Bahai

Richard said "My teaching is guided by two passages from the Writings. One of them is that we should shower kindness upon the seeker. The other is we must never let a day pass without teaching some soul. I decided that if I'm going to teach every single day, I must consider everyone a seeker, and that I did not have the right or the knowledge to discern who is and who isn't a seeker. I pray that I'll be guided, and then I walk up to people and make friends with them and try to fully rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me. In addition, as much as I can, I try to follow up on continuing the friendship, nurturing and deepening of the new declarants. " This is what he & Pauline have been doing for more than 40 years.
What motivates Richard Hoff's teaching :
"I teach to connect hearts to Baha'u'llah. This is not an abc thing. It is believing in the concourse and having faith that it will guide me to be bold when I should be, and be reserved and quiet when I need to be. Above all, I know that the Holy Spirit is real and does flow through me.
I am sure that I do not always respond in the correct way, but I pray that I can: 'O God make of me a hollow reed from which the pith of self hath been blown so that the Holy Spirit may flow through me unto the world.' " One prominent Baha'i author wrote the following regarding Richard's teaching approach:
"The thing is, Richard's outgoing-ness rarely if ever comes across as too pushy, because he showers people with honest kindness and interest...words alone don't convey the twinkle in his eyes, the chuckle in his voice and the joy in his step. Meeting him, you right away want to find out what makes him special. We all have a lot to learn from Richard and from his wonderful wife, Pauline, who is right in there, teaching up a storm of her own. One of Richard & Pauline's Baha'i children I had the honor of meeting is a recent graduate of the Ku Klux Klan. He, in turn, is now teaching the Faith to the Grand Dragon."

"I was taught with Thief in the Night. It was in the largest church in the state which was the United Methodist. I just knew that everyone would accept the Faith because it was the fulfillment of the New Testament. I taught about 200 souls the 1st year. They all became Baha'is--right? Wrong, wrong, wrong! Not one of them accepted the Faith and to this day I don't know of any that converted. I had heard about
the direct, heart-to-heart teaching in the deep South. I called them and they told me to teach the 3 central Figures, the principles and laws, and the LSA, in a simple manner addressed to the heart. I shall never forget my first try using this method.
I went to a minister and a member of his congregation that I had taught before and asked them if I could tell them more. Yes. They all declared. It is surprising when we are humble enough to be willing to learn from others who connect hearts to Baha'u'llah-- what the Spirit of Baha'u'llah can do for us ! I threw out everything I knew and was using for the first year of my Baha'i life. Then the results came and I have been teaching using what I learned 35 years ago constantly refining and thinking, "What can I do? What can I say?" But that basic, direct, heart to heart, method has mostly been my approach. Now we have 1,000's of children and grandchildren all over the world. The simple language addressed to the heart works as good today as it did then. Thank you deep south teachers for what you taught me then and what I am now using for firesides in my own home."
Richard says he is constantly is reminded of the quote: "Do you think it is teachers who make converts and change human hearts. No, surely not. They are only pure souls who take the first step, and then let the spirit of Baha'u'llah move them and make use of them."

The great miracle in Richard's life was the transformation that the Faith brought. He was born on an Iowa farm in 1930; his father was an alcoholic and his mother was in church 8 days per week. He got caught in the middle of these two extremes. Richard recalls: "I remember when I was in pre-school that I would spread my legs apart and slam my head into the floor time after time. I had been given a toy truck with a metal rack on the back, and when I was acting in one of my fits of violence I banged my head into the truck and blood was all over the room. That was a real blessing as it cured my head banging. I continued being a very violent child and even today I have to work at controlling it. When my mother died very unexpectedly when I was 11 years old, I started having Narcoleptic attacks that continue even today. No medication or help that I'm aware of can help and my doctor recommends none. I was told I could never drive a car because when one of these seizures
hits, it is as if I was asleep. When these attacks began I was 11, but I still decided that I would drive. I had been driving tractors and farm equipment plus cars since I was 8 on the farm. It seemed to me that not to drive would make me a cripple. The doctors say it is impossible to have driven all these years without an accident. Once my eyes close I drive with my subconscious mind. Then after time I gain consciousness while driving, and have never had an accident because of this. I believe in guardian angels.Still today I function well only 1/2 the time at best." In spite of all this Richard went on to set a world sales record in a company that had over 100,000 salesmen. He earned trips all over the world for his family, and was designated by the Jay Douglas motivation organization as a "World Sales Giant". He also became president of Kiwanis, is presently a Rotarian, and earned many other honors.
Richard recalls, "When I became a Baha'i I taught everyone that I sold anything to. The sixth month that I was with Saladmaster , I was their top salesperson and earned a world trip to Paris and London. My manager's wife who was a Baptist told me I could have done so much better if I would not spend so much time talking about Baha'i. I asked, "you mean to say even though I was number one out of the USA and 14 foreign
countries that I could have done better if I had not taught the Baha'i Faith?" She replied yes. By the way, she never became a Baha'i."

