The eight YOS volunteers standing by the grave side of Roy Wilhelm, Hand of the Cause in Fryeburgh, Maine.

Green Acres is the place to be, Farm living is the life for me. (Anyone heard of this sixties American TV show?)

I just thought I would write to all of you back home to let you know a bit about what I’ve been up to. For all of you who don’t know, I am currently doing a year of service at Green Acres Bahá’í School, which is one of some five Bahá’í schools in the USA, and is situated in Maine. Green Acres is a retreat and conference centre, where Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís from all over the world come to take part in various courses all throughout the year. And what makes this place extra special is that it received a visit from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1912. It is beautiful here! And the people I am serving with are amazing. There are eight year of service volunteers, from all over the world as well as the USA. Youth from Mali, Croatia, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska, Egypt, and Brazil. And of course me, representing EUROPE. Life here is busy – always things to do. Most of the time I work in the kitchen, but earlier on in the summer I had the chance to teach children’s classes, which was a fantastic opportunity. Aside from work, the youth get the chance to go to deepening sessions, study circles, and trips to nearby communities. In addition, we formed the Eliot Youth Committee, where the Green Acres and Eliot youth organise inter-faith activities and service projects. And of course on our days off we make time to visit our local Walmart (they own Asda), go to the cinema, or visit the beach on warmer days. Talking about the weather… I’ve been told that the snow here is CRAZY. And our job, as the year of service volunteers, is to shovel all this snow! Thanks mum for the thermals.

Overall, I am having a fantastic time. Although I miss all of my friends and family back home, I could not imagine myself doing anything else right now. I have learned so much already about other people, the Faith in the USA, and have things to bring back and share when I return next summer!

And if anyone is planning to visit the area e-mail me at nadiadonald@gmail.com. It is always nice to see a familiar face here!

I’m missing you all, and hope things are going well in bonnie Scotland.

Recently I had the privilege of participating in the week long ‘teaching among our social circles’ youth seminar, for university students and young professionals, in Belgium, and facilitated by Paul Arbab and Councillor Firouzeh Moghbel. I was one of 19 youth from seven different countries in Europe who gathered together to learn about the aim of education, discuss how to explain Bahá’í beliefs in a way that appeals to our altruistic friends and share experiences we’ve had when inviting friends to Bahá’í events, particularly study circles.

The material used for our morning sessions was from ‘Intellectual Preparation for Social Action’ which is the first book in a series of three which constitute a masters programme in Columbia, promoted by the non-profit organisation FUNDAEC. This material is Bahá’í inspired and gave us a scholarly insight into the concept of man’s twofold purpose being the development of qualities and virtues, and dedication to the betterment of society, and how this is guided by individual investigation of the truth. We also studied a lot about education – its purpose (to lead to the realisation and enactment of man’s twofold purpose), and how individuals should take responsibility for their own education, both intellectual and spiritual, with the vision of contributing their capabilities and talents to the enrichment of society.

This material was complemented with quotes from the Bahá’í writings, which emphasised the fact that the aim of spiritual transformation is to work towards the establishment of a Divine Civilization.

During the afternoons we had workshops on themes like peace, equality of men and women, justice, and other current issues which are likely to come up in conversations with ur friends. In small groups we deepened on the themes, then practised presentations on he issues or acted out conversations with friends. This not only helped me learn how to put forward the Bahá’í view in such conversations, but it also increased my knowledge of the subjects as well.

We were given scenarios to discuss that we may come across when inviting friends to study circles, and issues that could come up during the study circle and how we should go about inviting interested participants to become Bahá’ís. I found these very helpful as it made me really think about what I would say to my friends when inviting them and how to describe what we would do in a study circle without it sounding obscure and “too religious”. I also thought a lot about what to say in my introductory session and how to give the participants a flavour of what they were getting themselves into.

An important element in the programme was the sharing of experiences, where we heard stories of how others had set up study circles or devotional meetings and the challenges they faced and victories they’d had. This was a real encouragement to some, it showed us that it was actually possible to set up activities with our friends, and gave us (or certainly me) the motivation to set up/continue our own activities back home.

The evenings were devoted to artistic presentations such as drama, stained glass and shadow theatre. Each group was given a theme to work on, such as prayer, the life of Bahá’u’lláh, and the story of Rúh’ulláh. These were worked on during the week and some very moving presentations were given on the last night, giving an inspiring ending to an inspirational week.

Yes, it was a truly wonderful week; I learned so much and met such lovely people, but the best thing about it is I have been left with so much enthusiasm for getting back to university and putting into action what I have learnt. I now feel equipped for explaining to my friends the concept of the Ruhi books and inviting them to Tranquillity Zones, and I am a bit more confident about slipping my Bahá’í beliefs into conversations.