The Bahá'í Faith in Bolivia begins with references to the country in Bahá'í literature as early as 1916.[1] The first Bahá'í to arrive in Bolivia was in 1940 through the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers, people who chose to move for the growth of the religion, from the United States. That same year the first Bolivian joined the religion.[2] The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in La Paz in 1945[3] and the first Indian formally joined the religion in 1956 which soon spread widely among that subculture.[4] The community elected an independent National Spiritual Assembly in 1961.[5] By 1963 there were hundreds of local assemblies.[6] The Bahá'í Faith is currently the largest international religious minority in Bolivia.[7] The largest population of Bahá'ís in South America is in Bolivia, a country whose general population is estimated to be 55%-70% indigenous and 30%-42% Mestizo, with a Bahá'í population estimated at 217,000 in 2005 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.[8]
A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá'í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Bahá'í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Bahá'ís refrain from using the term "missionary". The first pioneer to enter a country or region mentioned in `Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan is given the title of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
La Paz, officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz, also named Chuqi Yapu (Chuquiago) in Aymara, is the seat of government and the de facto national capital of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 789,541 residents as of 2015, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area, which is formed by La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, makes up the most populous urban area in Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million. It is also the capital of the La Paz Department.
`Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. The sixth of the tablets was the first to mention Latin American regions and was written on April 8, 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I and the Spanish flu. The sixth tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.[9]
`Abdu’l-Bahá', born `Abbás, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh and served as head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1892 until 1921. `Abdu’l-Bahá was later canonized as the last of three "central figures" of the religion, along with Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, and his writings and authenticated talks are regarded as a source of Bahá'í sacred literature.
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters (tablets) written between March 1916 and March 1917 by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada. Included in multiple books, the first five tablets were printed in America in Star of the West - Vol. VII, No. 10, September 8, 1916, and all the tablets again after World War I in Vol. IX, No. 14, November 23, 1918, before being presented again at the Ridván meeting of 1919.
Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere where Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken; it is broader than the terms Ibero-America or Hispanic America. The term "Latin America" was first used in an 1856 conference with the title "Initiative of the America. Idea for a Federal Congress of the Republics", by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao. The term was used also by Napoleon III's French government in the 1860s as Amérique latine to consider French-speaking territories in the Americas, along with the larger group of countries where Spanish and Portuguese languages prevailed, including the Spanish-speaking portions of the United States Today, areas of Canada and the United States where Spanish, Portuguese and French are predominant are typically not included in definitions of Latin America.
Spanish or Castilian, is a Western Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of around 16.6 million, it is the most populated country in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City.
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. In the past, it was sometimes referred to as "Spanish Honduras" to differentiate it from British Honduras, which later became modern-day Belize. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Following the release of these tablets and then `Abdu'l-Bahá's death in 1921, a few Bahá'ís began moving to or at least visiting Latin America.
Early Phase
Shoghi Effendi, who was named `Abdu'l-Bahá's successor, wrote a cable on May 1, 1936 to the Bahá'í Annual Convention of the United States and Canada, and asked for the systematic implementation of `Abdu'l-Bahá's vision to begin.[5] In his cable he wrote:
Shoghí Effendí Rabbání, better known as Shoghi Effendi, was the Guardian and appointed head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957. Shoghi Effendi spent his early life in ʿAkkā (Acre). His education was directed to serving as secretary and translator to his grandfather, `Abdu'l-Bahá, then leader of the Bahá'í Faith and son of the religion's founder, Bahá'u'lláh.
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of textual or symbolic messages without the physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not.
"Appeal to assembled delegates ponder historic appeal voiced by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Tablets of the Divine Plan. Urge earnest deliberation with incoming National Assembly to insure its complete fulfillment. First century of Bahá'í Era drawing to a close. Humanity entering outer fringes most perilous stage its existence. Opportunities of present hour unimaginably precious. Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination of this glorious century embrace the light of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order."[10]
Following the May 1st cable, another cable from Shoghi Effendi came on May 19 calling for permanent pioneers to be established in all the countries of Latin America. The Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada appointed an Inter-America Committee to take charge of the preparations. During the 1937 Bahá'í North American Convention, Shoghi Effendi cabled advising the convention to prolong their deliberations to permit the delegates and the National Assembly to consult on a plan that would enable Bahá'ís to go to Latin America as well as to include the completion of the outer structure of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.[5] In 1937 the First Seven Year Plan (1937–44), which was an international plan for the Bahá'ís designed by Shoghi Effendi, gave the American Bahá'ís the goal of establishing the Bahá'í Faith in every country in Latin America. With the spread of American Bahá'ís in Latin American, Bahá'í communities and Local Spiritual Assemblies, the local administrative unit of the religion, began to form in 1938 across Latin America.[5]
A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by the name of mašriqu-l-'aḏkār, an Arabic phrase meaning "Dawning-place of the remembrances of God", is the designation of a place of worship, or temple, of the Bahá'í Faith. The teachings of the religion envisage Houses of Worship being surrounded by a number of dependencies dedicated to social, humanitarian, educational, and scientific pursuits, although none has yet been built to such an extent.
A pioneer from Los Angeles, Eleanor Adler, sailed from New Orleans on the S.S. Santa Marta on November 16, 1940 to pioneer to Bolivia by settling in La Paz[11] taking up residence at Pension Cúellar, 899, 6 de Agosta[2] though she did not at first speak Spanish.[12] Citizens of Bolivia joined the religion - the first being Yvonne de Cúellar[5] - though Adler left about May 1941[13] and de Cúellar was born in France.[14] Regardless, when Adler left there was a group of three Bolivians Bahá'ís present in La Paz.
