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In this triple world- wide effort, it should be noted, the role played by the American Baha'i community, since the passing of Abdu'l- Baha until the termination of the first Baha'i century, has been such as to lend a tremendous impetus to the development of the Faith throughout the world, to vindicate the confidence placed in its members by Abdu'l- Baha Himself, and to justify the high praise He bestowed upon them and the fond hopes He entertained for their future. Indeed so preponderating has been the influence of its members in both the initiation and the consolidation of Baha'i administrative institutions that their country may well deserve to be recognized as the cradle of the Administrative Order which Baha'u'llah Himself had envisaged and which the Will of the Center of His Covenant had called into being. (329:2) It should be borne in mind in this connection that the preliminary steps aiming at the disclosure of the scope and working of this Administrative Order, which was now to be formally established after Abdu'l- Baha's passing, had already been taken by Him, and even by Baha'u'llah in the years preceding His ascension. The appointment by Him of certain outstanding believers in Persia as "Hands of the Cause"; the initiation of local Assemblies and boards of consultation by Abdu'l- Baha in leading Baha'i centers in both the East and the West; the formation of the Baha'i Temple Unity in the United States of America; the establishment of local funds for the promotion of Baha'i activities; the purchase of property dedicated to the Faith and its future institutions; the founding of publishing societies for the dissemination of Baha'i literature; the erection of the first Mashriqu'l- Adhkar of the Baha'i world; the construction of the Bab's mausoleum on Mt. Carmel; the institution of hostels for the accommodation of itinerant teachers and pilgrims-- these may be regarded as the precursors of the institutions which, immediately after the closing of the Heroic Age of the Faith, were to be permanently and systematically established throughout the Baha'i world.
(329:3)
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