The Asian Task Force of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United Kingdom would like to express its warm appreciation to all those Assemblies who have welcomed the Indian artists Subrata Sharma and Badlu Khan along with Dr Ali Merchant who came to assist us in the United Kingdom Asian Teaching Project. It has been a highly successful tour covering several important towns in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where Indians reside. There have been several radio interviews by BBC Wales and BBC Midlands. One performance in Wales was recorded for later transmission. There were performances in Hindu Temples including the prestigious Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London, the largest Hindu Temple outside India.

Important Asian businessmen attended a performance at the Merchant Taylor’s Hall in the City of London along with other distinguished guests including Princess Helena Moutafian, Lady Ann Harding of London, and the Ambassador of Bulgaria. Some two hundred Asian firms in the city received a flyer which had a photograph of the Lotus Temple and outlined the principles of the Bahá’i Faith. The voice of Subrata Sharma singing his bhajans with harmonium and tabla accompaniment charmed the Asian audiences as it does in the Bahá’í Lotus Temple in New Delhi. The performance in Belfast was attended by 400 people and resulted in a declaration. Dr Ali Merchant and the musicians were given a warm reception everywhere they went. We feel that an important goal has been achieved - to convince the Indians in the UK that the Bahá’i Faith is not a "foreign" faith and that it has firm roots among Indians as well. Our warmest thanks go to Dr Ali Merchant of the National Spiritual Assembly of India whose assistance was invaluable and to the singer Subrata Sharma and the tabla player Badlu Khan (he has twenty-two generations of tabla playing behind him) they have enthralled audiences who were sad to see them leave, urging them to come back again. Jagdish Saminaden The Asian Task Force

On a cold Autumn weekend while Scotland and England battled it out on the Football field, youth from both sides of the border sat united in Bahá’í consultation over who should win! Of course they had to ascertain all the facts first - so they watched the match during the free time.

Before this they had a workshop discussion on the subject of happiness followed by a team building creativity session. The girls (Maitri and Carmelia) recorded sound effects which where used in a quiz later that evening.

Michael, Naysun and Kian (the boys) dived into the forest to prepare a bonfire for later in the night.

After the creativity session we had a deepening on deepening. How to prepare one, and possible subjects and questions.

A night-time devotional was held by the river in a blaze of light created by the bonfire and lanterns. Floating candles were launched, one at a time as each prayer was said. A slight technical hitch brought us back down to earth when we all had to push and shove the car out of a gravel pit.

The next morning, after dragging the boys out of bed, we had a devotional followed by an inspiring and informative session on "science and religion".

The mix of recreation and discussion seemed right. All enjoyed the weekend immensely and want it to be repeated.

Participants of the youth weekend at Lochmaben, Lockerbie

When I heard about the junior youth weekend in Cheltenham I thought "hmm, what will it be like?" It turned out to be great. It took a long time for things to start as people arrived from different places. They came from Wales, Manchester and around Cheltenham. Once everyone arrived we had a great devotional organised by Claire Elliott. This was followed by a drama session on bullying which was run by Jeremy Herbert.

After dinner we were split into three groups and had different sessions on "life and death", "respect for parents" and T-shirt printing. The sessions were all brilliant and I learned a great deal. Then it was time for the adults to persuade us to go to bed (their most dreaded part of junior youth weekends), but we were good and went straight to bed and fell asleep quickly after a fun packed day. The following day we had an early start, 8 am, with a devotional held by me. After breakfast we had a session till lunch which was another wonderful meal by the Lockwoods. When it was time to go home saying "good-bye" was hard, the weekend went by so quick! Before we left we had a great devotional by Justin Mahboubian-Jones and a talk about how we could improve things for the next weekend.

Oshan Mahony, Wychavon Community

The Prayer Link has now been running for two years and in that time there have been about two thousand requests for prayer. These have come from both Bahá’ís and non Bahá’ís.

Every three months the list of members is re-published with slight changes so that those who want a rest can leave and others can join. After the initial twelve, it has settled down to about fifteen people arranged in an imaginary circle around the country from Northumberland to Kent and Wales. A prayer request can then be started by anyone telephoning the next person in a clockwise direction. They are all asked to pray once for whatever the need is, great or small.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: "there is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. Man must live in a state of prayer. The most blessed condition is the condition of prayer and supplication."