Pioneer Flora Hottes arrived in June 1942.[15] In late 1943 the fifth Bolivian Bahá'í and the first to take the religion beyond La Paz moved to Tarija.[16] Maria Lijeron was a lawyer who also had a radio program.[17] The first Local Spiritual Assembly, the local administrative unit of the religion, in Bolivia was elected in 1945.[3] In 1946 committees with regional responsibilities were assigned - Bolivia and Peru being one such grouping[18] - at the same time Gwenne D. Sholtis arrived as a pioneer[19] and settled in Sucre and three Bolivians there joined the religion the same year.[20]
Growth
The first South American Bahá'í Congress was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November, 1946 and de Cúellar of Bolivia attended.[5]
In 1947 several translations had been done or were in process by de Cúellar and her husband, Col. Arturo Cúella Echazu, including God Passes By, Foundations of World Unity,[21] and a selection from the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.[22] At the same time the first assembly of Sucre was elected.[23] By then Sholtis was present in Cochabamba[24] and Bahá'ís from Sucre were pioneering to other cities while maintaining assembly status.[25]
The second South American Bahá'í Congress was celebrated in Santiago, Chile, in January, 1948 and de Cúellar was the official delegate.[5] The congress announced the formation of the South American Teaching Committee. Retrospectively, a stated purpose for the committee was to facilitate a shift in the balance of roles from North American guidance and Latin cooperation to Latin guidance and North American cooperation.[26] The process was well underway by 1950 and was to be enforced about 1953. In March 1948, chairman of the South American Teaching Committee, Estéban Canales of Chile, took a trip to speak in various countries. In Bolivia he spoke to an audience of about 80 people and 40 stayed for a reception afterwards.[27] In September the Teaching Committee proposed sending a pioneer from Santiago, Chile, to Sucre: Rosy Vodanovich.[28][29] At the same time the progress on the translation of God Passes By was submitted to review of the strength of the translation to a literary critic. In December 1949 Mary Binda went as the first pioneer from Bolivia choosing Venezuela as her goal.[30] In December 1949 a regional conference on the promulgation of the religion in Peru and Bolivia was held in La Paz.[31][32] In September a Study Institute was held.[33]
The Regional Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly of South America was elected in 1950.[6] In the face of the changes of coordination between the American and Latin Bahá'ís the Sucre assembly was lost in 1950 and was reformed in 1951.[34][35] Meanwhile, the spring 1951 celebration of World Religion Day with 60 people participating was held by the Bahá'ís of La Paz.[36] In 1952 Arturo, Yvonne and Dorothy Campbell were delegates from the Bahá'ís of Bolivia to a regional UN Conference on NGOs.[37] Rezzi Sunshine pioneered to Cochabamba, arriving on January 26, 1955.[38] The fifth convention for the regional national assembly of the Bahá'ís of South America was held in La Paz in 1955. A series of study classes preceding the convention was held on the Advent of Divine Justice, the Promised Day is Come, as well as the topics of "Indians of South America", and "Sacrifice".[39] Indeed, Rezzi Sunshine began offering classes on English and the religion in Indian villages near where she lived in Cochabamba[40] while the Bahá'ís there elected the first local assembly and a pioneer moved to an Indian village named Chuquisaca.[41]
In 1957 the regional assembly was split into two - basically northern/eastern South America with the Republics of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, in Lima, Peru and one of the western/southern South America with the Republics of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[6]Hand of the Cause`Alí-Muhammad Varqá oversaw the election of the Assembly in Buenos Aires.[42]
In 1961-2 thousands of Aymara Indians in hundreds of localities formed near 100 assemblies.[43]
Indians
Across the Americas by 1947 members of the Bahá'í Faith had contacted peoples of Alaska and Greenland, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru.[44][45]
The first translations into Aymara and Quecbua languages of Bahá'í literature was done by the assembly in La Paz in 1951.[46]
The subject of outreach to Indian populations was among the topics consulted on at the fifth convention for the regional national assembly of the Bahá'ís of South America in 1955.[39]
A cornerstone in the process of outreach began on Sept. 8,[4] 1956 when the first Indians of Bolivia formally entered the religion and they promptly engaged other Indians in the religion - the distinctive moment for them being when they were allowed in the front door of the Bahá'í center.[47] They were Andres and Carmelo Jachacollo (all members of their village had the same last name) and through their efforts the first all-Indian assembly of Bolivia was elected in 1957[48] in the village of Vilacollo, of which Andres was the chairman, speaking the Aymará language though the location was in deep poverty and the people somewhat nomadic.[4]
This led to a general sense of excitement. During the first years of the Ten Year Crusade, 1953–1963, reports of the large conversions to the religion in Africa began to come through, (see Bahá'í Faith in Africa.) Then news began to arrive of the conversion of large numbers in Bolivia, and Shoghi Effendi began to increase his insistence on teaching the indigenous groups. For example, on May 26, 1957, he sent a letter through his secretary to the new national assemblies of Latin America, referring to the "Tablets of the Divine Plan" with respect to the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas.[5]
In December 1957 a special class on the religion was held in Cochabamba, and another in La Paz in March 1958, for Indians peoples from the Huanuni area which included some who wanted to travel to other Indian groups to introduce the religion there.[49] The school held in La Paz included Andres and several of his kin, some Chola peoples (another Aymara people) attended. The first Chola Bahá'í, Juana Topa, joined the religion July 12, 1958, some months after the school.[50] Guests at the school included auxiliary board member Katherine McLaughlin, and Rezzi Sunshine.[51] This group of students of the school brought the religion to Potosí, Huanacota, and Chalapiti villages and several spoke on local radio programs as well.[50]
The second convention for the regional assembly, also held in 1958, devoted a large proportion of the consultation of the convention to the clearly expressed needs of the Bolivian Indian Bahá'ís in their deep desire to serve the religion as traveling presenters of the religion to bring it to other Indians.[52] One result was a call for pioneers to serve in the Indian communities.[53]
1959 was a year of several developments pre-staging for a wave of enrollments in the religion. In 1957 the Bahá'ís in Vilakollo requested their national assembly that a visit from a Hand of the Cause be made to their village. The assembly arranged for a visit from a more local administrators but on May 10, 1959, Hand of the Cause, Dr. Hermann Grossmann, made the visit to the Indian village.[54] That year a second all-Indian assembly was elected, this time in the village of Jankahuyo,[55] in the Potosí Department[56] through the efforts of Estanislau Alvarez, chairman of the National Indian Teaching Committee, who made the trip to the village to help elect the assembly with Mr. Costas.[57] The Bahá'ís of that village decided to send an individual to Santiago Chile to learn more of the religion and return as a teacher to them while others including Andres would live among them for the year.[56] Following this and the assembly election Alverez and Costas returned to the area for a five-month period where along with Andres more than 30 members of the region joined the religion across 7 locations in the Potosí Department.[57] That July the community of Jankohuyo held an all-day memorial for the Báb on the commemoration of his execution. That December 1959 a Bahá'í school for Bolivian Indians was held in La Paz under the sponsorship of the National Indian Teaching Committee, with an attendance of thirty people. Courses on the lives of the central figures of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá, as well as Shoghi Effendi; on principles and laws of the Faith; and on the ways Bahá'ís run their administration including a period of practice-voting for a local spiritual assembly.[58] That following spring in 1960 more than 1000 Indians are believed to have joined the religion from near 100 locations.[59] The first Bahá'í Indian Congress of Bolivia was held in Oruro in February 1961, with 116 Indians participating from forty-six different localities. At this event a further 22 joined the religion.[60] From April 1960 to April 1961 no less than thirteen hundred of Aymara speaking Indians, in over one hundred localities, joined the religion and formed over twenty local assemblies.[43] Following observing the election of the National Assembly of Bolivia, Hand of the Cause Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir began touring the Indian peoples of Bolivia.[61] During his 40-day tour he was approached by hundreds of Bahá'ís in village after village.[62] This was followed by trips of national assembly members in July among Indian villages.[63] By April 1962 there was a gain of more than twenty-five hundred additional Indian Baha'is and through their contacts to Ecuador, Peru and Chile where between January and April 1962 nearly two hundred Indians converted to the religion, representing the first conversions on such a scale in those areas, though Hand of the CauseAbu'l-Qásim Faizi was urging a need for instilling a deeper understanding of the religion.[43]
