On 10 February 2019, over 389 individuals gathered in 14 locations to participate in unit conventions.
At these conventions, the Bahá’ís vote by secret ballot for delegates who are duly responsible to elect the nine persons to serve on the National Spiritual Assembly for the term of one administrative year.
The National Spiritual Assembly is inviting expressions of interest from members of the Bahá’í community for service opportunities in the National Secretariat at the New Zealand Bahá’í National Office in Newmarket, Auckland.
The 2018 seminar—held from 8 to 18 December at the Waihi Academy—was the seventh time the seminars have been offered in New Zealand. A group of 42 young adults from around the country came together, and all four years of the programme were offered for the third year in a row.
Over the past year the friends in Invercargill have been focused on strengthening the process of expansion and consolidation that was stimulated by the bicentenary celebrations of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh in 2017.
One of many examples where young people are dedicating their time and energy in reaching out in friendship to others.
Each page of this 15 month wall calendar contains a vivid photograph taken by Bahá’í photographers living in or visiting places all over the world.
Bahá'í Readings for Children is a beautifully-illustrated board book for children containing selections from the Words of Bahá’ulláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
A reader's guide to the art of Bahá’u’lláh, this second edition embraces the entire range of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Naw-Rúz is the first day of the new year. It coincides with the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, which usually occurs on 21 March. Bahá’u’lláh explains that this feast day is to be celebrated on whatever day the sun passes into the constellation of Aries (i.e. the vernal equinox), even should this occur one minute before sunset. Hence Naw-Rúz could fall on 20, 21, or 22 March, depending on the time of the equinox (Notes from The Kitáb-i-Aqdas).
As the New Zealand nation goes through a period of reflection and soul searching, myriad opportunities are opened before the friends to cast the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation ever wider.
The National Assembly and Regional Councils have decided to extend the summer prayer campaign to Ridván, and we eagerly seek your continued offerings of prayer for meeting the goals of the Plan.
Bahá’u’lláh enjoined upon His followers to devote these days (26 February to 1 March 2019, inclusive) to feasting, rejoicing and charity. In a letter written on Shoghi Effendi’s behalf it is explained that “the intercalary days are specially set aside for hospitality, the giving of gifts, etc.”
A new volume of Bahá’u’lláh’s mystical works is now available online and in print. Although we do not currently have stocks of this book in New Zealand, they will soon be available, and in the meantime and particularly during the Fast, you may want to go to the Baha’i Reference Library to read this volume online.
The South Island Council reflects on how the recent South Island Summer School highlighted the role of the individual in the Plan, demonstrated by the energy and initiative of a junior youth, the determined efforts of pioneers, and by the pledges of young and old to carry out acts of service.
For seven days in January youth from the communities of Waimakariri, Waitaki, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill gathered together to learn how we, as youth, can create true bonds of friendship and how, by working with younger youth, we can foster a spirit of unity and service in our own communities.
The story of how one family responded to the call for pioneering to a goal cluster after participating in the summer initiative (a campaign of learning, teaching and pioneering to help those clusters that need support to intensify their growth activities to meet the goals of the Five Year Plan).
Representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly, Regional Baha’i Council, and Auxiliary Board met with the Local Spiritual Assembly of Timaru and their new believer.
All friends are lovingly encouraged to perhaps make this year’s Ayyám-i-Há particularly special by giving a gift of love to the National Fund. Ensuring that we meet the financial needs of the Faith for the year will enable us to enter the final year of the Five Year Plan on a strong footing, able to meet the goals with confidence and surety.
The National Spiritual Assembly addresses “each dear soul who has conscientiously honoured the divine system of the Bahá’í electoral and consultative process by being present at your Unit Convention.“ It directs their eyes, hearts and minds towards the three recent “magnificent messages” from the Supreme Institution and offers reflection questions to stimulate consultation.
Some 900 friends participated in the North and South Island Bahá’í Summer Schools held December 2018 and January 2019. Many participants were inspired to take action over the coming months, and nearly 500 specific acts of service were pledged.
