nerve center of its institutions. They are profoundly
aware of the bountiful grace vouchsafed by that same Providence insuring,
unlike the previous world conflict, uninterrupted intercourse between the
spiritual Center and the vast majority of the communities functioning
within the orbit of a far-flung Faith. They are immeasurably thankful for
the miraculous preservation of the Indian, Persian, Egyptian, British and
Iraqi communities, long threatened by dire perils owing to their proximity
to the theatre of military operations. They are deeply conscious that the
progress achieved, despite six tempestuous years, in both the Eastern and
Western Hemispheres, through the collective enterprises launched by these
communities, outshines the sum total of the accomplishments since the
inception of the Formative Age of the Faith.

The Seven Year Plan inaugurated by the American Baha'i community under the
lowering clouds of the approaching conflict victoriously completed the
exterior ornamentation of the Mother Temple of the West, established the
structural basis of the Faith in every State and Province of the North
American continent, and hoisted its banner in every Republic of Latin
America. The Indian believers' Six Year Plan, launched on the eve of
hostilities, more than quadrupled the centers functioning within the pale
of the Administrative Order. The edifices consecrated to the
administrative affairs of an ever-advancing Cause, involving the
expenditure of over a hundred thousand dollars, were erected, purchased or
completed in the Capital Cities of India, 'Iraq and Egypt as well as
Sydney, Australia. The acquisition of numerous properties in Baha'u'llah's
native land, on Mount Carmel and in the Jordan Valley, as well as the
purchase of several important historic sites associated with the Lives of
both the Herald and the Author of the Faith, swelled to an unprecedented
degree our Baha'i endowments.

Preliminary steps for the completion of the Bab's Sepulchre and the
establishment of the World Administrative Center through the removal of
the Remains of the Brother and Mother of 'Abdu'l-Baha were undertaken. The
termination of the First Century of the Baha'i Era, synchronizing with the
climax of the raging storm, was publicly and befittingly celebrated,
despite the multiplication of restrictions. Above all, the unity and
integrity of an incorruptible world community was consistently safeguarded
in face of the insidious opposi