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description: 1952, Cardell One Persons Search  
author: Ted Cardell  
title: 1952, Cardell One Persons Search 
notes:
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# 1952, Cardell One Persons Search  
## Ted Cardell  
### 1952, Cardell One Persons Search  

------




## ONE PERSON’S SEARCH FOR A BETTER WORLD.

### Ted Cardell

### 1952

At the age of 74 it seems appropriate to look back on all those
years and try to find how it came about that one who was born on
a farm in England, has lived in four countries and visited over
50 others, is now married and is living in a small town in the
far west of America. We have four children, all happily married
to non � English partners. So far there are 3 grandchildren.   

When I was young, the British Empire was at its height and thanks
to many intrepid Englishmen in past centuries,~ possessed
colonies all over the world. Yet life had changed so much, that
few Englishmen had ever been outside the shores of England
and we rarely saw the face of a foreigner let alone a black
one. The Empire was resting on its laurels, but unknown to
anyone then, the Empire had come to an end and the whole planet
was on the brink of the biggest and most terrible war ever known.   

My brother, sister and I had a very happy, though protected
childhood. We grew up on a mixed farm in the middle of England,
~4 t the ages of 24 & 23 Philip and 1, in our summer evenings
started to learn flying r F~e ~r~ at a nearby airdrome. Quite
suddenly, it seemed, world war two was upon us. We were both
very excited at the prospect of flying Spitfires in defense of
our country. Philip, who had put in more time flying than 1, was
drawn into a rushed program to train spitfire pilots, while I was
left driving a tractor on the farm: a most unjust situation I
thought, because he was born to farm while I had a great interest
in flying. I pondered deeply on this and found no answer.   

Soon Philip was flying in the �Battle of Britain� defending our
shores against the hordes of German bombers. When on leave, he
would tell us some of his adventures. Unknown to the Germans, we
had invented radar and this told us when the enemy was taking off
on a raid. Our Spitfires had ~ le time to take off and lay in
wait high above in large numbers. They would then dive on the
bombers out of the sun and destroy ny. As a safety measure, they
would keep on diving until well out ~he way. In other
engagements many planes were lost on both sides, but the 
{{p2}}
invasion of England by Germany was stopped for good. However,
Philip was lost in the battle. With his plane damaged, he bailed
out, but fell into the sea before his parachute had time to open. 
This was a great shock to all of us. 
Now I was the sole remaining male to carry on the family name. 
We did not know of any other males in the Cardell families,
though years later we did discover other branches in Cornwall,
where my father�s family came from.   

We had all been raised as Methodists and went to chapel every
Sunday. The Bible had become a great treasure to me, but I could
not relate it to modern life except in matters of personal
behavior. What, I wondered, is the future of the world?  How
does nature come into God�s overall plan? Was it just
window � dressing for us to enjoy?  In philosophising about it  � 
Philip had given his life that all kinds of freedom would remain,
a most worthy cause, but this had happened unnumbered times
throughout history. I asked myself, �Would there always be wars
on earth?� Years later a large stained � glass window was put into
Westminster Abbey, London, to commemorate the �Battle of Britain�
heroes; all their names were listed, including Philip. Later a
school in Rhodesia was named after him. A book �The Last Enemy�
by Richard Hilary, also a spitfire pilot and who later perished,
told memories of Philip and others. My parents were deeply
appreciative, but it could not bring back their son, and all the
other sons who had been sacrificed to the perfidy of mankind
through the ages.   

The war went on fiercer than ever. There was no shortage of
young men volunteering to fly Spitfires, but farming was upgraded
in importance, for submarines were sinking food ships from
America at the rate of 10 to 20 a week. So I was put on the RAF
reserve indefinitely and told to produce food, because its was as
vital a necessity as fighting. This reasoning did not satisfy
me. After a year I applied for active duty, but was refused.   

Back on the farm we were busy digging 80 acres of potatoes and it
was my job to supervise 40 German prisoners picking up after the
digger.{{p3}}  

When we recaptured North Africa there were 40 Italian prisoners
in addition to supervise. This might seem a difficult job, but
not so, even though the German and the Italians had to be kept
separate for fear of friction between them. The Germans were
angry at the Italians for loosing their battles so easily and the
Italians resented the Germans. But neither was keen to go back
into the shooting war and most of them showed a strong preference
for potato picking!  For this reason, few guards were needed. 
Two English soldiers guarded each batch, but they had no bullets
for the rifles on their shoulders. Prisoners who volunteered to
work on farms were paid very little, so I asked them what I could
do to make it worth their while to put in a good days work. They
suggested a pack of cigarettes and half a loaf of bread each per
day. I went off to town to get these. My father, who had put me
in charge, came and found no one supervising, but all the
prisoners working well. He was very surprised until I returned
with a car load of bread and cigarettes and explained. Such
incidents encouraged him to put more trust in my sometimes crazy
ideas.   

The work proceeded well but one day a German bomber appeared low
over the farm, with three Spitfires in hot pursuit. The unequal
battle ended quickly with the German crew bailing out as their
plane dived into the ground. It must have been a humiliating
experience for the prisoners, but I carefully refrained from
discussing it with them. Later we heard that one wounded German
airman was given a blood � transfusion while he was unconscious;
when he woke up and found that he had been given Jewish blood, he
tried to commit suicide. We were amazed at such prejudice. 
Inspite of all this, we became quite friendly with all the
prisoners. After the war, six of the Italians stayed with us and
worked on the farm for years. They all lived together in a farm
cottage, did their own cooking and became happily integrated with
the villagers. Some even married local girls.   

Another incident was more humorous. On a day of deep English fog
the Germans thought it a good idea to raid the power station near
us. They actually navigated quite well and came out of the fog
just near their target but too suddenly to drop the bomb. Our
army gunners who had been camped on the roof of the generator
house for many days, for just such an event, had felt that a
foggy day was a good time{{p4}}
to clean their gun and had it dismantled. Not a shot was fired
by either side. The plane never reappeared and everyone had a
quiet day and a long chuckle. A more sinister aspect of the war
was to wake up in the middle of the night as a German flying bomb
passed overhead. If the engine stopped, we knew it was for us. 
These machines were pilotless and timed to run out of fuel over
some town and thus were not accurate, but ~hey held) quite a
psychological impact. They travelled faster than the spitfires,
so they were hard to shoot down, even in day time. However our
pilots soon learned to wait for them high above the English
channel. This gave them a chance to gain speed by diving. Thus
they could catch up and destroy them. But it was very dangerous
if they exploded, so the pilots learned to fly alongside the bomb
and give its wing a lift with their own wing tip. Since it had
no aileron control, it could not compensate for such an move and
would spiral into the sea.   

Later on the V2 rockets pounded London with impunity. At a
descent speed of over 4,000 m.p.h. they exceeded the speed of
sound, so the victims never knew what hit them. Again a high
psychological impact on everyone. London was only 50 miles away
from the farm so we could often see the searchlights weaving the
sky looking for raiders. Tiny fireflies of light all over the
sky were anti � aircraft shells bursting.   

Soon our factories were producing many heavy bombers and the
tables were turned. Eventually we were able to send fleets of
over 1,000 bombers out in one night to attack the German cities. 
Many new airdromes were built, one next to our farm. Most
evenings lots of these heavy bombers took off low over our
village. The ever � present danger of engine failure on take off
with a load of bombs was accepted by the villagers as the price
to pay for freedom. One night a fully loaded bomber faltered on
take off and skidded to a halt in the middle of our bean field. 
It did not explode, but onlookers said that the crew beat all
records getting out and running for cover. Another evening a
bomber hit a row of trees on take of f and crashed in pieces
between the houses. All the crew were killed and floods of
burning fuel swept into the chicken houses, but the bombs did not
explode, so the village was spared. {{p5}}  

A happier side of the war was that the crew members of both the
British night � bombers and of the American day � bombers began to
accept our open invitation to use the farm house and garden as a
place to relax and play tennis. Our family always had
strawberries and clotted cream in the summer and my Mother
produced an endless supply of these to all the visitors. This
was a totally new experience for the Americans 
and one which delighted them. It also required a lot of sugar
which a special American friend was rationed due to the war. ~ne
day lE~en~brought us a 10 pound bag of sugar taken from the
American mess when the cook was not looking. My mother ordered
him to take it back, but he maintained it was only justice in
view of all the sugar she had given the visitors on their
strawberries. When Ben added that he might get caught taking it
back, mother gave in. Ben was a special friend; though only a
corporal, he mixed naturally with the officers in our garden. 
One day he turned up with two big black eyes and a rueful grin. 
He had been out to a dance the night before and was cycling back
as fast as he could to beat the closing of the camp gates. The
rain, the dark and a few drinks all added up to him running
broadside into a cow. He was knocked unconscious and woke up in
hospital. He lost his stripes for being late back in camp. Ten
years after the war Ben revisited us and brought his son with
him. It was a most poignant event.   

An intriguing experience for us was to hear how, outside the
military environment on our farm, all American ranks treated each
other as equals; a custom very different from the English who
kept their ranks at all times. We soon came to enjoy it and one
day Ben was playing tennis opposite a Colonel and gave him a
sizzling drive he could not reach. Ben delightedly shouted: �Get
on your bicycle Colonel!�   

Often in the early mornings we would see 50 or more flying
fortresses circling in the sky as they gathered into a tight
formation before setting out on for Germany. The tight formation
gave them a big advantage over the attaCking German fighters who
had to face the combined firepower of many planes when they
attacked. Looking back now, I can of the circling armada of
plane still see in my mind the rising sun lighting up the
contrails~while the earth below was still in shadow. But it was
also a chilling reminder that we were at war and some of them
would never come back.{{p6}}  

With both our own RAF and the American crews, from time to time,
well loved faces would be absent from our garden gatherings when
they had crashed or been taken prisoners. Their companions would
bring us the news and we would grieve deeply with them. My own
sister, Margaret was much in love with a bomber pilot, Ty Nelson,
who often visited us. One day he never came back. We were dimly
aware that there must be families in Germany who were also
grieving much over the loss of loved ones. On one occasion a
night bomber was forced to return to base because a flare it was
to drop and illuminate the target, had got stuck in the
mechanism. As the plane came in to land at its home base~ ~he
flare, which was set to go off at a low altitude, ignited and the
plane crashed.   

At about this time I joined a hockey team with both male and
female members. We toured the area and often played mixed teams
at airdromes. One day we were playing on the pitch at the end of
a runway as a damaged bomber came in to land with only one wheel. 
We held our breath, spellbound as the plane touched down, lurched
over to one side and skidded a long way before coming to a halt. 
It did not catch fire, and no one was hurt.   

On another occasion one of our night � bombers was damaged over
Germany but managed to limp to neutral territory in north Africa. 
They repaired it and flew home a week later. They arrived back
at our drome just as a high ranking officer was cracking down
hard on all crews because they often celebrated their return by
flying low over the buildings  �  there had been some bad
accidents. In the middle of the lecture the whole building shook
with a giant vibration as our heroes swooped low over the
building. The irate officer suspended the whole crew. The pilot
was later transferred to towing air targets for other planes to
shoot at.   

About this time the Government created the �Home Guard;� an
unpaid army composed of civilians. We were issued with uniforms
and light arms and learned how to harass a German invasion with
road � blocks and tank traps. Hitler had boasted that he would
invade England and make it into a satellite state. I well
remember Churchill announcing fiercely over the TV, �We will
fight on the beaches, we will fight in the streets and in the
towns house by house. We will never give in.� {{p7}}  

As good as his word, he gave the civilians the means to add their
bit to a bitter last stand in defense of their country. We used
to train on Sunday mornings and I had to make a conscious choice
between going to Methodist church and attending Home guard
practice. I chose the latter because I felt it was time for
action.   

Soon I was commanding officer in charge of 25 men too old, too
decrepit or too young to serve in the army. Looking back it is
clear that we would have had little chance of stopping an invader
equipped with far greater fire � power, but we might just have been
able to delay them a little till our own army arrived. It was a
tremendous moral builder and we had lots of fun too. One night I
sent two patrols out on the same circuit, but unknown to each
other, in opposite directions so they would meet in the dark. 
Fortunately, all ammunition was locked away, but they certainly
learned how to act in unforseen circumstances. Later that
evening they retaliated by hiding my motorbike.   

Another day the Home Guard of our neighbouring village were
having practice grenade throwing from a trench. The first man
was told by the instructor, how to pull the pin, throw and duck. 
He pulled the pin out and reached back, only to knock his hand on
the box of live grenades.  � lis now live one with seven seconds
to go, fell into the, ox. �What am I going to do now?� he asked
the instructor. �Get the hell out of here!� Shouted the
instructor. They both dived out of the trench as the whole box
of grenades exploded.   

Civilians were not allowed on the airdromes, nor in the planes,
but now I had a uniform and it was easy for my RAF friends to
take me on unorthorised trips in their planes. I was smuggled
aboard a Halifax bomber and we took off on a practice bombing
trip. They dropped all their smoke bombs but one, which they
left for me. I was told how to direct 
then the pilot while aiming through the bomb � sight, and press the
button. I thought I had done everything just right but no one
ever saw where my bomb landed. On another occasion I flew in the
latest mosquito bomber. It was so fast on the turns that I lost
my breakfast and had to pay the ~round crew to clean up the plane
afterwards!{{p8a}}.  

Ted�s biography (insert in middle of page 8.)   

World War II must have caused millions of people to think more
deeply about the meaning of life on earth and why all this chaos
mingled with much joy. What could be the nature of some eternal
plan into which all this apparent contradiction would fit?  In
the relative quiet years after the war, life was pleasant on the
farm and Father gave me a lot of freedom to choose what work to
do each day during the winter time I had plenty of free time to
go for long walks and meditate about the mysteries of life. All
the new people I had met because of the war had opened up a lot
of new avenues to explore. I tried to examine my own mind and to
identify and control my own thoughts. I remember vividly how,
one day, as I was wading through the snow on the farm road and
meditating on these matters, that I suddenly realised that my own
thoughts govern what I do and think. �I am what I think!� I
could choose what to think about, and look for new meanings and
values.   

Soon, however, I found that this very freedom was heavily
influenced by conditioning inherited from traditions and
experiences from the past. Every new thought had to be expressed
by words with old connections and ideas. And with them came
all the familiar emotions which seemed to determine~ my actions. 
There had to be more to it than this. In the days that followed
I gradually learned to watch my thinking and tried to break out
of the inherited pattern. Soon I discovered that when I became
detached and relaxed, new creative ideas would surface, ideas
which were not dictated by the past. This often led to a whole
different view of any problem and gave me the power to try
something quite new. This was particularly so in relation to
religion, for this seemed to wield enormous influence on mankind
and also to open constant new vistas. I used to study the Bible
at times and one day, struck by the glorious vision it gave me, I
said to myself  � �This book is surely the most important thing in
existence!  For the rest of my life I will read a verse from it
every morning for it will surely make a big change in me.
{{p8}}  

During the summer, large groups of city workers came to help on
the farm. These people, for the most part, had never worked on a
farm and for them it was a novel change from office work. 
Conversation with them also brought a new dimension to my own
life. One introduced me to reading about spiritualism and other
ideas. Over the following two years I delved into many cults and
religions and collected a library of over 200 books on those
subjects. This broadened my outlook far beyond the current
Christian beliefs and no doubt drew me closer to a more universal
view of life.   

In 1945 the war finally ended and everyone tried to get back to a
normal sane life again. The Home Guard was disbanded and told to
hand in all its equipment. Before complying, I determined to use
a few grenades for a useful purpose. I took them down to the
river, pulled the pins and threw them in. Masses of stunned fish
rose to the surface for me to collect. I left the little ones;
they recovered and swam away. A good day�s fishing I thought to
myself. I wonder if there is a way to commercialise on the idea?   

I continued farming under my father for a few more happy years. 
My parents were deeply thankful that the war had not taken both
their sons, as had happened in some cases. One family had lost
all four sons. The response of the parents was to donate �20,000
for a new bomber to the RAF. They asked only that it be named
after their family with the words: � Roberts Reply.� ~yes~ ~   

Now the process of my spiritual awakening brought about a big
change. Though bored with farming, I was happy at home, but all
the big world was out there becoming to me. At the age of 29,
just before harvest, I came to my parents, thanked them for all
they had done for me ~and announced that I was sailing for Canada
next week. They were amazed and my father said: �But you need to
learn farming so that you can take over when I go!� I said: �Yes,
I know you are right, but I have to go.� I told them I did not
want to become a farmer and gave them my permission to sell the
farm when they wished. What would have been my thoughts if I had
been told that 25 years later I would come back with a wonderful
wife, take over the farm and raise our four children there?  My
surprise would have been even greater if I were to know that I
would soon find{{p9}}
the answer to my quest for the meaning of life and also become a
professional photographer.   

I sold my motor � bike for �45, ($200 then) just enough to buy my
ticket to Canada on the Queen Mary. Landing in Canada,
everything about me was totally strange and exciting  �  the roll
and squeak of the much larger than English trains; the money, the
customs, the language and even the birds. I stayed a while in
Toronto, the capital, where I applied to the employment
department for work of any kind. I was given a cheap ticket to
Winnipeg to work on a remote farm in the far north. The owner
had only one tractor, but would not let me drive it for fear I
might break something. My assurance that my father had 15
tractors & I drove them all had not effect, but I enjoyed the
other work.   

The first Sunday he invited me to go to his Pentecostal church. 
Sitting in the front row, I was the main target of the fiery
preacher who, every now and then would pause and looking sternly
at me saying: �All those who want to be save, stand up!� This did
not move me in the least. Later I asked why such a small village
needed two churches and was told people wanted freedom to follow
religion their own way. This reminded me of a story I had heard
where a stranger came into a small village and found three
churches at one cross � roads. On asking why, he was told that
there used to be one, and it was called; �The Church of God.�
But they got to arguing about the Bible meanings and so, to be
civilised, and to stop the argument, one group built the second
church. They called it: �The Only Church of God.� Some time
later there was more argument and by the same process a third
church was built. It was named: �The One and Only Church of
God.�!    

harvest finished and winter approached, I was told that we
could expect up to 40 degrees below freezing. I returned to
Winnipeg and found a job in a wholesale warehouse. When the snow
came it was 12 inches 
thick and did not melt, like in England. It stayed thick and
pure white t at all winter. I had to wear ear muffs and watch,~
my nose did not get frostbitten :In the warehouse, I helped
unload big trucks of food. One day, since there were no trucks,
I sat down. The foreman said: �Don�t let the owner see you doing
that.� I replied: �But there are no trucks!�. �Never mind, do
something.� I took a brush and swept the entire{{p10}}
warehouse. The foreman was amazed.   

At lunch time one day, I was browsing in a bookshop across the
snowpacked street. I asked the clerk if she knew of any
interesting religious groups in town. She said: �Well I used to
live in an apartment where there were Bahá�is; I don� t know
anything about them except that they believe all religions are
one.� She gave me a phone number and because it caught my
imagination I rang up. The person who answered was Ross Woodman. 
�What is Bahá�i?� I asked. He suggested we meet for lunch next
day. There he briefly described a picture I had never thought to
hear. A new Prophet had appeared in Írán and He had declared all
religions to be really one! I said to Ross: �Well then, you
think that Muḥammad was the return of Christ?� �Yes� he said:
�but we must think rather of the return of the Holy Spirit, which
speaks through each Prophet.� I wanted to know much more, but
there was no time. I told him I was looking for a better lodging
and he said that there was an empty room in his apartment
building.   

That whole winter I lived in a room on the same floor as Ross and
we had many discussions. My life then was also mixed with the
strenuous one of learning to ski. Every Sunday I joined a
train � loaded with 300 skiers and spent the day in the hills 100
miles away. The train ~ ould back into a siding and provide a
warm resting place when needed and also a hot lunch. I started
to learn on the simple slopes, but later found that on a steep
slope my body would react automatically in the correct way; this
would save me wasting a lot of time learning by the slow method. 
This was dangerous, of course, and it did not escape my notice
that each Sunday about 6 people with broken or sprained limbs
were brought back to the train on sledges. However, this was an
exciting experience I did not intend!to miss. Either the zest of
youth or some guardian angel must have protected me. I well
remember, one Sunday I decided to ski a slope labelled: �For
experts only.� I joined the waiting line and as I came to the
head of the queue, found myself looking down what seemed to be
nearly a straight drop of 300 ft. What was worse, as I pushed
off, o~e foot caught in the snow. By a super � human effort I
forced it back onto the track just as the world began to rush
past me at an incredible speed. The guardian angel must have
been right alongside as I dropped almost like a stone. As I (we)
reached the bottom,{{p11}}
the sudden change from the near vertical descent to a horizontal
direction collapsed both my lens and I shot out of the ski run. 
an undignified heap travelling at high 5~ 1 much to the
astonishment of a crowd of onlookers who had come there to see
perfect skill. It_ was clear to me that for the present, I had
identified my level of skiing ~b ~ y while. 
and did not need to do that run again for quite a   

Each Sunday evening, after returning from skiing, I would attend
a discussion in Ross�s room where a lot of young people regularly
gathered to hear him talk each week about a different world
religion. Ross was the youngest professor in the university and
had a captivating way of teaching the English classes there. 
Many of his students came eagerly to his firesides. For most of
them it must have been the first time they had seen a real
connecting thread between all the religions of the world. When
the course finished, he invited outside speakers from different
religious movements to tell us about their beliefs. \lone of
them seemed to make much impression on the students; and when the
Jehovah Witness spoke, the students found him prejudiced and
illogical.   

I bought some Bahá�i books and began to study them seriously. I
found a subtle beauty in the language in these; it attracted me
greatly, even though there was much I could not understand.   

About this time I was introduced to another Bahá�i, Henry
Provisor; many years ago he had whole � heartedly accepted the
Bahá�i Prophet, Bahá�u�llah as the reappearance of the Holy
Spirit. This meant That he a Jew, had also accepted Christ I
was impressed. Henry was a professional photographer and was
about to start giving a 13 week, one night a week, course for
beginners. My friend, Ken Mac Laren and I eagerly enlisted. 
Henry did not confine himself to the technical side but
emphasised creativity. He would say to us such things as: �Don�t
copy others, look around you at the world; if you see something
interesting, you are a normal human being, take it!� Sometimes he
would take us all out in the snow at night, carrying tripods, so
that we could learn time � exposures and also see the beauty of the
lights on the snow. Many days I used to trudge alone through the
snow along the river bank and into the woods, carrying a large
{{p12}}
camera I had bought. I submitted some snow pictures to the local
newspaper in Winnipeg. To my amazement, they bought them all and
started putting one on the editorial page each day. Henry ~ � as
very pleased but surprised. He said they usually never bought
more than one picture from each photographer. Maybe everyone
else had given up taking snow pictures!  I felt most of the
credit for this success was due to Henry�s insistence that we all
continually look around us for new and interesting things; I was
learning a spiritual principle, as well as a photographic one.   

One day Ross brought me an invitation from the local Bahá�is to
attend their Feast. One of their special meetings. I was to
find it very intriguing. I h~li mus~ nav~ ~orl~lcier~d me
aimos[ a Bahá�i, but I did not think of myself in that way. I
even said to Ross one day: �How did the Bahá�is get all this
spiritual knowledge without going into spiritualism?� To which he
replied: �How did you get it without being a Bahá�i?�   

My regular reading of Bahá�i Scripture continued. ( Unknown to
me then, it was to continue for the rest of my life.) I felt it
was leading me into a whole new way of life, and though often
obscure, I could not put it aside. One day I was sitting alone
in a cafe, drinking coffee and running over the idea that all the
Prophets of God represent a continuing theme of spiritual
unfoldment for mankind. It was very logical to me that God would
send a series of Prophets through the ages, but that alone did
not seem enough to show me that Bahá�u�llah is the Voice of God
for this age. I went through all I knew once more and again
found myself unable to ~o further.   

For some years I had felt the world was in a state of great
change, such as was prophesied in the Bible, and hence it would
be logical for Christ to return; �but what form would that take?�
I asked myself. I went through my logic once again and suddenly
felt that I had to use some other part of myself as well as my
mind. Then I knew it was true!  A ~ happiness filled me as I
walked back to the apartment. As I knocked at Ross�s door and
went in, some rebellious imp made me say: �Ross, at about 3.30
this afternoon, were you praying I would become a Bahá�i?� �Oh,
no Ted.� he replied. �All right then� I responded. �I�m in!�
{{p13}}  

Quite suddenly it seemed, life had taken on a definite meaning. 
No longer was God a vague, beneficent concept, but a reality Who
takes a continuing interest in every little thing and person. I
felt impelled to try and get a greater awareness of this
discovery. Unconsciously I began taking the steps He Himself has
laid down  �  reading the Writings and using His prayers daily. It
was not surprising that I found each day a new thing. As
Bahá�u�llah puts it: �Let each morn be better than its eve and
each morrow richer than its Yesterday.�   

I knew I had found astonishing truth, but like the boy who starts
reeling in his catch and finds a giant fish on the line, I could
not know then that I was following a path which offered to
mankind the power to change the world. Just one of these
bounties was going to be the end of war forever. Now, forty
years later, I am also beginning to understand the mysterious
hand which saved me from dying in a fruitless war, and decreed
instead that I live to help bring this great vision for mankind
into reality.   

Soon, two more Bahá�is came to live in the apartment building. 
We were to become close friends. Gerda Christophersen and her
Native American Indian husband, Noel were both accomplished
artists and they helped me understand more about the artistic
side of photography. We spent many happy hours discussing the
Faith and life in general. Some evenings oel would teach me how
to dance to the Indian drums.   

When spring arrived we decided to cycle together to the distant
west coast and then go south through California. We each bought
bicycles with luggage carries fore and aft, loaded our camping
equipment and took a train over the long featureless prairie to
Calgary. There we started our ride to the town of Banff, in the
Canadian mountains. We stopped to rest at a cafe housed in small
wooden shack. As I leaned my bike against the thin wall, it
sagged inwards perceptibly. I knew then that I had too much
luggage. The others found the same, and when we arrived at Banff
we all decided to camp there and rest up. In fact we got so
involved in painting and photography that we stayed there all
summer.{{p14}}  

In those days, Banff was a small, relaxed little town, surrounded
by the Rocky mountains. Its financial potential had not yet been
discovered by the business world and the masses of tourists who
would follow. It is situated in a district of great beauty. 
Every day, until my money ran out, I would climb another mountain
and try to photograph nature at its best, while Gerda and Noel
were trying to put the scenes on canvas. In the evenings we
would meet at the camp, cook our flapjacks and sausages and
discuss the day over supper. The beauties of nature seemed to
symbolise the inspiration I was now receiving from the Writings
of Bahá�u�llah which I was still studying daily in the quiet of
those enormous peaks all around me.   

On one occasion I went climbing with two friends in the camp, who
were also nature lovers. When people have a common purpose it
inspires them to even greater heights. They carried the tent and
cooking utensils so we could stay out several days and I carried
my big camera and my own sleeping bag. We spent the first night
at Lake Louise camp ground. After erecting the tent, one of my
friends decided, to go back by train to Banff and bring more
equipment. It was not far, and he expected to get back to us
late at night, so we cooked our meal and lay down to sleep.   

We had been warned about grizzly bears ransacking camps for bacon
or chocolate. I had a bar, so ate it, dropped the wrapping by my
An hour later sleeping bag and fell asleep. , I was suddenly
brought to full awakening by the entire side of the tent suddenly
being split from top to bottom just where I had dropped the
chocolate wrapping. It was pitch dark, but I did not need my
eyes to tell me that it was a bear. I shouted at the top of my
voice, putting as much anger into it as I could. The bear must
have been even more surprised and run off, so we never saw him. 
There was no alternative but to stitch up the tent and go to back
to sleep.   

An hour later, a noise more sinister awoke me. Something was
actually coming in through the tent doorway. It must be the bear
again, this time becoming more bold. We would have to fight
it � off. I aimed a terrific punch at about where I thought the
bear�s nose should be and received a real howl of human pain. 
Our companion had just {{p15}}
come in by the late train and had run into the full force of our
counter attack!  We finally placated him and all settled down to
sleep.   

The next day we climbed a high mountain then scrambled across a
perilous hogs � back ridge to the next peak. There was no solid
foothold for 40 yards, for it was loose shale all the way, so I
knew I must not hesitate or I would slide down a thousand feet,
so I quickly followed the others across. That evening we came
down into the valley, pitched the tent and made a log fire to
cook our supper, some �fool hens�, a name given to these
partridge � like birds which had earned that name because of their
habit of standing stock still when in danger. We had knocked
over a few of them with stones.   

We now returned to anff much refreshed by our contact with the
wilds. Since I wanted to set up my own photo business soon I
needed more experience, so I found a job at a local photo shop in
to~ n cl~d worked there happily for some months. a~ 
~e ~ hc u ~   

By the end of summer, we all decided to give up our plan to cycle
to California. Noel and Gerda put their bikes on the train and
went back to Calgary. I took the train west, to Vancouver where
I spent two weeks exploring the idea of logging, a well paid j3b,
but finally took the train back east to Toronto. I needed a
steady job in my chosen profession and there I thought, was the
best place to find it. I was not mistaken, for soon I was
working at a large portrait studio, mixing chemical ,, sweeping
the floor, drying prints and learning the whole business from the
bottom up. It was a very happy time, m~de all the more so
because the Bahá�i center was only a block away, enabling me to
make a lot of new friends.   

At one of the first 19 Day Feasts, the chairman � l announced: �The
Assembly feels we need to give new believers the chance to learn
public speaking, so tonight we are going to have a five minute
talk by Ted Cardell�. I had never given a talk of any kind
before and to gain some help I reached for a copy of the Hidden
Words and read at random: �Ye shall be hindered from loving Me
and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For
minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.� (H ~.66) I raised
my eyes to the ceiling and said to the heavenly concourse: �Gee,
that was all I needed!�. {{p16}}  

But maybe t~ne helplessness which that engendered was just right
for that moment for, inspite of my stumblings, the talk was well
received.   

Perhaps the most important event for me in those days was the
regular Saturday evening firesides at the large home of Laura and
Victor Davis. These two wonderful people spared no effort to
make a hospitable atmosphere for the large numbers of people who
regularly came to hear a variety of experienced Bahá�i speakers. 
Refreshments were also there in plenty and many fruitful
discussion took place. Ross had been transferred to a new job in
Toronto, and was a regular speaker. I began to understand some
of the deeper aspects of the Faith.   

After about 6 months, the slow season started at the portrait
studio. The thought occurred to me that my parents would be
grateful for a visit. I asked the owner if he could manage
without me while I made the true readily agreed and offered to
keep my position open until I came back. I then wrote my parents
and said I was free for a while if they would like me to visit. 
They were delighted and sent me the money for a return ticket. 
Unknown to me then, I would not return to Canada for 30 years,
and then in very different circumstances. After a few weeks at
home on the farm I discovered there was a shortage of
photographers in London; I found a job as staff photographer in
Fleet Street, the center of the British newspaper industry. The
firm made photo journalistic stories for magazines all over
Europe. Every day they sent me out to do a story of human
interest. I would bring back the photos and the information to
the editor who wrote it up. It was thrilling to see my pictures
come back to the office in all kinds of magazines. Even big
newspapers and top quality magazines in England bought some.   

I was now attending all kinds of Bahá�i meetings and one day
found that I could help build a new Assembly by living in
Brighton, some 
50 miles from London. A fast train got me to my job in less than
an ~ r.~c~ i~ hour and a half, Several other pioneers came to
Brighton also, among them was: Evelyn Baxter, Claire Gung, and
Zeah Asgarzadeh. After two years of strenuous effort by all, we
had enough new Bahá�is to make the Assembly. It was a great
victory.{{p17}}  

For two years I had regularly sent to Shoghi Effendi, in Haifa,
photos of many Bahá�i activities in England and he always thanked
me through his secretary. His short loving post � scripts added to
these letters had drawn me close to him. I believe this happened
to many other people who had written to him. One day, I wrote
him offering to make a teaching trip through several countries of
Europe on my motorbike. He wrote back thanking me but asked me
to wait a bit and help with the homefront ~ChTrt~e British Isles
was at that time struggling to complete a Five year Plan which he
had given them. This was our first plan. It called for an
increase of our Assemblies from five to nineteen. After two
years we had built none, and in desperation our National
Spiritual Assembly wrote asking his advice and prayers. He
replied, suggesting we establish one assembly in Scotland, one in
W ~ n~l ~nP in Tr ~ n~l ~n ~ t him know when we had done it.   

This had been achieved and a bit more when I arrived from Canada
but they were struggling with many other goals with only a year
to go. An almost impossible task, it would seem. I think it was
the suggestion of the Guardian that we invite John Robarts (later
appointed a Hand of the Ca~ce) to come and do a teaching trip
over the whole country. From memory, that is what I was told on
my return to England.   

John was chairman of the Canadian National Spiritual Assembly,
and I had met hi: � n often in Toronto at the regular firesides in
his home. In the winter evenings I would frequently make my way
through the snow, in fur � lined boots, to his house. I could not
go into his lounge with the boots, so left them at the door and
went in to lay barefooted under the piano listening to the talks. 
The friends were all far too polite to comment on this til/ years
later when I found I had become known as the barefooted seeker
who lay under the piano and sometimes even went to sleep during
the talk.   

To return to the main story, John had been using prayer on a
regular basis and even getting up regularly at mid � night to pray. 
Unusual results had followed. He had convinced many other people
to use this method. They in turn had found results and came back
to tell him. When he spoke at meetings in England, he gave
endless accounts {{p18}}
of such answers to prayer. In fact, he had so many wonderful
stories that at each town he would enthuse about them
irresistibly for over 5 hours with only a lunch break. The
friends would listen enraptured, and many must have made a giant
leap forward in their attitude to prayer.   

As the last few months of the Five Year Plan neared there were
still gaps in a lot of goal assemblies. This was not through
lack of interested enquirers, but they needed something
indefinable in order to see the truth. John now added something
more (so I was told by those who heard him.) He would talk
directly about Bahá�u�llah, the proofs of his message and the
appropriateness of His Message for the modern world. The
meetings, I was told, would often end up with John holding cards
aloft and calling upon those who believed, to come forward and
sign. Some Bahá�is were, I think, a bit shocked at such a direct
call, but it seemed to be just what was needed. Many signed and
the goals were won! Looking back 40 years it is quite difficult
to recall all the wonderful details of those days, but the main
features were unforgettable.   

The next historic event was that the Guardian gave the triumphant
British community a new �Two Year Plan.� Some of its main
feature~ were, consolidation and opening up the continent of
Africa to the Faith. .\~lanv People must have been astonished at
Africa being on the plan, for only about 3 of us had ever been
there, and conditions ~hoto were almost totally unknown. But
what an adventure for those w ho would dare. And what joy it
would bring to the heart of the beloved Guardian. If the
Guardian felt we could do it, we would accept!    

We were now to do something we had never done before, start
opening up a vast continent. We knew that only with Divine
assistance could we succeed. We also had so.ne very real
resources because years ago the Guardian had sent some very
mature Persian Bahá�is to England. Ḥasan Balyuzi was one of
these, and for many years he chaired our National Assembly with
great wisdom and loving care. There was also Dr Ḥakím, who had
lived in Haifa when Abdu�l Bahá was alive. 
{{p19}}  

Let me digress here to recount some interesting anecdotes I heard
from these wonderful souls themselves. Ḥasan told a group of us
how a certain over � enthusiastic Bahá�i had been told by the
National Assembly not to do a certain thing, but he did it
anyway, was subsequently reprimanded by the Assembly and
apologised. A few months were to pass and he did it again, was
once more reprimanded and apologised. This happened again and
the Assembly was consulting whether to take his voting rights
away. Ḥasan said �But you can�t do that; he has already
apologised!� He was right. They could not, for repentance is the
way to get reinstatement of one�s lost voting rights.   

Dr Ḥakím knew Abdu�l Bahá well and felt that posterity should
have as many good photographs of him as possible. He took many
pictures of him with his Box Brownie camera, but became
embarrassed, so one day he hid in a bush near to where the Master
would pass. As the Master drew level with the bush, he stopped
and said loudly. �Ḥakím, come out!� Sheepishly, Ḥakím presented
himself before the Master, who said �Ḥakím, wherever I go, you
put me in your little box!�   

We also had Canon George Townshend in the community. I remember
attending his class on Islám at Summer School, a most unusual
subject for a canon of the church to talk on!  His manner was
humble but sure. He knew his subject well but did not wish to
impose his views. This rare combination of qualities produced a
rapt attention in the class. His faith was so certain, it was
magnetic. He was highly erudite, as is testified by the fact
that Shoghi Effendi sent him the finished script of �God Passes
By� to review before publication. The Guardian also asked him to
suggest a title for it, he suggested �God Passes By.� George
Townshend was later appointed a Hand.   

To return to the beginning of the Africa campaign, a matter very
dear to the beloved Guardian�s heart; many British Bahá�is, upon
hearing of the plan, immediately started looking for jobs in
Africa by searching the newspapers where Government jobs were
advertised. I heard that a film featuring Humphrey Bogart was
going to be shot in Kenya, and so I made an application for
working as an extra, but was not accepted. Claire Gung, then
living in Brighton, answered an advertisment for a matron at a
boys school, was accepted & went to Africa. The Guardian later
named her  �  �The Mother of Africa.� 20. 
{{p20}}  

It was very clear to all African pioneers that we would be
sacrificing most of the things in life which we had become
accustomed to. These included even treasured events like Bahá�i
Summer Schools, conventions and all normal Bahá�i activities. 
Little did we know that Africa, especially Nairobi was to become
the scene of much Bahá�i activity, of a type never seen before.   

