Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 214
organized communities of Ahmadis were living and use them as vacation schools. He envisioned the Ahmadi youth would spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks there and, under supervision of qualified instructors, learn the Islamic way of life. They would learn the joy of experiencing God through the practice of Islam. His desire was that this project be completed within five years. The second component of this " Leap Forward" plan was to prepare new literature suitable for children, new Ahmadis, and established Ahmadis to educate them about the achievements of their ancestors. Huzur's second visit to the United States was in 1980. Addressing a special meeting of Jama' at administrators on September 20, 1980, he observed that community centers had not been established as he had desired in 1976. He advised that the Jama' at should build "open air mosques" in by purchasing land parcels of about 4. 5 acres and developing them as picnic and camping grounds where fruit and shade trees may be planted. These areas could be used for Jama'at training programs and outings, or by groups of Ahmadi families for recreation while at the same time training their children and introducing non-Ahmadi friends of children by showing them the Islamic way of life in practice. He expressed his desire that such places should be obtained in every state even if there were no Ahmadis living there yet. In the same meeting he outlined a program in which a list of 1,000 academicians was to be prepared for distribution of the Hol y Qur'an , in addition to a list of 4,000 Americans who could benefit from the provisions of Holy Qur 'a n. He desired that 40,000 copies of the Hol y Qur'an be distributed to Americans. Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IVrta Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV' ta, visited the United States several times: in 1987, 1989, 1994, 1997 and 1998. In Januar y 1983, Huzur rta enjoined the American Jama 'at to build five mosques /mission houses in the next five years. He outlined that they should each have five acres of land and cost $2. 5 million. He identified New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington and Detroit for this purpose.