As Bahá’ís we are privileged to be able to pray for each other both in this world and the next. We have found it creates a wonderful bond of love and trust. We send love and thanks to all those who have been connected in any way to Prayer Link over the past two years.

Chris and Juliet Grainger

I met up with fellow Bahá’í representative, Andrew Goodman, and other members of various religions at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The building housed many stands and exhibitions of political offices showing how the government aims to benefit society.

On visiting the United Nations stand, the lady staffing it talked a lot about her role, and the idea of a world government - which was my cue! I talked about some Bahá’í issues and it turned out that she had declared the previous day!

Our group decided it would be interesting to see the live satellite link with New York. The topic of conversation with the UN was "How are the world governments dealing with racial issues?" Andrew and I agreed that the answers given were very much "Bahá’í", and offered an insight into future politics.

The most successful part of the day was lunch! Together with Jon Azah, MP for Kingston and our acquaintances from various religions, we found a quiet spot. The group was impressed that Bahá’ís have a ‘community’ regardless of whether they know one another, that the Faith has no sects and the sharing of one goal which unites us. They were also amazed to see that we thoroughly believed in what we were saying, and that our religion is everything to us. We explained that as Bahá’ís we go through individual investigation of the truth, and that we believe in all the messengers of God, however we believe that Bahá’u’lláh is the promised one for this age. General consensus amongst the others was that they were brought up in their religion, they could see the difference in the Bahá’í Faith and were interested to know more.

Danielle Pee

The new special issue of the Guinness Book of Records, "Guinness World Records 2000 - Millennium Edition" has an interesting item about the Bahá’í Faith.

Under the heading "Largest Religion Without Rites" is a paragraph of generally (though not entirely) accurate information about the Faith.

SDR² (aka Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll) came about after many consultations, over many months! I felt that there was a worrying lack of understanding of the issues surrounding chastity for the Bahá’í youth in this country. However, an even more worrying thing came out of SDR² - I was right!

After many months of hard work and decision making, pulling together a carefully selected team of adults and creating the most effective environment for the youth to discuss these sensitive issues - resulted in the most challenging and exciting experience of service to Bahá’u’lláh that I have yet encountered.

Darren Howell - Event Organiser

Dear National Spiritual Assembly,

We would like to show our appreciation for the organisation and content of SDR² (28th-31st Oct). It was the best youth weekend we have attended so far. The sessions and workshops were very open and had a relaxed atmosphere. We both felt that we could contribute openly without embarrassment. This was due to the fact that none of the much older youth of 18+ who can be intimidating at times (absolutely no offence to the older youth) were present. Also the people chosen to do the workshops were open and in touch with youth spirits. We understand that it couldn’t have lasted any longer due to school, but perhaps it would be possible to have more of them, more regularly to keep our Bahá’í spirits up. We are very much looking forward to the next.

Melissa Ghodrat & Sarah Bellamy - Attendees

As at most youth events now, one of the most overwhelming things was the loving atmosphere that was there the whole weekend. From the second that you walked through the door until you left four days later you were surrounded by it. The youth moulded together amazingly well, and you felt appreciated for what you were. It helped to cement friendships and many new ones were formed.

The whole thing happened in an amazing 48-bed youth centre in the middle of know where, on top of a hill. If anything the seclusion added to the wonderful atmosphere. Twice during the weekend people had to go out to get more supplies as youth ran dreadfully low on chocolate.

More than anything else the weekend made me question my views on things and where those ideas had come from. It taught me a lot about myself as well as how other people react.

I feel that it is very important that all the youth in the country get a chance to experience the weekend because it deals with common issues. There were a couple of non-Bahá’ís present but I think that it was aimed mainly at youth with Bahá’í backgrounds.

Helen Elliott - Attendee

For me SDR² was a huge success in many dimensions, for the attendees and the organisers, but it highlighted a number of key points:

• The Bahá’í community is definitely failing its youth in this area - they do not feel they can talk to parents (obviously, my children are the same), but the community raises even more barriers than the parents. The net effect is that we expect our youth to adopt Bahá’í standards in this area "by osmosis" whilst the rest of the world (with very different standards) comes knocking at the door asking them to go out and party. Its hardly surprising they find it difficult!

