![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/10\/Effie-Baker-194x300.jpg\")
Evans Baker who was the first superintendent at the Ballarat Observatory.<\/p>\n
Ms Vreeland said it was particularly important for the Ballarat community to celebrate the faith\u2019s 100-year milestone considering the rich history it has with the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so important for us to mark this occasion because of our strong ties with Ballarat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s heart-warming to know that we have such a strong connection, she was the first women in Australia to accept the faith and she\u2019s from Ballarat, it\u2019s really great.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a part of the faith since birth, Ms Vreeland\u2019s family were forced to flee Iran more than 30 years ago because Baha\u2019i\u2019s were living in persecution.<\/p>\n
Although she was offered a choice to leave the faith when she was a teenager, she said she decided to remain because it aligned with everything she believed in.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband Elliot was raised in the faith but his parents found it themselves in the 1970s, everybody has their own story and journey and that\u2019s what makes it so beautiful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strive to hold these values and these writings from the Baha’u’llah and the faith of oneness and unity which allow us to create a framework within which we try to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the Baha\u2019i community regularly run activities and events for children and adults aimed towards developing local communities, Ms Vreeland said these gatherings are not at all exclusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything we do is open to likeminded individuals who are interested in building a better community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings like social justice and environmental justice are so essential in the world we live in, but unless they have this spiritual foundation, a lot of the time they don\u2019t yield any fruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever is passionate about working towards change with a spiritual foundation, that\u2019s what the community building activities of the faith are about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THIS year, the Ballarat Baha\u2019i community celebrated a century since the faith reached Australian shores by remembering its rich history in the region with some help from the Virtual Soul Choir. Although COVID made it impossible to celebrate in person, member of the Ballarat Baha\u2019i community Dellaram Vreeland said the community still felt it was […]<\/p>\n