wfn.org | Baha'i news: Zambia gathering is first in series of 41 conferences

[Sally Weeks <sweeks@bwc.org>]

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Zambia gathering is first in series of 41 conferences

LUSAKA, Zambia, 4 November (BWNS) - Some 750 Baha'is from Zambia, Malawi, a nd Zimbabwe gathered in Lusaka last weekend for the first of 41 regional Ba ha'i conferences scheduled over the next four months in cities around the g lobe.

The unprecedented series of gatherings comes at the midway point of a five- year effort by Baha'is to decentralize many of their activities and organiz e study circles, devotional meetings, and classes for children and young pe ople at the neighborhood level.

"I feel that the conference was exactly what we needed to inspire, encourag e and boost our spirit...," said Musonda Kapusa of Lusaka.

Participants came from all nine provinces of Zambia and from neighboring Ma lawi and Zimbabwe. Five traditional African chiefs, all Baha'is and support ers of the Baha'i work in their areas, were among those who attended.

The 41 conferences - in cities from Abidjan to Yaounde, reaching geographic ally from Vancouver to Sao Paulo to London to Johannesburg to Ulaanbaatar t o Auckland - are being held in response to a call by the Universal House of  Justice, the elected body that heads the Baha'i Faith.

In a letter to the Baha'is of the world announcing the conferences, the Hou se of Justice indicated that the purpose of the gatherings was to celebrate  achievements in grassroots community-building, and to discuss the lessons  learned and deliberate on how to involve more people in a particular approa ch to improving the societies they live in - an approach that combines spir itual development with community service.

Efforts by Baha'is at the neighborhood level should continue, "no matter ho w severe the crises engulfing the world around them," the House of Justice  said in its letter.

"Financial structures once thought to be impregnable have tottered and worl d leaders have shown their inability to devise more than temporary solution s, a failing to which they increasingly confess," the letter said. "Whateve r expedient measures are adopted, confidence has been shaken and a sense of  security lost."

The long-held Baha'i belief that material and spiritual civilization must a dvance together, undoubtedly has been reinforced by the world situation, th e letter said.

People at the conference in Lusaka - 550 from Zambia, 80 from Zimbabwe, and  120 from Malawi - heard a special message addressed to them from the Unive rsal House of Justice and also consulted on the earlier letter, dated 20 Oc tober and already translated into some of the languages of the attendees -  Tonga, Lunda, Bemba, Chewa, and Shona.

The focus of the gathering then shifted to planning for upcoming activities , as "men, women and even the children pondered and made heartfelt pledges  to serve their neighbors and friends, and work together to improve their co mmunities purely for the love of God," said a news release from the Baha'is  of Zambia.

"Everyone is worried about what to do because the world is changing for the  worse, but the answer is in the teachings of God if only we can apply them  to our daily lives," one participant said.

Among those attending the Lusaka conference were four Counsellors, individu als with special responsibilities in the Baha'i community: Two from souther n Africa, Maina Mkandawire of Malawi and Garth Pollock of Zambia, and two w ho attended as representatives of the Universal House of Justice, Uransaikh an Baatar of Mongolia and Stephen Birkland of the United States, both of wh om currently serve at the Baha'i World Center.

Nearly a dozen choirs from Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe were on hand to pro vide music and add to the spirit of the gathering.

"It was such a big and wonderful gathering," said Heighten Ngangula of Zam bia. "I never attended (anything like this) since I became a Baha'i."

For more information and photographs, go to http://news.bahai.org/story/665