Source: Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=314

On August 4, 2004 the Baha'i World News Service reported, "When Maxien Bradley of Mt. Isa suggested forming a study circle, others who lived far away were quick to sign up. A resident of this mining town Ms. Bradley had found a way for members of a study circle to meet regularly despite the desert and farmland that separated them in the vast 'outback' (remote area). Study circles are a feature of Baha'i communities worldwide. They involve self-directed training and learning in small groups. In the sparsely populated regions of the Northern Territory and Queensland, regular meetings had not seemed possible until Ms. Bradley suggested a cheap form of telephone conferencing. She soon found enough participants to try out the method. More than 1,200 km to the northwest, David and Sue Podger of Katherine in the Northern Territory, decided they wanted to be part of the innovation."