ty, in Scandinavia, in
the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Benelux countries. European
international teaching conferences have been convened successively in
Geneva, in Brussels, in Copenhagen, in Scheveningen and in Luxembourg
City, paving the way for the convocation of four successive
Intercontinental Teaching Conferences, the first of which has recently
been held in Kampala, in the heart of the African continent, the rest to
be successively convened in Wilmette, Illinois, in Stockholm and in New
Delhi--Conferences which, God willing, will be the forerunners of the World
Baha'i Congress, to be convened in the city of Ba_gh_dad, on the occasion
of the centenary of the formal assumption by Baha'u'llah of His prophetic
office. Recognition has been extended to the Faith by the United Nations
as an international non-governmental organization enabling the Baha'i
International Community to appoint accredited representatives, who have
already attended, in their capacity as observers, the Conference on Human
Rights held in Geneva and the United Nations General Assembly held in
Paris and participated in United Nations regional non-governmental
conferences, held in localities as far apart as New York, Santiago,
Manila, Istanbul, Den Passar, Paris, Managua, Geneva and Montevideo.

PRELUDE TO PRODIGIOUS EXPANSION

So glorious a record of accomplishments in the service of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah, whether local, national or international, in both the
teaching and administrative spheres of Baha'i activity, can be regarded in
no other light than as a prelude to a period of prodigious expansion and
consolidation to be inaugurated by the launching of a global spiritual
crusade, on the threshold of which the Baha'i world now stands. This
crusade extending through ten years will involve the simultaneous
prosecution of twelve national plans, will necessitate the active and
sustained participation of each of the twelve existing national spiritual
assemblies representing no less than thirty-six nations and will demand
the utmost exertion, consecration and heroism. It aims at the broadening
and the reinforcement of the foundations of the Faith in each of the
twelve areas that are to serve as operational bases for the prosecution of
these twelve national plans; the opening of one hundred and thirty-one
territories to the Faith; the consolidation of one hundred and eighteen
territories; the translation and printing of literature in ninety-o