nguished their stewardship to the Cause of Baha'u'llah in
the past.

The year, the opening of which will mark the midway point of this World
Spiritual Crusade, must be distinguished from all previous years, by the
special allotment of a substantial sum from the national budget that will
adequately meet the urgent needs of these Houses of Worship, and
particularly those that are to be erected in the European and Australian
continents.

A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY, A GLORIOUS CHALLENGE

The forthcoming convocation of no less than five intercontinental
conferences, marking the passing of half of the time allotted for the
prosecution of a World Crusade, and to be held, in five continents of the
globe, for the purpose of paying homage to the Author of the Baha'i
Revelation for His protection, guidance and blessings, of focusing
attention on the achievements of the immediate past and the pressing
requirements of the immediate future, will, it is my ardent hope and
prayer, provide a fresh stimulus for the adequate discharge of these two
afore-mentioned responsibilities, which constitute the distinguishing
features of the fourth phase of a rapidly unfolding Plan.

At four of these five conferences, in the proceedings of which four, the
members of the American Baha'i Community--the principal executors of
'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan and the keepers and defenders of the stronghold
of the Baha'i Administrative Order--will participate, through their
official representatives, the voice of the champion-builders of
Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Order, who can well claim to have had a
decisive share in the great strides made by this Crusade, should be raised
in a spirit and manner that will galvanize these conferences into action,
and produce such results as will reverberate round the world.

A golden opportunity, a glorious challenge, an inescapable duty, a
staggering responsibility, confront them, at this fresh turning point in
the fortunes of a Crusade, for which they have so unremittingly labored,
whose Cause they have so notably advanced, in the further unfoldment of
which they must continue to play a leading part, and in whose closing
stages, they will, I feel confident, rise to heights never before attained
in the course of six decades of American Baha'i history.

Once again--and this time more fervently than ever before--I direct my plea
to every single member of this strenuously laboring, clear-visioned,
stout-hearted,