The Two Year Plan given to the British called for the
establishing ol three 
groups only, in either east or west Africa. This was a last 
task by Shoghi Effendi for such a small community, but one
carefully worked out to enable us all to develop higher capacity
for future tasks. Soon pioneers were established in Uganda and
Tanganika, many of them Persians. In Uganda this included Musa
Banání, his wife daughter Violette and his son � in � law, ‘Alí
Nakhjavani. Kenya had some years ago received i~s first Bahá�i,
Marguerite Preston, who had gone out there to marry a farmer. I
~as keen to go there, so the Africa committee asked the Guardian
if he would include it in his Plan. He gladly accepted, so I
intensified my efforts to find a job there. I sent Marguerite a
parcel of mt photographic work to show to possible employers but
it was stolen, fortunately after she had showed it to some
possible employers. Nothing grew out of all these efforts, so
the Africa committee decided to buy me a return ticket so that I
could look for work on the spot. I had about �200 cash of my
own, and when that ran out, I was to return to England.   

It was clear that life would not be easy for me in that far off
country and it was not reassuring when my plane, after taxing out
for take � off caught fire in one of its engines. The captain
calmly came back to the passengers and announced: �I am not
satisfied with the performance of the plane, we must go back to
the terminal. A masterly understatement, I thought, as I watched
the flaming engine through the window. We all unloaded and
waited for 2 hours, then were called to board again on the same
plane, and took off.  

1~C�~, We landed~at Rome where I had planned to spend two days
with the very small Bahá�i community there. It was for me a
great bounty. Not only was I :able to meet this lovely
community, but afterwards I was shown round the ancient Roman
ruins by Ugo Giachery. I took many photographs, one with Ugo�s
feet astride the ruts in the street leading to the coliseum. 
Roman chariots had made those ruts thousands of years before my
visit.{{p21}}  

The next leg of the flight took me to Cairo where the Bahá�is had
a nice national center building. Here I was honoured to meet
with 1~ct~) I the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt. They
were delighted I was going to Kenya and promised their prayers. 
I was given a guide to take me sight � seeing and especially to the
pyramids which were one short tram ride to the edge of the city. 
I gazed in awe at the sphinx and the incredible pyramids while
Mustapha gave me pieces of their ~,oto ~ history. The sphinx has
no nose because Napoleon smashed it off with a cannon ball! 
Travelling back into the city our bus ran into a large mob going
in the opposite direction and shouting. I hung out of the window
taking it all in, only to be hauled back into the bus by
usta;~na. ~ � ndt are ~ney shou~in~ � ?� I asked � T hey ~ �  an~
dependance from Britain and they are shouting �Down with the
English, and you had better get you head down and keep it
there!�   

The plane took off for Khartoum the next day. When we landed, it
was so hot I could hardly believe it, but there was a warm
welcome from the Bahá�is who were delighted to have an English
visiting Bahá�i. We had a most unusual dinner of goat meat and
spices, followed by much discussion. That night we all slept out
in the courtyard. It was the first time I had seen lizards
running up the walls.   

The next day I flew to Nairobi and stepped out of the BOAC plane
into a whole new world. On the long ride to the hotel we passed
through crowds of cheerful African people and saw their simple
wattle and corrugated iron houses massed on all sides, while
street hawkers were selling all kinds of things in a strange
language. But when we came to the city center I found it much
like a town in England.   

It even had two super luxury cinemas which I found later, often
got the new releases before England did. The climate was much
better than in England, for although we were near the equator,
yet the altitude was nearly a mile high. This brought the
temperature down to comfortable levels most of the time. One
very strange thing discovered later was, that all the shops and
business were run by Asians, while the menial work was left to
the African people. At the top of the ladder were the Europeans
who had all the nice house with big gardens. I was to find that
these divisions also carried quite different incomes.
{{p22}}  

The next two weeks were very busy, for I was visiting every
photographic firm and~ne~spz ~er in the city; but nowhere was
there a sign of a job. It was only a small economy and there was
only one English speaking newspaper of note, and it had turned me
down because it could not afford a full time photographer. My
money was now gone and I was despondent; the only other kind of
work I was trained for was farming, and I definitely did not want
to do that. I could not even do manual work, for there were
plenty of Africans to do that at a salary I could not live on. I
went to my hotel room, lay down and weighed up the situation once
more. It still looked hopeless, so I prayed for guidance. Soon
I realised I was not alone; I represented the Bahá�is of the
whole world and the British ones were rny s � ;stainers. Besides,
Bahá�u�llah Himself had given the instructions to take the
Message to every country, and I had come here to do my best. I
fell into a dreamless but happy sleep.   

The next morning a thought came to me to go back to the �East
African Standard� newspaper. I went to the editor, Mr Kinear; he
was a kind hearted and practical man and knew his job well, but
somehow it had escaped him that in 3 months time, the newly
married Princess Elizabeth, heir to the British throne and Prince
Philip were coming to spend a few weeks in Kenya. The country
had built a small house in the hills as a gift to them and they
were coming out to live there for a while. Suddenly my future
editor knew he needed a full time photographer, me.   

I was told by Mr Kinear that the following week the whole country
was holding a county show. Would I like to go as his
photographer, on trial. If the photographs were satisfactory, I
would be given the staff job. With a silent prayer for this last
minute intervention, I thanked the heavenly concourse.   

The Agricultural show was the main social event for the large
farming p/~e~ 3 community. I photographed everything there,
especially the horse jumping. The film was developed and printed
and I went to see them in the editors office. Many of the
pictures were good, but the most P~cio I 
{{p23}}
important ones, the horse jumping, were all blurred. Yet all the
others were good. This told me that the high speed shutter must
be faulty. I had the camera with me and tried it on high speed. 
It made an unusual noise, which we both heard. The Editor was
sympathetic and because the rest of the photographs were good, he
appointed me staff photographer at �80 a month, a sum double what
I had been getting in London. I u � as walking on air. He asked
if I was short of cash and offered an advance of �50, also
authority to build a darkroom, in an empty office and buy the
equipment for it. Assignments would come each day from the
news � editor.. The most important of all was the Arrival of
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip for a two week stay in
Kenya.   

Most of the big London newspapers were sending their own
photographers out to Nairobi to cover the arrival of the royal
couple at Nairobi airport. However, Nairobi only had one radio
station capable of transmitting photographs to London by a
special machine. The first photograph to arrive there would get
world importance and have the widest sales. Naturally our editor
was keen that we should win both of them.   

We found out that the London photographers had all made
arrangements with the sophisticated RAF photo laboratory to do
rapid development of their pictures. We did not stand much
chance against such professionals but on discussing the problem
with a friend, he said: �Do you want to try a wild idea?� �What
is it?� I said. �Well, I once heard someone claim that you can
develop film in a quarter of the time by using paper developing
chemicals on the film, instead of conventional film developer. 
The quality is not good, and you must take it out of the
chemicals exactly on time or the film will be ruined. Also you
do not need to wash and dry the negative. Just rinse it off and 
print it wet by removing the glass film holder from the
enlarger.� After several experiments, we found the right timing
and method. We could now gain about thirty minutes over normal
methods. But surely the opposition would surely als~��s~ch
tricks. Only time would tell.   

The editor nnw told me to advertise for a laboratory assistant to
do all the printing. Soon, a smiling Indian named Rodriguez was
working in the darkroom and turning out consistently good work,
Still more thing~ needed to be arranged. One of  � the reporters
had a motorbike which could ~ through the massed traffic expected
at the Royal arrival. We laid careful plans for him to take the
film from me as ~ho~o 
{{p24}}
as soon as the royal arrival had been photographed and transport
it quickly to Rodriguez for developing. He would then rush it to
the radio station. When the day came, everything worked
perfectly. Our picture arrived first in London. �  Everyone was
delighted.   

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited many places to
witness life in the British colony of Kenya, always with a large
group of photographers in attendance. On many occasions I was
close enough to Her Majesty touch her if I wished, so the photos
were good. One Sunday morning they were to attend a very small
church �up country� from Nairobi, ~ here there were many large
European farms. Unknown to me, all photographers had been asked
to give the royal couple privacy on this one occasion. Hence, I
was the only one to turn up. Whilst standing waiting with the
stewards of the church I was introduced to a well dressed African
named Mwangi. A steward explained that this man had built the
whole church himself. Labourers had carried all the supplies,
but he had personally laid every brick. He was to be presented
to Her Majesty. Impressed, and also sensing a story, I
photographed both him and the church. Noticing that the latter
was packed full with white farmers and their families, I remarked
to a steward: �I suppose there is a seat of honour reserved for
Mwangi?� �Oh no!  �Was the reply: �We don�t allow �niggers� in
our church!� �But he built the church!� I remonstrated. He
shrugged his shoulders. I recorded the Queens arrival and her
introduction to Mwangi, then her entering the church. Hurrying
back to Nairobi with my �scoop� I told the story to the
news � editor. But he declined to print it. It was too
inflammatory for this time of celebration.   

I was not happy and took the story to the Christian Council of
Kenya, an inter � church organisation They were upset and advised
me to first talk with the Bishop of Mombassa. I phoned him and
explained, but he was angry and told me that if I valued my job I
would drop the whole matter. This, of course made me more angry. 
The following day Musa Banání and his family arrived in Nairobi
to take a plane to Haifa for pilgrimage. The beloved Guardian
had recently reopened this honour after many years of closure due
to covenant breaker activity~ and this was the first group to go
from our area. I visited them 
at the Avenue hotel where they were staying. Over supper, I
related to them all the above events and asked for advice from Mr
Banání. As ‘Alí, his son�in�law translated ~c ~ 
{{p25}}
my request, I wondered how such an unjust situation should be
handled, and expected him to suggest a brilliant solution. He
did exactly that with the brief words: �You did not come to
Africa to save the Christian church. I suggest you forget it. I
did!�   

Part of the royal tour was for the Princess and Prince to follow
a trail into the jungle and like any other tourist, spend the
night in a giant treehouse over looking a watering hole where all
kind of animals came to drink under the protection of night. 
There were plenty of white hunters with guns present to protect
them; also many trees had steps nailed onto them for getting out
of the way if attacked. That night, as they were watching the
animals under floodlights (which the animals ignored for some
reason), a message arrived from England: King George V, her
father, had died suddenly. Princess Elizabeth was now Queen of
England.   

Everyone was shocked at the unexpected passing of the King, but
were somewhat awestruck to realise that Kenya was now
entertaining the Queen herself. As she made her way back to
Nairobi airport and England, the photographers with one accord
agreed not to take any photographs of her. This was out of
consideration for her personal loss.   

The sudden succession to the throne caused considerable interest
all over the British Empire. Rightly assessing this, our editor
now produced two large booklets of all our pictures of her taken
in Kenya. One was published in London and one in Kenya. They
were sold widely all over the Empire, for people wanted to know
all about their new Queen.   

With the departure of the Queen, life returned to normal in
Kenya. I began making friends with the Africans I met in the
city and also on the trips I made up country, 300 miles to the
north and west where life was much more simple. The newspaper
had loaned me the money to buy a car because I often had to
travel quickly to news � making events. On one occasion I was sent
by air to Dar � es � Salam (Arabic for �the abode of peace,�), to
Mombassa and to the island of Zanzibar. The purpose was to get a
good stock of photographs for future used A government agent, who
was my local guide and translator. {{p26}}  

I even arranged for me to take a photograph of the Sulṭán of
Zanzibar with his wife. We met on the palace steps at 10 a.m. 
Looking at them from close up, I gasped inwardly with surprise. 
The Sulṭána, his wife, had taken this occasion to be photographed
without a veil; no doubt a praiseworthy effort for women�s
rights. But she had re �  placed the veil with a thick layer of
white powder, except for the eyes. She looked like a hollow � eyed
ghost standing smilingly beside the richly apparelled Sulṭán. I
took the picture and, bowing in respect 
for their distinguished persons, stepped back before leaving. A
few years later The Sulṭán lost his throne as an African government took over the
island.   

~c 2 Zanzibar was a Moslem country, as was much of the coastal
part ~ � ho~3 �~ i~en~a. r early the Arab dhows would sail south
to Mombassa for their loads of wood which Arabia needed for many
purposes. The pk~ 4 radio station broadcast in Arabic and a
Moslem mulla gave talks on pk~ J their faith. At the radio
station I was introduced to the chief Mullá. ~�h~� ~ He was
waiting to give his daily live broadcast. Over a cup of tea, we
conversed through an interpreter. Since he was reputed to be
very influential and popular, I opened a religious discussion
with him and introduced the Bahá�i Faith. It seemed too good an
opportunity to miss. He listened attentively while I gave a
brief account. When I invited questions he smilingly declined. 
After a while I said �You cannot possibly be agreeing with
everything I have said!� He courteously replied: �No, but I am
waiting for a later occasion when we have more time and one of us
can convert the other.� I then realised I had made little
progress and was glad when he excused himself to make his usual
daily broadcast. This was my first and only attempt to discuss
religion with a Mullá. Later the beloved Guardian told the
pioneers to avoid discussions with Moslem authorities because
their ideas were so fixed and it might even arouse opposition. 

Back in Nairobi, I found life very interesting and wrote
regularly to my parents in England about my experiences. They were not
Bahá�is they were at that time, but. happy I had found a
spiritually motivated path of service. However, they were
worried about their only son being in such a strange land. In
those days, Africa was looked upon by Europeans as the land of
wild animals, dangerous things and mystery. While growing up in
England, I had seen a horror film entitled �West ~f 7~n7ih~r� I
remembered this now and realised ruefully, that here 
{{p27}}
I was now living in Nairobi, west of Zanzibar!  I dismissed the
thought with a chuckle. Everything looked fine, I had a good job
in a partly modern city in an interesting country. Little did I
know that soon I was to become involved in some very real
horrors, the photographing of the Mau Mau revolution from a~
front line position.   

The dramatic change from English life where a black face was
almost never encountered, to the African scene was greatly
stimulating. So many things were different: it is hard to know
where to start describing them. Being young, 31, and single, I
had few worries about life and was constantly running into
totally new situations. First, the sky wa~ always sunny with
fluffy white clouds, winter and summer. Nairobi was only 100
miles south of the equator and it should have been unbearable,
but located at 5000 feet above sea � level, it was very pleasant. 
The early white settlers had chosen the site well. Next, I
became aware that white faces were definitely a minority,
especially outside the city. The Africans lived in poverty, yet
seemed happy in general, though of course they were gradually
awakening to the luxuries of the Europeans. Occasionally I ran
into a situation of anger against the whites, but mostly there
was a happy ~:oo~ raLio11~ witli ~he African~ {loin~ all the
menial jobs in the city, and u~ually IeLIViI)g their wives and
families in the reservation to lo~ l; after ~heir SI1LII11b;~
I1eSe were small plots of land which grew slllaller ~ucll tilne a
u~.u~ died alld his ~hamba was divided b~tweell his ~a,~
ullil~ll~e~. It WLI; I � ~aIIY an explosive situation because
there were very large e~tal~s own~(l by whites, many of whom
never came near them. An obvious one was owned by Lord Delamere,
about 20 miles outside t~lail � ol)i and ils 20,()0() acl � es
extended literally over the horizon, with nothing on it but a few
grazing cattle and a volcano name Longonot. It extended ri~ht
dowll the rift valley for about 50 miles. 
rented a be(l � sitter in the home of a nice old Jewish lady, about
a mile from the city center. I was advised not to go out at
night because People had been attacked and robbed. So I always
used my nice new Ford Consul which the newspaper had financed for
me. The main street of the city was line(l wi~h rows of
jacaranda trees, aiR~AIei~ lovely blue flowers
~lorifi~d,~ � .v~1 � ytllillg. There were many other brilliant
flowers lilie boul gallvilliLl buslles lining streets and
gardens, lending a relaxed
{{p28}}
and happy atmosphere to the European are~s. In the large African
suburbs it was quite different, for people lived in mud and tin
huts with few facilities. Yet city life was always attracting
people in from the reserves.   

Kenya only has one port, Mombasa. Since it is at sea level,
everything from there is very tropical, and so the early settlers
went inland~ where the altitude made life more comfortable; but
this necessitated building a railroad 350 miles long. They
brought in large numbers of Indians from India to do this; when
it was completed, most of these Asians stayed on and 
became shop keepers and the like. In fact they completely took
over and cities 211 ~he shops in thP ~o vns~ hen 1 arrived there
were three distinct cultures Whites, Asians and Africans. Their
salaries declined dramaticalLy with each step. Outside the
towns, the only road which was tarmac led from Nairobi to Nakuru,
100 miles to the north where most of the European farms were
located. All the other roads were dirt, but well kept. 
Nevertheless it was quite an adventure to travel up into the
northern part of the country, and people often had their
windscreens shattered by a stone shot up by an approaching car.   

Although about half of Kenya is desert, yet the rest is very
fertile and almost tropical. This meant that the most common
vegetation is the banana plant, which grows everywhere. Large
areas are suitable for all kinds of wild game and hence it is a
favorite tourist center for people from abroad. In fact only 15
miles outside Nairobi is a game park with nearly every kind of
animal. And there are no fences. Good dirt roads allow tourists
cars to travel all over this park Frequent notices tell tourists
to stay in their cars and keep the windows up. Apparently
animals have no fear of cars and do not even associate them with
life, so it is a haven for photographers. However one road goes
right across the I.said to my friends: �I hope the lions can read
En~li~�   

In the course of ~my job I mixed with some very friendly staff
members and got drawn into some social life. I even joined the
local mens hockey team. Only the fit can survive that for, at
5,000 ft the air is too thin to sustain heavy exercise for long. 
When t~ah first arrived at the time of a critical match it was a
real challenge to nlav the whole game without a drink of water. 
{{p28a}}  

Perhaps this is the time to note that, apart from Egypt and Sudan
where the Master Himself and some early Bahá�is had spread the
Faith, there existed in all of Africa but three known Bahá�i; two
lived in South Africa, Agnes Carey and Reg Turvey, and Marguerite
Preston in Kenya. The first two were elderly and Marguerite, as
mentioned earlier, had died in an air crash. Now there were two
groups of new pioneers, one in Kampala Uganda, and one in
Dar � es � Salam in Tanganyika. It was not surprising then that
being alone in Kenya, I felt close to Bahá�u�llah. 

This was a very real and precious experience for me but as the
coming Christmas 1952 approached, I realised that I had no real
human friends nearer than Kampala, 440 miles away; and I had only
met one of these. Although I was now a three year Bahá�i I fully
committed to celebrating Bahá�i Holy days instead of the
Christian ones, ~    Q~. were obviously the ones to be marked
socially. Yet some impulse led me to write to the Banání family
in Kampala and invite myself over there for the Xmas holiday
period. I did not even know whether I would be an imposition on
them. The warmth of their reply galvanised me into action. I
put the idea to my editor and he agreed, asking me only to take
some stock pictures for the newspaper wherever I went. 

If I had known the rigours of such a journey on dirt roads, with
few towns, washed out roads and unknown conditions, doubtless I
would have spent Xmas in Nairobi. Most fortunately, I did not,
for the love and kindness I received from those wonderful people
in Kampala were to leave a permanent joy in my life. But let me
return to the journey it~elf. 
n my brand new shining Ford Consul car, loaded with all the
provisions could think of, and all my photographic equipment, I
set off to Nakuru, 100 miles away. This was the only part of the
trip done on tarmac. Twenty miles outside Nairobi it wound down
the 2,000 ft escarpment into the rift valley, signs of this
gigantic geological fault stretch north thousands of miles, even
into Egypt. My journey would take about 12 hours, I calculated,
and could be done in one day with luck. 

No serious difficulty appeared until nightfall, when a giant of a
thunder storm seemed to deposit its entire contents on my road. 
Even the windscreen wipers and headlights could not give me a
clear view, but I soon realized that a few other vehicles were
also trying to navigate a dirt. 
{{p28b}}
road which had been washed away. I need hardly say  �  African
roads do not have the foundations we are used to in Europe. 

To go back would have been as impossible as going forward, so I
chose the latter. My new car bumped and groaned as we moved from
one hard rocky place to another. Finally we came to a large
expanse of water of unknown depth. Logic suggested I stop and
take off the fan belt which is usually to blame for lifting water
up from deep water and spraying it over the spark plugs  � 
bringing one to a dead halt in the middle of the hazard; but with
torrents of rain descending, to open the hood would have drenched
the engine anyway  �  so I cautiously urged the car on, declining
the third alternative of trying to get to the side of the road
where I could be sure there was enough mud to stall any car. 
Soon the other side of the water appeared and the car scrambled
out aq~     After this episode, nothing ahead seemed to daunt me
and soon the town of Kisumu was reached. It was on the border of
Uganda and also on the shores of Lake Kisumu itself. Here I
found a hotel for the night. 

Next day the skies were a clear innocent blue with hardly a cloud
to be seen. By midday I had arrived at the home of the Banání
family in Kampala and was given a very warm welcome and a large
meal. For the next few days there was a lot of lively discussion
as I recounted my recent experiences on the road and told them
about my life in Nairobi. There was also much talk about the
teaching work which was going on steadily and each day some
African friends came in to hear about the Faith. 

Others living there included Mrs Banání and Violette, the
Banání�s daughter. Violette was married to ‘Alí Nakhjavani, who
was doing full time travel teaching, deputised by Mr Banání. 
(who could not speak either English or any African language.)
There was also ‘Alí and Violette�s very young baby, Bahíyyih. 
This reminds me of an amusing incident. Since there was much
poverty in Kampala, there was also considerable crime. The night
before my arrival, Bahíyyih had been robbed of all her
bed � clothes with out being awakened. The bed, being under the
open but barred window, had been an easy target and the thief had
slowly pulled all the blankets & sheets through it. Baby
Bahíyyih was discovered next morning, still sleeping peacefully
on a bare mattress.{{p28c}}

Claire Gung, as mentioned earlier, had been the first Bahá�i
pioneer to arrive in Africa. The Banání family were next. To my
knowledge, no Bahá�i had any experience at all in teaching the
Faith to the dear African people, so we all had to start from
scratch. For the Banání�s this meant prayer, more prayer and yet
more prayer. The Guardian said later to a pilgrim, that Musa
Banání�s prayers were the cause of all the highly successful
teaching done in Africa. ‘Azíz Yazdí once told me that Musa
Banání had always been a fierce business man in Ṭihrán, but when
the Guardian had appealed for volunteers to open up the African
continent, Musa Banání became a changed man and a spiritual
giant. Musa Banání, his devoted wife, their daughter Violet her
husband, ‘Alí Nakhjavani dropped everything and set our for
Africa. Arriving in Kampala, they bought a house and settled
down. ‘Alí obtained a job teaching in a local school, but after
six months . Mr Banání appealed to him to become his permanent
deputy. ‘Alí confided in me that it was a strange feeling to give
up his career and accepted this full time service in the Faith; a
service which was to be of indefinite length. How were we to
know then, that here was a future member of the first Universal
House of Justice, which would be elected in 1963. 

‘Alí started making long teaching trips �up � country� and
contacting friends of the African people they knew in Kampala. 
We will never know the full details, I suspect, but there must
have been some remarkable experiences and there were certainly
very great results. ‘Alí was so devoted to awakening the spirit
of the people that he accepted all difficulties with a humorous
serenity. For example, when he developed an allergy against
curry, an African dish served to special visitors, he continued
to eat it and take the tablets later to cure the allergy. He
became much loved by the people and it was not surprising that
these efforts of ‘Alí and the help of later pioneers awakened the
hearts of the people. There started at first a trickle and then
a flood of declarations. The Guardian was delighted and
announced the victory to the Bahá�i world. 

But let us return to Christmas 1952. At the time of my arrival
in Kampala, the pioneers and Africans had reach nine in number. 
Two of these were away teaching, but it was my privilege to
photograph seven of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Kampala
and send the picture to the beloved Guardian in Haifa. He hung
it over his bed at Bahjí, so dear was this victory to his heart.
{{p29}}

When it was time for me to return to Nairobi, I asked if there
was a different route than the one which had been so perilous
coming to Kampala, ‘Alí told me of a detour further north and I
set off full of hope and followed, of course, by Banání prayers
for my deliverance from the floods. This road seemed much
better, but soon I came to a about 100 yards which was thinly
flooded. I charged it at a good speed, but soon became stuck. 
While wondering what to do next, I became aware that there were
people nearby. lt was obvious that they would be glad to give me
a push through the mud for a small consideration. With signs I
asked for this and offered them ten shillings. They were all in
high spirits and I secured a fine photo through my windscreen,
showing them leaning all over the hood discussing the offer. It
was agreed, and soon the car was sliding through the mud to the
tune of melodious chanting. In fact the mud was so thick that I
did not even have to steer, so I got out, locked the door as we
went along and stayed back to take a photo of my new car sliding
through the mud. These photographs are now cherished additions
to my album. When we reached dry ground I thanked them heartily
and added a bonus payment. The rest of the journey was
uneventful, thanks to daylight and a bright sun. When I went to
the newspaper office next morning and told some of the reporters
about this incident, they laughed heartily. Apparently it was a
custom for the people living in the reservation to dam up a
stream and divert it down a road, in order to catch motorists and
earn a little cash. I could not help but chuckle at their simple
logic. 

A few weeks later I was joined by a most welcome pioneer, ‘Azíz
Yazdí. When the Guardian had announced the Africa Campaign,
‘Azíz, then a businessman living in Ṭihrán, had set up a small
office to collect information about Africa and encourage people
to pioneer there. He had become so interested in such a prospect
that he pioneered to Africa himself; leaving his wife and four
young children in the new house they had saved up for over many
years. He arrived in Nairobi, filled with devotion and eagerness
to start teaching; but this would have to wait. First he must
set up an import, export business to earn a living. Meanwhile,
in order to earn a little cash, he answered an advertisement for
actors to work on a movie which was soon to be made. They
dressed him up as a fierce Arab and took photos; but he did not
get the job. 

‘Azíz family would join him when he had secured work of some kind. 
Meanwhile we rented a house together and set out to find
interested Africans {{p29a}}  
with whom we could discuss the higher meaning of life. 

Making friends was easy, for they responded gladly when we
offered them a lift on the road. As we took them to their
destination, we quickly became friends and were able to show how
the Message of Bahá�u�llah could solve all problems. We then
went back and picked up others. Soon we were able to invite
several to our house. We found that language was no real problem
for many spoke English. They were interested in the Faith,
especially as our lack of racial prejudice was new to them; but
even after two months we were no nearer finding deep interest. 
Finally, ‘Azíz suggested we get up for dawn prayer every morning
and implore help from >Bahá�u�llah. We chose a little summer � house in the public park
as our meeting place and called it our Bahá�i temple, Dawn was at
5.30 a.m. and after two weeks, my work began to suffer through
lack of sleep, so we prayed at home instead. 

One day another Bahá�i arrived in Nairobi. Richard St. Barbe
Baker, who with two friends, had just driven across the Sahara
desert from west to east, planting dates stones in the oasis they
came across. He had just parted with his two friends, and I
found him by accident, parked on the main street. Of course,
here lies a tale, for no normal person would do such a thing
without a definite purpose. St.Barbe had one. Forty years
before the present widespread concern over the environment, he
was saving whole forests of trees all round the world. He had
founded a �Men of the trees organisation� and single handedly had
interviewed governors, presidents and the like to suggest saving
their precious trees. Being very distinguished looking and
powerfully motivated from hidden sources, he would look these
world leaders in the eye from a position of equality and they
listened carefully to his philosophy. He had been instrumental
in saving a redwood forest near San Francisco, and other forests
in Africa and Europe. He had spoken with the president of � ~htt ~
on the merit of planting trees and it was done. He had spoken
earnestly with the President of Israel himself and persuaded him
to order the planting of massive amounts of trees for the good of
the nation. He had visited Kenya many years before my own
arrival there and suggested to the Governor how ~reat a deed it
would be if he encouraged the Kikuyu tribe to plant gum trees in
their reservation. This very month he had been invited by Chief
Njonjo to attend a ceremony in his honour, for those trees were
now 50 feet high and were greatly treasured by the Kikuy ~ 
{{p30}}

Before I had left England for Africa, I had met him by chance in
Trafalgar Square, London. He and his friends had parked their
Landrover next to a handcart whose owner was selling dates in the
street. Through his amplifier Baker was encouraging the crowds
to buy dates for their lunch, eat them and put the stones in his
barrels, so that he could plant them in the Sahara. They had
gone to with a will and filled his barrels with date � stones, much
to the delight of the astonished salesman. ~ow he had fullfilled
his promise to the London lunch crowd and planted the date seeds
in oasis after oasis, all the way across the desert. I hardly
need to say that Baker was not contented with saving or raising
forests in many countries. His real goal was to energise many
governments, and especially those on the edge of the Sahara, to
reclaim the Sahara desert itself. 

This vision may have been before its time, but he was determined
mankind should get the idea. He had done research and found
there was evidence of underground rivers there. He had spoken
with Prime Ministers, Heads of States, and he had cajoaled,
pleaded and written books about it; now he had demonstrated its
feasibility. If an old man of 68 could diagonally cross that
desert and plant ~eeds, so could others, if thev wis.led. 

It fell on me to be the news photographer who recorded his
arrival in Nairobi and brought him to the news editor. For a
day, he was front page news; then he was off again on another
project. He did not slacken his efforts to improve the planet
until he died in his early ninetie~. The beloved Guardian had
greatly encouraged him and had become the first life member of
�The Men of the Trees� an international organisation which
St.Barbe Baker had founded many years before. 

Here I should also mention Marguerite Preston who had moved to
Kenya some years earlier when marrying a Kenya farmer. They now
had two fine boys about 5 and 7 years of age. Marguerite was a
Bahá�i of some experience but had found it difficult to teach the
Faith in Kenya while living �Up � country� and with a non � Bahá�i
husband. However; she was very eager to help us in whatever way
possible. I remember having lunch with her as she was preparing
to visit her relatives in England. Her m ain worry was that she
was f Iying the next day and had not made a will directing that
her two boys be raised with a good knowledge{{p31}}
of the Faith, if she should die on the flight. Next day, the
radio gave the news of her plane flying into a mountain in
Sicily, on its way to England. There were no survivors. We
grieved with her family in their sore loss. I told them of
Marguerite�s last wish, expressed to me verbally and asked if
they would like us to help the children know about the Faith, but
they wished to raise them in their church. We could do nothing. 

Life went on as usual, but one day our milkman, who delivered on
a bicycle with a large carrier, ran into a tree with an awful
crash. We rushed outside to help. He was uharmed but surrounded
by smashed bottles and spilt milk. Figuring that he would have
to pay for it, we each gave him some money and he went off
singing cheerfully. We looked at each other in surprise. �Did
he do it deliberately?� ‘Azíz asked me. We never found out. 

Meanwhile, a few weeks later, the Banání family returned from
their pilgrimage. They again passed through Nairobi on their way
back to Kampala and I was greatly priviledgedto listen to their
experiences and drink in the divine fragrances of those holy
places. I had sent a message by the Banánís to Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum,
saying that I was saving up to go on pilgrimage. They now gave
me her reply: �You have enough money, come now!� At first I was
dumbfounded, for my bank account was about empty. Also I had
only been in my new job a few months; how could I ask for annual
leave?  Yet, emboldened by Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum�s reply, I felt
motivated to give it a try. After all, the editor was very
pleased with my work, and I did have a pay check due. 

Sure enough, he was glad to give me a reward for good work well
done. I had 9 days for pilgrimage and sent a cable asking the
Guardian for permission. He gladly accepted. I began trying to
understand the spiritual significance of a pilgrimage. 
Additionally it occured to me that no professional photographer
had, to my knowledge, yet recorded those holy places. All the
Bahá�i world had were the amateur photos taken by Effie Baker; I
had seen these printed in the �Dawnbreakers�. But how could I do
justice to such an historic project in only nine days, and also
make a pilgrimage?. {{p32}}

It seemed to me that the only solution was to ask the Guardian
for an extension of 10 days. Before asking his permission I went
down to the travel office and booked the extended reservation to
make sure of it. I thought this could be changed if the
extension was not granted. Then I wrote to the Guardian himself,
asking for the extension. I was hard for me to believe that my
editor would grant a further ten days, but when I explained my
problem he willingly agreed. A few days later came the
Guardian�s reply: �Do not advise more than 9 days.� 

I went back to the travel office and tried, unsuccessfully, to
change the booking back to the original 9 days. I could only
hope that it would come before the day of take � of f, but it did
not. What was far worse, I now received a further cable from
Haifa: �Postpone pilgrimage  �  Shoghi.� Five days later, on April
13th 1952 came yet another: �Obstacle removed welcome  �  Shoghi. 
The reason for recording all this detail will be seen later, in
the light of what happened in Haifa. All these cable originals
are still among my treasured possessions. The cause of the
temporary postponement, I learned later, had been some serious
trouble with the covenant breakers who lived in the house next to
the Guardian. 

When the day of my departure arrived, I presented myself at
Nairobi airport with three cameras, more equipment and a large
suitcase containing tinned food and a fresh African paw �  paw; for
I had heard there were food shortages in Haifa. Knowing that I
was far over weight, I carried in my pocket �50 in cash to pay
for it. As my baggage was weighed, I prepared to pay, but the
sympathetic lady in charge smilingly ignore the weighing machine
and waved me through. I gasped in relief, but then realise that
I would be breaking the law by taking ~50 cash out of the
country. I reached into my bag and, taking out a plain envelop,
pushed the surplus notes into it, addressed it to myself, put a
stamp on it and, leaning over the barrier, mailed it in a
providential mail box. Another miracle!  When I finally returned
to Nairobi, I found that money waitin~ for me at mv address!  

Landing at Lydia airport in Israel, I was passing through customs
{{p33}}
wondering if I had any forbidden things. The official asked me
for the purpose of my visit: �Bahá�i pilgrimage.� I replied.�
Without inspection, he passed me through with the cheery word:
�Please give my regards to Shoghi Effendi!� Even then, when there
had been few Bahá�i pilgrims, all government officers had learned
to trust and honour Bahá�is. This was due, no doubt, to the
exemplary lives of both Abdu�l Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and their
frequently expressed coricern in word and deed for the state of
Israel. We read how Abdu� I Bahá was knighted for his real
contributions to alleviate the sufferings of the people when they
were in desperate need. Shoghi Effendi continued this
relationship by such acts as sending greetings to the Prime
Minister on the State anniversaries and by sending a check to
help alleviate suffering when disasters occured. 

Following the instructions of the Banánís, I took a bus to Tel
Aviv, ten miles away, and spent the night at a hotel. Enquiring
in the morning about transport to Haifa, 100 miles to the north,
it appeared that the cheapest way was a sharing taxi called a
�sheroot.� After a cramped two hour journey with many locals, we
rounded the spur of Mt. Carmel and caught the first glimpse of
the Báb�s Shrine. At that time there was no golden dome~ but I
had the feeling that great spiritual bounty awaited here for
those who could accept it. Though pictures of this holy mountain
and its sacred Shrine were not often seen in those days, yet the
regular letters from Shoghi Effendi to believers and Assemblies
around the world had built in us a deep awareness of its
spiritual significance for mankind. I was to find that life
there was redolent with the loving kindness which we had read
about in accounts of the days when Abdu� I Bahá had lived there. 

I was dropped off at number 10 Harparsim Street at a building
then known as the �Western Pilgrim House,� later to become the
first seat of the Universal House of Justice. Ugo Giachery, whom
I had last met in Rome on my way to Kenya, hosted my initial tour
of the building and explained the custom that each evening, all
the friends gathered in the main lounge awaiting the arrival of
Shoghi Effendi from his house across the road.
{{p34}}

That same evening, there were about ten of us waiting to refresh
our eyes with the sight of his blessed face, the �Sign of God� on
earth. Most of the members of the International [Bahá�i] Council
were present (a body which the Guardian had appointed the
previous year to preceed the election of the Universal House of
Justice) also Ethyl and Jessie Revel who had been doing
secretarial work here for some years, and Ugo Giachery ~ � ho was
supervising the erection of the crown and dome on the Báb�s
Shrine in accordance with Sutherland Maxwell�s designs. Mr
Maxwell, the Guardian�s father � in � law, had been invited by him to
spend the remaining years of his life living in the Guardian�s
home, and to help him with the design and construction of the
Shrine. The stone cutters in the Icalian quarries were, it was
said, astonished at the perfection of ~Ir Maxwell�s designs, and
it was unnecessary to make working drawings beforecutting the
stones. 

At 7 p.m. a maid � servant came up the circular stairs from below
and announced: �Shoghi Effendi is waiting for you.� Naturally, I
hung back to ~all these esteemed people to go down the stairs
first, OUt ~or some r~aCGn they were all waiting for me. �The
beloved Guardian is waiting to hear about Africa, Ted!� Said Ugo. 
In some confusion, I headed for the stairs and descended. At the
bottom stood a@@ Shoghi Effendi: �Welcome, Welcome� he said: �We
have been expecting you for a long time.� He embraced me and it
seemed that �Abdu�l � Bahá Himself had spoken. �Marḥabá! 
Marḥabá!� he would have said. The Guardian was short in stature,
but an air of calm, loving and strong purpose emanated from him. 
He was wearing a black taj and long black jacket. I remember
noting that there was a small threadbare place on it just where
the coat would brush against the desk through many long hours of
writing to friends everywere and also in translating the holy
Texts. We went into the dining room and he seated me just across
the table from himself, with Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum at his right. The
others took their chairs without saying anything, but taking in
every word. The very great respect and their instant obedience
to his every request, spoke volumes to this very new Bahá�i. I
was instantly impelled to conform my own attitude to their own. 

