Year of service

A year of service is an optional practice, of one or two years duration, for the purposes of teaching the Faith or development and aimed primarily at youth, and is most frequently applied between finishing school and starting university. Some countries have a Bahá'í Year of Service desk - essentially a person who is the point of contact for all the volunteers and also for all the agencies sending information on opportunities for service. The Year of service is voluntary, may be self-funded, and may be either on the home front or abroad.

The service offered by the volunteer could be of a wide variety of types. Some Year of Service (YoS) volunteers are sent to strategic rural spots, to help with the development of children's classes, Feasts, Ruhi books, etc. Some YoS volunteers are sent on teaching trips. Sometimes the volunteer has specific skills which can be used - teaching street dance for proclamation purposes, helping youth with murals, teaching children Bahá'í songs or others. Some volunteers are used for administrative roles - helping with filing, setting up address systems, even answering the telephone!

By participating in a Year of Service, the young person may benefit in a huge variety of ways: increased self-confidence, increased self-reliance; greater trust in God and in prayer; a greater understanding of the impact the Faith is making in the world, the acquisition of skills, a sense of the importance of service, a lessened dependence on the conveniences of their home life, and so on.