Ajit Giani has been a delegate to the U.S. Baha'i National Convention at least 15 times and will be at this year's convention as one of 171 delegates from throughout the country who will meet to elect a new National Spiritual Assembly April 26-29 at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent in Wilmette, Ill.

"There's nothing like it," says Mr. Giani, sounding like someone who has found the perfect vacation spot. "Nothing like it," he explains, includes the entire Baha'i administrative system, with its local, regional, national and international elections.

"Convention is a great place to see friends and exchange ideas," says the Houston Baha'i. "But more than that, it creates a sense of unity, a sense that we are all one. It's the sense of awe you feel when you're at a shrine, a sacred spot."

"During the national election, I've seen more Baha'is cry than at any other time," explains Mr. Giani, who became a Baha'i in 1968. "It's a spiritually uplifting experience that almost can't be put into words: closing your eyes, saying, ‘Baha'u'llah, help me pick the right people.'"

Afshin AhouraiyanAfshin Ahouraiyan, a Baha'i from Phoenix who is going to the national convention for the ninth time, confesses he sometimes gets nervous before elections, but "putting it in Baha'u'llah's hands," he says, allays the fears of "not knowing everyone on the East Coast, the Southeast, the North. . ."

Mr. Ahouraiyan, who was raised a Baha'i, says the day of election is spiritual for him. "You feel like Baha'u'llah is watching you and guiding you."

When his co-workers ask what he does at convention, he says: "I explain the process of consultation, our administrative structure. I tell them how Convention energizes me and makes me conscious of what needs to be done in the Baha'i community. How it takes me outside of myself. And how it isn't about the individual but the actual institution.

"Individuals come and go," Mr. Ahouraiyan says, "but others carry on their good work."