Whenever you feel at all discouraged you should remember how
many years it took for the administration to get as well established as it is
at present in North America. Problems repeat themselves and in the earlier
stages in the U.S.A. the body of the believers was very loosely knit together,
many of the friends were, as they now are in Latin America, affiliated with
various more or less progressive cults from which they had come to the Faith
and from which they could not be suddenly cut off; they had to be weaned and
educated; the same thing you must now do. He urges you therefore to be very
patient with the believers, and, through loving consultation and education,
gradually insist that the old allegiances must give way to the great and
all-satisfying bond they have now found with Bahá'u'lláh and His Faith.
Mature teachers are the greatest need of the Faith
everywhere, and no doubt in your area too. One wise and dedicated soul can so
often give life to an inactive community, bring in new people and inspire to
greater sacrifice.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated
30 June 1952 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual
Assembly of Central America; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Teaching
Among Aboriginal and Indigenous People)
