do what seems the right thing, then God turns it in the direction he desires. We never saw any of those lovely people again, but this day was the key to the opening of the Faith in Kenya. The six medical students received us warmly, almost as if they had been expecting us. They started coming regularly to public meetings which we began holding in the United Kenya Club building; soon, all of them declared their faith in Baha�u�llah. We learned later how deep was their conviction, for J acob went home to Mombasa for the holidays and while there he told his father and other leaders of the community about his new discovery. They sat up all night trying to get him to give it up and go back to the church. Their arguments and pleading had no affect at all on J acob who staunchly held to his conviction. As the dawn came up, his father put his arm around Jacob and said �My son, if it means that much to you, you stick to it!�

More declarations followed and I remember Francis Jumba and others who became alight with the Faith and took i~back to the reservation in Maragoli district, near the Uganda boarder. Soon Aziz and I were invited to go with him on trips to Maragoli district and spend weekends teaching the people in their own villages. At last we were able to meet the people in their own homes, to eat with them sing songs togethor and sleep in their huts. Meanwhile, several new pioneers began to arrive in Kenya. Claire Gung moved up from Rhodesia and found a job in the hospital, Tahereh Vatamparast arrived from Iran and found a nursing job, and Ursula Samandari arrived from England. Ursula tried hard to get a job in Nairobi, but was unsuccessful. In desperation she accepted a job at an isolated farm. She became the �nanny�, looking after the farmers children.

Ursula had recently married Mehdi Samandari, son of the Hand of the Cause and now set about trying to get her new husband accepted by the Kenya immigration. Since she was English, they agreed, but when they found out that Mehdi was Asiatic, they refused, because the Government was not allowing any further Asians into the country.

The Mau mau rebellion was just starting up and demanding independance for Kenya. To make their point, they had started murdering isolated farmers out in the country and Ursula knew this but had no option but to accept the nanny�s job if she wanted to stay in the country. One night, Ursula was alone with the children at the farm and hearing sounds of forced entry in the back of the house she assumed she was to be the next victim. She put on her burial ring and started praying � the noisestopped. She continued praying all night. She and her husband eventually found a job in West Africa and spent many devoted years building the Faith up to National Assembly status there.

Next to arrive in Kenya were Tahereh and Ainee Alai, a very devoted couple of Persian pioneers. I remember going up country on a teaching trip with them. We were entertained most hospitably by the African villagers, who felt much honoured by the visit of two foreigners who were obviously used to very much higher living conditions and now fitted in naturally with this very simple life. We 8hared their food and slept in a room of their house. This became a frequent practice for all the pioneers, for the teaching work was 300 miles from Nairobi over dirt roads.

Not long after this three pioneers from the U.S.A. arrived. Fred and Beth Laws and Fred Schecter. They described how their ship had called at a port called Walvis Bay, on the west coast of Africa. It was the only port for the large British territory of S.W.Africa, a most desolate miles inland. A single ralway line and a dirt road led inland to the isolated town of Windhoek. In that deslote country they raised sheep for the karakul pelts of the unborn lambs. There was also a diamond mine, and a uranium mine. In the far north there was some jungles and wild animals but not enough to attract tourists. There were no Bahfi�is liviRng there, so the three pioneers joked with each other about, who would be the lucky person to oneday bring the Faith to this territory. More about this later.

Let us turn back to Kenya. In 1952 the whiteman still ruled everything. Although there was very friendly relations between black and white, the old servile customs still held~Each whiteman had a modern house. He employed three native servants at the tiny wage of 30/ � (about $3) a month plus primative native quarters. These three men each had their clearly defined dutes which they kept to as rigidly as any trade union. One was cook, under madam�s supervision, another was house � boy and the third looked after the garden. In the country it was worse; when the whiteman travelled over the long dirt roads, his wheels raised clouds of dust a mile long. If any Afr�ican was walking along that road he would stand and doff his hat while the car went by, thus being completely enveloped in the dust cloud for about 15 minutes.

Another strange situation existed. Between the white man and the African worlds there was an Asian culture. A hundred years ago, large numbers of Indians (from India) had been brought in to build the railway which started at Mombasa, on the coast, and would its way inland 400 miles to the city of Nairobi which, since it was at 5,000 feet, was quite pleasant to live in, although only 100 miles from the equator. Later, the rail was extended anothe 440 mile to the inland city of Kampala, the capitol of Uganda. When it had all been built, the Indians did not return to India but settled down as shop keepers and artisans at a wage intermediate between the white and black populations. They did so well at it that by 1952 they had a complet monopoly of these occupations and would not allow Africans to enter them. They even built their own Hindu temple and founded an elaborate culture of their own. It was a tidy arrangement in many ways, at least for those on top of others, but it must have been a major factor in driving the African population, (by far the majority), to raise in later years a fierce call for becoming an independant African nation.

Although the teaching work in Kenya was still in its infancy, yet in Uganda it was forging ahead into large numbers of declarations. The beloved Guardian had told us that we should not insist on full knowledge of the Faith before accepting a declaration. �The African peoplen, he said, �are more atuned to feelings of the heart and if you feel that the heart of a person has been touched by the Faith, then you may accept his declaration and everything else would come in time.

When Musa Banani had arrived in Kampala with his family, Ali Nakhjavani his son � in � law had at first taken a job as school teacher, but this did not allow him much time for travelling two or three hundred mmiles �upcountry� where the Message of Baha�u�llah was now taking root. Mr Banc.r could only speak k anian and therefore appeared to be unable to help physically. He appealed to Ali therefore, to become his full � time deputy and accept his financial support for doing so. Ali gladly agreed and soon the numbers of declarations increased dramatically. The Guardian was, of course, greatly delighted and must have been backing up the pioneers efforts closely with prayers at the holy shrines. He soon felt that it was time to call for a major Baha�i conference in Kampala and announing this to the Baha�i world, asked the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kampal to arrange the details. Donations from many countries had already provided the funds to purchase a special house in Kampala which became the Baha�i Center, and the large garden was to be the scene of that gathering.

Shoghi Effendi was determined to make it a real success and was well aware that the main bulk of the new declarations came from people living far from Kampala and that it was doubtful if they would make that long trip unaided. He therefore sent a message to the Kampala Assembly that all these new wonderful Baha�is were to be his guests at the conference. He sent funds to hire a whole fleet of buses to bring them to town and also ordered the renting of living quarters for them in Kampala for the four days. He provided food also. Pha~ When the time came, the conference was a great success and well attended. At the Guardian�s request, all eleven Hands of the Cause attended. At his urging, many Baha�is from all over the world attended. I asked my editor for a few days holiday and he gladly agreed, suggesting that I take the opportunity to photograph the city and its people for later use in the newspaper.

The overseas visitors filled all the hotels in town and the few cars owned by the pioneers were kept busy ferrying the people between them and the conference site. I well remember one occasion when I had three Hands of the Cause and Mildred Motahedeh in my car. She was crammed on the back seat with a Hand on either side and delightedly announced that this was the first time she had been sque~ed between two hands.

Matthew Bullock representing the N.S.A. of America and gave a stirring talk about the African people being able to hold their heads up with pl l any other country. Dorothy Baker continued on the same theme of helping them to be proud of their race. Unfortunately this was still a E3ritish Colony where whitemen were superior. A government secret service man who had been invited to attend was very upset at these remarks. It took a lot of explanation of Baha�i principles to explain to him that there was no revolutionary intent in these remarks.

I had been to large Baha�i conferences in England and Europe, but this one seemed to have unusual power and inspiration. Everyone knew that something historical was happening during those few days in the middle of Africa. The Guardian had sent the portrait of Baha�u�llah to be shown and it made a big impression on us all as we queed up to see that wonderful face and look into His eyes where the whole universe seemed to rest in perfect serenity. When the four days were over, we could hardly believe it was time to get back into the old world again.

Soon after my return to Nairobi my newspaper, the East African Standard informed me that they had to make economical moves and that my photographic depzrtment was to be closed down. This was a big shock for me. But on discussing it with a friend who owned a pharrnacy nearby, he offered to open up a small commercial photo department for me and split the profits between us. The result was that I was then able to offer my services as before to the newspaper and also start building a commercial business with Robby, my friend.

Life went on as before and now we would soon be able to elect the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Nairobi. My photo business began to expand and I was able to continue radioing photographs of the Mau Mau rebellion to London newspapers as I had done in my previous job. Next I was able to secure a government contract to make identity photos of the entire Kikuyu tribe, one by one for identity cards. A rival photographer photographed me doing this and got it published on the front page of the Daily Telegraph newspaper. My parents sent me a cutting. One day I was working in mv darkroom I was told that a lady wanted to see me. I went out into the shop and met Irene Benette, just arrived from England. Her relatives had told her about the Faith and to contact me if she wanted to know more. We had some discussion, but she suddenly remerhered her bicycle. Going outside, we found it had been stolen, so we toured the town looking for the thief, but to no avail. But the Baha�i discussion went on unabated. I took her to meet the other pioneers and she became a regular attendee to all our meetings. Soon she recognised Baha�u�llah and progressed speedily in knowledge of the Faith. We were now able to elect the L.S.A. of Nairobi. Irene eventually pioneered to central Africa and was appointed a Board Member.

Loving Fersian Baha�is gave us the money to build our own Baha�i Center in Nairobi. Land was secured and the entire Baha�i community enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves and cleared the site. Providentially Ruhiyyih Khanum herself came and turned the first sod. When the building was finsihed it became an ideal training center for groups of 20 travel teachers to live there and complete a deepening course before going out all over Kenya. ��iG~t The Faith grew steadily in Uganda Kenya and Tanganyika. The Guardian �qshowed his joy by announcing the election of an Area National Spiritual ~ � tr~4 Assembly to administer these territories. In Kenya the N.S.A. ~�~ 5 appointed five District Teaching Committees to supervise all the teaching work and make sure new declarations were real. This was in accordance with the Guardian�s advice that we should train the most reliable African Baha�is to carry the Faith to their people, for they would know better than we how to do it. The pioneers were now released to concentrate more on deepening the friends, but such were the numbers of new Baha�is and so great the distance of their homes f � om Nairobi that it was an almost impossible task.

To further these aims, Hand of the Cause Millie Collins donated $40 to buy each roof for any village up country which first built O ~ the walls~w,~ wood and mud. Eight of these Centers were soon in operation and became a big attraction. There was only one small snag, since the roofs were of corrugated tin , it was almost impossible to hear any speaking inside them when there was a tropical down pour hammering on the roof.

One day Aziz and I arrived up � country on a Feast Day and called a large gathering to celebrate it. We had previously distributed many simple prayer books in Swahili, but none could be found on this day. However Wilfred Masinde came to the rescue. He said he had memorised a prayer. He recited it with much fervour, but in the middle we heard our own names. Afterwards, Aziz turned to me and said �That�s funny, I dont remember being mentioned in any of Baha�u�llah�s prayers!� We rounded off

One day, Aziz had a brilliant idea. On one of his teaching trlps up country he bought about 100 eggs from the African friends to give them some income. He had brought a lot of cardboard seperators an~,~piled the eggs safely between them on the back seat. On the long ride home ~11 went well until he was about to pass a cyclist who at that moment t~obbled across the road in front of the car. Aziz stamped hard on the brakes and received the ~hole batch of eggs in the back of his neck. He had to stop and clean the car out ~hilst the cyclist went on wobbling down the road quite unaware of the catastropy he had caused. Aziz was a highly devoted pioneer and yet he seemed to run into more trouble than most. On a following trip his windscreen ~as smashed by a stone thrown up by an approaching car. There was a three hundred mile journey to do, so he and his friends wrapped themselves up well and drove ~ome. �How was the journey�? journey?� I asked him. �~ell it was fine until we ran into a big cloud of gnats at 60 m.p.h. Can you imagine it? Gnats in your eyes, hair ears and nose at high speed!� ~e wanted to do some social service for the African people, so one ~eekend some of the lady pioneers from Kampala and some from Nairobi met in the reservation and gave cooking classes to a whole village. It was a great success and they were really appreciated. W ~ had heard that there was a taboo against women eating eggs. Men however were Lmmune from harm. Trying to overcome this ~ ~nfoun~edl tradition the ladies gave lessons on cooking omelettes. The aroma was so attractive that several women were persuaded to eat them. However Violette recalls the memory of one native women holding a baby on one arm and an omelette in the other hand and trying to choose between them. She was determined to eat the omelette but wailed sorrowfully: �But who is ~oing to look after my baby when I die!� Wilfred Masinde was one of our best teachers. He had been a teacher for the Christian missionaries. As an experienced Baha�i he knew the Guardian�s instructions that however many wives a person has on becoming a Baha�i, justice dictates that he keep them, but no more were allowed. Wilfred knew that now he was a believer he could only have the wife he already married; but one day he told Aziz that African custom now required that he take a second wife and he wanted to do so. We were all very surprised by this and told him definitely �No.� m ere was silence for some weeks, then we received a letter from Wilfred saying he was no longer a Baha�i. He also enclosed a new declaration card dated t~x~ weeks ahead, asking us to use it on that date. We all had a go~d chuckle at his ingenuity but told him �No dice�. Which brings me to the time when I was entertained by Crispin Simba, a rich man with eight wives. I asked him how he became a Baha�i. He replied: �Well I used to be a Jehovah�s Witness and they told me I was wicked to have eight wives, I should give up seven of them now I ~s a Christian.� �What did you say?� �I said that the Bible tells how Solomon had 95 wives, so why could I not have eight? They could not answer me, so I became a Baha�i.� Although there were quite a number of declarants who did not understand the Faith, yet great nu~bers truely had their hearts touched by it. And this, the Guardian said, was acceptable. Gn one trip Aziz and I made to Malava a rather bizare event happened. We arrived at Festo Mukalama�s house one evening and slep comfortably. In the morning Aziz visited the little house in the garden. It was built over a very deep pit and was quite servicable. When he came back he discovered that his wallet was missing from his hip pocket! It had in it about $300 for the travelling teachers expenses. (There were a lot of travel teachers and we paid them bus fare and food). I knew what had happened, so took a flashlight and shone it down the deep pit � there was the ~allet floating on the mud! How to get it up? I called for a bamboo stalk and lashed a coat hanger to one end, hook down and lowered it down. I had to lash two more bamboos to reache the wallet. I got it at first swing and hauled it up in triumph!. The budget was saved!

This seem an appropriate time to tell more about Claire Gung. When Shoghi Effendi announced the Ten year Crusade 1953 � 63, Claire immediately started answering job adverts in the national newspapers. One was for a Matron�s post in a boys school in Rhodesia. Claire was amazed to find herself accepted and due to fly there shortly. She had been pioneering for many years on the home front, always with her sewing machine. That morning when we sat in a cafe together before she left England she was quite at a loss to visualise herself setting out for unknown Africa in a few days time. To make it worse, she had just received the necessary injections and was aching all over. Soon, I was photographing her boarding a train to the airport as wave~ goodbye to about twelve loving but jealous, unsuccessful wouldbe African pioneers and friends. I sent the picture to Shoghi Effendi and it must have warmed his heart to see such prompt and unquestioning obedience to his call for pioneers.

About 38 years later she passed on to the Abha Kingdom with great glory, having made Africa her permanent home. When on pilgrimage the Guardian delightedly told her she was the Mother of Africa. At that time she had only her long devoted service to show and had not been able to do much teaching because of the restricted nature of her work in the school. Her response to his statement was: �But Guardian, I have never converted a single Baha�i!� �Never mind� he said: �You went and the others stayed at home.� From this we learned how the beloved Guardian valued those who immediately responded to his call with action.

Later, she moved to Nairobi and became a member of its first Assembly. Following this period she moved to Kampala where she fotlrld her destiny, Claire built the first inter � racial nursery and kindegarten school for the African children she loved so dearly. Uganda had achieved national independance while she was there. Government officials all wanted their children to learn English as well as get an education. They discovered that Auntie Claire�s school was the door to these goals. Soon she had over 100 pupils and a waiting list to get in. She made enrollment conditional upon school fees being paid in advance. After a while, she had enough money to build a whole school premisis to her own design, instead of using a rented house. For many years she taught there, and you can be sure that a full knowledge of the Baha�i Faith and God�s plan for mankind was in the curriculum. The children were all~(became fully conversant with its teachings and must have taken much of it home. Claire was to survive two violent revolutions in Uganda. The first time the fighting broke out around her house, since it was just outside the Kabaka�s palace. The second time Amin brought a real blood bath; so bad were the conditions that the Universal House of Justice had to disband the National Assembly of Uganda and all the European pioneers had to leave the country except Claire. Even the temple on Kilolo Hill was left without anyone to look after it. Fortunately Claire�s school was only half a mile away, at the foot of the hill. All businesses were nationalised and when Claire received a notice that her school would be taken over. ~he went to the ministry office concerned and, waving the paper angrily at the official asked him if he knew what he was doing. Suddenly she recognised him as one of her former pupils. �Hello Auntie Clair~�� he said. She greeted him joyfully and then said; �Don�t you know you cannot Africanise my school? A controlling interest already belongs to Africans�n Some years ago she had legally given 51% of it to three African National Assembly members. The school was saved, not only then but for when Claire passed on.

But dear Claire was not to escape completely from the horror of revolution. One day, Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga his wife and several of his children, then living in Kampla, were brutally murdered in their home by terrorists. The perpetrators then took the bodies 7 miles to Claire�s school and left them outside her door. One can hardly imagine the great shock Claire underwent the next morring when she found them. She tried to !)hone the Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Ass~mbly in London, but cou!i not get through to ~ither; in desperation she phoned our house wher~ she related everythin� to Alicia. Alicia then pa~sed on the information to the National Assembly.

No one knows really what the motive was, for this terrible crime. The most likely thing is that the revolutionarie, wanted to S~ Y that the government was not able to control the; ountry, so they ch~se to martyr the Olinga family b � ~cause they we � e wide~y respected. Taking them to Claire�s school was :31SO bound to make their point abroad. Great was the loss to the world and deep the anguish we all went through, but we had to realise that all ~hings have a place somewhere in God�s eternal plan. Perhaps thi~ martyrdot~ spurred on the lovers of Baha�u�llah everywhere to make yet more strenuous efforts to compensate for such a grievous loss.

To return to Kenya, the Mau Mau rebelion now began to become serious business and the army was called out to protect lives and to hunt down the revolutionaries in the jungle areas. When that failed to control the situation, all white males of service age were conscripted to swell the army. My conscription papers came in with the rest. Here I was, coming to Kenya to bring the healing message to the African people andi~ow~ was tghoaltng to find myself killing some of them. I wrote to the Africa committee in England to see if I could apply for exemption from military service on Bah2� � ~round~ and thev asked the Guardian. He indicated that Mau Mau was an internal revolution and not war, so it was more like a police action which would not come under Baha�i exemption.

On talking this over with my friend Robby, he became angry at the sweeping powers of the army and submitted to them that Mr Cardell is a one man business and if he was conscripted, the business would fail. To our amazement, it succeeded and I was excuses military service.

About this time, Irene Bennett returned from pilgrimage and brought with her a world ma~ from Shoghi Effendi. It was inscribed with all the goals of the Ten Year Crus~de,which was to start shortly. I remember well how we 9 pioeers spread the map on the floor and started discussing it. The beloved Guardian had told Irene that there werenOw too many pioneers in Nairobi and surely some of them could fill goals on the map. There ~7ere only 12 M.S.A�s in the world then and the Guardian had divided the unconquored countries between them in proportion to their resources and Baha�i population. England had only been given 6 territories and when Aziz saw this he traced each blue line from England to goal countries and specially drew my attention to the one line leading to S.W.Africa. �Look Ted�

S.W. Africa has one port, Walvis Bay. This was the country which the three new pioneers from U.S.A. to Kenya had joked about that some pioneer would one day come to bring the Message of Baha�u�llah . It was mostly desert or scrub. �I am noticing!� I announced very firmly indeed. Everyone laughed, but I knew then that I was going to pioneer to S.W. Africa. I remembered that Shoghi Effendi had tola me that one gces on pilgrimage 5~ to get ones~batteries charged, so that he could do great things for the Faith. I felt confident I could do it, and what was more, I was probably the only single English Bah2�i with Africa experience. I wrote to Leroy Ioas of my intention and wondered wether I should first visit my non � Baha~i parents in England. ~he beioved Guardian had specially appealed for pioneers to go immediately, and definitely before the birthday of Eaha�u�llah. I told Leroy not to worry the Guardian about the matter, but I would go first to England. Would he let me know himself if it was the right course of action.

I did not have the funds for all the journey ~ut wrote my parents and they paid my passage back to England. I was their only son. and they were longing to see me. I had not been back in England a week when a cable came from the Guardian �Approve visit England prior pioneer new post.� This even begins to show the personal caring nature of the Guardian, and how he closely considered all aspects of a person�s piGneering and his family life, and with rG delay. I felt very close to him because of this. With much enthusiasm I took a ship to Capetown and thenthe three day rail jOUrney north to the small capital city of S.W. Africa, Windhoek, arriving just before Baha�u�llah�s birthday went off a cable to the beloved Guardian saying I had arrived during the centenary of the Holy year.(1953)

The Guardian considered the arrival of a pioneer at his post to be of historical significance and a great victory. Later pilgrims tell of how he had the world map on the wall in his dining room and at dinner, he joyfully marked on it each victory of the Ten Year crusade as it occured. Yet it is obvious that the teaching now had to start in that territory. For South Africa and its League of Nations Trust territory, South West Africa there was an added problem, the apartheid regime. The Guardian had warned all pioneers who went there to be extremely careful to avoid being thrown out of the country for showing friendship to the local Africans. He metioned that this would not hurt the pioneer, but it would set back the Faith there for many years. As I write this in 1991, the South African government has at last been rorcea t,O repeal the apartheid laws. Thus any confrontation ~1 h~e with the authorities would~,set back the Faith 38 years. Yet because all pioneers followed the Guardian�s advice, there is today a National Spiritual Assembly in both South Africa and S.W.Africa. In fact the N.S.A. of South Africa was able to offer the government a series of recommendations to help them adjust to joint black and white government. The goverment greatly appreciated it and stated that the Baha�is were the only ones to offer them a spiritual solution.

