Thank you for this most enlightening and inspiring film! We are studying the 1 November 2022 Universal House of Justice letter to the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help us understand the opportunities and challenges before us during this 9 Year Plan. Warmest aloha from your brothers and sisters in Hawaii!
Magnificent film. Brought back so many memories of my wife and my pioneer days in Kivu and Shaba (Katanga) from 1973-79. Seeing old and dear friends Selemani bin Kimbulu, Ilunga Mangenda and Jean-Pierre Laperche recounting the early days of the Faith in Congo. How well Ali Nakhjavani captured the warmth, receptiveness and enthusiasm of the Babembe in South Kivu. The images so beautifully sequenced. Having spent 45 of the past 50 years in Africa (5 countries and now a 6th), those seminal years in Zaire (Congo) remain the most memorable.
MAGNIFICENT! What a powerful film, so many major themes and turning points, so much intellectual insights of the people, such enthusiasm and wisdom, patience, and courage in the face of early opposition. Great subtitle translations!!! The story about overcoming superstition about eating 'Boas'(I presume that would be pythons, related to Boas in the new World) was so funny. And how impactful was reading "The Tablet of Ahmad" on the Congolese when they use it in times of difficulties, and tribal/ethnic intermarriage!!! Personally, I was quite touched, and could relate as a black person here in America, by Mr. Ali Nakhjavani's response to the white Belgian(or French) administrator who refused Ali's invitation to have lunch with him and the Congolese friends because 'as a white person he doesn't dine with black people', or words to that effect in the film. And how Mr. Nakhjavani set a powerful example of meeting with and living with the Congolese. Early white Baha'is in Jim Crow Jackson, Miss. during the awful times during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's in the South showed similar resolve and disdain for segregationist attitudes and policies, and met in integrated settings at great personal risk by ignoring the cultural norms. As a young boy in the 1960's, I too was impressed by this resistance shown by white Baha;is in Mississippi to racist practices which Mr. Nakhjavani demonstrated as well. No wonder the Congolese at the time were as impressed as I was. In my own little way as an adolescent young black man in Mississippi, I was deeply touched by the courage of the white Baha'is to do the right thing.
Thank you dear Aaron for this deep reflection. It is very instructive to see the parallels between those awful colonial days here in Africa and the Jim Crow days in the US. There is still so much to be done, but thank God for people like Mr. Nakhjavani and beloved Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga and so many others, who worked hand in hand to change the course of history.
It is worthwhile here to make mention of the Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, Max Kanyerezi, a Ugandan who travelled with Mr. Ali Nakhjánváni across the Congo to introduce the Faith to Congo-Bazziville. His father was one of the first Christians in Uganda and that his son followed suit in trail-blazing the Faith in Africa is testimony to the great spirituality which lies within the African continent.
How wonderful is the progress of the Baha'i Faith at this stage of the Twin Processes. As the old word institutions of the past crumble to dust we experience this dedication of the first National Baha'i House of worship in the DRC on this planet. How great is the future for establishing the Oneness of Humanity to each soul. "Please God we may achieve it."❤
Quelle magnifique et divine progression de la foi en RDCongo car les crises deviennent initiatrices de nombreuses victoires et la qualité de ces Victoires permettent de construire de nouvelles fondations sociétales avec de nouvelles formes de pensées élevées qui infusent et se matérialisent pour créer une nouvelle civilisation divinement révélée🙏🏽 Wouah Gratitude pour ce merveilleux film✨🙏🏽
Having very few Bahàis in Jackson Tennessee USA, this film is so uplifting for me to see the possibility of growth in this city. It makes me want to cry😂 with joy. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift!! Allah'u'Abha!!
Thank you, it is very remarkable to see the progress of the Bahai Faith in Kinshasa and elsewhere in the Congo...it brings back memories of my experience there. :)
Interesting, amazing and baffling to see that representatives of a country that colonized and brought devastations among people, a few years later were assigned and accomplished, to be cause of Life and unity among same people. God does work in mysterious ways. This is how power of His words turn hatred to love, by practical means.
My beloved brother Samson Mungapen. I pay hommage to him while being to the inauguration of the 1st National Mashriqu'l-Adhkar . Meet Baha'is from South Kivu who knew my beloved brother very well❤.Yá Bahá'Ul'Abha ☀️
