y, the National Teaching Committee, the
Regional and local teaching committees, no less than the itinerant
teachers, should utilize every possible means calculated to fan the zeal,
enrich the resources and insure the solidity and permanency of the work,
of those who, actuated by so laudable and shining a spirit of
self-sacrifice, have arisen to face the hazards and perils of so holy and
historic an adventure. Indeed every believer, however humble and
inexperienced, should sense the obligation to play his or her part in a
mission that involves so very deeply the destinies not only of the
American Baha'i community but of the nation itself.

Whether through the frequency of their visits, the warmth of their
correspondence, the liberality of their support, the wisdom of their
counsels, the choice of the literature placed at the disposal of the
pioneers, the members of the community should, at this hour when the sands
of a moribund civilization are inexorably running out, and at a time when
they are preparing themselves to launch yet another stage in their
teaching activities, insure the security and provide for the steady
expansion, of the work initiated in those territories so recently set
alight from the torch of an inextinguishable Faith.

This is my plea, my supreme entreaty.

April 17, 1939

PENETRATION OF LATIN AMERICA

Message to 1939 Convention

Brilliant conclusion of second year in Seven Year Plan evokes universal
admiration of the Baha'i world, deepens its spiritual consciousness and
mitigates the hardships of its increasingly harassed communities. Closing
phase of Temple ornamentation already entered. Initial stage of
Intercontinental Teaching Campaign successfully terminated. Firm anchorage
of the institutions of the Administrative Order permanently established in
every State and Province of North American continent. Mexico, lying in the
forefront of the southward marching army, recently enlisted. Pedro
Espinosa's auspicious attendance at the Convention is welcome evidence.
Settlement of the Central American republics is next step in progressive,
systematic penetration of Latin America. Upsurge of Baha'u'llah's
impelling Spirit can not, will not, be stemmed nor impeded. Methodical
advance along the line traced by pen of 'Abdu'l-Baha irresistible.
Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba,
Dominica and Haiti immediate objectives. Though politically unsettled,
religiously