But let us get back to the arrival of this lone pioneer in the city of Windhoekin 1953. Finding a job was clearly the first order of business and since the two main languages were Africaans and German, though many spoke English, it was not going to be easy. Further it was only a small city with little industry. After two weeks of effort had turned out fruitless I was offered a low paid job at a local photography shop if I would start to learn German.

After a few month, I was informed that business was bad and the job ended. This seemed at the time to be quite a disaster, but it may have been an answer to my prayers, for the job did not offer any chances of meeting the Africans of Windhoek. I soon found another job, working in a wholelsale warehouse where there were five African workers, but this did not last long for after one month the manager called me into his office and told me he had to let me go. I asked him why and he said �I cannot tell you that.� I replied, �Well may I tell you the reason why? The police have told you I am a communist� He was taken aback and said �You are correct, and since you have been frank with me I will tell you what happened. From your very first day, the police have been watching you from my office window and thev saw you speak in a friendly way to an African worker. They told me to sack you. I can help you get a job in the post office if you like, for there you will not meet any Africans.� This man was not an Africaaner but a Jew. As such he had no opinion about the apartheid policy, but obviously had to conform.

I thanked him for the information and the offer but said I would try selling life insurance, for a dutch friend had been suggesting this to me. For the next year I had a lot of freedom as my own master as an insurance agent and one day invited one of my African workers from the wholesale shop for a ride in the country. Whitemen often had African servants with them on a journey, so it was not too dangerous. We came to a crossroads and an old African was in need of a lift, so we picked him up and chatted along the way. As I left him at his home, he said �Thankyou boss.� I replied �I am not your boss, I am your brother.�

Next day my landlord, a friendly person came to me and said �The police came to enquire from me today, �Do you think Mr Cardell is a communist?� I said �What did you tell them?� �I told them you may be a bit crazy but not a communist. By the way I advise you not to use the word brother.� This was a real shock to me for the only occasion I had used that word was the previous day to the old man. This meant that the other African whom I had befriended had reported our conversation to the police. Fortunate Iy my landlord�s good words had been effective and I heard no more of the matter, but I resolved to learn a lesson from this event.

My insurance business was making enough money to live from, but it I had been in Windhoek nearly two years and made no progress at all in teaching the Faith, only a few blunders. What was more, the Guardian�s plan called for the translation of a Baha�i pamphlet into the Kunyama language. I had not even found a Kunyama yet and no one seemed to know about them. Most of the Africans in Windhoek were from the Ovambo tribe. I wrote to the British Africa committe and suggested they write the Guardian and recommend he change the language to Ovambo. They declined.

Every day I would walk along the hill top near my house and recite the Tablet of Ahmad for guidance. One morning after the prayer, my eyes rested on a church in the town below. I wondered if they had a Kunyama Bible. I descended the hill and entered the church. On enquiring about Kuanvama the priest replied, �Yes, the language has just been put into writing for the first time and we have now been able to publish the New Testament in Kunyama. I bought a copy and also a simple grammar booklet which they offered. I had the idea that I could compare it with the English Bible and perhaps draw out a vocabulary. So it turned out. I composed a single page pamphlet about the Faith and began to translate. Obviously it would be a very bad translation, but I could think of no other way ahead.

Next came another piece of luck. My landlord took on a new garden boy who was from a neighbouring tribe to the Kunyama. Each day he also had to sweep my room, so when he came in, I got him to read a few sentences of the new pamphlet and make corrections. Bit by bit it was finished and I was elated.

I tried many ways to get talking with the African people but it was slow going and I was extra careful now. One day I was visiting the Methodist minister and his wife. As we alked round their garden we came to an African garden boy. The ministers wife introduced me, �This is Joseph, he is a Kunyama.� My heart leapt a beat and I tried to keep the enthusiasm out of my greeting. �Hello Joseph.� He smiled and responded and we walked on. That evening af ter dark I wandered past the garden and got talking with Joseph. He spoke quite a lot of English, so I told him about my pamphlet and asked hirn to look it over. The following night we met again and he told me the pamphet was confused, but that he had a friend who was an official translator for the police, he would show it to him. I firmly declined.

I had now been working for the Old Mutual, a South African insurance company, for a year and had completed the amount of business required. It would be good to take two weeks leave and tour Southern Africa, visiting the Baha�is in each country. I wrote them all and received warm invitations. Claire, who was now in Nyasaland added, �Shorten your visits and spend extra time at Bill Sears farm near Johanesburg, there is a wonderful spirt there, just like Haifa.� My company agreed and I was off. First I visited Eric Manton and his son in Souther Rhodesia. They really loved Africa and the son invited me to spend a night in a tent in the bush near the house. I was doubtful of the safety angle but not willing to show it. I slept fitfully and every russel in the undergrowth woke me up. In the morning we were back in the house having breakfast listening to the radio news. Item. Only ten miles from us lions had broken into a shamba and killed a man! I thanked God we had been overlooked. The friends were able to teach the Faith openly there & I joined in with enthusiasm.

Next stop was Clair Gung in Nyasaland. It was a warm reunion of the times we had pioneered together in Brighton, England. She was full of enthusiasm as usual. Then on to Durban and East London. In each place it was a great uplift for me to be amongst devoted Baha�i pioneers for a few days, after being isolated for so long. Finally arriving in Johanesburg where Marguerite and Bill Sears picked me up and drove to their small � holding 15 miles out of town. The warmth of their hospitality was indescribable.

Bill and Marguerite had recently been on pilgrimage. At dinner, the Guardian had told them to pioneer. �Where, beloved Guardian?� �Africa.� �Which part of Africa, beloved?� �South Africa.� �What part?� �Johannesburg!� And so here they were. Bill was at that time one of the most well � known radio and TV sports commentators in the U.S.A. and I think his salary was over $50,000 a year. Near the top level in those days. (1952). He was now working in the same occupation in Johanesburgh for about $3,000 a year and really struggling to make ends meet financially. But they were greatly thankful to be able to help bring the Faith to AFrica, and also to please the beloved Guardian.

The teaching work had already begun in much secrecy, in deference to the aparteid laws which strictly limited any such friendliness to the local natives. However several enthusiastic seekers came regularly to the farm and listened with much interest to the teachings of Baha�u�llah.

Next stop was Mafeking, where John and Audrey Robarts from Canada had moved in to pioneer Becuannaland. I had known them from my Canadian days and attended their firesides in Toronto regularly. It was good to see how effective they were in teaching the Faith in Africa.. They had already brought a few into the Faith even though the aparteid policy was in force. Much prayer had been their constant practice. John often rose at midnight to say his daily prayer because it was easier to concentrate then. They were also very long time Baha�is. I should mention here that both Bill Sears and John Robarts were later named Hands of the Cause by Shoghi Effendi. John was now working in life insurance like me, but for an English company, the Prudential. I was able to learn a lot from him about this business since he had been a company manager in Toronto. Now, living in Mafeking they were my nearest Baha�i neighbours, about 600 miles from Windhoek. John later visited me there for a few days and left me feeling much uplifted by his inspiration.

On to Capetown where I stayed with Lowell Johnson and his wife; Lowell was also in radio announcing. The teaching there was spreading sucessfully among both Africans and coloureds and so interesting was it that I over stayed my two weeks leave to join in.

Arriving back at Windhoek I was amazed to find my company angry at my overstayed leave; they gave me the sack. I was amazed, since I had served them well. I wrote to John Robarts about this and he recommended me as an agent for his company. The general manager came up from Capetown to interview me. He asked my old manager why he had sacked me. On hearing that it was because of my over stayed leave he said: �You are crazy to lose this agent, I will be delighted to offer him a job. Now I became the first full time representative for the Prudential in S.W. Africa!

One morning, soon after my arrival back in Windhoek I received a phone message from the police. �Mr Cardell, we understand you are a Baha�i. We would like to know more about it. Could you come in for an interview tomorrow?� Although the tone of his voice was mild I realised this was very serious. What had I done now to break the tight secrecy I had been keeping about the Faith? The next morning the officer in a friendly way asked me to tell about Baha�i. I did this briefly, being careful to avoid anything which might upset him. Then, to my surprise he pulled out a Baha�i pamphlet and read from it the twelve principles. He asked if this was correct and I agreed with it. Wondering if I should elaborate I realised that the less I said the better. Remembering that I had a printed statement on �Relations of Baha�is to government prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of the U.S.A. I told him about it and offered to bring him a copy the next day. He was pleased. I asked him how he had heard that I was a Baha�i and to my astonishment he replied: �The Rhodesian police told us about it.� After I delivered the statement the police never worried me again. It was obviously clear to them that Baha�i was no real threat at present and that since there was some international anger about aparteid at that time, it was probably best not to go into it further unless the Baha�is started doing something more obvious. Little did they know that the spiritual springtime had arrived and that within 20 years they would have to grant independence to the country and apartheid would be abolished for ever in both S.W. Africa and South Africa itself told him not to do so, lest it get to the police, but the following evening he introduced me to Hilifa, the police translator. Hilifa and I drove out into the country each night and by flashlight started going over the script. I took it home and retyped the new part and met him the next night for more. This went on for many nights, for he kept improving his own translation. Finally we had a good edition. I was elated, and Hilifa felt very pleased to help. In my mind I can still see the wonderful smile on his face. He was also learning a lot about Baha�i.

I had made friends with two young Dutchmen named Harry and Bill and told them about the Faith in confidence. They suggested we all go for a holiday together at Swapukmund on the coast and arrange to have Hilifa visit his friends down there at the same period. And so it happened, we rented a small holiday cottage and moved in. Each night we covered the windows with blankets and Hilifa came in and sat talking with us. I told him a lot about Shoghi Effendi and said he would be delighted to receive a letter from the first Kunyama. He immediately started writing with enthusiasm. We could not mail the letter as censors often opened t~ I was going on lea~,o tO En~land soon and would mail the letter from there. th~ Next day Hilifa and I drove along~ desert coast, far from civilization, laid out a rug and sitting near the ocean began studying the book Baha�u�llah and the New Era. We had been doing this for some time when, on looking up I saw two whitemen had driven up, stopped their car and were gazing in astonishment at a black and white man relaxing on the rug reading and talking together as equals. They got out their fishing tackle as a cover and started walking towards us. I made a plan, I would walk along the coast and draw them away so that Hilifa could make for the car. It worked well, they followed me. Hilifa headed for the car and I then turned back quickly, jumped in the car and we drove off. The two men were left gazing helplessly after us without even having taken the number of the car. We laughed long and loud.

The next day Hilifa brought his friend David to meet us and this time we drove inland into the desert. We sat talking about the Faith and since it was a feast day we actually celebrated it together. I stood my camera on the tripod and took a historic photo of the three of us. David later became a Baha�i.

Back in Windhoek, in order to keep in touch with Hilifa I started teaching him to drive my car. He showed good skill and we enjoyed each others company.

The time for me to go on leave to England arrived and Hilifa was still not ready to become a Baha�i. I gave him a copy of Baha�u�llfih and the New Era, embraced him and promised to return. Flying first to Johanesburg I attended the election on the Sears farm, of the first National Spiritual Assembly of South and West Africa. The previous year when they had elected the L.S.A. of Johanesburg, the Guardian had instructed the Baha�is to obey the law in S.Africa forbidding committees of mixed races and it had been and all black Assembly. Now he told us that the National Spiritual Assembly must be of mixed races, also that he was looking forward eagerly to see what the proportions would be. The event proceeded without a hitch. The membership of the new N.S.A. was found to be about equally black and white. Paul Haney was the Guardian�s representative and a big inspiration. Reg Turvey, an old time white resident and a Baha�i of many years, was assigned to watch at the gate to the farm in case the police came to investigate. He had a telephone on a long line to warn us. Reg actually fell asleep on the job!

Back in England I often thought about Hilifa and S.W.Africa. One day a letter arrived from Hilifa. He was so glad I had left him the book. He had been reading the chapter about how to distinguish between a true Prophet and a false one. Now he knew that Baha�u�llah was a true Prophet. There was much more and with great joy I sent this letter, together with the one he had written to Shoghi Effendi, off to the Guardian. Within a week a reply came. Ruhiyyih Khanum�s phrase put it clearly. We are so glad that your chick has at last come through the shell! Please give Hilifa our love and the enclosed lette when you return. At the bottom was a prayerful encouragement from Shoghi Effendi.

After some time I returned to Africa, stopping first in Kenya for a few days teaching in the Maragoli district. On arriving back at the Sears farm near Johanesburg I became very ill. Dr Alice Kidder, a Baha�i friend tried to treat me by wholistic massage. It failed completely. As I lost consciousness I pleaded with Marguerite to take me to hospital. I woke up three days later having been through a severe bout of malaria, probably caught while in Kenya. Soon I was back at the farm recuperating. During this time I became friends with the Sears two sons, Mike and Billy, a connection which was to have interesting results. Finally, back in good health I bought a good second hand car and drove the long trip to Windhoek.

One day I received a letter from Mike Sears who was living with his parents near Johanesburg. Mike wanted to come and work in Windhoek. He had been offered an apprentice position with an architect there. I was joyful. At last another Baha�i to talk with and celebrate feasts. He arrived and settled in. Hilifa introduced us both to his friend Nicodemus who then joined us often in our clandestine meetings. Soon he became the second Kunyama to recognise his Lord. We were now four!

I was now forty � two years old and still single. Looking in the mirror one day I decided I had better think seriously about finding a wife. I was also the only male member of the Cardells to carry on the family name. My non � Baha�i parents had been very patient and supportive of my move to Africa, but longed to see me. I wrote saying I would visit them if they bought me a return ticket and they accepted gladly.

It was now October 1957. Early one morning I received a cable. �Shoghi Effendi seriously ill, need everyones� prayers. Ruhiyyih.� Next day a second telegram came � �Grieve inform Baha�i world Shoghi Effendi passed away, London. Earnest prayers entreated Guardian and security Faith Ruhiyyih. Mike and I were shocked and stunned. Slowly the situation regarding a future Guardian came to our attention. Had he left a will? Did he have any children? If not, had he appointed another? I arrived in England to find the whole Baha�i world asking the same questions. The funeral had taken place before I got there and I could only kneel at his graveside and pray for understanding.

I spent some unsettled weeks with my parents and then decided to go to the U.S.A.band see what they thought about the matter. Maybe I might even find a wife over there. It also ocurred to me that since I was from Africa, the National Teaching committee might like me to spend a few weeks travel teaching and talking about Africa. I received an enthusiastic reply to my enquiry and sailed for America aboard the Queen Mary. Arriving in New York, the local Baha�is gave me a warm welcome and then I started on a journey visiting the cities the N.T.C. had suggested and funded. So, by bus and train I covered a lot of the U.S.A., arrivinv in Chi~ Fn illCt in time for convention.

Convention was a big uplift after being away from Baha�i event~like this for some years. In the middle of it I was introduced to Alicia Ward and her mother. Alicia told me later, that she knew right away we would be married. My analytical mind was still open on that subject but we shared the whole convention together in a spirit of ever growing oneness. I took her to the plane for Phoenix making sure I had an invitation to visit her soon. However the N.T.C. secretary wanted me to do another tour of cities, talking about Africa. I turned it down, saying I had a date in Tempe, near Phoenix. She suggested a tour through various places and ending up at Tempe. I accepted. Arriving at Tempe by Trailways bus some weeks later I stepped out into heat greater than I had ever experienced, even in Africa. I thought I must be standing in the exhaust of the bus, so moved away. To my astonishment, the heat was still there and the truth dawned on me. This was normal Arizona weather� When Alicia came to fetch me from the bus station I knew for sure this was my future wife, for here was a lady I could love and trust. She had arrived at the age of thirty unmarried because she had not been satisfied with any of the young men so far. Her spiritual character showed in her actions and speech and her family were long time Baha�is. Unseen forces drew us ever closer together in a joy inexplicable. She was delighted to go back to A f rica with me. After about three months living wiih her family we were married. On Aug 9th 1958 we had a Baha�i wedding. After a honeymoon we drove Alicia�s Volkswagon across the U.S.A to New York, sold it, and sailed to England on the Queen Elizabeth. Since we were short of funds, we asked for their cheapest cabin and found ourselves in the bow of the ship. We could hear the swish of the water rushing past and the occasional clank of the anchor chain against the side of the ship as we went to sleep.

In England, my family were delighted to meet Alicia and all the relatives gathered for a second wedding celebration. We had brought the top layer of the wedding cake with us, but the ocean journey had been too much for it; inside, it was green with mould, but the spirit of the occasion was not dampened. After a few weeks we found a cheap charter plane back to Windhoek via Nigeria. Alicia explained to the company that she was a one time stewardess on United airlines; she wondered if they could give her a cheap fare. They gave her the navigator�s spare seat just behind the pilot at half price. We rejoiced at the economy, but soon found that the chair was a simnle stool, not even bolted to the floor! We worried about it for obvious reasons, but soon a teenager pleaded to be allowed to exchange seats with her so that he could watch the pilot. We were happy to oblige.

The flight was uneventful until we reached Kano in Nigeria where we were allowed time to go into the city. Here, for the first time we found ourselves in a majority Moslem country and were much attracted to the way people lived there. The next leg of our flight took us to Windhoek in S.W.Africa. Mike Sears had already spent his one year there and had now gone back to his parents home near Johannesburg. He had left the car I had lent him, with friends and the key was hidden in a prearranged place. We found ~e k~ and were now able to search for a small apartment in the town. Then I went back to work for a British company, the Prudential Insurance company selling life insurance to Africaaners who were often prejudiced against ~ ~ to them,~ foreign company. It was hard work, but I managed to make a living this way and got a lot of freedom to meet with Hilifa, Nicodemus and their friends. They were delighted to see us of course.

Now be~J~ 2 ~.~Vh~ new cnapter in our lives, living no longer as single people but as a happily married couple, far from our native homes in the service of Baha�u�llah. Life was peaceful and ordered and we even had time to play card games and see the latest movies, which for some reason often came here from America before going to England.

We were most excited with the arrival of a letter from a Baha�i family in Germany, and here lies a wonderful story, true in every part. Their names were Gerda and Martin Aiff; they owned a small duplicating business and had five small children. By some miracle they had managed to get their relatives to look after the children while they went on pilgrimage. Dinner with the Guardian was to them an unexpressible joy. One evening the Guardian said �Martin, I want you and Gerda to lead the German youth to Africa.� Martin, in a logical frame of mind replied �But beloved Guardian, I have no money, no job in Africa and five children.!� It speaks volumes for the Guardian!s reliance at all times (and for all people) on the unfailing assistance of the unseen world when I record that the Guardian did not even deign to answer this problem at all. To him it was the will of God that this family would go to Africa so he answered with a disdainful humph! and then moved on to the next topic. The affect on Martin and Gerda was dramatic. They got the message loud and clear and from that moment on the~ began planning their move to Africa. They felt that the best country for them would be S.W. Africa where Alicia and I lived. It used to be a German territory before the first world war and was given to England as ~I~de ~ ~ue ~ ha~7~ reparations~and England asked South Africa to look after it for them. Hence the main business language there was German, and there was a good German school for their children. It took them two years to get everything in order and they finally arrived by ship at Walvis Bay. Alicia and I met them at ~ho~ the dock and I have a lovely picture of Gerda and Martin leading six children off the boat. Alicia and I had rented a large old house which could be divided in two, so that they had at least a home to come to. We started having firesides there for Hilifa, Nicodemus and their friends. We were now started in earnest on the teaching work. But Martin scoured the town for a job and got nowhere. We all prayed frequentlyt for all their small capital was gone. They started unpacking but found that nearly all of their precious crockery had been smashed due to insufficient packing in the crate. Finally a business offered him work at half the salary he would need to live on; he could start at the end of the month. All relaxed but at the end of the month the jo6 4~Y ~ cl . The next few weeks were tense, but finally he was offered a job as a travelling salesman selling goods in the distant villages all over tht vast territory. This meant that he would be away from his family for many weeks at a time. He accepted and Gerda was left, with our help, to look after the family.

This was difficult enough but one day one son got hit by a car. Amazingly, it was Hilifa who got to the scene first, picked up the injured boy and got him to hospital. Martin continued his travelling and employed a Herera man to go with him. Long drives and much discussion resulted in this man being ready to recognise Baha�u�llah. One day they stopped near the sea and went in for a bathe. The Herera man was carried out to sea and drowned. Poor Martin was desolate, but to the police it was just a statistic.

Later on, with another Herera he was travelling between settlements and his truck with its clothing samples caught fire. Everything was lost. One more adventure for Martin must be told. This time it was a victory. He heard one day that the police were suspecting him of friendship with the Africans and that he was a Baha�i. He decided it was the time for all or nothing. He went straight to the police headquarters and asked for an interview with the chief officer. He asked him �Why are you following me?� The reply was �Because we hear you are a Baha�is and are being too friendly to the Africans.� �Is there a law against this?� Martin queried. The officer had to say there was no such law. (in practice it was an unwritten part of the aparteid policy.) �Then may I have your permission to hold weekly Baha�i meetings in the African township?� Strangely, they accepted. From then on the teaching was open and progressed. Perhaps it was an advantage for the police to hear for themselves wether Baha�i is subversive or not, for they could send their own representative to the meetings to watch. Further, they had my own written document stating the non � political nature of Baha�i.

