CommuNIquéNewsletter for the Bahá'í Community in Northern Ireland

Mulk 170BE/ February 2014

Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland

bahaicouncil-ni.org.uk Email: bcni@bahai.org.uk

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Please note, views expressed by various contributors are not necessarily those of

the editor, the Bahá'í Council for Northern Ireland or the National

Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom

Junior Youth Building Community

I am a participant in the Junior Youth Empowerment Programme in the Morton Community Centre where we try to see how we can be of service to our neighbourhood. After discussing the needs of our local community at our sessions we thought about a group for mothers and toddlers. We felt this was a good idea because mothers are often at home with their young children and do not get a chance to see other mothers. Then one Saturday afternoon we called at houses in the Windsor neighbourhood where we live. We introduced our idea to some of the families we met, and asked them if they were interested. We said that our purpose was to help young children have really good behaviour and learn to put others before themselves, and also so that the mothers could become friends. We told them that we welcome all people from different nationalities and backgrounds. We then exchanged numbers so that we could keep in touch. So far we have had four sessions every Saturday. We plan beforehand and think how we can improve each session afterwards. At the minute we have four families attending with seven children at each session. We really hope to continue these classes to improve ourselves and our community.

David Bamidele

The group meets every Saturday afternoon. We currently have nine members, six boys and three girls. We are using the book, Glimmerings of Hope, which is about tribal conflict set in Africa.

To further the group's understanding of conflict closer to home, we had a presentation and discussion about "The Troubles" facilitated by Alistair Donaghy (Sara's father). Following this, we visited the Ulster Museum to explore the "Ulster in Trouble" exhibit and others. We all had a great day out!

Looking back, we've had a very busy and fruitful year. In April we sent invitations to the pupils of the local integrated primary school to a DIY DNA extraction. This was facilitated by Les

Gornall and was amazing and enjoyable and increased our numbers from four to nine. It has also been our aim to do a service project every month, which kicked off in May, raising funds for the Women's Aid's "Make it Better" appeal. In June we completed a litter lift throughout the Eco Park in Ballymena. On our return in September and October we dug up and replanted two flower beds at the front of Ballymena North Centre which were in need of attention. We are looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. We made mini bird feeders in November and hung them on the trees surrounding the Centre. There was a Christmas Fair in the Centre in December and the young people used this as an opportunity to serve tea and coffee and raised funds for the Philippines Appeal. Colette and Daryush represented the group in January at a Mayor's reception acknowledging all funds raised. Having been informed of the group's activities, the Mayor has requested to visit the group and has offered help with funding from the council.

Julie and Colette Rodgers

Ballymena Junior Youth Group

"The activities that drive this process...enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on an equal footing

and explore the application of the teachings to their individual and collective lives...

Within this context, receptivity manifests itself in a willingness to participate in the process of community building set in motion by the core activities. In cluster after cluster where an intensive programme of growth is now in operation, the task before the friends... [is to] find those souls longing to shed the lethargy imposed on them by society and work alongside one another in their neighbourhoods and villages to begin a process of collective transformation. If the friends persist in their efforts to learn the ways and methods of community building in small settings in this way, the long-cherished goal of universal participation in the affairs of the Faith will, we are certain, move by several orders of magnitude within grasp."

The Universal House of Justice (Ridvan 2010, para 6 & 7)

Guidance Moving Forward

Having been asked to facilitate the Youth Conference material at the Northern Lights Bahá'í Winter School, I recoiled in a slight horror. NO CHANCE.... Then I said, "yes" (why do I always do that??), and then I panicked for about three weeks straight. I'd been a Bahá'í all of five minutes and I had just volunteered myself to jump in, all guns blazing, and start delivering workshops.

