Beloved friends,
We hail with joyous hearts and eager anticipation the soldiers of Baha'u'llah's army of light gathered together in Quito, the capital city of the Republic of Ecuador, to do honour and homage to the blessed memory of Bahiyyih Khanum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, the most outstanding heroine of the Baha'i Dispensation, the fiftieth anniversary of whose ascension was so recently commemorated throughout the world.
Conscious of the beloved Master's plea to promulgate the oneness of mankind to a spiritually impoverished humanity, inspired by the memory of the Hand of the Cause Dr. Rahmatu'llah Muhajir whose mortal remains are interred in the soil of Quito, and deriving spiritual stimulus from the Mother Temple for Latin America, the friends are reminded of the galvanizing words of our beloved Guardian addressed to "the eager, the warm-hearted, the spiritually minded and staunch members of these Latin American Baha'i communities": "Let them ponder the honour which the Author of the Revelation Himself has chosen to confer upon their countries, the obligations which that honour automatically brings in its wake, the opportunities it offers, the power it releases for the removal of all obstacles, however formidable, which may be encountered in their path, and the promise of guidance it implies ..."
Praiseworthy indeed are the achievements thus far made by the communities of South and Central America and the islands of the Caribbean in the first half of the Seven Year Plan. Full advantage should be taken of the current high tide of proclamation engendered by the crisis in Iran to attract to the Cause of Baha'u'llah earnest and seeking souls from every stratum of society, thereby enriching the spiritual and material diversity of our communities. Great effort should be made to utilize more fully the valuable possibilities of radio and television as a means of reaching the vast multitudes whose hearts and minds offer fertile soil for the planting of the seeds of the Faith. All elements of the Baha'i community, particularly the women and youth, should arise as one soul to shoulder the responsibilities laid upon them. All outstanding goals of the Seven Year Plan should be pursued with enthusiasm and assurance of their accomplishment.
All National Spiritual Assemblies during the remaining fast-fleeting years of this radiant century, in collaboration with the Institutions of the Faith standing ready and eager to assist them, must greatly reinforce the foundations of maturing National and Local Spiritual Assemblies to enable them to cope successfully with the multifarious and challenging problems that will confront them.
At a moment in Baha'i history when the persecuted, beleaguered friends in the Cradle of the Faith heroically continue to face the trials ordained for them in the Major Plan of God, meeting martyrdom, as need be, with joyous acceptance, it behoves the friends throughout the Baha'i world to endeavour by their own greatly increased acts of self-abnegation to make fruitful the spiritual energies released by the sacrifices of their stricken brethren.
May you all immerse yourselves in the spirit of the saintly life of the Greatest Holy Leaf, whose self-sacrificing devotion to her beloved Father's Cause is a worthy example for every believer to emulate.
The Universal House of Justice
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)
