ealing and the sustaining power of God, will he
be able to combat the forces arrayed against him, magnetize the souls of
those whom he seeks to convert, and win their unreserved, their
enthusiastic and enduring allegiance to the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

Delicate and strenuous though the task may be, however arduous and
prolonged the effort required, whatsoever the nature of the perils and
pitfalls that beset the path of whoever arises to revive the fortunes of a
Faith struggling against the rising forces of materialism, nationalism,
secularism, racialism, ecclesiasticism, the all-conquering potency of the
grace of God, vouchsafed through the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, will,
undoubtedly, mysteriously and surprisingly, enable whosoever arises to
champion His Cause to win complete and total victory.

The history of a century-old Faith eloquently bears witness to similar
unnumbered successes won, in both the Apostolic and Formative Ages of the
Baha'i Dispensation, in circumstances even more challenging than those in
which the American Baha'i Community now finds itself.

So magnificent a victory, won collectively, at such a time, in a country
so vitally affecting the immediate destinies of mankind, singled out to
play so predominant a role in the unification and spiritualization of the
entire human race, by a community which in every other field can boast a
brilliant and unbroken record of victories, will, no doubt, exert not only
a profound influence on the ultimate destinies of an entire nation and
people, but will galvanize, through its repercussions, the entire Baha'i
world.

"A PRAYER WHICH I NEVER CEASE TO UTTER"

The prizes within the reach of this community are truly inestimable. Much
will depend on the reaction of the rank and file of the believers to the
plea now addressed to them with all the fervor of my soul.

To act, and act promptly and decisively, is the need of the present hour
and their inescapable duty. That the American Baha'i Community may, in
this one remaining field, where so much is at stake, and where the needs
of the Faith are so acute, cover itself with a glory that will outshine
the splendor of its past exploits in the far-flung territories of the
globe, is a prayer which I never cease to utter in my continual
supplications to Baha'u'llah.

[July 19, 1956]

INTENSIFICATION OF EFFORTS

Welcome pledge by delegates. Fervently supplicating Baha'u'llah's
sustaining grace. Ur