About a year after the Aiff family arrived, we discovered that we were to become parents. This caused us to think in more real terms about our future income. My insurance business was failing because I could not keep up the hard sell technique which was required and in any case it was not my chosen career. We decided to move back to Kenya where I would be able to restart mv profession as a photographer.

Most of the above adventures of the Aiff family occured after we had boarded a small steamer and travelled round the Cape of Good Hope to Kenya. On the way we stopped for a few days at Capetown and stayed with the Baha�is. Then we caught another ship to Durban and stayed with the friends there arriving finally at Mombasa, the main port of Kenya. We were met by a lovely Italian family, the Rupps, who were friends of Aziz. They helped us get our things from the ship to the station and with a warm goodbye from our new friends, we began our long winding journey inland and climbing up to 5,000 feet in 400 miles (~ \I~YO6~.

We had written to the Yazdi family before hand and they had ar~nged for us to live in the guest house in their garden. It was a real warm home coming and and a welcome haven for Alicia especially, for the Yazdis acted like true parents towards us, helping wherever they could. But our plans were all to be changed. The British Govbernment had announced they were going to give independance to Kenya in 4 years. It would be impossible for us to set up a viable photo businss, for most of the white people would be leaving Kenya, and there would not even be good schools for our expected children. We began searching for jobs once again, realising that our time in Africa was now very limited, for I was not trained for anything but farming (English style) and pnotography. It made more sense to go back to England soon and train to be a school teacher or secretary then we could pioneer again to many places in the world. But for now we needed an income. My job search in Nairobi produced no results and at last Aziz offered me a position as travelling salesman for the medicines he was importing.

A few weeks later Aziz took me on an extended sales trip into northern Uganda, to open up new customers. All went well until I phoned home from Uganda and Alicia told me our firstborn would soon be arriving. We headed back immediately. Baby Catherine was born soon after and I shall never forget the excitement we experienced at realising that we now had our very own family. Our firstborn, Catherine, was born on October 18, 1959.

I now felt impelled to look for a job more to my liking, for I was not a salesman type. On answering an advertisement for a Cotton Officer in the Department of Agriculture, I foud myself accepted with almost indecent haste, even though I told them I had no idea what a cotton plant looked like. Maybe it was my previous farming experience in England, but after all the hard job searching we had done we saw it as a great bounty. They planned to send us down to the coast where the climate was suitable for cotton growing. We would live in a small settlement named Malindi where the climate was tropical and the living conditions primative. We gladly accepted, though we did not realise just how primative it would be.

It was just at this time that my parents, who had only once before left the shores of England, now decided to come and visit us in Africa. They were able to spend a few days with us in Nairobi before my new job started and this enabled them to get to know the new baby and also Alicia whom they had only met briefly in England when we were on our way back to Africa. They were also very pleased to see that at last their son was settling down to a reliable government job. Little did we know how short that would be.

It may be of interest to parents now raising children and anxiously trying to get them to take up some reliable profession, if there is such a thing these days, to hear that at the age of 18 I had no idea what career to follow. I stayed on the farm another eleven years and then immigrated to Canada in search of a profession and a meaning to life. Over the next 23 years I held 17 different jobs. True, many of these happened in Africa where I had to take almost any kind of a work that came along. After leaving Africa in 1963 we finally settled down running the family farm for 20 years. That is where our four wonderful children grew up.

But to return to Africa and my parents arrival there in 1959. We first introduced them to the wild anima park just ten miles outside Nairobi. There are no fences to keep the animals in, but they stay in the natural habitat which has been left for them. As one enters and buys tickets there is a large notice �STAY IN YOUR CAR AND CLOSE ALL WINDOWS.� Strangly enough, the animals do not associate motor vehicals with humans. Perhaps it is the smell of gasoline, but they continue in their normal � behavior I shall never forget the intense surprise on my mother�s face when a male lion walked up to our car, cocked his leg up and weed on our bumper. After driving for an hour we came to a clearing in the bush to find a notice which said you may get out of your car here, it is safe.� My father to stretch our legs said apprenhensively as we got out to stretch our legs: �I hope the lions can read!�

Their next adventure was to drive with us down to Malindi through simila wild animal country. It was a happy though dusty journey and at one point we stopped to change the baby�s nappies. We threw the dirty one into the bush much to the delight of a troup of baboons who came out enmass to receive their gift and carry it off in triumph into the jungle. We did not stop laughing for a long time!

We arrived at Mombassa port which beins at sea level was much hotter than Nairobi. Also, for the first time we noted a lar~ proportion of the population was Arabs, especially at the docks where pictureque Arab dowhs were loading cargoes of trees to take back to Arabia. After a night at a hotel pervaded by all kin~ of unaccustomed noises we set off, next day on the journey north 50 miles along the coast to Malindi which consisted of a hotel, block of flats surrounded by many native huts and a cotton ginning mill. I found the office of the local senior cotton officer and was given the occupancy of one of the flats. Our windows looked out on probably the most perfect and enormous sandy beach I had ever seen. It stretched perhaps for 20 miles in each direction and we had it all to ourselves. Happily a strong wind blew in from the Indian ocean. We later found that it never seemed to cease blowing; what is more, it was heavily moisture laden and within two weeks, all our precious books would develop a strong mould.

My parents put up at the hotel and found it comfortable. The next day I was shown my job. It was to walk to all the small shambas (plots of ground) and talk with their owners, describing to them the big advantages of growing pure stand cotton instecd of interplanting it with maize. This would increase their income and also make the owner of the ginning mill more happy. The mill had machinery for teasing the cotton buds into bales for shipping.

There were no roads and few paths between the shambas and I was forced to walk through the long grass. This was not too bad, except that it was said to be the most snake infested part of Africa; a claim which I was soon to substantiate when on the first day I came upon a clearing on the bank of a creek where a most bizare fight was going on. Some natives had come upon a very large snake (18 feet long) which was in the act of swallowing a smaller one some men had therefore decided to kill both snakes while they were struggling. The large snake, still with its victim half swallowed had sought an escape in the water. An African with a large two foot knife called a panga, had followed it in. As I watched, he cut off its head to loud cheers and ribald shouts from his friends. Back at the office, I sought advice on avoiding snakes during my tours. I was advised to carry a snakebite kit and then hope for the best. For my whole term I did this and found years later that the kit would have been not only useless but dangerous if I had used it. Meanwhile I walked happily through the long grass daily to talk with the native women about cotton raising.

One day I was helping a woman plant the new cotton seeds in rows, the best way to get them to follow my advice, when the woman beside me gave a strangled exclamation. I looked up to see advancing towards us about ten yards away, a snake even bigger than the one I had previously encountered. Its head was raised two feet above the ground while its tongue tasted the air around. Grasping the addage that `snakes are more scared than humans� I threw a lump of dirt at it, but to no avail � it still kept coming towards us! Desperately I threw more dirt and it suddenly made off. I recalled that snakes have ~ery poor eye � sight. so probably it had not meant to attack at all, but we both had a real scare, wondering how we would have fought the thing off.

The season had now arrived for plantinQthe new crop and I was on duty at the seed store, handing out free seed to all commers. A long line of Africans waited patiently as I filled each shopping bag presented to me. Suddenly I became aware that the young girl next in line was staring at me with wide eyes. Obviously she had never seen a whiteman before, a not uncommon thing in that wild area. I looked at her and, before she could ask the question on her lips I said �How did you get so black?� To which she replied �How did you get so white? Then everyone collapsed in laughter.

That evening Alicia, baby Cathy and I went shopping for the weekend supplies. We were directed to the meat market whlch consisted of a butcher working behind a high wooden wall in which there was a foot square hole serving as a counter top. When we gave our order, it arrived through this hole partly wrapped in newspaper and grasped in a bloody hand. Such was the hygiene! For some reason we accepted the meat and suffered no ills, but a gradual accumulation of such incidents made us think of other employment nearer to civilvation.

Since we were living on the equator at sea � level and in primative conditions, it may come as no surprise to hear that all the women went topless the whole time; Alicia often joked about her husband beinq fully educated on the matter of women�s breasts � of all ages.

We had been six months on this job and learning to understand the native life and devise the best ways to teaach the Faith. We had made a number of friends and got on well with the people, but we began to see that conditions were too primative for the health of the new baby, so soon after my parents went back to England I answered an advertisment for an executive officer in the Department of Trade and supplies. I was successful and we went back to live and work in Nairobi. Much as I lovedthe country, it was a relief to be back in the city, working at a desk job.

I was now put in charge of making cash loans to small businesses to help them expand and develop. It was my task to sort out the applicants which could be trusted to make their monthly repayments. The U.S.A. had kindly donated half a million pounds to this worthy project.

The original nine pioneers who had lived in Kenya when the Ten Year Plan started had now been reduced considerably. Fred Schecter had pioneered to Somalia , Claire had gone to Uganda and started her infant classes. Others went elsewhere and there was only Aziz, Claudio Rupp, Aziz and myself able to travel up country in the teaching work. Our wives sometimes were able to come, but mostly were raising their children. Ainee and Teheren Ali, devoted Persian pioneers helped where they could and I shall never forget one trip I made with them upcountry when this highly cultured couple lived for a few days in the African�s huts, eating with them and clearly revelling in their company. Alicia and I also made such a trip.

Susy, our second baby soon joined us and life became more complicated but challenging. However, on one occasion Alicia_was able to come with me on an upcountry teaching trip and I treasure .. .. my photo of her sitting in the shade of a hut teaching a large class about the life of Baha�u�llah. We even managed to buy a small slide projector which, powered by long leads from our car battery, projected pictures onto the white � washed wall of a hut. By this method we were able to show the~the livesof Baha�is round the world and also sG.ne~of themselves taken on previous trips. One man kept requesting a repeated viewing of a certain slide. When asked why, he proudly revealed that this picture was of himself addressing the meeting. In another picture, someoneJs rooster had got into the picture and this made it a favorite slide for everyone.

On another occasion we were able to borrow the use of a backroom of a beer � hall in a small village. The highly spiritual discussion was frequently interrupted by the din of customers in the beerhall, but the Message was clearly and convincingly explained.

Christianity had come to this country over 100 years ago. Infact by ~ ~ eO~ that we were told that it had arrived in 1844 and this fullfilled the Biblical prophecy �. . . and this Gospel shall be preached unto all the world, and then shall the end come.� Kenya may have been the last country to receive the Christian Message. By 1951 there were many missionaries in Kenya, and from different groups, but their disunity over interpretation had confused the Africans. When the Baha�is had applied to the District Comissioner for permission to build a Baha�i Center at the village of Kabras, it was refused. I visited the Comissioner to discover why and was told~that there were various fanatical Christian sects there already and their arguments had caused unrest in the area; he didnot want any more to make the situation worse. When I explained the unifying and peaceful teachings of Baha�u�llah he happily gave ~ er~iscion. ~evcted Persian contributions had already provided the funds and we soon had a new and very adequate meeting hall which the local Baha�i began to use regularly. I have photos of Hand of the Cause Olinga addressing a large meeting there.

One of the earliest believers in that area was Festo Mukalama. He spoke good English and ~as also quite musical in the African way. Soon he had composed many songs tel~ing the story of Baha�u�llah and also His teachings. These became a great favourite among the people and a most excellent wa~ ofsp the Faith. At this time Bob and ~eith Quigley from America visited us and donated a portable battery tape recorder on which I captured these songs and sent copies to the U.S.A. and to South American Baha�is. In later years Festo was appointed a Board Member and to this day continues to serve Baha�u�llah in an exemplary manner, simply bubblinq over with ioY and devotio~ time pioneers visit his area.

When Alicia and I had returned to Kenya, we found that the temple in Kampala had been compleated while we were in Windhoek. Soon after our return Ruhiyyih Khanum came to perform the dedication of this beautiful building which had drawn interest over a very wide area. Bearing in mind the Guardian�s guidance, the National Spiritual Assembly spared no efforts to make this a big occasion. Full publicity in the press and liason with the Government of Uganda was only the start. The news was carried all over Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika and also to overseas news syndicates. The ruler of Uganda, the Kabaka, sent his son to attend the ceremony and the Governor�s representative sat in a place of honour between Ruhiyyih Khanum and our Chairman, Ali Nakhjavani. Many Baha�is from overseas were present, including five from South Africa.

That evening there was a big public meeting at Makerere college in the city. Here David Hofman who had flown specially from England to represent that National Spiritual Assembly, made a presentation of one of the Guardian�s letters to our N.S.A. Ruhiyyih Kahnum was presented with a native spear to take back to Haifa. Once again, as in 1953, the streets and hotels of Uganda rang with the comings and goings of a multitude of Baha�is of many races and countries.

Some time later Nairobi received a rather special guest, Dr Niederreiter from Abbysinia. He was on his way to the Belgian Congo to investigate reports of extraordianary Baha�i developments there. Some months previously Rex and Mary Collison had pioneered from Kampala to the territory of Ruand Urundi. They had taken with them a devoted Uqandan believer. The Faith had been established strongly and the Collisons had returned to Kampala, leaving their companion to carry on the work. Some of the new believers had then taken the Faith to a neighboring territory, the Belgian Congo; there it had spread rapidly until whole villages had entered the Faith � so the rumours indicated. The good doctor was on his way to investigate and help. About two months later he returned to Nairobi highly elated. The rumours were not only true but in some places the local Baha�is had built Baha�i Centers for their activities and also built their own houses around the Center, as was the custom of the Christians who often made their churches their village center.

Dr Niederreiter had mostly travelled between villages on foot, accompanied by a g � oup of Baha�is. This was done without preplannins and they arrived unannounced in one village to find the Ninteen Day Feast in full swing. They were able to join in.

An interesting situation occured during the early days of the Faith in Kenya when I reported to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Nairobi that in my country ~ourneys coverin~the Mau Mau revolution for the Newspapers, I had often been exposed to the risk of being attacked. As a pioneer I obviously did not want to get involved in the fighting but I asked the advice of the Assembly wether I should carry a gun for self � protection. The Asembly decided that I should be free to do so, but I never did feel inclined to doi � ~ ; rather I chose to retire away from the biggest dangers even if it meant missing importantnews photos.The result was that I missed covering one very important development when an entire village was masacred by the Mau Mau for colaborating with the Europeans. My London newspaper sent an urgent message for pictures of the gruesome event. I was unable to supply these, so they cut off my picture privilages at the radio station. (They had been paying the costs of transmitting photos by radio to London.) I had, in the words of the trade, �Let them down�, but I had also probably saved my own life and the life of some African.

There was such a demand from all the London newspapers that I had little difficulty in getting picture privilages from a competitor. I continued sending them pictures at their expense and both sides agency were satisfied. One day my old newspaper wrote reinstating my privilages and sending a cutting of the trial of Jomo Kenyatta, the leader of the Mau Mau as an example of the kind of pictures they would like! I recognised my own picture sent to the new firm!

The reason why I record so much detail is that an interesting sequel transpired when Ruhiyyih Khanum next visited us and I told her the decision of the Assembly allowing me to carry a gun. She spontaneously replied �I don�t know about you Ted, but if I had come out to Africa to teach the Message of Baha�u�llah to the African people, I would rather die than kill one.�

I had recently been appointed secretary of the Kenya teaching committee under the N.S.A. of Central and East Africa. (Kenya did not yet have its own N.S.A.) and as such was in correspondence with a lot of the friends. My office was in the newly built Baha�i Center in Nairobi and Charles Mungonye, a very devoted Baha�i was my full time assistant and typist. We got various projects going, such as a song sheet in two languages, so that everYone could join in.

We also encouraged people from different language areas of Kenya to translate a basic pamphlet, even though they were all rather similar to Swahili, the official language.

My job at the Department of Trade was now developing and one day I found myself at the desk which ordered shiploads of sugar from abroad to supplement production from our own two sugar factories. I had no experience of this work but there was a very efficient clerks staff of Hindus who did all the calculations and brought me the papers to sign. One m~rning in discussing their religion with them I found they had received permission to be absent on their religious holidays. Since we now had Baha�is working in various government departments I made an official application for them also to have their Holy days recognised and this was granted. This was one more step on the way towards official recognition of the Faith.

The following April, much to my surprise I found myself elected to the N.S.A. of Central and � East Africa and had to make monthly journeys to Kampala, a ten hour night trip by bus or a one hour plane trip. The first time, since there was only limited time free from my office, I took the plane. The National Treasurer, Hasan Sabri gently suggested that in future it would save the fund a lot of money if I took bus, even though it was very primative. It was quite an experience be crammed tightly into such a bus overnight with all kinds of tribesmen, but I certainly found myself more able to appreciate their kind of life and although the driving was quite macho, we never had any accidents. Later I found that both Clair Gung and Hasan Sabri much more exciting rides, one bus had its fuel tank drop off and the other ran off the road and they had to wait all night to be towed out in the morning.

As mentioned earlier, the Mau Mau terrorists sometimes attacked isolated Europeans. One day I was driving the 300 miles to meet the Baha�is up country when I rounded a bend in the road and found a row of 8 inch boulders strung across the road. The idea was obvious, I would stop to remove them and be open to attack. It is amazing how fast one thinks in such situations and without slowing, I aimed one front wheel at a small gap and prayed hard that the other wheels would find a way. By some miracle all wheels passed through and I continued without incident.

Another weekend, four pioneers drove up country and found some of the main roads had been re�routed. We got thoroughly lost and as darkness fell it began to pour with rain. We were unable to find the Baha�is houses and had nowhereto spend the night. Happily, after wandering around we came upon a Europen mission. We knocked and were received warmly by the missionaries. They gave us real hospitality , a hot meal and beas. In the morning they fed us again and set us on the right road. We were most grateful No religious discussion took place, surprisingly. Be~ore~o Africa the Guardian had indicated that we should concentrate completely on teaching the African people and not the white people.

Perhaps this is an appropriate place to try to give some idea of the beloved Guardian�s relationship with the friends everywhere. Almost no one had met him, as pilgrimages had been closed for many years, due to the machinations of the Covenant Breakers.

All we had were his steady flow of letters and cables, yet this alone produced a magical effect upon the hearts of the believers. In England we were luckier than most countries, for the Guardian had sent Hasan Baluzi and Dr. Hakin to live in our country. Both had met the Master frequently and his spirit seemed to come to us through them. In later years Hasan was named �Hand of the Cause� and Dr Hakim became a member of the first Universal HOuse of Justice. Since we also had quite a number of the Writings of Baha�u�llah in English it served to galvanise us to move towards a spiritual awakening. At Summer Schoo~, Conventions and other occasions there was a spirit quite different from our normal working lives. It was not surprising that when in 1951 the Guardian gave us a Two Year Plan to establish three groups in East and West Africa, there was a conceerted move to fullfill his wishes, even though cnly one couple had ever been there and the British community was probably no more than 600 souls.

Many years later, in 1982, Alicia and I met Helen Bishop in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. Helen was quite old but had a very clear memory of her meetings with Abdu�l Baha and with Shoghi effendi. She told us how she had once visited Oxford in England and found herself invited to a banquet and was sitting next to the Principal of Baliol College where Shoghi Effendi had studied. She asked him his impression of the young Shoghi Effendi. His reply was �He was an excellent student, hard working and full of enthusiasm, but what a pity, in the end they made him the head of some queer religion.� Helen in her next letter to Shoghi Effendi described the conversation, but omitted the last sentence, only to receive a letter in return saying �Now tell me the rest.� We all had a good laugh.

Another most unusual event took place one Sunday in the village of Givogi. I had arrived one �~eekend in Givogi where Mr Asalache had extended warm hospitality for a deepening course. It was Sunday afternoon and I was preparing to finish up and start the 5 hour journey back to Nairobi before dark when a young lad came puffing into the circle from the ne.Yt village. �Please Bwana� he said �Come to our village and tell us about this new religion.� �Bless you� I said, �but it is not possible, I have just enougl1 time to drive back to Nairobi.� �Well then just come and spend 15 minutes with lls. I will wait and take you there.� How could I refuse! He waited while we finished the course and then he took me over the hill. There I found a group of about a dozen people and a headman waiting under the trees. They welcomed me warmly and I gave them a brief account of Baha�u�llah�s Mission. Then the head man rose and thanked me also saying that now the 15 minutes was up and I should start my journey. I left with much joy. The sequel came in a years later when I had left Kenya and was on a teaching trip in Ireland where I met Francis Beard. She had pioneered to Kenya long after I ha � l Ieft and become very energetic in serving the Afrieall people. She had become much loved. I~lany other pioneers had also gone to Kenya and the work had e.Ypanded greatly too; I think, over 300 Assemblies. Francis asked me �Do you rememher that village near Givogi?� I said �Yes�. �~Vell the people there still remember the fair�haired young man who f irsL brought the Faith to them in a few minutes before he had to rush ot f to Nairobi. And now the whole valley is inhabited with Baha�is.�

About ten years later Alicia and I returned to Kenya just for a visit and attend the Nairobi Baha�i Conference. Francis was not forgotten by them. One man enquired very eagerly after her. She must have been a wonderful person.

It is somtimes difficult to remember the exact time � order of event;, but about two years after the passing of the Guardian Ruhiyyih Khanum having somewhat recovered from the great shock, began making long teaching trips all over the world. This besides giving tlle friends everywhere much consolation, gave a fine example for travel teachers to follow. She first made a trip through the mass declaration parts of Uganda and then came to Kenya where a group of Baha�is took her on a trip to our most useful areas. I tried to join them but could not get permission from my job. About 2 months later she returned to Kenya again for more teaching and this time I was privilaged to accompany her for three whole days as her driver. Another car followed behind with Aziz and Sue Yazdi and one or two Kenya Baha�is.