The Guardian asked me about the journey, Nairobi, my job and how
in Kenya was the Faith progressing?  �So far there are no
declarations Shoghi{{p35}}
Effendi.� I said. �But we are persevering in prayer and in
finding ways to talk with the African people. It is a beautiful
country and they are all friendly.� He smiled and said: �You will
soon have an Assembly in ~airobi.� His words were full of
assurance. Silently, I wondered ho~v it would come about. He
was not put off by the lack of visible results. I felt that,
since his prayers must have been regularly surrounding our every
effort, matters were falling into place with certainty, the
chosen ones were being steadily consumated; and so it turned out. 

As dinner proceeded, I remained silent, content to wait for the
Guardian to sp~ak. He did not eat for some time, but questioned
me further about Africa, to which he was giving high priority at
that time. He carefully considered my replies, then said: �It is
very important to get the Faith established in Africa before
materialism and politics get a hold on the masses.� I said: �It
has already got a hold on the people in the city� He replied:
�Yes, I understand, but you will find the people in the villages
much more receptive to the Faith.� The way he discussed matters
gave me increased confidence because it was spoken as between
equals and I felt no pressure from him, just consultation on what
was to be accomplished. This kind of caring, helpful attitude
typified all his words during the time I was at his table. 

Later, he talked about the British believers, how they were
ingenious in rerouting many Iranians to goal areas as they
arrived in our country. He mentioned also that the British
probably had the highest percentage in the Bahá i ~iorlcl, for
believers pioneering on the home front to fill the goals, each
year. From memory, it was about 48%. He mentioned what a big
loss it had been to us when the Hofman�s had been forced to
reduce their Bahá�i activities to devote more time to their own
publishing business, I had been present at convention in England
last year when, just before election, David Hofman had spoken to
the delegates in words such as these: �  �Dear friends, I am not
allowed to try to infl~uence your vote, but I feel I must read to
you from a letter we have just received from Shoghi Effendi. 
Quote: �I feel you should consider withdrawing from the
considerable services you have been giving to the
aclrninistration, in order to allow you to devote much more 36. 
{{p36}}
time to your business, until it is stronger. David and Marion
Hofman had both been on the National Spiritual Assembly of
England for some years and this took much of their time from the
business which was in difficulties. In this example, the common
sense appproach of Shoghi Effendi is seen balancing worldly
duties with service to the Faith. The Hofmans were not elected
to the National Assembly that year and for several vears
thereafter. Their business improved. �~ihat we did not know
therl was that in 1963 L)avid Hofman would be one of nine to i~e
elected to the first Universal house of Justice. 

Bahá�i temples were next discussed and the Guardian listed the
possible si,es for the possible sites for the next one: Cairo,
Haifa, Ṭihrán or Kampala were all mentioned. As we now know,
Kampala was built soon after that time. It became a magnet and
an inspiration for over 20,000 Bahá�is who would soon come into
the Faith in Uganda alone!  When that tremendous growth took
place, we heard that India had enrolled over 100,000 believers. 
Some cre said: �They are far ahead of us!� �Not so!� exclaimed
Ḥasan Sabri. �We only took five years to do this and India took
100 years to get their 100,000!� We read that the Faith �va s
taken to India during the lifetime of Bahá�u�llah. 

To return to Haifa in 1952, Shoghi Effendi explained that
pilgrimage is not for the purpose of seeing ~he Gtlardian, nor
for obtaining information about the Faith, but to experience the
spirit Ol the holy Shrines and the holy places associated with
the Revelation. Here ~ should mention that all pilgrirns
weregently told not to take notes at the Guardian�s dinner table. 
He wanted their full attention to be centered on the spiritual
experience of the pilgrimage. 

However, each night after supper, when the Guardian had returned
to his home across the road, we would gather in the lounge to
compare notes and write down what we agreed had been said. I
filled a notebook and am now trying to relate those memories as
clearly as possible. Of course these pilgrim notes have no
authority, but the Guardian encouraged al~ pilgrims to share
their experiences and notes, as long as it was made clear
thatAYare just personal impressions and nothing more. Re � reading
them now 38 years, later I can still clearly visualise those
surroundings and the Guardian as he talked with all of us in that
blessed Spot.{{p37}}

I asked if the Africans had ever had a Prophet. He said: �Yes,
but not in Africa.� �Could it have been the Sabean Prophet?�
�Possibly� 

�In each Revelation there is one mystery which is not explained;
in Christianity it is the virgin birth, and in the Bahá�i
revelation it is the station of the Master. 

He spoke of the 9 stages of the evolution of the Faith. 1.)
Ignored. 2.) Persecution. 3.) Recognition. �In most countries
we are still in 1 & 2, but the Egyptian court had already
declared Bahá�i a seperate religion from Islám. This is a
victory!� Regarding the other six steps, the Guardian asked us
not to talk about them to the public, lest it aroused unnecessary
opposition. Stage 2 is not likely to be completed in this
century, but all nine would be achieved before the Golden Age. 

�America will be Pured in the crucible of war to prepare her for
her mission. 

One evening Rúḥíyyih Kahnum asked the Guardian why no women would
serve on the Universal House of J ustice. Perhaps she w as
asking this for my sake, for she must have been fully conversant
with the Guardian�s thoughts on this matter. The Guardian�s
reply contained some things which I had heard before, such as,
�it is a difference of function, not of women�s rights, and the w
isdom of it w ill appear in the future.� He went on: �It is not
women�s function to run armies or be a Prophet. The greatest
work in the Cause today is teaching, and in this the women will
excel more than men; they are more courageous, bolder and have
more talent in this than men. Men and women are complimentary in
their functions.� 

�God�s way is not men�s way. What price glory?  The w hite race
in Africa learned great lessons  �  to be free from prejudice,
establish equal opportunity and give precedence to minorities.� 

The East has given inspiration to the West and the East must now
learn practical lessons from the West.�. {{p38}}

One evening, after Shoghi Effendi had left us and returned to his
house, we all sat consulting together in the upper lounge and
writing down what we could remember. The discussion turned to a
court case involving the Guardian and the Covenant � breakers.  

It concerned the demolitlon of a small house close to the Shrine
at Bahjí, owned partly by the Covenant Breakers and partly by the
Guardian. It was of great importance to Shoghii Effendi to
beautify a large areas around the most Holy Shrine. This
inferior building stood in the way. No one knew what the court
would decide. Ugo Giachery commented: �How much Shoghi Effendi
was suffering tonight.� From this remark, it was clear to me that
although Shoghi Effendi was the �Sign of God on earth� with all
the ?rotection and guidance that implied, yet continual
watchfulness and a great deal of mental and ethical effort, as
well as much prayer, was required of him at all times. 

The unrelenting opposition by the Covenant � breakers to every
project the Guardian embarked upon in the Holy Land must have
taken a great toll of his strength and constantly delayed
progress. It is illuminating to look back on the steps by which
he steadily eliminated them from the Bahá�i properties and
reduced them to impotence, even while working on many other
projects for the Faith. This can especially be seen in the
stages by which he removed them from Bahjí and its surroundings. 
It was my bounty to hear the details from others in these late
night discussions. 

It may come as a shock to many Bahá�is to hear that Bahjí
Mansion, where Bahá�u�llah passed away in 1892, continued to be
occupied by the Covenant � breakers for 40 years, until 1932. Even
after that time they were still occupying the outbuildings until
1957, the year of Shoghi Effendi�s passing. To return to 1927,
they had allowed the Mansion to fall into a terrible state of
delapidation. They asked Shoghi Effendi to repair the roof 
for them. He replied that he would not start until they evacuat � 
the rP.Dairs ed the building, which they did. Before~ were
finished, he persuaded the British High Commisioner (Israel was
then {{p39}}
a British Protectorate) to declare the Mansion a Holy Place. 
This excluded it from all private occupation permanently. The
Covenant � breakers were thus excluded from from reoccupying it
ever again. ~hen we look back on the exemplary life of Abdu�l
Bahá, we can see that had won the admiration of the
authorities. He was eventually kni~hted by theBritish Government
for services to the people and the British army. This was
obviously of great help to Shoghi Effendi in his communication
with all the authorities in Palestine. 

Shoghi Effendi now started refurnishing the Mansion after the
style of Bahá�u�llah�s time and added display and archival
material. He had a s;mpie beu pu~ in one cf the bedroGms for
himself, so that he could stay over night on this task of great
love. When I eventually sent him a photograph of the first
Assembly in East Africa, the one elected in Kampala, he put it
over his he~i in that r ~ m. 

Another evening Shoghi Effendi spoke long and in detail about the
attempts made by the Covenant � breakers to cause trouble for the
Master when he was buying the land surrounding the Shrine of the
Báb. When he had erected the first simple building, they
reported to the Sulṭán of Turkey that it was a fortress for
starting a revolutionary movement, but Abdu�l Bahá was able to
prove their accusations false. After the 1950 war, when many
thousands of Arabs fled and the State of Israel was found on ~
G2.~ ed, we were able to acquire several properties Awhich had
belonged to the Covenant � Breakers. In the more recent times,
Shoghi Effendi pointed out that Hitler was an enemy of the
Bahá�is and if he had captured all of north Africa, he would have
gone into Egypt and Palestine and he would have exterminated the
Bahá�is as had happened in Germany and Russia. But he was
preordained to fail. 
The Mufti of Jerusalem would also have been a big danger to the
Bahá�is in these circumstances. 

Another topic touched on by the Guardain was prayer. He said
very clearly that it is not enough to pray about a problem; one
needs also to think about it and then to act.{{p40}}

The next evening started with a severe test for me. As we
entered the dining room, I was directed to the far end of the
table and two newly arrived pilgrims took my place opposite
Shoghi Effendi. I had become so magnetised by his presence that
it had never occurred to me such a thing could happen. As the
Guardian talked to the new arrivals, I began remonstrating with
myself for being unhappy; the Guardian was still there, but I
found myself perforce, relegated to listening only, as did the
members of the International Council. My mind had wandered from
the Guardian�s words. As at a great distance I heard him say:
�Tomorrow a delegation from the Bahá�i International Council will
present a letter of felicitation to the Governor � � f Haif2 ~ n
the occasion of the 15th annual celebration of the founding of
the State of Israel. I want you to go with the delegation.� I
looked up, and the whole table were looking at me, as was the
Guardian. �Yes Shoghi Effendi� I managed to say. �It will help
them to realise how widespread the Faith is, because you are from
Africa.� I was uplifted and joyful to be given a task like this,
but nothing could replace being able to look across the t~hle
into his w arm, steady eyes. Ugc Giachery ~lason Remey and I
performed this mission the next day; we were received with much
warmth. 

Jessie Revel reported that locusts were devastating trees in Tel
Aviv, only 100 miles away. �What shall we do if they start
destroying our shrine gardens?  �We shall replant them� Was the
Guardian�s reply. He then turned to me and said: �Your next job
is helping to found the institutions of the Cause in Kenya.� Such
was his caring nature, that he had sensed my mood and reached out
to me. 

Two days later, the Guardian�s Buick, with his chauffer, Carlo
driving, took Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum, Nellie French (another new
pilgrim) and myself 20 miles around the bay to ‘Akká to visit 
the �Most great prison� where the Blessed Beauty and many of His
followers and family had spent over two years under the most
terrible conditions. As we entered this massive, bleak building,
we tried to imagine the arrival of the Holy family. We ascended
by an open stairs to the third floor and entered a large area
surrounded{{p41}}
by a number of cells. To our left, the first cell had a brass
plate above the door stating �Bahá� i Holy Place�. It was
explained to us that the Israeli Government had made a law that
all the Holy places of every religion in the country should
become the property of that religion and be marked in this way. 
Through the iron bars we could see a cell with three windows and
a raise portion of the floor where Bahá�u�llah usually laid out
His mat to sleep. Bars covered the windows also. We entered and
sat on the rush mats to pray and visualise those incredible
times, less than 100 years ago. Afterwards we saw the skylight l
igh up in the ceiling of the central hall where the Purest Branch
had fallen to his death. We recalled his request to His father
that his life be a sacrifice for the world and especially that
pilgrims should be allowed to visit the Blessed Beauty.

Leaving the prison we went along the road behind the maCcive sea
battlements for about 200 yards to the House Aboud. For seven
years the Holy family had lived here, after the prison. Yet the
whole city was a prison for them and Bahá�u�llah Himself was
confined to a few rooms. His own bedroom has a v erandah on
three sides, and we were told that pacing this narrow path,
looking out to sea, was His only permitted exercise. On the end
of a long divan rested a taj which He had worn. It ~I as
reverently covered by a delicate embroidered cloth. Again we and
His Presence prayed and tried to visualise those daysA. Another
room had been Abdu�l Bahá�s and in this room Bahá�u�llah had
written much of the Aqdas, as well as letters to the Kings of
Europe. 

Then, lea~ � ing the city, our car took us two miles into the
country{{p42}}
north � east of ‘Akká. The whole valley was ~ery fertile and
luxurio~,  Our dirt road led us to an imposing stone archway, the
entrance ~o~ to an oasis. �,~ e entered and crossed a wooden
bridge over a stream and were greeted by a gardener. He had set
out a table very old and chairs under the shade of someAmulberry
trees to welcome us. An ornamental garden seat had been built
under these trees on one side of thi~ small retreat. On this
seat, Bah�u�llah had often rested and talked to His followers in
the later years of His life. The gardener, who was also the
custodian and lived nearbv, brought a horse and invited us to
watch while he harnesd it to a beam, centered on some ancient
machinery atop a tvell As the horse circled the well, water was
drawn up by a chain of cups and spilled into a pipe which carried
it to a fountain in the center of the garden. The peaceful clank
of the harness, the songs of birds and the splash of the fountain
as it rose from a pedistal produced an air of magic in that
fragrant spot. The water overflowed and ran down a channel past
Bahá�u�llah�s seat at the back of the garden and into what used
to be another streamA~ This stream bed was some years ago now
dried up because~the British army had blocked it to reduced the
incldence of mosquitoeC and malaria. We saw in imagination the
Blessed Beauty sitting talking with His followers and wondered
what He had said to them there. Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum had brought a
picnic lunch which she now laid out. We sat eating and listening
to the fountain and the birds, each occul~ied with his own
thoughts. 

Afterwards we were shown a small dwelling where Bahá�u�llah had
sometimes slept. Some of His blankets and personal possessions
{{p43}}
had been arranged in this bedroom, no doubt by the beloved
Guardian or Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum. Bahá�u�llah had named this small
island �The Riḍván Garden� in memory of that other Riḍván garden
in Ba<u>gh</u>dád. After this, we went further north a few miles to
visit the house of Masra�ih where Bahá�u�llah had lived for two
years after leaving the prison. There were orchards and fields
surrounding the with blossoms house and the air was fragrantA. 
We came upon the ruins of an ancient aqueduct which Bahá�u�llah
had been instrumental in getting repaired. Now with mains water
everywhere, it was once more silent. We entered the mansion and
ascended the stone stairs which had known the feet of the Blessed
~eauty. His bedroom looked out over the beautiful scenery. It ~
as, we read; a deep joy to Him, aftPr 9 years in ‘Akká, without
the sight of a blade of grass. varlous At dinner that evening
the Guardian talked about,l forms of Govern ment. He said that
the British triple stage elections were nearest to Bahá�i and is
a government �!f the peor~ h~,~ the best of the people. America
should learn this method. As sem blies In the future, Local A in
large towns may have double stage elections. Back to Africa,
Shoghi Effendi praised the teaching ~ ork of ‘Alí Nakhjavani. �I
am very proud of what they have done so far.� ‘Alí and his brother
were raised in Haifa by the Guardian when their parents had died. 
one of my fellow pilgrims{{p44}}
Shoghi Effendi said that Nellie French, one of my fellow
pilgrims, had, in a way, done the did same work as Martha Root
(who did it at an earlier time, when there were few
institutions.)  The blessings of the Master had enabled her to
give the Message far and wide, especially in Italy. The thought
occurs to me that, at this present time, years later, manv
isolated Bahá�is are still doing this in places far from the
cities.

In those days, all pilgrims were the guests of Shoghi Efendi. 
Western pilgrims lived in the house across the street from the
Master�s house and the Oriental pilgrims lived at the house near
the Shrine of the Báb, much higher up the mountain. It was the
beloved Guardian�s cust~m to have dinner each night with the
Western pilgrims, so that they could talk informally with him. 
In the afternoons, he would walk round the Shrine gardens with
the Oriental pilgrims and talk as they went. Of course, each
group felt it had a priceless privilege in this arrangement and
felt sorry for the other group, so everyone was happy!  The next
day, being the 9th of Riḍván, we were~invited to the Oriental
pilgrim house where the Guardian gave a talk on the meaning of
this Holy Day. He spoke entirely in Persian, because I was the
only Westerner present. However, much to my embarassment, he
stopped in the middle and gave me a shortened account of what he
had been saying. I felt touched by his consideration. Looking
back, it was clear that he was making sure a minority did not
feel left out. Afterwards, we all went to the Shrine of the
E~ab. Surprisingly
{{p45}}
the ladies entered a door on the north side of the shrine and the
men into a door on the south side with the Guardian.

I should explain, there are 9 rooms inside the shrine of the Báb,
� � 71~ all about equal in size and arranged in three rows. The
center room of the middle group is the holy spot where the Báb�s
remain are enshrined; each side there is aroom for the pilgrims
who approach a low step and offer their prayers, the men on one
side and the ladies on the other. Each can see into the center
chamber fror.1 opposites sides, through a wide mesh curtain 

Later, Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum explained to us that in future, it would
be changed, but now it was too much of a break with tradition for
Oriental men and ladies to pray together. She herself, of
courae, properly I ed t ,e ladies. But to return to the 9th Day
of Riḍván; Shoghi Effenai stood just inside the door as the men
entered, and anointed them with attar of roses as each stepped
in. The first two Persians tried to kiss his feet, but he raise
them up and moved them along. When we were all gathered, Shoghi
Fffendi came to the threshold and recited the prayer of
Visitatior. in Persian; It hangs, framed, on the wall just to
one side. He then th~ knealt at the threshold for a few moments
ard backed out to the door, keeping his face to thethreshold. 
Weall followed his example. The Guardian led us ne)~t into the
front section of the buiding where lies our beloved Master. 
Similar devotions were followed there.

Both center rooms were covered with masses of flowers, arranged
with great care. All present must have been much uplifted in
spirit as we spent some time walking round the beautiful gardens
afterwards.{{p46}}

A few days earlier, Shoghi Effendi had requested me to take
photographs of the inside of the Shrine of the Báb, now that it
was specially decorated for Riḍván. He said he would advise me
when this should be done.

While we were waiting in the Pilgrim House one evening for the
Guardian to arrive for dinner, Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum suddenly appeared
alone and said �Ted, the Guardian says that now is the time to
photograph the Shrine of the Báb. Dr Ḥakím will come with you
and the Guardian�s car is waiting to take you up to the Shrine. 
If you hurry, you will be back in time for at least the last h~lf
nf the Guardian�s dinner.

Shoghi Effendi had told me I was to feel free to take the
photographs in any manner I wished. He had then remarked, �Have
you noticed that with colour photos, if you slightly underexpose,
th~ ~olors will be more brilliant?� It was the early days of
color photography and I was amazed that he was so knowiedgable
about it. �  He continued, �If you place the camera centrally, the
picture will be perfectly symetrical, as you look through to the
inner shrine.� This I took careful note of and made sure of
taking before anything else. However I also took one slightly
off center, for I felt this ,ave more depth. With three cameras,
I took many pictures and we finally arrived back at the Pilgrim
~iouse about 11 p.m. The Guardian had long finished his dinner
and gone back to his home across the street. Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum was
waiting for us with a plate of sandwiches and must have noticed
my exhaustion and disappointment at missing dinner with the
Guardian. We said good � night and everyone retired.

Next morning, Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum came across to the house after
breakfast and said, �Ted, the Guardian says that, if you feel it
wise, you may cable your editor in Nairobi to ask for a ten day
extension of pilgrimage.� As mentioned earlier, due to my own
fumbling and miscalculations I had plagued my editor with a
number of different schedules and felt niost embarrased, about
it. Now I was considering upsetting my editor�s affairs even
more, and by a simple cable which would not allow me to explain
or apologise. �It is too late Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum, I said
{{p47}}

�I dare not take the risk of upsetting my editor.� �Well, think
about it Ted, and whatever you decide is alright with the
Guardian He feels there will be a lot to photograph, more than
you can do in nine days.� After much thought, I discussed the
matter with Ugo Giachery and decided to send a cable. Anything
was worth an extra ten days. Together we walked down to the main
post office in town, a half hour�s walk; and since it was then
nearly midnight, we went round to the rear entrance and found a
way in, sent off the cable and came back to the pilgrim house. 
We said goodnight an went to our rooms. As I was getting into
bed I suddenly remembered I had put the wrong return date on the
cahle. There was no option but to get dressed, go down town and
send off a corrected cable. Once more I was getting into bed and
realised that again I had made a mistake. I dressed and returned
to the post office. And yes, a third time I saw a mistake and
had to send off a third cable. Now my editor would surely lose
his patience, but curiously I did not in the least worry about
it. Sufficient that the Guardian had given me a chance to spend
ten more days in the Holy Land, taking photographs for him. It
did not occur to me that there was very much more in this matter
than I was aware of, but subsequent events amply repaid all my
worries. For two years I felt too ashamed to tell anyone about
it, but one day ‘Azíz and I were chatting about the Will of God
and many things, so I recounted my bungling experience. �Hmm!�
he remarked �maybe God was trying to tell you something?�~ �What
could that be?� I enquired. �Perhaps that if an event is the
Will of God, then whatever mistakes we make, it is still going to
happen.� �That is curious�, I said �The last thing the Guardian
said to me as I departed was, �We are very glad you were able to
stay the extra ten days, it was evidently the Wirl of God.� As
you will have guessed, two days after sending off the three
conflicting cables I received a reply �Extension permitted.�
{{p48}}

On another occasion, the Guardian discussed the rescue of the
Báb�s body which was thrown outside the moat of the city after
the execution. There is a tradition that the remains of the Imám
would be preserved. The Mullás thought that wild dogs would
devour the remains and thus prove to the public that the Báb was
not the promised Imám. However, some of the believers bribed the
soldiers to turn their backs while the Holy remains were spirited
away and hidden in a silk factory. The son of this factory owner
had just arrived on pilgrimage and the Guardian welcom;ed him
warmlv. 

The Guardian spoke of the great significance of this Day, saying,
�~dam and all the other 7i c?he~s were preparing the world for
Bah�u�llah Who w � ould cast His shaddow over the next 500,000
centuries. Six thousand years of preparation to be followed by
500 centuries of fullfillment. There will be other
Manifestations Who will repeal the Aqdas (if They wish) and there
will even be minor Prophets after the Thousand or more years. We
must distinguish between the Bahá�i cycle and the Spiritual cycle
of 5u(~,0(  � J centuries. � �~o � he repiied in answer tO a
questicn, �The Guardians are not minor Prophets.� 

There had been 200 pioneers from Persian to Arabia. No other
such efflux had occured except to Africa. 

One morning Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum arrived as Ugo and I were having
breakfast in the pilgrim house. The Guardian wanted photographs
taken of many of the holy relics in the archives room. These
were at present kept in the back section of the Shrine. She
would come with me and bring them out into the sun to be
photographed. So, on Thursday, May 1st 1952, the Guardian�s car
took us up to the Shrine where began the difficult ask of finding
a suitable backgound for laying out these precious relics. Here,
in the brilliant sunshine we photographed many of these personal
possessions of the Holy Ones  �  the Báb�s copy of the Qur’án and
His own Bayán and ring. As I was arranging these to photograph
Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánumcame out of the Shrine saying: �Hold out your arms
Ted.� I did so, and she laid the Báb�s green robe upon them. I
stood speechless. [Include story of �The Robe�.]

Later we photographed the personal effects of Bahá�u�llah, His
seals, His pens and pen case, His rings and taj.
{{p49}}

The following day, I was sent to Bahjí in the Guardian�s car. 
Here Salah, the custodian, took charge of me. He was an Arab who
had great devotion for the Guardian. To him, looking after the
holiest place on earth was a most great responsibility, one to
which he devot~d body and soul without restraint. He lived very
simply. He showed me into Abdu�l Bahá�s tea � room, as it is
known. Here, while the sparrows flew in and out of the door,  � 
busily building their nests in the big rafters, we ate from a
picnic basket which Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum had thoughtfully provided. 
He told me stories of the early believers and of the history of
Bahjí. As we talked, the chirping of the sparrows gave the place
an air of peace and upliftment. After a prayer, he led me to the
Shrine an~ vpening cne (loor, snowed me the threshold of the room
where Bah�u�llfih�s earthly remains rest. I stood as one in a
trance, hardly daring to believe that I had at last arrived at
this most sacred spot. What does one do in such circumstances?  

Sala must have been a bit shocked that I just stood there; he
said in a quiet voice �Ted we generally kneel and pray here. His
remark was meant with the best intentions, but it struck me as an
intrusion between Bah�u�llah and me. I knelt at the raised
threshold and prayed a while and meditated some more and then
looked around me. I was in a kind of conservatory garden with
tall plants filling the center, and in one corner the door to a
roorn where the holy casket lay under a large embossed brass
plate in the floor. Beautiful flower filled vases stood at each
corner and on the threshold were sprinkled rose petals, some of
which I guiltily swept into my prayer book, not realising that
they had been put there for just this purpose. ~S ~n o. 
Ornamental lamps glowed in many places, giving a warm feeling. 
They were antiques, made of pewter. The heat of the plain of
‘Akká had made �  them droop under their own weight. Another
prayer, and we both backed out, to reclaim shoes and cameras
outside the door. 

Next we visited the mansion itself. The ground floor was all
service areas, and we mounted to the main living part, up a lon~
fliaht of stone stairs. It did not escape me that my feet 
{{p50}}
were literally following in the footsteps of the Blessed Beauty. 
Upstairs, I entered a large central hall with various rooms
opening from it. They were partly furnished according to those
custom of those times and partly used to display Bahá�i books and
documents from many countries. 

A curtain covered the door of a large corner room. Sala pulled
it aside and motioned me in. Leaving shoes ~ camera outside, I
entered Bahá�u�llah�s bedroom. His bed and slippers lay on a
lovely Persian carpet which covered the whole floor. His taj,
covered by lace, rested on one end of a long divan which graced
the far wall; mute but powerful reminders of the holy Presence
Who had lived here for twelve years. I imagined Professor Brown
coming in as I had done and hearing a mild, dignified voice sa ~
ing ���raise te tc God th � ~; .hou h_st at~..ined. 

The next day Salah and I walked the two miles to ‘Akká and as we
wandered through its ancient byways he told me that all the
streets of ‘Akká haci touched the feet of Bahá�u�llah or the
Master. I tried to imagine Them also sitting in a cafe in one of
those streets, drinking coffee and talking with the people tnere. 
The Master, Salah told me, had made many secret visits of charity
in ‘Akká, usually while the city slept. 

I had asked Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum, when I arrived, how was it possible
for me to make a pilgrimage and also take photographs?  TheA did
not seem compatible. She sympathised and suggested that one idea
would be to leave the cameras in my bedroom on alternate days. 
Sometimes I did this, for every day was a king of days; how could
I be concerned with photography.?  And how could I not have a
camera with me at all times to record those holy places and the
inspiring momentC spent there?  Now, as we followed the winding
alleys carrying my large camera bag between us, I was able to get
many pictures which will in future enable those who will never
manage to make the pilgrimage, at least to glean some of the
atmosphere of that holy city and its august Prisoner. 

Back at Bahjí for one more night and day, I was forced once again
to unite pilgrimage and photography. The beloved Guardian had
asked me to photograph all of the inside of the shrine of
Bahá�u�llah. Sala left me quite alone during this and the deep
silence and fragrant atmosphere {{p51}}
kept me as in a spell while I went about considering composition
and exposures. That night, as on the two previous nights, I
slept in the mansion of Bahjí. My room was the nearest one to
the Shrine and for a long time I paced the verandah which circles
three sides of the Mansion. It was a clear night and I could see
Mt.Carmel and the floodlit shrine of the Báb across the bay,
about 15 miles away. The wind blew softly through the gum strees
surounding Bahjí while I prayed for spiritual guidance. I could
look down on the Shrine of Bahá�u�llah only 50 feet away and
meditate on the inconceivable significance of this Revelation and
its import for mankind. 

The next day was spent visiting the prison in ~cca and later, the
house of Aboud where Bahá�u�llah had been incarcerated for over
seven years. While there, He had, I believe, written again to
the Kings of Europe. He had also composed much of the Aqdas. 
Abdu�l Bahá had been married there. I wandered along the
battlements of the sea wall and pondered on the Muslim tradition
�Ble~sed is he that counts 40 waves in ‘Akká. 

My stay in ‘Akká had come to an end; I had missed about four
dinner times with the Guardian and hurried back to Haifa by
public bus. The friends there were busy preparing a special
dinner to entertain some of their J ewish friends from the city. 
R~hiyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum said ~ �I am determined to have friends that I
like and have a good time with them. The International Council
members and the Hands present were all joining in with the
festivities, but I could only think that I would be missing
another dinner with Shoghi Ef fendi, a steep price to pay for
such a party. 

The next night at dinner, the Guardian asked me about my
experiences at Bahjí ~nd I tried, stumblingly to put some of them
into words. Although none of the extensive gardens at Bahjí one
sees today had even been created then, yet the whole area had
seemed most holy and far beyond mortal understanding. Coming
back to the inner Shrine itself, the Guardian asked my
impression. I felt it was a most fitting and unusual Shrine
whose items had been assembled with great care and devotion. I
mentioned the lights held up by sagging light brackets and
wondered if they could be straighted?  He said �They are antiques
and would probably crack off if we tried it. This reminded me of
his other remarks on my second day of pilgrimage. He had sent
Millie Collins with me to the Shrine of the Báb. Over all the
great beauty there, I had noticed 
{{p52}}
a marble pillar on which stood meth ldtulips, painted gold. When
he had asked for my impressions, naturally l,~praised the most
wonderful Shrine and the extensive gardens, so expertly laid out;
but I also expressed surprise at the metal flowers. The answer
was very simple. �In the hot summer, no other flowers survive!� 

The Guardian went on to emphasise the great need for developing
the World Center in Haifa, together with the administration all
over the world. It will be the world nervous system. He spoke
with great love of those who had done so much towards this  � 
Martha Root, May Maxwell, Keith Ranson Keller, Dr. Susan Moody
and the Dunns in Australia. �They are now buried all over the
world according to the Master�s instructions. �Go ye into all
the world.� �We must always think in terms of �World Crusade,
World Order, World Plan and World concepts in everything.� 

He spoke of the com ing World Plan 1953 � 1963 which would take the
Faith to every part of the Globe. He will send instructions to
each of the coming Inter � continental Conferences. 

Here I must pay tribute to the efforts of all the friends who sat
at the Guardian�s dinner table and afterwards, as we sat in the
upstairs lounge, helped each other record all the remarks the
beloved Guardian had made that evening. As I have mentioned, the
Guardian did not wish any notes to be taken at the table. 
�Pilgrims come to experience the Spirit of the Holv Shrines, not
receive information.� He is reported to have said. It goes
without saying that all these records I have are just pilgrim
notes and nothing more. There is no authenticity in them. They
are notes of wonderful hours spent with the Guardian; I pass them
on with the hope that they may help the reader to glean just some
of the spiritual food that was offered to us during those soul
stirring days. 

He touched on the subject of the coming world calamity mentioned
by by Bah�u�llah in Gleanings: (p.l 19;1) �. . . there shall
suddenly appear that which will cause the limbs of mankind to
quake. Then, and only then, will the E)ivine Standard be
unfurled . . .� He emphasised that this refers to a literal
catastrophy, world � wide. There would be no escape for anyone,
the Bahá�is would suffer with the rest of mankind. All we can do
is to get on with the teaching and help to alleviate it. This
disaster would affect every part of the world systems and would
awaken {{p53}}
mankind. There would be mass conversion after it. In Africa,
this mass conversion may come before the calamity. It depends on
the qualities of the Bahá� is!  

At that time, the Covenant � breakers were still active and the
Guardian mentioned that their machinations had prevented him for
three months from considering the coming Inter � continental
Conferences. He said that the covenant breakers are now few and
des~erate. 

He went on to talk about the materialistic civilisation so
rampant In the world and reminded us of Bahá�u�lah�s statement
that in excess it leads to turmoil and burning of cities. 
�Divorced from the spiritual it will lead to a breakdown. It
should be complimentary. Moral stimulus comes from the
Prophets.� He affirmed. 

The Guardian went on to say: �The impulse of the colonial people
for independence is good. We should encourage it but guard
against its extremes.� Little did I know that I was soon to be
involved in the British Government�s handing over of Kenya to
independence. When that happened in 1963 I was a Government
servant and had to help train the local people to do my job. All
�whites� were to be replaced by Kenyans. We all wondered if they
would be able to do the work, but for many years they made a very
good job of it under President Jomo Kenyatta. 

The Guardian described the misuse of the Press media in U.S.A. 
They influence the masses and this is not democracy. On the
confrontation between the U.S.A. and Russia he said that we
should side with neither for both are wrong, one is extremly
materialistic and the other atheistic. The Bahá�i administration
is not democratic but embodies the best parts of all systems,
with much more besides. 

�Palestine has acquired spiritual potency due to the Prophets. 
It is also the junction of the three continents. The Holy Land
is now becoming the world spiritual center as well as the world
administrative center under Bahá�u�llah�s dispensation. They
will never be seperated again, as in past dispensations.� We now
own 50 cares on Mt.Carmel and all of it is exempted from taxes. 
Five acres are for the coming temple. To buy land here now is
strategic, spiritually.�{{p54}}

Continuing the m atters touched upon by the Guardian, he said
that Turkey now has three Local Spiritual Assemblies and wanted a
National Assembly, but it was premature. He followed with :�lt
has taken twenty years to build the institutions so that the Holy
Spirit can function through them.� He had just received a
postcard from the Pacific, telling of the declartion of the first
among the brown races. �Now we have all the races. He said. 
�The Báb�s relatives took the Faith to China.� 

At this time the GuardiarL was gathering the members of the newly
appointed International Council, which was to preceed the
election of the Universal House of J ustice. R~hlyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum
asked him if Ted should take a photograph of them, but he said
that it was too early. 

Shoghi Effendi asked Mason Remy if he had modified part of the
drawing for the Haifa temple, as requested. Mason went out and
brought in the design for the cupolas which will cap the pillars
and laid it before the Guardian. He considered it for a while
and the said: �Yes that is better.� From this I inferred, that
althought Mason was designing the temple, yet the Guardian w as
supervising every little detail and Mason was merely his pen. 
How could we have known that on the Guardian�s passing, only six
years hence, Mason Remy would become a Covenant � breaker by
claiming to be the next Guardian, against all the conditions laid
down by Abdu�l Bahá. 

The Guardain was asked the meaning of �Gog and Magog� as
mentioned in the Bible. He said that perhaps they symbolise good
and evil, but as long as the teachings throw no light on the
matter, we must be liberal and follow the scholars or those who
are expert in these matters. Other interesting rem arks were
that each Prophet in the past had appointed a successor, but none
of them had written it down on paper as an explicate authority. 
Paul usurped Peter and started the first schism in Christianity. 
The Califs usurped ‘Alí. But in this Faith it was explicit. 

Someone asked what are the things we should emphasise in teaching
today. His reply was that we should tell of the existence of
God; the immortality of the soul; the necessity for religion; the
oneness of humanity; the coming of age of humanity. We should
concentrate on the main teachings of the Master, not on tradition
or prophecies. Appeal to the reason of the individual, not to
his feelings. Teach the necessity for true religion, as seperate
from creeds. {{p55}}

The Guardian continued: �What is the purpose of God�s creation? 
It is the purpose of all the Prophets  �  to prepare mankind for
the recognition of the station of Bahá�u�llah. �Some Answered
Questions� and the �Íqán� are the most important for teachers. 
We must both spread the seed and try to make converts. . . 
Later, �The Guardian will be above all the leaders of mankind. 
The Hands will each be the center of a !star ~ st~r � 

There was an interesting sequel years later to my question to the
Guardian, about the antiques lamp holders in the outer court of
the shrine of Bahá�u�llah. Earlier I have reported that he had
said they might break if we tried to straighten them. In 1973 I
was again visiting the Shrine. After prayers I once more looked
at the droopping lamps in the outer court and wondered what would
be the penalty in eternity for breaking one of them. I took hold
of the nearest one and straightened it up. It did not break!  I
did the next and still no disaster. I resolved to stop if any
broke, but I was able to straighten all the rest without a break
and was overjoyed at the improvement. The Guardian had long
since passed to the Abhá Kingdom of course (in 1957). The
Universal House of J ustice was now in charge. I told Amos
Gibson what I had done and he looked pleased. Five years later I
was again on pilgrimage as a delegate. When I entered the shrine
I saw that every one of the lamps had sagged back to its original
position!  The summer heat on the plain of ‘Akká had been too much
for the soft metal. 

To return to the beloved Guardian�s dinner table in 1952, one
evening he was in a light hearted mood. He looked at me with a
loving twinkle in his eye: �The English teaching effort is like
its weather, a steady drizzle. Oh but a much appreciated
drizzel!  Now the American teaching effort is also like its
weather. When they receive a letter from me they rush off and do
thing with great energy, like their stormy weather. After a few
weeks it dries up and I have to send them another letter!� I saw
him really laugh for the first time. It was clear that he had
great love for both communities and was trying to urge them on. 

