Dr. Wendi Momen, magistrate and author from the United Kingdom, speaks as a panelist for a side event hosted by the Baha’i International Community during the 55th Session of the Commission for the Status of Women.

Country singer Dan Seals wrote this song about the oneness of humanity.

Gate on the Terraces of the Shrine of the Bab. © Bahá'í International Community

The Bahá’í Faith traces its origin to 1844 and the announcement by a young man, Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad, in Shiraz, Persia. He took the title of the Báb (meaning “Gate” in Arabic). On May 22, 1844, in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran)— the Báb announced that He was the bearer of a Divine Revelation, which would prepare humanity for the advent of the Promised One foretold by all the world’s religions.

That Promised One, the Báb declared, was destined to usher in the age of justice, unity and peace promised in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and all the other world religions. Baha’u’llah, one of the Bab’s leading advocates, announced in April 1863 that He was the Divine Messenger the Báb had promised.

In some respects, the Báb’s role can be compared to John the Baptist in the founding of Christianity. The Báb was Bahá’u’lláh’s herald: His primary mission was to prepare the way for Bahá’u’lláh’s coming. Accordingly, the founding of the Bábi Faith is viewed by Baha’is as synonymous with the founding of the Bahá’í Faith. The Báb’s announcement in the middle of the 19th century came at a time when many Christians were expecting the return of Christ based on their reading of Biblical prophecy. Simultaneously, half way around the world, in the Middle East, many followers of Islam were also expecting their Promised One to appear.

On the evening of May 22, Baha’is throughout the world commemorate the Declaration of the Bab, which took place in this room (pictured) in the Persian city of Shiraz in 1844. Bahá’ís celebrate through prayers and programs where the story of His declaration may be retold. Because the Bahá’í day lasts from sunset to sunset, celebrations are usually held after sunset on May 22 or during the day on May 23.

Come join us for this joyous celebration!

“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”

~ Baha’u'llah

Along with their family, they also created a 9-sided cookie temple inspired by the Brilliant Star Bahá’í children’s magazine. It was a fun-filled weekend of service and good cheer for the entire family.

On the last day of Ayyam-i-Ha, the children shared the concept of this Bahá’í holy day and a quote from the Bahá’í Writings plus pictures of their weekend activities with their 4th grade class at school.

“It behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name.” — Baha’u’llah

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message — that is love, compassion and forgiveness — the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives” —The Dalai Lama

Following the great success of this year’s summer camp, the Bahá’í Community of Beaverton is offering a Virtues Winter Camp for children ages 4 to 12. All are welcome!

Monday and Tuesday
December 27 – 28, 2010
9:30 am to 1:00 pm
Beaverton Baha’i Center

Participants will be welcomed into a warm and accepting space where they will be gently guided to discover the gifts of virtues that live within them. Virtues are qualities of the heart and the content of our character. We foster a safe and supportive environment in which to practice the virtues and explore their meaning. Children will have the opportunity to make new friends and experience unity between spiritual communities.

The Spiritual Virtues Summer Camp content is based on the global work of the Virtues Project™, an initiative honored by the United Nations that provides the principles and tools to empower people to live by their highest values.

“Virtues are what’s good about us.”
Sharon, age 6 —from the Virtues Project™

Program

The Camp Registration ($45 for both days) includes:

• Teachers and youth mentors trained in the spiritual education of children.
• Playful age-appropriate activities focused on the virtue of the day that incorporate:
  • Creative Arts
  • Prayer
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Stories
  • Drama
• Service Projects and Virtues Connection Time in the afternoon
• Healthy snack daily
• Virtues Camp T-shirt

Virtues

The Camp will focus on various virtues, including: Joyfulness, Peacefulness, Love, Cooperation, Compassion, Helpfulness, Service, Patience, Forgiveness, Generosity, Excellence, Unity, Creativity, Truthfulness, Thankfulness, Gentleness, Tolerance and Kindness.

For more information visit: http://www.virtuesconnectionportland.com/

The Kelly family made 9-pointed star cookies to share with the staff at their daughters' elementary school. Nine is a symbol of unity in the Baha'i Faith.

