the inauguration of the World Spiritual Crusade, the number of those who
have espoused the Cause of Baha'u'llah and enlisted under His banner has
surpassed the number originally anticipated and regarded as a minimum for
the opening of these territories; that in a considerable proportion of
them the Baha'i membership has far exceeded the number required for the
formation of local Assemblies; that in Gambia as many as three hundred,
and in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands as many as five hundred, have been
and are being enrolled beneath His standard; and that in Uganda alone,
which holds the palm of victory, the number of registered believers has
exceeded one thousand.

NEXT PHASE OF WORLD CRUSADE

Such heart-warming, soul-stirring examples of Baha'i initiative and
enterprise; such splendid testimonies to Baha'i solidarity, perseverance,
courage, fortitude, and self-sacrifice, displayed in rapid succession, and
over so immense an area of the globe's surface, and in the face of
mounting opposition on the part of those who envy the ever widening glory
of the Faith or fear the influence of its all-pervasive power, have shed
on the opening chapter of this Crusade a luster which the passing of time
can never tarnish. The third phase of this momentous enterprise--the
opening of which is, at this hour, being signalized by the emergence of no
less than three additional Regional Baha'i Assemblies in the African
Continent--must cast on the annals of this prodigious Crusade an
illumination of such brilliancy as will eclipse the splendor of this
luster.

The glorious and stupendous work already accomplished, singly and
collectively, in the course of three brief years, in five continents of
the globe and the islands of the seas, both at home and abroad, in the
teaching as well as the administrative spheres of Baha'i activity must, as
the army of Baha'u'llah's crusaders marches forward into new and vaster
fields to capture still greater heights, never be jeopardized or allowed
to lag or suffer a setback. The prizes so arduously won should not only be
jealously preserved but should be constantly enriched. Far from suffering
the long and distinguished record of feats which have been achieved to be
tarnished, assiduous efforts must be exerted to ennoble it with every
passing day.

The newly opened territories of the globe must, under no circumstances, be
allowed to relapse into the state of spiritual deprivation from which they