�The world is now like the Roman empire was, prior to its
collapse. There are few leaders left in England and the U.S.A. 
There is poverty in art and finance. General Eisenhower
president  �  what a pity!{{p56}}

�Christianity did not have the institutions that we have at this
stage Now the question is, do we have the courge and the spirit? 
The Popes were the true citadel and had great courage. 

The Guardian said: �Recently, Musa Bahá�i, 8 Covenant � breaker,
had Invited the British Consul to a party to spread lies about
the Faith. We took counter � measures to inform the authorities of
the difference between ourselves and the Covenant � breakers.� 

�We should not observe uniformity in prayer and worship at the
Shrines. But we all stand for the Prayers of Visitation.

�The soul is much more important than the body, and the body is
more important than a member. The soul uses the body to progress
higher. The soul is the revelation of Bahá�u�llah. Each part of
the body must play its part. It is the same in the Faith. Some
Persian Bahá�is feel the Cause is to advance Persia, but they
must sacrifice everything to the purpose of Bahá�u�llfih and then
have loyalty to their country.� 

Bahá�u�llah said: �If the Cause had appeared first in Europe, it
would have attained ascendancy over the thought of mankind
because of the freedom of intelligence in the background culture. 
The culture of Europe was due to Socrates who studied with the
Jews, a result of Moses efforts with a decadent, thieving race in
Egypt. 

�America is desperately in need of material help against
Communism. America is the citadel of the Faith, but their
materialism is based on the negation of justice. The Outer
citadel will crumble but the inner will survive. There is a fear
creeping over the Americans, greater than the fear of any other
nation ever. (This was in 1952) 

On the last day of my pilgrimage, I was privilaged to meet the
beloved Guardian in his reception room with only Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum
present in addition. The notes I made afterwards while waiting
for my plane at the airport were as follows: �Please tell the
British believers how much I admire their organising ability,
their devotion and their many services to the Faith.
{{p57}}

Please send me the proofs of all the photographs you have taken
and I will indicate which  I would appreciate having enlargements
of and how many of each. When you send them, I will send you a
check.� 

I was much disturbed at the idea of accepting any money for this
and hastened to assure Shoghi Effendi: �O, no, Guardian, this is
my contribution. I do not wish to charge you anything.� I said. 
He looked at me very directly and said quite firmly: �You must
allow me to have an interest in this.� �Yes Shoghi Effendi.� I
said obediently. 

He then said: �All the photographs you took inside the Shrines of
the Báb and Bahá�u�llah, please send to me; but all of the
others, you must feel free to sell to the friends. David Hofman
sells his books to the friends, and you can sell the
photographs.� 

Inwardly, at this moment, my deepest concern was that I was now
leaving Haifa where the very air seemed heavenly, and where the
human relationships must surely be a foretaste of the Kingdom of
Heaven Itself. Some of this must have shown itself in my face
for the Guardian said �Do not be sad; you will come back, you
will come back!� I wondered how this could ever be, since I now
had nothing left in the bank at all and an uncertain job. (Later
note in 199 . I have now been back 8 times.) 

The Guardian went on: �We hope you will have a Local Spiritual
Assembly in Nairobi by the time of the Africa Conference in
Kampala next year. (1953) We live for the ~ay when the first
African believers will arrive in Haifa. Perhaps youwill bring
them.� We did achieve our Assembly within a year. What is more,
in 1963, only eleven years later, the entire National Spiritual
Assembly of Central and East Africa came to Haifa as delegates
toh,~ee~ect the first Universal House of Justice. There were
five African members and four pioneers in that Assembly,
including myself. But the beloved Guardian was no longer there
to receive them. 

Shoghi Effendi�s last words to me in this world were: �We are
glad you were able to stay the extra ten days. God meant it to
be. Now that you have been here, you can come any time you want
in spirit.� He embraced me firmly on each shoulder, and left.
{{p58}}

Back in Nairobi, ‘Azíz and I continued our efforts to make friends
with the African people and of course our prayers were much
inspired by Shoghi Effendi�s encouraging remarks. One Saturday
afternoon some friends turned up at our house for a fireside. I
shall never forget the rapt attention with which they listened to
‘Azíz talking about Bahá�u�llah. One of these was an old woman
from the Kikuyu tribe; she seemed especially interested. She had
suf fered much but still had faith in her Creator. She urged us
to go and introduce ourselves to some adult students at the
medical school. I remember two of their names, Jacob Kisombe and
Joseph. When the friends had gone home, ‘Azíz was still uplifted
by the apparent deep nature of the proceedings. �You know Ted,�
he said �their enthusiasm was so heart warming, that if I were
not alrady a Bahá�i, I would have declared myself!  

How mysterious and unaccountable are the ways of God!  We pray
and then go out and do what seems the right thing, then God turns
it in the direction he desires. We never saw any of those lovely
people again, but this day was the key to the opening of the
Faith in Kenya. The six medical students received us warmly,
almost as if they had been expecting us. They started coming
regularly to public meetings which we began holding in the United
Kenya Club building; soon, all of them declared their faith in
Bahá�u�llah. We learned later how deep was their conviction, for
J acob went home to Mombasa for the holidays and while there he
told his father and other leaders of the community about his new
discovery. They sat up all night trying to get him to give it up
and go back to the church. Their arguments and pleading had no
affect at all on J acob who staunchly held to his conviction. As
the dawn came up, his father put his arm around Jacob and said
�My son, if it means that much to you, you stick to it!� 

More declarations followed and I remember Francis Jumba and
others who became alight with the Faith and took i~back to the
reservation in Maragoli district, near the Uganda boarder. Soon
‘Azíz and I were invited to go with him on trips to Maragoli
district and spend weekends teaching the people in their own
villages. At last we were able to meet the people in their own
homes, to eat with them sing songs togethor and sleep in their
huts. Meanwhile, {{p59}}
several new pioneers began to arrive in Kenya. Claire Gung moved
up from Rhodesia and found a job in the hospital, Tahereh
Vatamparast arrived from Írán and found a nursing job, and Ursula
Samandarí arrived from England. Ursula tried hard to get a job
in Nairobi, but was unsuccessful. In desperation she accepted a
job at an isolated farm. She became the �nanny�, looking after
the farmers children. 

Ursula had recently married Mehdi Samandarí, son of the Hand of
the Cause and now set about trying to get her new husband
accepted by the Kenya immigration. Since she was English, they
agreed, but when they found out that Mehdi was Asiatic, they
refused, because the Government was not allowing any further
Asians into the country. 

The Mau mau rebellion was just starting up and demanding
independance for Kenya. To make their point, they had started
murdering isolated farmers out in the country and Ursula knew
this but had no option but to accept the nanny�s job if she
wanted to stay in the country. One night, Ursula was alone with
the children at the farm and hearing sounds of forced entry in
the back of the house she assumed she was to be the next victim. 
She put on her burial ring and started praying  �  the
noisestopped. She continued praying all night. She and her
husband eventually found a job in West Africa and spent many
devoted years building the Faith up to National Assembly status
there. 

Next to arrive in Kenya were Tahereh and Ainee Alai, a very
devoted couple of Persian pioneers. I remember going up country
on a teaching trip with them. We were entertained most
hospitably by the African villagers, who felt much honoured by
the visit of two foreigners who were obviously used to very much
higher living conditions and now fitted in naturally with this
very simple life. We 8hared their food and slept in a room of
their house. This became a frequent practice for all the
pioneers, for the teaching work was 300 miles from Nairobi over
dirt roads. 

Not long after this three pioneers from the U.S.A. arrived. 
Fred and Beth Laws and Fred Schecter. They described how their
ship had called at a port called Walvis Bay, on the west coast of
Africa. It was the only port for the large British territory of
S.W.Africa, a most desolate{{p60}}
miles inland. A single ralway line and a dirt road led inland to
the isolated town of Windhoek. In that deslote country they
raised sheep for the karakul pelts of the unborn lambs. There
was also a diamond mine, and a uranium mine. In the far north
there was some jungles and wild animals but not enough to attract
tourists. There were no Bahfi�is liviRng there, so the three
pioneers joked with each other about, who would be the lucky
person to oneday bring the Faith to this territory. More about
this later.

Let us turn back to Kenya. In 1952 the whiteman still ruled
everything. Although there was very friendly relations between
black and white, the old servile customs still held~Each whiteman
had a modern house. He employed three native servants at the
tiny wage of 30/ �  (about $3) a month plus primative native
quarters. These three men each had their clearly defined dutes
which they kept to as rigidly as any trade union. One was cook,
under madam�s supervision, another was house � boy and the third
looked after the garden. In the country it was worse; when the
whiteman travelled over the long dirt roads, his wheels raised
clouds of dust a mile long. If any Afr�ican was walking along
that road he would stand and doff his hat while the car went by,
thus being completely enveloped in the dust cloud for about 15
minutes. 

Another strange situation existed. Between the white man and the
African worlds there was an Asian culture. A hundred years ago,
large numbers of Indians (from India) had been brought in to
build the railway which started at Mombasa, on the coast, and
would its way inland 400 miles to the city of Nairobi which,
since it was at 5,000 feet, was quite pleasant to live in,
although only 100 miles from the equator. Later, the rail was
extended anothe 440 mile to the inland city of Kampala, the
capitol of Uganda. When it had all been built, the Indians did
not return to India but settled down as shop keepers and artisans
at a wage intermediate between the white and black populations. 
They did so well at it that by 1952 they had a complet monopoly
of these occupations and would not allow Africans to enter them. 
They even built their own Hindu temple and founded an elaborate
culture of their own. It was a tidy arrangement in many ways, at
least for those on top of others, but it must have been a major
factor in driving the African population, (by far the majority),
to raise in later years a fierce call for becoming an independant
African nation.{{p61}}

Although the teaching work in Kenya was still in its infancy, yet
in Uganda it was forging ahead into large numbers of
declarations. The beloved Guardian had told us that we should
not insist on full knowledge of the Faith before accepting a
declaration. �The African peoplen, he said, �are more atuned to
feelings of the heart and if you feel that the heart of a person
has been touched by the Faith, then you may accept his
declaration and everything else would come in time. 

When Musa Banání had arrived in Kampala with his family, ‘Alí
Nakhjavani his son � in � law had at first taken a job as school
teacher, but this did not allow him much time for travelling two
or three hundred mmiles �upcountry� where the Message of
Bahá�u�llah was now taking root. Mr Banc.r could only speak k
anian and therefore appeared to be unable to help physically. He
appealed to ‘Alí therefore, to become his full � time deputy and
accept his financial support for doing so. ‘Alí gladly agreed and
soon the numbers of declarations increased dramatically. The
Guardian was, of course, greatly delighted and must have been
backing up the pioneers efforts closely with prayers at the holy
shrines. He soon felt that it was time to call for a major
Bahá�i conference in Kampala and announing this to the Bahá�i
world, asked the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kampal to arrange
the details. Donations from many countries had already provided
the funds to purchase a special house in Kampala which became the
Bahá�i Center, and the large garden was to be the scene of that
gathering. 

Shoghi Effendi was determined to make it a real success and was
well aware that the main bulk of the new declarations came from
people living far from Kampala and that it was doubtful if they
would make that long trip unaided. He therefore sent a message
to the Kampala Assembly that all these new wonderful Bahá�is were
to be his guests at the conference. He sent funds to hire a
whole fleet of buses to bring them to town and also ordered the
renting of living quarters for them in Kampala for the four days. 
He provided food also. 

Pha~ When the time came, the conference was a great success and
well attended. At the Guardian�s request, all eleven Hands of
the Cause attended. At his urging, many Bahá�is from all over
the world attended. I asked my editor for a few days holiday and
he gladly agreed, suggesting that{{p62}} 
I take the opportunity to photograph the city and its people for
later use in the newspaper.

The overseas visitors filled all the hotels in town and the few
cars owned by the pioneers were kept busy ferrying the people
between them and the conference site. I well remember one
occasion when I had three Hands of the Cause and Mildred
Motahedeh in my car. She was crammed on the back seat with a
Hand on either side and delightedly announced that this was the
first time she had been sque~ed between two hands. 

Matthew Bullock representing the N.S.A. of America and gave a
stirring talk about the African people being able to hold their
heads up with pl l   any other country. Dorothy Baker continued
on the same theme of helping them to be proud of their race. 
Unfortunately this was still a E3ritish Colony where whitemen
were superior. A government secret service man who had been
invited to attend was very upset at these remarks. It took a lot
of explanation of Bahá�i principles to explain to him that there
was no revolutionary intent in these remarks. 

I had been to large Bahá�i conferences in England and Europe, but
this one seemed to have unusual power and inspiration. Everyone
knew that something historical was happening during those few
days in the middle of Africa. The Guardian had sent the portrait
of Bahá�u�llah to be shown and it made a big impression on us all
as we queed up to see that wonderful face and look into His eyes
where the whole universe seemed to rest in perfect serenity. 
When the four days were over, we could hardly believe it was time
to get back into the old world again. 

Soon after my return to Nairobi my newspaper, the East African
Standard informed me that they had to make economical moves and
that my photographic depzrtment was to be closed down. This was
a big shock for me. But on discussing it with a friend who owned
a pharrnacy nearby, he offered to open up a small commercial
photo department for me and split the profits between us. The
result was that I was then able to offer my services as before to
the newspaper and also start building a commercial business with
Robby, my friend.{{p63}}

Life went on as before and now we would soon be able to elect the
first Local Spiritual Assembly of Nairobi. My photo business
began to expand and I was able to continue radioing photographs
of the Mau Mau rebellion to London newspapers as I had done in my
previous job. Next I was able to secure a government contract to
make identity photos of the entire Kikuyu tribe, one by one for
identity cards. A rival photographer photographed me doing this
and got it published on the front page of the Daily Telegraph
newspaper. My parents sent me a cutting. 
One day I was working in mv darkroom I was told that a lady
wanted to see me. I went out into the shop and met Irene
Benette, just arrived from England. Her relatives had told her
about the Faith and to contact me if she wanted to know more. We
had some discussion, but she suddenly remerhered her bicycle. 
Going outside, we found it had been stolen, so we toured the town
looking for the thief, but to no avail. But the Bahá�i
discussion went on unabated. I took her to meet the other
pioneers and she became a  regular attendee to all our meetings. 
Soon she recognised Bahá�u�llah and progressed speedily in
knowledge of the Faith. We were now able to elect the L.S.A. of
Nairobi. Irene eventually pioneered to central Africa and was
appointed a Board Member.

Loving Fersian Bahá�is gave us the money to build our own Bahá�i
Center in Nairobi. Land was secured and the entire Bahá�i
community enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves and cleared
the site. Providentially Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum herself came and turned
the first sod. When the building was finsihed it became an ideal
training {{p64}}
center for groups of 20 travel teachers to live there and
complete a deepening course before going out all over Kenya. 
��iG~t The Faith grew steadily in Uganda Kenya and Tanganyika. 
The Guardian �qshowed his joy by announcing the election of an
Area National Spiritual ~ � tr~4 Assembly to administer these
territories. In Kenya the N.S.A. ~�~ 5 appointed five District
Teaching Committees to supervise all the teaching work and make
sure new declarations were real. This was in accordance with the
Guardian�s advice that we should train the most reliable African
Bahá�is to carry the Faith to their people, for they would know
better than we how to do it. The pioneers were now released to
concentrate more on deepening the friends, but such were the
numbers of new Bahá�is and so great the distance of their homes
f � om Nairobi that it was an almost impossible task.

To further these aims, Hand of the Cause Millie Collins donated
$40 to buy each roof for any village up country which first built
O ~ the walls~w,~ wood and mud. Eight of these Centers were soon
in operation and became a big attraction. There was only one
small snag, since the roofs were of corrugated tin , it was
almost impossible to hear any speaking inside them when there was
a tropical down pour hammering on the roof.

One day ‘Azíz and I arrived up � country on a Feast Day and called a
large gathering to celebrate it. We had previously distributed
many simple prayer books in Swahili, but none could be found on
this day. However Wilfred Masinde came to the rescue. He said
he had memorised a prayer. He recited it with much fervour, but
in the middle we heard our own names. Afterwards, ‘Azíz turned to
me and said �That�s funny, I dont remember being mentioned in any
of Bahá�u�llah�s prayers!�  We rounded off{{p64a}}

One day, ‘Azíz had a brilliant idea. On one of his teaching trlps
up country he bought about 100 eggs from the African friends to
give them some income. He had brought a lot of cardboard
seperators an~,~piled the eggs safely between them on the back
seat. On the long ride home ~11 went well until he was about to
pass a cyclist who at that moment t~obbled across the road in
front of the car. ‘Azíz stamped hard on the brakes and received
the ~hole batch of eggs in the back of his neck. He had to stop
and clean the car out ~hilst the cyclist went on wobbling down
the road quite unaware of the catastropy he had caused. ‘Azíz was
a highly devoted pioneer and yet he seemed to run into more
trouble than most. On a following trip his windscreen ~as
smashed by a stone thrown up by an approaching car. There was a
three hundred mile journey to do, so he and his friends wrapped
themselves up well and drove ~ome. �How was the journey�? 
journey?� I asked him. �~ell it was fine until we ran into a big
cloud of gnats at 60 m.p.h. Can you imagine it?  Gnats in your
eyes, hair ears and nose at high speed!� ~e wanted to do some
social service for the African people, so one ~eekend some of the
lady pioneers from Kampala and some from Nairobi met in the
reservation and gave cooking classes to a whole village. It was
a great success and they were really appreciated. W ~ had heard
that there was a taboo against women eating eggs. Men however
were Lmmune from harm. Trying to overcome this ~
~nfoun~edl tradition the ladies gave lessons on cooking
omelettes. The aroma was so attractive that several women were
persuaded to eat them. However Violette recalls the memory of
one native women holding a baby on one arm and an omelette in the
other hand and trying to choose between them. She was determined
to eat the omelette but wailed sorrowfully: �But who is ~oing to
look after my baby when I die!� Wilfred Masinde was one of our
best teachers. He had been a teacher for the Christian
missionaries. As an experienced Bahá�i {{p64b}}
he knew the Guardian�s instructions that however many wives a
person has on becoming a Bahá�i, justice dictates that he keep
them, but no more were allowed. Wilfred knew   that now he was a
believer he could only have the wife he already married; but one
day he told ‘Azíz that African custom now required that he take a
second wife and he wanted to do so. We were all very surprised
by this and told him definitely �No.� m ere was silence for some
weeks, then we received a letter from Wilfred saying he was no
longer a Bahá�i. He also enclosed a new declaration card dated
t~x~ weeks ahead, asking us to use it on that date. We all had a
go~d chuckle at his ingenuity but told him �No dice�. Which
brings me to the time when I was entertained by Crispin Simba, a
rich man with eight wives. I asked him how he became a Bahá�i. 
He replied: �Well I used to be a Jehovah�s Witness and they told
me I was wicked to have eight wives, I should give up seven of
them now I ~s a Christian.� �What did you say?� �I said that the
Bible tells how Solomon had 95 wives, so why could I not have
eight?  They could not answer me, so I became a Bahá�i.� Although
there were quite a number of declarants who did not understand
the Faith, yet great nu~bers truely had their hearts touched by
it. And this, the Guardian said, was acceptable. Gn one trip
‘Azíz and I made to Malava a rather bizare event happened. We
arrived at Festo Mukalama�s house one evening and slep
comfortably. In the morning ‘Azíz visited the little house in the
garden. It was built over a very deep pit and was quite
servicable. When he came back he discovered that his wallet was
missing from his hip pocket!  It had in it about $300 for the
travelling teachers expenses. (There were a lot of travel
teachers and we paid them bus fare and food). I knew what had
happened, so took a flashlight and shone it down the deep pit  � 
there was the ~allet floating on the mud!  How to get it up?  I
called for a bamboo stalk and lashed a coat hanger to one end,
hook down and lowered it down. I had to lash two more bamboos to
reache the wallet. I got it at first swing and hauled it up in
triumph!. The budget was saved!{{p65A}}

This seem an appropriate time to tell more about Claire Gung. 
When Shoghi Effendi announced the Ten year Crusade 1953 � 63,
Claire immediately started answering job adverts in the national
newspapers. One was for a Matron�s post in a boys school in
Rhodesia. Claire was amazed to find herself accepted and due to
fly there shortly. She had been pioneering for many years on the
home front, always with her sewing machine. That morning when we
sat in a cafe together before she left England she was quite at a
loss to visualise herself setting out for unknown Africa in a few
days time. To make it worse, she had just received the necessary
injections and was aching all over. Soon, I was photographing
her boarding a train to the airport as wave~ goodbye to about
twelve loving but jealous, unsuccessful wouldbe African pioneers
and friends. I sent the picture to Shoghi Effendi and it must
have warmed his heart to see such prompt and unquestioning
obedience to his call for pioneers.

About 38 years later she passed on to the Abhá Kingdom with great
glory, having made Africa her permanent home. When on pilgrimage
the Guardian delightedly told her she was the Mother of Africa. 
At that time she had only her long devoted service to show and
had not been able to do much teaching because of the restricted
nature of her work in the school. Her response to his statement
was: �But Guardian, I have never converted a single Bahá�i!�
�Never mind� he said: �You went and the others stayed at home.�
From this we learned how the beloved Guardian valued those who
immediately responded to his call with action.

Later, she moved to Nairobi and became a member of its first
Assembly. Following this period she moved to Kampala where she
fotlrld her destiny, Claire built the first inter � racial nursery
and kindegarten school for the African children she loved so
dearly. Uganda had achieved national independance while she was
there. Government officials all wanted their children to learn
English as well as get an education. They discovered that Auntie
Claire�s school was the door to these goals. Soon she had over
100 pupils and a waiting list to get in. She made enrollment
conditional upon school fees being paid in advance. After a
while, she had enough money to build a whole school premisis to
her own design, instead of using a rented house. For many years
she taught there, and you can be sure that a full knowledge of
the Bahá�i Faith and God�s plan for mankind was in the
curriculum. The children were all~(became fully conversant with
its teachings and must have taken much of it home. Claire was to
survive two violent revolutions in Uganda. The first time the
fighting {{p66}}
broke out around her house, since it was just outside the
Kabaka�s palace. The second time Amin brought a real blood bath;
so bad were the conditions that the Universal House of Justice
had to disband the National Assembly of Uganda and all the
European pioneers had to leave the country except Claire. Even
the temple on Kilolo Hill was left without anyone to look after
it. Fortunately Claire�s school was only half a mile away, at
the foot of the hill. 
All businesses were nationalised and when Claire received a
notice that her school would be taken over. ~he went to the
ministry office concerned and, waving the paper angrily at the
official asked him if he knew what he was doing. Suddenly she
recognised him as one of her former pupils. �Hello Auntie
Clair~�� he said. She greeted him joyfully and then said; �Don�t
you know you cannot Africanise my school?  A controlling interest
already belongs to Africans�n Some years ago she had legally
given 51% of it to three African National Assembly members. The
school was saved, not only then but for when Claire passed on. 

But dear Claire was not to escape completely from the horror of
revolution. One day, Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga his wife and
several of his children, then living in Kampla, were brutally
murdered in their home by terrorists. The perpetrators then took
the bodies 7 miles to Claire�s school and left them outside her
door. One can hardly imagine the great shock Claire underwent
the next morring when she found them. She tried to !)hone the
Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Ass~mbly in
London, but cou!i not get through to ~ither; in desperation she
phoned our house wher~ she related everythin� to Alicia. Alicia
then pa~sed on the information to the National Assembly. 

No one knows really what the motive was, for this terrible crime. 
The most likely thing is that the revolutionarie, wanted to S~ Y
that the government was not able to control the; ountry, so they
ch~se to martyr the Olinga family b � ~cause they we � e wide~y
respected. Taking them to Claire�s school was :31SO bound to
make their point abroad. Great was the loss to the world and
deep the anguish we all went through, but we had to realise that
all ~hings have a place somewhere in God�s eternal plan. Perhaps
thi~ martyrdot~ spurred on the lovers of Bahá�u�llah everywhere
to make yet more strenuous efforts to compensate for such a
grievous loss.{{p67}}

To return to Kenya, the Mau Mau rebelion now began to become
serious business and the army was called out to protect lives and
to hunt down the revolutionaries in the jungle areas. When that
failed to control the situation, all white males of service age
were conscripted to swell the army. My conscription papers came
in with the rest. Here I was, coming to Kenya to bring the
healing message to the African people andi~ow~ was tghoaltng to
find myself killing some of them. I wrote to the Africa
committee in England to see if I could apply for exemption from
military service on Bah2� �  ~round~ and thev asked the Guardian. 
He indicated that Mau Mau was an internal revolution and not war,
so it was more like a police action which would not come under
Bahá�i exemption.

On talking this over with my friend Robby, he became angry at the
sweeping powers of the army and submitted to them that Mr Cardell
is a one man business and if he was conscripted, the business
would fail. To our amazement, it succeeded and I was excuses
military service.

About this time, Irene Bennett returned from pilgrimage and
brought with her a world ma~ from Shoghi Effendi. It was
inscribed with all the goals of the Ten Year Crus~de,which was to
start shortly. I remember well how we 9 pioeers spread the map
on the floor and started discussing it. The beloved Guardian had
told Irene that there werenOw too many pioneers in Nairobi and
surely some of them could fill goals on the map. There ~7ere
only 12 M.S.A�s in the world then and the Guardian had divided
the unconquored countries between them in proportion to their
resources and Bahá�i population. England had only been given 6
territories and when ‘Azíz saw this he traced each blue line from
England to goal countries and specially drew my attention to the
one line leading to S.W.Africa. �Look Ted�{{p68}}

S.W. Africa has one port, Walvis Bay. This was the country which
the three new pioneers from U.S.A. to Kenya had joked about that
some pioneer would one day come to bring the Message of
Bahá�u�llah . It was mostly desert or scrub. �I am noticing!�
I announced very firmly indeed. Everyone laughed, but I knew
then that I was going to pioneer to S.W. Africa. I remembered
that Shoghi Effendi had tola me that one gces on pilgrimage 5~ to
get ones~batteries charged, so that he could do great things for
the Faith. I felt confident I could do it, and what was more, I
was probably the only single English Bah2�i with Africa
experience. I wrote to Leroy Ioas of my intention and wondered
wether I should first visit my non � Bahá~i parents in England. 
~he beioved Guardian had specially appealed for pioneers to go
immediately, and definitely before the birthday of Eaha�u�llah. 
I told Leroy not to worry the Guardian about the matter, but I
would go first to England. Would he let me know himself if it
was the right course of action.

I did not have the funds for all the journey ~ut wrote my parents
and they paid my passage back to England. I was their only son. 
and they were longing to see me. I had not been back in England
a week when a cable came from the Guardian �Approve visit England
prior pioneer new post.� This even begins to show the personal
caring nature of the Guardian, and how he closely considered all
aspects of a person�s piGneering and his family life, and with rG
delay. I felt very close to him because of this. With much
enthusiasm I took a ship to Capetown and thenthe three day rail
jOUrney north to the small capital city of S.W. Africa, Windhoek,
arriving just before Bahá�u�llah�s birthday went off a cable to
the beloved Guardian saying I had arrived during the centenary of
the Holy year.(1953){{p69}}

The Guardian considered the arrival of a pioneer at his post to
be of historical significance and a great victory. Later
pilgrims tell of how he had the world map on the wall in his
dining room and at dinner, he joyfully marked on it each victory
of the Ten Year crusade as it occured. Yet it is obvious that
the teaching now had to start in that territory. For South
Africa and its League of Nations Trust territory, South West
Africa there was an added problem, the apartheid regime. The
Guardian had warned all pioneers who went there to be extremely
careful to avoid being thrown out of the country for showing
friendship to the local Africans. He metioned that this would
not hurt the pioneer, but it would set back the Faith there for
many years. As I write this in 1991, the South African
government has at last been rorcea t,O repeal the apartheid laws. 
Thus any confrontation ~1 h~e with the authorities would~,set
back the Faith 38 years. Yet because all pioneers followed the
Guardian�s advice, there is today a National Spiritual Assembly
in both South Africa and S.W.Africa. In fact the N.S.A. of
South Africa was able to offer the government a series of
recommendations to help them adjust to joint black and white
government. The goverment greatly appreciated it and stated that
the Bahá�is were the only ones to offer them a spiritual
solution. 

But let us get back to the arrival of this lone pioneer in the
city of Windhoekin 1953. Finding a job was clearly the first
order of business and since the two main languages were Africaans
and German, though many spoke English, it was not going to be
easy. Further it was only a small city with little industry. 
After two weeks of effort had turned out fruitless I was offered
a low paid job at a local photography shop if I would start to
learn German. 
After a few month, I was informed that business was bad and the
job ended. This seemed at the time to be quite a disaster, but
it may have been an answer to my prayers, for the job did not
offer any chances of meeting the Africans of Windhoek. I soon
found another job, working in a wholelsale warehouse where there
were five African workers, but this did not last long for after
one month the manager called me into his office and told me he
had to let me go. I asked him why and he said �I cannot tell you
that.� I replied, �Well may I tell you the reason why?  The
police have told you I am a communist� He was taken aback and
said �You are correct, and since you have been frank with me I
will tell you what happened. From your very first day, the
police have been watching you from my office window and thev saw
you speak in a friendly way to an African worker. They told me
to sack you. I can help you get a job in the post office if you
like, for there you will not meet any Africans.� This man was not
an Africaaner but a Jew. As such he had no opinion about the
apartheid policy, but obviously had to conform. 

I thanked him for the information and the offer but said I would
try selling life insurance, for a dutch friend had been
suggesting this to me. For the next year I had a lot of freedom
as my own master as an insurance agent and one day invited one of
my African workers from the wholesale shop for a ride in the
country. Whitemen often had African servants with them on a
journey, so it was not too dangerous. We came to a crossroads
and an old African was in need of a lift, so we picked him up and
chatted along the way. As I left him at his home, he said
�Thankyou boss.� I replied �I am not your boss, I am your
brother.� 

Next day my landlord, a friendly person came to me and said �The
police came to enquire from me today, �Do you think Mr Cardell is
a communist?� I said �What did you tell them?� �I told them you
may be a bit crazy but not a communist. By the way I advise you
not to use the word brother.� This was a real shock to me for the
only occasion I had used that word was the previous day to the
old man. This meant that the other African whom I had befriended
had reported our conversation to the police. Fortunate Iy my
landlord�s good words had been effective and I heard no more of
the matter, but I resolved to learn a lesson from this event.
{{p71}}

My insurance business was making enough money to live from, but
it I had been in Windhoek nearly two years and made no progress
at all in teaching the Faith, only a few blunders. What was
more, the Guardian�s plan called for the translation of a Bahá�i
pamphlet into the Kunyama language. I had not even found a
Kunyama yet and no one seemed to know about them. Most of the
Africans in Windhoek were from the Ovambo tribe. I wrote to the
British Africa committe and suggested they write the Guardian and
recommend he change the language to Ovambo. They declined. 

Every day I would walk along the hill top near my house and
recite the Tablet of Aḥmad for guidance. One morning after the
prayer, my eyes rested on a church in the town below. I wondered
if they had a Kunyama Bible. I descended the hill and entered
the church. On enquiring about Kuanvama the priest replied,
�Yes, the language has just been put into writing for the first
time and we have now been able to publish the New Testament in
Kunyama. I bought a copy and also a simple grammar booklet which
they offered. I had the idea that I could compare it with the
English Bible and perhaps draw out a vocabulary. So it turned
out. I composed a single page pamphlet about the Faith and began
to translate. Obviously it would be a very bad translation, but
I could think of no other way ahead. 

Next came another piece of luck. My landlord took on a new
garden boy who was from a neighbouring tribe to the Kunyama. 
Each day he also had to sweep my room, so when he came in, I got
him to read a few sentences of the new pamphlet and make
corrections. Bit by bit it was finished and I was elated. 

I tried many ways to get talking with the African people but it
was slow going and I was extra careful now. One day I was
visiting the Methodist minister and his wife. As we alked round
their garden we came to an African garden boy. The ministers
wife introduced me, �This is Joseph, he is a Kunyama.� My heart
leapt a beat and I tried to keep the enthusiasm out of my
greeting. �Hello Joseph.� He smiled and responded and we walked
on. That evening af ter dark I wandered past the garden and got
talking with Joseph. He spoke quite a lot of English, so I told
him about my pamphlet and asked hirn to look it over. The
following night we met again and he told me the pamphet was
confused, but that he had a friend who was an official translator
for the police, he would show it to him. I firmly declined.
{{p71a}}

I had now been working for the Old Mutual, a South African
insurance company, for a year and had completed the amount of
business required. It would be good to take two weeks leave and
tour Southern Africa, visiting the Bahá�is in each country. I
wrote them all and received warm invitations. Claire, who was
now in Nyasaland added, �Shorten your visits and spend extra time
at Bill Sears farm near Johanesburg, there is a wonderful spirt
there, just like Haifa.� My company agreed and I was off. First
I visited Eric Manton and his son in Souther Rhodesia. They
really loved Africa and the son invited me to spend a night in a
tent in the bush near the house. I was doubtful of the safety
angle but not willing to show it. I slept fitfully and every
russel in the undergrowth woke me up. In the morning we were
back in the house having breakfast listening to the radio news. 
Item. Only ten miles from us lions had broken into a shamba and
killed a man!  I thanked God we had been overlooked. The friends
were able to teach the Faith openly there & I joined in with
enthusiasm. 

Next stop was Clair Gung in Nyasaland. It was a warm reunion of
the times we had pioneered together in Brighton, England. She
was full of enthusiasm as usual. Then on to Durban and East
London. In each place it was a great uplift for me to be amongst
devoted Bahá�i pioneers for a few days, after being isolated for
so long. Finally arriving in Johanesburg where Marguerite and
Bill Sears picked me up and drove to their small � holding 15
miles out of town. The warmth of their hospitality was
indescribable.

Bill and Marguerite had recently been on pilgrimage. At dinner,
the Guardian had told them to pioneer. �Where, beloved
Guardian?�  �Africa.�  �Which part of Africa, beloved?�  �South
Africa.�  �What part?�  �Johannesburg!� And so here they were. 
Bill was at that time one of the most well � known radio and TV
sports commentators in the U.S.A. and I think his salary was
over $50,000 a year. Near the top level in those days. (1952). 
He was now working in the same occupation in Johanesburgh for
about $3,000 a year and really struggling to make ends meet
financially. But they were greatly thankful to be able to help
bring the Faith to AFrica, and also to please the beloved
Guardian. 

The teaching work had already begun in much secrecy, in deference
to the aparteid laws which strictly limited any such friendliness
to the local natives. However several enthusiastic seekers came
regularly to the farm and listened with much interest to the
teachings of Bahá�u�llah.{{p71b}}

Next stop was Mafeking, where John and Audrey Robarts from Canada
had moved in to pioneer Becuannaland. I had known them from my
Canadian days and attended their firesides in Toronto regularly. 
It was good to see how effective they were in teaching the Faith
in Africa.. They had already brought a few into the Faith even
though the aparteid policy was in force. Much prayer had been
their constant practice. John often rose at midnight to say his
daily prayer because it was easier to concentrate then. They
were also very long time Bahá�is. I should mention here that
both Bill Sears and John Robarts were later named Hands of the
Cause by Shoghi Effendi. John was now working in life insurance
like me, but for an English company, the Prudential. I was able
to learn a lot from him about this business since he had been a
company manager in Toronto. Now, living in Mafeking they were my
nearest Bahá�i neighbours, about 600 miles from Windhoek. John
later visited me there for a few days and left me feeling much
uplifted by his inspiration. 

On to Capetown where I stayed with Lowell Johnson and his wife;
Lowell was also in radio announcing. The teaching there was
spreading sucessfully among both Africans and coloureds and so
interesting was it that I over stayed my two weeks leave to join
in. 

Arriving back at Windhoek I was amazed to find my company angry
at my overstayed leave; they gave me the sack. I was amazed,
since I had served them well. I wrote to John Robarts about this
and he recommended me as an agent for his company. The general
manager came up from Capetown to interview me. He asked my old
manager why he had sacked me. On hearing that it was because of
my over stayed leave he said: �You are crazy to lose this agent,
I will be delighted to offer him a job. Now I became the first
full time representative for the Prudential in S.W. Africa!  

One morning, soon after my arrival back in Windhoek I received a
phone message from the police. �Mr Cardell, we understand you
are a Bahá�i. We would like to know more about it. Could you
come in for an interview tomorrow?� Although the tone of his
voice was mild I realised this was very serious. What had I done
now to break the tight secrecy I had been keeping about the
Faith?  The next morning the officer in a friendly way
{{p71c}}
asked me to tell about Bahá�i. I did this briefly, being careful
to avoid anything which might upset him. Then, to my surprise he
pulled out a Bahá�i pamphlet and read from it the twelve
principles. He asked if this was correct and I agreed with it. 
Wondering if I should elaborate I realised that the less I said
the better. Remembering that I had a printed statement on
�Relations of Bahá�is to government prepared by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the U.S.A. I told him about it and offered
to bring him a copy the next day. He was pleased. I asked him
how he had heard that I was a Bahá�i and to my astonishment he
replied: �The Rhodesian police told us about it.� After I
delivered the statement the police never worried me again. It
was obviously clear to them that Bahá�i was no real threat at
present and that since there was some international anger about
aparteid at that time, it was probably best not to go into it
further unless the Bahá�is started doing something more obvious. 
Little did they know that the spiritual springtime had arrived
and that within 20 years they would have to grant independence to
the country and apartheid would be abolished for ever in both
S.W. Africa and South Africa itself{{p72}}
told him not to do so, lest it get to the police, but the
following evening he introduced me to Hilifa, the police
translator. Hilifa and I drove out into the country each night
and by flashlight started going over the script. I took it home
and retyped the new part and met him the next night for more. 
This went on for many nights, for he kept improving his own
translation. Finally we had a good edition. I was elated, and
Hilifa felt very pleased to help. In my mind I can still see the
wonderful smile on his face. He was also learning a lot about
Bahá�i. 

