ation of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of New Zealand.

"AROHANUI"

The word "Arohanui" is a Maori word and, as with many Polynesian words,
there is no direct translation into English. The literal meaning is "big
love", or "much love" or "great love". And, like most words in most
languages, it has several meanings. In naming this book, "Arohanui:
Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand", "Arohanui" is used in its
more expressive meaning, "enfolding love", or "that love which binds a
community together", or "that love which creates bonds of mutual trust and
loyalty", or "that love which builds and carries forward culture or
civilization".

Arohanui: Letters from Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand

Baha'i publishing trust
Suva, Fiji
Approved for publication by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is
of New Zealand Inc.
(c) 1982 BAHA'I PUBLISHING TRUST SUVA, FIJI ISLANDS

"You are destined to achieve great things for our beloved Cause
and my constant prayer is that your vision may be clear, your
purpose unshaken, your zeal undiminished, your hopes undimmed. Let
not obstacles and disappointments, which are inevitable,
dishearten you and whenever you are faced with trials recall our
Beloved's innumerable sufferings."

From a letter to the first New Zealand Baha'i dated August 12th, 1926.

The letters in this compilation were written by various secretaries of the
Guardian at his specific direction. Spelling and other inconsistencies are
a reflection of the fact that different secretaries were used. Those
passages actually written by the Guardian himself are printed in italics.

The messages are numbered sequentially for the convenience of the reader
and as an aid to indexing. The numbers appear before the date of each
letter.

PART I
LETTERS TO INDIVIDUALS, BEFORE APRIL 21ST, 1926.

These were written prior to the formation of the first Local Spiritual
Assembly in New Zealand.

(1) June 22nd, 1923

My dear Baha'i sister,

Your beautiful letter of April 3rd written to the Beloved Guardian of the
Cause of God, our dear Shoghi Effendi, was received.[+E1] He was much
impressed and charmed with the spirit of your letter, which indicated deep
devotion to and absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit of the Beloved
Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha.

He instructed me with a heart overflowing with love to answer your letter,
conveying