Community life

Calgary youth visit the Montreal Shrine
The National Spiritual Assembly recently announced the launch of a “special program of visits to the Shrine in Montreal, blessed by the footsteps of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912 and referred to by Him as His home.” In February 2019, the first formally-registered group visited the Shrine.

“While our neighbourhood advances, our own character develops”
Shamim Khalili, a youth who offered several periods of service in the Rundle neighbourhood in Calgary, Alta., shares how his experiences affected both his life decisions and relationship to the Faith. This interview has been edited and condensed.

The uplifting work of teaching
Teaching projects can lend hope and inspiration to every individual. A woman from Cochrane, Alta., describes her experience taking part in a teaching project in a Calgary neighbourhood last Fall and the impact it has had on her service to the Plan.

Communities feel “invigorated” after celebrating Naw-Rúz
The spirit of joy and renewal surrounding Naw-Rúz has given three communities in rural Ontario a new perspective on their development after they came together to celebrate the start of the new year.

The development of community properties
In several clusters and neighbourhoods across the country, the need to rent or purchase physical spaces to facilitate working with large numbers has emerged. Two recent property acquisitions, guided by the National Spiritual Assembly, in Ottawa, Ont., and Vancouver, B.C., serve as such examples.

Statement by the Prime Minister on Naw-Rúz
“Around the globe, millions embrace Nowruz as a chance to reflect on the past year and share aspirations for a peaceful and harmonious year ahead. For Bahá’ís, this occasion is celebrated as a Holy Day, marking the end of 19 days of fasting and the beginning of a new year in the Bahá’í calendar.”

Homefront pioneering: “our next teaching act”
The call to raise the number of clusters with intensive programs of growth, first shared in 2015, continues to resonate throughout the world to this day. Here we follow one family that immediately responded to the goals set by the Universal House of Justice and set out to pioneer to a cluster looking to grow.

A light from the world beyond
The following poem was written by 12-year-old Manar Ali Vink when she completed a study of the Dawnbreakers with some adults and youth in her Vancouver community.