I had made friends with two young Dutchmen named Harry and Bill
and told them about the Faith in confidence. They suggested we
all go for a holiday together at Swapukmund on the coast and
arrange to have Hilifa visit his friends down there at the same
period. And so it happened, we rented a small holiday cottage
and moved in. Each night we covered the windows with blankets
and Hilifa came in and sat talking with us. I told him a lot
about Shoghi Effendi and said he would be delighted to receive a
letter from the first Kunyama. He immediately started writing
with enthusiasm. We could not mail the letter as censors often
opened t~ I was going on lea~,o tO En~land soon and would mail
the letter from there. th~ Next day Hilifa and I drove along~
desert coast, far from civilization, laid out a rug and sitting
near the ocean began studying the book Bahá�u�llah and the New
Era. We had been doing this for some time when, on looking up I
saw two whitemen had driven up, stopped their car and were gazing
in astonishment at a black and white man relaxing on the rug
reading and talking together as equals. They got out their
fishing tackle as a cover and started walking towards us. I made
a plan, I would walk along the coast and draw them away so that
Hilifa could make for the car. It worked well, they followed me. 
Hilifa headed for the car and I then turned back quickly, jumped
in the car and we drove off. The two men were left gazing
helplessly after us without even having taken the number of the
car. We laughed long and loud. 

The next day Hilifa brought his friend David to meet us and this
time we drove inland into the desert. We sat talking about the
Faith and since it was a feast day we actually celebrated it
together. I stood my camera on the tripod and took a historic
photo of the three of us. David later became a Bahá�i.

Back in Windhoek, in order to keep in touch with Hilifa I started
teaching him to drive my car. He showed good skill and we
enjoyed each others company.{{p72a}}

The time for me to go on leave to England arrived and Hilifa was
still not ready to become a Bahá�i. I gave him a copy of
Bahá�u�llfih and the New Era, embraced him and promised to
return. Flying first to Johanesburg I attended the election on
the Sears farm, of the first National Spiritual Assembly of South
and West Africa. The previous year when they had elected the
L.S.A. of Johanesburg, the Guardian had instructed the Bahá�is
to obey the law in S.Africa forbidding committees of mixed races
and it had been and all black Assembly. Now he told us that the
National Spiritual Assembly must be of mixed races, also that he
was looking forward eagerly to see what the proportions would be. 
The event proceeded without a hitch. The membership of the new
N.S.A. was found to be about equally black and white. Paul
Haney was the Guardian�s representative and a big inspiration. 
Reg Turvey, an old time white resident and a Bahá�i of many
years, was assigned to watch at the gate to the farm in case the
police came to investigate. He had a telephone on a long line to
warn us. Reg actually fell asleep on the job!  

Back in England I often thought about Hilifa and S.W.Africa. One
day a letter arrived from Hilifa. He was so glad I had left him
the book. He had been reading the chapter about how to
distinguish between a true Prophet and a false one. Now he knew
that Bahá�u�llah was a true Prophet. There was much more and
with great joy I sent this letter, together with the one he had
written to Shoghi Effendi, off to the Guardian. Within a week a
reply came. Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum�s phrase put it clearly. We are so
glad that your chick has at last come through the shell!  Please
give Hilifa our love and the enclosed lette when you return. At
the bottom was a prayerful encouragement from Shoghi Effendi. 

After some time I returned to Africa, stopping first in Kenya for
a few days teaching in the Maragoli district. On arriving back
at the Sears farm near Johanesburg I became very ill. Dr Alice
Kidder, a Bahá�i friend tried to treat me by wholistic massage. 
It failed completely. As I lost consciousness I pleaded with
Marguerite to take me to hospital. I woke up three days later
having been through a severe bout of malaria, probably caught
while in Kenya. Soon I was back at the farm recuperating. 
During this time I became friends with the Sears two sons, Mike
and Billy, a connection which was to have interesting results. 
Finally, back in good health I bought a good second hand car and
drove the long trip to Windhoek.{{p73}}

One day I received a letter from Mike Sears who was living with
his parents near Johanesburg. Mike wanted to come and work in
Windhoek. He had been offered an apprentice position with an
architect there. I was joyful. At last another Bahá�i to talk
with and celebrate feasts. He arrived and settled in. Hilifa
introduced us both to his friend Nicodemus who then joined us
often in our clandestine meetings. Soon he became the second
Kunyama to recognise his Lord. We were now four!  

I was now forty � two years old and still single. Looking in the
mirror one day I decided I had better think seriously about
finding a wife. I was also the only male member of the Cardells
to carry on the family name. My non � Bahá�i parents had been very
patient and supportive of my move to Africa, but longed to see
me. I wrote saying I would visit them if they bought me a return
ticket and they accepted gladly. 

It was now October 1957. Early one morning I received a cable. 
�Shoghi Effendi seriously ill, need everyones� prayers. 
Rúḥíyyih.�  Next day a second telegram came  �  �Grieve inform
Bahá�i world Shoghi Effendi passed away, London. Earnest prayers
entreated Guardian and security Faith Rúḥíyyih. Mike and I were
shocked and stunned. Slowly the situation regarding a future
Guardian came to our attention. Had he left a will?  Did he have
any children?  If not, had he appointed another?  I arrived in
England to find the whole Bahá�i world asking the same questions. 
The funeral had taken place before I got there and I could only
kneel at his graveside and pray for understanding.

I spent some unsettled weeks with my parents and then decided to
go to the U.S.A.band see what they thought about the matter. 
Maybe I might even find a wife over there. It also ocurred to me
that since I was from Africa, the National Teaching committee
might like me to spend a few weeks travel teaching and talking
about Africa. I received an enthusiastic reply to my enquiry and
sailed for America aboard the Queen Mary. Arriving in New York,
the local Bahá�is gave me a warm welcome and then I started on a
journey visiting the cities the N.T.C. had suggested and funded. 
So, by bus and train I covered a lot of the U.S.A., arrivinv in
Chi~ Fn illCt in time for convention.{{p74}}

Convention was a big uplift after being away from Bahá�i
event~like this for some years. In the middle of it I was
introduced to Alicia Ward and her mother. Alicia told me later,
that she knew right away we would be married. My analytical mind
was still open on that subject but we shared the whole convention
together in a spirit of ever growing oneness. I took her to the
plane for Phoenix making sure I had an invitation to visit her
soon. However the N.T.C. secretary wanted me to do another tour
of cities, talking about Africa. I turned it down, saying I had
a date in Tempe, near Phoenix. She suggested a tour through
various places and ending up at Tempe. I accepted. 
Arriving at Tempe by Trailways bus some weeks later I stepped out
into heat greater than I had ever experienced, even in Africa. I
thought I must be standing in the exhaust of the bus, so moved
away. To my astonishment, the heat was still there and the truth
dawned on me. This was normal Arizona weather� When Alicia came
to fetch me from the bus station I knew for sure this was my
future wife, for here was a lady I could love and trust. She had
arrived at the age of thirty unmarried because she had not been
satisfied with any of the young men so far. Her spiritual
character showed in her actions and speech and her family were
long time Bahá�is. Unseen forces drew us ever closer together in
a joy inexplicable. She was delighted to go back to A f rica
with me. After about three months living wiih her family we were
married. On Aug 9th 1958 we had a Bahá�i wedding. After a
honeymoon we drove Alicia�s Volkswagon across the U.S.A to New
York, sold it, and sailed to England on the Queen Elizabeth. 
Since we were short of funds, we asked for their cheapest cabin
and found ourselves in the bow of the ship. We could hear the
swish of the water rushing past and the occasional clank of the
anchor chain against the side of the ship as we went to sleep.

In England, my family were delighted to meet Alicia and all the
relatives gathered for a second wedding celebration. We had
brought the top layer of the wedding cake with us, but the ocean
journey had been too much for it; inside, it was green with
mould, but the spirit of the occasion was not dampened. After a
few weeks we found a cheap charter plane back to Windhoek via
Nigeria. Alicia explained to the company that she was a one time
stewardess on United airlines; she wondered if they could give
her a cheap fare. They gave her the navigator�s spare seat just
behind the pilot at half price. We rejoiced at the economy, but
soon found that the chair was a simnle stool, not even bolted to
the floor!  We worried about {{p75}}
it for obvious reasons, but soon a teenager pleaded to be allowed
to exchange seats with her so that he could watch the pilot. We
were happy to oblige. 

The flight was uneventful until we reached Kano in Nigeria where
we were allowed time to go into the city. Here, for the first
time we found ourselves in a majority Moslem country and were
much attracted to the way people lived there. The next leg of
our flight took us to Windhoek in S.W.Africa. Mike Sears had
already spent his one year there and had now gone back to his
parents home near Johannesburg. He had left the car I had lent
him, with friends and the key was hidden in a prearranged place. 
We found ~e k~ and were now able to search for a small apartment
in the town. Then I went back to work for a British company, the
Prudential Insurance company selling life insurance to
Africaaners who were often prejudiced against ~ ~ to them,~
foreign company. It was hard work, but I managed to make a
living this way and got a lot of freedom to meet with Hilifa,
Nicodemus and their friends. They were delighted to see us of
course. 

Now be~J~ 2 ~.~Vh~ new cnapter in our lives, living no longer
as single people but as a happily married couple, far from our
native homes in the service of Bahá�u�llah. Life was peaceful
and ordered and we even had time to play card games and see the
latest movies, which for some reason often came here from America
before going to England. 

We were most excited with the arrival of a letter from a Bahá�i
family in Germany, and here lies a wonderful story, true in every
part. Their names were Gerda and Martin Aiff; they owned a small
duplicating business and had five small children. By some
miracle they had managed to get their relatives to look after the
children while they went on pilgrimage. Dinner with the Guardian
was to them an unexpressible joy. One evening the Guardian said
�Martin, I want you and Gerda to lead the German youth to
Africa.� Martin, in a logical frame of mind replied �But beloved
Guardian, I have no money, no job in Africa and five children.!�
It speaks volumes for the Guardian!s reliance at all times (and
for all people) on the unfailing assistance of the unseen world
when I record that the Guardian did not even deign to answer this
problem at all. To him it was the will of God that this family
would go to Africa so he answered with a disdainful humph!  and
then moved on to the next topic. The affect on Martin and Gerda
was dramatic. They got the message loud and clear and from that
moment {{p76}}
on the~ began planning their move to Africa. They felt that the
best country for them would be S.W. Africa where Alicia and I
lived. It used to be a German territory before the first world
war and was given to England as ~I~de ~ ~ue ~ ha~7~
reparations~and England asked South Africa to look after it for
them. Hence the main business language there was German, and
there was a good German school for their children. It took them
two years to get everything in order and they finally arrived by
ship at Walvis Bay. Alicia and I met them at ~ho~ the dock and I
have a lovely picture of Gerda and Martin leading six children
off the boat. Alicia and I had rented a large old house which
could be divided in two, so that they had at least a home to come
to. We started having firesides there for Hilifa, Nicodemus and
their friends. We were now started in earnest on the teaching
work. But Martin scoured the town 
for a job and got nowhere. We all prayed frequentlyt for all
their small capital was gone. They started unpacking but found
that nearly all of their precious crockery had been smashed due
to insufficient packing in the crate. Finally a business offered
him work at half the salary he would need to live on; he could
start at the end of the month. All relaxed but at the end of the
month the jo6 4~Y ~    cl . The next few weeks were tense, but
finally he was offered a job as a travelling salesman selling
goods in the distant villages all over tht vast territory. This
meant that he would be away from his family for many weeks at a
time. He accepted and Gerda was left, with our help, to look
after the family. 

This was difficult enough but one day one son got hit by a car. 
Amazingly, it was Hilifa who got to the scene first, picked up
the injured boy and got him to hospital. Martin continued his
travelling and employed a Herera man to go with him. Long drives
and much discussion resulted in this man being ready to recognise
Bahá�u�llah. One day they stopped near the sea and went in for a
bathe. The Herera man was carried out to sea and drowned. Poor
Martin was desolate, but to the police it was just a statistic. 

Later on, with another Herera he was travelling between
settlements and his truck with its clothing samples caught fire. 
Everything was lost. One more adventure for Martin must be told. 
This time it was a victory. He heard one day that the police
were suspecting him of friendship with the Africans and that he
was a Bahá�i. He decided it was the time for all or nothing. He
went straight to the police headquarters and asked for
{{p77}}
an interview with the chief officer. He asked him �Why are you
following me?� The reply was �Because we hear you are a Bahá�is
and are being too friendly to the Africans.� �Is there a law
against this?� Martin queried. The officer had to say there was
no such law. (in practice it was an unwritten part of the
aparteid policy.) �Then may I have your permission to hold weekly
Bahá�i meetings in the African township?� Strangely, they
accepted. From then on the teaching was open and progressed. 
Perhaps it was an advantage for the police to hear for themselves
wether Bahá�i is subversive or not, for they could send their own
representative to the meetings to watch. Further, they had my
own written document stating the non � political nature of Bahá�i. 

About a year after the Aiff family arrived, we discovered that we
were to become parents. This caused us to think in more real
terms about our future income. My insurance business was failing
because I could not keep up the hard sell technique which was
required and in any case it was not my chosen career. We decided
to move back to Kenya where I would be able to restart mv
profession as a photographer. 

Most of the above adventures of the Aiff family occured after we
had boarded a small steamer and travelled round the Cape of Good
Hope to Kenya. On the way we stopped for a few days at Capetown
and stayed with the Bahá�is. Then we caught another ship to
Durban and stayed with the friends there arriving finally at
Mombasa, the main port of Kenya. We were met by a lovely Italian
family, the Rupps, who were friends of ‘Azíz. They helped us get
our things from the ship to the station and with a warm goodbye
from our new friends, we began our long winding journey inland
and climbing up to 5,000 feet in 400 miles (~ \I~YO6~. 

We had written to the Yazdí family before hand and they had
ar~nged for us to live in the guest house in their garden. It
was a real warm home coming and and a welcome haven for Alicia
especially, for the Yazdís acted like true parents towards us,
helping wherever they could. But our plans were all to be
changed. The British Govbernment had announced they were going
to give independance to Kenya in 4 years. It would be impossible
for us to set up a viable photo businss, for most of the white
people would be leaving Kenya, and there would not even be good
schools for our expected children. We began searching for jobs
once again, realising that our time in Africa was now very
limited, for I was not trained for anything but
{{p78}}
farming (English style) and pnotography. It made more sense to
go back to England soon and train to be a school teacher or
secretary then we could pioneer again to many places in the
world. But for now we needed an income. My job search in
Nairobi produced no results and at last ‘Azíz offered me a
position as travelling salesman for the medicines he was
importing. 

A few weeks later ‘Azíz took me on an extended sales trip into
northern Uganda, to open up new customers. All went well until I
phoned home from Uganda and Alicia told me our firstborn would
soon be arriving. We headed back immediately. Baby Catherine
was born soon after and I shall never forget the excitement we
experienced at realising that we now had our very own family. 
Our firstborn, Catherine, was born on October 18, 1959.

I now felt impelled to look for a job more to my liking, for I
was not a salesman type. On answering an advertisement for a
Cotton Officer in the Department of Agriculture, I foud myself
accepted with almost indecent haste, even though I told them I
had no idea what a cotton plant looked like. Maybe it was my
previous farming experience in England, but after all the hard
job searching we had done we saw it as a great bounty. They
planned to send us down to the coast where the climate was
suitable for cotton growing. We would live in a small settlement
named Malindi where the climate was tropical and the living
conditions primative. We gladly accepted, though we did not
realise just how primative it would be. 

It was just at this time that my parents, who had only once
before left the shores of England, now decided to come and visit
us in Africa. They were able to spend a few days with us in
Nairobi before my new job started and this enabled them to get to
know the new baby and also Alicia whom they had only met briefly
in England when we were on our way back to Africa. They were
also very pleased to see that at last their son was settling down
to a reliable government job. Little did we know how short that
would be. 

It may be of interest to parents now raising children and
anxiously trying to get them to take up some reliable profession,
if there is such a thing these days, to hear that at the age of
18 I had no idea what career to follow. I stayed on the farm
another eleven years and then immigrated to Canada in search of a
profession and a meaning to life. Over the next 23 years I held
17 different jobs. True, many of these happened in Africa where
I had to take almost any kind of a work that came along. After
leaving Africa in 1963 we finally settled down running the family
farm for 20 years. That is where our four wonderful children
grew up.{{p79}}

But to return to Africa and my parents arrival there in 1959. We
first introduced them to the wild anima park just ten miles
outside Nairobi. There are no fences to keep the animals in, but
they stay in the natural habitat which has been left for them. 
As one enters and buys tickets there is a large notice �STAY IN
YOUR CAR AND CLOSE ALL WINDOWS.�  Strangly enough, the animals do
not associate motor vehicals with humans. Perhaps it is the
smell of gasoline, but they continue in their normal � behavior I
shall never forget the intense surprise on my mother�s face when
a male lion walked up to our car, cocked his leg up and weed on
our bumper. After driving for an hour we came to a clearing in
the bush to find a notice which said you may get out of your car
here, it is safe.�  My father to stretch our legs said
apprenhensively as we got out to stretch our legs: �I hope the
lions can read!�

Their next adventure was to drive with us down to Malindi through
simila wild animal country. It was a happy though dusty journey
and at one point we stopped to change the baby�s nappies. We
threw the dirty one into the bush much to the delight of a troup
of baboons who came out enmass to receive their gift and carry it
off in triumph into the jungle. We did not stop laughing for a
long time!

We arrived at Mombassa port which beins at sea level was much
hotter than Nairobi. Also, for the first time we noted a lar~
proportion of the population was Arabs, especially at the docks
where pictureque Arab dowhs were loading cargoes of trees to take
back to Arabia. After a night at a hotel pervaded by all kin~ of
unaccustomed noises we set off, next day on the journey north
{{p80}}
50 miles along the coast to Malindi which consisted of a hotel,
block of flats surrounded by many native huts and a cotton
ginning mill. I found the office of the local senior cotton
officer and was given the occupancy of one of the flats. Our
windows looked out on probably the most perfect and enormous
sandy beach I had ever seen. It stretched perhaps for 20 miles
in each direction and we had it all to ourselves. Happily a 
strong wind blew in from the Indian ocean. We later found that
it never seemed to cease blowing; what is more, it was heavily
moisture laden and within two weeks, all our precious books would
develop a strong mould.

My parents put up at the hotel and found it comfortable. The
next day I was shown my job. It was to walk to all the small
shambas (plots of ground) and talk with their owners, describing
to them the big advantages of growing pure stand cotton instecd
of interplanting it with maize. This would increase their income
and also make the owner of the ginning mill more happy. The mill
had machinery for teasing the cotton buds into bales for
shipping.

There were no roads and few paths between the shambas and I was
forced to walk through the long grass. This was not too bad,
except that it was said to be the most snake infested part of
Africa; a claim which I was soon to substantiate when on the
first day I came upon a clearing on the bank of a creek where a
most bizare fight was going on. Some natives had come upon a
very large snake (18 feet long) which was in the act of
swallowing a smaller one some men had therefore decided to kill
both snakes while they were struggling. The large snake, still
with its victim half swallowed had sought an escape in the water. 
An African with a large two foot knife called a panga, had
followed it in. As I watched, he cut off its head to loud cheers
and ribald shouts from his friends. Back at the office, I sought
advice on {{p81}}
avoiding snakes during my tours. I was advised to carry a
snakebite kit and then hope for the best. For my whole term I
did this and found years later that the kit would have been not
only useless but dangerous if I had used it. Meanwhile I walked
happily through the long grass daily to talk with the native
women about cotton raising.

One day I was helping a woman plant the new cotton seeds in rows,
the best way to get them to follow my advice, when the woman
beside me gave a strangled exclamation. I looked up to see
advancing towards us about ten yards away, a snake even bigger
than the one I had previously encountered. Its head was raised
two feet above the ground while its tongue tasted the air around. 
Grasping the addage that `snakes are more scared than humans� I
threw a lump of dirt at it, but to no avail  �  it still kept
coming towards us!  Desperately I threw more dirt and it suddenly
made off. I recalled that snakes have ~ery poor eye � sight. so
probably it had not meant to attack at all, but we both had a
real scare, wondering how we would have fought the thing off.

The season had now arrived for plantinQthe new crop and I was on
duty at the seed store, handing out free seed to all commers. A
long line of Africans waited patiently as I filled each shopping
bag presented to me. Suddenly I became aware that the young girl
next in line was staring at me with wide eyes. Obviously she had
never seen a whiteman before, a not uncommon thing in that wild
area. I looked at her and, before she could ask the question on
her lips I said �How did you get so black?�  To which she replied
�How did you get so white?  Then everyone collapsed in laughter.
{{p82}}

That evening Alicia, baby Cathy and I went shopping for the
weekend supplies. We were directed to the meat market whlch
consisted of a butcher working behind a high wooden wall in which
there was a foot square hole serving as a counter top. When we
gave our order, it arrived through this hole partly wrapped in
newspaper and grasped in a bloody hand. Such was the hygiene! 
For some reason we accepted the meat and suffered no ills, but a
gradual accumulation of such incidents made us think of other
employment nearer to civilvation.

Since we were living on the equator at sea � level and in primative
conditions, it may come as no surprise to hear that all the women
went topless the whole time; Alicia often joked about her husband
beinq fully educated on the matter of women�s breasts � of all
ages.

We had been six months on this job and learning to understand the
native life and devise the best ways to teaach the Faith. We had
made a number of friends and got on well with the people, but we
began to see that conditions were too primative for the health of
the new baby, so soon after my parents went back to England I
answered an advertisment for an executive officer in the
Department of Trade and supplies. I was successful and we went
back to live and work in Nairobi. Much as I lovedthe country, it
was a relief to be back in the city, working at a desk job.

I was now put in charge of making cash loans to small businesses
to help them expand and develop. It was my task to sort out the
applicants which could be trusted to make their monthly
repayments. The U.S.A. had kindly donated half a million pounds
to this worthy project.{{p83}}

The original nine pioneers who had lived in Kenya when the Ten
Year Plan started had now been reduced considerably. Fred
Schecter had pioneered to Somalia , Claire had gone to Uganda and
started her infant classes. Others went elsewhere and there was
only ‘Azíz, Claudio Rupp, ‘Azíz and myself able to travel up
country in the teaching work. Our wives sometimes were able to
come, but mostly were raising their children. Ainee and Teheren
‘Alí, devoted Persian pioneers helped where they could and I shall
never forget one trip I made with them upcountry when this highly
cultured couple lived for a few days in the African�s huts,
eating with them and clearly revelling in their company. Alicia
and I also made such a trip.

Susy, our second baby soon joined us and life became more
complicated but challenging. However, on one occasion Alicia_was
able to come with me on an upcountry teaching trip and I treasure
.. .. my photo of her sitting in the shade of a hut teaching a
large class about the life of Bahá�u�llah. We even managed to
buy a small slide projector which, powered by long leads from our
car battery, projected pictures onto the white � washed wall of a
hut. By this method we were able to show the~the livesof Bahá�is
round the world and also sG.ne~of themselves taken on previous
trips. One man kept requesting a repeated viewing of a certain
slide. When asked why, he proudly revealed that this picture was
of himself addressing the meeting. In another picture, someoneJs
rooster had got into the picture and this made it a favorite
slide for everyone.

On another occasion we were able to borrow the use of a backroom
of a beer � hall in a small village. The highly spiritual
discussion was frequently interrupted by the din of customers in
the beerhall, but the Message was clearly and convincingly
explained.{{p84}}

Christianity had come to this country over 100 years ago. 
Infact by ~ ~  eO~          that we were told that it had arrived
in 1844 and this fullfilled the Biblical prophecy �. . . and
this Gospel shall be preached unto all the world, and then shall
the end come.� Kenya may have been the last country to receive
the Christian Message. By 1951 there were many missionaries in
Kenya, and from different groups, but their disunity over
interpretation had confused the Africans. When the Bahá�is had
applied to the District Comissioner for permission to build a
Bahá�i Center at the village of Kabras, it was refused. I
visited the Comissioner to discover why and was told~that there
were various fanatical Christian sects there already and their
arguments had caused unrest in the area; he didnot want any more
to make the situation worse. When I explained the unifying and
peaceful teachings of Bahá�u�llah he happily gave ~  er~iscion. 
~evcted Persian contributions had already provided the funds and
we soon had a new and very adequate meeting hall which the local
Bahá�i began to use regularly. I have photos of Hand of the
Cause Olinga addressing a large meeting there.

One of the earliest believers in that area was Festo Mukalama. 
He spoke good English and ~as also quite musical in the African
way. Soon he had composed many songs tel~ing the story of
Bahá�u�llah and also His teachings. These became a great
favourite among the people and a most excellent wa~ ofsp the
Faith. At this time Bob and ~eith Quigley from America visited
us and donated a portable battery tape recorder on which I
captured these songs and sent copies to the U.S.A. and to South
American Bahá�is. In later years Festo was appointed a Board
Member and to this day continues to serve Bahá�u�llah in an
exemplary manner, simply bubblinq over with ioY and devotio~ time
pioneers visit his area.{{p85}}

When Alicia and I had returned to Kenya, we found that the temple
in Kampala had been compleated while we were in Windhoek. Soon
after our return Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum came to perform the dedication
of this beautiful building which had drawn interest over a very
wide area. Bearing in mind the Guardian�s guidance, the National
Spiritual Assembly spared no efforts to make this a big occasion. 
Full publicity in the press and liason with the Government of
Uganda was only the start. The news was carried all over Uganda,
Kenya and Tanganyika and also to overseas news syndicates. The
ruler of Uganda, the Kabaka, sent his son to attend the ceremony
and the Governor�s representative sat in a place of honour
between Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum and our Chairman, ‘Alí Nakhjavani. Many
Bahá�is from overseas were present, including five from South
Africa.

That evening there was a big public meeting at Makerere college
in the city. Here David Hofman who had flown specially from
England to represent that National Spiritual Assembly, made a
presentation of one of the Guardian�s letters to our N.S.A. 
Rúḥíyyih Kahnum was presented with a native spear to take back to
Haifa. Once again, as in 1953, the streets and hotels of Uganda
rang with the comings and goings of a multitude of Bahá�is of
many races and countries.

Some time later Nairobi received a rather special guest, Dr
Niederreiter from Abbysinia. He was on his way to the Belgian
Congo to investigate reports of extraordianary Bahá�i
developments there. Some months previously Rex and Mary Collison
had pioneered from Kampala to the territory of Ruand Urundi. 
They had taken with them a devoted Uqandan believer. The Faith
had been {{p86}}
established strongly and the Collisons had returned to Kampala,
leaving their companion to carry on the work. Some of the new
believers had then taken the Faith to a neighboring territory,
the Belgian Congo; there it had spread rapidly until whole
villages had entered the Faith  �  so the rumours indicated. The
good doctor was on his way to investigate and help. About two
months later he returned to Nairobi highly elated. The rumours
were not only true but in some places the local Bahá�is had built
Bahá�i Centers for their activities and also built their own
houses around the Center, as was the custom of the Christians who
often made their churches their village center.

Dr Niederreiter had mostly travelled between villages on foot,
accompanied by a g � oup of Bahá�is. This was done without
preplannins and they arrived unannounced in one village to find
the Ninteen Day Feast in full swing. They were able to join in.

An interesting  situation occured during the early days of the
Faith in Kenya when I reported to the Local Spiritual Assembly of
Nairobi that in my country ~ourneys coverin~the Mau Mau
revolution for the Newspapers, I had often been exposed to the
risk of being attacked. As a pioneer I obviously did not want to
get involved in the fighting but I asked the advice of the
Assembly wether I should carry a gun for self � protection. The
Asembly decided that I should be free to do so, but I never did
feel inclined to doi � ~ ; rather I chose to retire away from the
biggest dangers even if it meant missing importantnews photos.The
result was that I missed covering one very important development
when an entire village was masacred by the Mau Mau for
colaborating with the Europeans. My London newspaper sent an
urgent message for {{p87}}
pictures of the gruesome event. I was unable to supply these, so
they cut off my picture privilages at the radio station. (They
had been paying the costs of transmitting photos by radio to
London.) I had, in the words of the trade, �Let them down�, but I
had also probably saved my own life and the life of some African.

There was such a demand from all the London newspapers that I had
little difficulty in getting picture privilages from a
competitor. I continued sending them pictures at their expense
and both sides agency were satisfied. One day my old
newspaper wrote reinstating my privilages and sending a cutting
of the trial of Jomo Kenyatta, the leader of the Mau Mau as an
example of the kind of pictures they would like!  I recognised my
own picture sent to the new firm!

The reason why I record so much detail is that an interesting
sequel transpired when Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum next visited us and I told
her the decision of the Assembly allowing me to carry a gun. She
spontaneously replied �I don�t know about you Ted, but if I had
come out to Africa to teach the Message of Bahá�u�llah to the
African people, I would rather die than kill one.�

I had recently been appointed secretary of the Kenya teaching
committee under the N.S.A. of Central and East Africa. (Kenya
did not yet have its own N.S.A.) and as such was in
correspondence with a lot of the friends. My office was in the
newly built Bahá�i Center in Nairobi and Charles Mungonye, a very
devoted Bahá�i was my full time assistant and typist. We got
various projects going, such as a song sheet in two languages, so
that everYone could join in.{{p88}}

We also encouraged people from different language areas of Kenya
to translate a basic pamphlet, even though they were all rather
similar to Swahili, the official language.

My job at the Department of Trade was now developing and one day
I found myself at the desk which ordered shiploads of sugar from
abroad to supplement production from our own two sugar factories. 
I had no experience of this work but there was a very efficient
clerks staff of Hindus who did all the calculations and brought
me the papers to sign. One m~rning in discussing their religion
with them I found they had received permission to be absent on
their religious holidays. Since we now had Bahá�is working in
various government departments I made an official application for
them also to have their Holy days recognised and this was
granted. This was one more step on the way towards official
recognition of the Faith.

The following April, much to my surprise I found myself elected
to the N.S.A. of Central and � East Africa and had to make monthly
journeys to Kampala, a ten hour night trip by bus or a one hour
plane trip. The first time, since there was only limited time
free from my office, I took the plane. The National Treasurer,
Ḥasan Sabri gently suggested that in future it would save the
fund a lot of money if I took bus, even though it was very
primative. It was quite an experience be crammed tightly into
such a bus overnight with all kinds of tribesmen, but I certainly
found myself more able to appreciate their kind of life and
although the driving was quite macho, we never had any accidents. 
Later I found that both Clair Gung and Ḥasan Sabri much more
exciting rides, one bus had its fuel tank drop off and the other
ran off {{p89}}
the road and they had to wait all night to be towed out in the
morning.

As mentioned earlier, the Mau Mau terrorists sometimes attacked
isolated Europeans. One day I was driving the 300 miles to meet
the Bahá�is up country when I rounded a bend in the road and
found a row of 8 inch boulders strung across the road. The idea
was obvious, I would stop to remove them and be open to attack. 
It is amazing how fast one thinks in such situations and without
slowing, I aimed one front wheel at  a small gap and prayed hard
that the other wheels would find a way. By some miracle all
wheels passed through and I continued without incident.

Another weekend, four pioneers drove up country and found some of
the main roads had been re�routed. We got thoroughly lost and as
darkness fell it began to pour with rain. We were unable to find
the Bahá�is houses and had nowhereto spend the night. Happily,
after wandering around we came upon a Europen mission. We
knocked and were received warmly by the missionaries. They gave
us real hospitality , a hot meal and beas. In the morning they
fed us again and set us on the right road. We were most grateful
No religious discussion took place, surprisingly. Be~ore~o
Africa the Guardian had indicated that we should concentrate
completely on teaching the African people and not the white
people.

Perhaps this is an appropriate place to try to give some idea of
the beloved Guardian�s relationship with the friends everywhere. 
Almost no one had met him, as pilgrimages had been closed for
many years, due to the machinations of the Covenant Breakers.
{{p90}}

All we had were his steady flow of letters and cables, yet this
alone produced a magical effect upon the hearts of the believers. 
In England we were luckier than most countries, for the Guardian
had sent Ḥasan Baluzi and Dr. Hakin to live in our country. 
Both had met the Master frequently and his spirit seemed to come
to us through them. In later years Ḥasan was named �Hand of the
Cause� and Dr Ḥakím became a member of the first Universal HOuse
of Justice. Since we also had quite a number of the Writings of
Bahá�u�llah in English it served to galvanise us to move towards
a spiritual awakening. At Summer Schoo~, Conventions and other
occasions there was a spirit quite different from our normal
working lives. It was not surprising that when in 1951 the
Guardian gave us a Two Year Plan to establish three groups in
East and West Africa, there was a conceerted move to fullfill his
wishes, even though cnly one couple had ever been there and the
British community was probably no more than 600 souls.

Many years later, in 1982, Alicia and I met Helen Bishop in
Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. Helen was quite old but had a very
clear memory of her meetings with Abdu�l Bahá and with Shoghi
effendi. She told us how she had once visited Oxford in England
and found herself invited to a banquet and was sitting next to
the Principal of Baliol College where Shoghi Effendi had studied. 
She asked him his impression of the young Shoghi Effendi. His
reply was �He was an excellent student, hard working and full of
enthusiasm, but what a pity, in the end they made him the head of
some queer religion.� Helen in her next letter to Shoghi Effendi
described the conversation, but omitted the last sentence, only
to receive a letter in return saying �Now tell me the rest.� We
all had a good laugh.{{p91}}

Another most unusual event took place one Sunday in the village
of Givogi. I had arrived one �~eekend in Givogi where Mr
Asalache had extended warm hospitality for a deepening course. 
It was Sunday afternoon and I was preparing to finish up and
start the 5 hour journey back to Nairobi before dark when a young
lad came puffing into the circle from the ne.Yt village. �Please
Bwana� he said �Come to our village and tell us about this new
religion.� �Bless you� I said, �but it is not possible, I have
just enougl1 time to drive back to Nairobi.� �Well then just come
and spend 15 minutes with lls. I will wait and take you there.�
How could I refuse!  He waited while we finished the course and
then he took me over the hill. There I found a group of about
a dozen people and a headman waiting under the trees. They
welcomed me warmly and I gave them a brief account of
Bahá�u�llah�s Mission. Then the head man rose and thanked me 
also saying that now the 15 minutes was up and I should start
my journey. I left with much joy. The sequel came in a years
later when I had left Kenya and was on a teaching trip in
Ireland where I met Francis Beard. She had pioneered to Kenya
long after I ha � l Ieft and become very energetic in serving the
Afrieall people. She had become much loved. I~lany other
pioneers had also gone to Kenya and the work had e.Ypanded
greatly too; I think, over 300 Assemblies. Francis asked me �Do
you rememher that village near Givogi?� I said �Yes�. �~Vell the
people there still remember the fair�haired young man who f
irsL brought the Faith to them in a few minutes before he had to
rush ot f to Nairobi. And now the whole valley is inhabited with
Bahá�is.�

About ten years later Alicia and I returned to Kenya just for a
visit and attend the Nairobi Bahá�i Conference. Francis was not
forgotten by them. One man enquired very eagerly after her. She
must have been a wonderful person.

It is somtimes difficult to remember the exact time � order of
event;, but about two years after the passing of the Guardian
Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum having somewhat recovered from the great shock,
began making long teaching trips all over the world. This
besides giving tlle friends everywhere much consolation, gave a
fine example for travel teachers to follow. She first made a
trip through the mass declaration parts of Uganda and then came
to Kenya where a group of Bahá�is took her on a trip to our most
useful areas. I tried to join them but could not get permission
from my job. About 2 months later she returned to Kenya again
for more teaching and this time I was privilaged to accompany her
for three whole days as her driver. Another car followed behind
with ‘Azíz and Sue Yazdí and one or two Kenya Bahá�is. 
{{p92}}

Of course I had met Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum while on pilgrimage but just
imagine, I now had her to talk with for the most part of three
whole days as we drove across the plains of Kenya. Looking back
on it, it seems that we talked the whole time with little
respite. She told me that it had been 25 years since she had
been on a teaching trip of any kind, because the Guardian could
not spare her from the work in Haifa where she was almost his
sole helper in the massive correspondence he kept up with
thousands of Bahá�is all over the world. He was also writing to
all National Assembl ies regularly and I believe received all of
the minutes of their meetings which he read carefully and
suggested new kleas for them to considcr. Also he wrote ~,od
l�asses Bv and many other works . How he ever managed to do all
of this and still meet with pilgrims is surely more than one can
understand. However talking with Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum I was able to
glean some idea. I had already asked her why the Guardian di(l
not ask for volunteers from overseas to help, beeause I was sure
very many would willingly come. I even asked her to tell the
Guardian I would do so at any n1oment h~o. wished. She replied
that �It is no small matter to ask someone to serve so close to
the light. It is a spiritual experience which might be too
intense and    perhaps dangerous. I heard but have kept hoping
someday I could a~tain such a bounty, regardless of the risk. 
Also the Covenant breakers who lived just next door to the
Guardian had caused him all manner of deep troubles by trying to
detalne the ~aith and himself and would be waiting to trick any
unsuspecting Bahá�i who came there to work. I understand that
since those days they have been greatly reduced in power and
numbers.

