Eastern Bay of Plenty passes the second milestone of growth
The progress arising in Ōpōtiki stems in no small measure from a mutual posture of learning, a spirit of loving collaboration, and an eagerness to bring the community-building processes to the population by friends willing to begin a journey of developing cultural competency to be able to go onto Marae with ease and Māori friends with cultural expertise keen to learn more about how the community-building process can unfold in a Māori setting. The Regional Bahá'í Council for the North Island made the following joyful announcement in a letter to all Local Spiritual Assemblies, Bahá'í groups and isolated believers in the North Island on 11 March 2021.
Dearly loved friends,
It is with great joy and gratitude that the North Island Regional Bahá'í Council shares with you the news that Eastern Bay of Plenty cluster has passed the second milestone along the continuum of growth.
This cluster was able to achieve this goal of the current Five Year Plan through the persistent efforts of those in the cluster, supported by a combination of visits from Auckland and the Far North clusters, close accompaniment by Auxiliary Board member Jeffrey Sabour alongside a member of the Council, and the settlement of five dedicated pioneers: three youth and two adults. These support structures enabled the friends in Ōpōtiki to see themselves as a nucleus of the growth process.
This nucleus continued to expand, as noho were held every cycle inviting more friends from the local population to become engaged in the community building efforts: junior youth spiritual empowerment programme, devotions, children's classes and a vibrant institute process.
The friends serving in Ōpōtiki have recorded a narrative of the steps they took to achieve this momentous goal. We share with you some selected extracts from this to illustrate the nature of the growth process which is continuing to unfold:
Initiative taken by members of the core group to learn and converse in Te Reo Māori, to Mihi, and to learn Māori customs, traditions and culture, has been a source of joy and attraction for local whānau.
Including in the core team from the outset a number of experienced Māori elders who are familiar with Tikanga Māori and Te Reo Māori, who offer practical support to the youthful members of the core group, and who have insight into the forces and structures of Te Ao Māori has enabled the institute process to take root within the Marae and the Whānau belonging to the Marae in a seamless way.
It is possible to visualise how capacity can be built across three cycles within an expanding nucleus to establish and sustain a rhythm of Institute Campaigns every school holidays which include a programme for the spiritual education of children, the spiritual empowerment of junior youth, and the delivery of Ruhi courses for youth and adults and that such a rhythm of capacity building could gradually be extended to one Marae/Hapū after another within any given Iwi.
Rest assured of the Council’s loving support of your efforts, as we stand ready to walk shoulder to shoulder with you in rallying the friends to march forward in this mighty spiritual enterprise. This “collective effort” and “determination” naturally calls for our “wholehearted reliance on those powers with which a benevolent Lord has endowed His loved ones” .
It is at this opportune moment in history that the Universal House of Justice calls “the believers everywhere to the immense exertion necessary to bring to fruition the seeds that have been so lovingly and assiduously sown and watered in the five Plans that preceded it.”
The time of harvest has come; continued love and prayers of the Regional Bahá’í Council are always with you.
Arohanui,
The North Island Regional Bahá'í Council
Te Kaunihera Bahá'í ā-Rohe o Te Ika-a-Māui
Photos below
In Ōpōtiki, activity in full swing. Click on images to enlarge.