Of course I had met Ruhiyyih Khanum while on pilgrimage but just imagine, I now had her to talk with for the most part of three whole days as we drove across the plains of Kenya. Looking back on it, it seems that we talked the whole time with little respite. She told me that it had been 25 years since she had been on a teaching trip of any kind, because the Guardian could not spare her from the work in Haifa where she was almost his sole helper in the massive correspondence he kept up with thousands of Baha�is all over the world. He was also writing to all National Assembl ies regularly and I believe received all of the minutes of their meetings which he read carefully and suggested new kleas for them to considcr. Also he wrote ~,od l�asses Bv and many other works . How he ever managed to do all of this and still meet with pilgrims is surely more than one can understand. However talking with Ruhiyyih Khanum I was able to glean some idea. I had already asked her why the Guardian di(l not ask for volunteers from overseas to help, beeause I was sure very many would willingly come. I even asked her to tell the Guardian I would do so at any n1oment h~o. wished. She replied that �It is no small matter to ask someone to serve so close to the light. It is a spiritual experience which might be too intense and perhaps dangerous. I heard but have kept hoping someday I could a~tain such a bounty, regardless of the risk. Also the Covenant breakers who lived just next door to the Guardian had caused him all manner of deep troubles by trying to detalne the ~aith and himself and would be waiting to trick any unsuspecting Baha�i who came there to work. I understand that since those days they have been greatly reduced in power and numbers.

To return to what must have been about the most wonderful three days I ever had in Kenya our little group visited many Baha�i communities in Maragoli. At each place the friends gathered eagerly while she talked to them for hours in a manner they well understood, using simple analogies from their daily life to illustrate the spiritual wisdom she was giving them. One evening we stayed a government rest camp and on another when we had driven up into the Nancli hills, a district not yet reached by the Faith. We stayed talking long after sunset talking round a wood fire before she retired to one of the local huts which had been readied for tler arrival. She and the ladies slept in the one room and Aziz and I in the back of his car. It was a clear cloudless night, which was just as well, since we discovered in the morning a large hole in the roof over the bed an~ she found it a huge joke. We all had breakfast round a small table set up outside the hut. On another occasion we bought some fish at the market in Kisumu and drove up intothe Maragoli hills Here we found a stream where we relaxed, built a fire and cooked the fish for lunch. Our guest greatly enjoyed the experience and we were much uplifted to see her recovering from the passing of Shoghi Effendi.

On our three day trip Rhuiyyih Khanum showed much interest in how the pl~ teaching work was going. I told her we had a great many declarations but because the area was so far from Nairobi city where all the pioneers lived and because there were only about 5 of us, it was impossible to do any real deepening; obviously they all needed repeated visits to really understand the wonder of the Message. It looked as though were forced to choose between expansion or deepening. We discussed the matter at great length but could find no answer. Looking back it now seem that it would have been impossible to seperate the two activities for at each meeEng there was always a lot of new faces. I hea~ months later that when she was in India on a similar trip, Ruhiyyih Khanum found the simple answer. �Nowhere in the Writings does it give you permission to cease from teaching.�

I can hardly believe that for much of those three days I was alone in the car, talking with Ruhiyyih Kahnum. Her enthusiasm was uplifting and this was also because as she said, �I have been li � ~ing in Haifa for 25 years helping the Guardian and this is the first teaching trip I have done in all that time. There was usually a large group of African children sitting up front at all her meetings and she was amazed to see how quiet and obedient they � were. They seemed to sense that this was perhaps the greatest moment of their lives.

After the departure of Ruhiyyih Khanum from Africa, the Faith grew more rapidly than ever before, but my own job once more came to an end. The British Government had decided that the time had come for Kenya to be give independance and govern herself. My offical task now was to train an African clerk to do my job and~leave. There would be no other jobs open to Europeans, for everything as given to Africans, no matter how untrained they were. Alicia and I and the two children began preparing to leave Africa and go back to England where I hoped to go to college and train as a school teacher. As such there should be many openings in under � developed countries, which though of short duration, would enable us to pioneer again somewhere on the planet. Also the schools would not be developed enough for our children and they could get better schooling in England.

It was just at this fortuitious time that the Ten Year Crusade was coming to a victorious conclusion and what is more, the Hands of the Cause, as �Custodians of the Faith�, appointed by Shoghi Effendi in his last letter to the Baha�i world, had called for the election of the very first Universal House of Justice. As a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa, I was one of the delegates called to Haifa to take part in the election. The Hands had also written and asked me to be the official photographer at that very great ceremony and also at the first World Baha�i Congress in London which was to follow in May 1963.

One of the arresting statements made to me by Shoghi Effendi when I was on pilgrimage in 1952 (and there were no African Baha�is in Kenya then) was that perhaps one day I would accompany a member of the African race to Haifa. I was astonised to find myself only 11 years later, accompanying no less than five African believers to Haifa, not only on pilgrimage but as full members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa, come there as delegates to elect the first Universal House of Justice! All nine of us arrived by plane and gathered with about 125 de~egates from many countries of the world, some of them dressed in their national costumes. It was a breath � taking experience to be gathered all together in the Master�s house on Harparsim Street in Haifa to cast our votes. At the back of the room were seated all the Hands of the Cause as witnesses. They had asked that they should not be voted for because their function a~ Hands made it inappropriate. My ownthoughts on this are that as the twin pillars of the Faith are the Guardianship together with the Hands who served him were one pillar,and the entire Administration, including the Universal House of Justice, comprised the other,one could not expect a person to serve on both institutions.

As the House of Justice stated later in one of its letters to the world, it was an absolutely unique event in the world�s religious history for those who were the appointed custodians of the Faith after the passing of the Prophet, to ask not to be elected to the governing body of His followers. Like all the other delegates, I had been giving a lot of prayerful thought on which nine names to put on the ballot paper but I could not think of any Baha�i who I knew, who could possibly have the estemed qualities for such a divine body. After further though~I realised that the beloved Guardian had given us some help in this matter. For he had himself appointed the International Council two years previously and they had aided him in an exemplary manner.

I happily entered the names of the male members of the International council but then realised that the other four were women and therefore ineligable. There was a temptation to leave four blank spaces, but that would make the ballot disqualilfied. I reasoned that the Hands could be voted for, even though they had asked for us not to do so. Therefore I completed the~ballot with the names of four Hands.

It should be mentioned that before the election took place all the delagates were sent by bus to visit the shrine of Baha�u�llah and all the other holy places one visits on pilgrimage, and this was added bounty. It also reminded me of the Guardian�s last words to me on leaving Haifa, �Do not be sad, you will come back.�

For three days after the election, the delegates attended consultati~ in a large hall about half a mile away from the shrine on Mt.Carmel. Each day was to me equal to a thousand ordinary ones, so fragrant was that experience. There was also the task of photogrphing every aspect of this occasion, so spiritually significant for all mankind.

As history records, the following week, all of these delegates, together with about 6,000 other Baha�is from all over the world, gathered for a week~long congress at the Albert Hall in London. Alicia, who had flown directly to England with our firt two children, Cathy and Susy, was able to be at this congress and join in spiritual inspiration. On one morning Ruhiyyih Khanum talked to us about the beloved Guardian an~ his passing. In the middle she was overcome by the memory of that heart rending event and could not go on. After a while the African Baha�is started singing softly and contiuously �Allah�u�Abha � Allah�u�Abha � Allah�u�Abha � and all the audience joined in and swelled that holy refrain till the very rafters vibrated with power. How high must all the heavenly concourse have raised that acclamation to the very gates of heaven surely.

Another notable happening was the address by Hand of the Cause Samandari, who as a boy had actually been in the presence of the Blessed Beauty and served Him. His Persian words rang clearly through the giant hall as he recounted that pLace and those surroundings. His ~ords were most heautifully translated by Marzia ~ale and at one point she added extra words of explanation, at which Samandari raised a wave of delighted laughter from the audience by commenting �Did I say all that?� which Mar7ia also translated for us all.

A leading London newspaper produced a special edition filled with four pages of photogr2phs and comments. Vendors outside the hall did a brisk businesc, selling to the delgates an historical record of that great day. And as the Baha�is emerged from the building in a flood of joy I noted that even the famous double decker London buses unwittillgly proclaimed this great occasion by sending their rcut~ number 9 to bus stops outside the hall. Which tribute I did not fail to photograph for posterity.

This ccngress was clearly the first time many of the friends had met 211 of the ~ands of the Cause and their presence added special uplift. Which reminds me of a delig~tful happening re~arding Hand Samandari. For many years after this he traveiled all over the world filling hearts with memories of the Blessed Beauty. In tnese travels he came again to England and since he was now 95 years old and very precious to all of us, we persuaded him to go to a doctor for an overall health check up. He came out with flying colors. This amazed the doctor, in view of his age. He asked Samandari for his secret. I cannot tell you.� Was the reply. iWhy not?� enquired the doctor. Because it is rude.� �Come on, I�m your doctor, you can tell me anything. � Well, if you must know, my secret is that I stay away from doctors!�

To return to the Albert Hall Conference in London, the first �IWorld Cogress� of the Faith. I had a privilaged position. As the official photographer I could go anywhere in the hall and get right close up to the speakers and any other event. Taking photos did not prevent me from listening to all the very excellent talks which were given during those six days. On the final day about 60 Baha�i attended in their national costumes and sat together, a most impressive sight! The Universal House of Justice members, were of course, the main focus at all sessions. It was a breath taking experience for eveyone present to see before our very eyes, day after day, the supreme Baha�i institution, just created, at last.

Between session the 6,000 Baha�is milled around inside and outside the giant hall. The police had been expecting problems and were amazed to find the most obedient and well behaved crowd they had ever seen. After the conference, many visitors spent time visiting friends in England. We were specially blessed and were able to invite to our farm two American Indian believers Annie and Chester Khan. We were able to get them to record some of their inner experiences and views on life on our tape machine. They in turn were fascinated by such a close up view of life on the farm. My parents were specially impressed at meeting real Indians at last, after all the wild west stories they had read about and seen on the movies. When it came time for them to return to the U.S.A. we drove them to London and they asked to be allowed to spend a few hours wandering alone in that vast city. We were afraid they might get hopelessly lost but Chester smiled at our doubts and promised to meet us at a predetermined spot in four hours. They did just that.

I set about trying to get into college and be trained for school teaching. Thus we would be able after about four years, to return to the pioneering field; but this was not to be. Financial problems interveened and prevented it. The only other career I was trained for properly was farming. Now I recalled the time when 26 years ago, after living the first 29 years of my life on the farm, I had told my parents I loved them but I was going out into the world to find a career different from farming and also a philosophy for life. I had sold my motor bicycle for �50 and bought a ticket on the Queen Mary liner to Canada and sailed westwards. Now like the prodigal son in the parable, I came back to my father and offered to return to the farm if he would have us, family and all. My parents were delighted to accept us, though as jokingly said: � We don�t really need you on the farm. (He employed 22 workers and all was working very smoothly). The 16 intervening years had been very fruitful, I had found my Faith, my wife, a family and also my profession, photography.

After two years Father retired to Bedford city, fifteen miles away and gave us the farm. Now, far from being bored with farming, I began to enjoy it greatly. Must have been something to do with being my own boss at last! Soon babies James and Julia were added to our family, inspite of some peoples view that no family should have more than 14 children because there would not be enough food on the planet for more than that! During the next 17 years our four children grew up on the farm and attended the local government school. Each Sunday Alicia would talk to them about God and His Manifestations while they practised caligraphy round the kitchen table.

We also had youth weekends~n the house was literally full of Baha�is. We found ~hat the very large farm house could easily accomodate about 60 youth if they slept on the floors in all the rooms. The girls had the top two floors and the boys the ground floor. Everything went very smoothly and for the youth it was like going to camp in the country. There were plenty of fields to roam in between sessions. One weekend I noticed a long line of girls quing up outside the bathroom. Ten minutes later it had not moved. I took a chance; I knocked on the door and went in. There was our five year old J ames sailing his boats ~n ~e ba while the que waited patiently outside! We often chuckle about that.

Every summer we had Sunday picnics lasting all day in our big garden. It became quite an institution and people came from far and wide to enjoy the country scenery and the relaxed atmosphere. Usually 100 � 200 people brought their own food, pets, friends and relatives. We supplied gallons of tea and coffee all day. My father had always been very careful to prevent people walking in the standing wheat crop, because they would knock down the grain. However I found that few of these visitors had ever been on a farm so at one picinic, just as the grain was ripening for harvest, I led a line of about 50 Ipeople on a walk through the standing grain. They love~ the experience and there was lit~le damage to the crop. In memory I can s~e today the long winding straggly line of people as they followed me through the fields, marvelling at the profundity of nature and how man is able to control it for his own purposes. The ne.~ct year, picnic was held during harvest and grain was pouring into the store near our house. I was able to take about 20 kids up onto the overhead walk where they could jump into a literal sea of loose grain and romp around in the 500 ton heap.

Another popular feature of the farm picnics was tractor rides round the farm. I prepared a four wheeled trailer with saftey rails and straw bales to seat about thirty kids and adults and towed them around the farm, stopping at times to show them things. At one point I drove through a low tunnel under the railway line and sometimes explained that Abdu�l Bahfi must have travelled this line on his way to Edinborough in Scotland. The line ran through the middle of our farm. Many a trailer load demanded to go on this trip and I did not have time to organise the tea making which was needing constant attention. Alicia was busy hosting. Finally the visitors took over the whole process. As the children grew, they entered the local elementay school, and I recall the time when Susan, at the age of about seven, had her first day there. Unlike the U.S.A, where it is fobidcen to teach religion in government schools, in England it is the law that religion must be taught. On Susan�s first day, the head master was addressing the entire school and ended up with the Lord�s prayer. As they all went out to their various classes, Susan headed to the Principle�s office and knocked on the door. �Yes Susan?� he enquired. �Please sir, you should not say that.� �What Susan?� �The Lord�s prayer.� �Why not?� �IBecause He has already come!� �Oh, come in and tell me about it.� For half an hour he sat listening to Susan�s account of Bahfi�u�llfih and His Mission. Thanking her, he sent to class. Then he telephone me on the farm. �Mr Cardell, you will never guess what I have been doing for the last half hour!�

He was a kind and well adjusted man and very devoted to Christ. This was the begining of a real friendship and later, at his invitation I addresed the entire school, including all the staff, on the teachings of Baha�u�llah. He once said to me that although it is the law that Christianity must be taught in his school, yet none of his staff wanted to do it. He had found that the staff did not feel sure enough on the subject. They always wandered off into social problems and the like. The young peple in this age are taught to search for information and the teachers were unable to answer their queries where metaphorical stories like Adam and Eve appeared to contradlct what they were learning in their science classes.

Cambrldge city was only about 20 miles from our farm and we often joined in their Bahfi�i activlties. Soon Baha�is and their friends from surrounding towns began to go there also for Baha�i Sunday Childrens� classes. Eventually the classes were transferred to our farm where there was more room and also recreation facilitles. Allcia was a member of the national Chtld Educaioll Committce and was full of enthusiam and Ideas. For two years we had classes for five age groups and one for adults, studying there every Sunday.

Alicia dld a lot of research on the Master�s visits to thc British Isles and wc made several trips to the London area to track down the sites where he had spoken and took slides for the archives. I did the same in Edinbourgh when on a visit. This came to its climax when the Sunday classes hired an 80 seater bus and took all the kids and families on a trip to London, only 60 miles away. We toured a lot of the sights assoclated with the Master�s visits and told stories about him over the bus�s amplifier. These sites included the City Temple church where the Master gave his first talk In the west and Westminster Abbey where, in the deanery Abdu�l Baha had dined with Arch Deacon Wllberforce. Here the wlfe of the present Dean took us to the nearby church of St. John where the Master spoken.She had never met hlm, but was his fervent admirer and referrcd to him �Abdu�l. In the church she gathered us all for a long account of his vlslt. During her talk a crying chlld Interrupted her w~t~is,She took It Into ~ ~ arms an comforted It. Nor would she go on untll It was happy agaln. We received the impression that she was spontaneously reacting the way the Master would have done In that situation.

At the school we made offlcial application for our children to be absent on Baha�i holy days. Soon their fellow students began to ask why they were absent and were told about the Faith. Because of the general atmospher of religious scepticism so common in those days, it was not long before class mates began to ridicul~ this rellgion with a strange sounding name, but our children learned,~auseful lesson In patience whlle explaining It to them. One day a child sald to Cathy: �I wish I had a rellglon llke yours!�

On two summers we had Youth camps at the farm. Every one lived in tents.

The tractor house was emptied of machinery and straw bales set up in rows for seating. Meals were provided by a whole army of cooks. It was called �Action Camp.� On another occasion fifty of us hired a coach and went to a Teaching Conference in Switzerland. In 1979 Alicia and I attended a large Baha�i confernce in London and at this even met the now grown up children of Martin and Gerda Aiff, the family who had pioneered with us in Windhoek in S.W.A. 21 years ago.

A most historical series of events which happened to our whole family was appointment of Alicia�s parents as custodians to the most holy shrine of Baha�u�llah near Acca, Israel. For ten years they fullfilled this blessed service and on three seperate summers they invited our whole family to stay with them at Bahji. They put beds for us all in Abdu�l Baha�s tea room and we stayed in those holy precincts for two month each year. I well remember Janet, my mother � in � law, showing me where the key to the Shrine hung. �You can take this key any time of day or night and go in by yourself.� She said. It seemed far too great a bounty. Several times I went into the Shrine, once in the middle of the night, and prayed with no sound to break the magical silence. During the day time our four children, then aged about 8 � 11, walked round the gardens and absorbed a spirit which will stay with them for eternity.

In those days we also visited many historical places of ancient Palestine.

Much more bounty was to follow. In 1970 Janet and Forsyth took a three week holiday from their job at nahji and came to stay with U8 on the farm. They offered to look after the four children and the farm while we went to Iran to visit all the holy places connected withthe Faith. We were dumbfounded and further itS~ ~ impossible to arrange all the details for such a trip in that short time. However we set about it and everything worked out well. Then we happened to mention our plans to Marion Hofman who said: �Well, why don�t you arrange to visit Baha�u�llah�5 house in Edirne, Turkey, on your way there and then ask for permission from the house of Justice to make a three day visit to Haifa, on the way back. Amazingly, everything fell into place without a flaw. We took this as a sign that it was the wish of God.

Soon we were in Constantinople where the local ~aha�is were delighted to look after us. They showed us where ~aha�u�llah had lived in that city and also the site which had been purchased for the temple ground; a beautiful spot on a high hill overlooking the l;os~l)ol ~IS ~ st r ip of Sda joining the Caspian sea with the mediteranean with the city in the background.

Next we were put on a bus for Edirne (Adrianople) This 150 mile journey had been made by the holy family under great hardship in heavy snow and on horseback. We felt embarrased to h do it by modern bus in just a few hours.

The house of Baha u llah is kept in good repair, and as we walked through it and round the garden, we tried to visualise the holy family living there. They had lived in several other house before this one, but from here the letters to the Kings had gone out. At an earlier house Baha�u�llah had been poisoned by Mirza Yahya. The doctor who attended Him pronounced the case hopeless. He had offered his own life in exchange. It was accepted, for soon he died and Baha u�llah recovered. But for the rest of His life, Baha�u llah suffered serious after � effects.

We also visited a second garden nearby. This had been used often by Baha u�llah and even today it is well.kept. There was a big mulberry tree, full of delicious ripe fruit. The custodians spread a blanket underneatnand then gave the tree a good shake, this producea a heavy shower of white mulberries. We all carried the blanket back to a large table in triumph and had a feast.

Returning to Constantinople, now renamed Adrianople, we flew on to Tehran. At this time the Shah was still in power and persecution of the Baha�is had abated, but there was a feeling that it would take little to cause its recurrence.

As our plane landed at Tehran airport we found ourselves in quite another world. We were overwhelmed at our good fortune in visiting the land where Baha�u�llah had lived. Some Baha�i friends had been alerted to watch for us and we soon located their waving arms. They took us and our bags out to a waiting limousine which, we found out later, belonged to a Baha�i army general (national service is obligatory) and were whisked away into the craziest traffic I have ever seen. It seemed to have one major principle, �Do what you can while you can!� Ordinary policemen do not have authority to ticket cars, and drivers take all the liberties they wish. It is regarded as normal there!

We registered at our hotel and then went to the National Baha�i Office to request permission to visit the holy Baha�i places. We were greeted warmly by the Nationa Secretary who asked us which of the holy places we wished to see. I held out my copy of the Dawnbreakers and said All of these!� He was quite at a loss for words because there are so many and time was short, but also fanatics were always ready to abuse Baha�is, especially visiting ones.

The Universal House of Justlce had instructed the National Spiritual Assembly to severely limit all such visits, They had already put all of these places off limits to Baha�is living in Iran and wanted to restrict visiting Baha�is considerably.

He said that the committee responslble would h~ve to ~uide us. . Could we come back in two days tlme. He introduced us to Atto, another visiting pilgrim from America, who spoke good Iranian and was looking for companions to share the pilgrim~ge with. This was evidently another intervention of Providence. How could we have possibly found our way round Iran without an interpreter? The next two day we spent investigating the very modern city center a nd often came upon unusual sights. Imaglne a mother and three teenaged daughters shopping in a store, she wore the ancient traditional dress complete with yachmack fell over the lower half of her face � the daughters all wore modern, western clothes and no veils. To us this showed clearly that the ancient and the modern cultures exist here side by side. In fact we found out later that the Shah was trying to encourage western lde2s ~nd the Mullas were trying to ret~in the ancient Moslem was. At this tlme the Shah was wlnning easlly, kut some ye~rs later ~,e lo~t ~lls throne and Ayatullah Khomeni led the country.

