baha'i

Born and bred in Louisville, KY, Ryan became a Baha'i while in high school, but it was when he was in Zambia that he realized what it was to serve the Baha'i Faith. At around 12, Ryan got interested in rap music. He is now a professional musician and is in a group called href="http://CommonMarketMusic.com"Common Market. They have produced 4 projects either as CDs or as digital downloads.nbsp; I caught Ryan on the go, so he's conducting the interview while traversing Seattle. So you hear a lot of traffic in the background. Ryan says he is constantly around traffic.

Paul was born and raised on the north shore of Boston. Growing up Paul was a tinkerer from an early age and is now an industrial modeler. Paul became disillusioned with Christianity and rejected religion totally. It was not until he shared a paranormal experience with his young daughter that triggered his spiritual search.

An educator, who at a young age was driven to understand the basis of Judaism and Christianity and all the world's religions. Alex wrote a book that introduces Christians to the relationship between the Bible and the Baha'i Faith, called " href="http://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Christs-Name-Alex-Gottdank/dp/0879612673"Preparing for Christ's New Name".

Steve grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. His parents were singers active in the Lutheran Church, so music was a very important part of Steve's growing up. He was actually going to study to become a concert pianist but was discouraged. Steve tells his very interesting story on how he ran into the Baha'i Faith.

Mehr grew up in Iran, England and the US. She left Iran to go to boarding school in England just before the Islamic Revolution. She came to the US after high school to go to university. After university she developed a thriving acting career. She also uses her voice over talents for audio books, one of which is href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143141821" target="_blank"Saffron Kitchen, where she provides about eight characters. She recently helped in the film " href="http://www.weareallprecious.com/" target="_blank"Precious" casting the children and directing the children. She is the co-founder of the non-profit organization href="http://www.childrenstheatrecompany.org/about-mission.htm" target="_blank"Children's Theatre Company.

This week is fund raiser week at Valley Free Radio so there is no interview to post this week.nbsp; Instead I am posting a piece by Margaret Tash about the Baha'i perspective on nutrition.nbsp; Enjoy!nbsp; I'll have an interview for next week.

Mahnaz came to the US from Iran as an exchange high school student. After the Islamic revolution in Iran, Mahnaz ended up staying in the US. She is a co-founder of the educational service organization called the Mona Foundation, named after a Bah#225;'#237; high school student by the name of Mona Mahmudnizhad, who was executed in Iran for her beliefs.

Juli grew up as a Bah#225;'#237; and pursued two careers: Computer Information Systems and Singer/Songwriter. Juli recorded a CD in 1998 called Jules From The Heart. Since 1997, Juli has been directing a Bah#225;'#237; Youth Dance Workshop called NINE, which stands for Now Is The New Era.

Nina is Iranian and came to this country in the late 70's with her husband to continue their education. Soon after arriving, the Islamic Revolution took place, and because they were Bah#225;'#237;s their funds for continuing school were completely cut off. They ultimately completed their education and Nina now teaches at Springfield College in MA.

Steve describes himself as growing up to become a "marginal" man not completely integrated with his surroundings. His first encounter with Bah#225;'#237;s was when he was 20 years old returning from England on board a boat in 1957. On the boat were Bah#225;'#237;s returning from the funeral of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bah#225;'#237; Faith. Steve has a number of websites. He mentions his work with laughing yoga, that site is SpiritOfLaughter.com. His website promoting his writing is SLHemingway.com. And the website for his music is SLHemingway.Homestead.com.

Although growing up, his community knew him as a musician, he went to college to study architectural engineering. However, music stayed with him throughout his life. In 1992 Van introduced the merging of the Gospel musical form and Bah#225;'#237; scripture at the Bah#225;'#237; World Congress in NYC. He is now the musical director at the Bah#225;'#237; House of Worship in Willmette, IL.

Bruce is not a Bah#225;'#237;. He heard my program on Valley Free Radio and contacted me with an interesting proposal. What if we do an someone who is not a Bah#225;'#237; and has questions about the Bah#225;'#237; Faith. I thought this was an interesting idea, so I went along with it. It turned out to be a wonderful experience.

Harry is a Bah#225;'#237; from Jamaica that was passing through after being in Haifa, Israel as a delegate from his country to elect the world governing body of the Bah#225;'#237;s called the Universal House of Justice. Since I had some time after Harry's interview, I decided to play the audio from an information video on the history of the Bah#225;'#237; Faith since Harry had touched on it briefly in the interview.

Mike ran into the Bah#225;'#237; Faith when he and his best friend from high school were seekers of spiritual truth. This search lead Mike to Sufism and then ultimately to the Bah#225;'#237; Faith.

A Bah#225;'#237; who grew up in a little town called Camphill, AL during the segregated '60s. She was despised both by the white and the black members of her community because of the lightness of the color of her skin, so she turned to books. However, her mother would beat her when she found out she was reading. When she turned 18 she went off to college to be as far away as possible. She majored in English and became an accomplished journalist.

A Bah#225;'#237; from Long Island who was adrift after returning from the Vietnam War, but found direction after running into the Bah#225;'#237; Faith. Before playing this interview, I play a piece from National Public Radio about a Bah#225;'#237; family hosting an interfaith children's class focusing on virtues.

Brande's father taught at Wiley College at the same time that Professor Tolson lead his great debate team as depicted in the 2007movie, The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington. Brande describes how he became a Bah#225;'#237; in Austin, TX in 1960. Brande dedicates this interview to the memory of "my dearest, beautiful wife, Evelyn (Breckenridge) Watson, whom I had seen in a most vivid vision in 1955 at a very low point in my life, but whose corporeal self I first saw in 1987. She passed away April 3, 2003 in my arms." Brande's list of accomplishments include: Listed in 'WHO'S WHO OF INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONALS' vol 2 1998 edition, p. 1439, was national champion sprinter (100 yard dash and 220 yard dash) in 1952, college professor (International Business) at Central State Univ. and Antioch College in Ohio (also debate team coach), dean of the Louis G. Gregory Bah#225;'#237; Institute in S.Carolina 1973 to 1975.

In high school, Jeff was reborn as a Christian. When he went off to college he became the worship leader for the on campus Christian fellowship. Jeff tells his story on how he ran into the Bah#225;'#237; Faith while at college.

A Bahaacute;'iacute; from Long Island, NY who discovered his calling in social work when in college. He discovered the Bahaacute;'iacute; Faith from an ad in the newspaper. He has written an introductory book on the Bahaacute;'iacute; Faith called target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Journey-Exploring-Bah%C3%A1%C3%AD-Faith/dp/1434312941/ref=sr_1_1/002-1127004-5137627?ie=UTF8amp;s=booksamp;qid=1194713316amp;sr=1-1"Divine Journey: Exploring the Bahaacute;'iacute; Faith.

Brett is a PhD candidate in English Literature at Harvard University, where he studies Shakespeare and directs plays. In this interview he speaks about growing up in a Catholic family in California, the disintegration of that family through divorce, and his first encounters with the Bah#225;'#237; Faith.