By Kay Kelly

At a recent PTO meeting for Erroll Hassell Elementary School, our principal, Dr. Clemens-Brower, began explaining about the upcoming Cultural Week at the school. The children would be learning about different cultures in various ways throughout the week, including a family night of numerous cultures experienced through art and music. She also mentioned she was looking for families to come and share their culture or religion with the teachers at the upcoming Staff Development day.

I emailed the principal, explaining that we are Baha’is and we would be happy to share about our faith. A few days later, we received an invitation to join them on Friday, November 12th, which was a pleasant surprise as it was also a Holy Day for us, the Birth of Baha’u'llah! The invitation set the tone for the day:

“Margaret Wheatley, author of Turning to One Another, writes about changing the world by the simple act of listening to one another. She believes that great social change movements always begin from the simple act of friends talking to each other about their fears and dreams… I’m inviting several parents (YOU) in to be our guest speakers for the event. I’m hoping that our guests will talk about their own elementary school experiences first then about hopes and dreams for their children.”

Our family consulted together and with other Baha’is about what would be important to share about the Baha’i Faith. The night before, we made 9-pointed star cookies and then woke up early the next morning to pray before going to the school. We chatted with a few families and teachers until the principal welcomed us and explained the morning’s purpose and format.

We had five minutes to share our religion with several small groups of teachers. Pete described his elementary years at a Catholic Montessori School in Connecticut and the diversity of the families who attended. As he transitioned into public elementary, that diversity was lacking as well as the spiritual education. We mentioned how we found the Baha’i Faith while looking for a diverse and spiritually-supportive community in which to raise our children. Next, we mentioned it was a Holy Day for us and Madeleine, our 4th grader, then explained our calendar with the aid of a calendar we found online (http://www.bahai.us/bahai-calendar). Next, I mentioned a few principles of the Baha’i Faith and the importance of the spiritual education of children. Then, Kassie, our 2nd grader, talked about her neighborhood children’s class and some of her favorite virtues. Then we opened it up to questions. The school staff asked great questions. One mentioned they had a previous Baha’i student, and several asked about the Beaverton Baha’i Center.

This experience was definitely a bonding experience for our family and with the staff at our school. It was also a wonderful opportunity to be invited into a public school setting to talk about our religion and feel so welcomed. We thanked the principal for the environment she was creating, not only to learn about other cultures but also to appreciate the cultural diversity that surrounds us in our community.

Children learn about the virtues through music, art and other activities.

Children live in a society where their moral character is constantly tested with worldly desires, selfish thoughts, and vain imaginings. According to the US Surgeon General, almost one out of every three (sixteen to seventeen year olds) in the United States reports that he or she has participated in acts of serious violence. It would be beneficial to overcome these tests by instilling virtues in these youth. A virtue by definition is moral excellence, a character trait or quality valued as being always good in and in itself.

The Baha’i writings emphasize the importance of these virtues. During the summer, children have an opportunity to attend a Spiritual Virtues Camp. This year the camp took place during August 2 – 5 at the Beaverton Baha’i Center and consisted of children with ages ranging from 4 – 12 years. The goal of the camp is to serve humanity by supporting the moral and spiritual development among people of all cultures. The mission is to provide empowering strategies that inspire the practice of virtues in everyday life. Children were able to learn a range of virtues through creative workshops consisting of art work, music, and writing, just to name a few.

Several children were interviewed during the camp about their experiences. Children were asked what they enjoyed most about the camp. Camron replied, “How much fun we have and how many people we meet.” Saba responded by stating, “We get to have a lot of fun, while doing and learning a lot of things.”

