Youth Activities:
Youth Activities:
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Indeed it is very important for the Faith, to extend the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh amongst the youth, as it is through their activities, that the Cause of our Beloved Master will in future spread all over the American continent. They have upon their shoulders all the responsibilities for the[pg 39] progress of the Movement; it is our duty to rear their spiritual feelings, enlighten their hearts with the light of guidance which has been shed before us by the Master.
The Guardian was pleased to learn of the interest and sympathetic understanding which are growing amongst these students. He hopes that, through your help, you will every year widen the scope of their activities and give them fresh opportunities to their sincere endeavours to spread the teachings.
[Postscript in the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi:]
I wish to urge the necessity of concentrating, at your next summer session, on the systematic study of the early history and principles of the Faith, on public speaking, and on a thorough discussion, both formally and informally, of various aspects of the Cause. These I regard as essential preliminaries to a future intensive campaign of teaching in which the rising generation must engage, if the spread of the Cause is to be assured in that land. May you succeed in your efforts to attain that goal!
From a letter 2 November 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two believers
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He would advise you, however, to devote some more of your time to active teaching in public. To that end he would urge you to attend, if possible, all the sessions and meetings at the Geyserville Summer School, that you may not only deepen your knowledge of the Teachings, but also acquire the necessary training for expounding them to the public. The ambition of every young Bahá’í should be, indeed, to become a well-informed and competent teacher. For this very purpose the institution of [the] Bahá’í Summer School has been established, and its importance so strongly and repeatedly emphasized by the Guardian.
From a letter 21 June 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer
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The obligation to teach is essentially the responsibility of young believers. Their whole training should therefore be directed in such a way as to make them competent teachers. It is for this very purpose Bahá’í summer schools, which constitute the very basis upon which the Bahá’í[pg 40] universities of the future will be established, should be widely attended by young believers.
The Guardian would appeal to each and every member of your group to do his utmost to be present at least in one of the three summer schools now existing in the States. And for those young believers who will be travelling abroad during the summer months it is always possible to attend the German Bahá’í Summer School at Esslingen.
From a letter 15 May written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to Bahá’í Youth Groups in the United States
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Remembering the strong emphasis repeatedly laid by the Guardian on the importance of the institution of the summer school, both as a centre for the preparation and training of prospective teachers and pioneers, and for the commingling and fellowship of various elements in the Bahá’í Community, the Bahá’í Youth, on whom Louhelen Ranch has exercised a particular and indeed irresistible appeal, and whose sessions they have so frequently and in such large numbers attended, have a peculiar responsibility to shoulder in connection with its development into that ideal Bahá’í University of the future, which should be the aim of every existing Bahá’í Summer School to establish in the fullness of time.
From a letter 29 July 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Louhelen School
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As regards the questions you asked him: There is nothing in the teachings against dancing, and any arrangements for it at Summer Schools, etc., are left to the discretion of the Committee or Assembly in charge to make.
From a letter 24 February 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer