Bahá'í Faith in Colombia
Encyclopedia
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
(relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia
) estimated some 68,000 Bahá'ís (0.2% of the population) in 2005.
, 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 America
n 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.
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. In 1927 Leonora Armstrong
was the first Bahá'í to visit and give lectures about the religion in Colombia as part of her plan to compliment and complete Martha Root
's unfulfilled intention of visiting all the Latin American countries for the purpose of presenting the religion to an audience. Aura Sanchez of Bogotá is credited as the first Colombian Bahá'í. She joined the religion in 1929 after hearing of the religion from an American who was in that country.
, 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. In his cable he wrote:
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 was appointed the 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. In 1937 the First Seven Year Plan (1937–44), which was an international plan 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 began to form in 1938 across Latin America.
The permanent Colombian Bahá'í community dates from the arrival of Gerard Sluter in 1940. The next pioneer to arrive was Ruth Shoock who arrived in November–December 1942. followed closely by Winifred Baker in later January 1943. Carlos Nieto is credited with being the first convert - he was from Barranquilla.
Dorothy Beecher Baker, later a Hand of the Cause, had a daughter, Louise Baker, who pioneered to Colombia about 1943. In about later in 1943 Dorothy spent a month in Colombia visiting the Bahá'ís and her daughter. By January 1944 there were six Colombian converts to the religion and they helped elect the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly which was in Bogotá
that January. In 1943 during the annual Bahá'í convention of the United States, Shoghi Effendi announced a Northern-and Southern- international convention which would include representatives from each state and province from the United States and Canada and each republic of Latin America. This 1944 centenary of the religion's All-America Convention's Colombian delegate was Josepbina Rodriquez. By September there were 25 Bahá'ís in Bogotá with about an equal number studying the religion actively. By June 1945 a campaign of letter exchanges had raised an assembly in Mogotes
and there were converts among people at a leper colony
at Contratacion
and individuals in Cartagena and Medellín and interested responses from several other cities. Around October 1946 Gayle Woolson took an extended trip through several towns of Colombia including Cali, Medellín, Cartagena and Barranquilla as well as some towns in Ecuador.
The second South American Bahá'í Congress was celebrated in Santiago, Chile
, in January, 1948 though Colombia had had more new assemblies form - however it was too remote for general logistics. Colombia focused its efforts welcoming Bahá'ís who attended the Pan-American Conference
instead. In October 1949 Colombia hosted a conference for Colombian, Ecuadoran and Venezuelan Bahá'ís on the progress of the religion in their areas however all the participants save two teachers came from the Colombian cities of Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali and Medellín. Then came the prospect of decision making coming from the Latino communities and North Americans supporting their choices. Assemblies across South America failed to reform on their own but several were able to be "activated" during 1950–1. Pioneers listed for Colombia in 1950 were Gayle Woolson, Elise Shreiber, and Dorothy Campbell. In 1950, the South American Bahá'ís formed a regional Spiritual Assembly for South America whose first members were Edmund Miessler of Brazil
, Margot Worley of Brazil, Eve Nicklin of Peru
, Gayle Woolson of Colombia
, Esteban Canales of Paraguay
, Mercedes Sanchez of Peru, Dr. Alexander Reid of Chile
, Rangvald Taetz of Uruguay
, and Manuel Vera of Peru. Of the 25 delegates for the 1951 election, 4 were from Colombia.
From 1951 youth groups were being organized for Bahá'ís in Barranquilla and Cali. In November 1953 pioneers listed for Colombia were Meredith W. Smith and Elton M. Smith. In 1954 Gayle Woolson and Katherine McLaughlin in 1955 was touring Colombia and nearby countries. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Barrett arrived in Bogota, Colombia, in January, 1955. In 1956 Woolson went on pilgrimage
and toured sharing her experience and the national center of Colombia was dedicated.
The next restructuring of the regional assembly came in 1957 when it 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. The convention for northern/eastern Bahá'ís was witnessed by Horace Holley as the representative of Shoghi Effendi. A small book on the Buddha was produced in 1957 by the national assembly. The Colombian Bahá'í community held its first summer school during a national conference in Medelin in January 1958. In 1960 the first assemblies were elected at Manizales, Pereira, and Cartagena. The Bahá'ís of Cali hosted the 4th convention of the regional assembly. In 1960 a three day conference of the World Association of World Federalists was held in Germany and was attended by Colombian delegates and Bahá'ís associated with the Bahá'í International Community
. A Colombian delegate responded positively to the suggestion of a relationship between spirituality and the World Federalist Movement
.
