Friday, October 05, 2007

On Newbies to the Community: We are all newbie Baha'is

Teaching card from Special Ideas
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New seeker.
His name is Russ.
Came by way of the Seeker Response System.
Tim and Deb took the opportunity of doing a home visit with him.

I stopped by Russ’s on Monday after work. He wasn’t home but I left a teaching card with my name and number. Yesterday I called him and we had a wonderful 30- minute phone conversation. Great story about how he heard of the Faith: He looked it up online after learning about it through his brother’s wife who has an internet friend (sounds like a blogger) who is a Baha’i. We talked at length about how to connect with a community that doesn’t meet in a church. “There is so much to learn,” he said. I offered to come to the home for a home-visit. I described the core activities. He said he liked the idea of being around a small group of Baha’is and learn that way. He agreed to come to the devotional next Thursday, as he couldn’t come last night because he would be with his grandchildren. Sounds like his Mormon-raised wife is supportive. He was worried about how he might be perceived by other Baha’is as a “newbie.” I told him we are all, essentially, newbies, as the majority of Baha'is in the world are first-generation. I plan to pick up some books at the book sale at convention, and drop something off for him between now and next Thursday, giving me another reason to visit. -gw

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