O ye loved ones of the Lord!
Praise be to Him, the unseen, welling bounties of the Sun of Truth
encompass you on every side, and from every direction the portals of His mercy stand ajar. Now is the time to take advantage of these bestowals, and benefit there from. Know ye the value of this time, let not this chance escape you. Stay entirely clear of this dark world's concerns, and become ye known by the attributes of those essences that make their home in the Kingdom. Then shall ye see how intense is the glory of the heavenly Day-Star, and how blinding bright are the tokens of the bounty coming out of the invisible realm."
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, page 12
Dearly loved Ladies,
During this most joyous Ridvan Season, we are delighted to be able to invite you to visit our new website! http://www.ebwn.net Our deepest wish is that this website will become not only an instrument for sharing information, encouragement, reports of your activities, and inspirational ideas but also serve as a cultural exchange through your artistic, poetic and musical contributions.
Due to the effects of the many annual International Seminars during the last 12 years, the women of Europe gained a recognition and appreciation of their God-given qualities. They began courageously putting their wonderful qualities into action, not only by repeating the Seminars and encouraging the women in their home countries, but also by becoming that illumined soul, involved in ALL areas of service - to the Cause, to the family, to the community and in every field of endeavor. The goal of the Seminar activity was to inspire women to arise in service to the Cause, "....become ye known by the attributes of those essences that make their home in the Kingdom" and as in the following letter it is plainly evident: this precious soul is very involved in doing just that!
Dear EBWN,
The material and inspiration that we have received through the Task Force has given a big impetus to the Swedish community in general. At national level we have a working group that helps to inspire women and I believe that you have been in contact with Marty who sends out good material from the group. She, Zarrin and Barbro were recently in England for a Virtues workshop. Now it looks as though we will have one here in Sweden.
On a personal level I am not so directly involved with women's issues at the moment - only indirectly. My waking hours are filled with supporting Örjan as he keeps up two jobs (one of which is being the National Secretary), serving as hostess at our lovely new National Centre, teaching English, leading Ruhi Circles and Children’s Classes. I thank God that I have so many lovely commitments and pray that I can do a good job with them all.
Loving greetings,
Joanna
EBWN is eagerly awaiting reports on your experiences with your Study Circles, Devotional Meetings and Children’s Classes. (See the report from Romania!)
We are also looking forward to receiving information concerning any personal activity you may be involved in such as writing poetry or stories, painting (see Christine’s wonderful report on the website!), working with social economic development programs, invitations to future events (see the invitation to the German ‘Summerfeast’ on the website), etc. Plus, your thoughts, ideas , future plans? Let us know so we can share with the others.
Do let us hear from you by sending your reports and information to EBWN info@ebwn.net YOU are making the difference!
With heartfelt loving greetings,
EBWN