Recently commenting on the "most vital and challenging issue" of racism that he finds is still so prevalent in the U.S., Dempsey Morgan said: "I am half black and half Indian. My mother is Cherokee and I was born in Detroit, in 1920, where later I studied pre-med at the Jesuit University of Detroit and law at the Detroit College of Law."

From Detroit Dempsey went to the West Point military
academy, became a fighter pilot and later an artillery officer and a combat engineer, and a commander of both battalions.
For Baha'i service he served on 4 different NSAs (in Africa and Asia), eleven different LSAs , and, together with his dear wife, Adrienne, pioneered in eleven different countries. They have also homefront pioneered in the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Maryland, South Carolina and now Virginia.

Nearly everywhere that Dempsey and Adrienne pioneered, they were in the forefront of the teaching work that generated thousands of new believers, including when they pioneered in South Carolina. One example of this massive growth was in the country of Chad, in Africa, where they were among the first pioneers to open that country to the Faith and served on its first NSA. Adrienne was also a Board Member.The goal from the House of Justice for their first years there called for the formation of just one new LSA, however within just two years they had 1600 new believers and 13 new LSAs. One of the highlights of their service in Africa, Dempsey recollects, was their opportunity to serve together with and learn from Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga, "the father of victories".

Dempsey reports, " When I pioneered I taught physics,chemistry and mathematics for a living. Before that I was a psychologist having had experience working in a Jewish mental hospital rehabilitating Jews from
Germany's prison camps and in the criminal justice system with a case load of 135 ex-cons. I also sat on the parole board of Jackson Prison in Jackson, Michigan while studing law."

Dempsey & Adrienne returned to the US in 1975, however Hand of the Cause Dr.Muhajir , an old friend, came and asked them to go to Martinque to pioneer, which they promptly did.

"I came here to Bristol,VA, in 1995, from Central America for a swollen prostate operation," reported Dempsey. "At that time there were no believers here and there were less than 1% blacks. While still sick we were able to bring in 30 believers, 15 white and 15 black, and elect an LSA. Initially, the white believers would not meet with the blacks. Now, at the age of 84, after being here 9 years and 3 major operations, some things have changed. (Dempsey can be contacted directly at BahaiMorgan@webtv.net )

Some of the following biographical information was taken from "The International Who's Who of Professionals" and "Ebony Magazine":

Brande was born in 1934 in Marshall, TX. Much of his professional career and Baha'i services parallel those of his spiritual guide, Hand of the Cause Louis G. Gregory, who provided his first contact with the Cause of God some time before he embraced it. Like Louis Gregory, Brande gave up a distinguished career in law and academia to audaciously promote the Cause of God. Like the Hand of the Cause, Brande has traveled widely to spread the Faith and to promote racial amity--an activist in the truest sense of the word. Not coincidentally, he was the first Dean of the Louis Gregory Baha'i Institute in Hemingway, S. Carolina.

Professionally, some of Brande's accomplishments and positions have included: Adjunct Professor at Antioch College in Ohio (where he has also initiated and facilitated the "Healing the Races" dialogues); Professor @ Central State University; Regional Board Member of the National Conference of Christian and Jews; U.S. Dept. of Justice Community Relations Assistant in Texas during racial unrest and school integration; EEO Investigator in the Air Force; U.S. Army Paratrooper; N.A.I.A. Double Sprint Champion and World Record holder; Private Pilot; developer of an innovative new ethnic- heritage-centered history curriculum for public schools; voted one of the "Most Eligible Bachelors" in the U.S. by Ebony Magazine in 1966 (the caption under his picture in Ebony, which was next to pictures of such rising stars as Arthur Ashe and William "Willy" Williams, read : "Bransford Watson--Oklahoman, 32, is civilian employee at Tinker Air Force Base, managing world wide distribution of Air Force material. He pilots a small plane, mostly in the service of the Baha'i religious faith.")

