10 February 1998
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
Your email letter of 5 July 1997 posing a number of questions about the Bahá'í teachings and practices has been received by the Universal House of Justice, as was your follow-up email of 28 October 1997. We are to respond as follows. Kindly accept our apologies for the delay in responding, occasioned by pressures of work at the Bahá'í World Centre. Our answers appear in the same order as your questions were originally posed.
Pioneering
Whether to remain in North America or to pioneer
internationally is a question, as explained in our letter to you of 4 September
1994, that ultimately only you can decide, in light of the current needs of the
Faith and your own capacities, possibilities and responsibilities. If it is not
timely for you yourself to travel abroad, then you may wish to consider
deputizing someone to do so on your behalf. Another alternative could be to
contribute funds towards the deputization of a teacher at a permanent training
institute, as suggested by the House of Justice in its 1996 Ridvan message and
also in its 6 August 1996 letter addressed to the Bahá'ís of the world.
Serving one’s parents vs. serving the Faith
Regarding the precedence to be assigned to serving the Faith
as a pioneer versus one's responsibilities to one's parents, it is for the
individual to judge, assisted if necessary through consultation with his Local
Spiritual Assembly or with friends whose maturity and judgement he trusts. A
key point would be the extent to which his parents actually have substantial
need of his immediate presence and support. As you know, Bahá'u'lláh assigned
great importance to serving one's parents. It would of course be highly
meritorious if both could be harmonized.
Serving where the need is greatest
With regard to identifying areas of greatest need, as you are no doubt aware, there are innumerable pressing needs both in the United States and abroad. Your National Spiritual Assembly, for example, recently issued a call to establish Local Spiritual Assemblies in all cities with a population of 100,000 or more. The depth of one's commitment and willingness to serve are vitally important and these qualities can find application and expression almost anywhere where the workers are few.