There were 19 delegates to the convention to elect the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Colombia in 1961. The election was witnessed by Hand of the CauseShu'á'u'lláh 'Alá'i who made a public address to at the Museum of Colonial Art before the convention. Its first members were: Charles Hornby, A.K. Kalantar, Luis Montenegro, Ervin L. Thomas, Leonor Porras, Jamshid Meghnot, Marjorie Weddell, Habib Rezvani, and Gloria de Fritzsche. Events and the election were covered by Revista Semana
of the May 15, 1961 issue in a full page article. In short order the national assembly began publishing its Noticias Bahá'is de Colombia as its official publication. The March–April 1961 issue of Cronicos-Israel y America Latina, published in Colombia, carried an article on the religion. It was also in 1961 that the religion was brought to the region of the Guajira department. In 1962 four new assemblies were elected -one of them all-indian and the national assembly was legally incorporated as well.
In 1963 the members of the national assemblies of the world were the delegates to elect the first Universal House of Justice
. The Colombian members of the national assembly that year were: Gloria de Fritzsche, Charles Homby, Louis Montenegro, Leonor Porras, Habib Rezvani, Ellen Sims, Ervin Thomas, Wilma Thomas, Stewart M. Waddell; all of whom were able to attend the international connvention together. In 1963 there were Local Spiritual Assemblies in: Barranquilla
, Bogotá
, Bucaramanga
, Cali
, Cartagena
, one for the region of Southeast Guajira, Leticia (Amazonas), Manizales
, Medellín
, Pereira
, and Riohacha
with smaller groups of Bahá'ís in Dibulla
and Ibagué
, and isolated Bahá'ís in Maicao and Palmira and among its were members of the Wayuu
in the La Guajira Department.
which started in 1964 and Colombia was singled out as having succeeded in its goals so early that several goals were raised in response. The goals included developing school programs. The 1964 summer school was held in November and covered subjects of newly translated The Dawn-Breakers and The Thief in the Night, a book by Hand of the Cause William Sears
and variousBahá'í teachings
and administration
. There was also a separate convention/camp for children. A new organizational unit, the Institute or Training Institute, was another goal and Colombia's first one began to organize and operate in 1965 as part of initiatives focused on the Indian population in the La Guajira region. There was also several series of progressive institute courses used among the Bahá'ís. A regional conference on the progress of the religion in the region was called by the Hands of the Cause
in the western hemisphere in the summer of 1965 at the Bogotá national center along with representatives of the national assembly of Ecuador, Colombia and of the communities of Bogota, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Manizalez, Pereira, Ibagué
,and Ciénaga de Oro
. By winter 1965 there were many Baha'is among both the Colombian and Venezuelan Guajiros
, about 1,000 on the Colombian side and 1,500 on the Venezuelan side. Another stated goal was in the realm of international cooperation - the newly developing Indian Institute of Riohacha was shared with the Venezuelans during the first Guajiro Teacher Training Institute held at Riohacha. Among the participants in this first training were: Rosalba Pimienta, Tiana Arpushana, Tomas Pimienta, Juan Artiz Pimienta, Martha Duarte Arpushana, Maria Teresa Duarte Arpushana, Carmen Pimienta Arpushana, and Martha Epiaya all of Colombia and Rogelio Hernández, José Martin Sempron, Cecilia del Carmen Iguaran, and Maria Cecilía González all of Venezuela. The next institute was held in January 1966 at which the dedication of the building was set and the building, called the Villa Rahmat, as an Institute was completed by August. After constructing the Guajiro Teaching Institute the community united in sending financial aid to Kenya, thus fulfilling that goal. Further to supporting international cooperation among Bahá'í communities the three national assemblies of Brazil, Colombia and Peru joined forces in 1965-66 and sent material resources and traveling teachers for the development of the religion in the elevated Amazon area and Colombia in particular sent pioneers beyond its national borders. First contact with the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina for the Bahá'ís came in 1966 when Helen Hornby and her husband pioneered there. By 1967 there was an election of a local assembly in San Andrés, with a community of nearly one hundred members and sixty-four on Providencia and across Colombia the goal of Bahá'ís living in 100 localities was more than doubled and one locality has been established in each of (then) sixteen departments and other civic divisions. By 1967 eight local assemblies were formed among the Motilones
.
