Wayfarers

the Wellington Cluster Newsletter

Issue #1, December 2017

Dear co-workers in His cause.

We have had an exciting and busy time these last few months, with the Bicentenary being a major highlight of the cycle
and our lives as Bahs. We are glad to hear of the many stories of service and devotion that have arisen out of this
momentous event.

This cycle the Regional Bah Council has nominated a new Area Teaching Committee for the Wellington region. The
ATC has been working on producing quality services such as our last Cluster Reflection Meeting, a Wider Wellington
Cluster Facebook page (www.facebook.com/wellingtonbahai) and this newsletter! If you have anything you would like
to contribute to the newsletter please contact us on our email address (atc-wellington@bahai.org.nz) or the Facebook
page.

With loving Bah service,

The Area Teaching Committee of the Wellington Cluster
(Ramu Sannyasi, Anis Russell, Tamsin James, Bob Edis)

200th Bicentenary of the Birth of Bah'u'llh - Stories from around the cluster
50 souls attended a Montessori school based
celebration with the kids sharing desserts for Twin
Birthdays and bicentenary of birth of Bah'u'llh.

Kapiti
20 souls attended an intimate and detailed celebration. They
shared prayers and stories of Bahullh; followed by
refreshments and a showing of the film 'Light to the World'.
Upper Hutt

The Upper Hutt community hosted a dignified celebration on

the life and teachings of Bahullh. 60 souls attended and
were served a delicious dinner, uplifting and soothing music
and meaningful conversations. One soul declared as a Bah.
Lower Hutt

The Lower Hutt community got together to have a presentation on the life and teachings of Bahullh, to write their
hopes and dreams for the next 200 years inside a floating candle and then lit them at sunset. More than 120 souls
attended.

The Naenae community has planted nine

fruit trees in a local reserve, they have
also had a park bench installed. The
community had an opening ceremony
that was attended by Naenae locals,
Mayor Ray Wallace and Chris Bishop MP.

Porirua

The Porirua Community hired a hall and invited friends from their community building endeavours. The program was a
celebration of Bahullh with music and prayers. The entire program was organised by the youth and the turnout was
impressive. 250 souls attended and Porirua had 2 declarations.
Wellington
Twenty one souls attended a dawn ceremony at
the City to Sea bridge.
Twenty eight souls enjoyed the
sights and sounds at an art
show at St Andrews.

A childrens festival held at

Khandallah Town Hall had 58
The video Light to the World was souls sharing a spirit of
shown to a group or 15 souls at St joyfulness, love, and
Andrews. celebration.

Two friends in Kingston invited their whole neighbour to a special gathering in their home. Ten neighbours from the 95
homes in the area came and several more sent their apologies. At least two researched Bah and Bahullh before
coming.

Service was the focus of a program at Breaker Bay where organisers and guests cleaned
the beach.

A party was held at the Roxy cinema in Miramar where 100 souls shared devotions and stories and
nice food. You could feel the wonderful spirit and see the joy on peoples faces as they celebrated
the birth of Bahullh 200 years ago, said one of the attendees.

Twenty souls gathered to plant two trees, a Rewarewa and a Totara, at Scorching Bay,
Miramar. This was followed by a nice dinner where the hosts neighbours came and
shared with the Bah friends.

Cluster wide calendar of Activities

Activity December January February
Childrens Classes 8th/22nd @ 10PM, Naenae 5th/19th @ 10PM, Naenae 2nd/16th @ 10PM, Naenae
Devotional 4th @ 3PM, Maupuia, 934-3037 27th @ 6PM, Kingston, 027-418- 24th @ 6PM, Kingston, 027-418-
Meetings 10th @ 3PM, Miramar, 027-651-6444 6979 6979
Study Circles TBA TBA TBA
Firesides 2nd @ 4PM, Khandallah Town Hall 6th @ 4PM, Khandallah Town Hall 3rd @ 4PM, Khandallah Town Hall
19 Day Feast 11th @ 7PM, St Andrews, Wellington 18th @ 7:30pm, Wellington
30th Wellington, TBA
Holy days TBA TBA TBA
On-going activities Meditation, every Sunday @ 9AM, 479-1894
Childrens class, Naenae, every second Sunday at 10:30am during school term, Contact Dayan Janes at 021874968 for
more info.
We are currently in Cycle 8 of the Five-year plan that
began on the 28th December 2015. The cycle consists of
three months and there are 4 cycles per year.
In Australia and New Zealand our cycles are synced with
the school holidays, so if the kids are out of school then
you know a new cycle has begun!
Cycle 9 starts the first week of January 2018.
Cycles of activity are divided into 3 sections: Expansion,
Consolidation and Reflection.

