BATTAMBANG, Cambodia — Saturday 14 November witnessed the first groundbreaking for a local Baha'i House of Worship.

Some two hundred community members from the region of Battambang in Cambodia gathered to celebrate the momentous occasion, beginning with prayers at dawn. The event coincided with the commemoration of the Twin Holy Birthdays—the Birth of the Bab and the Birth of Baha'u'llah.

Though yet unbuilt, the House of Worship is becoming part of the fabric of community life, and developments related to its construction are viewed as a collective endeavor, galvanizing the surrounding population. It is, as described by the Universal House of Justice, connecting "two essential, inseparable aspects of Baha'i life: worship and service".

The groundbreaking commemorated yesterday marks a milestone—the first of its kind—among the seven locations announced by the Universal House of Justice in 2012 to raise a Baha'i House of Worship in the coming years.