Pledges of personal action to build community cascaded from a “mini-reflection” gathering, primarily of Persian-American Bahá’ís and their friends, on Nov. 26 in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

To Auxiliary Board member Farhad Vojdani, the outpouring owed much to a systematic campaign launched earlier in 2017 to visit families in their homes (see “Home visits ‘revolutionize’ North Gwinnett community life, activities,” November/December 2017) and help overcome obstacles to participation that many immigrants — especially newcomers — face.

Some of the fruits were plain to see at the November meeting. Individuals and couples stepped forward by the dozens to say they will host devotionals, conduct home visits, complete the sequence of Ruhi Institute training courses, or hold fireside gatherings.

But numbers are just numbers. It’s the progress of a children’s class in the North Gwinnett Bahá’í community that speaks volumes about the impact the home visits have had on people’s understanding of Bahá’u’lláh’s vision for humanity and roles they can play in bringing it to fruition.

Behnaz Rouhani, an assistant to Vojdani and vice chair of the North Gwinnett Spiritual Assembly, tells the story:

“It all started with a simple question posed to children ages 11 and under one day during the weekly Bahá’í class by one of their teachers: ‘These virtues we are learning need to be put into practice. What if we adopt a service project? Do you all have any ideas?’

“The group very much wanted to do a project that deals with children. So, after much brainstorming they decided to raise funds for street children in the Amazon region of Brazil through the Mona Foundation [a U.S.-based educational charity founded on Bahá’í principles]. They decided to have a fundraiser and sell their own artwork or things they own.

“This decision got them working and they reported on their progress at every class session. When mothers of these children learned about the project, they joined hands. They knitted hats, decorated pieces of wood, used socks to create little dolls, made key chains, and brought their own toys.

“In addition, the mother of a friend of the Faith — who is close to 80 years old, had recently arrived from [Iran] and has been attending our Book 1 study circle — knitted hats and made jars of preserves and pickles for the fundraiser.

“The children’s mothers, who are mostly friends of the Faith and are attending a Book 1 [Reflections on the Life of the Spirit] study circle, took ownership of this project and planned a memorable gathering. Children from another class were invited and it created a spirit of love and fellowship among children.

“At the event, some kids purchased items then put them back on the table to be sold again so more funds could be raised. Great lessons were learned by children. They were asked to promote their own piece of art and did so without any thought of the money going in their own pockets. What a lesson to learn at this young age! Altogether $500 was raised.

“My pen is unable to describe the spirit of love and collaboration among the attendees in serving humanity. The friends of the Faith in charge of the meeting believed in this project and their passion was the driving force.

“They have already decided that there will be another fundraiser to help with the educational needs of the street children in the poorest section of Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas in Brazil.”

Rouhani notes the benefits of this experience go well beyond an event’s particular goal.

“With this project the children’s class and the friends of the Faith were engaged in community building as well as promoting the social and material well-being of humanity,” she says. “Such efforts that are motivated by the desire to serve mankind and contribute to constructive social change can also bring the community together as everyone rallies around a cause.”