Townsville young people take stage play to the road

A group of young people from Townsville have spent their school holidays travelling the east coast of Queensland presenting a play about the life and service of devout American Baha’i Keith Ransom-Kehler. 

The play, Forget-Me-Not Iran, was originally staged in the group’s hometown in August following the desire of one of the participants of the Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program to develop his talent for acting. 

Over one week, the young people, accompanied by two adults, travelled 2,400km in an eight-seater car generously loaned by a Baha’i family. Presenting in venues hired and promoted by the various local Baha’i governing bodies where they travelled, the youth were accommodated by families and fed and feted by encouraging communities who invited their family and friends to attend the dramatic presentation. Friendships were formed along the way – some of which may last a lifetime and others which lasted just the duration of a game of basketball in a public park. All were sources of connection and joy. 

United, enthusiastic, confident, and courageous, the young people offered prayers every morning and evening, before each meal and before each performance. The organisation of the journey created opportunities for the strengthening of the dynamic relationships among individuals as well as the community and the institutions. The powers of each of these three protagonists were combined and multiplied, as promised by the international governing body of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice: 

In its 30 December 2021 message, the Universal House of Justice also states that: 

Audiences along the coast were moved and inspired by the story of the feisty and self-sacrificing Ransom-Kehler, who travelled extensively in the 1920s and 30s to promote the Baha’i Teachings in the United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, South America and Australia. At the request of the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, Shoghi Effendi, she travelled widely in Iran to visit the Baha’is and make formal representations to alleviate the increasing measures being taken to suppress the Faith in that country. She fell ill and passed away in Isfahan in 1933, prompting the Guardian to declare, “she possesses the rank of martyrdom and is one of the Hands of the Cause”. 

The presentation by the Townsville young people served as a reminder of what is possible where there is faith “in the capacity of every individual who shows a desire to serve”¹ and where those who desire to serve do not hesitate to act, but rather step boldly into new and challenging fields of service with complete reliance on God. 

1. Universal House of Justice, Message to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors 28 December 2010[↩]