The Expansion phase is where we do most of our

activity building, by starting new Core Activities such as
devotions, study circles, junior youth groups or
children's classes. The Expansion phase lasts only 2
weeks. In the expansion phase, we offer:

Orientation: Come along to orientation to learn how to have meaningful conversations about Bahullh's principles,
how to understand the basic concepts of the 5-year plan, and be accompanied into service. If you've ever wanted to
learn the basics, or if you want to refresh your fundamentals, this is the place for you!

Regional Tutor Campaign: This program is a week-long RUHI camp! We offer books 1-7 so theres lots of choice here. Do
you want to study a RUHI book in a spiritualised environment, accompanied by experienced tutors? We have arts,
dancing, food, devotions, sports, food, mutual support, laughter and FOOD!

The Consolidation phase is where we make sure to consolidate our efforts from the initial push of expansion. We make
sure to keep up our activities, continue to invite people to take part and support each other in our efforts. The
Consolidation phase lasts 2 months. In the consolidation phase, we offer:

Neighbourhood Gathering: The neighbourhood gathering is a space for people involved to come together with friends
from around the 6 clusters in the lower North Island, to share, to learn, and to grow. It is a great space to meet new
friends and hear about different strategies and services being implemented in other neighbourhoods.

The Reflection phase is where we reflect on the activities that have occurred in the last 2 phases. It is an important time
where we can get together to share our learnings, our crises and victories, and our confirmations. The Reflection phase
offers:

Cluster Reflection Meeting: Come together as a cluster to reflect on how the past cycle's activities have been going and
to plan for the upcoming cycle! Refresh yourself with friends sharing service, learnings, and reading our realities. The
ATC is working hard to ensure the Cluster Reflection meetings are a spiritualised environment with arts, music, stories
from friends, and cupcakes!
 Proposed Goals for Cycle Eight
Meaningful conversations - 450
More nuclei of friends 12 (from 6)
Greater involvement with general public service projects 5 public Bah sponsored
Childrens Classes 10 (from 7)
Junior Youth Groups 8 (from 5)
Book 1 study circle 5 (from 2) with participants who have not done it before
Book 2 study circle 4 (from 2) with participants who have not done it before
Devotionals 16 (from 8)
Home Visits 1 per community member per cycle
Programme
The committee has listened to your feedback from the last CRM and has made more time for lunch and consultation.

Morning Munchies 09:30 AM

Welcome with Devotions 10:00 AM
Consultation session 1 Mode of Learning 10:30 AM
Consultation session 2 Patterns of community Life 11:40 AM
Lunch 12:30 PM
Consultation session 3 Community Building 01:15 PM
Consultation session 4 Beyond the Bicentenary 02:15 PM
Wrap-up 03:00 PM
Consultation will be based on the following excepts from letters penned by the Universal House of Justice

Letter to Continental Boards of Counsellors dated 29 Dec 2015, paragraph 29

A notable characteristic of advanced clusters is a mode of learning that permeates the whole community
and acts as a spur to the rise in institutional capacity. Accounts that offer insight into a method, an approach,
or a complete process continually flow to and from pockets of activity. The cluster-wide reflection meeting, at
which so much of this learning is presented, is often complemented by meetings for smaller areas, which
generate a stronger feeling of responsibility among those attending. This sense of collective ownership
becomes more apparent from cycle to cyclethe force released by a united body of people taking charge of
their spiritual development over generations to come. And as they do so, the support they receive from
regional and national Bah institutions and their agencies is experienced as an unceasing flow of love.