When we returned to the National office, the National Secretary suggested we start off by visiting the House of the Bab in Shiraz, 600 miles to the south. He must have felt that would keep us busy much of our alotted time. Of course we accepted gladly. It was a most logical place to start our pilgrimage.

Soon we were aboard long distance bus for the Iit � st le~; OI OUt � Journey)~Isphan, 300 miles away As we wound our way throu~h the massed row~ of traffic in the City, Atto told us of a recen~ American visltor who had brought his own car over here and in seven day he had six accidents. Feeling he had too much to learn about driving in Tehran, he took a taxi which immediately shot orf ~t speed into the chaos. He went through no less than three red lights, but coming to a green, stopped. His passenger enquired why he stopped and was told that certainly some cry ~ool would be coming through from the other direction!

Looking around at the occupants of the bus we saw people of every class and occupation, all talking animatedly in Iranlan..We prevailed upon Atto to translate some of it and began to relate to !ife around us. At the back of the bus sat an attendant wlth large JU~5S of water and two glasses to refresh any passenger who called him.

They all used the same glasses with a bare rinse. Since there had been a warning about cholera epidenic on the radio, we decided to contain our thirst until a rest stop.

Soon we were speeding over rough tarmac into the countryside. On our map we saw that the road skirted an enormous desert which stretched over most of the center of Iran. Atto recalled that Iran, the old Persia, had for several thousand years been the site of great battles between competing tyrants. It had been the custom of whoever won, to burn and destroy the wnole countryside. Thus this desert had all been beautiful country at one time.

We covered many featureless miles and passed through a few hamlets until, five hours later the bus drew up at an eating place. We wondered wether it was safe for tourists to go in ~nd if the food was clean. Atto assured us and we entered barren room, full of crude tables and chairs where true pea~ants sat smokin~ their hubble � bubble pipes and eagerly ~atched ~ TV screen show in~ thP Olymplc games straight from ~ OSCO�r~ W~2 found P~pslco!~ to drink and the food was simple but adequate and reboarded our bus refreshed. But the next hours of bumpy, dusty travel brought only one real change in the scenery. We carre to a place where an underground river surfaced and the people were drawing, pure water from it. Our bus stopped while we all fllled our containers.

On ~11 this ~journ~y we were mindful the the blessed B~b h~d t~r~versed this same road on horse back over a hundred years ago, under much different conditions. It had �~a;~en Him man~,~ days. not 10 hours sitting in a comfortable bus. By evening we came to the famous and beautiful city of Isphan. the mid � pGint of vur Journey. To say that the whole city is a treasure � house of entrancing architecture onl~ part,~r describes this ~iewel oi a city. Everywhere there was evldence of thoughtrully created beauty in the buildings, the streets and the people. It was a sudden change from Lk ~ nt.ry ~ . W~ p ~ p .~t ~ h~t~~ � ~hlch ~ s mor~ lik~ an art museum.

The next morning some local Baha'is came and took us to the 1~2 house of the Beloved of martyrs and the Kin~ of M~rtyrs, Whe~l ,they h~d been kllled by the mob, all the contents of this house had been ransacked and the families were destitute. A maid, however. ~�U~!R found a few coins in the wreckage and brought them to the wife. With great disdain she threw the coins lnto the mob with the words: 'What God has taken. I will not take back.!'

The present custodians of the house told us this story ~nd also reminded us th~t when the B2lb! on his Journey north, h~d visited this home, these two martyrs were then only about ten and twelve years old. They were helping to serve the visitors and became so uplifted by the words of the Bab that they asked Him for Martyrdom. The Bab accepted. It was years later when they were grown up and had devoted their lives to Baha� u�ll~h, that they attained martyrdom.

Our guides next took us to see their extensi~e archi~re building which had somehow survlved the years of persecution. Many historical Baha�i relics were on display, but perhaps the mo~t breathtaking were two full front pages of an ancient Russian newspaper, yellow with a~e~ but still clearly depicting dramatic and earth shaking events. The first was a drawing of the executlon o~ the Bab, showing the firing squad, the smoke from their guns and the two Victims flxed to the wall. The other was a life � like drawing of God's most great Manifestation, Bah~u~llah on a white horse, entering Bahji with His servants and family. The detall was so good that we could see the expression on the face of Baha�u�llah as he looked with power an authority towards the artiat. So real was the drawing that we stood gazing at it with awe for some time. Naturally, I photographed both exhibits and later sent coples tO the Universal House of Justice, asking if we may keep them. The reply was that the House did not know of their authenticity, but that we may keep them. However. we should not show them to the friends. Now, as I look at them, those photographs seem to speak of worlds beyond this world.

The next morning we boarded another bus and set off, only to come to a halt at the city boundary. The dnver parked the bus and disappeared3 for .~ n hol~r Then we were told that by law driver is not allowed to drlve more than eight hours. He had driven all night to arrive at Ispahan and now had to be repl~ced. Two or three hours later another driver arrived and we continued our journey.

There was little of significance during the next days journey, just as dusk began to fall on that desolate landscape we saw in the distance our road winding across valley and entering gaint stone gate. As we came up to it, we saw that it was cuvered in Arablc lettering, took Ted and Alicia, the Kor~n Gate. Exclaimed Atto. We passed through and entered the city of Shiraz, the blrthplace OI the Bab.

We found a hotel, got a hot bath and a real night�s sleep. Next morning we phoned the number of a local Baha�i which the National Secretary had supplied and he came to guide us around the City and to the Bab�s house. We went first to see the very impresslve and beautiful shrine to the famous poet Saadl. Wal~ing round the ornamental pools and into the cool shrine we were told of Saadl�s prophecying the arrival of the Bab. Next we saw the equally beautiful monument to another poet who had prophecled this treat Day, Haaflz. Our gulde then had to return to hls business and suggested that the following day we mlght like to vlsit the ancient ruins of Persepolls about 50 miles to the north. He would then return to us. We wandered for a whlle in the street and were suddenly halled joyfully by a young man. We recognized him as one of the Persian Baha�is who live in England now and had actually visited us on our farm last year. His name was Baghram. �What on earth are you doing here?� We exclaimed in astonishment. �I live here, this is my home town which I have come to visit.� We told him of our own visit and shared many memories together.

Early next morning we took a taxi to the ruins of Persepolis, the ancient seat of King Darius. The road from Shlra~ was though more cultivated part of Iran and varied crops could be seen on all sldes. Once more we were struck by the strange contrasts in this land. We saw a farmer harvesting wheat as they had done in Biblical times, spreading wheat sheaves on the ground and dr~ n~ oxen over them to trample out the train; another man was throwing the grain and chaft up in the wind to seperate them 75 Arriving at Perespolis we wandered thoughtfully ~mon~ the ruins. After the reign of Darius his kingdom had been conquored and then the whole city and pal~e destroyed. Only few giant ~ton~ p~ 4i~ and some carved statues remained. All was kept in excellent order for the turists. Later we retired to a lovely tea house and in the cool of the evening sat eating a large water melon be~ore returning to Shiraz.

The next morning our guide took us first to the gaie in the south of the city where on that historic day, May 23rd 1884, the Bab greeted Mullah Husayn. The gate had been demolished, but we were shown two large trees at the entrance to a market where it had stood. I descended from the taxi and set up my tripod and large camera, determined to do this in a proressional way, only to have a heavy hand take me by the shoulder. Looking up I found myself entr � ~nt~?~ by a poilcemen giving a stern message in Iranian 1 h2L~ .isicns o~ nguis~in~, in a primitive forel~n .i~il but Atto turned up and translated. He says that this is forbidden because these people are very backward and hate all forelgners. You are likely to cause a riot. Hastily packing up, we departed without a picture, but vowing to come back the next morning and shoot through the taxi window. Those pictures turned out well.

Next came our actual visit to the House of the Bab. Our guide again impressed on us the importance of protecting the House. He explalned that once before the mob had ransacked the House and smashed the preclous wlndows. Fortunately the Baha�ls had anticipated the attack and replaced the original windows with dup licates before the attack. Iranian clothes were loaned to my wlfe, complete with a yashmack to cover the lower part vf her face. My european cloths were common to the Iranians and required no disguise. How great had been the need for such precautlons we C~h now appreciate,twenty years later;~day there is no trace of this sacred house. The mob and the government have razed it to the ground. But to return to our visit.

We proceeded on foot, along various pathways between the houses, but as we passed a small boy sltting in a doorway. he looked up and smilingly greeted us in Engllsh � �Hello!� to much for our disguise! We had no alternative but to pass on with a chuckle. Soon we came to a heavy wooden door on which our guide knocked. It was opened and we passed into a small garden. Here we were led to the opening of an underground tunnel wh~ch connected with the garden next door. As we emerged from the tunnel. I remember nothing of the garden, for infront of us was an archway through a tall brick wall. Through this archway could see into the courtyard of the Bab � s house . In the center was a small ciear pool of water P|lGtv|0CI and beside it an orange tree, ~ descendant of one the Bab had planted there over a hundred years ago. We advanced into the courtyard and looked around us. To the left was the well from which must have been drawn the water which was brought to wash the ~eet of I~luila Husayn. Looking up, we ~a~ed upon a large ornate window on the next floor. It had five vertical sections � featuring desi~ns in colored glass. To our rlght was the main entrance from the street. Through this door the Bab had led Mulla Husayn with the words: �Enter in pe~ce secure.~� But now it was permanently secured and never used. Near lt was the IOOt OI a red carpeted stairs leading to that upper room. ReverentlY we ascended the stairs and found ourselves on a small landing wlth an open doorway on our left. We stood looking through that door over a high step which also functioned as a threshold ~or prayer A~ we kneeled at that threshold we gazed upon a scene we will lon~ remember.

Rich Persian carpets covered the whoie floor; in t,he far corner, next to the large window stood an old f~shioned oil l~mp; perhaps the .spot where the blessed Bab had been seated when He spoke wlth Mulla Husayn... Let the reader pause here and take up his copy or the Dawnbreakers. On page 65 are shown photographs of the main street entrance and also the stairs up which we had just climbed. Then let hlm turn to page 59 which gives three vlews o~ the room at the top of the stairs.

As we gazed across to that corner by the window, the words from the Dawnbreakrs ~ame to our minds �Now is the tlme to reveal the Surih of Joseph.� We seemed to hear Mulla Hus~yn describe his state: �I sat spellbound by His utterance, obvious of time and those who awaited me.� And again: ~The entire chamber seemed to have been vitalised by that celestlal potency which eman~ted from His inspired utterance. Everything in th~t room seeme~ to be vibrating with this testimony �Verily, verily, the dawn of the new Day has broken. The Promised One is enthroned in the heartc of men . . ~�

All the colors in that room were harmonlous. They seemed to speak to his of on in~ff~bl~ ~lor~ The lower p~n~l~, on ~ch ~ were light green with white trims. Above this there work ~evQr~l alcoves along each wall, recessing about 6 inches !nto the walls. Patterns in brown~ picked out in white covered these alcoves :~nd everything up to the ceiling The morning sun was ~tre~min~ n through the delicate window panes, causing pa~terns or colorea light to fall upon walls and carpet. The ceiling was delightful sight, a continuous pattern of crosses inside circles, colored light brown and on a cream background.

Across the room ~ e s~ n th~r p~ir of double doors. ie;~d~ perhaps to oth~r p~rts of th~ house J~ knelt t ~.he r � ~ls~1~ .r.~p .~t our own doorway and prayed each in his own way. After ;~om~ time we arose and took photographs. I dld not have ~ wide .~ng lense. so took 13 overlayin~ Dictures to cover the entire room.

Downstairs we moved from room to room tryin~, to visualise its o~up~nts going aboul their daiiy tasks. Finaiiy we wenl out lntG t~ curtyc � rd clnd ~thered a few cf the ~r~nges which h~d fallen ~rom the tree. These we tre~sure today in our own small f~l~m~ rchi~es. Atto then called us into the small ~rden b~r which we h~d entered and there tea was served by an elderly lady dressed in clothes of a century ago. She was one of the custodians. Atto talked with her for awhile in Persian; suddenly he burst into delighted laughter. We pressed him to explain; here is his account. �You see this old lady, dressed in the fashlon of the old days? Recently, on a Holy Day, she had bathed and put on her best clothes. She was passing along the street near by when a teenaged youth from next door, spat upon her as she passed by With one sweep of the back of her hand she knocked him to the ground. A man saw this and shouted �Hey, old woman, why did you do that?� �He spot upon me!� She replied. �So he should, you are a B~bi!~ He said. She drew herself up and looked him in the eye with a power which belied her age and forcefully replied �I am ready, you do it too!� The man retreated, abashed at such faith.

As we retraced our steps to the maln streets? our hearts arld mlnds were trying to adjust to all these inspinng events. But there was one more to come. We were taken next to the MasJld � l � Vakll mosque to see the pulpit from which the Bab had addressed the

We read how the Shah summoned the Bab to Tehran for a full investigation, but after the Bab had left Isfahan. the chief Va~ir had persuaded the Shah it mlght be dangerous for hlm to meet the B~b, who seemed to have a maglc power to ch~nge people. The Shah had t.hen ordered the Bab to turn away from Tehran and ~o to the prison of M~hku to await his pleasure. On the way, the Bab had spent some time in Tabrl~, being impnsoned in the ~ort named �IThe Citadel�l. It seems that we were now destined to follow the same route, for the next day we flew back to Tehran and cnoe again consulted with the National Secretary ~nd he suggested we go to T~brl~. We spent that nlght in a hotel in Tehran and were amazed to see on the hotel register the names of Hand or the ~ause Blll Sears 2~nd his wlIe Marguente. From our room, �~e r~n~ th~m and pretended to be phoning from England, but when we disclosed that we were in the same building they ln~lted us o~, er and we were able to have a long t~lk with them about thelr own travels round Iran, performed at the request o~ the Universal House of Justice. They had just returned from r~ahku, where we were hoping to ~o~ but since they had been surrounded by a mob and forced to leave town, they advised us not to go there. However they felt it would be in order to go to Tabri . That afternoon are attended a giant Baha~i meeting for women in Tehran. It was addressed by the Hand of the Cause.

The next morning we flew to Tabriz. Looking at a map, we saw that our plane would pass over Zanjan, where many Bab � is had been beseiged in .~ fort and later martyred. We followed our fll~ht �~n the map and found ourselves c~er 7?,n l~n ~t ~ grc~t h~l~;ht, hl.lt ~nabl~ to see it because lt was dlrect � ly underneath us. However. soon the plane ~,rarled lts course and we were ~ble to get a photo~raph of the whole city.

Tn T2~briz ~re found a lively Baha�i community ~nd attended a large firesi~e. As we left, they pointed out some men nearby who, they said, alway~ wait2d outside Baha�i meetings to persuade enquirer3 ~ was wlcked to go ther~. W~ were all ver~J ~mused at t~h~ tlm~. Little did we know that in a few years, masslv~ persecutlons would rear ItS ugly head agaln an~ COSt many llv~s.

The friends later took us to the Cltadel, a massive run of a fort. The window of the room where the B~b had been lncarcerated was p~ stlll ~risible ~t the top right hand sid~ of this building. We fo.un~ 2 way to climb up to that room and looked out o~er the city from ~ great helght. What had ke~n the Bah s thoughts as He had stood here?

We re~d h~w He w~s subsequently t~.en to the prisons of M~h � ku and t.hen Chihrlq, ~inally being brought back to T abn � IO race the leading l~ul!as. In answer to thelr questlon �~.~ho are YOU � ~� He h~ replied~ m, I ~Im! I ~m the Promised On~ nd ne o~ my companlons polntecl o � lt a l~r~e white bulldlr~ o~lt ~1 mlle awa~. �This building� he said: �now covers the .~ctuai ~ o r the B~b�s martyrdom on May ~7rd 18~ ~hvto~ Back in Tehran, we visist another holy place, the house where Baha�u�llah was born.

So ended � our historic and inspiring visit to Iran. We boarded our plane to Haifa. ~J�~ h~d to take a circ:u1~r route tO avold flyin~ o~cr Syrla. ~ s meanrv once more flying over T~briz, M~hku and I hen Mt.Ar~r~t in T~lrkey where lt is sald Noah~s Ark came t.o rest aIter ..he .looa � We meditated on that ~reat catastrophy which had descended upon theJ world bec~use of its wickedness and ~or reJecting the Prc,phet Gl ~od. What, we wonci~red, would be the f.~te of this ~ener~tion b~rore lt wo~lld recognlse God�s Promlsed One�~ t.ne Holy Land we were able to visit the Shrines OI both Baha�u�llah and the Bab and pray that mankind would soon open its splrlt.ual eyes and realise th.~t the Day of God Himself has dawned.

When my father retired and left me the farm in England he often came over to llelp with advice. We had several very good years, but Father warned me that until I had been farming for ten years I could not call myself successful. It was a time when farmers were being forced to be economical and I gradually changed the farm from mixed croping and raising animals, into a wheat only farm. I was able to reduce the labour force from 22 to one and use big machinery to handle the wheat crop much more efficiently. Fortunately all of the men turned off were able to get good jobs elsewhere and r3ertie Vout, who had been with the farm for 20 years, was able to do all the ploughing and harvesting with odd help in harvest time.

Of course there was danger in going into one crop continuously and people reminded us of the Alllerican dust bowl which had destroyed thousands of acres by that method. However we had heavy clay land which was more stable. Also we had plenty of good advice from the local Ministry of Agriculture and crop yields did not fall, but even increased.

Soon another farming revolution arrived. We found that we no longer needed the plough! By using heavy tynes behind a big tractor it was possible to creat a much finer tilt. The traditional plough left us with slabs of clay which became hard and were very difficult to break down into a fine tilth for planting next year�s seeds.

Further revolution came with crop fertilisation. We had always kept many animals to the land. The reason why I now gave up keeping animals was that the 2,000 bacon pigs we produced each year had only given us enough manure for 10% of our 400 acre farm. Now I had the land analysed and found that it was in good heart and further, it did not need all the regular dressing of Nitrogen, phosphate and potash which tradition said it should have. In fact the autumn wheat needed nothing until spring. Further, the land only needed potash every third year. ~ll this meant a great saving in costs. Results from harvest after these new inovations proved that yield was not fal)ing. In fact, together with the new types of wlleat being developed every year our average yield increased over 10 years from about 24 cwt per acre to 40 cwt.

Father had left me one bagging combine machine and one bulk machine. The first left 30 tons of grain in bags, scattered all over the field each day. This had to be loaded onto trailers by hard work. We therefore sold it and did the harvest quicker by the bulk machine which poured the grain into a holding tank. l~rom there it was transferred by truck to the barn, where newly installed machinery transported it to a bulk heap 7 feet �1e~p all over a giant floor. Underground air ducts then driecl the grain down to 14% moisture.

We finally broke all of the traditional rules of farming by giving up the plough altogether and forcing the new seed into the ground with an extra heavy drill. From all of this it is clear that great savings were made and also it was possible to run the farm on a part time basis. Now there was mucllrnore free time to help spread the healing Message of Baha�u�llah.

In 1972 Alicia and I found time to fly back to Nairobi for a big Baha�i conference there. Then we hired a car and spent some days upcountry visiting Baha�is in different villages.

As mentioned, from 1971 I served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha�is of the United Kingdom. Life was much more interesting serving on a body directly under in the Universal House of Justice. In 1973 and,~1978 N.S.A. members from all over the world gathered in ~aifa to elect a new Universal ~louse of Justice. It was a great bounty for us all and it was my 7th and 8th time of visiting the ~loly Shrines, I remembered that when in 1952, Shoghi Efendi was sending me back to Africa after a 19 day pilgrimage he said to me: �Do not be sad, you will come back.ll At that moment I was almost penniless and had wondered how this could ever come about. In 1978 I had become a prosperous farmer, the Faith itself had expanded to cover the whole earth and my comprehension of it had considerably developed.

The Haifa convention of 1978 also marked a giant step forward, for the building of the House of Justice now stood in its skeletal form on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, awaiting the dedication ceremony. In front of over 500 delegates prayers were read. Then lland of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum spoke to us about how the beloved Guardian had prayed so earnestly for this great day, had laboured for it over a lifetime and how, from the Abha Kingdom, he must be witnessing this occasion with great joy. Next she mounted a teMporary staircase which had been erected at the front of the main entrance, which faced Bahji. She placed a box containing soil from the resting places of the Bab and ~aha�u�llah in a specially prepared nich.(Later this was sealed forever). Afterwards lland of the Cause Faizey speaking to us about the significance of this solomn occasion said:. �A Hadith in Islam tells that when, thousands of years ago, the Prophet Noah had completed the building of the Ark, he placed in it soil from the graves of Adam and Eve. Now �He said, �We are performing a similar cermony with the Arc of the Cause of God on Mt. Carmel, from which the Law of God will go out to all the world, as prophecied in the Bible.

Back at the pilgrim house, many rows of chairs had been arranged in the open for Ruiyyih Kahanum to address the delegates further. I was filming the faces of the audience when suddenly the proceedings were halted for a special announcement. Ruhiyyih Khanum read it out and my movie camera recorded a wave of joy as it swept across the faces of the delegates. Some wept openly: �His royal Highness the King of Samoa had just deca~ared his belief in Baha�u�llah.� This was first King to declare his acceptance of the Faith.� Much rejoicing followed.

