he eviction of the covenant-breakers from the
immediate precincts of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and the elimination of
any influence they still exercise, after the lapse of over sixty years, in
the close vicinity of that Most Holy Spot--in these, as well as in other
various subsidiary activities, constantly increasing in number as well as
in diversity at the spiritual and administrative center of the Baha'i
world, have the members of the little band, assiduously laboring under the
shadow of the Holy Shrines, and befittingly representing the American
Baha'i Community, conspicuously participated, and through their dedicated
services, added fresh luster to the annals of the community to which they
belong.

REVITALIZATION OF THE HOME FRONT

So splendid a record of service, rendered within the brief span of a
little over three years, extending over so vast an area of the globe, so
highly diversified, so pregnant with promise, in the face of such
formidable obstacles, and by so limited a number of participants, has,
much to my deepest regret, been marred by a progressive devitalization of
the home front, constituting so momentous an aspect of the Ten-Year Plan,
and upon which its continued and effective prosecution by the American
Baha'i Community, in the course of the present and third phase of the
World Spiritual Crusade, so largely depends.

Constituting as it does the base of the multiple operations now being
conducted to ensure the success of the North American, the Latin American,
the African, the European and Asiatic campaigns of a global crusade, no
sacrifice can be deemed too great for its revitalization and the
broadening and consolidation of its foundations. The manpower of the
community, so essential to the further deployment of its forces must,
rapidly and at all costs, increase. The material resources, now at its
disposal, which are so bountifully poured forth and so generously
distributed to the four corners of the globe, must be correspondingly
augmented to meet the pressing and ever-swelling demands of a constantly
and irresistibly advancing Crusade. A far greater proportion of the avowed
supporters of the Faith must arise, ere the Crusade suffers any setback,
for the fourfold purpose of winning over an infinitely greater number of
recruits to the army of Baha'u'llah fighting on the home front, of
swelling to an unprecedented degree the isolated centers now scattered
within its confines, of convert