Visiting teachers, who are, at least in a general way,
supposed to be more competent and able than the rest, are undoubtedly of a
great help. But these can never replace the mass of individual believers and
fulfil what must be inevitably accomplished through the collective effort and
wisdom of the community at large. What visiting teachers are supposed to do is
to give the final touch to the work that has been done, to consolidate rather
than supplement individual efforts and thereby direct them in a constructive
and suitable channel. Their task is to encourage and inspire individual
believers, and to broaden and deepen their vision of the task that is to be
done. And this, not by virtue of any inherent spiritual right, but in the
spirit of simple and whole-hearted cooperation.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated September
1, 1933, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer;
‘Arohanui: Letter from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand’)