In 1958 there were two all-Indian Local Spiritual Assemblies in South America - Huanuni and Vilcollo - by 1963 there were twenty five such assemblies in Bolivia.[43]
Snapshot of the distribution of Bahá'ís in 1963
Assemblies (at least 9 adults) /Groups (2 to 8 adults in the community) in early 1963[6]
In 1961 each country of the regional assembly of southern South America elected its own National Spiritual Assembly.[6] The election of the Bolivian national assembly - representative of a community the majority of whom were of the Aymara people[43] - were (in alphabetical order by last name): Estanislao Alverez, recording secretary, Athas Costas, Sabino Ortega (first Indian teacher), Andres Jachakovo (first Indian believer in Bolivia), vice-chairman, Yolanda de Lopez, secretary, Daniel Mauricio (founder of first Baha'i school), Massoud Khamsi, chairman, Alberto Saldias, treasurer, and Alberto Rocabado.[66] The election was witnessed by Hand of the Cause Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir.[67]
In 1961 eight of the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of La Paz were: Hernan Saravia, Jane Khamsi, Isaac Mamani, Lecile Webster, E. Alverez, Livia Barbaro, Morty Landivar, and Massoud Khamsi.[68] and it performed the first Bahá'í marriage of Bolivia that year.[69] In October the first national Bahá'í school was held on its new permanent location and the students spent the majority of the time clearing the land, planting crops and preparing it for permanent buildings in the village of Meguilla.[70] By summer 1962 there were nearly 4,000 Baha'is in 321 localities, with sixty-two local assemblies[71] and Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qásim Faizi was touring Bolivia[72] where he inaugurated a school for teachers of the religion and attended a national congress.[73] The school was established and opened with Athos Costa as its director. Courses were given in geography, history, hygiene, health, writing as well as Baha'i subjects like progressive revelation, its history, teachings, and administration across three 8 hour days with a final test and students left with their own notepad.[74]
In April 1963 the members of the national assemblies of the world were the delegates to elect the first Universal House of Justice to be head of the religion after the death of Shoghi Effendi. The Bolivian members of the national assembly that year were: Estanislao Alvarez, Athos Costas, Mrs. Costas, Massoud Khamsi, Yolanda de Lopes, Sabino Ortega, Alberto Saldias Reyes, Alberto Rocabado, and Andres Jachakollo Ticona.[43] In addition, the national newspaper El Diario of La Paz devoted an entire page to "Centenary of the Baha'i World Faith," with text covering the history, principles, objectives and a list of Bolivians leaving for the first Bahá'í World Congress. There were illustrations of four Bahá'í Houses of Worship and the International Archives building at the Bahá'í World Centre.[75] During that congress a similar one was held in Bolivia in Oruro to commemorate the centenary of the events of the Ridván garden.[76]
Nine Year Plan and the growth of Bolivian Bahá'ís
During the 1964 national convention to elect the national assembly only twenty-seven of the thirty-eight delegates arrived due to the political troubles and violence in Bolivia. Regardless, Hand of the Cause Jalál Kházeh presented the Nine Year Plan from the Universal House of Justice which would then cover 1964 to 1973.[77] The goals included setting up 1200 centers and 600 assemblies, recognition of the Holy Days is to be obtained, literature was to be translated and published in the Chiriguano, Siriano, Yanoiguia, Moxos, Tokano and Chipaya languages, literature in Quechua was to be enriched and Baha'i education was to be extended to as many youth and children as possible. It was noted that the rate of people joining the religion had substantially slowed that prior year. The religion had been recognized in 1963 by the government[78] but the national assembly was legally registered in 1966.[79]
The now annual national congress of Baha'is in Oruro attracted some seventy-four people for which there was newspaper and radio coverage.[80]Hooper Dunbar, then an Auxiliary Board member and later member of the Universal House of Justice, toured Bolivia in 1964 with local Bahá'ís and Athos Costos, member of the National Spiritual Assembly.[81]
The first Afro Bolivians joined the religion in 1964.[82] The National Convention of the Baha'is of Bolivia in 1965 was attended by delegates and friends who came from eight of the nine provinces ("Departments") of Bolivia. Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhájir and now Auxiliary Board member Athas Costas attended.[83]
In 1966 the national assembly designated five Regional Institutes located in different areas of the country which would have its own director and teacher, both living permanently in the area and dedicating all their time to promulgating the religion.[84] The students were envisioned as teachers of teachers - to be taught to help local assemblies in augmenting Baha'i life, to read and write, and establish primary school classes for the children and young people of the nearby villages. The Baha'i National School in Cochabama held a three-month course starting August 1 covering the election and function of the assembly; Baha'i teachings; and the Spanish alphabet.[85] The National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia met on September 3 with then president of Bolivia, General Rene Barrientos Ortuno who congratulated the Bahá'ís on their devotion to education.[86] In the winter 1966-67 the Ministry of Indian Affairs in Bolivia issued an official circular letter stating that as the activities of the religion have "no relationship whatsoever with politics", that Baha'is should be accorded freedom of expression, freedom in movement and freedom in worship.[87] However general unrest in the country prevented many assemblies from forming, though the first Local Spiritual Assembly in Beni, on the Brazilian border, and Tarija, on the Argentine frontier, did form.[88] In the summer of 1967, Athas Costas, Auxiliary Board member, and Dr. Ouladi, National Spiritual Assembly representative, went on a trip in a Baha'i-owned jeep to meet with local officials in troubled areas in several Departments to specify the non-political nature of the religion and federal endorsement of its freedom to practice the religion.[89] Copies of the federal registration of the religion as a religion recognized by the government by the Ministry of Justice and Immigration from 1963 were distributed to local assemblies in 1968.[78]
Cochabamba was a center of a double event in the summer of 1967. First, a ten-day training course was held in June at the national Bahá'í school for the purpose of training young rural teachers in techniques to be used in the thirty proposed literacy centers to be established in Bolivia. Second, some several thousand visitors came to the first exhibition on the religion in Bolivia across a five-day period. The national assembly planned to take the exhibition on a tour of Bolivia. Radio and newspaper coverage also occurred.[90]
For twenty-eight days in November 1967 Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum toured Bolivia.[91] She spoke to a special group of young instructors while they were engaged in study courses in Cochabamba. She attended the Nineteen Day Feast in Cochabamba, showing slides of her travels. She gave public talks in La Paz and Cochabamba, and two unscheduled talks to the Associacion Feminina Christiana as well as some villages where she was welcomed to stay.
In August 1968 the first meeting to the newly defined Continental Board of Counsellors for South America met in Cochabamba, Bolivia, with Hand of the Cause Jaláh Khazéh and Hooper Dunbar among the attendees.[92]
In 1969 there were about 208 local assemblies with 20 full-time Bolivian instructors and 70 to 100 who gave shorter periods of service to teaching. The plan was for each teacher, accompanied by a pioneer, to visit 20 communities each month and to find others who could be trained in practical steps of administration. A particular problem was that the population in the Altiplano was largely nomadic, moving to gather and sell the annual harvest. Many of them are away during the elections Bahá'ís hold in April.[93]
In September 1969 the first study course in the history of Bolivia for campesino Indian women was held under the auspices at the Local Spiritual Assembly of La Paz and the Regional Teaching Committee of Departmento La Paz.[94]
The Cúellars moved to the United States in 1969 to live near their daughter.[14] For her service to the religion Sra. Cúellar was titled the "Spiritual Mother of Bolivia".[95] Also that year Andres Jachakovo was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member.[96]
Twenty four youth converted to the religion together in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a location that had had little conversion activity, in March 1970.[97] In June Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga spent two weeks touring Bolivia. He gave well-attended conferences in the Club Aleman in La Paz and in the Universidad Técnica de Oruro as well as visiting among villages in the Departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Drura, Potosí, and Chuquisaca.[98]
In August Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum returned to Bolivia representing the Universal House of Justice at a continental conference held in Bolivia.[99] Some 600 Bahá'ís attended including six Continental Counselors, a dozen auxiliary board members, and 39 members of national assemblies from 19 countries.[100] It was announced that 30000 people had joined the religion from April 1969 to the time of the conference from across South America.[101] Coverage in newspapers, radio, and television accompanied the conference was capped by the surprise reception of the President of Bolivia for some 350 Bahá'ís the day after the conference where he mentioned he had visited Haifa and knew of the Bahá'í Holy Places. By 1971 the aftereffects of the conference showed an increase in conversions to the religion including the first Baha'is in the last Department of the country previously with no Bahá'ís and the conversion of a Christian minister who led hundreds more to the religion – all together some 9000 conversions by May 1971 with the largest concentration in the area of Santa Cruz.[102] That was raised to 11,000 by July.[103] The revised civil government of 1971 remained supportive of the Bahá'ís with permission for a youth conference.[104] Facing various difficulties, pioneers who had settled in Beni strove to both to serve the sense of justice of the poor and against lawlessness in the distant countryside.[105]
The engagement of the national community
In 1975–6 Rúhíyyih Khanum travelled by boat through the tributaries of the Amazon River of Brazil unto and into the high mountain ranges of Peru and Bolivia. Thirty six tribal groups were visited over a period of six months; the trip was called The Green Light Expedition,[106][107][108] which followed her The Great African Safari.[109] There have also been projects developed from the original expedition - In the Footsteps of the Green Light Expedition[110] and Tear of the Clouds.[111]
In 1982 some 1,300 Baha'is from 42 countries gathered August in Ecuador, the second of five such gatherings. 13 Continental Counsellors, representatives of 24 of the 29 National Spiritual Assemblies in Latin America and the Caribbean, and members of 21 Indian tribes from Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, United States and Venezuela attended. The Conferences were dedicated to the memory of Bahiyyih Khánum, Bahá'u'lláh's daughter, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her death.[112] Adherents of the religion in Bolivia had again suffered opposition in various locations, both political and religious, so plans were set for appeals to be repeated as before, this time to the civil courts circa 1983-4.[99]
Socio/economic development
After the period of large scale enrollments especially in the 1960s the pace of conversion slowed. However focus on service through socio-economic development began to work in a context of sustainable growth of the religion. Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women,[113] promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern,[114] often in some practical expression such as by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.[113] In Bolivia that priority for education led to extending the previous work on tutorial school programs in 1983 with a coordinated engagement across the indigenous peoples from North and South America, a Baha'i radio project, a Baha'i university and other projects. Following these projects conversion to the religion moderated but was more sustained.