To return to what must have been about the most wonderful three
days I ever had in Kenya our little group visited many Bahá�i
communities in Maragoli. At each place the friends gathered
eagerly while she talked to them for hours in a manner they well
understood, using simple analogies from their daily life to
illustrate the spiritual wisdom she was giving them. One evening
we stayed a government rest camp and on another when we had
driven up into the Nancli hills, a district not yet reached by
the Faith. We stayed talking long after sunset talking round a
wood fire before she retired to one of the local huts which had
been readied for tler arrival. She and the ladies slept in the
one room and ‘Azíz and I in the back of his car. It was a clear
cloudless night, which was just as well, since we discovered in
the morning a large hole in the roof over the bed an~ she found
it a huge joke. We all had breakfast round a {{p93}}
small table set up outside the hut. On another occasion we
bought some fish at the market in Kisumu and drove up intothe
Maragoli hills Here we found a stream where we relaxed, built a
fire and cooked the fish for lunch. Our guest greatly enjoyed
the experience and we were much uplifted to see her recovering
from the passing of Shoghi Effendi.

On our three day trip Rhuiyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum showed much interest in how
the pl~ teaching work was going. I told her we had a great many
declarations but because the area was so far from Nairobi city
where all the pioneers lived and because there were only about 5
of us, it was impossible to do any real deepening; obviously they
all needed repeated visits to really understand the wonder of the
Message. It looked as though were forced to choose between
expansion or deepening. We discussed the matter at great length
but could find no answer. Looking back it now seem that it would
have been impossible to seperate the two activities for at each
meeEng there was always a lot of new faces. I hea~ months later
that when she was in India on a similar trip, Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum
found the simple answer. �Nowhere in the Writings does it give
you permission to cease from teaching.�

I can hardly believe that for much of those three days I was
alone in the car, talking with Rúḥíyyih Kahnum. Her enthusiasm
was uplifting and this was also because as she said, �I have been
li � ~ing in Haifa for 25 years helping the Guardian and this is
the first teaching trip I have done in all that time. There was
usually a large group of African children sitting up front at all
her meetings and she was amazed to see how quiet and obedient
they � were. They seemed to sense that this was perhaps the
greatest moment of their lives.{{p94}}

After the departure of Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum from Africa, the Faith
grew more rapidly than ever before, but my own job once more came
to an end. The British Government had decided that the time had
come for Kenya to be give independance and govern herself. My
offical task now was to train an African clerk to do my job
and~leave. There would be no other jobs open to Europeans, for
everything as given to Africans, no matter how untrained they
were. Alicia and I and the two children began preparing to leave
Africa and go back to England where I hoped to go to college and
train as a school teacher. As such there should be many openings
in under � developed countries, which though of short duration,
would enable us to pioneer again somewhere on the planet. Also
the schools would not be developed enough for our children and
they could get better schooling in England.

It was just at this fortuitious time that the Ten Year Crusade
was coming to a victorious conclusion and what is more, the Hands
of the Cause, as �Custodians of the Faith�, appointed by Shoghi
Effendi in his last letter to the Bahá�i world, had called for
the election of the very first Universal House of Justice. As a
member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East
Africa, I was one of the delegates called to Haifa to take part
in the election. The Hands had also written and asked me to be
the official photographer at that very great ceremony and also at
the first World Bahá�i Congress in London which was to follow in
May 1963.

One of the arresting statements made to me by Shoghi Effendi when
I was on pilgrimage in 1952 (and there were no African Bahá�is in
Kenya then) was that perhaps one day I would accompany a member
of the African race to Haifa. I was astonised to find myself
only 11 years later, accompanying no less than five African
believers to Haifa, not only on pilgrimage but as full
{{p95}}
members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East
Africa, come there as delegates to elect the first Universal
House of Justice!  All nine of us arrived by plane and gathered
with about 125 de~egates from many countries of the world, some
of them dressed in their national costumes. It was a
breath � taking experience to be gathered all together in the
Master�s house on Harparsim Street in Haifa to cast our votes. 
At the back of the room were seated all the Hands of the Cause as
witnesses. They had asked that they should not be voted for
because their function a~ Hands made it inappropriate. My
ownthoughts on this are that as the twin pillars of the Faith are
the Guardianship together with the Hands who served him were one
pillar,and the entire Administration, including the Universal
House of Justice, comprised the other,one could not expect a
person to serve on both institutions.

As the House of Justice stated  later in one of its letters to
the world, it was an absolutely unique event in the world�s
religious history for those who were the appointed custodians of
the Faith after the passing of the Prophet, to ask not to be
elected to the governing body of His followers.

Like all the other delegates, I had been giving a lot of
prayerful thought on which nine names to put on the ballot paper
but I could not think of any Bahá�i who I knew, who could
possibly have the estemed qualities for such a divine body. 
After further though~I realised that the beloved Guardian had
given us some help in this matter. For he had himself appointed
the International Council two years previously and they had aided
him in an exemplary manner.{{p96}}

I happily entered the names of the male members of the
International council but then realised that the other four were
women and therefore ineligable. There was a temptation to leave
four blank spaces, but that would make the ballot disqualilfied. 
I reasoned that the Hands could be voted for, even though they
had asked for us not to do so. Therefore I completed the~ballot
with the names of four Hands.

It should be mentioned that before the election took place all
the delagates were sent by bus to visit the shrine of Bahá�u�llah
and all the other holy places one visits on pilgrimage, and this
was added bounty. It also reminded me of the Guardian�s last
words to me on leaving Haifa, �Do not be sad, you will come
back.�

For three days after the election, the delegates attended
consultati~ in a large hall about half a mile away from the
shrine on Mt.Carmel. Each day was to me equal to a thousand
ordinary ones, so fragrant was that experience. There was also
the task of photogrphing every aspect of this occasion, so
spiritually significant for all mankind.

As history records, the following week, all of these delegates,
together with about 6,000 other Bahá�is from all over the world,
gathered for a week~long congress at the Albert Hall in London. 
Alicia, who had flown directly to England with our firt two
children, Cathy and Susy, was able to be at this congress and
join in spiritual inspiration. On one morning Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum
talked to us about the beloved Guardian an~ his passing. In the
middle she was overcome by the memory of that heart rending event
and could not go on. After a while the African Bahá�is started
singing softly and contiuously �Alláh�u�Abhá  �  Alláh�u�Abhá  � 
Alláh�u�Abhá � and all the audience {{p97}}
joined in and swelled that holy refrain till the very rafters
vibrated with power. How high must all the heavenly concourse
have raised that acclamation to the very gates of heaven surely.

Another notable happening was the address by Hand of the Cause
Samandarí, who as a boy had actually been in the presence of the
Blessed Beauty and served Him. His Persian words rang clearly
through the giant hall as he recounted that pLace and those
surroundings. His ~ords were most heautifully translated by
Marzia ~ale and at one point she added extra words of
explanation, at which Samandarí raised a wave of delighted
laughter from the audience by commenting �Did I say all that?�
which Mar7ia also translated for us all.

A leading London newspaper produced a special edition filled with
four pages of photogr2phs and comments. Vendors outside the hall
did a brisk businesc, selling to the delgates an historical
record of that great day. And as the Bahá�is emerged from the
building in a flood of joy I noted that even the famous double
decker London buses unwittillgly proclaimed this great occasion
by sending their rcut~ number 9 to bus stops outside the hall. 
Which tribute I did not fail to photograph for posterity.

This ccngress was clearly the first time many of the friends had
met 211 of the ~ands of the Cause and their presence added
special uplift. Which reminds me of a delig~tful happening
re~arding Hand Samandarí. For many years after this he traveiled
all over the world filling hearts with memories of the Blessed
Beauty. In tnese travels he came again to England and since he
was now 95 years old and very precious to all of us, we
persuaded him {{p98}}
to go to a doctor for an overall health check up. He came out
with flying colors. This amazed the doctor, in view of his age. 
He asked Samandarí for his secret. I cannot tell you.� Was the
reply. iWhy not?� enquired the doctor. Because it is rude.�
�Come on, I�m your doctor, you can tell me anything. � Well, if
you must know, my secret is that I stay away from doctors!�

To return to the Albert Hall Conference in London, the first
�IWorld Cogress� of the Faith. I had a privilaged position. As
the official photographer I could go anywhere in the hall and get
right close up to the speakers and any other event. Taking
photos did not prevent me from listening to all the very
excellent talks which were given during those six days. On the
final day about 60 Bahá�i attended in their national costumes and
sat together, a most impressive sight!  The Universal House of
Justice members, were of course, the main focus at all sessions. 
It was a breath taking experience for eveyone present to see
before our very eyes, day after day, the supreme Bahá�i
institution, just created, at last.

Between session the 6,000 Bahá�is milled around inside and
outside the giant hall. The police had been expecting problems
and were amazed to find the most obedient and well behaved crowd
they had ever seen. After the conference, many visitors spent
time visiting friends in England. We were specially blessed and
were able to invite to our farm two American Indian believers
Annie and Chester <u>Kh</u>án. We were able to get them to record some
of their inner experiences and views on life on our tape machine. 
They in turn were fascinated by such a close up view of life on
the farm. My parents were specially impressed at meeting real
Indians at last, after all the wild west stories they had read
about and seen on the movies. When it came time for them to
return to the U.S.A. we drove them to London and they asked to
be allowed to spend a few hours wandering alone in that vast
city. We were afraid they might get hopelessly lost but Chester
smiled at our doubts and promised to meet us at a predetermined
spot in four hours. They did just that.

I set about trying to get into college and be trained for school
teaching. Thus we would be able after about four years, to
return to the pioneering field; but this was not to be. 
Financial problems interveened and prevented it. The only
{{p99}}
other career I was trained for properly was farming. Now I
recalled the time when 26 years ago,   after living the first 29
years of my life on the farm, I had told my parents I loved them
but I was going out into the world to find a career different
from farming and also a philosophy for life. I had sold my motor
bicycle for �50 and bought a ticket on the Queen Mary liner to
Canada and sailed westwards. Now like the prodigal son in the
parable, I came back to my father and offered to return to the
farm if he would have us, family and all. My parents were
delighted to accept us, though as jokingly said: � We don�t
really need you on the farm. (He employed 22 workers and all
was working very smoothly). The 16 intervening years had been
very fruitful, I had found my Faith, my wife, a family and also
my profession, photography.

After two years Father retired to Bedford city, fifteen miles
away and gave us the farm. Now, far from being bored with
farming, I began to enjoy it greatly. Must have been something
to do with being my own boss at last! Soon babies James and
Julia were added to our family, inspite of some peoples view that
no family should have more than 14 children because there would
not be enough food on the planet for more than that! During the
next 17 years our four children grew up on the farm and attended
the local government school. Each Sunday Alicia would talk to
them about God and His Manifestations while they practised
caligraphy round the kitchen table.

We also had youth weekends~n the house was literally full of
Bahá�is. We found ~hat the very large farm house could easily
accomodate about 60 youth if they slept on the floors in all the
rooms. The girls had the top two floors and the boys the ground
floor. Everything went very smoothly and for the youth it was
like going to camp in the country. There were plenty of fields
to roam in between sessions. One weekend I noticed a long line
of girls quing up outside the bathroom. Ten minutes later it had
not moved. I took a chance; I knocked on the door and went in. 
There was our five year old J ames sailing his boats ~n ~e ba
while the que waited patiently outside!  We often chuckle about
that.

Every summer we had Sunday picnics lasting all day in our big
garden. It became quite an institution and people came from far
and wide to enjoy the country scenery and the relaxed atmosphere. 
Usually 100 � 200 people brought their own food, pets, friends and
relatives. We supplied gallons of tea and coffee all day. My
father had always been very careful to prevent people walking in
the standing wheat crop, because they would knock down the grain. 
However I found that few of these visitors had ever been on a
farm so at one picinic, just as the grain {{p100}}
was ripening for harvest, I led a line of about 50 Ipeople on a
walk through the standing grain. They love~ the experience and
there was lit~le damage to the crop. In memory I can s~e today
the long winding straggly line of people as they followed me
through the fields, marvelling at the profundity of nature and
how man is able to control it for his own purposes. The ne.~ct
year, picnic was held during harvest and grain was pouring into
the store near our house. I was able to take about 20 kids up
onto the overhead walk where they could jump into a literal sea
of loose grain and romp around in the 500 ton heap.

[Photograph of Childrens� class at Mary Hardy�s in Henley.]

Another popular feature of the farm picnics was tractor rides
round the farm. I prepared a four wheeled trailer with saftey
rails and straw bales to seat about thirty kids and adults and
towed them around the farm, stopping at times to show them
things. At one point I drove through a low tunnel under the
railway line and sometimes explained that Abdu�l Bahfi must have
travelled this line on his way to Edinborough in Scotland. The
line ran through the middle of our farm. Many a trailer load
demanded to go on this trip and I did not have time to organise
the tea making which was needing constant attention. Alicia was
busy hosting. Finally the visitors took over the whole process. 
As the children grew, they entered the local elementay school,
and I recall the time when Susan, at the age of about seven, had
her first day there. Unlike the U.S.A, where it is fobidcen to
teach religion in government schools, in England it is the law
that religion must be taught. On Susan�s first day, the head
master was addressing the entire school and ended up with the
Lord�s prayer. As they all went out to their various classes,
Susan headed to the Principle�s office and knocked on the door. 
�Yes Susan?� he enquired. �Please sir, you should not say that.�
�What Susan?� �The Lord�s prayer.� �Why not?� �IBecause He has
already come!� �Oh, come in and tell me about it.� For half an
hour he sat listening to Susan�s account of Bahfi�u�llfih and His
Mission. Thanking her, he sent to class. Then he telephone me
on the farm. �Mr Cardell, you will never guess what I have been
doing for the last half hour!�

He was a kind and well adjusted man and very devoted to Christ. 
This was the begining of a real friendship and later, at his
invitation I addresed the entire school, including all the staff,
on the teachings of Bahá�u�llah. He once said to me that
although it is the law that Christianity must be taught in his
school, yet none of his staff wanted to do it. He had found that
the staff did not feel sure enough on the subject. They always
wandered off into social problems and the like. The young peple
in this age are taught to search for information and
{{p101}}
the teachers were unable to answer their queries where
metaphorical stories like Adam and Eve appeared to contradlct
what they were learning in their science classes. 

Cambrldge city was only about 20 miles from our farm and we often
joined in their Bahfi�i activlties. Soon Bahá�is and their
friends from surrounding towns began to go there also for Bahá�i
Sunday Childrens� classes. Eventually the classes were
transferred to our farm where there was more room and also
recreation facilitles. Allcia was a member of the national Chtld
Educaioll Committce and was full of enthusiam and Ideas. For two
years we had classes for five age groups and one for adults,
studying there every Sunday. 

Alicia dld a lot of research on the Master�s visits to thc
British Isles and wc made several trips to the London area to
track down the sites where he had spoken and took slides for the
archives. I did the same in Edinbourgh when on a visit. This
came to its climax when the Sunday classes hired an 80 seater bus
and took all the kids and families on a trip to London, only 60
miles away. We toured a lot of the sights assoclated with the
Master�s visits and told stories about him over the bus�s
amplifier. These sites included the City Temple church where the
Master gave his first talk In the west and Westminster Abbey
where, in the deanery Abdu�l Bahá had dined with Arch Deacon
Wllberforce. Here the wlfe of the present Dean took us to the
nearby church of St. John where the Master spoken.She had never
met hlm, but was his fervent admirer and referrcd to him �Abdu�l. 
In the church she gathered us all for a long account of his
vlslt. During her talk a crying chlld Interrupted her w~t~is,She
took It Into ~ ~ arms an comforted It. Nor would she go on untll
It was happy agaln. We received the impression that she was
spontaneously reacting the way the Master would have done In that
situation.

At the school we made offlcial application for our children to be
absent on Bahá�i holy days. Soon their fellow students began to
ask why they were absent and were told about the Faith. Because
of the general atmospher of religious scepticism so common in
those days, it was not long before class mates began to ridicul~
this rellgion with a strange sounding name, but our children
learned,~auseful lesson In patience whlle explaining It to them. 
One day a child sald to Cathy: �I wish I had a rellglon llke
yours!�

On two summers we had Youth camps at the farm. Every one lived
in tents. {{p102}}

The tractor house was emptied of machinery and straw bales set up
in rows for seating. Meals were provided by a whole army of
cooks. It was called �Action Camp.� On another occasion fifty of
us hired a coach and went to a Teaching Conference in
Switzerland. In 1979 Alicia and I attended a large Bahá�i
confernce in London and at this even met the now grown up
children of Martin and Gerda Aiff, the family who had pioneered
with us in Windhoek in S.W.A. 21 years ago.

A most historical series of events which happened to our whole
family was appointment of Alicia�s parents as custodians to the
most holy shrine of Bahá�u�llah near ‘Akká, Israel. For ten years
they fullfilled this blessed service and on three seperate
summers they invited our whole family to stay with them at Bahjí. 
They put beds for us all in Abdu�l Bahá�s tea room and we stayed
in those holy precincts for two month each year. I well remember
Janet, my mother � in � law, showing me where the key to the Shrine
hung. �You can take this key any time of day or night and go in
by yourself.� She said. It seemed far too great a bounty. 
Several times I went into the Shrine, once in the middle of the
night, and prayed with no sound to break the magical silence. 
During the day time our four children, then aged about 8 � 11,
walked round the gardens and absorbed a spirit which will stay
with them for eternity.

In those days we also visited many historical places of ancient
Palestine.{{p103}}

Much more bounty was to follow. In 1970 Janet and Forsyth took a
three week holiday from their job at nahji and came to stay with
U8 on the farm. They offered to look after the four children and
the farm while we went to Írán to visit all the holy places
connected withthe Faith. We were dumbfounded and further itS~ ~
impossible to arrange all the details for such a trip in that
short time. However we set about it and everything worked out
well. Then we happened to mention our plans to Marion Hofman who
said: �Well, why don�t you arrange to visit Bahá�u�llah�5 house
in Edirne, Turkey, on your way there and then ask for permission
from the house of Justice to make a three day visit to Haifa, on
the way back. Amazingly, everything fell into place without a
flaw. We took this as a sign that it was the wish of God.

Soon we were in Constantinople where the local ~aha�is were
delighted to look after us. They showed us where ~aha�u�llah had
lived in that city and also the site which had been purchased for
the temple ground; a beautiful spot on a high hill overlooking
the l;os~l)ol ~IS ~ st r ip of Sda joining the Caspian sea with
the mediteranean with the city in the background.

Next we were put on a bus for Edirne (Adrianople) This 150 mile
journey had been made by the holy family {{p104}}
under great hardship in heavy snow and on horseback. We felt
embarrased to h   do it by modern bus in just a few hours.

The house of Bahá u llah is kept in good repair, and as we walked
through it and round the garden, we tried to visualise the holy
family living there. They had lived in several other house
before this one, but from here the letters to the Kings had gone
out. At an earlier house Bahá�u�llah had been poisoned by Mírzá
Yaḥyá. The doctor who attended Him pronounced the case hopeless. 
He had offered his own life in exchange. It was accepted, for
soon he died and Bahá u�llah recovered. But for the rest of His
life, Bahá�u llah suffered serious after � effects.

We also visited a second garden nearby. This had been used often
by Bahá u�llah and even today it is well.kept. There was a big
mulberry tree, full of delicious ripe fruit. The custodians
spread a blanket underneatnand then gave the tree a good shake,
this producea a heavy shower of white mulberries. We all carried
the blanket back to a large table in triumph and had a feast.

Returning to Constantinople, now renamed Adrianople, we flew on
to Ṭihrán. At this time the <u>Sh</u>áh was still in power and
persecution of the Bahá�is had abated, but there was a feeling
that it would take little to cause its recurrence.

As our plane landed at Ṭihrán airport we found ourselves in quite
another world. We were overwhelmed at our good fortune in
visiting the land where Bahá�u�llah had lived. Some Bahá�i
friends had been alerted to watch for us and we soon located
their waving arms. They took us and our bags out to a waiting
limousine which, we found out later, belonged to a Bahá�i army
general (national service is obligatory) and were whisked away
into the craziest traffic I have ever seen. It seemed to have
one major principle, �Do what you can while you can!� Ordinary
policemen do not have authority to ticket cars, and drivers take
all the liberties they wish. It is regarded as normal there!

We registered at our hotel and then went to the National Bahá�i
Office to request permission to visit the holy Bahá�i places. We
were greeted warmly by the Nationa Secretary who asked us which
of the holy places we wished to see. I held out my copy of the
Dawnbreakers and said All of these!� He was quite at a loss for
words because there are so many and time was short, but also
fanatics were always ready to abuse Bahá�is, especially visiting
ones.{{p105}}

The Universal House of Justlce had instructed the National
Spiritual Assembly to severely limit  all such visits, They had
already put all of these places off limits to Bahá�is living in
Írán and wanted to restrict visiting Bahá�is considerably. 

He said that the committee responslble would h~ve to ~uide us. . 
Could we come back in two days tlme. He introduced us to Atto,
another visiting pilgrim from America, who spoke good Iranian and
was looking for companions to share the pilgrim~ge with. This
was evidently another intervention of Providence. How could
we have possibly found our way round Írán without an
interpreter? The next two day we spent investigating the very
modern city center a nd often came upon unusual sights. Imaglne
a mother and three teenaged daughters shopping in a store, she
wore the ancient traditional dress complete with yachmack fell
over the lower half of her face  �  the daughters all wore modern,
western clothes and no veils. To us this showed clearly that the
ancient and the modern cultures exist here side by side. In fact
we found out later that the <u>Sh</u>áh was trying to encourage western
lde2s ~nd the Mullás were trying to ret~in the ancient Moslem
was. At this tlme the <u>Sh</u>áh was wlnning easlly, kut some ye~rs
later ~,e lo~t ~lls throne and Ayatullah Khomeni led the country. 

When we returned to the National office, the National Secretary
suggested we start off by visiting the House of the Báb in
<u>Sh</u>íráz, 600 miles to the south. He must have felt that would
keep us busy much of our alotted time. Of course we accepted
gladly. It was a most logical place to start our pilgrimage.

Soon we were aboard long distance bus for the Iit � st le~; OI
OUt �  Journey)~Isphan, 300 miles away As we wound our way throu~h
the massed row~ of traffic in the City, Atto told us of a recen~
American visltor who had brought his own car over here and in
seven day he had six accidents. Feeling he had too much to learn
about driving in Ṭihrán, he took a taxi which immediately shot
orf ~t speed into the chaos. He went through no less than three
red lights, but coming to a green, stopped. His passenger
enquired why he stopped and was told that certainly some cry
~ool would be coming through from the other direction!  

Looking around at the occupants of the bus we saw people of every
class and occupation, all talking animatedly in Iranlan..We
prevailed upon Atto to translate some of it and began to relate
to !ife around us. At the back of the bus sat an attendant wlth
large JU~5S of water and two glasses to refresh any passenger who
called him.{{p106}}

They all used the same glasses with a bare rinse. Since there
had been a warning about cholera epidenic on the radio, we
decided to contain our thirst until a rest stop. 

Soon we were speeding over rough tarmac into the countryside. On
our map we saw that the road skirted an enormous desert which
stretched over most of the center of Írán. Atto recalled that
Írán, the old Persia, had for several thousand years been the
site of great battles between competing tyrants. It had been the
custom of whoever won, to burn and destroy the wnole countryside. 
Thus this desert had all been beautiful country at one time.

We covered many featureless miles and passed through a few
hamlets until, five hours later the bus drew up at an eating
place. We wondered wether it was safe for tourists to go in ~nd
if the food was clean. Atto assured us and we entered barren
room, full of crude tables and chairs where true pea~ants sat
smokin~ their hubble � bubble pipes and eagerly ~atched ~ TV screen
show in~ thP Olymplc games straight from ~ OSCO�r~ W~2 found
P~pslco!~ to drink and the food was simple but adequate and
reboarded our bus refreshed. But the next hours of bumpy, dusty
travel brought only one real change in the scenery. We carre to
a place where an underground river surfaced and the people   were
drawing, pure water from it. Our bus stopped while we all fllled
our containers. 

On ~11 this ~journ~y we were mindful the the blessed B~b h~d
t~r~versed this same road on horse back over a hundred years
ago, under much different conditions. It had �~a;~en Him man~,~
days. not 10 hours sitting in a comfortable bus. By evening we
came to the famous and beautiful city of Isphan. the mid � pGint
of vur Journey. To say that the whole city is a treasure � house
of entrancing architecture onl~ part,~r describes this ~iewel oi
a city. Everywhere there was evldence of thoughtrully created
beauty in the buildings, the streets and the people. It was a
sudden change from Lk ~ nt.ry ~ . W~ p ~ p .~t ~ h~t~~  � ~hlch ~
s mor~ lik~ an art museum. 

The next morning some local Bahá’ís came and took us to the 1~2
house of the Beloved of martyrs and the Kin~ of M~rtyrs, Whe~l
,they h~d been kllled by the mob, all the contents of this house
had been ransacked and the families were destitute. A maid,
however. ~�U~!R found a few coins in the wreckage and brought
them to the wife. With great disdain she threw the coins lnto
the mob with the words: 'What God has taken. I will not take
back.!' {{p107}}

The present custodians of the house told us this story ~nd also
reminded us th~t when the B2lb!  on his Journey north, h~d
visited this home, these two martyrs were then only about ten and
twelve years old. They were helping to serve the visitors and
became so uplifted by the words of the Báb that they asked Him
for Martyrdom. The Báb accepted. It was years later when they
were grown up and had devoted their lives to Bahá� u�ll~h, that
they attained martyrdom. 

Our guides next took us to see their extensi~e archi~re building
which had somehow survlved the years of persecution. Many
historical Bahá�i relics were on display, but perhaps the mo~t
breathtaking were two full front pages of an ancient Russian
newspaper, yellow with a~e~ but still clearly depicting dramatic
and earth shaking events. The first was a drawing of the
executlon o~ the Báb, showing the firing squad, the smoke from
their guns and the two Victims flxed to the wall. The other was
a life � like drawing of God's most great Manifestation, Bah~u~llah
on a white horse, entering Bahjí with His servants and family. 
The detall was so good that we could see the expression on the
face of Bahá�u�llah as he looked with power an authority towards
the artiat. So real was the drawing that we stood gazing at it
with awe for some time. Naturally, I photographed both exhibits
and later sent coples tO the Universal House of Justice, asking
if we may keep them. The reply was that the House did not know
of their authenticity, but that we may keep them. However. we
should not show them to the friends. Now, as I look at them,
those photographs seem to speak of worlds beyond this world. 

The next morning we boarded another bus and set off, only to
come to a halt at the city boundary. The dnver parked the bus
and disappeared3 for .~ n hol~r Then we were told that by law
driver is not allowed to drlve more than eight hours. He had
driven all night to arrive at Iṣfahán and now had to be repl~ced. 
Two or three hours later another driver arrived and we continued
our journey. 

There was little of significance during the next days journey,
just as dusk began to fall on that desolate landscape we saw in
the distance our road winding across valley and entering 
gaint stone gate. As we came up to it, we saw that it was
cuvered in Arablc lettering, took Ted and Alicia, the Kor~n
Gate. Exclaimed Atto. We passed through and entered the city of
<u>Sh</u>íráz, the blrthplace OI the Báb. {{p108}}

We found a hotel, got a hot bath and a real night�s sleep. Next
morning we phoned the number of a local Bahá�i which the National
Secretary had supplied and he came to guide us around the City
and to the Báb�s house. We went first to see the very impresslve
and beautiful shrine to the famous poet Saadl. Wal~ing round
the ornamental pools and into the cool shrine we were told of
Saadl�s prophecying the arrival of the Báb. Next we saw the
equally beautiful monument to another poet who had prophecled
this treat Day, Haaflz. Our gulde then had to return to hls
business and suggested that the following day we mlght like to
vlsit the ancient ruins of Persepolls about 50 miles to the
north. He would then return to us. We wandered for a whlle in
the street and were suddenly halled joyfully by a young man. We
recognized him as one of the Persian Bahá�is who live in England
now and had actually visited us on our farm last year. His name
was Baghram. �What on earth are you doing here?� We exclaimed in
astonishment. �I live here, this is my home town which I have
come to visit.� We told him of our own visit and shared many
memories together. 

Early next morning we took a taxi to the ruins of Persepolis, the
ancient seat of King Darius. The road from Shlra~ was though 
more cultivated part of Írán and varied crops could be seen on
all sldes. Once more we were struck by the strange contrasts in
this land. We saw a farmer harvesting wheat as they had done in
Biblical times, spreading wheat sheaves on the ground and dr~ n~
oxen over them to trample out the train; another man was throwing
the grain and chaft up in the wind to seperate them 75 Arriving
at Perespolis we wandered thoughtfully ~mon~ the ruins. After
the reign of Darius his kingdom had been conquored and then the
whole city and pal~e destroyed. Only few giant ~ton~ p~ 4i~ and
some carved statues remained. All was kept in excellent order
for the turists. Later we retired to a lovely tea house and
in the cool of the evening sat eating a large water melon be~ore
returning to <u>Sh</u>íráz. 

The next morning our guide took us first to the gaie in the south
of the city where on that historic day, May 23rd 1884, the Báb
greeted Mullá Ḥusayn. The gate had been demolished, but we were
shown two large trees at the entrance to a market where it had
stood. I descended from the taxi and set up my tripod and large
camera, determined to do this in a proressional way, only to
have a heavy hand take me by the shoulder. Looking up I found
myself entr � ~nt~?~ by a poilcemen giving a stern message in
Iranian 1 h2L~ .isicns o~ nguis~in~, in a primitive forel~n
.i~il but Atto turned up and translated. He says that this is
forbidden{{p109}}
because these people are very backward and hate all forelgners. 
You are likely to cause a riot. Hastily packing up, we departed
without a picture, but vowing to come back the next morning and
shoot through the taxi window. Those pictures turned out well. 

Next came our actual visit to the House of the Báb. Our guide
again impressed on us the importance of protecting the House. He
explalned that once before the mob had ransacked the House and
smashed the preclous wlndows. Fortunately the Bahá�ls had
anticipated the attack and replaced the original windows with dup
licates before the attack. Iranian clothes were loaned to my
wlfe, complete with a yashmack to cover the lower part vf her
face. My european cloths were common to the Iranians and
required no disguise. How great had been the need for such
precautlons we C~h  now appreciate,twenty years later;~day there
is no trace of this sacred house. The mob and the government
have razed it to the ground. But to return to our visit. 

We proceeded on foot, along various pathways between the houses,
but as we passed a small boy sltting in a doorway. he looked up
and smilingly greeted us in Engllsh  �  �Hello!� to much for our
disguise!  We had no alternative but to pass on with a chuckle. 
Soon we came to a heavy wooden door on which our guide knocked. 
It was opened and we passed into a small garden. Here we were
led to the opening of an underground tunnel wh~ch connected with
the garden next door. As we emerged from the tunnel. I remember
nothing of the garden, for infront of us was an archway through a
tall brick wall. Through this archway could see into the
courtyard of the Báb � s house . In the center was a small ciear
pool of water P|lGtv|0CI and beside it an orange tree, ~
descendant of one the Báb had planted there over a hundred years
ago. We advanced into the courtyard and looked around us. To
the left was the well from which must have been drawn the water
which was brought to wash the ~eet of I~luila Ḥusayn. Looking
up, we ~a~ed upon a large ornate window on the next floor. It
had five vertical sections  �  featuring desi~ns in colored glass. 
To our rlght was the main entrance from the street. Through this
door the Báb had led Mullá Ḥusayn with the words: �Enter in pe~ce
secure.~� But now it was permanently secured and never used. 
Near lt was the IOOt OI a red carpeted stairs leading to that
upper room. ReverentlY we ascended the stairs and found
ourselves on a small landing wlth an open doorway on our left. 
We stood looking through that door over a high step which also
functioned as a threshold ~or prayer A~ we kneeled at that
threshold we gazed upon a scene we will lon~ remember.
{{p110}}

Rich Persian carpets covered the whoie floor; in t,he far corner,
next to the large window stood an old f~shioned oil l~mp; perhaps
the .spot where the blessed Báb had been seated when He spoke
wlth Mullá Ḥusayn... Let the reader pause here and take up his
copy or the Dawnbreakers. On page 65 are shown photographs of
the main street entrance and also the stairs up which we had just
climbed. Then let hlm turn to page 59 which gives three vlews o~
the room at the top of the stairs. 

As we gazed across to that corner by the window, the words from
the Dawnbreakrs ~ame to our minds �Now is the tlme to reveal the
Súrah of Joseph.� We seemed to hear Mullá Hus~yn describe his
state: �I sat spellbound by His utterance, obvious of time and
those who awaited me.� And again: ~The entire chamber seemed to
have been vitalised by that celestlal potency which eman~ted from
His inspired utterance. Everything in th~t room seeme~ to be
vibrating with this testimony �Verily, verily, the dawn of the new
Day has broken. The Promised One is enthroned in the heartc of
men . . ~� 

All the colors in that room were harmonlous. They seemed to
speak to his of on in~ff~bl~ ~lor~ The lower p~n~l~, on ~ch ~
were light green with white trims. Above this there work ~evQr~l
alcoves along each wall, recessing about 6 inches !nto the walls. 
Patterns in brown~ picked out in white covered these alcoves :~nd
everything up to the ceiling The morning sun was ~tre~min~ n
through the delicate window panes, causing pa~terns or colorea
light to fall upon walls and carpet. The ceiling was 
delightful sight, a continuous pattern of crosses inside circles,
colored light brown and on a cream background. 

Across the room ~ e s~ n th~r p~ir of double doors. ie;~d~
perhaps to oth~r p~rts of th~ house J~ knelt t ~.he r � ~ls~1~
.r.~p .~t our own doorway and prayed each in his own way. After
;~om~ time we arose and took photographs. I dld not have ~ wide
.~ng lense. so took 13 overlayin~ Dictures to cover the entire
room.

Downstairs we moved from room to room tryin~, to visualise its
o~up~nts going aboul their daiiy tasks. Finaiiy we wenl out lntG
t~ curtyc � rd clnd ~thered a few cf the ~r~nges which h~d fallen
~rom the tree. These we tre~sure today in our own small f~l~m~
rchi~es. Atto then called us into the small ~rden b~r which we
h~d entered and there tea was served by an elderly lady
{{p111}}
dressed in clothes of a century ago. She was one of the
custodians. Atto talked with her for awhile in Persian;
suddenly he burst into delighted laughter. We pressed him to
explain; here is his account. �You see this old lady, dressed in
the fashlon of the old days?  Recently, on a Holy Day, she had
bathed and put on her best clothes. She was passing along the
street near by when a teenaged youth from next door, spat upon
her as she passed by With one sweep of the back of her hand she
knocked him to the ground. A man saw this and shouted �Hey, old
woman, why did you do that?� �He spot upon me!� She replied. 
�So he should, you are a B~bi!~ He said. She drew herself up and
looked him in the eye with a power which belied her age and
forcefully replied �I am ready, you do it too!� The man
retreated, abashed at such faith. 

As we retraced our steps to the maln streets?  our hearts arld
mlnds were trying to adjust to all these inspinng events. But
there was one more to come. We were taken next to the
MasJld � l � Vakll mosque to see the pulpit from which the Báb had
addressed the 

We read how the <u>Sh</u>áh summoned the Báb to Ṭihrán for a full
investigation, but after the Báb had left Iṣfahán. the chief
Va~ir had persuaded the <u>Sh</u>áh it mlght be dangerous for hlm to
meet the B~b, who seemed to have a maglc power to ch~nge people. 
The <u>Sh</u>áh had t.hen ordered the Báb to turn away from Ṭihrán and
~o to the prison of M~hku to await his pleasure. On the way, the
Báb had spent some time in Tabrl~, being impnsoned in the ~ort
named �IThe Citadel�l. It seems that we were now destined to
follow the same route, for the next day we flew back to Ṭihrán
and cnoe again consulted with the National Secretary ~nd he
suggested we go to T~brl~. We spent that nlght in a hotel in
Ṭihrán and were amazed to see on the hotel register the names of
Hand or the ~ause Blll Sears 2~nd his wlIe Marguente. From our
room, �~e r~n~ th~m and pretended to be phoning from England, but
when we disclosed that we were in the same building they ln~lted
us o~, er and we were able to have a long t~lk with them about
thelr own travels round Írán, performed at the request o~ the
Universal House of Justice. They had just returned from r~ahku,
where we were hoping to ~o~ but since they had been surrounded by
a mob and forced to leave town, they advised us not to go there. 
However they felt it would be in order to go to Tabri . That
afternoon are attended a giant Bahá~i meeting for women in
Ṭihrán. It was addressed by the Hand of the Cause. 

The next morning we flew to Tabriz. Looking at a map, we saw
{{p112}}
that our plane would pass over Zanjan, where many Báb � is had
been beseiged in .~ fort and later martyred. We followed our
fll~ht �~n the map and found ourselves c~er 7?,n l~n ~t ~ grc~t
h~l~;ht, hl.lt ~nabl~ to see it because lt was dlrect � ly
underneath us. However. soon the plane ~,rarled lts course and
we were ~ble to get a photo~raph of the whole city. 

Tn T2~briz ~re found a lively Bahá�i community ~nd attended a
large firesi~e. As we left, they pointed out some men nearby
who, they said, alway~ wait2d outside Bahá�i meetings to persuade
enquirer3 ~ was wlcked to go ther~. W~ were all ver~J ~mused at
t~h~ tlm~. Little did we know that in a few years, masslv~
persecutlons would rear ItS ugly head agaln an~ COSt many llv~s. 

The friends later took us to the Cltadel, a massive run of a
fort. The window of the room where the B~b had been lncarcerated
was p~ stlll ~risible ~t the top right hand sid~ of this
building. We fo.un~ 2 way to climb up to that room and looked
out o~er the city from ~ great helght. What had ke~n the Bah s
thoughts as He had stood here?

