The Universal House of Justice
Ridvan 2005 
<p class=Left> To the Baha'is of the World  
<p class=Left> Dearly loved Friends, </p>
 <p id=1>  The breakthroughs that have occurred in the Baha'i world since the  beginning of the fifth epoch of the Formative Age have brought us immeasurable  joy.  The past twelve months have been no exception.  The Baha'i community has  continued its systematic advance and now, as it enters the final year of the  Five Year Plan, finds itself in a position of remarkable strength--a strength  acquired through strenuous, deliberate exertion by the friends everywhere to  promote the process of entry by troops. 
 <p id=2>  While inadequate to express the full significance of the developments  taking place, the statistics suggest something of the scope of what is being  achieved.  The human resources of the Faith have steadily multiplied.   Altogether, more than 200,000 worldwide have completed Book 1 of the Ruhi  Institute, and many thousands have reached the level where they can effectively  act as tutors of the study circles that, with increasing frequency, are held in  every part of the globe, over 10,000 at the last count.  The number of seekers  engaged in the core activities has continued to climb, crossing the 100,000  mark several months ago.  Meanwhile, some 150 clusters have developed to the  point that intensive programmes of growth either have been launched or stand  ready to be initiated.  There is every indication that this number will be  substantially surpassed by the end of the Plan. 
 <p id=3>  In celebrating these achievements, one should acknowledge, equally, the  advances in learning that have given rise to them.  Intensive institute  campaigns, which pay due attention to the practice required, have remained the  vehicle for stimulating growth at the cluster level.  As the necessary  conditions have thus been created, systematic programmes for the expansion and  consolidation of the Faith have been launched accordingly.  A valuable body of  knowledge about the nature of intensive programmes of growth is accumulating,  and certain features of these endeavours are now well understood.  Such  programmes tend to consist of a series of cycles, each of several months'  duration, devoted to planning, expansion, and consolidation.  Human resource  development proceeds uninterrupted from one cycle to the next, ensuring that  the process of expansion not only is sustained but progressively gathers  momentum.  While undoubtedly many more lessons are still to be garnered, the  experience already gained makes it possible to replicate the approach in an  ever-increasing number of clusters around the world. 
 <p id=4>  That the victories won have both quantitative and qualitative dimensions  is gratifying indeed.  At the heart of these accomplishments lies the continual  enhancement of the spiritual life of Baha'i communities everywhere.  This new  spiritual vitality accounts for the growing participation of people of divers  backgrounds in devotional meetings, children's classes and study circles,  which, in many cases, has resulted in their recognition of Baha'u'llah as God's  Manifestation for this Day and in their declaration of faith.  
  <p id=5>  New developments have, likewise, taken place at the World Centre.  We  have decided that the time is propitious to bring into being an International  Board of Trustees of Huququ'llah to guide and supervise the work of Regional  and National Boards of Trustees of Huququ'llah throughout the world.  It will  operate in close collaboration with the Chief Trustee, the Hand of the Cause of  God Dr. 'Ali-Muhammad Varqa, and will be able to benefit from his knowledge and  counsel in carrying out its duties.  The three members now appointed to the  International Board of Trustees are Sally Foo, Ramin Khadem, and Grant  Kvalheim.  Their term of office will be determined at a later date.  The  members of the Board will not transfer their residence to the Holy Land but  will utilize the services of the Office of Huququ'llah at the World Centre in  performing their functions. 
 <p id=6>  At all levels and in every direction the Cause is achieving marked  progress--from gains in expansion and consolidation at the grassroots to  institutional developments of an international scope.  Such encouraging signs  of the growing solidarity of the community come at a time when evidences of the  decline in society are, alas, all too apparent.  No need to review here the  features of the breakdown in which a demoralized world is entrapped.  Yet it  should not be forgotten that it is precisely these circumstances which increase  receptivity to the Teachings and create new opportunities for their diffusion.  
 <p id=7>  In our message of 26 November 1999, we referred to a series of global  enterprises designed to carry the Baha'i community through the final years of  the first century of the Faith's Formative Age.  Each Plan, we indicated, would  focus on the central aim of advancing the process of entry by troops.  The  first in the series, the current Five Year Plan, will draw to a close in twelve  short months, when we will call upon the followers of Baha'u'llah to embark on  another Plan of five years' duration.  What we ask the friends to do in the  intervening period is to bend all their energies to put into resolute action  the systematic learning being so vigorously promoted by the International  Teaching Centre.  No Baha'i should lose the priceless opportunity afforded by  the remaining days of the Plan to reinforce in this way the foundation for the  launching next Ridvan of an even more ambitious undertaking.  Our most fervent  prayers in the Holy Shrines will surround you. 
 <p class=Signed>   [signed:  The Universal House of Justice] 