Regional system of training institutes
Through the initiative of the national assembly a 'Yachay Wasi' Bahá'í Tutorial Center was established in Chuquisaca, the heart of the indigenous area of Bolivia and central to the area of the Baha'i population. Its main purpose was to train the teachers for one hundred tutorial schools to be established in the country, many of them in the Departments of Chuquisaca and Cochabamba. In 1984 the Wasi school gained a permanent facility[99] which was extended in 1985[115] when the first Ruhi Institute programs coordinated youth to assist these tutorial schools in the country.[116] This ongoing effort in regional training schools was lauded by then Vice President Julio Garrett Ayllón when he received a copy of The Promise of World Peace, a statement by the Universal House of Justice to which Ayllón responded that he agreed that "world peace is not only possible but inevitable".[117]
The idea for a Trail of Light, aka "Camino del Sol", occurred during preparations for the first Bahá'í Native Council in 1978 in North America. It was eventually defined as a process whereby native Bahá'ís engaged with diverse native peoples about a number of issues including promulgating their religion as well as organizing councils for the people and encouraged discovery of mutual cultural links across the native peoples.[118][119] With increasing prominence of the effort a few years later[120][121] a three-day training and deepening program developed plans and teams of Bahá'ís to travel to different regions to promulgate the religion among the Native Americans. These teams of indigenous Bahá'ís from Alaska, Canada and the 48 contiguous United States represented 10 tribes under the name Trail of Light.[122] Teams formed and moved among the indigenous peoples from North America into South America.[120] The Trail of Light team then continued through Bolivia, Chile, Peru and finally Ecuador.[122] Members of the team included three Bolivians - Sabino Ortega and Clemente Pimantel as Quechua speaking Indians, and Andres Jachakollo, an Aymara speaker.[123] At one of the early meetings Ortega took a moment to teach the members a dance he knew while they were in South Dakota and during the lesson people came from outside the building to say that three eagles were circling the building which was felt as a moving religious sign to the people there.[124]
In July 1983 in La Paz the President of Bolivia welcomed the Trail of Light members in Bolivia.[99] Also present were twelve Ministers of Departments from around the country, some of whom were themselves indigenous. The Governor of the Department of La Paz also greeted the Trail members in his office, stating that he identified with many of the Baha'i principles. Other major events of the team in the capital included two twenty-minute cultural programs for the state-owned television network which were later aired nationwide.
The project revisited Bolivia and Peru in 1988. The team of travelers visited individual Bahá'ís, Bahá'í schools, made public presentations, and there was newspaper and television news coverage of the visit.[125] The travelers included LakotasJacqueline Left Hand Bull, then a Continental Counsellor, and US National Assembly members Patricia Locke and Kevin Locke, along with Bolivians Eloy Anello, Athos Costas, Julian Ugarte and Sabino Ortega. Some of the activities undertaken were the pow wow "grand entrance" dance, songs and dances honoring the Creator, an Indian sign language and jingle dress performance, talks honoring the Incan Empire, other dances honoring women and various legends of the peoples and the hoop dance and the work of the Trail of Light was trying to promulgate.
Bahá'í radio developed in the late 1960s in Ecuador[126] and was a precursor to the developments in Bolivia in the 1980s,[99] all with the regular feedback from experienced institutions operating out of the Bahá'í World Centre with Dr. David Ruhe, then a member of the Universal House of Justice.[126] The development included an emphasis in raising the resources and people to support a radio station in the local area of the station. The development of programming in Quechua, Aymara and Spanish languages to be used by the station was developed through a country-wide production and broadcasting program in 1983 as prelude to opening of the station.
In January 1983 a presidential decree allocated a medium-wave radio frequency band to the National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia for Caracollo, near Oruro, to become 'Radio Baha'i of Bolivia'.[99] Construction of the new AM 1kW. station and its associated teaching institute were scheduled for completion in January 1984 and for inauguration at Naw-Ruz, the Bahá'í new year, the same year WLGI came online in the US.[127][128] The radio station covered a region in Bolivia and Peru of over 400 assemblies.[129] Its call letters are CP-220.[130] The station used alternative energy systems as well as an appropriate technology setup which allowed its relative low power output to rival the effectiveness of stations with more raw broadcasting power.[131] Its call letters are CP220[130] and it is still on the air.[132]
In 1983 Bahá'ís of Bolivia were planning to establishing a university at Santa Cruz with educational extension programs for rural areas. The project gathered effort as institutions were developed to aide indigenous populations. Two institutions - the FUNIDEAQ,[133][133] the Foundation for the Development and Education of Aymara and Quechua Peoples, and FUNDESIB,[134] the Foundation for the Integral Development of Bolivia, were established by the National Assembly of Bolivia and hoped that they would serve as an alternative to politically based indigenous or government programs which were seen as promoting hatred or violence by the Bahá'ís, See FUNDAEC, for a similar organization in Colombia, where some guidance was borrowed from. One of their early focuses was the development of Nur University[135] which was established as a Bahá'í school of secondary education in August 1984 and started its first academic year in April 1985.[136] Nur University received Presidential Decree No. 20441 authorizing its establishment as a private university and began offering undergraduate programs in 1985 and became Bolivia's first graduate college in 1994. Beginning in 2000 the university received awards and grants and in 2001 Nur was evaluated as a "full university". In 2002 it was selected as a "Center for Educational Excellence" for the Andean region: an initiative launched at the Summit for the Americas, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).[137]
Other
A generation after Bahá'í activity in the Chaco Province had ebbed it was re-established via FUNDESIB,[134][135] who encountered Bahá'ís who remembered activity from before and welcomed the new focus during a period of increasing economy distress. FUNDESIB also held the first Bahá'í oriented development conference in Bolivia in November 1987 which included representatives from most of the above initiatives.[135] Baha'is also joined the Bolivian application of the International Year of Peace for 1986.[138] Bahá'ís who had graduated from early schools of the religion sometimes became teachers in the successive wave of school developments.[139] A national conference on women was held March 1989 and in various places conversion rates to the religion had again entered the rate of thousands per year.[140]
Recent situation
In 1991 Bahá'ís continued socio/economic development programs with the establishment of a reforestation project which reached a size and set of results by 1995 that neighboring communities consulted on how to use the project in their own areas.[141] Graduates of Nur University had gained opportunities to serve in a number of circumstances both in the cities and countryside. Perhaps the most prominent of Nur's graduates was the 2001 mayor of Santa Cruz,[142] while the university continued to grow programs for outreach.[143][144] Of its students, 51% have been women and 49% men. Approximately 40% of the students received financial assistance from the University through scholarships, discounts based on economic need or work-study positions. The University employs 180 full and part-time faculty and administrative staff and has an annual operating budget of approximately US$3 million, and in 2001 was the second largest private institution of higher learning in Bolivia.[145]