Some Baha'i accomplishments include: Member of the NTC (National Teaching Committee) during the great expansion of the 70's; Travel teacher in Siberia soon after the "Iron Curtain" came down; Facilitated several nine-day intensive institutes which prepared the "Army of Light" in the 1960's-70's to undertake the greatest expansion effort in the U.S.Baha'i community ever; attended both World Congresses,in '63 & '92.

As one who has had the recent bounty of accompanying Brande on some of his many trips throughout the U.S., this writer has witnessed him supporting and utilizing every effective teaching method to attract and confirm new believers, and to train others to do the same. He has boldly taken both direct and indirect teaching methods right into the churches to teach both clergy and their congregations about the coming of the Baha'u'llah, the Promised One. And I have witnessed his command of the writings and statements of the Guardian, many of which he has committed to memory, especially those relating to our tasks, opportunities and destiny as "spiritual descendents of the Dawnbreakers".

Brande currently resides in Ohio and you can contact him at dashman220@aol.com or 937-276-7824. (If you e-mail him make sure you send your phone # as he prefers calling rather than e-mailing.)

Howard was born in 1925 of German-Lutheran parents in Indiana. He entered the U.S. Navy Air Cadet program in 1943 and was assigned to USS Vulcan AR5, serving in the Pacific during WWII. He was on the first U.S. ship to arrive in Hiroshima, Japan after end of WWII –and was in one of the first groups to set foot in the atomic bomb devastation, witnessing first hand the massive destruction associated with war. Upon returning home Howard began a career in sales and business ownership and management. Throughout this career he has owned many businesses in various industries, including insurance and HVAC. 'Just as each of his enterprises was about to generate great wealth, Howard and his wife, Joanne (now ascended) answered the call of the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice to go pioneering, and sacrificed the opportunity to begin accumulating wealth.

Upon learning about and studying the Bahá'í’ Faith in 1949 Howard and Joanne became Baha'is immediately and accepted a "pioneering call" to Brazil. That lasted only one year due to difficulty in finding employment there. But when the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, announced the Ten Year Crusade calling for Americans to pioneer around the world and open previously unopened countries to the Faith, Howard & Joanne opened the Portuguese African nation of the Cape Verde Islands in 1954, and became Knights of Baha'u'llah for doing so. They endured many hardships there but were also blessed with miracles, not the least being the birth of their first child (which they hadn't been able to accomplish in nine years of trying in the U.S.). Cape Verde was a very Catholic and provincial country so the first year of teaching produced no new believers. However the next year saw the election of the first Local Spiritual Assembly elected by the forty-seven new believers. Soon afterwards the Menking family returned to the States due to a second pregnancy , moving into the Dallas, Texas area, and Howard started combining his business skills and Baha'i teaching skills to both support the family and teach the Faith wherever he went and whatever he did.

In 1998, Howard joined forces with a " Baha'i teaching group" of peers and has been traveling the country since then with them training Baha'i teachers. One of his most successful initiatives was the training of individuals and communities to effectively follow up media campaign respondents. At the turn of the century the Universal House of Justice wrote to Howard and the other Knights of Baha'u'llah exhorting them not to rest on the laurels of their past accomplishments but to arise and inspire others to take heroic and audacious steps. At the age of 79, Howard has taken that exhortation to heart and his energy and passion for the teaching work is virtually unmatched by those much younger than him. (This writer, over 20 years his junior, has had the bounty of traveling, teaching, and training with Howard, and I can hardly keep up with him.)

