His father had died five years earlier, and Mr James believes that it was his father who directed him to the ad through his dreams. 

“All I knew was that I had to go this particular spot in the newspaper,” he said. “There was a number, I rang that number, and here we are.”

Mr James is now the secretary, and sole member, of the Baha’i Group of Dorset. 

There are about 50 active followers of Baha’i in Hobart, and more scattered throughout the North, adding to about five million believers worldwide. 

The Baha’i believe that all world religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, are all different representations of the same God. This being spreads His word via divine messengers throughout human history, starting with Adam and including Jesus, Mohammed, and most recently, Baha’i prophet Bahá'u'lláh.

It’s central tenet is one of unity, Mr James explained.

“We believe in the oneness of mankind, that is, that all the different so-called races belong to just one race, and that this religion is for the whole lot of them,” he said. “Humanity is one, God is one, and all of the religions have served the same God.”

There is no Heaven or Hell in Baha’i, and everyone goes to the same place after death. 

“When you die, the spirit goes into another kind of universe, another level of existence,” Mr James said. 

“Bahá'u'lláh says that dreams are proof of life after death, and the two universes are connected in the sense that when we dream we dream in that other world, not in this one.”

Children of Baha’i have to make an active choice to remain in the religion at age 15, and Mr James’ four children have all chosen not to stay. However, up until ten years ago, he was joined by another Scottsdale believer: his late wife, Jean. 

Keith and Jean met in Hobart through a dating agency. They got married, and moved to Scottsdale in 1979 when Mr James took up a job with the Armed Forces Food Science Establishment, as the Defence Nutrition Research Centre was then called.

Every 19 days the pair would hold a Baha’i feast at their home, with readings, prayers, and food. Mr James doesn’t host them any more, but he’ll sometimes travel to another community for the monthly occasions.  

Mrs James passed away on June 15, 2008.

Mr James said he’s stopped seeing her in his dreams, although he can still sometimes feel her presence.  

“She’s in what we call the Abha Realm, the next world,” he said. “I’ll meet up with her there, and we’ll probably have a bit of a chat.”