We re~d h~w He w~s subsequently t~.en to the prisons of M~h � ku
and t.hen Chihrlq, ~inally being brought back to T abn �  IO race
the leading l~ul!as. In answer to thelr questlon �~.~ho are
YOU � ~� He h~ replied~ m, I ~Im!  I ~m the Promised On~ nd 
ne o~ my companlons polntecl o � lt a l~r~e white bulldlr~ o~lt ~1
mlle awa~. �This building� he said: �now covers the .~ctuai ~ o
r the B~b�s martyrdom on May ~7rd 18~ ~hvto~ Back in Ṭihrán, we
visist another holy place, the house where Bahá�u�llah was born. 

So ended � our historic and inspiring visit to Írán. We boarded
our plane to Haifa. ~J�~ h~d to take a circ:u1~r route tO avold
flyin~ o~cr Syrla. ~ s meanrv once more flying over T~briz,
M~hku and I hen Mt.Ar~r~t in T~lrkey where lt is sald Noah~s Ark
came t.o rest aIter ..he .looa � We meditated on that ~reat
catastrophy which had descended upon theJ world bec~use of its
wickedness and ~or reJecting the Prc,phet Gl ~od. What, we
wonci~red, would be the f.~te of this ~ener~tion b~rore lt wo~lld
recognlse God�s Promlsed One�~ t.ne Holy Land we were able to
visit the Shrines OI both Bahá�u�llah and the Báb and pray that
mankind would soon open its splrlt.ual eyes and realise th.~t the
Day of God Himself has dawned.{{p113}}

When my father retired and left me the farm in England he often
came over to llelp with advice. We had several very good years,
but Father warned me that until I had been farming for ten years
I could not call myself successful. It was a time when farmers
were being forced to be economical and I gradually changed the
farm from mixed croping and raising animals, into a wheat only
farm. I was able to reduce the labour force from 22 to one and
use big machinery to handle the wheat crop much more efficiently. 
Fortunately all of the men turned off were able to get good jobs
elsewhere and r3ertie Vout, who had been with the farm for 20
years, was able to do all the ploughing and harvesting with odd
help in harvest time.

Of course there was danger in going into one crop continuously
and people reminded us of the Alllerican dust bowl which had
destroyed thousands of acres by that method. However we had
heavy clay land which was more stable. Also we had plenty of
good advice from the local Ministry of Agriculture and crop
yields did not fall, but even increased.

Soon another farming revolution arrived. We found that we no
longer needed the plough!  By using heavy tynes behind a big
tractor it was possible to creat a much finer tilt. The
traditional plough left us with slabs of clay which became hard
and were very {{p114}}
difficult to break down into a fine tilth for planting next
year�s seeds.

Further revolution came with crop fertilisation. We had always
kept many animals to the land. The reason why I now gave up
keeping animals was that the 2,000 bacon pigs we produced each
year had only given us enough manure for 10% of our 400 acre
farm. Now I had the land analysed and found that it was in good
heart and further, it did not need all the regular dressing of
Nitrogen, phosphate and potash which tradition said it should
have. In fact the autumn wheat needed nothing until spring. 
Further, the land only needed potash every third year. ~ll this
meant a great saving in costs. Results from harvest after these
new inovations proved that yield was not fal)ing. In fact,
together with the new types of wlleat being developed every year
our average yield increased over 10 years from about 24 cwt per
acre to 40 cwt.

Father had left me one bagging combine machine and one bulk
machine. The first left 30 tons of grain in bags, scattered all
over the field each day. This had to be loaded onto trailers by
hard work. We therefore sold it and did the harvest quicker by
the bulk machine which poured the grain into a holding tank. 
l~rom there it was transferred by {{p115}}
truck to the barn, where newly installed machinery transported it
to a bulk heap 7 feet �1e~p all over a giant floor. Underground
air ducts then driecl the grain down to 14% moisture.

We finally broke all of the traditional rules of farming by
giving up the plough altogether and forcing the new seed into the
ground with an extra heavy drill. From all of this it is clear
that great savings were made and also it was possible to run the
farm on a part time basis. Now there was mucllrnore free time to
help spread the healing Message of Bahá�u�llah.

In 1972 Alicia and I found time to fly back to Nairobi for a big
Bahá�i conference there. Then we hired a car and spent some days
upcountry visiting Bahá�is in different villages. 

As mentioned, from 1971 I served on the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá�is of the United Kingdom. Life was much
more interesting serving on a body directly under in the
Universal House of Justice. In 1973 and,~1978 N.S.A. members
from all over the world gathered in ~aifa to elect a new
Universal ~louse of Justice. It was a great bounty for us all
and it was my 7th and 8th time of visiting the ~loly Shrines, I
remembered that when in 1952, Shoghi Efendi was sending me back
to Africa after a 19 day pilgrimage {{p116}}
he said to me: �Do not be sad, you will come back.ll At that
moment I was almost penniless and had wondered how this could
ever come about. In 1978 I had become a prosperous farmer, the
Faith itself had expanded to cover the whole earth and my
comprehension of it had considerably developed.

The Haifa convention of 1978 also marked a giant step forward,
for the building of the House of Justice now stood in its
skeletal form on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, awaiting the
dedication ceremony. In front of over 500 delegates prayers were
read. Then lland of the Cause Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum spoke to us about
how the beloved Guardian had prayed so earnestly for this great
day, had laboured for it over a lifetime and how, from the Abhá
Kingdom, he must be witnessing this occasion with great joy. 
Next she mounted a teMporary staircase which had been erected at
the front of the main entrance, which faced Bahjí. She placed a
box containing soil from the resting places of the Báb and
~aha�u�llah in a specially prepared nich.(Later this was sealed
forever). Afterwards lland of the Cause Faizey speaking to us
about the significance of this solomn occasion said:. �A Ḥadí<u>th</u>
in Islám tells that when, thousands of years ago, the Prophet
Noah had completed the building of the Ark, he placed in it soil
from the graves of Adam and Eve. Now �He said, �We are
performing a similar cermony with the Arc of the Cause of God on
Mt. Carmel, {{p117}}
from which the Law of God will go out to all the world, as
prophecied in the Bible.

Back at the pilgrim house, many rows of chairs had been arranged
in the open for Ruiyyih Kahanum to address the delegates further. 
I was filming the faces of the audience when suddenly the
proceedings were halted for a special announcement. Rúḥíyyih
<u>Kh</u>ánum read it out and my movie camera recorded a wave of joy as
it swept across the faces of the delegates. Some wept openly:
�His royal Highness the King of Samoa had just deca~ared his
belief in Bahá�u�llah.�  This was first King to declare his
acceptance of the Faith.� Much rejoicing followed.

A few years later the N.S.A. of the United Kingdom received a
message from the Universal House of Justice: �His royal highness
Talifi Xumalita of the Samoan Islands will be arriving in London
to visit the resting place of Shoghi Effendi, please announce to
the friends and appoint photographers.�  I was both a memeber of
the N.S.A. and one of the photographers. There was a large crowd
of Bahá�is waiting when the King arrived at the Gt. Northern
Cemetary. We all went with him to the gravesite and prayed
together. The House of Justice had asked that the King be
{{p118}}
given due respect by photographers when praying. However, when
his Majesty stood at the graveside with three Hands of the Cause
I felt impelled to take a picture from a distance and leave it
for Haifa to decide wether it was inappropriate. Out of all the
pictures, sent to Haifa, this was the one they chose.

There were other useful experiences in those days. As mentioned
earlier, from 1971 to 1980 I was a member of the National
Spiritual Asembly of the United Kingdom and spent frequent long
weekends in London at their meetings. It was a most refreshing
experience seeing the affairs of the Cause from a national point
of view. I was to discover a lot more about the art of ~aha�i
consultation. I remember on one occasion I had expressed my view
on a matter under consideration by the Assembly; the next speaker
showed I had not given due consideration to the whole pictureand
I said aloud �Oh dear, I did put my foot into it, didn�t I!� A
voice from the other end of the table replied: �Confucious said
�He who does not open mouth cannot put in big foot.�� The
laughter did a lot to relax us all.

On another occasion we were all getting too tense in the
discussion, each impatient to speak. George Bowers, who could
usually be relied upon to get us back to normal, also leaned
forward and said in a quiet voice: �Kiss me!�{{p119}}

Not all situations had a satisfactory outcome, however, at one
meeting I felt that some members were doing too much talking and
the rest were not being allowed to speak much; finding it
difficult to make a contribution myself I got more and more
upset. Realising that this was not the way ahead I relaxed
somewhat. Soon I heard myself saying: �Mr Chairman, may we have
a round of opinion please.� This we did and I was happy to see
that no one had been hurt by my interjection. But soon we seemed
to have returned to the old situation. Once more I raised my
hand and asked for a round of opinion. This happened several
times and the situation eventually became more normal. In fact,
it began to go the other way. Now everyone, finding they could
easily claim their right to speak, began to do so at great
length. The chairman�s efforts to get members to shorten their
contributions failed and we were unable to gert through the
agenda in the days available to us.

While on N.S.A. matters, it may be appropriate to record an
interesting situation which Hand of the Cause Ḥasan Balyusi told
me once. A certain believer in his enthusiasm, had over � stepped
the orders of the N.S.A. and had said publicly some things which
though true, were not wise. He was interviewd by the Assembly�,h
humbly apologised and the incident was dismissed. Later however,
he did it again and {{p120}}
was once more reprimanded. This happened more times and the
Assembly was discussing taking a~lay his voting rights. One
member suddenly realised something: �He has again apologised, ~e
cannot take away his rights!� No doubt he was however advised
that if he did it again he would loose his rights.

My parents were good Methodists and took their three chiildren e~ 
to Sunday school frequently. I therefore grew up with a great
love of the Bible. At the age of 29, as metioned, I set off for
Canada to find a new career and also a philosophy. I eventually
became a Bahá�i and on returning to England two years later I had
tried to explain the Faith to my parents, but the time for their
reoognition of it had not arrived. However we often discussed it
and such items as the state of the world. One evening my father
had been to a Bahá�i public meeting in a hired hall. He was
feeling very happy about it and reached for his check book
saying� �I want to pay for the cost of the hall, how much was
it?� I replied: �You know you cannot do that, only ~aha�is can
contribute.� �I am a Bahá�i!� he responded. I was breathless. 
�Do you accept Bahá�u�llah as the Manifestation of Gbd for this
age?� �Of oourse I do he announced.� I was delighted and brought
out a decLaration card for him to sign. These were the last few
days of his life and he always listened intently as, on some
evenings I read to him from the holy Writings. Not long after
that he passed to the next world. I missed his lovely person
deeply but did not grieve, he was far happier now.

My mother outlived Father by many years and we often discussed
the needs of mankind and the Bahá�i teachings. Her favourite
comment was: that is in Bahá�i that is not in the Bible?� I
explained the fullfillment of the Covenant of God, the
Adninstrative Order and new principles like equality of men and
women, but she somehow felt that these were all implied in the
message of Christ. I agreed, but tried to show her that tody we
have all the divine guidance and instructions to unite all races
and nations and set up world government. Qne day, as I came into
the house she greeted me with. �I have been trying to find out
where Christ said {{p121}}
we are only allowed one wife and I cannot find it.� �Got you I
replied. �Does Bahá�u�llah?� she enquired.1He sure does.� I
responded. On another occasion we were in the middle of
comparing ideas �~hen she exclaimed; �Yes I know Bahá�u�llah is a
Prophet of Gbd, but why did he say . . . � �Mother, what did
you just say?� I exclaimed!  �Qh you knaw whatI mean.� She
replied. I did not feel I should follow this up at that time,
but am convinced that she had recognised her Lord. 

One day we �~ere visited by Mr & Mrs Ghandi, fram India. They
came to thank us deeply for helping their four children to settle
dawn in England and oomplete their schooling. They extended an
invitation for us to visit India and stay with them. They owned
5 large girls schools in India and these were run on Bahá�i
lines, though they accepted students of all religions. Cathy,
our eldest was about 18, studying teaching and keen to go to
other countries. By same miracle it became possible for Alicia
md Cathy to visit India. Though I oould not get away fram the
farm, I felt the Ghandis and the other Bahá�is would look after
them and sent them off.

They arrived at the Ghandis in time foYstudent graduation. It
was the custom there to honour the parents as well as the
graduating children and they did this by weighing the mother in
flowers, a beautiful ceremony indeed. Cathy was asked to address
a school of 500 students about the Faith and afterwards they
surrounded her and asked all kinds of questions. ~rhey also felt
it an honour to be visited by people fram overseas.

Alicia and Cathy did some travel teaching and travelled by bus
with a male Bahá�i escort. On one such journey they were
surround ed by people of all kinds and the air w~as filled with
much excited chatter. One man was talking excitedly with the
driver, and the Bahá�i escort turned pale. He translated for
Alicia and Cathy. �He demands that the drived stop the bus so
that he can rape the white women.� They were wondering
frantically what to do when suddenly the bus ran into a tractor
on the road {{p122}}

The ensuing chaos had saved the day!  

They had many wond^rful ex~eriences~in India, certainly a great
step forward in their spiritual education. What is more, they
were hi~hly appreciated and must have caused many people to take
new heart in the spiritual meaning of life. Of course, a lot of
it came through difficulties and even tribulation, such as there
being no safe water to drink and also discovering at first hand
the great poverty in that land. When I asked Alicia to sum up
their month in India she said: �It is more terrible and more
wonderful than you can imagine!� Although several young Bahá�i
ladies went fram Europe to teach in India unaccampanied, yet it
does seem that travelling in small groups is best.  

We had now been back on the farm 17 y~rs since leaving Africa in
1963. m e children were all in their teens and attended a
variety of private and government schools and Cathy was in
college but James had some learning difficulties. We had always
planned to retire ~rly and go back into overseas pioneering. In
consultation t~7e decided that we should leave the farm for good
and go to the U.S.A. to camplete the children�s schooling and
then perhaps pioneer in South America or ~Jherever was most
suitable. 

Since Alicia was born in California we would be able to use the
newest methods of education there, so we moved to Portland,
Oregon, bought a house near the oommunity college and put the
children into high school. Soon James had caught up well in his
education and even appeared on the Principle�s oommendation list. 
m is �7as a great joy to us, for the English education r~l   p 
system had classified his problem as being more serious. 

I found a useful way of spreading the Faith. Each morning I 3 ~
c~  aGc~ walked over to the nearby college and sat in the giant
cafeteria, ~choo. studying things like quantum mechanics and the
Faith and getting into conversation with the students. m ere
~7ere many fram overseas and life was very interesting. I was
able to get 20 signatures asking the college to set up a Bahá�i
Club to discuss the Faith and its relation to current world
problems. Unfortunately most {{p123}}
students, though much interrested in this kind of discussion,
posessed limited finances and had to restrict their college time
to their main studies. However I continued getting to know
people and developing an interest in their affairs; in this way I
could help them to find solutions for their problems and get a
higher view of their objectives in life. Thus they felt that I
cared about them and we became friends. When I then intrcduced
the Faith they were much more appreciative and often asked for
literature. I had been developing this kind of approach with
strangers in cafes in England and continued it in the U.S.A. 

I felt that if my I was consciously trying to get a declaration,
it would seem insincere in their eyes, and they would rightly
resist; so I put effort into getting to know them as real friends
and helping them along their own chosen way. I did not w,orry if
I was not always able to introduced them to the Faith but I hoped
that our conversation had perhaps helped them along their chosen
path. I knew that path would eventually connect with the Faith
somewhere. In this way I ~las free f m m an intellectual urge to
make new Bahá’ís. 

Since spiritual progress cannot be imposed on people, but must
come f mm their ~n hearts, it seemed illogical to try and convert
� them.~ It is however our duty to offer them information and
encourage them to work out its implications. I discussed it with
some of the Portland Bahá�is and most appreciated it, but one
Board member felt that this method would not bring in lots of
declarations. However, I still try to follow Abdu�l Bahá�s
advice to make friends with new people first, so that they would
trust me, even if it takes a long time. Never the less I always
tried to raise their interest in the Faith so that they would
want a pamphlet. In this way I gave out many pamphlets, very
often at the rate of one per day. This amounted to giving out
about 260 per year and I felt that this ~as seed corn well worth
sowing, even though actual declarations were few. There is no
doubt that a few spiritually awake people c~ recognise
Bahá�u�llah immediatelyj but that the masses liJ�;e me wish to
take their time over it. {{p124}}

Like all good parents, Alicia and I were concerned about helping
our n~ grown childre~�find spiritually orientated marriage
partners. Alicia was looking through a Bahá�i news sheet on~
d~y~ came up w~ith a bright idea. �Look, there is a Bahá�i youth
conference in Alaska next month, let�s go.� �m ere are plenty of
such conferences much closer� I observed. �It is a very long way
to go for a 3 day event!� �But our children need to ~ on~  tqt~ ~
~ng ~� She replied. �~ow on earth will they do that up there. 
It will take us all a day to recover from the journey and the
conference time will fill up all the rest.� 

My logic was flawless, but I allo~ed it to be over ruled by a
mother w~ho, I suspected, was more open to higher guidance; Also
I had been invited to be one of the speakers at the conference. 
So, off to Alaska we went, all six of us. It goes without saying
that the scenery and the warm hopitality were outstanding;
however, the unexpected happened. Cathy stayed a week longer and
went travel teaching with a y~vup. ane of that group was Ramin
Yavrom, a young man from a distinguished Persian family. A few
months later they �~ere married and pioneered to Carjamaca, a
small city high up in the Andes. m eir t~o daughters Camilia and
Claudette were born there. 

Susy now went to co~lege to study apparel design and also took an
apartment with a friend, Julia entered training as a hairdresser
and went to live with friends near her � college. James was i~ � art
collegaand this all added up to our being free to do full time
travel teaching. We gave up our house and bought a big
recreation vehical. This was to be our home for several months. 
We wrote to the ~ational Teaching committee in Wilmette offering
~ to spend several weeks visiting Bahá�i communities all over the
U.S.A. They arranged an excellent 10,000 mile tour for us and in
83 days we gave firesides in 51 towns. During this trip t~hl~   
we arrived in S.Carolina to take part in the official opening of
the Bahá�i radio station WLGI. It was rather fascinating because
we were late arriving and were following the ceremony on our own
radio. When we finally arrived, we were able to take part in the
event we were listening to. This trip also enabled {{p125}}
us to spend seven days at the temple in Wilmette where we
attended a course for overseas pioneers. We were able to talk to
and study with these 30 dedicated and enthusiastic pioneers. 
Also it was useful, for us because were soon to pioneer to Peru. 

Following this big trip we made another one through western
Canada where we gave 52 firesides in 73 days. This took us up
north to Lake Louise and into Indian country. At one small
village we stayed with a couple ~ho had become much loved by the
Indians. They told us a typical true story of how they never
locked up their house and after a trip came home to find a whole
family of Indians had come to visit. Finding them away, they had
felt enough at home to sleep and eat there till their hosts came
back. One Indian had not been there before and felt
uncomfortable about taking over the house while its owners were
away, but his friends told him: �Oh, don�t worry, these people
are real Bahá�is!  

On this trip we travelled to communities all the way up Vancouver
Is. and also attended a big Indian Pow Wbw at Neah Bay. m e
Trail ~o ~U~ of Light, was a yrOUp of 7 tribal Indian Bahá�is who
had come from South America and were touring the U.S.A. This Pow
Wow was held in an Indian community center and over 200 of the
local Indians joined in. Everyone was much impressed by Kevin
Lock�s display of hoop dancing. I was able to get some excellent
photographs of all these people, black, red and white, dancing
together to the drums. 

The action was inspiring and I went outside and brought in a tall
step ladder to get a high view point of the action. As I was
about to ascend, a video cameraman pushed me aside and went up to
take his pictures from the top. I decided to be a good Bahá�i
and not camplain and we both got good pictures. TWD years later
I discovered the man to be Charles Nolley, the audion � visual
manager at the Temple and we became great friends. Over the
previous 10 years I had been making slide shows on the Faith and
Charles ordered 12 sets of these for use at the temple. 
{{p126}}

The time had come for us to investigate pioneering in Peru on the
spot. Alicia and I flew to Lima, the capital and then took a bus
300 miles inland up into the Andes. Our destination qas
Carjamarca, a busy little town at 9,000 ft where our eldest
daughter Catherine and her family had been living for two years
with Ramin�s elder sister, Shafligeh. They had received very few
visitors from the U.S.A. and were delighted to see us but had
recently suffered a major loss. All their Bahá�i books had been
stored in a disused shower bath. (don�t ask me why!) Uhknown to
anyone a back pressure on the water system had flood all the
books. They were trying desperately to dry them out before mould
appeared, it was almost hopeless. Fortunately they were in the
process of moving into their ~n house nearby and we went with
them and help spread the sodden books on the floor. 

Since they were starting up a small fast food cafe in town, they
had to be economical in all things. This house was cheap  �  just
mud walls, unfinished. A primative bathroam out in the yard and
a water and electric supply which often disappeared altogether,
but it was home and they were pioneering in a very needy place. 

In town there was a plentiful supply of hot water from
underground sources. For 5 cents each the whole family were able
to bathe together in a bricked hole in the ground. We were told
that these baths �Los banyos� were using the same water supply
that the Inca kings used thousands of years ago. It was most
refreshing. The water came to each bath through long open air
channels. It was too hot and we mixed it to our liking by moving
a brick and letting in some cold water.

The teaching work was going on steadily and everyone except us
oould speak fluent Spanish. Ramin�s favorite activity was
sitting in the park and chatting with the local people.

There were large numbers of Campasinos (country folk) doing their
shopping in town and their attire was very picturesque; the women
wore voluminous colored skirts and  black round hats. All were
{{p127}}
in town to do shopping or seeing relatives. One morning I awoke
to the sound of chanting and the tone of a wierd horn. Grabbing
my camera, I went outside and tracked it down to a group of
workers planting potatoes in a field. An old man had a horn
about ten feet long. When he blew, the workers responded with a
chant and then planted more potatoes until the next blast came. 
They greeted me cheerfully and did not mind being photographed. 
I then �~ent on to a ne~hbours hut to collect our daily jug of
rather dubious looking milk; this we always boiled. After
breakfast I set about putting several sodden books out in the sun
to dry. In each case I had to gently open every page. Some of
the books, like Dawnbreakers took a long time but the sun was
strong and soon I was making real progress. After several days I
had dried them all out and then had to glue solme of them backto
their bindings. Eventually nearly all were brought back to a
usable condition.

Shafligeh�s son Moojan was married and he found a living, here in
a unique way. He painted coloured designs on glass and sold them
in varying sizes. Some of his big ones were put up in churches
(with appropriate designs) and they looked much like real leaded
glass windows. Although most of the population was very poor
indeed, there were still a lot of rich people who gave high
prices for Moojan�s work. For some years he has been making a
good living out of it. He was also excellent at teaching the
Faith because he had a sunny disposition and many people in town
knew him because he used to work in the tax office. 

Ramin and Cathy now decided to move dc~tn to the coast where
there was more business and he could earn his living better. He
visited Trujillo and rented an apartment. Returning to Carjmarca
he noticed big trucks regularly brought food up from ~ the coast
and returned emptly. ~e walked around town until he found ane
and offered the man money to take all his furniture to Trujillo 
a big town down on the coast. Alicia, Cathy and her baby took a
plane and Ramin and I �~ent with the truck. There was no room in
the cab for me so I crawled in under the kitchen table and lay
dcwn on a mat. We set off as it grew dark. Soon were stopped by
a patrol who asked ~hnut our business. We were {{p128}}
apparently breaking the law in some way but suddenly the
policeman recognised us as the relatives of Moojan�s little girl
and waved us through. The truck then churned its way up another
thousand feet to go over a mountain pass. Here we stopped at a
very primative hut at 11,000 which was an eating house for
travellers. I woke up and scrambled out frc,m under the kitchen
table. We entered a dingy roam lit by candles and an oil lamp. 
Ramin ordered a dish of rice and meat ~hich was eventually
produced. I had noticed a giant dog in the corner as we came in,
and he had given us a friendly wag of his tail. On biting into
the meat in the semi darkness, I realised why; the meat was
uneatable; the dog received it with enthusiasm as I flung it into
his corner. Back on the dirt road again, all night long we wound
our way down to sealevel and along the coast . Much of this
coastal road crept along a sheer precipice with little passing
room. Illogically I was glad to be under the kitchen table where
I could not see it. Strangely I must have slept for the whole
eight hour journey. Perhaps it was because I realised things
were out of my control and I was entirely in the hand of God.

In Trujillo, Ramin began setting up a soft drink and snack shop
near the market and this was to sustain  them for some years
until giant inflation of 3,000 per cent gripped the country. ~e
stayed with the family for a few weeks and then went to Lima city
to look into educational and job facilities for our now grown
children. Then we flew back to the U.S.A. to pack up all our
portable belongings for a real move to Peru. I had the big job
of selling our recreation vehical and crating up all our things
into six giant packing cases. Alicia and Julia flew back to
Lima, stayed with some Bahá�is and started looking for
accomodation. 

It was lonley being without family, but there was much for me to
do but one day I received a phone call from Alicia. She had
contracted serious asthma in the very dusty city of Lima, where
it never did rain. Her case was so dangerous that I told them
both to ccme back to the U.S.A. immediately for treatement. 
{{p129}}

Alicia and Julia had made good friends with a lot of people in
Lima. They had both spent much time helping run the Bahá�i
center there and Julia had become quite friendly with a fine
young Peruvian named Ramiro who ~as a bit older than herself. 
She asked permission to remain in Lima. m e family of her friend
offered to look after her while Alicia came back to the U.S.A. 
so she stayed on and gradually fell in love with Ramiro. He was
a very active Bahá�i. Among his services was the giving out of
the Promise of World Peace booklet. He and another lady had
visited 63 foreign embassies in Lima (after applying for an
interview each time) and sucessfully delivered a booklet to each. 
They were treated with real respect. 

On one of these missions, the Ambasador of a Moslem state �~as
the recipient. After receiving the Message he asked the Bahá�is
a question: �Why are they persecuting the Bahá�is in Írán?� Since
they had decided beforehand that they should not speak to the
Ambasador about the Faith, Ramiro replied: �May I have your
honour�s permission to reply with a question?� �Certainly.� �Does
your honour accept Muḥammad as the Prophet of God?� �Of course. 
�Do you accept Muḥammad as the Seal of the Prophets?�
�Certainly�. The questions continued on all the basic Moslem
beliefs until Ramiro offered. �Your honour, this is what Bahá�is
believe!� m e ambasador was deeply impressed. 

I have included these details not only to suggest that Ramiro is
a good Bahá�i actively serving the Faith, but also to show that
we had very good reason to consider him a trustw~rthy son � in � law,
for within a few weeks he had proposed to Julia and been
accepted. We could not afford to go to Peru for the wedding and
we gave our parental permission on what we knew about him. m ey
were married in the home of his parents and a few months later
they immigrated to the U.S.A. Although neither of them could
speak the other�s language at first, yet now they were both
fluent in both. Soon each had a good job in the U.S.A. and a
year later Ibmmy ~las born. Ramiro�s parents write to us very
warmly from time to time, through an interpreter, showing their
love and great respect for Julia and her parents. Now, {{p130}}
some years later it has turned out to be a very good marriage. 
We hope that one day we will all be able to meet these lovely
relatives of ~n~iro and rejoice together in this link between our
tt~ nations. 

To return to our own plans, for the next three years we tried
every kind of treatment for dear Alicia. Sometimes we thought we
had found something useful for her ailment, but nothing offered a
lasting cure. IIowever, with care she was able to lead a normal
life. She decided to get trained as a travel agent, so we ~ent
to live at San Carlos, California, where there was a suitable
colege. Elowever, the prospects of her making a useful career in
this way did not turn out well, so we moved to Capitola~ by the
sea because we had been told that the ozone released by the ocean
was beneficial for asthma. 

It was about this time that Susan, our second eldest found the
right young man. Although not a Bahá�i he was much inclined to
its teachings. Within a few months he became an active Bahá�i
and soon they were married. Susan�s health was not always good
and George turned out to be a most understanding and helpful
husband. 

Cathy and Ranin now visited from Peru and then went on to a
pilgrimage in the Holy Land. m ey returned to their pioneer post
in Peru much uplifted. other big influence in our lives was the
fact that Posch Bahá�i Summer School was quite near by and each
year we were able to spend some days there. The peacful serenity
coupled with meeting so many dedicated people fro,m far and wide
seemed to bring a blessing which was accentuated by the beautiful
forests all around. 

Finding that the ocean air had not improved Alicia�s health after
a year, we moved to the dry desert conditions of Las Cruces in
New Mexico. Here we found a happy, lively Bahá�i community and
soon Alicia was setting up a weekly Bahá�i class for the children
of the whole area. She had developed such schools twice before,
at the farm in England an in Portland, Oregon. She first
gathered together about 12 concerned mothers {{p131}}
anl formed them into a School Board. The Board then worked out
all the pract details of the proposed school, including the
choice of venue and curriculum. When all was ready the School
Board submitted themself to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Las
Cruces as their parent authority who were delighted with the
project. They started training the teachers several months
before starting the classes.

When the classes began, parents and children from other assembly
areas, even El Paso, 50 miles away joined in. Difficulties came
up of course, but everyone was determined the school should
thrive and give their children the steady spiri sustenance that
Bahá�u�llah has stipulated. Three years later (1992) it is still
fl ishing and growing. 

In 1990 our son James married a lovely Chinese lady from Taiwan. 
They had me at the California College of Art in Oakland, where
they were both students together. Michele Tu had been educated
in the Bay area but she was not a Bahá�i when they were courting. 
James used a lot of gentleness in showing her the Faith and after
a long time she recognised Bahá�u�llah. Now, after two years of
marriage they are both keen active Bahá�is and both serving on
the Local Spiritual Assembly as well as on the School Board. 

To return to Alicia and myself. After one year in the dry
conditions of Las Cruces, we had to leave, because the electric
storms seemed to adversely aff~ Alicia�s asthma. We packed up
and drove our rented U � Haul van with all our furniture in it,
westwards to look for a small town without polluted air and w we
could buy a cheap house on mortgage. After investigating several
towns w~ found our ideal home in Red Bluff Judicial district. 
Well it was nearly ideal, it did have short spells of high
temperature in summer, but we had a good ai] conditioner and our
house looked out onto green country. 

Here we settled in very happily with warm encouragement from the
local Bah group. Soon there were two new declarations, Lisa and
Kurt Harms. Then two other Bahá�is, Jan Marina and Sheila
Granger moved into Red Bluff town grou Our good fortune
continued, for a few months later J acqueline and Gene Wild from
San l ose moved up to our area and we now have a strong
community. 

Alicia had for many years been working on a curriculum for
Bahá�i schools a she continued to research this project steadily. 
I started working on the fruit trees and building a green house. 
I also dug the ground and Alicia did all the plann and planting. 
We began building what is called �Square foot gardening.�  Six
foot square boxes filled with correct soil mixture and planted
with vegetables.{{p132}}

We felt that we needed income to serve the Faith more fully,
Alicia tried continually to find an occupation. Her main effort,
spening two years learning to be a travel agent had not matured. 
She tried many other avenues without success. Sometimes she
found part time work and threw herself whole heartedly into it,
but thereby making new friends to whom she gave the Faith. But
one day she was feeling frustrated at her inability to find a
job, she said to me I wonder if the world really needs me and
whether my life has been a success.� I replied Oh really!  Well
then can you show me any Bahá�i family in the whole world which
has raised four active, devoted Bahá�i children, who have married
four active Bahá�i partners of four different races, Iranian,
Peruvian, American and Chinese?  You their mother did most of
this by your unselfish, hard � working efforts in raising those
children while 1, their father, was usually out working on the
farm. On top of that, you have been the driving force and
inspiration which has started Bahá�i Sunday classes for children
first our farm, for the whole area and then in the U.S.A at
Portland Oregon, Las Cruces and now Red Bluff.� 

Truely this is a devoted, loving, persevering servant of
Bahá�u�llah who in spite of being restricted by her ailments,
persevered in the way of loving service to mankind. Even today
occasionally a grown up Bahá�i would greet her with � Hullo
Auntie Alicia, do you remember me?� In our 18 years in England
she had for years been secretary of the Child Education
Committee; one her duties was to send out birthday greetings
every year to each of the 800 odd Bahá�i children on her rolls. 
She became well known by the new generation in many countries. 
How many souls did she save for the new race of men, like those
who many years later, as active Bahá�is greeted her with �Hullo
Auntie Alicia!� 

We did not know it when we came to Red Bluff, but Alicia�s duties
in the physical world were slowly drawing to a close. Her asthma
and other problems increased, but she kept working hard as
secretary of the Assembly and organiser of the childrens classes
and a hundred other things to make those around her happy. We
kept closely in touch with our four children and occasionally had
big family gatherings at our home. These gatherings included
three grand � children, Camilia, Claudette and Tommy and great were
the celebrations at those times we had together. 

One day her heart just stopped and her immortal soul took its
flight to the real world beyond our earthly vision. There she is
continuing her journey through all the worlds of God. On her
worldly resting place are engraved these words: � 

> `The light which these souls radiate is responsible for
    the progress of the world and the advancement of its
    peoples.�
�  Bahá�u�llah, Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá�u�llah, p. 157{{p133}}

All four children and their families came to the funeral and then
stayed a week longer; we shared our deep grief together and
started planning for the future. During that week Alicia
appeared to several individuals in various ways. Typical was
Julia who, sleeping in her mother�s bed, woke up in the middle of
the night and rushed into my room. �Dad, Mum has just told me to
go and comfort you and say �I did not have much spare energy
while I had a sick body, but now I have all the energy I want!�
Julia went on �Dad, you must not think of that room as a sad
place, it is filled with power!� 

When the families had all gone I went up to Bosch Summer School
and worked for my keep the whole summer. In that time I was
surrounded with many people who know Alicia and myself and their
support was greatly warming. I got a lot of work done in the
gardens and attended all the session I chose. After the summer I
spent two or three weeks living with each of my children. They
all wanted me to stay permanently of course, but I had heard of
the great progress of the Faith in Romania and began planning to
go there. It just happened that recently the N.S.A. of the
United Kindgom had received a suggestion from the Universal House
of Justice, that it could be useful if they invited overseas
British Bahá�i to come back for a teaching trip in England; they
sent me an invitation. I also received an invitation from the
new N.S.A. of Romania to help with the teaching there. And
above all an invitation came from Haifa to be present there for
the 100th year celebrations of Bahá�u�llah�s passing and placing
the scroll containing the names of the Knights of Bahá�u�llah at
His the threshold of His shrine. I am therefore embarking on a
five month trip, visiting the three countries and returning to
California. It seems to me that it if I find the needs of the
Faith in Romania as urgent as I have heard, that it will be hard
to resist going back there for a long time.

I have just been told that seven Persian Bahá�i families are
wanting to buy a building for a Bahá�i Center in Romania and are
looking for a caretaker. Who knows what will happen!  ~Verily we
are all from God, and to Him shall we return. 

<i>THE END FOR NOW</i>

### REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL TEACHING TEAM TO THE FAR EAST 
<br>                 November 15 to December 1 1987

`O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the
    utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call
    of �Ya Bahá�u�l � Abhá� in cities, villages, mountains,
    deserts and oceans, promote the Divine teachings! 
    This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! 
    Please God, ye may achieve it.�
� `Abdu�l � Bahá,
Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 39.

In response to the summons of `Abdu�l � Bahá (quoted above) 36
Bahá�is left the U.S.A. on November 15th 1987 and travelled to 5
countries in the far East to show by their actlons the depth of
thelr love for Bahá�u�llah and for all mankind.

It also seemed that we were seeking to unite our intellectual
Western approach with the splrltual one of the Orient.  Some of
the Eastern blessings soon became apparent in the relaxed,
patlent and frlendlY receptlon we all received in our flrst 5
days whlch were spent in Taiwan. rrom the airport we went into
Taipei, the capital, by special tour bus and first visited the
Lung Shan Buddhist temple, the largest and most famous in Taiwan. 
Here crowds of workers and housewives carrying incense stlcks
bowed to varlous shrlnes then knelt to pray with sreat
earnestness. Astonishlngly we were told that photography was an
accepted as natural. We walked amongst them and founc that thl~
close contact wlth the people was a warm experience, in spite of
our embarrassment at mixing cameras with worshlppers. It seemed
that it was an indication that if motives were for the good of
all, then such a mlxture can be harmonlous. Our lnterest was for
splrltual treasure, not materlal ones.{{p134}}

Our breakfast at the hotel each day was In our own dining room
where we also had prayers, readings and consultations for two
hrs. The second day five National Spiritual Assembly members
joined us. Mr. Said Kadivian, their chairman, very warmly
welcomed us and told how desperately we are needed. He jovially
appointed us all to the �Extension Travel Teaching Committee�. 
They have had nearly 900 new believers recently and 70% of these
were educated youth. He told us how when the House of Justice
had announced new persecutlons, they haa replied with ��~e have
just haa 300 new believers!� Thl~ was no card � slsnlns e~erclse,
he sald but true acceptance. The Fund also Increased 70%

Jean Bellows, a ploneer, gave a fine slide show on the teaching
that is going on in Taiwan. She told us of a dream she had of
the whole west coast of Taiwan opening up and its people flooding
onto the malnland of Chlna. Said Kadivian appealed to us to
return here again and help teach the masses. They need at least
17 more travelling teachers. Also. Please teach the Chinese
everywhere in the U.S.A.

