A community’s loving response to the National Fund
In recent months, Bahá’í communities across Aotearoa have responded with generosity and devotion to the call from the National Spiritual Assembly to increase their regular contributions to the National Fund and, more recently, for the acquisition of some land adjoining the Hyde Dunn property near where the Bahá’í Centre for Learning (Te Whare Akoranga Bahá’í) is situated. One community has shared the story of how its members, including the children, arose with enthusiasm and sacrifice to support this effort. Their reflections, shared below under the title “A gift for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” offer a glimpse of the spirit of unity, generosity, and love that animated their response.
A gift for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
In the past few months, the Bahá'í Community in Aotearoa has been given the opportunity to respond to the call of our beloved National Spiritual Assembly for additional funds in order to support our ongoing essential activities and more recently to assist in raising funds for the purchase of the property next to our Centre for Learning (Te Whare Akoranga Bahá'í) in Henderson.
Along with other communities around the country, at the Feast of ʻIzzat in September, our community read the letter from our National Assembly sharing the urgent needs of the National Fund and an uplifting and productive consultation ensued about the ways the community could respond to this urgent appeal. A fundraiser was organised by the community and there was a suggestion put to our Local Assembly to review the regular amount we send to the National Fund.
The conversations about the Fund continued after the Feast, in homes with the children. One toddler came up to his mother and gave her some coins that he had. When his mother asked what the money was for, he responded: "It’s for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, because He doesn't have any money". This touching episode reminds us that even the youngest of us are affected by the spirit of sacrifice in the community.
Another child, who had been saving his pocket money for over a year and had saved up enough to buy a ticket to visit his extended family in the North Island, decided instead to pledge all his savings to the National Fund. Inspired by his example, his younger siblings also collected together their savings to give to the fund. Then as a family, they drove to an ATM and made the deposit.
At the Local Spiritual Assembly meeting the next day, consultations were once again on these needs of the Fund, and inspired by the example set by the children, and in response to the Feast recommendation, it was decided that the regular contributions from the Local Assembly to the National Fund would also be increased by a further 50%.
The fundraiser shortly followed and the community was able to raise over a thousand dollars to send to the National Fund. More recently, when our National Assembly sent the letter informing the believers of the once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase the adjoining land to the Hyde Dunn property, it was again studied at the Feast, and more fundraisers were organised. The children yet again displayed great acts of sacrifice to arise to meet the challenge.
As a community we felt such joy and excitement when it was announced that, indeed, sufficient funds had been raised to secure the property, and that furthermore our beloved House of Justice had contributed and named this property both as a National and International Endowment Property, in light of the outpouring of support from across our nation. It was truly humbling to know that we, in particular our beautiful and pure-hearted children, had played a small part in this deeply significant development and we rejoiced in the ensuing confirmations manifested by the actions of our Supreme Body.
Imagine our delight when at the last Feast we received and shared with the community a beautiful response from our National Assembly, which in part read, ‘The account of the loving response of your community to the needs of the National Fund—particularly the children’s loving acts of generosity—has brought immense joy to our hearts. Such deeds constitute a tangible expression of your community’s devotion to the Blessed Beauty and its steadfastness in advancing His Cause… May your efforts attract the blessings and confirmations of the Concourse on High as you labour for the betterment of the world.