A few years later the N.S.A. of the United Kingdom received a message from the Universal House of Justice: �His royal highness Talifi Xumalita of the Samoan Islands will be arriving in London to visit the resting place of Shoghi Effendi, please announce to the friends and appoint photographers.� I was both a memeber of the N.S.A. and one of the photographers. There was a large crowd of Baha�is waiting when the King arrived at the Gt. Northern Cemetary. We all went with him to the gravesite and prayed together. The House of Justice had asked that the King be given due respect by photographers when praying. However, when his Majesty stood at the graveside with three Hands of the Cause I felt impelled to take a picture from a distance and leave it for Haifa to decide wether it was inappropriate. Out of all the pictures, sent to Haifa, this was the one they chose.

There were other useful experiences in those days. As mentioned earlier, from 1971 to 1980 I was a member of the National Spiritual Asembly of the United Kingdom and spent frequent long weekends in London at their meetings. It was a most refreshing experience seeing the affairs of the Cause from a national point of view. I was to discover a lot more about the art of ~aha�i consultation. I remember on one occasion I had expressed my view on a matter under consideration by the Assembly; the next speaker showed I had not given due consideration to the whole pictureand I said aloud �Oh dear, I did put my foot into it, didn�t I!� A voice from the other end of the table replied: �Confucious said �He who does not open mouth cannot put in big foot.�� The laughter did a lot to relax us all.

On another occasion we were all getting too tense in the discussion, each impatient to speak. George Bowers, who could usually be relied upon to get us back to normal, also leaned forward and said in a quiet voice: �Kiss me!�

Not all situations had a satisfactory outcome, however, at one meeting I felt that some members were doing too much talking and the rest were not being allowed to speak much; finding it difficult to make a contribution myself I got more and more upset. Realising that this was not the way ahead I relaxed somewhat. Soon I heard myself saying: �Mr Chairman, may we have a round of opinion please.� This we did and I was happy to see that no one had been hurt by my interjection. But soon we seemed to have returned to the old situation. Once more I raised my hand and asked for a round of opinion. This happened several times and the situation eventually became more normal. In fact, it began to go the other way. Now everyone, finding they could easily claim their right to speak, began to do so at great length. The chairman�s efforts to get members to shorten their contributions failed and we were unable to gert through the agenda in the days available to us.

While on N.S.A. matters, it may be appropriate to record an interesting situation which Hand of the Cause Hasan Balyusi told me once. A certain believer in his enthusiasm, had over � stepped the orders of the N.S.A. and had said publicly some things which though true, were not wise. He was interviewd by the Assembly�,h humbly apologised and the incident was dismissed. Later however, he did it again and was once more reprimanded. This happened more times and the Assembly was discussing taking a~lay his voting rights. One member suddenly realised something: �He has again apologised, ~e cannot take away his rights!� No doubt he was however advised that if he did it again he would loose his rights.

My parents were good Methodists and took their three chiildren e~ to Sunday school frequently. I therefore grew up with a great love of the Bible. At the age of 29, as metioned, I set off for Canada to find a new career and also a philosophy. I eventually became a Baha�i and on returning to England two years later I had tried to explain the Faith to my parents, but the time for their reoognition of it had not arrived. However we often discussed it and such items as the state of the world. One evening my father had been to a Baha�i public meeting in a hired hall. He was feeling very happy about it and reached for his check book saying� �I want to pay for the cost of the hall, how much was it?� I replied: �You know you cannot do that, only ~aha�is can contribute.� �I am a Baha�i!� he responded. I was breathless. �Do you accept Baha�u�llah as the Manifestation of Gbd for this age?� �Of oourse I do he announced.� I was delighted and brought out a decLaration card for him to sign. These were the last few days of his life and he always listened intently as, on some evenings I read to him from the holy Writings. Not long after that he passed to the next world. I missed his lovely person deeply but did not grieve, he was far happier now.

My mother outlived Father by many years and we often discussed the needs of mankind and the Baha�i teachings. Her favourite comment was: that is in Baha�i that is not in the Bible?� I explained the fullfillment of the Covenant of God, the Adninstrative Order and new principles like equality of men and women, but she somehow felt that these were all implied in the message of Christ. I agreed, but tried to show her that tody we have all the divine guidance and instructions to unite all races and nations and set up world government. Qne day, as I came into the house she greeted me with. �I have been trying to find out where Christ said we are only allowed one wife and I cannot find it.� �Got you I replied. �Does Baha�u�llah?� she enquired.1He sure does.� I responded. On another occasion we were in the middle of comparing ideas �~hen she exclaimed; �Yes I know Baha�u�llah is a Prophet of Gbd, but why did he say . . . � �Mother, what did you just say?� I exclaimed! �Qh you knaw whatI mean.� She replied. I did not feel I should follow this up at that time, but am convinced that she had recognised her Lord.

One day we �~ere visited by Mr & Mrs Ghandi, fram India. They came to thank us deeply for helping their four children to settle dawn in England and oomplete their schooling. They extended an invitation for us to visit India and stay with them. They owned 5 large girls schools in India and these were run on Baha�i lines, though they accepted students of all religions. Cathy, our eldest was about 18, studying teaching and keen to go to other countries. By same miracle it became possible for Alicia md Cathy to visit India. Though I oould not get away fram the farm, I felt the Ghandis and the other Baha�is would look after them and sent them off.

They arrived at the Ghandis in time foYstudent graduation. It was the custom there to honour the parents as well as the graduating children and they did this by weighing the mother in flowers, a beautiful ceremony indeed. Cathy was asked to address a school of 500 students about the Faith and afterwards they surrounded her and asked all kinds of questions. ~rhey also felt it an honour to be visited by people fram overseas.

Alicia and Cathy did some travel teaching and travelled by bus with a male Baha�i escort. On one such journey they were surround ed by people of all kinds and the air w~as filled with much excited chatter. One man was talking excitedly with the driver, and the Baha�i escort turned pale. He translated for Alicia and Cathy. �He demands that the drived stop the bus so that he can rape the white women.� They were wondering frantically what to do when suddenly the bus ran into a tractor on the road

The ensuing chaos had saved the day!

They had many wond^rful ex~eriences~in India, certainly a great step forward in their spiritual education. What is more, they were hi~hly appreciated and must have caused many people to take new heart in the spiritual meaning of life. Of course, a lot of it came through difficulties and even tribulation, such as there being no safe water to drink and also discovering at first hand the great poverty in that land. When I asked Alicia to sum up their month in India she said: �It is more terrible and more wonderful than you can imagine!� Although several young Baha�i ladies went fram Europe to teach in India unaccampanied, yet it does seem that travelling in small groups is best.

We had now been back on the farm 17 y~rs since leaving Africa in 1963. m e children were all in their teens and attended a variety of private and government schools and Cathy was in college but James had some learning difficulties. We had always planned to retire ~rly and go back into overseas pioneering. In consultation t~7e decided that we should leave the farm for good and go to the U.S.A. to camplete the children�s schooling and then perhaps pioneer in South America or ~Jherever was most suitable.

Since Alicia was born in California we would be able to use the newest methods of education there, so we moved to Portland, Oregon, bought a house near the oommunity college and put the children into high school. Soon James had caught up well in his education and even appeared on the Principle�s oommendation list. m is �7as a great joy to us, for the English education r~l p system had classified his problem as being more serious.

I found a useful way of spreading the Faith. Each morning I 3 ~ c~ aGc~ walked over to the nearby college and sat in the giant cafeteria, ~choo. studying things like quantum mechanics and the Faith and getting into conversation with the students. m ere ~7ere many fram overseas and life was very interesting. I was able to get 20 signatures asking the college to set up a Baha�i Club to discuss the Faith and its relation to current world problems. Unfortunately most students, though much interrested in this kind of discussion, posessed limited finances and had to restrict their college time to their main studies. However I continued getting to know people and developing an interest in their affairs; in this way I could help them to find solutions for their problems and get a higher view of their objectives in life. Thus they felt that I cared about them and we became friends. When I then intrcduced the Faith they were much more appreciative and often asked for literature. I had been developing this kind of approach with strangers in cafes in England and continued it in the U.S.A.

I felt that if my I was consciously trying to get a declaration, it would seem insincere in their eyes, and they would rightly resist; so I put effort into getting to know them as real friends and helping them along their own chosen way. I did not w,orry if I was not always able to introduced them to the Faith but I hoped that our conversation had perhaps helped them along their chosen path. I knew that path would eventually connect with the Faith somewhere. In this way I ~las free f m m an intellectual urge to make new Bahais.

Since spiritual progress cannot be imposed on people, but must come f mm their ~n hearts, it seemed illogical to try and convert � them.~ It is however our duty to offer them information and encourage them to work out its implications. I discussed it with some of the Portland Baha�is and most appreciated it, but one Board member felt that this method would not bring in lots of declarations. However, I still try to follow Abdu�l Baha�s advice to make friends with new people first, so that they would trust me, even if it takes a long time. Never the less I always tried to raise their interest in the Faith so that they would want a pamphlet. In this way I gave out many pamphlets, very often at the rate of one per day. This amounted to giving out about 260 per year and I felt that this ~as seed corn well worth sowing, even though actual declarations were few. There is no doubt that a few spiritually awake people c~ recognise Baha�u�llah immediatelyj but that the masses liJ�;e me wish to take their time over it.

Like all good parents, Alicia and I were concerned about helping our n~ grown childre~�find spiritually orientated marriage partners. Alicia was looking through a Baha�i news sheet on~ d~y~ came up w~ith a bright idea. �Look, there is a Baha�i youth conference in Alaska next month, let�s go.� �m ere are plenty of such conferences much closer� I observed. �It is a very long way to go for a 3 day event!� �But our children need to ~ on~ tqt~ ~ ~ng ~� She replied. �~ow on earth will they do that up there. It will take us all a day to recover from the journey and the conference time will fill up all the rest.�

My logic was flawless, but I allo~ed it to be over ruled by a mother w~ho, I suspected, was more open to higher guidance; Also I had been invited to be one of the speakers at the conference. So, off to Alaska we went, all six of us. It goes without saying that the scenery and the warm hopitality were outstanding; however, the unexpected happened. Cathy stayed a week longer and went travel teaching with a y~vup. ane of that group was Ramin Yavrom, a young man from a distinguished Persian family. A few months later they �~ere married and pioneered to Carjamaca, a small city high up in the Andes. m eir t~o daughters Camilia and Claudette were born there.

Susy now went to co~lege to study apparel design and also took an apartment with a friend, Julia entered training as a hairdresser and went to live with friends near her � college. James was i~ � art collegaand this all added up to our being free to do full time travel teaching. We gave up our house and bought a big recreation vehical. This was to be our home for several months. We wrote to the ~ational Teaching committee in Wilmette offering ~ to spend several weeks visiting Baha�i communities all over the U.S.A. They arranged an excellent 10,000 mile tour for us and in 83 days we gave firesides in 51 towns. During this trip t~hl~ we arrived in S.Carolina to take part in the official opening of the Baha�i radio station WLGI. It was rather fascinating because we were late arriving and were following the ceremony on our own radio. When we finally arrived, we were able to take part in the event we were listening to. This trip also enabled us to spend seven days at the temple in Wilmette where we attended a course for overseas pioneers. We were able to talk to and study with these 30 dedicated and enthusiastic pioneers. Also it was useful, for us because were soon to pioneer to Peru.

Following this big trip we made another one through western Canada where we gave 52 firesides in 73 days. This took us up north to Lake Louise and into Indian country. At one small village we stayed with a couple ~ho had become much loved by the Indians. They told us a typical true story of how they never locked up their house and after a trip came home to find a whole family of Indians had come to visit. Finding them away, they had felt enough at home to sleep and eat there till their hosts came back. One Indian had not been there before and felt uncomfortable about taking over the house while its owners were away, but his friends told him: �Oh, don�t worry, these people are real Baha�is!

On this trip we travelled to communities all the way up Vancouver Is. and also attended a big Indian Pow Wbw at Neah Bay. m e Trail ~o ~U~ of Light, was a yrOUp of 7 tribal Indian Baha�is who had come from South America and were touring the U.S.A. This Pow Wow was held in an Indian community center and over 200 of the local Indians joined in. Everyone was much impressed by Kevin Lock�s display of hoop dancing. I was able to get some excellent photographs of all these people, black, red and white, dancing together to the drums.

The action was inspiring and I went outside and brought in a tall step ladder to get a high view point of the action. As I was about to ascend, a video cameraman pushed me aside and went up to take his pictures from the top. I decided to be a good Baha�i and not camplain and we both got good pictures. TWD years later I discovered the man to be Charles Nolley, the audion � visual manager at the Temple and we became great friends. Over the previous 10 years I had been making slide shows on the Faith and Charles ordered 12 sets of these for use at the temple.

The time had come for us to investigate pioneering in Peru on the spot. Alicia and I flew to Lima, the capital and then took a bus 300 miles inland up into the Andes. Our destination qas Carjamarca, a busy little town at 9,000 ft where our eldest daughter Catherine and her family had been living for two years with Ramin�s elder sister, Shafligeh. They had received very few visitors from the U.S.A. and were delighted to see us but had recently suffered a major loss. All their Baha�i books had been stored in a disused shower bath. (don�t ask me why!) Uhknown to anyone a back pressure on the water system had flood all the books. They were trying desperately to dry them out before mould appeared, it was almost hopeless. Fortunately they were in the process of moving into their ~n house nearby and we went with them and help spread the sodden books on the floor.

Since they were starting up a small fast food cafe in town, they had to be economical in all things. This house was cheap � just mud walls, unfinished. A primative bathroam out in the yard and a water and electric supply which often disappeared altogether, but it was home and they were pioneering in a very needy place.

In town there was a plentiful supply of hot water from underground sources. For 5 cents each the whole family were able to bathe together in a bricked hole in the ground. We were told that these baths �Los banyos� were using the same water supply that the Inca kings used thousands of years ago. It was most refreshing. The water came to each bath through long open air channels. It was too hot and we mixed it to our liking by moving a brick and letting in some cold water.

The teaching work was going on steadily and everyone except us oould speak fluent Spanish. Ramin�s favorite activity was sitting in the park and chatting with the local people.

There were large numbers of Campasinos (country folk) doing their shopping in town and their attire was very picturesque; the women wore voluminous colored skirts and black round hats. All were in town to do shopping or seeing relatives. One morning I awoke to the sound of chanting and the tone of a wierd horn. Grabbing my camera, I went outside and tracked it down to a group of workers planting potatoes in a field. An old man had a horn about ten feet long. When he blew, the workers responded with a chant and then planted more potatoes until the next blast came. They greeted me cheerfully and did not mind being photographed. I then �~ent on to a ne~hbours hut to collect our daily jug of rather dubious looking milk; this we always boiled. After breakfast I set about putting several sodden books out in the sun to dry. In each case I had to gently open every page. Some of the books, like Dawnbreakers took a long time but the sun was strong and soon I was making real progress. After several days I had dried them all out and then had to glue solme of them backto their bindings. Eventually nearly all were brought back to a usable condition.

Shafligeh�s son Moojan was married and he found a living, here in a unique way. He painted coloured designs on glass and sold them in varying sizes. Some of his big ones were put up in churches (with appropriate designs) and they looked much like real leaded glass windows. Although most of the population was very poor indeed, there were still a lot of rich people who gave high prices for Moojan�s work. For some years he has been making a good living out of it. He was also excellent at teaching the Faith because he had a sunny disposition and many people in town knew him because he used to work in the tax office.

Ramin and Cathy now decided to move dc~tn to the coast where there was more business and he could earn his living better. He visited Trujillo and rented an apartment. Returning to Carjmarca he noticed big trucks regularly brought food up from ~ the coast and returned emptly. ~e walked around town until he found ane and offered the man money to take all his furniture to Trujillo a big town down on the coast. Alicia, Cathy and her baby took a plane and Ramin and I �~ent with the truck. There was no room in the cab for me so I crawled in under the kitchen table and lay dcwn on a mat. We set off as it grew dark. Soon were stopped by a patrol who asked ~hnut our business. We were apparently breaking the law in some way but suddenly the policeman recognised us as the relatives of Moojan�s little girl and waved us through. The truck then churned its way up another thousand feet to go over a mountain pass. Here we stopped at a very primative hut at 11,000 which was an eating house for travellers. I woke up and scrambled out frc,m under the kitchen table. We entered a dingy roam lit by candles and an oil lamp. Ramin ordered a dish of rice and meat ~hich was eventually produced. I had noticed a giant dog in the corner as we came in, and he had given us a friendly wag of his tail. On biting into the meat in the semi darkness, I realised why; the meat was uneatable; the dog received it with enthusiasm as I flung it into his corner. Back on the dirt road again, all night long we wound our way down to sealevel and along the coast . Much of this coastal road crept along a sheer precipice with little passing room. Illogically I was glad to be under the kitchen table where I could not see it. Strangely I must have slept for the whole eight hour journey. Perhaps it was because I realised things were out of my control and I was entirely in the hand of God.

In Trujillo, Ramin began setting up a soft drink and snack shop near the market and this was to sustain them for some years until giant inflation of 3,000 per cent gripped the country. ~e stayed with the family for a few weeks and then went to Lima city to look into educational and job facilities for our now grown children. Then we flew back to the U.S.A. to pack up all our portable belongings for a real move to Peru. I had the big job of selling our recreation vehical and crating up all our things into six giant packing cases. Alicia and Julia flew back to Lima, stayed with some Baha�is and started looking for accomodation.

It was lonley being without family, but there was much for me to do but one day I received a phone call from Alicia. She had contracted serious asthma in the very dusty city of Lima, where it never did rain. Her case was so dangerous that I told them both to ccme back to the U.S.A. immediately for treatement.

Alicia and Julia had made good friends with a lot of people in Lima. They had both spent much time helping run the Baha�i center there and Julia had become quite friendly with a fine young Peruvian named Ramiro who ~as a bit older than herself. She asked permission to remain in Lima. m e family of her friend offered to look after her while Alicia came back to the U.S.A. so she stayed on and gradually fell in love with Ramiro. He was a very active Baha�i. Among his services was the giving out of the Promise of World Peace booklet. He and another lady had visited 63 foreign embassies in Lima (after applying for an interview each time) and sucessfully delivered a booklet to each. They were treated with real respect.

On one of these missions, the Ambasador of a Moslem state �~as the recipient. After receiving the Message he asked the Baha�is a question: �Why are they persecuting the Baha�is in Iran?� Since they had decided beforehand that they should not speak to the Ambasador about the Faith, Ramiro replied: �May I have your honour�s permission to reply with a question?� �Certainly.� �Does your honour accept Muhammad as the Prophet of God?� �Of course. �Do you accept Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets?� �Certainly�. The questions continued on all the basic Moslem beliefs until Ramiro offered. �Your honour, this is what Baha�is believe!� m e ambasador was deeply impressed.

I have included these details not only to suggest that Ramiro is a good Baha�i actively serving the Faith, but also to show that we had very good reason to consider him a trustw~rthy son � in � law, for within a few weeks he had proposed to Julia and been accepted. We could not afford to go to Peru for the wedding and we gave our parental permission on what we knew about him. m ey were married in the home of his parents and a few months later they immigrated to the U.S.A. Although neither of them could speak the other�s language at first, yet now they were both fluent in both. Soon each had a good job in the U.S.A. and a year later Ibmmy ~las born. Ramiro�s parents write to us very warmly from time to time, through an interpreter, showing their love and great respect for Julia and her parents. Now, some years later it has turned out to be a very good marriage. We hope that one day we will all be able to meet these lovely relatives of ~n~iro and rejoice together in this link between our tt~ nations.

To return to our own plans, for the next three years we tried every kind of treatment for dear Alicia. Sometimes we thought we had found something useful for her ailment, but nothing offered a lasting cure. IIowever, with care she was able to lead a normal life. She decided to get trained as a travel agent, so we ~ent to live at San Carlos, California, where there was a suitable colege. Elowever, the prospects of her making a useful career in this way did not turn out well, so we moved to Capitola~ by the sea because we had been told that the ozone released by the ocean was beneficial for asthma.

It was about this time that Susan, our second eldest found the right young man. Although not a Baha�i he was much inclined to its teachings. Within a few months he became an active Baha�i and soon they were married. Susan�s health was not always good and George turned out to be a most understanding and helpful husband.

Cathy and Ranin now visited from Peru and then went on to a pilgrimage in the Holy Land. m ey returned to their pioneer post in Peru much uplifted. other big influence in our lives was the fact that Posch Baha�i Summer School was quite near by and each year we were able to spend some days there. The peacful serenity coupled with meeting so many dedicated people fro,m far and wide seemed to bring a blessing which was accentuated by the beautiful forests all around.

Finding that the ocean air had not improved Alicia�s health after a year, we moved to the dry desert conditions of Las Cruces in New Mexico. Here we found a happy, lively Baha�i community and soon Alicia was setting up a weekly Baha�i class for the children of the whole area. She had developed such schools twice before, at the farm in England an in Portland, Oregon. She first gathered together about 12 concerned mothers anl formed them into a School Board. The Board then worked out all the pract details of the proposed school, including the choice of venue and curriculum. When all was ready the School Board submitted themself to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Las Cruces as their parent authority who were delighted with the project. They started training the teachers several months before starting the classes.

When the classes began, parents and children from other assembly areas, even El Paso, 50 miles away joined in. Difficulties came up of course, but everyone was determined the school should thrive and give their children the steady spiri sustenance that Baha�u�llah has stipulated. Three years later (1992) it is still fl ishing and growing.