In 2002, Baha'is in an isolated village help to establish a local school system. The religion had been present since the 1980s and youth had refused to participate in ceremonies in the schools using alcohol. The emboldened youth then challenged their elders on the rate of alcoholic consumption in the community and asked that the money could be pooled for a school. The effort was later expanded when the assembly partnered with other civic organizations.[146]
A national youth conference for Bolivian Bahá'ís was held for over a hundred people in 2006.[147] Translations of Bahá'í literature into a number of dialects of the indigenous in Bolivia have been done before 2007.[148] The government of Bolivia has taken note of the persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran in 2008.[149]
Demographics
The Bahá'í Faith is currently the largest international religious minority in Bolivia.[7] The population is the largest population of Bahá'ís in South America. The country's general population is estimated to be 55%-70% indigenous and 30%-42% Mestizo, with a Bahá'í population estimated at 217,000 in 2005 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.[8]
The Bahá'í Faith in Cameroon was established when the country was separated into two colonies - British and French Cameroon. The first Bahá'í in Cameroon was Enoch Olinga, who had left his homeland of Uganda to bring the religion to British Cameroon in 1953. Meherangiz Munsiff, a young Indian woman who had moved from Britain, arrived in French Cameroon April 1954 - both Olinga and Munsiff were honoured with the title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh. In 2003 Bahá'ís estimated there were 40,000 adherents of the religion in the country. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated about 50800 Bahá'ís in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Kenya began with three individuals. First, Richard St. Barbe Baker took a constructive engagement with the indigenous religion of Kenyans to a United Kingdom conference on religions, where, in sympathy with his efforts, he was presented with the Bahá'í Faith and became a convert. The second individual was Enoch Olinga who traveled to Kenya when he served in the British Royal Army Educational Corps. The third came twenty-one years after the first and marked the arrival of the Bahá'í Faith in Kenya. In 1945 Mrs. Marguerite Preston arrived in Kenya. She had been a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom from 1939 through 1945 when she married a Kenyan tea grower and moved to Kenya where the couple had three children within two years and she was the only Bahá'í in the nation. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated about 429,000 Bahá'ís in Kenya in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Nepal begins after a Nepalese leader encountered the religion in his travels before World War II. Following World War II, the first known Bahá'í to entire Nepal was about 1952 in the person N. P. Sinha who moved to Birganj and the first Nepalese Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly elected in 1959, and its National Assembly in 1972. For a period of time, between 1976 and 1981, all assemblies were dissolved due to legal restrictions. The 2001 census reported 1211 Bahá'ís, and since the 1990s the Bahá'í community of Nepal has been involved in a number of interfaith organizations including the Inter-religious Council of Nepal promoting peace in the country. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 4300 Bahá'ís in 2005.
In 1916-1917 a series of letters by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, asked the followers of the religion to take the religion to regions of Africa; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. In 1929 Shoghi Effendi, then Guardian of the religion, was the first Bahá'í to visit the area. In 1953 several Bahá'ís settled in what was then South Rhodesia as pioneers. Along with indigenous conversions in 1955 the Bahá'ís formed the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was formed in Harare. By the end of 1963 there were 9 assemblies and more smaller groups and isolated members of the religion. While still a colony of the United Kingdom, the Bahá'ís nevertheless organized a separate National Spiritual Assembly in 1964. Though Rhodesia declared independence in 1965, succeeding political developments and wars changed the status of the country and the National Assembly was reformed and has continued since 1970 while Zimbabwe regained independence in 1980. By 2003, the 50th anniversary of the Bahá'ís in Zimbabwe, a year of events across the country culminated with a conference of Bahá'ís from all provinces of Zimbabwe and nine countries. There were 43 local spiritual assemblies in 2003.
The Bahá'í Faith in Dominica begins with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, in 1916 as Latin America being among the places Bahá'ís should take the religion to. The island of Dominica was specifically listed as an objective for plans on spreading the religion in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi, who succeeded `Abdu'l-Baha as head of the religion. In 1983, William Nedden is credited with being the first pioneer to Dominica at the festivities associated with the inaugural election of the Dominican Bahá'ís National Spiritual Assembly with Hand of the Cause, Dhikru'llah Khadem representing the Universal House of Justice. Later research records Ivor Ellard arrived two days before, April 17, 1966. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Dominica was elected in 1976. Since then, Bahá'ís have participated in several projects for the benefit of the wider community, and in 2001 various sources report between less than 1.4% and up to 1.7% of the island's approximately 70,000 citizens are Bahá'ís.
The Bahá'í Faith in Costa Rica begins when `Abdu'l-Bahá mentions it as one of the places Bahá'ís should take the religion to in 1919. However the first pioneers began to settle in Coast Rica in 1940 followed quickly by the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly being elected in San José in April 1941. The National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1961. As of 2009 Bahá'ís sources indicate the national community includes various peoples and tribes and over 4,000 members organized groups in over 30 locations throughout the country. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 13000 Bahá'ís in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Uruguay began after `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, mentioned the country in 1916. The first Bahá'í to enter the country was Martha Root in 1919. The first pioneer to settle there was Wilfrid Barton early in 1940 and the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Montevideo was elected in 1942. By 1961 Uruguayan Bahá'ís had elected the first National Spiritual Assembly and by 1963 there were three Local Assemblies plus other communities. By 2001 there was an estimated 4,000 Bahá'ís in Uruguay.
The Bahá'í Faith in Guyana was first mentioned in Bahá'í sources as early as 1916, the first Bahá'ís visited as early as 1927 but the community was founded in Guyana in 1953 with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers and from Guyanese converts. The community elected the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in 1955 and an independent National Spiritual Assembly in 1977. The country has experienced large migrations and the size of the Bahá'í community has also dramatically changed. In the most recent cycle the 2002 national census showed about 0.1%, or 500, Bahá'ís mostly in three of its Regions though Bahá'ís were noted in every Region. However, by 2005 the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 13,000 Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís are now widely distributed across Guyana and are represented in all major racial groups and regions. The Bahá'í community, while relatively small, is well known for its emphasis on unity, non-involvement in politics and its work in issues such as literacy and youth issues.
