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DECEMBER9, 2004~Page 8 FEATURES Weekend 2004_ Baha'i creates blessings for Stacey Coverstone rural Virginia. rewarding part of their stay offshoot of any other faith. Baha'i activities BETH MCLANE Coincidentally, there on Guam was yet to come. Tenetsof the faith include the STAFF WRITER "We have a very active was already a Baha'i commu- Through a doctor on the oneness of humanity, equal- community," she said. "Boom!" is how Stacey nity of about 10 people in the island, the couple learned of ity between men and Thirty adults, children, Coverstone describes the mo- relatively unpopulated area. children who needed to be women, and education for and teens from all over the ment she first found Baha'i. "It Her husband was delighted, adopted.They soon adopted all children, Coverstone co.unt~join in spiritual inter- all made perfect sense," she and the couple enjoyed pot- two daughters, now 18and 16 noted. faith IUghts'andmonthly talks, said, "like a lightning bolt from luck dinners with the rest of years old ..Coverstone feels The college encourages an? participate in the Women's the sky." the Baha'i community. this was the most Significant the Baha'i program, accord- Fair and Common Ground on Twenty-three years later, Then, while home for a way that Baha'i has changed ing to Coverstone. "They are the religion has affected her life rare sick day, Coverstone her life. very supportive," she. said. the Hill every Summer. She isalso secretary of the in every way possible. plunged into a Baha'i reli- The adoption of her McDaniel lounge is used for mne-person Carrol! County During her 10 years at gious text, and "all the an- daughters was not the only the Baha'i club's annual McDaniel as the Theater, Mu- swers were there." She read way Guam (and Baha'i) Naw-Ruz (New Year's) Baha'i administrative board. sic, Art and Art History Secre- the entire book in one sitting, changed her life. When party every March, which Baha'i has also given her tary,Coverstone has been dedi- and decided to abandon her Coverstone landed on Guam, Coverstone helps with. a platform to achieve her per- cated to Baha'i on campus and Methodist roots to become she had no job arranged. She Coverstone is an asset sonal goals. in the community. The world- B~ha'i. was hired on her first inter- to the campus in her secre- "1was able to fulfill a per- wide religion (with members in She has not once regret- view at a law firm, and tarial work as well. After an- sonal drea~ of writing 'two every country) has in excess of ted the decision. clicked with the first woman swering an ad in a local pa- Baha'I children's books" 5 million followers Coverstone and her she met there. She was a local per, she was employed by Coverstone said. The books Coverstone advises the husband have moved 23 who was Catholic, and the the college in 1994. have been published in mul- Baha'i club on campus, which times in their 24-year mar- two were immediate friends. "She's great," said Su- tiple languages, and cover' Baha'i topics. is inactive this year. According riage, often to places that As it turned out, Baha'i inter- san Bloom, Art and Art His- to Coverstone, "there has al- have created unimaginable ested her, and she and her tory chair. "We're good Baha'i has touched her ways been at least one Baha'i blessings. While on a pilgrim- husband converted. friends as well." life in many ways, and that [student] on campus, and even age to Haifa, Israel thecouple "They moved 5 minutes "She's doing a tremen- "boom" Coverstone felt over non-Baha'is in the club." For met four people from the is- from our house [in Union dous job," according to two decades ago still resonates the first time since Coverstone land of Guam. Bridge, Md] and now have Heshmat Badiee, a Baha'i in her life tOday. arrived here, there are no active "We were instant three children," Coverstone who works in the Audio/ Vi- Baha'is at McDaniel. friends," Coverstone said, said. sual department in Hoover Her long road to and the couple spontane- Coverstone's mindset Library. "She makes the best McDaniel began in lllinois, ously decided to move to has changed as well. "I've be- effort in her work." where Coverstone was raised .Cuam. They went back to come a much more open- According to the teach- in a Methodist family. Years Virginia, sold their belong- minded person," she said. ings of Baha'i, "when per- later, when Coverstone met her ings and onJune7th, 1985,ar- "Baha'i is not just a religion, formed in the spirit of ser- future husband, Paul, she had rived on Guam with just their it's a lifestyle." vice, work is equal to Wor- never heard of Baha'i. He was suitcases in their hands. Bahai!s the newest shipping the creator," Badiee an active individual in the reli- "We stayed for four or world religion, just 150years explained. gion, and six months after their five years and built a house," old. It is an independent reli- Her free time is con-' marriage, the couple moved to said Coverstone, but the most gion, which means it is not an sumed by Carroll County