When asked what is the most important virtue to you and why, Natash answered, “Helpfulness because it makes me happy to be able to help complete tasks.” Sanam, a youth volunteering at the camp stated, “I enjoy helping little kids learn new stuff.” For Sanam, sacrifice and patience were two of the most important virtues, because of her role as an older sister. She also enjoys volunteering her time to help. Among the youth interviewed, the most common virtue displayed by all of them was that of courtesy. Some quotes from the writings of Baha’u’llah were utilized to emphasize the importance of treating each other with courtesy:

“O people of God! I admonish you to observe courtesy, for above all it is the prince of virtues…Who is illumined with the light of courtesy…hath indeed attained a sublime station.”
-Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 214

Courtesy means to be polite and to have good manners. It is being considerate of others. It is a way of speaking and acting with people which gives people a feeling of being valued and respected. “Please,” “Thank you,” “Excuse me” and “You’re welcome” are courteous expressions which let people know you appreciate them and care about their feelings. Courtesy brightens people’s lives. It helps to make life graceful.

Another wonderful virtue demonstrated by the children was that of joyfulness. According to Susan, the Virtues Camp Teacher for five to six year olds, and a long-time teacher of spiritual education classes, “Joy is what gives us wings! Joy makes us alive! Joy heightens all our senses and faculties! Joy is contagious! Children express joy so much more completely than adults…I love it!”

The virtues camp allows children to learn and practice virtues, such as joyfulness and courtesy, which helps build moral character. These virtues ultimately impact the citizens of a society. This in turn will help shape the future of children, as well as the rest of society. After attending the Virtues Camp, numerous children stated they want to continue practicing virtues by volunteering and doing community service projects. These types of positive activities promote harmonious relationships and keep children from being caught up in negative behaviors which affect so many children and youth today. It is necessary, therefore, to try to get as many children and youth as possible involved in the camp. In fact, there is always a need for volunteers who wish to offer their time and talent. Please feel free to contact the Beaverton Baha’i Center at (503) 646-1652 for more information.

Bonnie Hakert Konamauri, a Baha’i pioneer to the Solomon Islands answers questions about her pioneering work. (photo by Aref Heyrani)

By Venustiano Olguín

For the last three months, it has been an inspiration and an honor to get to know Bonnie Hakert Konamauri as she visits family and friends in Oregon and Montana during a short rest from her life’s work as a Baha’i pioneer in the Solomon Islands . At the beginning of her visit in July, Bonnie’s daughter and Beaverton Baha’i member, Julie Hakert, organized an evening event at the Beaverton Baha’i Center at which Bonnie presented a fascinating slideshow about her continuing life and work in the Solomon Islands, which now stands at 23 years.

Bonnie related that she and her husband, Edward (“Ed”), moved to Alaska in 1975. Bonnie, who had been working as a dental hygienist in Montana, continued working in her field in Alaska. Ed, who had been working as an architect in Montana since 1964, was selected to supervise the construction of Homer Hospital in Homer, Alaska. While in Alaska, Bonnie and Ed learned about and embraced the Baha’i Faith in 1977 and began to increase their knowledge and experience as Baha’is. The years passed and Ed’s work as an architect in Alaska was eventually going to end with the completion of the building of Homer Hospital. By that time, as Bonnie and Ed had begun to think about where they would go next, they began to contemplate pioneering for the Baha’i Faith somewhere in the world.

Serving the Faith in Alaska

During their years in Alaska Bonnie and Ed served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Ridgeway, Alaska and had developed friendships with most of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, who then relayed to them a call for pioneers by the Universal House of Justice (UHJ). The UHJ is the international, elected governing council of the Faith, which has its seat at the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Coincidentally, a request for more pioneers was made by some Iranian Baha’i pioneers, who had an architectural firm in the Solomon Islands.

Ed was offered a job by the architectural firm, which was great news, since it is common practice for Baha’i pioneers to find a way to be self-subsisting wherever in the world they are serving the Faith. At the same time, this meant that Bonnie would be able to devote herself fulltime to teaching the Faith once they moved to the Solomon Islands. The challenge faced by Bonnie and Ed was to sell their house in a timely manner. Despite being told by friends, “You’ll never sell it,” because the Alaskan economy was in a downward spiral at that point, they were able to sell the house in three months.