The Bahá'í Faith in Spain begins with coverage of events in the history of the Bábí religion in the 1850s. The first mention of Spain in Bahá'í literature was `Abdu'l-Bahá mentioning it as a place to take the religion to in 1916. The first Bahá'í to visit Spain was in 1930 and the first pioneer to stay was Virginia Orbison in January 1947. Following some conversions to the religion the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Madrid was elected in 1948. As of 1959 there were 28 Bahá'ís registered in Spain. Following the spread of the religion the first National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1962. Following the election the breadth of initiatives of the community increased privately until 1968 when the national assembly was able to register as a Non-Catholic Religious Association in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Information and Tourism allowing public religious events and publication and importation of religious materials. Following this the diversity of initiatives of the community significantly expanded. Bahá'ís began operating a permanent Bahá'í school and in 1970 the first Spanish Roma joined the religion. In 1981 the Bahá'ís held a separate school in the north central region of Spain to which over 100 people form 26 communities attended and the Spiritual Assembly of Mallorca held several month long classes in computer usage in 1985. Fifty years after the first local assembly there were 100 assemblies. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 13300 Bahá'ís in 2005. In 2008 the Universal House of Justice picked the Spanish community to host a regional conference for the Iberian peninsula and beyond.
The Bahá'í Faith in Mozambique begins after the mention of Africa in Bahá'í literature when `Abdu'l-Bahá suggested it as a place to take the religion to in 1916. The first know Bahá'í to enter the region was in 1951-52 at Beira when a British pioneer came through on the way to what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The Mozambique Bahá'í community participated in successive stages of regional organization across southern Africa from 1956 through the election of its first Mozambique Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly by 1963 and on to its own National Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1987. Since 1984 the Bahá'ís have begun to hold development projects. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated just over 2,800 Bahá'ís in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Haiti began in 1916 when `Abdu'l-Bahá, the head of the religion, cited Haiti as one of the island countries of the Caribbean where Bahá'ís should establish a religious community. The first Bahá'í to visit the island was Mrs. Harriet Gibbs Marshall, from 1922-1928. Another early Bahá'í to visit Haiti was Leonora Armstrong in 1927. After that, others visited Haiti, and by January 1937 Louis George Gregory visited the island and cited the presence of a small community of Bahá'ís. The first long term pioneers, Ruth and Ellsworth Blackwell, arrived in 1940. Following their arrival the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Haiti was formed in 1942 in Port-au-Prince. From 1951 the Haitian Bahá'ís participated in regional organizations of the religion until 1961 when Haitian Bahá'ís elected their own National Spiritual Assembly and soon took on goals reaching out into neighboring islands. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 23,000 Bahá'ís in Haiti in 2005, and about the same in 2010.
The Bahá'í Faith in Italy dates from 1899 - the earliest known date for Bahá'ís in Italy. Bahá'í sources currently claim about 3,000 adherents in Italy in over 300 locations. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 5000 Bahá'ís in Italy in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Colombia begins with references to the country in Bahá'í literature as early as 1916, with Bahá'ís visiting as early as 1927. The first Colombian joined the religion in 1929 and the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Bogotá in 1944 with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers from the United States and achieved an independent National Spiritual Assembly in 1961. By 1963 there were eleven local assemblies. In the 1980s institutions were developed in Colombia that have influenced activities inside and independent of the religion in other countries: FUNDAEC and the Ruhi Institute. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 70,000 Bahá'ís in 2005, and about the same in 2010.
The Bahá'í Faith in Tanzania begins when the first pioneer, Claire Gung, arrived in 1950 in what was then called Tanganyika. With the first Tanganyikan to join the religion in 1952 the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1952 of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam. In 1956 a regional Bahá'í Assembly which included Tanganyika was elected. Later each of the constituent countries successively formed their own independent Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly and Tanganyika, with Zanzibar, formed its own in 1964 and it and the country was renamed Tanzania. Since 1986 the Bahá'ís have operated the Ruaha Secondary School as a Bahá'í school. In 2005 Bahá'ís were estimated at about 163,800 adherents.
The Bahá'í Faith in Peru begins with references to Peru in Bahá'í literature as early as 1916, with the first Bahá'ís visiting as early as 1919. A functioning community wasn't founded in Peru until the 1930s with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers from the United States which progressed into finding national Peruvian converts and achieved an independent national community in 1961. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 41,900 Bahá'ís in 2005.
The Bahá'í Faith in Hungary started in various mentions of the religion in the 19th century followed by `Abdu'l-Bahá's trip to Hungary in 1913 when Hungary's first Bahá'í joined the religion. The community suffered from World War II and communist rule until the 1980s. The National Assembly was elected in 1992 and growth since then places 2002 estimates by Bahá'ís at between 1100 and 1200 Bahá’is in Hungary, many are Roma. However, according to the 2005 Association of Religion Data Archives data there are close to some 290.
The Bahá'í Faith in Mexico begins with visits of Bahá'ís before 1916. In 1919 letters from the head of the religion, `Abdu'l-Bahá, were published mentioning Mexico as one of the places Bahá'ís should take the religion to. Following further pioneers moving there and making contacts the first Mexican to join the religion was in 1937, followed quickly by the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of all Latin America being elected in 1938. With continued growth the National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1961. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated almost 37900 Bahá'ís in 2005.
The Bahaism in Papua New Guinea begins after 1916 with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, that Bahá'ís should take the religion there. The first Bahá'ís move there in Papua New Guinea arrived there in 1954. With local converts the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1958. The first National Spiritual Assembly was then elected in 1969. According to the census of 2000 showed that the number of Bahá'ís does not exceed 21000. But the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated three times more Bahá'ís at 200.000 or 6% of the nation were Bahá'ís in 2015 Either way it is the largest minority religion in Papua New Guinea, if a small one.
The Bahá'í Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Bahá'í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá'ís in the world in the early 21st century. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity. See Bahá'í statistics.
The Bahá'í Faith in Botswana begins after `Abdu'l-Bahá wrote letters encouraging taking the religion to Africa in 1916. The first Bahá'ís pioneered to Botswana about October 1954 where they befriended many Africans. By 1963 there were two assemblies; seven groups, and one isolated member. The first election of Botswana's Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly was in 1970. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 16000 Bahá'ís in 2005.
↑ "Correspondence teaching in Latin America". Bahá'í News. No.193. March 1947. p.2.
↑ "New Assemblies and Groups in Latin America". Bahá'í News. No.194. April 1947. p.4.
↑ "Success Marks Santiago Congress". Bahá'í News. No.205. March 1948. pp.2–3.
↑ "Among 11 new Latin American Assemblies…". Bahá'í News. No.196. July 1947. p.10.