"A TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTE FOR THE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLED
BAHAI TEACHERS , it will be about a 20 hour course in five sessions, with about 3 - 4 times that amount of in-the-field training.. It will not be for any Baha'i that wants more class-room, book-learning, training only, but for those that truly believe that there are those "waiting souls" out there as promised, and that through systematic procedures, and aquired skills-- "teaching with audacity and wisdom"-- any open-minded and open-hearted believer with a "passion for
teaching" can become an effective teacher (i.e.bringing his teaching to an effective conclusion with a declaration by using the many instructions from not only our beloved Master and His master-executor, Shoghi Effendi, but from the many that followed and applied these instructions, such as the Hands that led by example, including our dear Bill Sears, Ruhiyyih Khanum, and all the others.)
Once we get a few trained teachers that
have learned these skills and are "seasoned" (proving that they can bring their teaching to an effective conclusion) we will have the "steady flow of new believers" flowing in to those study circles that are also trained how to handle these new "baby Baha'is" - or generic bahai's (not declared yet ).
I envision this as a work-in-progress that will necessarily
be very gradual in developing, but after all these five years of trial and error, I am convinced that this might very well be THE PROCESS that the HOUSE has been calling us to - first by just asking us to "accept the possibility" , and now in their recent messages, to accept the reality that
the TIME IS NOW, RIGHT NOW, FOR "ENTRY BY TROOPS"
"Well for now, dear warriors in the Army of Baha'u'llah, I leave you with this contribution to this stream that I hope will be a turning point in the ...effort to "advance the process" right here in the most promising region in the most promising country in the Baha'i world - anyone with just a cursory observation of this great nation can see it moving toward its glorious destiny, its spiritual destiny to lead the rest of the world. Will the American Bahai's arise to their calling to do their so clearly defined part? God bless us all, and assist us to do our part, whatever we prayerfully realize our role to be."
(Howard now resides in West Virginia and you can contact him via phone @ 304-342-3422.)

Age 16 – 32 Atheist as a result of watching Christians killing Christians - WW 2

Age 32 – Present – Baha’i – Declared 4/13/60 – Read my way into the Faith. Met Verne & Anita Tutle in Rochester Minn. in Jan. ‘60. When my slipped disc put me on the floor for 3 weeks Verne brought me a large stack of Baha’i books & pamphlets. I read 10 – 12 hours a day for 3 weeks. My wife Jeanne also declared in April of ’60. We went to our first National convention that month with our 4 children Lisa, Jay, Jill & Richard.

1960 - We were at the formation of the 1^st L.S.A. of Rochester, Minn. We lived outside the city in Olmsted County.

1961 - Jeanne & I helped form the lst L.S.A. of Olmsted County. Began our own firesides weekly which ran for 26 years. Did 1^st 3 week travel teaching tour for N.T.C. in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Altogether 9 communities formed L.S.A’s at Ridvan.

1962 - On Board of Rochester U.N. Association. Had Eleanor Roosevelt as our U.N. Day speaker. Spoke to her about the Faith. Gave her a copy of Baha’i phonograph record which she, Dag Hanieshield, & Prime Minister Pearson of Canada, all spoke on.

Made a point to meet all 50 African Americans who lived in Rochester. Nearly half of them became Baha’is within the next 2 years at our firesides.

Began speaking at Baha’i proclamation events as well as other peoples firesides.

Tried to mention the Faith to everyone I met. Focus was on finding new Baha’is. Found Catholics, Dave & Rosalie Strenes and their 6 children. They later pioneered to South Africa. Found Lutherans, Richard & Pauline McFarlin and their 6 children. Found Mr. & Mrs. Lyle Wharton and their 4 Children. Along with our 8 children we had well attended children’s classes which Jeanne helped to organize & taught. There were several other declarations.

1963 - Went to Saskatchewan & Alberta Indian reservations for 7 weeks in Feb. & March at the request of Doug Martin & Mike Rochester who were then on the N.S.A. of Canada. There were 187 declarations at the firesides I spoke at.

Went to World Federation of United Nations Association Conference at U.N.Building in New York for 1 week. Talked to Madame Nehru about the Faith and gave her "The New Garden" by H. Fatheazam whom she knew. Said she would visit the Baha’i villages to see how Baha’i elections were being accom-plished. Talked to many other U.N. association members about the Faith.

Delegate to National Convention from Minnesota beginning 1961 till I moved in 1967. Was delegate about 20 times from Minnesota, Nebraska, California and Arizona over a 40 year period.

1966 - Appointed to National Goals Committee ;Served on Minnesota & Nebraska summer school committee;Served on Wisconsin District Teaching & State Goals Committee, Minnesota & Southern California District Teaching Committee.

Presented "Proclamation of Baha’u’llah" to Governors Knowles of Wisconsin and Exon of Nebraska.

Did direct teaching projects in Lincoln, Nebraska, Southern Minnesota, Evanston, Ill., and Laguna Niguel, California – "Building The Prejudice Free Community"

1968-69 Taught Baha’i classes at Fox Lake Prison in Wisconsin every Sat. morning for 2 hours for 1-1/2 years. Had 57 declarations, black, Chicano & white.