In late 1967 into 1968 Vicente Montezuma, a Panamanian Guaymí
who had previously served in the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Panama, pioneered to the rural areas of Colombia and promulgated the religion especially among the Choco speaking
indians. Almost overlapping his trip Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum
traveled through Venezuela and Colombia from February 1968. On the evening of February 29 she arrived at the Villa Rahmat, the Guajiro Indian Institute. The next evening she showed slides of her trips to Panama, Bolivia, and Argentina Indian to about thirty Riohacha adult and children Bahá'ís. Soon she traveled with local Bahá'ís to the sea salt harvest sands at Manaure
. From there the group went to the homeland of the Yukpa
(Yuko) in the Cesar Department
where she camped in a Plaintain grove. There she promulgated the religion indirectly, by being known as a Bahá'í who was interested in their craft work even among avowed Bahá'ís. From there she and her group ascended into a more remote region and a machete wounded foot of a Bahá'í was tended. Later she offered that though she was raised largely in "city life" she had served an example of travel in the remote regions. From there she visited the Bahá'ís in Barranquilla and Bogotá where she also gave talks. Upon reaching Bogotá several newspapers covered her work - El Espectador, carried a featured story "El Bahá'í Busca la Unidad Humana" by Margarita Vidal Garcia. While in the area she met Leonora Armstrong
. Meanwhile in May one of the first Bahá'ís in San Andrés insisted on a Bahá'í funeral which in turn was covered by local radio and attended by some 500 people including civic and religious leaders and resulted in a large venue for the observance of the Bahá'í Holy Day, the Declaration of the Báb.
Cross border activity in La Guajira continued in 1969 with Venezuelan Guajiro Bahá'ís traveling in Colombia and Colombian Guajiro Bahá'ís attending activities in Venezuela. At the 1969 national convention a number of Yukon/Yukpa delegates attended. The October summer school was held in Cali. And a training institute was established in the Chocó region.
In May 1970 an all-Guajiro Bahá'í conference brought together some 200 Bahá'ís from the region for talks and lessons offered in Spanish and Guajira languages including a history of the religion in the region including noting 110 local assemblies being elected that year: 57 in Colombia: 53 in Venezuela, as well as the dedication of a local Bahá'í House of Worship. In April Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga
took a trip through Colombia and in July a continental conference of Bahá'ís was held in Bolivia at which several delegates from Colombia attended while others from Colombia worked in Brazil. In September new pioneer Bahá'ís reached Santa Lucía, Atlántico
- by 1971 there were over 400 Bahá'ís including the mayor, three classes begun, a regional convention on the progress of the religion, and an institute were operating. In 1970 about fifteen people accounted as the active core of the community in Cali. They began what would turn into - in about two decades - the Ruhi Institute
(see below.)
An informal summary of the community in 1971 showed about 1000 Bahá'ís and expectations of doubling the number of assemblies among the Guajiro Bahá'ís. In 1972 Guajiro Bahá'ís attended the dedication of the Panamanian Bahá'í House of Worship and the Bahá'í population of Santa Lucía was reported at 1200 and had reached neighboring villages during a followup conference in at Manaure. In 1973 Luis Montenegro, former long term member of the National Assembly of Colombia died while climbing the mountains of the Yukpa(Yuko), or Motilon, Indians. At the close of the Nine Year Plan changes had indeed been wrought in Colombia.
Leonora Armstrong attended. A national training institute was dedicated. The first of the Paez people
joined the religion in 1974 due to the service of a Panamanian Bahá'í traveling in Colombia. In 1975 Ruhiyyih Khanum
returned to Colombia but this time it was on the side of the tropical forest during the Green Light Expedition recording her travel up the Amazon river and through other rivers and adjoining lands. She entered Leticia. where she was interviewed by reporters and met with a Ticuna
speaking chief and then citizens of the village. By 1978 a Bahá'í center was raised in Leticia. In 1976 the first citizen of Archipiélago de San Bernardo joined the religion in 1976. Print materials were being produced in Colombia and circulated there and in Ecuador. The religion was introduced to Sogamoso
. The fifth All-Guajira Conference was held in July in Venezuela. In 1977 the Brazil, Colombia and Peru Bahá'í communities formed a committee to coordinate efforts in the border regions deep in the Amazon. A 1978 institute covered the relationship between the elected and appointed aspects of Bahá'í administration
for some 30 Bahá'ís in Riohacha
. In 1980 the Bahá'í International Community
reported on projects Bahá'ís communities had carried out for the International Year of the Child
- the national assembly of Colombia published a compilation Educacion Espiritual de los Niños and the Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum International Institute of the Amazon Region was dedicated February in Leticia. In April on the west side of Colombia and the Bahá'ís of Pasto
hosted the first Colombian-Ecuadorian Bahá'í Frontier Conference on the promulgation of the religion in the area with about 120 participants. Under the cooperation of the two national assemblies a commission was appointed to coordinate efforts in the area. Among the initiatives reviewed was the Ecuadorian Bahá'í Radio station who's broadcast covers some of Ecuador and Colombia. In addition to more Bahá'ís the goal's included the responsibility for children's classes, women's activities, and assembly development programs and was centered from the Puerta Tejada Ruhi Institute and graduation was the act of explaining each completed course satisfactorily to at least five other Bahá'ís. Attendees at the conference also reviewed the events surrounding the death of Enoch Olinga
, his wife, and three of their children, as well as the life of service of Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir
who had died in Ecuador the year before.
