A significant point in the Nine Year Plan

Earlier this month, from 3–6 April, 400 participants from three countries gathered in Sydney, Australia for an institutional meeting for our zone of the ‘Australasian continent’, comprising Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. This was one of a series of 41 gatherings convened around the world at this significant juncture of the Nine Year Plan, as the end of the first four-year phase of the Plan neared its end.

Bringing together the four Continental Counsellors who take a close role in our three countries of the zone - Mr Taraz Nadarajah, Dr Vahid Saberi, Mr Jeffrey Sabour, and Ms Reena Torabi, eight members of each of the two National Spiritual Assemblies, Auxiliary Board members, Regional Council members, friends serving the Training Institutes and others serving in different ways in third milestone clusters, the meeting offered a special opportunity to step back and reflect collectively on the progress made since the Plan’s launch at Ridván 2022, and to look ahead to the next “greater” phase beginning at Ridván 183 B.E.

Participants from Aotearoa comprised a delegation of over five dozen believers and were joined by a small group from the Cook Islands, contributing to a wider consultation across this Australasian zone. The gathering was guided and enriched by the presence of two beloved members of the International Teaching Centre (Mrs Muna Tehrani and Mr Dinesh Kumar) who helped steer reflections and planning in very practical and meaningful ways, always focusing on the realities facing communities worldwide and the opportunities ahead. Also present were two Directors of the Bahá’í International Development Organisation (Dr Debbie Singh and Ms Maame Nketsiah), both of whom had visited New Zealand in late 2024 on behalf of the Development Organisation.

A central theme of the meeting was the continued development of strong, outward-looking communities, particularly “third milestone clusters”, where patterns of community life are taking root and expanding. Conversations explored how such places of strength can increasingly support neighbouring areas, and how more individuals, families, and groups of friends can contribute meaningfully to this process.

We are pleased to share below the letter from the National Spiritual Assembly, which offers a fuller account of the meeting and its significance at this point in the Plan.

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing further insights that emerged from this gathering, along with some of the presentations that share examples of learning and experience from different settings that were highlighted during the meeting.

Below is a small selection of photos offering a glimpse into the gathering.

“This purposeful spirit has been especially evident in the institutional meetings that have been convened around the world. Again and again, the accounts of these gatherings have reported the same phenomenon: a profound, insightful conversation based on direct experience of building vibrant communities rather than on assumptions or theory. This conversation is animated by the ongoing process of learning in each place. It is imbued with a deeper recognition of the significance of the Bahá’í community’s endeavours and the implications they hold for a troubled world in desperate need of direction. A sense of responsibility and resolve is widely felt, and there is an acute awareness of the scale of the task at hand. Often, this conversation opens up an additional, complementary perspective which recognizes the efforts of communities and individuals not simply as the pursuit of programmes and projects, but as the cultivation of a way of life patterned on the divine teachings—a shaping of actions, interactions, and aspirations.”

— Universal House of Justice, message to the Bahá’ís of the World, Ridván 2026