endowments designed to pave the way for the formation of National Spiritual Assemblies; the lending of a fresh impetus to the incorporation of local Spiritual Assemblies; the establishment of Bahá’í Publishing Trusts—these stand out as the essential objectives of the phase now unfolding before the eyes of the Bahá’í communities in the five continents of the globe. I direct my fervent plea to all the delegates assembled at the twelve annual Bahá’í Conventions to ponder these objectives in their hearts, to dedicate themselves anew to the tasks now challenging the spirit and combined resources of the entire body of the followers of the Faith, to rouse all the communities they represent to assume a worthy share in the common and gigantic effort that must needs be exerted for the attainment of the aforementioned goals, ensuring thereby the uninterrupted progress and the ultimate consummation of the noblest collective enterprise undertaken by the followers of the Most Great Name for the propagation and the establishment of His Faith over the entire face of the planet. —Shoghi [April, 1954] GLAD TIDINGS On the morrow of the close of the Ridván period share with National Assemblies of the Bahá’í world additional glad tidings supplementing the message addressed a fortnight ago to delegates to national Conventions East and West. Six acre and five acre plots have been purchased in Kampala and Panama City as sites of future Temples in the heart of the African continent and Central America. First historic African Spiritual Assemblies have been formed in Johannesburg, Brazzaville, Victoria, Topremang, Casablanca, Tangier, Algiers, Tripoli, Bukora. In Uganda alone, eleven additional Assemblies have been established, over three hundred and eighty additional converts enrolled, raising the total white and Negro believers to over six hundred and seventy. The number of localities where Bahá’ís reside on the Arabian Peninsula is now over fifteen, in Egypt and Sudan over forty, in the British Isles over fifty, in Australasia over sixty, in the ten European goal countries over seventy, in Germany and Austria over seventy, in Uganda over eighty, in Canada over a hundred, in Latin America over a hundred and ten, in the Indian subcontinent and Burma over a hundred and thirty, in the African continent over a hundred and ninety, in Persia over six hundred and in the United States over twelve hundred, swelling the number of Bahá’í centers scattered over the surface of the globe to well nigh twenty-nine hundred. Additional National Hazíratu’l-Quds Funds have been inaugurated in ten countries of Central America. The number of Bahá’í books and pamphlets for the blind transcribed into Braille, English, Esperanto, German, Japanese, now totals over a hundred and ten.