Baha'i Blog Challenge - Guidance, Encouragement and Support

Being a Homefront Pioneer became a very rewarding solution to our need to satisfy Abdu’l-Baha’s call to action. Our experience during our three-month volunteer assignment in Central Alberta included numerous telephone conversations and email exchanges with various members of the Alberta Baha’i Council. Each encounter was filled with guidance, encouragement and support. Although there is no manual for homefront pioneering, consultation with local Baha’is, groups, Local Spiritual Assemblies, the Cluster Coordinator, and Institute members and the Alberta Baha’i Council helped us manage our pioneer endeavours. 

The Consultation Look

We’ve summarised our first consultation this way:

• Make contact with the closest Baha'is in the cluster and find out from those friends what is needed in the area.

• Identify the Cluster Coordinator.

• Send all receipts related to our Homefront Pioneer assignment to the Alberta Baha’i Council Treasurer.

• Participate in whatever is already underway in the Cluster.

• Communicate with the Council through the liaison and assistant.

• Submit bi-weekly reports that include observations, barriers, recommendations and consultation information to the Alberta Baha’i Council.

• Enjoy yourself.

Beyond such considerations, a consultative spirit pervades the interactions of those engaged in social action, of whatever size and complexity, and the population they serve. This does not imply that formal mechanisms are necessarily in place for this purpose. It suggests, rather, that the aspirations of the people, their observations and ideas, are ever present and are consciously incorporated into plans and programmes.  (Universal House of Justice, Office of Social and Economic Development, Social Action, 26 November 2012, p. 14)