languages to two hundred and thirty-seven; as well as a series
of additional accomplishments, too numerous to recount, supplementing the
objectives of that Plan, in connection with the opening of virgin
territories, the acquisition of Temple sites, the inauguration of Baha'i
schools, the founding of Baha'i local endowments, the establishment of
local Haziratu'l-Quds, the formulation of subsidiary Plans, the initiation
of a Baha'i Publishing Trust, the purchase of Baha'i Holy Sites, and of
plots for Baha'i burial-grounds and for Baha'i summer schools--all these
can be regarded by any fair-minded observer in no other light except as
the manifestations of a momentous progress as diversified in character as
it is far-reaching in its import.

ANOTHER CONTINGENT OF HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD

So marvelous a progress, embracing so vast a field, achieved in so short a
time, by so small a band of heroic souls, well deserves, at this juncture
in the evolution of a decade-long Crusade, to be signalized by, and indeed
necessitates, the announcement of yet another step in the progressive
unfoldment of one of the cardinal and pivotal institutions ordained by
Baha'u'llah, and confirmed in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
involving the designation of yet another contingent of the Hands of the
Cause of God, raising thereby to thrice nine the total number of the Chief
Stewards of Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Commonwealth, who have been
invested by the unerring Pen of the Center of His Covenant with the dual
function of guarding over the security, and of insuring the propagation,
of His Father's Faith.

The eight now elevated to this exalted rank are: Enoch Olinga, William
Sears, and John Robarts, in West and South Africa; Hasan Balyuzi and John
Ferraby in the British Isles; Collis Featherstone and Rahmatu'llah
Muhajir, in the Pacific area; and Abu'l-Qasim Faizi in the Arabian
Peninsula--a group chosen from four continents of the globe, and
representing the Afnan, as well as the black and white races and whose
members are derived from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Pagan backgrounds.

This latest addition to the band of the high-ranking officers of a fast
evolving World Administrative Order, involving a further expansion of the
august institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, calls for, in view of
the recent assumption by them of their sacred responsibility as protectors
of the Faith, the appointment by these same Hand