In 1990 our son James married a lovely Chinese lady from Taiwan. They had me at the California College of Art in Oakland, where they were both students together. Michele Tu had been educated in the Bay area but she was not a Baha�i when they were courting. James used a lot of gentleness in showing her the Faith and after a long time she recognised Baha�u�llah. Now, after two years of marriage they are both keen active Baha�is and both serving on the Local Spiritual Assembly as well as on the School Board.

To return to Alicia and myself. After one year in the dry conditions of Las Cruces, we had to leave, because the electric storms seemed to adversely aff~ Alicia�s asthma. We packed up and drove our rented U � Haul van with all our furniture in it, westwards to look for a small town without polluted air and w we could buy a cheap house on mortgage. After investigating several towns w~ found our ideal home in Red Bluff Judicial district. Well it was nearly ideal, it did have short spells of high temperature in summer, but we had a good ai] conditioner and our house looked out onto green country.

Here we settled in very happily with warm encouragement from the local Bah group. Soon there were two new declarations, Lisa and Kurt Harms. Then two other Baha�is, Jan Marina and Sheila Granger moved into Red Bluff town grou Our good fortune continued, for a few months later J acqueline and Gene Wild from San l ose moved up to our area and we now have a strong community.

Alicia had for many years been working on a curriculum for Baha�i schools a she continued to research this project steadily. I started working on the fruit trees and building a green house. I also dug the ground and Alicia did all the plann and planting. We began building what is called �Square foot gardening.� Six foot square boxes filled with correct soil mixture and planted with vegetables.

We felt that we needed income to serve the Faith more fully, Alicia tried continually to find an occupation. Her main effort, spening two years learning to be a travel agent had not matured. She tried many other avenues without success. Sometimes she found part time work and threw herself whole heartedly into it, but thereby making new friends to whom she gave the Faith. But one day she was feeling frustrated at her inability to find a job, she said to me I wonder if the world really needs me and whether my life has been a success.� I replied Oh really! Well then can you show me any Baha�i family in the whole world which has raised four active, devoted Baha�i children, who have married four active Baha�i partners of four different races, Iranian, Peruvian, American and Chinese? You their mother did most of this by your unselfish, hard � working efforts in raising those children while 1, their father, was usually out working on the farm. On top of that, you have been the driving force and inspiration which has started Baha�i Sunday classes for children first our farm, for the whole area and then in the U.S.A at Portland Oregon, Las Cruces and now Red Bluff.�

Truely this is a devoted, loving, persevering servant of Baha�u�llah who in spite of being restricted by her ailments, persevered in the way of loving service to mankind. Even today occasionally a grown up Baha�i would greet her with � Hullo Auntie Alicia, do you remember me?� In our 18 years in England she had for years been secretary of the Child Education Committee; one her duties was to send out birthday greetings every year to each of the 800 odd Baha�i children on her rolls. She became well known by the new generation in many countries. How many souls did she save for the new race of men, like those who many years later, as active Baha�is greeted her with �Hullo Auntie Alicia!�

We did not know it when we came to Red Bluff, but Alicia�s duties in the physical world were slowly drawing to a close. Her asthma and other problems increased, but she kept working hard as secretary of the Assembly and organiser of the childrens classes and a hundred other things to make those around her happy. We kept closely in touch with our four children and occasionally had big family gatherings at our home. These gatherings included three grand � children, Camilia, Claudette and Tommy and great were the celebrations at those times we had together.

One day her heart just stopped and her immortal soul took its flight to the real world beyond our earthly vision. There she is continuing her journey through all the worlds of God. On her worldly resting place are engraved these words: �

`The light which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its peoples.�

� Baha�u�llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha�u�llah, p. 157

All four children and their families came to the funeral and then stayed a week longer; we shared our deep grief together and started planning for the future. During that week Alicia appeared to several individuals in various ways. Typical was Julia who, sleeping in her mother�s bed, woke up in the middle of the night and rushed into my room. �Dad, Mum has just told me to go and comfort you and say �I did not have much spare energy while I had a sick body, but now I have all the energy I want!� Julia went on �Dad, you must not think of that room as a sad place, it is filled with power!�

When the families had all gone I went up to Bosch Summer School and worked for my keep the whole summer. In that time I was surrounded with many people who know Alicia and myself and their support was greatly warming. I got a lot of work done in the gardens and attended all the session I chose. After the summer I spent two or three weeks living with each of my children. They all wanted me to stay permanently of course, but I had heard of the great progress of the Faith in Romania and began planning to go there. It just happened that recently the N.S.A. of the United Kindgom had received a suggestion from the Universal House of Justice, that it could be useful if they invited overseas British Baha�i to come back for a teaching trip in England; they sent me an invitation. I also received an invitation from the new N.S.A. of Romania to help with the teaching there. And above all an invitation came from Haifa to be present there for the 100th year celebrations of Baha�u�llah�s passing and placing the scroll containing the names of the Knights of Baha�u�llah at His the threshold of His shrine. I am therefore embarking on a five month trip, visiting the three countries and returning to California. It seems to me that it if I find the needs of the Faith in Romania as urgent as I have heard, that it will be hard to resist going back there for a long time.

I have just been told that seven Persian Baha�i families are wanting to buy a building for a Baha�i Center in Romania and are looking for a caretaker. Who knows what will happen! ~Verily we are all from God, and to Him shall we return.

THE END FOR NOW

REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING TEAM TO THE FAR EAST
November 15 to December 1 1987

`O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of �Ya Baha�u�l � Abha� in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the Divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.�

� `Abdu�l � Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 39.

In response to the summons of `Abdu�l � Baha (quoted above) 36 Baha�is left the U.S.A. on November 15th 1987 and travelled to 5 countries in the far East to show by their actlons the depth of thelr love for Baha�u�llah and for all mankind.

It also seemed that we were seeking to unite our intellectual Western approach with the splrltual one of the Orient. Some of the Eastern blessings soon became apparent in the relaxed, patlent and frlendlY receptlon we all received in our flrst 5 days whlch were spent in Taiwan. rrom the airport we went into Taipei, the capital, by special tour bus and first visited the Lung Shan Buddhist temple, the largest and most famous in Taiwan. Here crowds of workers and housewives carrying incense stlcks bowed to varlous shrlnes then knelt to pray with sreat earnestness. Astonishlngly we were told that photography was an accepted as natural. We walked amongst them and founc that thl~ close contact wlth the people was a warm experience, in spite of our embarrassment at mixing cameras with worshlppers. It seemed that it was an indication that if motives were for the good of all, then such a mlxture can be harmonlous. Our lnterest was for splrltual treasure, not materlal ones.

Our breakfast at the hotel each day was In our own dining room where we also had prayers, readings and consultations for two hrs. The second day five National Spiritual Assembly members joined us. Mr. Said Kadivian, their chairman, very warmly welcomed us and told how desperately we are needed. He jovially appointed us all to the �Extension Travel Teaching Committee�. They have had nearly 900 new believers recently and 70% of these were educated youth. He told us how when the House of Justice had announced new persecutlons, they haa replied with ��~e have just haa 300 new believers!� Thl~ was no card � slsnlns e~erclse, he sald but true acceptance. The Fund also Increased 70%

Jean Bellows, a ploneer, gave a fine slide show on the teaching that is going on in Taiwan. She told us of a dream she had of the whole west coast of Taiwan opening up and its people flooding onto the malnland of Chlna. Said Kadivian appealed to us to return here again and help teach the masses. They need at least 17 more travelling teachers. Also. Please teach the Chinese everywhere in the U.S.A.

He told us of the ambitious goals of their Publlshing Trust, especlally the creatlon of their own kind of pamphlets, not just translatlons of the Amerlcan ones. Empnasls is to be plcced on pamphlets whlch use the creatlve Worcs of God. �Intone, O My servants, the Words of God...!�

Part of our slghtseeing took us to the Memorlal of Chlang Kai Shek and Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Martha Root had spoken wlth him.

It was interesting to find that the basis of the new Chlnese Republic, founded by Dr. Sun Yat Sen, is the Three People�s Principles; �of the people, by the people and for the people.�

Next morning, after our breakfast session, we headed in our speclal bus to the town of Tsao Tung, sbout three hours distance. The entire way was spent in discussions and entertainment over tne amplifier as Tony Lease, our tour director, drew from each of us some of our Baha�i experiences. Sugar, a vivacious Chlnese Baha�i, taught us a Baha�i songs, in Chinese, one of which went like this: (my own alliteration): �Wa I nee (I love you) La nee I wa (and you love me) Dai chee chow see see (I am Baha�i).

At Tsao Tun we all had lunch with some of the local pioneers and others at a very modern cafe. They told us that most new Baha�is had been attracted by the Spirit of the Faith, even though they know llttle ~bout the administration.

Clothing here is very cheap but no use for Americans ~unle~s lt 1Y e~peclalIy talIored) because they do not make clothes in the larger slzes we need.

We were frequently reminded not to start pushing the Falth here, for lt is a bl~ enough happening for the local people to suddenly see 36 Amerlcans appear together. We should just be natural, frlendly anc carlr.g. We vlsited the modest Baha�l center here in this vlIlage, said prayers and had a group picture taken wlth an elderly Chlnese gentleman who had been a Baha�l only a very short time.

One evening we went to a fireside at the Taipei Center and the place was flIled to overflowlng. After some prayers talks were given by two or three persons. Our group nearly depleted the supply of special books, calendars and other materials printed in Talwan. Every one felt the warmth an~ unlty auring the fellowship and refreshment time. We all felt lt c great bounty to share our prayers and experlences. A young lady at our hotel had become lnterested In the Falth through contact wlth some of us. 3 She attended a fireside and declared that evening.

In our consultatlons we learned that the Chinese are not famlllar wlth the Chrlstlan Idea of Prophets, so we should RATHER MANIFEST THE SPIRIT. At no time should we do anything to upset the local teaching work but synch~onl~e at all times with the local and the Natlonal. Just our travelling he.e In such a larse group has a blg teaching effect.

Breakfast at the hotel, Asla World, the next morning was a splrltual as well as materlal feast. One ploneer jolned us after rl~ing at 5 AM to get here from the next town. He was Mansour Kheraamandam from Chung Ll. The rest of the day was spent going out to the markets and shops and mingling joyfully wlth the people.

Our last evening In Talpei was a celebration dinner wlth the local Baha�i guests. Victor Tom, known to many of us was there and gave a ~hort talk.

Another inspiring talk was given by Jack Davis who wlth Kenton Dunbar and other pioneers started the teaching here, whlch has acceleratea now lnto mass converslon. We were reminied of the letter of the Universal House of Justice whlch has given great lmportance to the teaching work in Taiwan. In view of this we should remind the American community of how much thelr help is nee~ed by sencing ~eacners anc also teaching the Chlne~e in the U.S.A.

We sent joyful cables to the Unlversal House of Justlce and to the Hand of the Cause Bill Sears.

The next day we flew to Hong Kong, changed planes and arrived in Bangkok late evenlng. What a wonderful surprise awaited us. We were greeted by about 30 Baha~ls car~y!ng a large ~anner. Bangkok gave us a true Baha�i welcome.

SUNDAY. Nov. 22nd

We all vlsltea the Royal Museum and then the chlef Buddhl~t shrlne in all the worlC. Hls Hollness the Buddha l~ en5hrlned here, in an all golcen bullding known the world over for lt magnlflcence. We remove~ our shoes and entered to pray wlth crowds of others. Then we toured the enormous buiIding complex, perhaps the most ornate in the world, at every step a new won~er of beauty greete~ us. Every lnch Is decorated for here resides the Emerald Buddha, now in winter ~ress.

That evening we attended the local Baha�i Feast. Maybe the s~ying is �East Is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet..� but at that Feast this was no longer so. It was here that the warmth and unity of Splrit melded the twain! During the consultatlon perlod four of the Amerlcans gave a 10 minute talk, each on a different aspect of the Faith. The social part of ~he Fea~t fllled wlth Joyous song and wonderful frults and ~weets. The place was crowded to overflowing.

MONDAY NOV. 23RD

We arose at 5:30 AM for breakfast, prayers and discussions. At 8:30 we ~oaraed a long narrow fast boat for a trip on the Chao Payee ~Rlve~ Payee, sometlmes CGlIed the Rlver of the Klng~). How can I descrlbe that experlence? Imaglne a very broad rlver flowing past the hotel and swarming with boats, ocean going vessels, great ba~es and boats of every size for the tourlst. Many of the tour boats were long and narrow wlth a truck englne mounte~ on a swivel at the rear, from this extended a 12 foot propeller shaft. At full throttle the ~oat almost leaps out of the water and the passengers hang on for dear llfe while an ever nonchalant boatman skillfully steers them through the trafflc. We had a larger, slower version and were constantly passed by these whlle we lelsurely enjoyed every inch of this strange, wonderful trip along the river and kl~ngs,~canals) of this incredible city.

Our gulde, Sam Is the local representatlve of Tony Lease Tours ~nd was a constant source of lnformatlon and ioy. He referred affectlonately to the speeding boats as our �Local Kamakazis�. It was alon~ these canals,or klongs, we saw how the poor, and not so poor, people llved. Some of the very poorest looking buildings were the river resldence and buslness site of persons who had homes elsewhere. We saw the daily routine of many of the rlver people from bathing and washing their teeth whlle stanaing waist deep in the river, washing clothes, loading boats, and cooking the family�5 meal. This was a timely e~perience for us, tourists from the luxury Shangra La Hotel.

Along the way we saw well kept patches of water plants grown for food ana other uses. Tropicdl fru.ts, orchias ana other brilliant flowers flourished. Throush ~.nese narrow canals the kamakazis kept roaring past us making high tidal waves which everyone took good naturedly. Soon we reachea our destination, the floating market of Bangkok,the tourlst haven. So many boats were tled up to the pier whiIe their passensers ransacked the multltude of stalls for barsains, that some of the passengers had to walk across two or three boats to get tc thelr own. We were among the ~argaln hunters but so well was i~ all organl7ed, however, by �our great leader�, dS Sam referrec to Tony Lease, that we lost not a slngle person and all were present when we gathered back at the boat an hour later. We returned to the main rlver with lt~ scurrying boats, enormous grain ba~ges going down to the sea and ferries crisscrossing between them all. Often we passed beautlful well kept temples but none could compare with the Temple of Dawn, a massive complex of incredible shrines, temples, and market stalls. Everything was in living technlcolor. As the cameras came out, so did the sun from the early morning overcast and we were able to get pictures to our hearts content.

Every morning breakfast was a joyful event with prayers and plans for the day�s teaching and shopping. In spite of having to choose from over 25 dlshes, the mood was spiritual ~nd this was taken up iby the hotel staff who must have ~een amazed to flnd ~such an atmospnere in thelr luxury hotel. I askea one walter if he understood English ~nd he noddea. I sald, UDo you understand what is hcppenins?� He noddec. I save hlm a brief explanatlon and a pamphlet. Several tlmes in the ne~t days he came back to me and e~pressed warm frlendship, remlnaing me that I had spoken to him.

One day two travelling Baha�l tedchers mlraculously found us and Jolned ln. They were Myrlam Marrero, pioneer to Surinam and Hlllegonda Van der Zee from Holland. Another day a member of the i Natlonal Splrltual Assembly of Malaysla, ~Ir. Kurama Das spoke to us. They now have lOO,OOO bellevers, 150,000 lf you count the children.

Other guidance given to us wa~ that we should speak to these peopleq in thelr own manner. They do not use the word �God� but the �Great Splrit�. They are not famlllar with the Blble Prophets or wlth progresslve revelation. Tell them rather that Baha�u�llch is the Great Teacher for today.

One thlrd of all Chlnese llve outslde Chlna, befriend them whereever You flnd�them. In Thalland educatlon has been compulsorY slnce 1921 and now only 8% of lts adults are llllterate. Already they have ~een following this teaching of Baha~u~llah for many years! But more than this, from the poorest to the richest they are always turning a bright, shining and frlendly face to everyone, as He has commanded. They truly made us feel at home.

Our last evening in Bangkok was spent in a massive restaurant eating Thai food and watching Thai Gancers In tradltlonal dres~ to the sound of throbbing Instruments we had never seen before. And fInally a~ we leave this hot, humld, enchanted clty wlth its w~rm and loving people, It seems we hardly notlce~ the humldlty. This wa~ especlally true when srouPs of us were taken off by local Baha�ls to visit thelr frienCs and meet informally wlth the people. On one such venture slx of us taxied acros~ the clty to meet wlth the head of an Internatlcnal School. We found the ~chool dlsplaying many examples of ~he multl � natlonal aspects of the world. They were doing this because it was the obvlous way ahead and the head was surprlsed when we told hlm he was obeying the Wlll of God. Several others went off to see something of an agrlcultural nature.

At our last breakfast in Bangkok Sammy Smith, the Secretary of the Local Assembly, told us that they are sending two books, ~The New Garden � and �The Peace Statement� to 2,000 schools. We offered to help address these but she said, �Only lf you can type in Thal.� She had brought some examples of the products of cottage lndustrles the Baha�ls of Northern Thailand had producea to help them earn a living. They were very fine set~ of placemats and nap�klns made from the raw cotton grown in the area. One teacher told how In a bus a man had overheard her telling about the Falth and pulled her aside demanding to know �what is Baha�i� because it is just what he belleves.

NOV. 28 � 31 HONG KONG TO CANTON (in Guangdong Province)

Our first evening in Hong Kong we split into two groups wlth one going to a fIreside at the Baha~l Center and the rest took an hour bus journey to the town of Tal Po. In ~oth firesides the same warm spirit of love and unity was shown. We met pioneers, Iocal te~chers ana local non � Baha�is. e met a Malaysian who haa come with eleven others to do teaching work here. One of them had presented the Peace Message to thlrteen ~chool heads and plans to do twenty more. She did it without appointments and had a fine receptlon.

Late that evening we gathered at the hotel to observe the passing of �Abdu�l � Baha. Some local believers were there also. The program W2~ planned by Mr. Kurama Das. and lasted till about 1:30

Chester Lee, National Spiritual Chairman, reminded us that the Baha�i News had reported that after Beijing Book Fair, the Government of China asked for a translation of three more Baha�i books. He said they use such books for research and for reports to thelr people. They have already mentioned Baha�u�llah in reports.

Early next morning we arose for breakfast at AM. The train trip to Canton ~Guant~ou) China was a three hours long. It was raining as we passed through partially harvested rice fields. There were other crops but we could not distinguish what they were. Going through customs at Canton was very easy and a Bus from the Garden Hotel was waiting for us. Our guide, Johnny, an adopted English name that sounds much like his own, that back in the days when he graduated, alt young people were sent to the countryside for two or three years. (This is no longer done) ~e has a wife and one spn. His wife works in the hospital as a lab tech and the child stays at his kindergarten which is at the hospital at cost of food only. All big work places ~o ehis. Women In China have more freedom than the ones in America because they can become train divers (englneers~ ana heavy equi?ment workers, etc.

Francis, a beautiful lady guide supplied ~y the Tony Lease office In Hong Kong spoke very good EnglIsh t.avelled to China wlth us and was a great help not only with our entry to the hotel but when Johnny got stuck. One of these times was when he trled to exp I a I n how when the � Gang of Four u was over thrown, the I and that had been communes was given back to the people. We had to stop by the Dlstrict Office to get s~il I another guiae (a local one~ before we could visit a typlcal farm famiIy who ralsed ducks ana geese . The elderly couple welcomea al I J6 visi tors who only just managed to squeeze into their main room. This was in the town of Dall. They had flve chlldren and were lucky that was before the ruling of only one chlld per famlly or severe penaltles for each extra chlId. We returned the local guide to her district office.

We also visited a ceramic factory, a siIk factory, a jade factory and a Museum School that had formerly been a Taoist Temple. The temple used to ~e used for famllY worship and contalned mlnlature flgures deplcting all aspects of family life plus many large statues representing warrlors as well as Gods.

With much persuaslon we were allowed to visit a local hospltal f at the town of Po Shan. Health care Is free. The hospltal was very primitive by our standards but the people there seemed to get good care. There were two dispenseries or pharmacies, one of Western type medicines and the other Chinese Herbals. Everything in China would have been enjoyed much more if we had not been so cold. We had been told that the temperature would be much llke that of Hong Kong (and it was), but a cold front had come down from the north and with the wind and rain we were most uncomfortable. All the heavy luggage had been left at the Park Lane Hotel in Hong Kong. We brought wlth us only the barest neccessities in an overnighter or carry on bag for such a short stay. Even though we shivered in spite of wearing two or three shirts, we found great frlendliness everywhere in Canton. We had plenty of meetings with the local people, mostly when shopping and in the hotel. There was llttle conversation , of course, but we ald share wonderfully warm, frlenaly greetings In our own way. They ~ldn�t obJect to having thelr plcture taken in fact they wanted u~ to do so. We saw no pollce of any klnd an~ Just a very few soldlers seemingly off duty.

It was generally felt by us that the Chlnese are a gentle, wonderful, sensltlve people with an unusual sense of beauty which is qhown in their surroundings and thelr great works. Of course, as tourlsts we saw mostly tourlst p~aces, but we did see much of the common people and their homes while driving through the small country towns and villages of all kindsn was with ~reat reluctance that he had to return home later only one more brief day in Hong Kong. It was ver~ hcrd to sad goodbye to Chester and the others. Two persons in our qroup stayed, one in Hong Kong and one went back ~o ~aiwan. Others are planning to return soon.