1964 - Helped establish first Baha’i Native American community in Red Lake Reservation in Northern Minnesota with Bob Cameron of Duluth.

1969 - Helped re-establish first all native American Baha’i L.S.A. at Macy, Nebraska with Lincoln & University of Nebraska Baha’is.

1986-87 Administrator Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, Ill. – 55 Declarations

Weekly firesides at our Evanston apartment – 25 declarations; Direct teaching Kennilworth during 1987 National Convention; Door to door invitations to 75^th commemoration of laying of Temple corner-Stone, recognition program for Baha’is who met Abdul-Baha; Helped establish successful interfaith choir program at House of Worship with interfaith committee; Designed more coherent information for visitors center at BHW; Increased volunteers 4-fold & broadened volunteer recognition program at BHW.

1992 Five teaching trips to Soviet Union – 3 with my wife Donna Kime-Jeffers; Spent 7-1/2 months total; with "Music & Conversation" a paradigm shift" , we had 600 declarations.

1993 - Moved to Phoenix, AZ area. Continued firesides, college religion class presentations, study classes at Baha’i Center.Also with Donna – Kime Jeffers organized "Roses of Love Baha’i Singers" as a Teaching choir with "Music & Conversation". Presented teaching concerts for Schools, colleges, universities, MLK programs, black history, city councils, churches, World Religion Day, feasts, holy days, in Phoenix area, Tucson,Prescott, Flagstaff, Yuma, Las Vegas, Reno, Orange County, Ca. & the Temple In Wilmette (see CD Roses of Love Singers "Music & Conversation")

Have answered the Baha’i Information local line for 2 years with Donna; Board member of Arizona Interfaith Movement. My main contributions to the Faith currently are:

4 – Lectures at colleges, universities, bible study groups of Christian & youth

8 – Occasional presentations elsewhere in Southern Cal., and where the Eagles fly.

3 – Approximately 5,000 Baha’i proclamations & teaching events, firesides, public meetings, college, churches & other organizations lectures.

2 – The strange decline in declarations in this country over the past 35 years to an all time low of less than a thousand this year in spite of the fact it is now easier to teach the Faith than it has ever been.

Gil was born in the year that some say started the big
Depression of the thirties, August 27, 1928, to Mr. & Mrs.
William Clifton Rucker, in a little house outside of Henderson , Texas. He grew up in Texas , and moving around a lot, in 1947 he became a member of the USAF and spent 5 years there. During that time he got married and became a father and a Staff Sargeant. In 1949 Gil was married to Mary Louise Rucker and in 1952 he was discharged from the USAF and enrolled in Baylor University , Waco , Texas. He left college to go to an Art School in San Antonio, Texas, graduated from Art School and worked at Kelly AFB, and Hayes Aircraft , and Friedrich
Refrigerator as an Technical Illustrator.
In November 1957, Gil & Mary Louise became Baha'is at
the home of Cliff Heath, in San Antonio. Texas. Since that time they have served on the Local Spiritual Assembly of San
Antonio, the Texas State Goals Committee, and on numerous other bodies. They moved to Victoria,TX, in 1971 and have been there ever since.

In one of those years we heard about the great successes that they were having over in the Deep South, and thought we should find out about it. We invited a person by the name of Poova Murday who came over to Texas and told us what was going on and told how we could do the same. This was great and we went into an action mode. We got into it big time and did what many call Mass Teaching. We did one initiative in a town outside of Dallas, one in Galveston, one in Corpus Christi and then we traveled through south Texas in the small towns doing street teaching: Refugio, Harlingen, McAllen, Edinburgh, and many more that I can't remember, but we got the growth of south Texas from nine to several hundred believers in a short time.Corpus Christi had Baha'is in it, but they were only two, and it had been that way for years, but after we got through there were over 200 people, and an LSA. It has gotten smaller since, but never back to two. I have walked the streets of south Texas, and sometimes it was hot and dusty and sometimes it was wet, but that didn't stop us. Some were scared about how the local police would treat us, but I talked to policemen and they never gave us a hard time. We also did a mass teaching in Houston and increased their numbers dramatically. It was a great time for all of us, but we became saddened when we began to hear from others that what we were doing was wrong (even though the House said we were doing the right thing). The year that I was a delegate to National made me unhappy, because everyone talked about our mistakes, many of which we admitted to , but no one talked about our achievements."

Gil has remained an avid supporter of and participant in all types of teaching initiatives.