The generous donation of land to Yerrinbool School by Mr. Styles will certainly re-inforce that valuable Bahá’í property, and the Guardian very much appreciated this act of his.
His confidence in, and admiration for, the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand is steadily increasing, as he witnesses the enthusiasm and self-confidence of the believers out there, and the increased capacity of their National Body to handle wisely and capably the affairs of the Cause.
He assures you all, and through you the believers, of his loving prayers for your success and the attainment of all the goals of your historic Plan.
With Bahá’í love,
R. Rabbani.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The notable progress achieved in recent months, in so many fields and in spite of adverse circumstances, demonstrates afresh the vitality of the faith and the soundness of the outlook, of the members of the fast-advancing and steadily consolidating community of the followers of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. This remarkable process of expansion and consolidation augurs well for the ultimate success of the Plan to which the combined resources of this community are committed. The various reports, both local and national which I have perused with sustained interest and quickened admiration, attest the rapid and sound development, of the institutions of a Faith that is so rich in promise, and whose interests are being promoted with such devotion, energy, loyalty and consecration by the members of this community.
What has been achieved, in both the teaching field and in the administrative sphere of Bahá’í service, however is but a stepping stone to the still greater victories which the gradual unfoldment of the Plan must inevitably produce. The multiplication of the groups and assemblies that constitute the bedrock of the Faith, must accompany the consolidating process which must bring in its wake, on the one hand, the incorporation of these assemblies and their recognition by the civil authorities, and the establishment, on the other, of Bahá’í local endowments and the right of these assemblies to execute, officially, the fundamental laws of the Most Holy Book regarding both marriage and divorce that constitute the distinguishing feature of this most holy and august Dispensation.
The task undertaken is immense, fraught with momentous possibilities, highly delicate in nature, and bound to have far-reaching repercussions, not only in the West, and particularly in the continent of Europe, where the institutions of Bahá’u’lláh’s Administrative Order are emerging with such rapidity and showing such promise, but on the continent of Asia, where the overwhelming majority of the followers of the Most Great Name, have endured such grievous afflictions, and are faced with grave peril, and are battling so heroically against the forces of darkness with which they are encompassed.
The nature of the work in which this wide-awake, untrammelled unprejudiced, freedom-loving community, is so energetically engaged, cannot, therefore, be regarded as a purely local and isolated enterprise, but is vitally linked with the fortunes of a world-encircling Order, functioning mysteriously in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, highly organized in its administrative machinery, sensitive in its mechanism, far-flung in its ramifications, challenging in its features, revolutionizing in its implications, and destined to seek increasingly, as it expands and develops, the good-will and assistance of the civil authorities in every continent of the globe.