Dearly loved friends,
With hearts full of love and admiration for the
followers of the Most Great Name in Australasia we send our warmest greetings
to all assembled in this historic gathering in the heart of the Antipodes.
How great is your place in Bahá'í history! How bright are
the prospects for the future of the Cause so lovingly nurtured for more than
half a century by hundreds of stalwart steadfast believers, spiritual heirs of
Hyde and Clara Dunn, who in direct response to the Tablets of the Divine Plan
forsook their home and went to pioneer in Australia, and whose names, Shoghi
Effendi wrote, were "graven in letters of gold" upon his heart. In
March 1951, when in the entire Pacific area there was but one National
Spiritual Assembly, the beloved Guardian predicted that "The prizes
destined for the heroic warriors, battling for the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh
throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and particularly Australasia, are glorious
beyond compare. The assistance to be vouchsafed to them from on high in their
struggle for its establishment, its recognition and triumph is ready to be
poured forth in astonishing abundance."
Now, twenty-five years later, the achievements are truly
astounding. Beginning with the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá'ís of New Zealand at Ridvan 1957, the number of National Assemblies
has increased eleven-fold; the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Antipodes has been
erected near Sydney; His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II of Western Samoa has
become the first reigning monarch to embrace the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh; the
number of Local Spiritual Assemblies now stands at over 360; and the number of
localities where Bahá'ís reside in this vast oceanic area covering well-nigh
one-eighth of the earth's surface is more than 1,800. These accomplishments
doubtless have been a source of great joy to the immortal soul of Shoghi
Effendi, whose esteem and affection for the followers of Bahá'u'lláh labouring
for His Cause in the Antipodes was frequently expressed in glowing terms in his
letters to the Assemblies and friends in Australasia.
