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Obedient to the summons issued by the Author of so momentous a Document; conscious of their high calling; galvanized into action by the shock sustained through the unexpected and sudden removal of Abdu'l- Baha; guided by the Plan which He, the Architect of the Administrative Order, had entrusted to their hands; undeterred by the attacks directed against it by betrayers and enemies, jealous of its gathering strength and blind to its unique significance, the members of the widely- scattered Baha'i communities, in both the East and the West, arose with clear vision and inflexible determination to inaugurate the Formative Period of their Faith by laying the foundations of that world- embracing Administrative system designed to evolve into a World Order which posterity must acclaim as the promise and crowning glory of all the Dispensations of the past. Not content with the erection and consolidation of the administrative machinery provided for the preservation of the unity and the efficient conduct of the affairs of a steadily expanding community, the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah resolved, in the course of the two decades following Abdu'l- Baha's passing, to assert and demonstrate by their acts the independent character of that Faith, to enlarge still further its limits and swell the number of its avowed supporters. (329:1) 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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