News from Cluster One

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Here are some passages encouraging us to approach the world of God and ennoble our characters:

In man there are two natures; his spiritual or higher nature and his material or lower nature. In one he approaches God, in the other he lives for the world alone.

-- `Abdu'l-Bahá, PT 60

The great thing is to `Live the Life' -- to have our lives so saturated with the Divine
teachings and the Bahá'í Spirit that people cannot fail to see a joy, a power, a love, a purity, a radiance, an efficiency in our character and work that will distinguish us
from worldly-minded people and make people wonder what is the secret of this new life in us. We must become entirely selfless and devoted to God so that every day
and every moment we seek to do only what God would have us do and in the way He would have us do it. If we do this sincerely then we shall have perfect unity and
harmony with each other. Where there is want of harmony there is lack of the true Bahá'í Spirit. Unless we can show this transformation in our lives, this new power,
this mutual love and harmony, then the Bahá'í teachings are but a name to us.

-- Shoghi Effendi, letter on his behalf to an individual believer, Feb. 2, 1925, in Lights of Guidance, Page 111

Attach not thyself to anything unless in it thou seest the reality of God - this is the first step into the court of eternity. The earth life lasts but a short time, even its benefits are transitory; that which is temporary does not deserve our heart's attachment.

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 134)

Men are becoming like unto beasts that perish, for we know that they have no spiritual feeling -- they do not turn to God, they have no religion! These things belong to man alone, and if he is without them he is a prisoner of nature, and no whit better than an animal."

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 121)

Saints are men who...live in the world but are not of it, their thoughts being continually in the world of the spirit...

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 60)

PORT LOUIS CLUSTER
LAUNCHING ITS 1Oth IPG
15th august to 24 November

15TH AUGUST THE FRIENDS AND THE INSTITUTIONS MEET FOR AN INSTITUTIONAL MEETINGS FOLLOWING THE ORIENTATION MEETINGS

THE CLUSTER CO-ORDINATOR MR JOSELITO PELLEGRIN
Talking to the friends about ANNA PRESENTATION
ITS WAS A LIVELY DISCUSSION WHO HAD CLEARED THE WAY

Joselito Pellegrin Cluster Co-ordinator

l'amitié et le soutient est le mot dordre DU 10iéme Cycle
--Tablet of AMAD to be said everday by all the participants
----A prayer watch from 5pm to 9 p.m BY THE FRIENDS IN THE CLUSTER
------The Bahai Center will be open everyday from 5.pm to 7 p.m PRAYER AND FIRE-SIDE

cluster meeting 24th august

Intensive teaching 24th August to 7th september 2008

THE TEACHING TEAMS WAS RENAMED
BY THE PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR EACH TEAM HAS A LEADER AND RECEIVED TEACHING KIT WITH A TEACHING LOG BOOK

1- TAHIRIH
RAJEN SHEELA PAYENDEE, PACHOON,
SOONEETEE,
HANSLEY

GOAL AREA ROCHE-BOIS

2-BAHIYYIH
BARINDER, CHANTALE- DANIEL -SASKIA

GOAL AREA --POINTE AUX SABLES

3-QUDDUS

ANIS , RABANNI.SANJIVEN

GOAL AREA TRANQUEBAR

4-MARTHA ROOTS

JOSELITO,VOANGY, MICHEL, MICHAEL , MUNIREH,RIDVAN,MICHELIN, PAZANI

GOAL AREA--

5-LUA GETSINGER

CHANTALE , HAROLD

GOAL AREA R.BOIS, /VALLE DES PRETRES

6-THOMAS BREAKWELL
JO& SYL
GOAL AREA -- _CLUSTER WISE AREA

7- MULLA HUSSAYN
KISHAN, RAJESHRI,
ANOUSKA,
HOUMA, TEAM LEADER

GOAL AREA -LES SALINES

8-BADI

Devina Nookanah TEAM LEADER
renisha
mrAppadoo

9-NABIL
NABIL AND LOVENA

10-EFFENDI

BHIM. MARIA, CAISHMA , EFFENDI,MICHEL

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Prayer watch AT THE BAHAIS CENTRE FROM 5.00 PM TO 7.00 PM

TEAM/IND

1)MONDAY 25^th AUG---- Thomas Breakwell

2)TUESDAY 26 …AUG---- EFFENDI

3) WEDNESDAY 27….AUG--- NABIL

4) THURSDAY 28….AUG--- QUDDUS

5)FRIDAY

29AUG… RENCONTRE DES TEAMS A 18.30 POT LUCK DINNER .

