Teaching follow up Dec. 29 in Annette Delaney’s neighborhood

Nine of us went out with maps and the information the Area Teaching Committee had given us from the initial collective teaching project. There were 8 adults and 1 youth. We divided into groups of 3 and set off on our assigned routes. In all we re- visited 26 homes where people were actually home or answered their doors. A few people were not interested in talking to us, but several said they absolutely will come to devotions at my house this Thursday, Jan. 3. We gave out 6-9 little selections of prayers prayer books and 1 in Spanish. At the home of the man who does my lawn, he and his family were not home but his neighbor said that he knew about the children's classes and is "thinking about" bringing his children. He said he'll come talk to me. One of the junior youth animators and I are going out again this afternoon to re-visit a few more homes.

Our Assembly has decided that this will be a regular activity- each 2nd & 4th Sundays, after study circle/ junior youth & children's classes, we will re-visit families in the neighborhood. An assembly member walked every street and wrote down every address so we can have very detailed maps. This is a very exciting time for our community and our hope is that more community members will join in!

Harris Collective Teaching Project: Day 2

Over thirty friends participated in Day 2 of the collective teaching project at Annette Delaney's neighborhood on Saturday, December 16th. Counsellor Aghdasi, along with the assistance of a few participants from Saturday's teaching activities, provided the training for the teaching teams. Overall, 182 homes were knocked on, and about half were home (90 homes there was no reply). Out of the 92 homes that were home, 51 had a positive reply, and most of those need to be revisited. Teams returned back on both days to debrief and reflect on the day's teaching.

Harris Collective Teaching Project: Day 1

Fifty-two of the friends from Harris county, Fort Bend/Brazoria County and Galveston county and beyond gathered together at the home of Kathy Wilson and Salim Zafer on Saturday, December 15th for the collective teaching project as part of the intensive program of growth. Teaching teams visited with neighbors to create bonds of friendship and extend invitations to devotions and children's classes. The friends were trained by Counsellor Farzin Aghdasi in the morning and went teaching in the afternoon. Southern Regional Council members Lupita Ahangerzadeh and Carole Miller joined the teams both days.

Counsellor Aghdasi also spoke at the Houston Baha'i Center Saturday evening about teaching and the Five Year Plan.

Reflection Gathering!

The December 1st Harris Cluster Reflection Gathering was a great success! 66 friends attended as well as both Auxiliary Board member Tammy Goff and surprise guest Auxiliary Board member David Smith from San Antonio. Tammy informed the friends of a special visit by Counsellor Farzin Aghdasi on December 15-16^th for the collective teaching project of the Intensive Program of Growth. The Counsellor will also speak about teaching at the Houston Bahá’i center on December 15^th at 7:30pm.

Anna's Presentation training in October 07

A refresher training was held for all Ruhi Book 6 tutors. This training was facilitated by our ABM, Tammy Goff. The tutors work really hard to ensure a wonderful study circle and help all of us in our initial acts of service.

The tutors learned the importance of Anna's presentation and the sequence of ideas presented in helping seekers as they discover the new Faith of God for this age. As we learn how to use Anna's presentation so we'll our growth occur in the Harris cluster.

For more trainings on Anna's presentation, please contact your cluster institute coordinators.

A short story on teaching using Anna's presentation

Yesterday, our friends invited us (Sami, Collin, and myself) for dinner. We pray for these friends and are finding ways to teach them the Faith. They are currently hosting a devotional. The way the conversation started was their question about the birth of the Bab this coming Friday.

We tried part of Anna's presentation talking to our seekers very naturally about the Central Figures (Baha'u'llah, the Bab, Abdu'l-Baha), briefly on the Guardian, the Universal House of Justice as well as the NSA's and LSA's. Then there was some dialogue and questions. Some questions were about the electoral process and why there are no preachers. They also wanted to read more about the life of the Bab via a link online. It was a wonderful evening.

As most of you have mentioned, you have to know your seeker and where to start. Some seekers will be able to listen to all of Anna's presentation while others cannot. For example, our seekers need a little bit of information at a time and it needs to be very casual and informal. Hopefully, the devotionals will progress and our opportunities to teach them will increase. And a study circle can be formed.

In any event, Anna's presentation has given me more confidence and focus on teaching. It allows me to invite the friends into the Faith and bring them ever closer to the vast Revelation of Baha'u'llah.

The way it was done at their home was very natural and no booklet was needed as plenty of assistance from the Concourse on High descended. Obviously, quotes can be brought and read.

Just sharing! And hope to hear from all of you on your experiences so we can share with each other the learning taking place in the Harris cluster.

We had a declaration last night in Harris cluter! You are all wonderful!!!

Training of Children Classes on 8 September

A training was held for teacher's of children classes on September 15th. There are a number of neighboorhood children classes starting up in Harris Cluster.