Rebuilding Civilization by James Craig

As a young Baha'i pioneer, I was excited about my role in life. I was taking the leap of service to build a better world by developing Baha'i Clusters. As I stood at the entrance of the Baha'i community, I took a deep breath. I felt like I was leaving an old crumbling society behind and taking the path that leads to a new civilization. Clusters all over the world are spreading spiritual and material vitality through the development of Agro-Housing Cells. An Agro-Housing Cell transforms distressed neighborhoods into planned housing developments for a Baha'i Village. The Agro-Housing Cell benefits the entire Cluster by providing food security and social growth. The Agro-Housing Cell also brings spiritual and material growth to the distressed community. I went to learn how to replicate the process in my home cluster. When I arrived at The Community House of Worship we were greeted by the Community Shepherd, who was a teacher that taught the many aspects of the Baha'i Agricultural Network. The Baha'i Agriculture Network is the agricultural business network in the Agro-Housing Cell. One local Community Shepard and a global network of collective knowledge guided all the households in this learning community to become successful in their agriculture and horticulture endeavors. I was most impressed by the atmosphere throughout the community and especially at the Community House of Worship. Every night the community gathered for the best meal from healthy food grown in the community. The community used art to express their love for the creator and their love for each other. Dramatic sculptures were placed around the landscape that inspired all.

I saw people playing music. I saw people creating artistic gardens together. I saw people working together to rebuild or repair houses. This unique community reflected the Baha'i teachings in a way I'd never seen before. The Baha'i writings and lifestyle influenced their thoughts and a new culture was emerging. I could see the importance of unity and the realization of the oneness of humanity expressed in the arts and the thoughts of the people in this unique community. Agriculture and horticulture were the main industries. By working together, like leaves of one tree, each household became a horticultural micro-enterprise that worked together with other households in the Cluster to form one big horticultural industry. Like leaves of one tree, each cluster can unite with other Cluster Agro-Housing Cells to create a stronger economic network. The community's Baha'i institutions took responsibility for many of the actions of the government. The Agro-Housing Cell has a board where members of the community consult about the social and economic development of the community. The community provides a kitchen, an infirmary, and provides employment in the community. Continuing education for the adults and the children was important and most important was the individual's capacity to collectively learn to work together. The pioneers like me are taught some long lost knowledge of agriculture of the past as well as the advances in agricultural sciences. Collective learning is an important skill to be used in the Agro-Housing Cell network. Through Baha'i Agro-Housing Cells farming could be changed forever. After spending several months being taught how to become a Community Sheperd, I was ready to help my home Cluster develop their Agro- Housing Cell. Farming was hard work and after getting over the aches and pains I'm excited about utilizing what I've learned. As I look back, I am grateful for the Baha'is that created the first Agro-Housing Cells just before the dark times arrived. During the 2020s, those early Agro-Housing Cells became the change agents for advancing civilization as the world went through the dark times.. The past decades have seen the world damaged by wars, plaques, and economic depression. The global population of over five million people rapidly was reduced to under two million. The old world has fallen apart and a new world will emerge. Through the development of new Agro-Housing Cells, the world has come out of its darkest times. We are living a life that is about to slip away ... and another life about to emerge. This is such a pivotal moment for humanity's destiny. Like the deep breath I took before launching into community service at the Agro-Housing Cell, now my Cluster is going to plunge into creating a new way of living through the Agro-Housing Cells. So let's all take a deep breath as we leap into the future with a plan guided by Baha'u'llah.