In 1982 some 1,300 Baha'is from 42 countries gathered August in Quito, 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
.
The idea for a Trail of Light occurred during preparations for the first Bahá'í Native Council (see Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans
) in 1978. Another inspiration for the Trail of Light was the concept of promulgating the religion among the indigenous peoples in the Pacific Rim
that was described by the Hand of the Cause Rahmátu'llah Muhájir
in 1978. The Trail of Light, also known as Camino del Sol, was 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. The first Trail of Light traveling trip by 22 members of the religion occurred spontaneously immediately after the council. In 1985 the Trail of Light project began its work in Colombia. Among the participants were two youth from the Guaymi tribe in Panama; six members from the Guajiros, the Colombo-Venezuelan tribe, and two youth from the Paez, a tribe in southern Colombia. They first traveled to the Guajira region and re-affirmed the religion among the Bahá'ís there and the group performed dances which inspired the Guajiros to offer their own dance, the Chichamaya, which had been illegal. The group was invited to the local high school where the Guaymis shared the story of the impact of the religion among their people (see Bahá'í Faith in Panama
.) The group was then invited to the elementary school. From Guajira the group headed to Valledupar
and then on to the homeland of the Arhuaco tribe in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
. There the group met with the leadership, the Mamos, or elders of the community for permission to present the message they had come to give. Various of the group presented to the Mamos including the Guaymi and their interpretation of their own prophecies. An elder shared that the Arhuaco had a similar prophecy. The Trail of Light group was allowed to make their presentations and exchanges of dances and talks followed. From there the group traveled to see the Yukpa
(Yuko) tribe. With the Yuko the group was able to hold a unity feast and shared dances and stayed for three days before heading home.
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. Since the 1970s the Colombian Bahá'ís have developed a pair of important institutions - FUNDAEC, and the Ruhi Institute.
was founded by group of professors at the University of Valle
. According to Gustav Correa, director of FUNDAEC, it was originally inspired by a quotation from Bahá'u'lláh
- "Baha'u'llah talks about man as 'a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.' He says that 'education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom'. In 1983 Gustavo Correa presented on the FUNDAEC project to Association for Bahá'í Studies 8th annual Conference. In 1985 an advisor of a development committee assisting the Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School
visited the FUNDAEC project in Cali to look for insights in development work.
One of the authors was Farzam Arbab and president of FUNDAEC from 1974 to 1988, would also serve in several capacities for the religion including being a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Colombia, a Continental Counsellor, appointed to the International Teaching Centre and eventually elected to the Universal House of Justice
in 1993.
FUNDAEC has instituted a number of development projects: the Centro Universitario de Bienestar Rural, the "Tutorial Learning System" or "SAT" (the Spanish acronym for "Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial") and a micro-finance Project. The SAT was particularly successful with cutting the process of urbanization
, increases in democratic behavior and aspects of gender equality, extra curricular activities in communities, stopping migratory movement of populations, and established public-private cooperation in Colombia. By 2002 the SAT system was in use in Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia and the first phases of the implementation of the program have started in Zambia. Parallel to SAT, FUNDAEC began a micro-finance initiative as well.
, a Bahá'í study circle
, began as an initiative of the community with a commitment starting in 1970. In 1980 a Ruhi Institute was operating in the border area where Ecuador and Colombia meet. About 1980 one of the Auxiliary Board members in Colombia entered into a process of consultation with several rural communities around the town of Puerto Tejada in order to help them identify steps. they could take to improve their own social conditions. An early aim was to establish nurseries and kindergartens. In 1983 it published its first course Principles and Beliefs, Course 1: Life and Death. The courses developed as a "Core Activities Initiative". In 1983 there was discussion of using the Ruhi Institute process in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico. In 1984 Bahá'í Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela met at the Ruhi Institute in Puerto Tejada and discussed the Ruhi Institute courses and the Ruhi courses were used in the Central African Republic. Counsellors and representatives of 17 National Spiritual Assemblies in the Caribbean basin and Latin America gathered in St. Lucia to introduce and study materials prepared at the Ruhi Institute in Colombia and Honduran Bahá'ís attended the Cali Ruhi Institute with the intention of returning to Honduras as trainers in the Ruhi methods. In 1987 the institute wrote its first course book on the education of children. In 1988 the national assembly decided to seek legal recognition for the Ruhi Institute by incorporating it as an organization with its own Board of Directors appointed by the assembly. It dedicates its efforts to the development of human resources for the spiritual, social, and cultural development of the Colombian people
. Although its center is in the town of Puerto Tejada in the department of Cauca
, its area of influence extends throughout the entire country. Especially in recent years, its educational programs have been adopted by an increasing number of agencies worldwide.