6)SATURDAY 30…AUG

7)SUNDAY 31….AUG

8)MONDAY 1^ST … SEP-Bahiyyih

9)TUESDAY 2…..SEP EFFENDI

10) WEDNESDAY 3…SEP

11) THURSDAY 4…SEP QUDDUS

12) FRIDAY 5 SEP

13) SATURDAY 6 SEP

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TEACHING TEAMS

1. What is a Teaching Team?

A group of 2-5 believers who are eager to teach and learn together

2. What are the benefits in forming a Teaching Team?

o The team can be a source of encouragement and a support system to its members.

o Teaching in teams can help us to gain the confidence to initiate teaching activities that we have not yet experienced.

o Teaching teams allow us to increase our teaching skills by:

- reviewing the teaching themes of Book 6* with a team member

- practicing through role plays together

- sharing teaching experiences with each other and learning how to improve our teaching approaches

3. What will a Teaching Team do?

A group of believers who come together as a team should focus on:

o Preparation for Teaching

- Pray together.

- Practice presentation of the teaching themes from Book 6* with each other.

o Planning Teaching Activities

- Each member should identify, and list, their circle of contacts from among their friends, neighbors, co-workers, and relatives.

- Consult on how to approach these contacts or seekers and raise their interest towards the spiritual teaching of the Faith by engaging in deeper conversation in their homes. In some instances, firesides or devotional meetings can be more effective.

- The team members may create individual teaching plans to reach their own circle of contacts, or they may create a simple plan, as a team, to reach their collective group of seekers.

- The team members may teach individually, in separate Teams made up of 2-3 people, or as a whole team.

- In whichever way the team chooses to teach the Faith, their aim should be to intensify their teaching efforts.

o Teaching

- Home Visits are an effective way of reaching out to our fellow human beings. Through reaching out to people, we ensure that they are also receiving their share of God’s grace, knowledge and will for this Day. We demonstrate spiritual qualities of love, fellowship, humility, service, and generosity by simply being in their homes and practicing the act of sharing.

- In addition to home visits, we can teach our contacts through study circles, firesides, devotional meetings, junior youth groups, and children’s classes.

- In whichever approach we take to connect the hearts of seekers to Baha’u’llah, we must be aware of a few strategies that will bring results:

a. Integrate the whole family into the core activities

Example: Team members visit the seekers regularly and have deep discussions about the Faith with the mother. One of the team members offers to teach the children weekly in their home and both mother and father join a study circle.

b. Develop a habit of invitation.

Examples: Invite your contacts to learn about the Faith; Invite your seekers to attend core activities; Invite your seekers to join the Faith.

o Reflection on Teaching Activities

- One of the benefits of teaching teams, for its members, is having the opportunity to reflect and analyze the methods, approaches, and strategies of teaching, in order to become effective teachers.

- The team members should reflect after their encounters with seekers by simply asking themselves a few questions.

Examples: “How did we do?”

“What was effective and what needs improvement?”

“How can we bring this seeker closer to Baha’u’llah?”

Learning in action and reflection on lessons learned is an essential component of developing capacity to teach effectively.

4. How long should a Teaching Team remain together?

It depends on the decision of the team members. In some cases, the teaching teams are formed for just the teaching phase of an Intensive Program of Growth cycle, and in other cases, the teams continue throughout the duration of the cycle and longer.

* Teaching Themes

from Book 6

1. Introduction to Bahá'í Faith – Eternal Covenant

p. 94-95, Section 7

2. Oneness of Humanity

p. 98, Section 9

3. Baha’u’llah

p. 100-101, Section 11

4. The Bab

p. 103-104, Section 13

5. Abdu’l-Bahá – Covenant of Baha’u’llah

p. 106-107, Section 15