Letter to Continental Boards of Counsellors dated 29 Dec 2015, paragraph 18

As the friends in a cluster continue to reinforce and expand the community-building activities taking shape
around them, it becomes evident that distinctive progress has been made. All the elements of a system
necessary for growth to be sustained are now in place. Reaching the second milestone along the continuum of
development, which we described to you five years ago, is accompanied by advances qualitative, but also
quantitativesuch as a rise in the number of those involved in conversations that enable receptivity to be
discovered and nurtured, in how many homes are being visited, in core activities and participation, in how
many individuals are beginning the sequence of courses or supporting others as they gain the confidence to
serve. Attendance at gatherings to mark the Nineteen Day Feast and Bah Holy Days is being fostered by
Local Spiritual Assemblies. Such advances are the more visible signs of a much finer development: the gradual
spread, within a population, of a pattern of community life based on Bahullhs teachings. And, naturally,
the number of believers grows.

Ridvan letter of 2010, paragraph 5

The significance of this development should not be underestimated. In every cluster, once a consistent pattern
of action is in place, attention needs to be given to extending it more broadly through a network of co-workers
and acquaintances, while energies are, at the same time, focused on smaller pockets of the population, each
of which should become a centre of intense activity. In an urban cluster, such a centre of activity might best be
defined by the boundaries of a neighbourhood; in a cluster that is primarily rural in character, a small village
would offer a suitable social space for this purpose. Those who serve in these settings, both local inhabitants
and visiting teachers, would rightly view their work in terms of community building. To assign to their teaching
efforts such labels as "door-to-door", even though the first contact may involve calling upon the residents of a
home without prior notice, would not do justice to a process that seeks to raise capacity within a population
to take charge of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development. The activities that drive this process,
and in which newly found friends are invited to engage--meetings that strengthen the devotional character of
the community; classes that nurture the tender hearts and minds of children; groups that channel the surging
energies of junior youth; circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on
equal footing and explore the application of the teachings to their individual and collective lives--may well
need to be maintained with assistance from outside the local population for a time. It is to be expected,
however, that the multiplication of these core activities would soon be sustained by human resources
indigenous to the neighbourhood or village itself- -by men and women eager to improve material and spiritual
conditions in their surroundings. A rhythm of community life should gradually emerge, then, commensurate
with the capacity of an expanding nucleus of individuals committed to Bah'u'llh's vision of a new World
Order.
Letter to the Bahs of the world dated 31 October 2017
Reports continue to stream in from all continents, but we will wait no longer to communicate to you our
unbounded joy. The outpouring of love and esteem for Bahullh witnessed around the world at His
bicentenary has moved us greatly. In settings of all kinds, from homes to stadiums, His life was celebrated
with the utmost devotion and remarkable creativity. At many a gathering, guests outnumbered the Bahs
several times over; in some island nations, participation may be measured as a proportion of all the
inhabitants. Truly, we confess our astonishment at the flood of grace Bahullh has poured forth. And in
every precious effort made to honour Him, we recognize the wholehearted striving of each believer to attain a
full share. With all that transpired, we know that every one of you will wish to reflect on the implications for
the progress of the Cause in your own locality. We urge you to see in each person who responded to your
invitation a potential protagonist in the community-building process. Consider how conditions may be created
that would enable many to walk this path together. Connected to the transformative power of the Revelation,
every soul can draw closer to Bahullh, grow in capacity, find joy in service, and learn to assist others. The
results of the magnificent effort you have made offer tremendous promise--but fulfilling that promise will
require fortitude. Let the forces released in this period lend impetus to your personal and collective
endeavours during the remainder of this bicentennial year and, indeed, through all eight cycles leading up to
the two hundredth anniversary of the Birth of the Bab. With our expectations heightened and our hearts
imploring divine favours on your behalf, we give praise to the Ancient Beauty, a fresh glimpse of Whose soul-
entrancing glory He has in these days chosen to disclose.

Cluster Contact Information

Childrens Class Coordinator
Junior Youth Coordinator
Study Circle Coordinator
Area Teaching Committee
Regional Bah Council
Auxiliary Board for Propagation
Auxiliary Board for Protection
Southern Logistics Team
Sheena Naik 021 204 6449 / sheena_naik@hotmail.com
Tarn Austin 027 460 9180 / jyc-wellington@bahai.org.nz
Maria Reynen Clayton 022 647 7744 / scc-wellington@bahai.org.nz
atc-wellington@bahai.org.nz
Nick Moss rbc-north@bahai.org.nz
Rebeccah Hibbert rhibbert@abmaustralasia.org
Matt Hitti mhitti@abmaustralasia.org
Portia Rose Lewis 021 918 339