On Fireside Teaching: They pulled out sleeping cots for the kids, and by the time we woke them the next morning we were Baha’is

This is the ultimate fireside teaching story, how Angela became Baha’i in one night.  -gw 

I declared my belief in Baha’u'llah in 1986, during first night I ever attended a fireside, which is an informative and very casual gathering of both non-Baha’is and Baha’is coming together to talk about the Baha’i Faith specifically, and religion/spirituality in general. It was a turning point in my life. The fireside started at six pm with a huge potluck dinner, and it didn’t end until six the next morning as we finally wound down the discussion. I asked question after question after question, and no one seemed to be bothered by it. In fact, the Baha’is welcomed my questions enthusiastically, and they would refer to different religious texts to help me make the connections and see how these weren’t separate religions that worship different gods, but One Religion revealed at different times throughout history that told the eternal story of God’s love for humanity. I was with my ex-husband and three children, and the couple that hosted the fireside pulled out sleeping cots for the kids, and we kept talking while they slept. By the time we woke the kids up the next morning to go home, both of their parents were Baha’is.

http://angelfly72.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-i-am-bahai.html

Photo: “sleeping child,” uploaded on December 15, 2006 by spiral eye on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic