News of the Cause

--Issue No. 4 April 1925:

Writing under the instruction of Shoghi Effendi, our dear brother Mirza Azizullah informs us that Shoghi Effendi is highly pleased with the quick and generous response of the dear friends to his call for cooperation in behalf of the unfortunate Nayriz friends, for this constitutes a great example of the unification of the East and the West which is becoming realized through the influence of the Cause of God.

“We hope that through the sympathy and cooperation of all the dear Baha’i friends, those poor brothers and sisters will be soon re-established. I am sure that this reconstruction work will produce great results for the glory of the Cause among the Persians. This will open the eyes of the negligent natives to the creative power, humanitarian virtue and essential value of the principles of the Cause. This will achieve what the efforts of hundreds of teachers might fail to render the Cause.

“Our beloved Guardian is in good health and greatly encouraged by the vigorous efforts the friends are exerting to raise the banner of the Abha Kingdom.

“We have now the pleasure of having our dear sisters, Mrs. True, Miss Edna True and Mrs. Stannard with us. We are expecting five new Australian and New Zealand friends who are en route to the Holy Land.”

The total amount forwarded from America for the Nayriz sufferers through the N.S.A. up to April first, is nearly $3900.

The Baha’i Magazine “Dawn” published in Burma, is issuing an intensely interesting series of articles on Kurrat’l Ain, which give us many details of that extraordinary life not hitherto sufficiently well-known to Western believers.

The February issue of the German Baha’i Magazine, Sonne der Wahrheit, contains an English supplement devoted to the Baha’i Congress held at Stuttgart in September last. This supplement reprints the lectures delivered during the Congress and also contains a summary of all the convention sessions. If we had sufficient space we would reprint the reports devoted to an explanation of the progress of the Cause in Germany, but we feel sure that many of the friends in this country are already subscribing to Sonne der Wahrheit.

While we all have cause enough to lament the lack of effective Baha’i teaching in this country, nevertheless we also have abundant reason to rejoice in the devoted and successful activities being carried on. The work of our dear brothers, Louis Gregory and Howard MacNutt stands out with special vividness, in addition to that of Jinabi Fadil, as described in the March News Letter.

All too few are the extracts of letters for which we have adequate space. During August, Louis Gregory spent some time at Paradise Gardens, in northern Michigan, a summer community of colored people from several Western cities. Nine large meetings were addressed and found a most responsive and interested audience. The two churches are both non-denominational and the ministers contributed greatly to the success of these meetings.

Returning East, brother Louis spent nine days in Columbus, Ohio, holding two or three meetings daily, both with the Baha’i friends and other groups. Two Theosophical Lodges, a Spiritualist church, a Methodist church and parsonage, a universal brotherhood society and a business men’s club were all opened for talks. Interest in the Cause was greatly increased in Columbus as the result of this visit.

At Philadelphia Louis Gregory devoted several weeks to cooperating with the Philadelphia Spiritual Assembly in preparation for the Amity Convention which proved so successful.

From Philadelphia this ever-active teacher traveled into several southern states, the region where the Message has already found many devoted individual responses but where so few organized Assemblies yet exist. In Samarcand, North Carolina, an estate near Pinehurst, a Sunday School was given the Message, already brought there by Mrs. Smythe of the Boston Assembly.

Several other meetings were held in nearby districts, one at a theatre at which the manager postponed the performance for nearly an hour in order that the Baha’i address might be given to his audience.

At Raleigh, N.C., Louis Gregory spoke at the Episcopal Church, and also at St. Augustine Episcopal School to nearly five hundred of the faculty and students. Another audience of the same kind was addressed at Shaw University. A Baptist Church and a prison camp concluded the work in Raleigh.

In the latter part of December two days spent in Petersbury, Va., resulted in two talks in the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute which has a large faculty and about eight hundred students. A number of Baha’i talks have been delivered there in past years, among these one by Martha Root. Their library has several of the books. In Portsmouth, Va., two Baha’i talks were delivered at the High School.

Wilmington, N.C., during January afforded many opportunities for service. In this city there lives a truly remarkable believer, a young woman who for seven years has been devoted to the Cause under most difficult circumstances. At present her long trials and sacrifices are bearing fruit and Louis Gregory feels that in this city an Assembly will soon be organized. In Wilmington meetings were held daily in churches, with the Ministers’ Union, in the public schools, and in many private homes. An influential Catholic invited Louis to address a gathering of Catholic young people in Wilmington and the response was so enthusiastic that he was invited to return.

At Sumter, S.C., our brother spent twelve extremely busy days, conducting meetings in Morris College, Baptist, with about five hundred students; A.M.E. Church, First Baptist Church, Second Baptist Church, a Presbyterian School, Lincoln Public School with 1,400 pupils, and the First Baptist Sunday School. There are enough deeply interested to form a small reading circle in Sumter.

Eight days were then spent in Charleston. Very busy days, with five meetings in churches, six in schools, and two with small interested groups. Louis Gregory made his first teaching trip to Charleston fifteen years ago.

A few wonderful days followed at Tuskegee Institute where many of the Baha’i principles are being effectively applied. In early March our dear brother had an opportunity to address the student body and many members of the faculty at their prayer service. The following evening an address of an hour was given to the faculty and students of the Bible Training School, followed by another hour spent in answering questions. The students of the senior class and the Y.M.C.A. group were also given the Message. Among those attracted were Mrs. Booker T. Washington and Professor George W. Carver, the famous scientist.

On a visit of one day at Montgomery, Alabama, the students and faculty of the Colored State Normal School, numbering six hundred were addressed.

Our brother is now working at Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., and details will be given in a future number of the News Letter.