• On the positive side, I never cease to be amazed by the extent to which Bahá’í youth are open to the spiritual influence of the Faith when it is presented in a form which communicates to them. These youth were radiant when they left, they were a joy to look after, and a pleasure and an inspiration to work with. If we succeed in losing them to the world around us, then we can only look to our own failings in providing what they need, and hang our heads in shame.

Gawayne Mahboubian-Jones - Event Organiser

The weekend was very well organised, they must have spent weeks sorting everything out. To me SDR² did a lot. It answered many questions that I used to have and has given me a lot to think about. I think SDR² has changed me for the better. I now pray almost every day and I feel I’ve become closer to God. This really did build up my friendships with many people.

Paul Netherwood - Attendee

Q - Do you think SDR’s should happen regularly so that all youth have a chance to attend one?

A - Yes. It is a very important part of education for youth. I certainly had all my questions answered, so I’d say that maybe it’s time to move on to a different subject.

George Maund - Attendee

Q - Was it fun?

A - Yes. I wish it was for more than three days.

Q - Is it suitable for non-Bahá’ís?

A - Yes, but not all. Some people might regret coming, they might think it’s all rubbish and they want to have sex before marriage.

Saman Ziaie - Attendee

The first ever Spiritual Assembly of Surrey Heath was formed on 21st April 1999, looking after a community of 9 adults, 3 youth, 5 junior youth and 2 children. The first Assembly meeting was an experience that we will remember for a long time! We all sat there, none of us really knowing each other, the majority having moved in to form the Assembly - there was no "community" there as such before, only one family. Some of us had seen each other in passing at national events but now we were about to make history, to form the first Spiritual Assembly of Surrey Heath.

Six months on we have an active, friendly, vibrant community which has done much to be proud of ...

Our youth have represented the Faith on National TV and at the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices in London. They have formed a youth committee to embrace the young in neighbouring communities and have since taken on two projects - the Salah Jarrah Project, which aims to help the custodians keep the Guardian’s Resting Place tidy, and the Youth Dance Diversity Workshop, which will train children and youth to take the healing message of Bahá’u’lláh to the streets of Surrey (and wherever else they are requested to go!).

Our Assembly has met with our Member of Parliament and local councillors about the conditions for Bahá’ís in Iran; has met with the SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Education) for the Surrey County and together with the RE advisor to the Council are looking at ways to include the Bahá’í Faith in the RE curriculum of the schools and colleges in the whole of Surrey; has printed articles in the local paper about our activities; has organised media training workshops for the community and the neighbouring areas; has established regular weekly firesides and deepenings; has joined with other local communities to set up a regional teaching committee; has adopted a goal area; and is organising a Naw-Rúz party!

We know that we could not have achieved any of this without some major help from "Above". We are proud of our achievements in Surrey Heath and are looking forward to our next challenges. Just think what YOU can achieve in your communities in the last few months of the Four Year Plan.

"Dear Friends: The days pass swiftly as the twinkle of a star. Make your mark now, at this crucial turning point of a juncture, the like of which shall never return. Make that mark in deeds that will ensure for you celestial blessings - guarantee for you, for the entire race, a future beyond any earthly reckoning." –

Universal House of Justice, Ridván 156 Message to the Bahá’ís of the world.

Ellie Rahimi, Tel: 01753 604343

For those who have not heard of WOMAD (World Of Music, Arts and Dance), it is an annual festival in Reading held the last weekend of July in a huge field. It is a conglomeration of cultures from all over the world, represented by music, dance, food and crafts. Over 27,000 people attend.

All this so I could tell you about our participation in this festival. The Bahá’ís were allocated a stall in the One World tent, next to the UNA, Oxfam, WWF, and other such organisations. This was visited by a large number of inquirers, from all over the country and beyond and some Bahá’í books were purchased.

This is the third year that the Reading Bahá’ís have participated in WOMAD. The spirit of Unity in Diversity is so apparent here that as a Bahá’í one feels at home and happy. This is a very good place to talk about the Faith, (although everywhere is a good place to do that!).

We in the Reading area heartily encourage friends to come to WOMAD summer 2000. We really do need your help, not to mention that you will enjoy the festival! It is definitely worthwhile to attend at least one day, although we’re sure you’ll be hooked for the whole duration.