Inala’s decade-long process building community

Inala’s capacity-building process has been underway for more than 10 years, with resident Baha’is working alongside local families to establish an educational process driven by the training institute and characterised by devotional meetings, children’s classes, junior youth groups and study circles. 

Located in the south-west of Brisbane, the neighbourhood has embraced many hundreds of young people and adults over the past decade, particularly those from migrant and refugee communities. 

As the Universal House of Justice states in its 30 December, 2021 Message to the Conference of the Continental Board of Counsellors:  

Over the past few years, the community members’ participation in the institute has spurred them into the field of action. Junior youth groups have established vegetable gardens and participated in clean-up and tree-planting activities to improve the conditions of their neighbourhood, adults have started holding devotional meetings in their own homes, and the youth and junior youth are hosting weekly devotional gatherings with up to 50 young people and some of their parents participating.  

To further strengthen the local institute process, some 50 individuals from the neighbourhood recently participated in two summer camps, one for youth and the other for junior youth, to explore relevant spiritual and intellectual concepts, build and strengthen bonds of friendship and enhance their capacity to serve their community. 

Underpinned by a strong devotional character and featuring musical devotions every morning and evening, the camp’s Ruhi study circles and junior youth groups were guided by a team of facilitators including some of the local youth, while everyone contributed to the logistics and program. 

Many of the participants had been invited directly by the youth and junior youth engaged in the community building process who had reached out to their friends to extend invitations prior to the camps. The Inala friends have also learned that personal weekly home visits carried out by study circle tutors and animators assist with sustaining the local educational process currently underway – combating the societal forces that can often distract youth from their spiritual aspirations.  

The neighbourhood has now started to prepare for its next camp, set to take place during the Easter school holidays.