And then I thought about it. What was it that attracted me to this community? All the things that inspired me to become a Bahá'í came flooding in. The belief in community. The belief that everybody has a role to play in building a new civilisation. The belief in working together to create and build a society based on spiritual principles. The kindness, selfless devotion, and sense of purpose with which I saw acts of service being carried out by those I had initially encountered. I couldn't deny the strength of feeling towards all these things. Pretty soon I didn't just feel the obligatory push of having agreed to do something for a friend but I felt a need within myself to start acting upon my beliefs and decisions.

So I plunged into the preparation along with other friends who had been at the Conference. It had been three months since I had worked on the Youth Conference material. Going back and reading what we had studied at Warwick had inspired me so much. It was as if in the interim three months that had passed since the Conference, these concepts had been dwelling in my mind and began to take on a resounding new effect when we were exploring them together again as a community. I felt ever more impressed by the clear plan and vision of the Bahá'í Community in its efforts to build a new civilisation as it was expressed in the materials provided by the Universal House of Justice at the Conference.

During the workshops, there was a definite sense of support from the other course participants, and a genuine willingness to learn and eagerness to discuss the materials - a willingness that made the task of facilitating a very rewarding one! I felt the powerful energy that comes from service as we moved through the sessions. It was an absolute pleasure to be helping facilitate, and I was able to develop new capacities along my own path of service while being accompanied by others. I now look forward to translating these ideas into action on returning to my community!

Adele Gribbon

Northern Lights Winter School: An Opportunity To Serve

Some Upcoming Events

'Dawnbreakers' Themed Weekend School Friday 28 - Sunday 30 March

Ballyrory House, 94 Learmount Road, Claudy, BT47 4AL

This school will be run under the auspices of the Baha'is of Londonderry/Dhoire. It will follow the course format and explore how the heroic exploits

of these early Believers can affect us and what we do today.

Full board including accommodation will cost £15. Day visitors are also welcome.

To register, contact Anne Munro: annemunro1@hotmail.com 02871337330

Northern Lights Spring School, 18-21 April The Arts: Inspiring Progress

A message from the Northern Lights Cluster Schools Team, with love “A graceful integration of the arts into diverse activities enhances the surge of energy that mobilises the believers”

This year's Spring Arts School will return to Lorne House, near Holywood from 18 April at 3pm, until 21 April at 4pm. We will have courses each morning and workshops each afternoon, along with evening activities and special Riḍván programmes on the Sunday evening and on the Monday afternoon.

Prices have been reduced for bookings before 7 April, but the Cluster Schools Team has had to increase prices for those booking after 7 April. This is due to the precarious financial position in which the recent Winter School was left due to low registration numbers. For the Cluster Schools to remain self sufficient, attendees must book in advance, even just for a few hours. This enables caterers to buy the correct amount of food for meals and snacks, and therefore prevent wastage. Had our fruit and veg supplier and a number of individuals not bought unused produce off us after the Winter School, we would have made a loss.

An essential aspect of our Cluster Schools is the collaborative ethos. All participants contribute to the running of the school in some way, no matter how small. We encourage participants to carry the collaborative ethos of the schools forward into the planning process so as to ensure continued improvement. To this end, please register as early as possible.

A £20 deposit will be required to book accommodation at the reduced rate. This will be fully refundable for cancellations before 7 April. A deposit is not required for day visitors.

To register, contact Qudrat Jamshidi: cluster.schools@gmail.com or 028 91813430 Cheques should be made payable to "The NSA of the Bahá'ís of the UK" and sent to Qudrat Jamshidi, 4 Long Island Drive, Newtownards, BT23 7AH.

To Serve Humanity - Northern Irish Feature

You may already have seen the short films that have been released following the 114 worldwide youth conferences on http://news.bahai.org/community-news/toserve/

These films, available to all for viewing, feature reflections from participants on the themes lovingly selected by the Universal House of Justice. They convey pivotal concepts that are being translated into action all over the world in the final years of the current Five Year Plan.

If you watch the Introduction film closely you will catch a glimpse of the Northern Irish contingent singing during the opening devotional. Also listen out for the keen insights being offered by the Belfast accent featured in the Coherence film.