26 November 1991: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh throughout the World

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

On the occasion of the Day of the Covenant, amidst the dramatic events within and without the Faith which evince an accelerating momentum in the concluding months of the Six Year Plan, and less than half a year from the beginning of the long-anticipated Holy Year, we rejoice in conveying this triple announcement to the entire Bahá’í world.

Seven new National Spiritual Assemblies will be formed at Ridván 1992: Angola in Africa; Greenland in the Americas; and Albania, the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland in Europe. The emergence of the latter five will set a befitting seal on the victorious supplementary Two Year Plan launched at Ridván 1990. In addition, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Congo Republic, after a lapse of more than a decade due to political conditions, will be reestablished.

The Office of Huqúqu’lláh has been established in the Holy Land under the direction of the Chief Trustee of Huqúqu’lláh, the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Muhammad Varqá, in anticipation of the worldwide application of the Law of Huqúqu’lláh next Ridván. Concurrent with this development are the steps being taken by Dr. Varqá to organize regional and national Boards of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh, following the example of the Board already functioning in the United States.

At Ridván 1993, immediately following the Holy Year and during a period which will witness the holding of the Seventh Bahá’í International Convention at the World Center, a Three Year Plan will be launched. The national goals of this global Plan will be set through consultations between the Continental Counselors and National Spiritual Assemblies. The unusual character and rapidity of developments both inside and outside the Faith signify the necessity for a short, flexible plan attuned to the dynamic nature of the times.

18 November 1991: To the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Every Land

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

A time of challenge for the stalwart upholders of the Cause of God has now come upon us at the very moment when the world is grappling with tremendous problems, moral, social, economic and ecological. The Bahá’í community has grown in size and influence to the point where it is put to the test on all sides and at all levels. The opportunities are immense but we now face the question of whether to push forward with all speed, or to hold back because the resources available to us are inadequate for the purpose.

In lands where people have accepted the Faith in large numbers, the process of economic and social development, linked with the establishment, consolidation and strong functioning of Local Spiritual Assemblies, is attaining ever greater importance and is placing upon the international resources of the Faith a heavy demand for manpower and finance. In the countries of the former Eastern Bloc the need for assistance in the form of Bahá’í literature, pioneers, traveling teachers, the establishment of local centers, is made the more urgent by the extraordinary receptivity to the Message of Bahá’u’lláh shown by the spiritually thirsty populations. The opportunities for the promotion of the Cause of God in these areas cannot be allowed to go unheeded.

At the national level, the structure of Bahá’í communities is growing in complexity as the number of believers rises, and National Spiritual Assemblies are being increasingly invited by national governments and nongovernmental organizations to offer advice and assistance in upholding human rights, in safeguarding the environment, in promoting moral education, and in overcoming the ravages of prejudice and the rising tide of lawlessness which are undermining the social structure. Internationally a parallel process is taking place.