Leap to the Solomon Islands

In 1988, Bonnie and Ed moved to begin their new lives as Baha’i pioneers in the Solomon Islands, a leap of almost 6,000 miles from Alaska! The Solomon Islands, which form an independent country in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles northeast of Australia, consist of nearly 1,000 islands. Among these there are 7 major islands with a population of about 1,000,000. The nation’s capital, Honiara, with a population of about 70,000 is located on the island of Guadal-canal. Despite the British influence, only 1 to 2 percent of the population speaks English. Most speak a Melanesian pidgin dialect, and there are around 120 indigenous languages.

(Map: http://geography.howstuffworks.com/oceania-and-australia/geography-of-solomon-islands.htm)

Ed began to work for the architectural firm on one of the islands and Bonnie began teaching children’s classes and working with women in the Baha’i community. She earned a teaching credential from Solomon Island College of Higher Education when she was 52 years old and taught at a boarding school at the Provincial Secondary School and Waimapuru National Secondary School.

During this time, she says, she gained experience in fishing, “sleeping on the floor”, bouts with malaria, which she fought off ten times in five months, as well as learning how to evade rats and giant spiders. These challenges only strengthened her resolve to fulfill her commitment as a Baha’i pioneer.

Perseverance in the Face of Tests

In 1996, Bonnie faced a severe emotional test when Ed passed away. For a while, Bonnie thought of leaving the Solomon Islands, but her memories and a powerful dream about the pioneering work she had shared with Ed, convinced her to continue her work as a Pioneer.

Her resolve to stay was again tested starting in 2000 by two years of lawlessness that engulfed the Islands during which time she lost her home and her teaching pay became irregular. Peace was finally restored and celebrated with ceremonies where guns were ceremoniously destroyed. Despite these severe challenges, Bonnie has persevered in her pioneering work.

She served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bita’ama a village on the island of Malaita for 7 years. Currently, she is a volunteer working with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Solomon Islands as a resource person for children’s classes and a representative for the Baha’i Office for the Advancement of Women. Bonnie travels all over the Solomon Islands where Baha’i groups are located. She observes children’s classes, encourages their teachers, and makes sure that they have the necessary materials, as well as the proper training. She also meets with women, encouraging them to form official active women’s groups. Presently, Bonnie resides with other American Baha’i pioneers in Honiara on Guadalcanal.

In carrying out her work in the Solomon Islands, one of the biggest problems is that of transportation because of the oceanic distance between the islands and the lack of transportation on many islands. There are few roads on the major islands and people are transported by 2 and 3-ton trucks or tractor trailers. Otherwise, people walk or use boats or canoes.

Another challenge that Baha’is face in teaching the Faith in the Solomon Islands, is the presence of many large squatter settlements with people from other islands. This causes friction with the local tribes, who own the land, sometimes erupting in violence. Despite these hazards, Baha’i friends are holding children’s classes in some of these areas with often as many as 60 children attending.

Unstoppable Growth of the Faith Continues

“I will stay as long as I can put one foot ahead of the other.”
– Bonnie Hakert Konamauri, Baha’i pioneer to the Solomon Islands

Another indication of the growth of the Baha’i Faith in the Solomon Islands is that four “A” or Advanced Clusters have already been developed, as well as one “C” cluster. An “A” cluster consists of three or four Baha’i communities that have become self-sustaining, have active Local Spiritual Assemblies, and have coordinators to guide the major activities of the Faith in the cluster. “A” Clusters carry on active programs that to build a spiritual identity in their communities with devotional programs, children’s classes, and junior youth groups that include both Baha’is and individuals of other spiritual orientations. These clusters periodically organize Intensive Programs of Growth inviting the general public to learn about the Baha’i Faith and join in the community-building activities.

In carrying on her work with such discipline and commitment, Bonnie follows in the footsteps of a growing number of Baha’i pioneers who have made it possible for the Baha’i Faith to become the second most widespread world religion only 150 years after its inception.

In the Solomon Islands, the Baha’i Faith first made its appearance on March 1, 1954. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1957 and the first National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1971. Today there are 28 Local Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Solomon Islands.

When asked how long she plans to pioneer in the Solomon Islands, Bonnie replied with a smile, ““I will stay as long as I can put one foot ahead of the other.”