Highly Significant Celebrations at the World Center

The entire last week of l~ay ~99~ saw some most Sl9n~icant events occuring in the Holy Land. In ascending order they were: �

1. The placing of the scroll, listing the names of the Knights of Baha�u�llah, under the floor at the entrance to the shrine of Baha�u�llah.

2. The commemoration of the Centenary of the ascension of Baha�u�11ah on ~ay 2gth 18~2. 3. The processlon or 3,400 Baha�is from all over the world up the Avenue of the Kings on Mt.Carmel, circumambulating the shrine o~ the Bab and then climbing up to the seat of the Unlversal House or Justice to vlew a near life sized portra~t or the Blessed Beauty. the beloved Guardian once said to a pilgrim ~. . . the bounty of making a pilgrimage is that you may become spiritually strong to go out and do great serv~ce ~or the Faith. Thus this mass pllgr1mage wlll doubtless become the cause of great new capaclty amongst the ~rlends. rowards the end of ~ay planes began del~ver~ng pllgrims rrom all over the world to the Holy Land. National Spiritual Assemblies from 175 countries had each been asked to send ninteen Baha~is to take part in this celebration. As they arrived at the World Center, 3 whole day was given to registration and for meeting long parted friends. Many were the joyful greetings between Baha�is who had long been serving the Faith in faraway places. Try to imagine the pilgrim house near the shrine of the Bab, acustomed to accomodating a grnup of lOo pilgrims, now being used to welcome ~,400 on this day. So packed was it wlth old friends that one could hardly walk a yard without being hailed and embraced. We had been preYiously asked not to telephone to the hotels in town to find special friends, for i~ everyone dld this is would jam the telephone system. It was potnted out to us that the social side of this celebr:~tion must take strlctly second place to the main events themselves and the~r splrltual si9nlricance~ Further, television crews from Europe would be recording everything so we were asked not to run around taking plctures ourselves. The World Center ~t~ff would cover everything.

On May 27th, the second day, a reception was held by the Universal House of Justice for those Knights of Baha�u�llah who were still alive. (about 109 out of 257). Fortunately our group arrived at the House of Justice building about an hour ear~y and so we were able to walk around the beautiful gardens. We were told that at this time of the year the grass would normally have been be dead through summer heat and lack of rain, but that fortuitously there had been a massive downpour. Grass and flowers were at their peak condition as a result. However, it was not all progress for the rain had washed great numbers of the famous geraniums out of the ground and the storm had blown down some of the tall ornamaental trees. The hard pressed ground staff had been forced to go out into the town and buy more plants and to remove downed trees. On thts day there w~s no sign of the damage anywhere.

The gathering took place in the maln hall. Short addresses were gi~en by the Chairman of the House of Justice and by Hand of the Cause Ruhuiyyih Khanum. The latter gave a very warm welcome to the Knights. Then she drew our attent~on to the great importance of taking advantage of world conditions to use the spiritual power now at our disposal to make real progress in awakening mankind to the Divine outpouring. She sa~d, from memory, that she hoped we would not go back to our countries and just say things like ~Oh we had a wonderful t~me and everyone was uplifted and Ruhiyyih Khanum W3S looking younger than we expected.~ (laughter). But that we should go back and ar~use the ~riends everywhere to the tremendous spiritual opportunttles now open tor teaching the Faith in this Holy Year.

There followed refreshments and the opportunity for the Knlghts, many of whom had not seen each other for very many years, to greet each other, discuss old times and see the scroll, which was laid out on a long table. Later it would be rolled up and inserted into a metal cylinder, vacuumed and hellum gas inserted before sealing. Each name on the scroll had its own ornamented place, and was coupled with the name o~ the territory opened and the date it was opened.

At 10 a.m. the next morning, buses collected all 3,400 attendees ~rom their hotels and brought us, in carefully organised sequence, to Bah~i where a large hayfteld had been rented to park the 60 buses with great precision. Everyone would be able to relocate their own bus after the ceremony of placing the cylinder at the entrance to the Shrine.

Rows ot cha~rs accomodated all the pilgrims around the outer perlmtter ~nd on the mound. Pr3yers were read and expl3natlons given; then the House members, Hands, Counselors and all the Knights went forward to the shrine entrance and watched while Ruhiyyih Kahnum, with help, laid the cylinder in an open trench ~ust inside the Shrine door, filled around it with sand and replaced the flagstone and carpet. TeleYision cameras recorded the whole oper3tion and it will no doubt soon be transmitted to Baha�i communities all over the world, and probably to public channels also.

The following day, May 29th 1992 we celebrated the ascension of Baha�u�llah which had taken place exactly 100 years earlier. All pilgrims were picked up at their hotels at staggered times, starting at 1.30 a.m., and taken to Bahji where, in the dark of the night an astounding sight met our eyes, setting a deeply moving atmosphere. As we left our buses and walked down the road in a steady stream towards the Shrine, we saw that from the Collins gate right up to the entrance o~ the holiest Shrine, there were twin rows of flame in the night, one on each side of the path. On closer approach we found that they were ~ormed by twin rows or candles sheltered in glass. Later we were to discover that all paths in these holy precints had been treated in the same manner. In the darkness of the night, six thousand candle � lights, together with all the brilliant electric lamp standards produced an atmosphere of great beauty in those per~ectly arranged gardens surrounding the most holy shr~ne. It was strongly reminiscent of Nabil�s narrative where he described the arrival of the Blessed Beauty at Bahji in 1880 to the accompaniment o~ banners ol� light from the Abha Kingdom.

As the two hour session might grow cool, blankets had been tssue at the hotel. I much apppreciated this, for as we took our seats there was a nlght ~og and all the seats were wet with dew. The organtsers had thoughtfully le~t ~ paper towel on each seat.As the crowd of pilgrims slowly filed into their seats I managed to make my way up onto the large elevated terrace which Shoghi Effendi had created on the left of the entrance; from here there was a wide view of the entire illuinated gardens, while at my feet ran a line of candles joyously flickering in the night.

We watched, as the members of the Universal House o~ Justice and the Hands of the Cause went into the mansion itself and mounted to the bedroom where the Blessed Beauty had passed on. Here they said prayers and then returned to the gardens ~or the devotional program relayed through many speakers. It was a precious experience to listen to those heavenly words in this Illuminated haven, surrounded on all sides by impenetratable night.

At the end of the readings we all filed back onto the circular path and began our circumambulation o~ the Shrine. When laying out the gardens, occasional trees had been left to grow in the mlddle of the path, and each of these had its overhanging branches which were lit by a flashlight held by an attendant, lest we bump into them in the dark.

It was 6 a.m. when we arrived back at our hotel and we were all looking forward to a healthy bereakfast, but the dining room was not open, so most people went to bed and slept soundly. Two hours later I awoke and had a good breakfast before returning to bed till noon.

At 1 p.m. we were once more loaded lnto our bus. We were transported to the foot of Mt. Carmel where we were to climb the avenue of the Kings. A number of people were too old or in wheel � chairs and could not could not make it up the mountain, so the the buses took them by road up to the Shrine. ~ost of us climbed upwards, passing through large areas ~f bulldozed terrain where construction of the nine new terraces was being laid out. At the top we walked around the shrine of the Bab and went on to the House of Justice building. Since we had to cross a major trunk road, the police held up traffic periodically and let us cross in batches of fifty, to continue on up the Arc.

We were now to view a speclally prepared portrait Or Baha��u�llah. Ahead of on the path we could see several other groups waiting for their turn to enter the building. By viewing the portrait in small groups, all would have a close view.

When our turn c~me, we saw th~t the entire end ~f the hall had been blocked of r with elaborate paneling, while in the center of this and at about seven feet from the floor was a back � lit projection screen. As we gathered, the lights gradually went out and we stood silent in the total darkness for a few moments; then slowl~ there appeared before us a life � size picture of the Blessed Beauty. He seemed to be looking directly into oureyes with all the wisdom of the ages, and to ~e including us and all creation in a deep and ~Jnderstanding love.

We hardly dared to breath or move. After about a minute only, the portrait slowly dtsappeared to leave us once more in darkness. The lights came gently on again and we passed silently out of a side door and down the mountain side to our waiting bus, each occupied with his own thoughts and deeply aware of the in~inite bounty bestowed upon us. The next morning was departure day, and most people left, but due to a mistake in booking, I had one more day before my flight back to U.S.A. I joyfully went down town and found a bus back to Bahji for uninterrupted prayers, and meditation. Then also, I was able to get some new photographs of those holy precincts.

I recalled wistfully how in 1952 I had made my first pilgrimage and each evening was able to bask in the uplifting presence of Shoghi Effendi. When it had come to departure time he saw how downcast I was. �Don�t be sad~ he had said, �You will come back!� I accepted this but wondered how I would ever again find the funds. So blind are we to the workings of destiny � this present visit in 1992, 40 years later was infact my ninth visit to these holy Shrines! I meditated on the vast developments the Faith during those years. In 1963 there were 135 delegates in Haifa to elect the first Universal House of Justice. In 1968 there were about 500 delrgatrs preseny. On this Celebrstion there were 3,400 Baha�is gathered on the mountain of God!

The World Order of Baha�u�llah is in fact appearing before our very eyes daily. For example, in Africa, giant strides have been made. In 1953, there were only three Baha�is in all of that vast continent, (If one did not count Egypt and the Sudan whicn was conquored in the days of Abdu�l Baha). Now there are now nearly 100,000 Baha�is in Kenya alone. The same kind of picture must exist all over Africa today!

Tears filled my eyes, for Shoghi Effendi had longed to see this day . Soon however I realised that he must be joining in with the great rejoicings in the Abha Kingdom. This 100 th anniversary of the ascension of the Blessed Beauty celebrates this enormous development of God�s Kingdom on earth. It also marks the centenary of the acceptance by the followers of Baha�u�llah, of His appointment of Abdu�l Baha as the infallible interpreter of His Revelation. Thus man has fullfilled at long last, the Eternal Covenant of God with man. The above develprnents are surely just a part of the Divine response promised to mankind when we should finally fulfill that Covenant.

E N D

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE HOLY YEAR 1~

Since the Univ~?r~l H~u,e of Jus�.i � ~ h~s ~ske.~l US, in thelr letter of Rldvan 1~3~31? tO 11. . . pay befitting re~rd to the �entenary of the Ascension of B~h~�u�llah and of the in~u~ur~tion of His world � unifying Covenant, ,t will be of v~lue for e~ch of u~ to ~o thi~. The followin~, are a~few thou~hts of onl~J one per~on ~nd should be regarded as such.

With the passing of the Bless~d Beauty to th~ h~venly world one hundred years a~,o we were deprived of His phys~cal ternple, but not of His reality. ~aha�u�llah is stiIl wlth us today.

�We are with you at all times, ~nd shall ~tr~n~th~n yGu through the power of Tr � uth.�Gl.137:16.

For ~ome reason no Manifestation of God h~s ~vet � rem~ined physically on earth for more than a normal sp~n of hum~n lif~. Perhaps this was, among other reasons, to demonstrate that no earthly combinatlon or elements was ever lntended to b,e permanent. It would also be a deliberate reminder to us, about the dual nature of the Manifestatlons and to demonstrate that thelr divine station must not be confused with their e~rthl~ station.

Their first st~tiorl; �Through their appear~nce the RevelatiGn of God is made manifest, and by Their counten~nce the Beauty of God is revealed. �GL. 53 .

Their second station: �. . . Viewed in the li~ht of Their second station . . They manliest absolute servltude . . .Even as He hath sald: �I am but a man like unto you.� Gl.53.

The occaslon of Baha�u�llah�s physlcal passing from thiS worid was, to the belivers, a tremendous depriv~tion, but seen in the eternal plan of God it might seem to be the moment of our being turned loose to pro~ress by our own decisons, but aided by Hi~ Writinss and by His ever � present splrltual reallty. In other words, not being � 7 dependant upon the physical form. Baha�u�llah unlike any pre � ~icus Manifestation, left not only a record of .H teachings in His own handwriting but also gave us three lnstitutions endowed with the gift of infallible ~,uidance. Those institutions are � A~dull E~ha, the Guardian and the Universal House OI Justice.

The focus of our celebratlon during this holy year is therefore twofold, the ascencion of Baha�u�llah in triumph to His true habitation in the relms above and secondly the lon~ ~walt~d inauguration of the Covenant which has already brought great splrltual development to mankind.

Regarding ~ . . . the inauguration of His world � unifying Covenant.� this was long promised in the Bible. Let us therefore ask ourselves what exactly happened to lnau~urate the Covenant a hundred years ago.

By �in auguration� one underst~nds th~t both parties have kept their own slde of the agreement. For thousands or years Prophets have offered this Covenant and mankind has ~ailed to keep it; but now, at last we have fullfilled it by being absolutely faithful to Baha�u�llah~s appointment of Abdu�l Bah.~ as the sole inIallible lnterpreter the Word or God after His passln~.

We can clearly see that b~ this act the tollowers ha~e remained totally united. They were able to avoid breaking up into sects over a multitude of conflicting interpret.~tions of Scripture, as ~11 vther religions had done in the past. Such total unlty amon~, th~ followers of Baha�u�llah may be the secret key not Just to an lnIlnltely h~gher ~orm of consclousness ror man~ilnd, but even Ior a higher form of life. This is, of cow � se depend~nt on the real unity of its parts, an essential condition for the l~ext step in our evolution � the spiritu~l birth of humanity. God�s Et.ern~l Covenant lS, surely, the lnstrument deslgneci to 2~c:hleve thl~ tr~nsfol � m~tlon

But unity alone is not enou~h, lt must be ac.c&rding to the divine plan. Abdu�l Baha spoke about two forms of creation, accidental and divine. He said that the former is temporary but that t.he latter, because it is done according to the divine plan, is eternal. Also that when the constituent parts are assemkled in the divine way it, attracts a higher order of spirit. The purpose of God i~ evldently that manklnd should now take a ~lant new step Iorward, therefore mankind must first learn to kee,~ the Covenant; this will assure that we will build according to the divine plan. The purpose of this plan has been stated clearly by B~ha�u�llah Himself:

�He Who is your Lord, the All � Merciful, cherlsheth in Hls the heart the desire o~ beholding the entlre human race as one soul and one body.� Gl.~13.

Abdu�l Baha described how this can take place and the result.

�. . . when the e~istin~ elements are ~athered to~ether accordin~ to the natural order, and wlth perfect strength, they become a magnet for the spirit, and the spirit will become manifest in them wlth all its perfectlons.� SAQ.201.

The Covenant must surely h~ve be~n m~de when the hum~ spirit first emanated from ~od. The Hidden Word P.1~. ~eems t~ refer to this: �

�O MY FRIENDS! Have ye forgotten that true zlnd radi~nt morn, when in those hallowed ~nd blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence beneath the shad~ of th~ tree of life, which is planted in the ~ lorlous paradise? Aw~ � truck ye llstened as I gave utter~nce to these three most holy wor~; O friends! Prefer not your will to Mlne, ne~er deslre that which I have not desired for you, and approach ~Ie not with lifeless hearts~ defiled with worldly desires and cravin~s. Would ye but sanctify your souls, ye would at this present hour recall that place and those suroundings, and the truth of My utterance should be made evldent unto all of you.

The �three most holy words� would seem to be the conditlons which God laid down for us sv that we m~y return to Him after passing through earthly life. This is called the Covenant. At the same time God created the �ITree of Life~, the train of Prophets, to help us compl � y. Typlcal of this would be the Covenant God made through ~Aoses:

�Now therefore, lf you wlll obey my volce lndeed,,2.nd keep my Covenant then you shall be a peculiar treasure until me above all people: for all the earth is mlne

And Moses came and called ~or the elders of the people and laid before their faces these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned th

Another thought is ,th~t when all mankind wlll h~ve accepted Baha�u�llah�s teaching of pro~,ressive revelation, they will in fact have accepted all the prev1ous Prophets. Thus manklnd wlll have realised the onenes~ of all religions, the oneness of m~nkind and the oneness of God; again a result of our accept~llc.e of the Covenant and a necessary condition for the ne.Yt stage of our evolutlon.

Since mankind, has now kept the eternal Co~nant, God will now keep His part of the agreement in ~ull, as ~ar as mankind as a whole is concerned. The ability OI humanlty tc, rlse to the next higher form of life is now assured. But for us ~s individuals however, there is still the responsibility to keeF, the Covenant in our daily lives, by obeying the laws B~ha�u�ll~h h~s ~iven us. For example, Baha�u�llah sald in the Kitab � l � Aqdas

�Recite ye the verses of God every morning ~nd e~en1ns. Whoso reciteth them not hath truely failed to fullfill his pledge to the Covenant of God and His Testament and whoso in this day turneth away therefrom, hath indeed turned away from God ~lnce time immemorial. . .� Aqdas and, Compllatior~ on Prayers ~ M.p.l.

This may seem a rather drastlc statement, but let us a~ree, that li one accepts a Manifestation ~s the ~foice of God, then it is illo~,ic~l of us not to obey His teachin~s. II we do not follow them, then we c~n hardly say we have complete faith.

However, all is not lost if we fail in this, for God well knows that we are created to progress by ste.~dy growth. God is the forgiving ,so it would seem ~ccep~le if, when we fai1 .n our dut~ we do not look back but rorward, and try to do ~etter in the future. Then, to the extent that we mana~e to k~ep the Covenant in our daily lives, will we continue to progress towards God.

The lmportant thing Ior us is that in pa~t dispens~lons they did not have access to infalliblity after the Prophet left; today, i~ ~ur efforts, we have all the necessary and authentic cre~tlve Words of God together with the institutlons for infalliblly interpreting them until the next Manlfesttion comes..

Clearly, for us as individuals, there is still no free admitt~nc~ into the Heavenly Kingdom for we still have free will and c~n turn away from God. Every soul must learn to use lts Iree wlll corre~tly; in this way it will continue to ~,row towards the ~t~tion when it will remember its Creator all the times. However, lf any soul becomes immersed in wordly affairs his spiritual senses will have become atrophied, and he will be powerless to benerit from the great bounty of recognising the ManifestatGn and thus cut himself off from God.

�He indeed is a capt1ve who hath not recosnlsed the suprerrle Redemer, but hath suffered his soul to }~ecorne bound, di~tressed and helPless, in the fetters OI his desires � Gl 16

God has decreed that the Kingdom OI God shall now be rnade manifest on earth for man~ind as a whole. But all individuals must continue to use their freewill in order to become attuned to the will of God. Thus freewill is our most precious lift from God, for only by lts use in trial and error will we learn to d1I~erentl~t~ between the spiritual world and the material one and consciously chose the former..just for the love of it.

To return to the celebration of the centenary of the Covenant, its vital importance become cl~ar � when we realize that, had the followers of Baha�u�llah failed to accept Abdu�l Baha as the Center of his Father�s Covenant, we would have been deprived OI all the institutions required for lnIalllble lnterpretatlon of the holy Words. Further, there would not ha~re �eer. a Center of the Covenant an~ a Guardian o ~ � ,o~r u � trative Order. We would have been thrown onto our own Iallible powers to interpret the Words Gf God and would have end~d up arouing and fighting about it as in past dispensations.

Let us consider another irnplication o~ the lnaugur~tion o~ the Covenant. By accepting the appointment of Abdu�l Baha, perhaps we accepted the first totally perfect human being ~Manifest~tions ~part) This is of course only ~urmise. A3~du�1 Bah. is the Mystery o~ God ancl hls true reality ~as not ~een explained in the Writings.

To continue with this thought about the perfect human bein~, because in the splritual world there is no such thing as time, the begining and the end are the ~me. As Christ said �I am Alph~ ~nd Omega, the begining and the end.� Baha�u�llah said: rather consider the begining, at the end itself . .� TAB.183

It is reported th~t when Abdu�l Baha had laid the foundation stone of the temple he said:

�The temple is now built!�

With the arrival of the first perfect human being and ow � acceptance of him, and because the begining in the same as the end, perhaps we could say that all humanity has now become li~;e him, in the spiritual world.

This is surely proof that we each have the potential to be perfect. We always had this potential, but now the arch � type has appeared on earth in Abdu�l Baha. And did he not saSr

�Look at rne1 be ~s I ~rn��l

Since the hol~ ~ear ~ele~rations in~luded honourirlO the Kni~hts of Bahalu�llah, let us apply this prln~iple of the non � ex~stence of time in the world of reality, to the Ten Year Crusade. The Guardian, when speakin~, about the Crusade ~ 53 � 63), regarded the arrival of a pioneer lr. a v~r~in territory (the begining) ~s having conquored that whole territory (the end). It seems once more that the begining is the same as the end in the spiritual world. This may help us to understand the enormous importance the Guardian have to the success of the Ten Year Crusade and perhaps sorne suggestion as to why he horloured the Knights.

Again, by conquoring every territory on the planet in this manner, we have asembled the constituent parts of a divine creations and brought into being the World Order of Baha�u�llah. This Spirit is endowed wlth attributes and powers far exceedine~ those of individuals races and countries.

No doubt the lncredlble new concepts and advances which manklnd is now making in the world, (if we look at the positiv~ side of things) are some of the results of these new powers. How much more so are we, the builders of the New World Order now endowed with very great powers in everything we do, If we are keeping to the Covenant in our daily lives. Perhaps this is the personal tran~formation which Baha�u�llah sp~aks OI and to which the Universal House of Justice has ur~ed towards immediately. Perhaps further this is one re~son why the Univers~l House OI Justice has now trought into action the Aqd~s.

To sum up it seems that in this hol~ ~Jear~ we are c~l~bratirlg both the trlumphal return of Baha�u�llah to His heavenly home and also, through our obedience to His world unifying � Covenant~ the arrival of Spirit on a planetary level._