Wed 7/19 @ 3:00 pm EDT – Mon 7/24 @ 12:00 pm EDT
NOTE: This program has reached capacity and registration is closed.
A Family Program focusing on Junior Youth, Youth & their Adult Supports
This program is meant to infuse within the participants a sense of hope as well as practical steps they can use to participate in the global community-building processes. The gathering will be organized in ways that allow for inspiration, guidance, personal and artistic expression, and meaningful reflection. In the Ridván 2022 message, the Universal House of Justice stressed that “As societies experience stresses of various kinds, the followers of the Abhá Beauty must stand out more and more for their qualities of resilience and rationality, for their standard of conduct and their adherence to principle, and for the compassion, detachment, and forbearance they demonstrate in their pursuit of unity.” The period of youth is a time of great personal transition and definition, and the forces of society push on our families from all sides. These youth are summoned to the Vanguard of a spiritual army the world will rely upon in years to come. They will lead the way with a refreshed perspective of how to approach the tests of life and the trials of a turbulent society.
It is for this reason that this gathering is especially meant to create the environment of a supportive spiritually-minded family where practical conversations can arise, and families can deepen around the unique opportunities the 9-Year Plan offers to raise up and support this Vanguard in particular as well as the whole family.
It is imagined that there will be opportunities for deepening and inspiration around the personage of Shoghi Effendi, who was a youth himself during a period of great personal, and spiritual tests. The team also imagines creative devotions, practical conversations in small groups around topics pertaining to the raising of young people in a uniquely harsh world climate, storytelling sessions about meaningful service, time for artistic endeavors, music, time spent in nature, and fellowship with friends.
It is our hope that the participants will leave invigorated, with a renewed sense of purpose and hope, and can contribute to achieving ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayer for the youth: “Bestow upon him knowledge, grant him added strength at the break of every morn and guard him within the shelter of Thy protection so that he may be freed from error, may devote himself to the service of Thy Cause, may guide the wayward, lead the hapless, free the captives and awaken the heedless, that all may be blessed with Thy remembrance and praise.”
