Bahá’í pinciples guide couple's journey in Tonga

By Theo Gustafson
FROM HEART TO HEART for The Register-Guard
July 9, 2005

"You're going where?"

"Tonga!"

"Where's that?"

"Tonga is an island country in the South Pacific," I would reply. "We're going there to teach in a school operated by members of our religion, the Bahá’í Faith."

Variations on this conversation took places dozens of times in 2002 as my husband, Steve, and I prepared to leave Eugene. Reactions ranged from the unspoken "You must be crazy!" to wistful exclamations of "I've always wanted to go off somewhere like that, but I never could because (fill in the blank)."

To us, these material obstacles were of slight importance compared to the deep Bahá’í belief in service to humanity. For us, it's not enough to work toward our own spiritual development, as important as that is. The Bahá’í scriptures call us to have a world view, to think of the human race as one family and to arise to serve.

We landed in Tonga with super jet lag but eager to see the school and the children. Our heart-images recall: dozens of bright, brown eyes; friendly smiles; the grade school children sitting on the floor singing (in English and Tongan), "In our school, the Ocean of Light, we learn to think, then choose what's right, for every child can be the light of the world."

All of the students' parents, from nearly every religion on the island, appreciate our moral education program teaching about virtues as the God-given qualities waiting to be nurtured in every soul. Soon, Steve and I, too, were immersed in teaching students to think of what virtue is needed, then choose what's right, along with carrying out an international academic program.

Generations of religious intolerance are bypassed at our school where we follow Bahá’í scripture: Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.

Someone asked me, "Why don't you Bahá’ís make the students take classes about your faith, or even join it, like other schools here do?" Forcing others is not our way. Classes are available to interested families. Showing the spirit of unity in action is part of our faith; it will bloom in the hearts of those who agree.

About 80 percent of Ocean of Light International School students and teachers are Tongan, with representatives from Asia, the Pacific and beyond. It's a real joy to look around at the human rainbow of colors at school, teaching by living example the Bahá’í principle of the oneness of the human race: The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.

Culture days are delightful, with dancing from Polynesia and elsewhere, Hindu parents sharing scrumptious snacks for their festival of Diwali, or Tongan parents staying up all night carefully sewing fresh leaves onto the children's dance costumes. Foreign high school boys easily adapt to the school uniform, including the wraparound skirt!

We cried on leaving Tonga. Yes, it gets pretty hot and humid, and then there are the cockroaches and lizards crawling around in the house. But those smiles and the singing are forever in my heart.

Theo Gustafson attended the Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries' monthly dialogue meetings before moving to Tonga for more than two years. This column is coordinated by TRIM, a network of more than 35 spiritual traditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information, call 344-5693 or visit www.interfaith eugene.org.