PORTAL
Robert Turner was the first African American member of the Baha'i Faith. He worked for the Hearst family and accompanied Phoebe Hearst to Haifa, Israel to meet 'Abdul-Baha, then Head of the Faith. He was deeply loved and later designated one of 'Abdu'l-Baha's 19 Disciples. In one correspondence where Mr. Turner reports his illness, 'Abdu'l-Baha responds:
"Be not grieved at your illness, for thou hast attained eternal life and hast found thy way to the World of the Kingdom. God willing, we shall meet one another with joy and fragrance in that Divine World, and I beg of God that you may also find rest in this material world.”
As noted in an essay by Lewis Gregory, Mr. Turner was assured that if he remained firm and steadfast until the end, he would be a portal through which a whole race would enter the Kingdom.