of a Crusade which history will recognize as the most momentous
spiritual enterprise launched in modern times; beset by the same anxieties
and perils by which the nation of which it forms a part finds itself, to
an unprecedented degree, afflicted and surrounded--such a community is, at
this hour, experiencing the impact of a challenge unique in its sixty
years of existence.

CHALLENGE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL BAHA'I

In its meteoric career its fortunes have risen so swiftly, its exploits
have so greatly multiplied, its spirit in times of emergency has swelled
and risen so high, it has earned on such occasions the applause and
excited the admiration of its sister communities throughout both
hemispheres to such a degree, that it cannot, at this critical hour in its
destinies, suffer this golden opportunity to slip from its grasp, or this
priceless privilege to be irretrievably forfeited.

This challenge, so severe and insistent, and yet so glorious, faces no
doubt primarily the individual believer on whom, in the last resort,
depends the fate of the entire community. He it is who constitutes the
warp and woof on which the quality and pattern of the whole fabric must
depend. He it is who acts as one of the countless links in the mighty
chain that now girdles the globe. He it is who serves as one of the
multitude of bricks which support the structure and insure the stability
of the administrative edifice now being raised in every part of the world.
Without his support, at once whole-hearted, continuous and generous, every
measure adopted, and every plan formulated, by the body which acts as the
national representative of the community to which he belongs, is
foredoomed to failure. The World Center of the Faith itself is paralyzed
if such a support on the part of the rank and file of the community is
denied it. The Author of the Divine Plan Himself is impeded in His purpose
if the proper instruments for the execution of His design are lacking. The
sustaining strength of Baha'u'llah Himself, the Founder of the Faith, will
be withheld from every and each individual who fails in the long run to
arise and play his part.

The administrative agencies of a divinely conceived Administrative Order
at long last erected and relatively perfected stand in dire need of the
individual believer to come forward and utilize them with undeviating
purpose, serene confidence and exemplary dedication. The heart of the
Guardian cannot but