He told us of the ambitious goals of their Publlshing Trust,
especlally the creatlon of their own kind of pamphlets, not just
translatlons of the Amerlcan ones. Empnasls is to be plcced on
pamphlets whlch use the creatlve Worcs of God. �Intone, O My
servants, the Words of God...!�

Part of our slghtseeing took us to the Memorlal of Chlang Kai
Shek and Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Martha Root had spoken wlth him.{{p135}}

It was interesting to find that the basis of the new Chlnese
Republic, founded by Dr. Sun Yat Sen, is the Three People�s
Principles; �of the people, by the people and for the people.�

Next morning, after our breakfast session, we headed in our
speclal bus to the town of Tsao Tung, sbout three hours distance. 
The entire way was spent in discussions and entertainment over
tne amplifier as Tony Lease, our tour director, drew from each of
us some of our Bahá�i experiences. Sugar, a vivacious Chlnese
Bahá�i, taught us a Bahá�i songs, in Chinese, one of which went
like this: (my own alliteration): �Wa I nee (I love you) La nee I
wa (and you love me) Dai chee chow see see (I am Bahá�i).

At Tsao Tun we all had lunch with some of the local pioneers and
others at a very modern cafe. They told us that most new Bahá�is
had been attracted by the Spirit of the Faith, even though they
know llttle ~bout the administration.

Clothing here is very cheap but no use for Americans ~unle~s lt
1Y e~peclalIy talIored) because they do not make clothes in the
larger slzes we need.

We were frequently reminded not to start pushing the Falth here,
for lt is a bl~ enough happening for the local people to suddenly
see 36 Amerlcans appear together. We should just be natural,
frlendly anc carlr.g. We vlsited the modest Bahá�l center here
in this vlIlage, said prayers and had a group picture taken wlth
an {{p136}}
elderly Chlnese gentleman who had been a Bahá�l only a very short
time.

One evening we went to a fireside at the Taipei Center and the
place was flIled to overflowlng. After some prayers talks were
given by two or three persons. Our group nearly depleted the
supply of special books, calendars and other materials printed in
Talwan. Every one felt the warmth an~ unlty auring the
fellowship and refreshment time. We all felt lt c great bounty
to share our prayers and experlences. A young lady at our hotel
had become lnterested In the Falth through contact wlth some of
us. 3   She attended a fireside and declared that evening.

In our consultatlons we learned that the Chinese are not famlllar
wlth the Chrlstlan Idea of Prophets, so we should RATHER MANIFEST
THE SPIRIT. At no time should we do anything to upset the local
teaching work but synch~onl~e at all times with the local and the
Natlonal. Just our travelling he.e In such a larse group has a
blg teaching effect.

Breakfast at the hotel, Asla World, the next morning was a
splrltual as well as materlal feast. One ploneer jolned us after
rl~ing at 5 AM to get here from the next town. He was Mansour
Kheraamandam from Chung Ll. The rest of the day was spent going
out to the markets and shops and mingling joyfully wlth the
people.

Our last evening In Talpei was a celebration dinner wlth the
local Bahá�i guests. Victor Tom, known to many of us was there
and gave a ~hort talk.{{p137}}

Another inspiring talk was given by Jack Davis who wlth Kenton
Dunbar and other pioneers started the teaching here, whlch has
acceleratea now lnto mass converslon. We were reminied of the
letter of the Universal House of Justice whlch has given great
lmportance to the teaching work in Taiwan. In view of this we
should remind the American community of how much thelr help is
nee~ed by sencing ~eacners anc also teaching the Chlne~e in the
U.S.A.

We sent joyful cables to the Unlversal House of Justlce and to
the Hand of the Cause Bill Sears.

The next day we flew to Hong Kong, changed planes and arrived in
Bangkok late evenlng. What a wonderful surprise awaited us. We
were greeted by about 30 Bahá~ls car~y!ng a large ~anner. 
Bangkok gave us a true Bahá�i welcome.

### SUNDAY. Nov. 22nd

We all vlsltea the Royal Museum and then the
chlef Buddhl~t shrlne in all the worlC. Hls Hollness the Buddha
l~ en5hrlned here, in an all golcen bullding known the world over
for lt magnlflcence.  We remove~ our shoes and entered to pray
wlth crowds of others. Then we toured the enormous buiIding
complex, perhaps the most ornate in the world, at every step a
new won~er of beauty greete~ us. Every lnch Is decorated for
here resides the Emerald Buddha, now in winter ~ress.

That evening we attended the local Bahá�i Feast. Maybe the
s~ying is �East Is East and West is West and never the twain
shall meet..�  but at that Feast this was no longer so. It was {{p138}}
here that the warmth and unity of Splrit melded the twain! 
During the consultatlon perlod four of the Amerlcans gave a 10
minute talk, each on a different aspect of the Faith. The social
part of ~he Fea~t fllled wlth Joyous song and wonderful frults
and ~weets. The place was crowded to overflowing.

### MONDAY NOV. 23RD

We arose at 5:30 AM for breakfast, prayers and
discussions. At 8:30 we ~oaraed a long narrow fast boat for a
trip on the Chao Payee ~Rlve~ Payee, sometlmes CGlIed the Rlver
of the Klng~). How can I descrlbe that experlence?  Imaglne a
very broad rlver flowing past the hotel and swarming with boats,
ocean going vessels, great ba~es and boats of every size for the
tourlst. Many of the tour boats were long and narrow wlth a
truck englne mounte~ on a swivel at the rear, from this extended
a 12 foot propeller shaft. At full throttle the ~oat almost
leaps out of the water and the passengers hang on for dear llfe
while an ever nonchalant boatman skillfully steers them through
the trafflc. We had a larger, slower version and were constantly
passed by these whlle we lelsurely enjoyed every inch of this
strange, wonderful trip along the river and kl~ngs,~canals) of
this incredible city.

Our gulde, Sam Is the local representatlve of Tony Lease Tours
~nd was a constant source of lnformatlon and ioy. He referred
affectlonately to the speeding boats as our �Local Kamakazis�. 
It was alon~ these canals,or klongs, we saw how the poor, and not
so poor, people llved. Some of the very poorest looking
buildings {{p139}}
were the river resldence and buslness site of persons who had
homes elsewhere. We saw the daily routine of many of the rlver
people from bathing and washing their teeth whlle stanaing waist
deep in the river, washing clothes, loading boats, and cooking
the family�5 meal. This was a timely e~perience for us, tourists
from the luxury Shangra La Hotel.

Along the way we saw well kept patches of water plants grown for
food ana other uses. Tropicdl fru.ts, orchias ana other
brilliant flowers flourished. Throush ~.nese narrow canals the
kamakazis kept roaring past us making high tidal waves which
everyone took good naturedly. Soon we reachea our destination,
the floating market of Bangkok,the tourlst haven. So many boats
were tled up to the pier whiIe their passensers ransacked the
multltude of stalls for barsains, that some of the passengers had
to walk across two or three boats to get tc thelr own. We were
among the ~argaln hunters but so well was i~ all organl7ed,
however, by �our great leader�, dS Sam referrec to Tony Lease,
that we lost not a slngle person and all were present when we
gathered back at the boat an hour later. We returned to the main
rlver    with lt~ scurrying boats, enormous grain ba~ges going
down to the sea and ferries crisscrossing between them all. 
Often we passed beautlful well kept temples but none could
compare with the Temple of Dawn, a massive complex of incredible
shrines, temples, and market stalls. Everything was in living
technlcolor. As the cameras came out, so did the sun from the
early morning overcast and we were able to get pictures to our
hearts content.{{p140}}

Every morning breakfast was a joyful event with prayers and plans
for the day�s teaching and shopping. In spite of having to
choose from over 25 dlshes, the mood was spiritual ~nd this was
taken up iby the hotel staff who must have ~een amazed to flnd
~such an atmospnere in thelr luxury hotel. I askea one walter if
he understood English ~nd he noddea. I sald, UDo you understand
what is hcppenins?� He noddec. I save hlm a brief explanatlon
and a pamphlet. Several tlmes in the ne~t days he came back to
me and e~pressed warm frlendship, remlnaing me that I had spoken
to him.

One day two travelling Bahá�l tedchers mlraculously found us and
Jolned ln. They were Myrlam Marrero, pioneer to Surinam and
Hlllegonda Van der Zee from Holland. Another day a member of the
i Natlonal Splrltual Assembly of Malaysla, ~Ir. Kurama Das spoke
to us. They now have lOO,OOO bellevers, 150,000 lf you count the
children.

Other guidance given to us wa~ that we should speak to these
peopleq in thelr own manner. They do not use the word �God� but
the �Great Splrit�. They are not famlllar with the Blble
Prophets or wlth progresslve revelation. Tell them rather that
Bahá�u�llch is the Great Teacher for today.

One thlrd of all Chlnese llve outslde Chlna, befriend them
whereever You flnd�them. In Thalland educatlon has been
compulsorY slnce 1921 and now only 8% of lts adults are
llllterate. Already they have ~een following this teaching of
Bahá~u~llah for many years!  But more than this, from the poorest
to the richest they {{p141}}
are always turning a bright, shining and frlendly face to
everyone, as He has commanded. They truly made us feel at home.

Our last evening in Bangkok was spent in a massive restaurant
eating Thai food and watching Thai Gancers In tradltlonal dres~
to the sound of throbbing Instruments we had never seen before. 
And fInally a~ we leave this hot, humld, enchanted clty wlth its
w~rm and loving people, It seems we hardly notlce~ the humldlty. 
This wa~ especlally true when srouPs of us were taken off by
local Bahá�ls to visit thelr frienCs and meet informally wlth the
people. On one such venture slx of us taxied acros~ the clty to
meet wlth the head of an Internatlcnal School. We found the
~chool dlsplaying many examples of ~he multl � natlonal aspects of
the world. They were doing this because it was the obvlous way
ahead and the head was surprlsed when we told hlm he was obeying
the Wlll of God. Several others went off to see something of an
agrlcultural nature.

At our last breakfast in Bangkok Sammy Smith, the Secretary of
the Local Assembly, told us that they are sending two books, ~The
New Garden � and �The Peace Statement� to 2,000 schools. We
offered to help address these but she said, �Only lf you can type
in Thal.�  She had brought some examples of the products of
cottage lndustrles the Bahá�ls of Northern Thailand had producea
to help them earn a living. They were very fine set~ of
placemats and nap�klns made from the raw cotton grown in the
area. One teacher told how In a bus a man had overheard her
telling about the Falth and pulled her aside demanding to know
�what is Bahá�i� {{p142}}because it is just what he belleves.

### NOV. 28 � 31 HONG KONG TO CANTON (in Guangdong Province)

Our first evening in Hong Kong we split into two groups wlth one
going to a fIreside at the Bahá~l Center and the rest took an
hour bus journey to the town of Tal Po. In ~oth firesides the
same warm spirit of love and unity was shown. We met pioneers,
Iocal te~chers ana local non � Bahá�is. e met a Malaysian who haa
come with eleven others to do teaching work here. One of them
had presented the Peace Message to thlrteen ~chool heads and
plans to do twenty more. She did it without appointments and had
a fine receptlon.

Late that evening we gathered at the hotel to observe the passing
of �Abdu�l � Bahá. Some local believers were there also. The
program W2~ planned by Mr. Kurama Das. and lasted till about 1:30

Chester Lee, National Spiritual Chairman, reminded us that the
Bahá�i News had reported that after Beijing Book Fair, the
Government of China asked for a translation of three more Bahá�i
books. He said they use such books for research and for reports
to thelr people. They have already mentioned Bahá�u�llah in
reports.

Early next morning we arose for breakfast at AM. The train trip
to Canton ~Guant~ou) China was a three hours long. It was
raining as we passed through partially harvested rice fields. 
There were other crops but we could not distinguish what they
were. Going through customs at Canton was very easy and a Bus
from the Garden Hotel was waiting for us. Our guide, Johnny, an
adopted {{p143}}
English name that sounds much like his own, that back in the days
when he graduated, alt young people were sent to the countryside
for two or three years. (This is no longer done) ~e has a wife
and one spn. His wife works in the hospital as a lab tech and
the child stays at his kindergarten which is at the hospital at
cost of food only. All big work places ~o ehis. Women In China
have more freedom than the ones in America because they can
become train divers (englneers~ ana heavy equi?ment workers, etc.

Francis, a beautiful lady guide supplied ~y the Tony Lease office
In Hong Kong spoke very good EnglIsh t.avelled to China wlth us
and was a great help not only with our entry to the hotel but
when Johnny got stuck. One of these times was when he trled to
exp I a I n how when the � Gang of Four u was over thrown, the I
and that had been communes was given back to the people. We
had to stop by the Dlstrict Office to get s~il I another guiae (a
local one~ before we could visit a typlcal farm famiIy who ralsed
ducks ana geese . The elderly couple welcomea al I J6 visi tors
who only just managed to squeeze into their main room. This was
in the town of Dall. They had flve chlldren and were lucky that
was before the ruling of only one chlld per famlly or severe
penaltles for each extra chlId. We returned the local guide to
her district office.

We also visited a ceramic factory, a siIk factory, a jade factory
and a Museum School that had formerly been a Taoist Temple. The
temple used to ~e used for famllY worship and contalned mlnlature
flgures deplcting all aspects of family life plus many large
statues representing warrlors as well as Gods.{{p144}}

With much persuaslon we were allowed to visit a local hospltal  f
at the town of Po Shan. Health care Is free. The hospltal was
very primitive by our standards but the people there seemed to
get good care. There were two dispenseries or pharmacies, one of
Western type medicines and the other Chinese Herbals. Everything
in China would have been enjoyed much more if we had not been so
cold. We had been told that the temperature would be much llke
that of Hong Kong (and it was), but a cold front had come down
from the north and with the wind and rain we were most
uncomfortable. All the heavy luggage had been left at the Park
Lane Hotel in Hong Kong. We brought wlth us only the barest
neccessities in an overnighter or carry on bag for such a short
stay. Even though we shivered in spite of wearing two or three
shirts, we found great frlendliness everywhere in Canton. We had
plenty of meetings with the local people, mostly when shopping
and in the hotel. There was llttle conversation , of course, but
we ald share wonderfully warm, frlenaly greetings In our own way. 
They ~ldn�t obJect to having thelr plcture taken in fact they
wanted u~ to do so. We saw no pollce of any klnd an~ Just a very
few soldlers seemingly off duty.

It was generally felt by us that the Chlnese are a gentle,
wonderful, sensltlve people with an unusual sense of beauty which
is qhown in their surroundings and thelr great works. Of course,
as tourlsts we saw mostly tourlst p~aces, but we did see much of
the common people and their homes while driving through the small
country towns and villages of all kindsn{{p145}}
was with ~reat reluctance that he had to return home later only
one more brief day in Hong Kong. It was ver~ hcrd to sad goodbye
to Chester and the others. Two persons in our qroup stayed, one
in Hong Kong and one went back ~o ~aiwan. Others are planning to
return  soon.{{p146}}

### Highly Significant Celebrations at the World Center

The entire last week of l~ay ~99~ saw some most Sl9n~icant events occuring in the Holy Land. In ascending order they were: � 

1. The placing of the scroll, listing the names of the Knights of Bahá�u�llah, under the floor at the entrance to the shrine of Bahá�u�llah.

2. The commemoration of the Centenary of the ascension of Bahá�u�11ah on ~ay 2gth 18~2. 3. The processlon or 3,400 Bahá�is from all over the world up the Avenue of the Kings on Mt.Carmel, circumambulating the shrine o~ the Báb and then climbing up to the seat of the Unlversal House or Justice to vlew
a near life sized portra~t or the Blessed Beauty. the beloved Guardian once said to a pilgrim ~. . . the bounty of making a
pilgrimage is that you may become spiritually strong to go out and do great serv~ce ~or the Faith. Thus this mass pllgr1mage
wlll doubtless become the cause of great new capaclty amongst the ~rlends. rowards the end of ~ay planes began del~ver~ng pllgrims
rrom all over the world to the Holy Land. National Spiritual Assemblies from 175 countries had each been asked to send ninteen
Bahá~is to take part in this celebration. As they arrived 
{{p147}} at the World Center, 3 whole day was given to registration and
for meeting long parted friends. Many were the joyful greetings
between Bahá�is who had long been serving the Faith in faraway
places. Try to imagine the pilgrim house near the shrine of the
Báb, acustomed to accomodating a grnup of lOo pilgrims, now being
used to welcome ~,400 on this day. So packed was it wlth old
friends that one could hardly walk a yard without being hailed
and embraced. We had been preYiously asked not to telephone to
the hotels in town to find special friends, for i~ everyone dld
this is would jam the telephone system. It was potnted out to us
that the social side of this celebr:~tion must take strlctly
second place to the main events themselves and the~r splrltual
si9nlricance~ Further, television crews from Europe would be
recording everything so we were asked not to run around taking
plctures ourselves. The World Center ~t~ff would cover
everything.

On May 27th, the second day, a reception was held by the
Universal House of Justice for those Knights of Bahá�u�llah who
were still alive. (about 109 out of 257). Fortunately our group
arrived at the House of Justice building about an hour ear~y and
so we were able to walk around the beautiful gardens. We were
told that at this time of the year the grass would normally have
been be dead through summer heat and lack of rain, but that
fortuitously there had been a massive downpour. Grass and {{p148}}
flowers were at their peak condition as a result. However, it
was not all progress for the rain had washed great numbers of the
famous geraniums out of the ground and the storm had blown down
some of the tall ornamaental trees. The hard pressed ground
staff had been forced to go out into the town and buy more plants
and to remove downed trees. On thts day there w~s no sign of
the damage anywhere.

The gathering took place in the maln hall. Short addresses were
gi~en by the Chairman of the House of Justice and by Hand of the
Cause Ruhuiyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum. The latter gave a very warm welcome to
the Knights. Then she drew our attent~on to the great importance
of taking advantage of world conditions to use the spiritual
power now at our disposal to make real progress in awakening
mankind to the Divine outpouring. She sa~d, from memory, that
she hoped we would not go back to our countries and just say
things like ~Oh we had a wonderful t~me and everyone was uplifted
and Rúḥíyyih <u>Kh</u>ánum W3S looking younger than we expected.~
(laughter). But that we should go back and ar~use the ~riends
everywhere to the tremendous spiritual opportunttles now open tor
teaching the Faith in this Holy Year.

There followed refreshments and the opportunity for the Knlghts,
many of whom had not seen each other for very many years, to
greet each other, discuss old times and see the scroll, {{p149}}
which was laid out on a long table. Later it would be rolled up
and inserted into a metal cylinder, vacuumed and hellum gas
inserted before sealing. Each name on the scroll had its own
ornamented place, and was coupled with the name o~ the territory
opened and the date it was opened.

At 10 a.m. the next morning, buses collected all 3,400 attendees
~rom their hotels and brought us, in carefully organised
sequence, to Bah~i where a large hayfteld had been rented to park
the 60 buses with great precision. Everyone would be able to
relocate their own bus after the ceremony of placing the cylinder
at the entrance to the Shrine.

Rows ot cha~rs accomodated all the pilgrims around the outer
perlmtter ~nd on the mound. Pr3yers were read and expl3natlons
given; then the House members, Hands, Counselors and all the
Knights went forward to the shrine entrance and watched while
Rúḥíyyih Kahnum, with help, laid the cylinder in an open trench
~ust inside the Shrine door, filled around it with sand and
replaced the flagstone and carpet. TeleYision cameras recorded
the whole oper3tion and it will no doubt soon be transmitted to
Bahá�i communities all over the world, and probably to public
channels also.

The following day, May 29th 1992 we celebrated the ascension {{p150}}
of Bahá�u�llah which had taken place exactly 100 years earlier. 
All pilgrims were picked up at their hotels at staggered times,
starting at 1.30 a.m., and taken to Bahjí where, in the dark of
the night an astounding sight met our eyes, setting a deeply
moving atmosphere. As we left our buses and walked down the road
in a steady stream towards the Shrine, we saw that from the
Collins gate right up to the entrance o~ the holiest Shrine,
there were twin rows of flame in the night, one on each side of
the path. On closer approach we found that they were ~ormed by
twin rows or candles sheltered in glass. Later we were to
discover that all paths in these holy precints had been treated
in the same manner. In the darkness of the night, six thousand
candle � lights, together with all the brilliant electric lamp
standards produced an atmosphere of great beauty in those
per~ectly arranged gardens surrounding the most holy shr~ne. It
was strongly reminiscent of Nabíl�s narrative where he described
the arrival of the Blessed Beauty at Bahjí in 1880 to the
accompaniment o~ banners ol� light from the Abhá Kingdom.

As the two hour session might grow cool, blankets had been tssue
at the hotel. I much apppreciated this, for as we took our seats
there was a nlght ~og and all the seats were wet with dew. The
organtsers had thoughtfully le~t ~ paper towel on each seat.As
the crowd of pilgrims slowly filed into their seats I managed to
make my way up onto the large elevated terrace {{p151}}
which Shoghi Effendi had created on the left of the entrance;
from here there was a wide view of the entire illuinated gardens,
while at my feet ran a line of candles joyously flickering in the
night.

We watched, as the members of the Universal House o~ Justice and
the Hands of the Cause went into the mansion itself and mounted
to the bedroom where the Blessed Beauty had passed on. Here they
said prayers and then returned to the gardens ~or the devotional
program relayed through many speakers. It was a precious
experience to listen to those heavenly words in this Illuminated
haven, surrounded on all sides by impenetratable night.

At the end of the readings we all filed back onto the circular
path and began our circumambulation o~ the Shrine. When laying
out the gardens, occasional trees had been left to grow in the
mlddle of the path, and each of these had its overhanging
branches which were lit by a flashlight held by an attendant,
lest we bump into them in the dark.

It was 6 a.m. when we arrived back at our hotel and we were all
looking forward to a healthy bereakfast, but the dining room was
not open, so most people went to bed and slept soundly. Two
hours later I awoke and had a good breakfast before returning to
{{p152}} bed till noon.

At 1 p.m. we were once more loaded lnto our bus. We were
transported to the foot of Mt. Carmel where we were to climb the
avenue of the Kings. A number of people were too old or in
wheel � chairs and could not could not make it up the mountain, so
the the buses took them by road up to the Shrine. ~ost of us
climbed upwards, passing through large areas ~f bulldozed terrain
where construction of the nine new terraces was being laid out. 
At the top we walked around the shrine of the Báb and went on to
the House of Justice building. Since we had to cross a major
trunk road, the police held up traffic periodically and let us
cross in batches of fifty, to continue on up the Arc.

We were now to view a speclally prepared portrait Or
Bah�u�llah. Ahead of on the path we could see several other
groups waiting for their turn to enter the building. By viewing
the portrait in small groups, all would have a close view.

When our turn c~me, we saw th~t the entire end ~f the hall had
been blocked of r with elaborate paneling, while in the center of
this and at about seven feet from the floor was a back � lit
projection screen. As we gathered, the lights gradually went out
and we stood silent in the total darkness for a few moments; then
slowl~ there appeared before us a life � size {{p153}}
picture of the Blessed Beauty. He seemed to be looking directly
into oureyes with all the wisdom of the ages, and to ~e including
us and all creation in a deep and ~Jnderstanding love.

We hardly dared to breath or move. After about a minute only,
the portrait slowly dtsappeared to leave us once more in
darkness. The lights came gently on again and we passed silently
out of a side door and down the mountain side to our waiting bus,
each occupied with his own thoughts and deeply aware of the
in~inite bounty bestowed upon us. 
The next morning was departure day, and most people left, but due
to a mistake in booking, I had one more day before my flight back
to U.S.A. I joyfully went down town and found a bus back to
Bahjí for uninterrupted prayers, and meditation. Then also, I
was able to get some new photographs of those holy precincts.

I recalled wistfully how in 1952 I had made my first pilgrimage
and each evening was able to bask in the uplifting presence of
Shoghi Effendi. When it had come to departure time he saw how
downcast I was. �Don�t be sad~ he had said, �You will come
back!� I accepted this but wondered how I would ever again find
the funds. So blind are we to the workings of destiny  �  this
present visit in 1992, 40 years later was infact my ninth visit
to these holy Shrines! I meditated on the vast developments 
{{p154}}
the Faith during those years. In 1963 there were 135 delegates
in Haifa to elect the first Universal House of Justice. In 1968
there were about 500 delrgatrs preseny. On this Celebrstion
there were 3,400 Bahá�is gathered on the mountain of God! 

The World Order of Bahá�u�llah is in fact appearing before our
very eyes daily. For example, in Africa, giant strides have been
made. In 1953, there were only three Bahá�is in all of that vast
continent, (If one did not count Egypt and the Sudan whicn was
conquored in the days of Abdu�l Bahá). Now there are now nearly
100,000 Bahá�is in Kenya alone. The same kind of picture must
exist all over Africa today! 

Tears filled my eyes, for Shoghi Effendi had longed to see this
day . Soon however I realised that he must be joining in with
the great rejoicings in the Abhá Kingdom. This 100 th
anniversary of the ascension of the Blessed Beauty celebrates
this enormous development of God�s Kingdom on earth. It also
marks the centenary of the acceptance by the followers of
Bahá�u�llah, of His appointment of Abdu�l Bahá as the infallible
interpreter of His Revelation. Thus man has fullfilled at long
last, the Eternal Covenant of God with man. The above
develprnents are surely just a part of the Divine response
promised to mankind when we should finally fulfill that Covenant.

<i>                              E N D </i>

### SOME THOUGHTS ON THE HOLY YEAR 1~ 

Since the Univ~?r~l H~u,e of Jus�.i � ~ h~s ~ske.~l US, in thelr
letter of Rldvan 1~3~31?  tO 11. . . pay befitting re~rd to
the �entenary of the Ascension of B~h~�u�llah and of the
in~u~ur~tion of His world � unifying Covenant, ,t will be of v~lue
for e~ch of u~ to ~o thi~. The followin~, are a~few thou~hts of
onl~J one per~on ~nd should be regarded as such. 

With the passing of the Bless~d Beauty to th~ h~venly world one
hundred years a~,o we were deprived of His phys~cal ternple, but
not of His reality. ~aha�u�llah is stiIl wlth us today. 

�We are with you at all times, ~nd shall ~tr~n~th~n yGu through
the power of Tr � uth.�Gl.137:16. 

For ~ome reason no Manifestation of God h~s ~vet �  rem~ined
physically on earth for more than a normal sp~n of hum~n lif~. 
Perhaps this was, among other reasons, to demonstrate that no
earthly combinatlon or elements was ever lntended to b,e
permanent. It would also be a deliberate reminder to us, about
the dual nature of the Manifestatlons and to demonstrate that
thelr divine station must not be confused with their e~rthl~
station. 

Their first st~tiorl; �Through their appear~nce the RevelatiGn of
God is made manifest, and by Their counten~nce the Beauty of God
is revealed. �GL. 53 . 

Their second station: �. . . Viewed in the li~ht of Their
second station . . They manliest absolute servltude . . .Even
as He hath sald: �I am but a man like unto you.� Gl.53. 

The occaslon of Bahá�u�llah�s physlcal passing from thiS worid
was, to the belivers, a tremendous depriv~tion, but seen in the
eternal plan of God it might seem to be the moment of our being
turned loose to pro~ress by our own decisons, but aided by Hi~
Writinss and by His ever � present splrltual reallty. In other
words, not being  � 7 dependant upon the physical form. 
Bahá�u�llah unlike any pre � ~icus Manifestation, left not only a
record of .H teachings in His own handwriting but also gave us three lnstitutions endowed with the
gift of infallible ~,uidance. Those institutions are  � A~dull
E~ha, the Guardian and the Universal House OI Justice. 

The focus of our celebratlon during this holy year is therefore
twofold, the ascencion of Bahá�u�llah in triumph to His true
habitation in the relms above and secondly the lon~ ~walt~d
inauguration of the Covenant which has already brought great
splrltual development to mankind. 

Regarding ~ . . . the inauguration of His world � unifying
Covenant.� this was long promised in the Bible. Let us therefore
ask ourselves what exactly happened to lnau~urate the Covenant a
hundred years ago. 

By �in auguration� one underst~nds th~t both parties have kept
their own slde of the agreement. For thousands or years Prophets
have offered this Covenant and mankind has ~ailed to keep it; but
now, at last we have fullfilled it by being absolutely faithful
to Bahá�u�llah~s appointment of Abdu�l Bah.~ as the sole
inIallible lnterpreter the Word or God after His passln~. 

We can clearly see that b~ this act the tollowers ha~e remained
totally united. They were able to avoid breaking up into sects
over a multitude of conflicting interpret.~tions of Scripture, as
~11 vther religions had done in the past. Such total unlty
amon~, th~ followers of Bahá�u�llah may be the secret key not
Just to an lnIlnltely h~gher ~orm of consclousness ror man~ilnd,
but even Ior a higher form of life. This is, of cow � se depend~nt
on the real unity of its parts, an essential condition for the
l~ext step in our evolution  �  the spiritu~l birth of humanity. 
God�s Et.ern~l Covenant lS, surely, the lnstrument deslgneci to
2~c:hleve thl~ tr~nsfol � m~tlon 

But unity alone is not enou~h, lt must be ac.c&rding to the
divine plan. Abdu�l Bahá spoke about two forms of creation,
accidental and divine. He said that the former is temporary but
that t.he latter, because it is done according to the divine
plan, is eternal. Also that when the constituent parts are
assemkled in the divine way it, attracts a higher order of spirit. The purpose of God
i~ evldently that manklnd should now take a ~lant new step
Iorward, therefore mankind must first learn to kee,~ the
Covenant; this will assure that we will build according to the
divine plan. The purpose of this plan has been stated clearly by
B~ha�u�llah Himself: 

�He Who is your Lord, the All � Merciful, cherlsheth in Hls the
heart the desire o~ beholding the entlre human race as one soul
and one body.� Gl.~13. 

Abdu�l Bahá described how this can take place and the result. 

�. . . when the e~istin~ elements are ~athered to~ether
accordin~ to the natural order, and wlth perfect strength, they
become a magnet for the spirit, and the spirit will become
manifest in them wlth all its perfectlons.� SAQ.201. 

The Covenant must surely h~ve be~n m~de when the hum~ spirit
first emanated from ~od. The Hidden Word P.1~. ~eems t~ refer
to this: �  

�O MY FRIENDS!  Have ye forgotten that true zlnd radi~nt morn,
when in those hallowed ~nd blessed surroundings ye were all
gathered in My presence beneath the shad~ of th~ tree of life,
which is planted in the ~ lorlous paradise?  Aw~ �  truck ye
llstened as I gave utter~nce to these three most holy wor~; O
friends!  Prefer not your will to Mlne, ne~er deslre that which I
have not desired for you, and approach ~Ie not with lifeless
hearts~ defiled with worldly desires and cravin~s. Would ye but
sanctify your souls, ye would at this present hour recall that
place and those suroundings, and the truth of My utterance should
be made evldent unto all of you. 

The �three most holy words� would seem to be the conditlons which
God laid down for us sv that we m~y return to Him after passing
through earthly life. This is called the Covenant. At the same
time God created the �ITree of Life~, the train of Prophets, to
help us compl � y. Typlcal of this would be the Covenant God made
through ~Aoses: 

�Now therefore, lf you wlll obey my volce lndeed,,2.nd keep my
Covenant then you shall be a peculiar treasure until me above all
people: for all the earth is mlne 

And Moses came and called ~or the elders of the people and laid
before their faces these words which the Lord commanded him. And
all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord
hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned th

Another thought is ,th~t when all mankind wlll h~ve accepted
Bahá�u�llah�s teaching of pro~,ressive revelation, they will in
fact have accepted all the prev1ous Prophets. Thus manklnd wlll
have realised the onenes~ of all religions, the oneness of
m~nkind and the oneness of God; again a result of our
accept~llc.e of the Covenant and a necessary condition for the
ne.Yt stage of our evolutlon. 

Since mankind, has now kept the eternal Co~nant, God will now
keep His part of the agreement in ~ull, as ~ar as mankind as a
whole is concerned. The ability OI humanlty tc, rlse to the next
higher form of life is now assured. But for us ~s individuals
however, there is still the responsibility to keeF, the Covenant
in our daily lives, by obeying the laws B~ha�u�ll~h h~s ~iven us. 
For example, Bahá�u�llah sald in the Kitáb � l � Aqdas 

�Recite ye the verses of God every morning ~nd e~en1ns. Whoso
reciteth them not hath truely failed to fullfill his pledge to
the Covenant of God and His Testament and whoso in this day
turneth away therefrom, hath indeed turned away from God ~lnce
time immemorial. . .� Aqdas and, Compllatior~ on Prayers ~
M.p.l. 

This may seem a rather drastlc statement, but let us a~ree, that
li one accepts a Manifestation ~s the ~foice of God, then it is
illo~,ic~l of us not to obey His teachin~s. II we do not follow
them, then we c~n hardly say we have complete faith. 

However, all is not lost if we fail in this, for God well knows
that we are created to progress by ste.~dy growth. God is the
forgiving ,so it would seem ~ccep~le if, when we fai1 .n our dut~
we do not look back but rorward, and try to do ~etter in the
future. Then, to the extent that we mana~e to k~ep the Covenant
in our daily lives, will we continue to progress towards God. 

The lmportant thing Ior us is that in pa~t dispens~lons they did
not have access to infalliblity after the Prophet left; today, i~
~ur efforts, we have all the necessary and authentic cre~tlve
Words of God together with the institutlons for infalliblly
interpreting them until the next Manlfesttion comes.. 

Clearly, for us as individuals, there is still no free admitt~nc~
into the Heavenly Kingdom for we still have free will and c~n
turn away from God. Every soul must learn to use lts Iree wlll
corre~tly; in this way it will continue to ~,row towards the
~t~tion when it will remember its Creator all the times. 
However, lf any soul becomes immersed in wordly affairs his
spiritual senses will have become atrophied, and he will be
powerless to benerit from the great bounty of recognising the
ManifestatGn and thus cut himself off from God. 

�He indeed is a capt1ve who hath not recosnlsed the suprerrle
Redemer, but hath suffered his soul to }~ecorne bound, di~tressed
and helPless, in the fetters OI his desires � Gl 16 

God has decreed that the Kingdom OI God shall now be rnade
manifest on earth for man~ind as a whole. But all individuals
must continue to use their freewill in order to become attuned to
the will of God. Thus freewill is our most precious lift from
God, for only by lts use in trial and error will we learn to
d1I~erentl~t~ between the spiritual world and the material one
and consciously chose the former..just for the love of it. 

To return to the celebration of the centenary of the Covenant,
its vital importance become cl~ar �  when we realize that, had the
followers of Bahá�u�llah failed to accept Abdu�l Bahá as the
Center of his Father�s Covenant, we would have been deprived OI
all the institutions required for lnIalllble lnterpretatlon of
the holy Words. Further, there would not ha~re �eer. a Center
of the Covenant an~ a Guardian o ~ � ,o~r u � trative Order. We would
have been thrown onto our own Iallible powers to interpret the
Words Gf God and would have end~d up arouing and fighting about
it as in past dispensations. 

Let us consider another irnplication o~ the lnaugur~tion o~ the
Covenant. By accepting the appointment of Abdu�l Bahá, perhaps
we accepted the first totally perfect human being ~Manifest~tions
~part) This is of course only ~urmise. A3~du�1 Bah. is the
Mystery o~ God ancl hls true reality ~as not ~een explained in
the Writings. 

To continue with this thought about the perfect human bein~,
because in the splritual world there is no such thing as time,
the begining and the end are the ~me. As Christ said �I am Alph~
~nd Omega, the begining and the end.� Bahá�u�llah said: 
rather consider the begining, at the end itself . .� TAB.183 

It is reported th~t when Abdu�l Bahá had laid the foundation
stone of the temple he said: 

�The temple is now built!� 

With the arrival of the first perfect human being and ow � 
acceptance of him, and because the begining in the same as the
end, perhaps we could say that all humanity has now become li~;e
him, in the spiritual world. 

This is surely proof that we each have the potential to be
perfect. We always had this potential, but now the arch � type has
appeared on earth in Abdu�l Bahá. And did he not saSr 

�Look at rne1 be ~s I ~rn��l 

Since the hol~ ~ear ~ele~rations in~luded honourirlO the Kni~hts
of Bahalu�llah, let us apply this prln~iple of the non � ex~stence
of time in the world of reality, to the Ten Year Crusade. The
Guardian, when speakin~, about the Crusade ~ 53 � 63), regarded the
arrival of a pioneer lr. a v~r~in territory (the begining) ~s
having conquored that whole territory (the end). It seems once
more that the begining is the same as the end in the spiritual
world. This may help us to understand the enormous importance
the Guardian have to the success of the Ten Year Crusade and
perhaps sorne suggestion as to why he horloured the Knights. 

Again, by conquoring every territory on the planet in this
manner, we have asembled the constituent parts of a divine
creations and brought into being the World Order of Bahá�u�llah. 
This Spirit is endowed wlth attributes and powers far exceedine~
those of individuals races and countries. 

No doubt the lncredlble new concepts and advances which manklnd
is now making in the world, (if we look at the positiv~ side of
things) are some of the results of these new powers. How much
more so are we, the builders of the New World Order now endowed
with very great powers in everything we do, If we are keeping to
the Covenant in our daily lives. Perhaps this is the personal
tran~formation which Bahá�u�llah sp~aks OI and to which the
Universal House of Justice has ur~ed towards immediately. 
Perhaps further this is one re~son why the Univers~l House OI
Justice has now trought into action the Aqd~s. 

To sum up it seems that in this hol~ ~Jear~ we are c~l~bratirlg
both the trlumphal return of Bahá�u�llah to His heavenly home and
also, through our obedience to His world unifying � Covenant~ the
arrival of Spirit on a planetary level._