↑ "Historical Background of the Panama Temple". Bahá'í News. No.493. April 1972. p.2.
↑ "Latin America is helping". Bahá'í News. No.206. April 1948. pp.8–9.
↑ "Latin American News". Bahá'í News. No.213. November 1948. p.9.
↑ "Native Latin Americans Arise". Bahá'í News. No.211. September 1948. p.8.
↑ "Latin American News". Bahá'í News. No.226. December 1949. pp.7–8.
↑ "Latin American News". Bahá'í News. No.227. January 1950. pp.6–7.
↑ "Latin American News". Bahá'í News. No.228. February 1950. pp.9–10.
↑ "In South America". Bahá'í News. No.236. October 1950. pp.8–9.
↑ "Inter-America Committee Report A Mid-Year Analysis". Bahá'í News. No.239. January 1951. pp.8–9.
↑ "Forty-four Assemblies". Bahá'í News. No.246. August 1951. p.12.
↑ "Latin American News". Bahá'í News. No.241. March 1951. p.7.
↑ "Report of Bahá'í Delegates to the U. N. Conference in Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.259. September 1952. pp.10–11.
↑ "Arrivals in Consolidation Areas". Bahá'í News. No.291. May 1955. pp.7–8.
1 2 "International News; South America; Bahá'í Convention held in La Paz". Bahá'í News. No.293. July 1955. p.8.
↑ "InterContinental Committees; Western Hemisphere; Rezsi Sunshine, Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.306. August 1956. p.7.
↑ "South America - National Assembly lists year's activities; New Assemblies, Groups". Bahá'í News. No.306. August 1956. p.13.
↑ "Dr. `Alí-Muhammad Varqá, Hand of the Cause, Mrs. Margery McCormick, representing the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States…". Bahá'í News. No.318. August 1957. p.5.
↑ "Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay - Form National Assembly in Buenos Aires". Bahá'í News. No.316. June 1957. pp.9–10.
↑ "Special School for Huanuni Indian Pioneers". Bahá'í News. No.327. May 1958. pp.20–21.
1 2 "Pure-Hearted Bolivian Indians In Primitive, Inhospitable Land Are Awakening to Baha'i Faith". Bahá'í News. No.333. November 1958. pp.5–6.
↑ "Baha'i School in La Paz, Bolivia, Prepares Indians For Pioneering". Bahá'í News. No.330. August 1958. pp.20–21.
↑ "Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay". Bahá'í News. No.329. July 1958. p.20.
↑ "Spread of Faith in Bolivia Proves Need For Pioneers in Western Hemisphere". Bahá'í News. No.337. March 1959. pp.11–12.
↑ "Hand of the Cause Dr. Grossmann Visits Baha'is in Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.341. July 1959. p.10.
↑ "Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay". Bahá'í News. No.341. July 1959. pp.13–14.
1 2 "Second All-Indian Assembly Formed In Jankohuyo, Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.342. August 1959. pp.7–8.
1 2 "Five New Groups, Three Isolated Centers, Founded Among Bolivian Indians Since last April". Bahá'í News. No.344. October 1959. pp.8–9.
↑ "Teaching Trip and School Attracts Many Bolivian Indians to Faith". Bahá'í News. No.349. March 1960. p.7.
↑ "Message to the Annual Baha'i Conventions From the Hands of the Faith in the Holy Land; Widespread Enrollment of Indigenes". Bahá'í News. No.351. June 1960. pp.4–5.
↑ "First Indian Conference Held in Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.362. May 1961. p.10.
↑ "Indians of Western Hemisphere Embrace faith In Unprecedented Numbers". Bahá'í News. No.362. May 1961. p.11.
↑ "International Baha'i Council Issues First News Letter; The Flame of Mass Conversion". Bahá'í News. No.366. May 1961. pp.1–2.
↑ "Faith Continues Its Progress Among South American Indians". Bahá'í News. No.369. December 1961. p.9.
↑ "The Visit, In Bolivia, of Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga". Bahá'í News. No.474. September 1970. pp.3–4.
1 2 3 4 5 6 prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice (1986). Bahá'í Era 136-140 (1979-1983)(PDF). The Bahá'í World; An International Record. XVIII. Bahá'í World Centre, via University Press, Oxford, by David Stanford Printer to the University. pp.111, 115, 226, 229, 242, 446, 823–824, 845. ISBN0-85398-234-1.
↑ "Continental and Oceanic Conferences; Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.475. October 1970. pp.1–3.
↑ "La Paz, Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.475. October 1970. pp.2–4.
↑ "Renewed Mass Conversion in Bolivia Result of La Paz Continental Conference". Bahá'í News. No.482. May 1971. pp.2–5.
↑ "Outstanding Achievements, Goals". Bahá'í News. No.484. July 1971. p.3.
↑ "Bolivian Conference". Bahá'í News. No.489. December 1971. pp.18–19.
↑ "Soldiers of Light Brave Dark Jungles". Bahá'í News. No.489. October 1972. pp.14–15.
↑ Palin, Iain S. (2002). "Book Review". Bahá'í Journal of the Bahá'í Community of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Kingdom. 19 (2). Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
↑ "Social/economic development; Number of projects growing rapidly; Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.660. March 1986. p.8. ISSN0195-9212.
↑ "Social/economic development; Number of projects growing rapidly; The Americas; Colombia". Bahá'í News. No.660. March 1986. p.10. ISSN0195-9212.
↑ "Around the World; Bolivia". Bahá'í News. No.663. June 1986. p.15. ISSN0195-9212.
↑ "'Trail of Light' Native American teaching effort follows North American Baha'i Native Council". Bahá'í News. No.594. September 1980. pp.6–7. ISSN0195-9212.
↑ "Alaska - A Baha'i community grows, matures". Bahá'í News. No.607. October 1981. pp.1–6. ISSN0195-9212.
1 2 "Native Council - Nearly 400 indigenous believers in North America attend historic gathering at Mother Temple of West". Bahá'í News. No.594. September 1980. pp.2–5. ISSN0195-9212.
↑ Belief and Tolerance: "Lights Amidst the Darkness", by the Bahá'í International Community as a Statement of the Baha'i International Community to the International Consultative Conference on School Education in relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-discrimination, 23 November 2001, Madrid, Spain
Dependencies not included.1Defined as a semi-autonomous territory.
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