If individuals developed interests in contributing to society beyond those of the formal Ruhi courses they were introduced to the opportunities provided by FUNDAEC.
estimated some 64,000 Bahá'ís in Colombia ranking it as among the top 20 Bahá'í communities of the world. The Association of Religion Data Archives
(relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 68,000 Bahá'ís (0.2% of the population) in 2005. Wolfram Alpha
estimated 0.1531% of Colombians or almost 69000 were Bahá'ís in 2010.
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
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
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
in 1944 with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
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"...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
FUNDAEC
FUNDAEC, the acronym in Spanish for “The Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences”, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on training and development in the rural areas of Colombia and other countries in Latin America...
and the Ruhi Institute
Ruhi Institute
The Ruhi Institute is an educational institution, operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith in Colombia. The general idea of an institute in Bahá'í terms originates with the beginning of the Nine Year Plan designated by the Universal House of Justice...
. The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
) estimated some 68,000 Bahá'ís (0.2% of the population) in 2005.
`Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan
`Abdu'l-Bahá`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
, 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1916-1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan
Tablets of the Divine Plan
The Tablets of the Divine Plan collectively refers to 14 letters written between September 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,...
. The sixth of the tablets was the first to mention Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n 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
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. The sixth tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohráb was a Persian-American author and Bahá'í who co-founded the New History Society and the Caravan of East and West in New York, and was excommunicated from the Bahá'í Faith in 1939 by Shoghi Effendi.-Early life:...
on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West
Star of the West (Bahá'í magazine)
The Star of the West was a Bahá'í periodical which began publication on March 21, 1910 and ended publication under this title in March of 1935....
magazine on December 12, 1919.
"His Holiness ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
says: Travel ye to the East and to the West of the world and summon the people to the Kingdom of GodKingdom of GodThe Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
. ... the republic of Mexico...to be familiar with the Spanish languageSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
...GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and the seventh country BelizeBelizeBelize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
...Attach great importance to the indigenousIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
population of America...Likewise the islands of ...CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, ... Bahama Islands, even the small Watling Island...HaitiHaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and Santo DomingoSanto DomingoSanto Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
...the islands of BermudaBermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
... the republics of the continent of South America—ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, The GuianasThe GuianasThe Guyanas or the Guianas refers to a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories:* French Guiana, an overseas department of France;...
, BoliviaBoliviaBolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, ParaguayParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
; also the islands to the north, east and west of South America, such as Falkland IslandsFalkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, the GalapagòsGalápagos IslandsThe Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
, Juan FernandezJuan Fernández IslandsThe Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first...
, Tobago and TrinidadTrinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
...."
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. In 1927 Leonora Armstrong
Leonora Armstrong
Leonora Holsapple Armstrong was the first Bahá'í to live in Brazil and she is regarded as a 'Spiritual Mother of the Bahá'ís of Latin America'...
was the first Bahá'í to visit and give lectures about the religion in Colombia as part of her plan to compliment and complete Martha Root
Martha Root
Martha Louise Root was a prominent traveling teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early 20th century. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith called her "the foremost travel teacher in the first Bahá'í Century", and named her a Hand of the Cause posthumously...
's unfulfilled intention of visiting all the Latin American countries for the purpose of presenting the religion to an audience. Aura Sanchez of Bogotá is credited as the first Colombian Bahá'í. She joined the religion in 1929 after hearing of the religion from an American who was in that country.
Early Phase
Shoghi EffendiShoghi Effendi
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...
, who was named `Abdu'l-Bahá's successor, wrote a cable
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
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. In his cable he wrote:
"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."
Following the May 1st cable, another cable from Shoghi Effendi came on May 19 calling for permanent pioneers
Pioneering (Bahá'í)
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"...
to be established in all the countries of Latin America. The Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada was appointed the 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
Bahá'í House of Worship
A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of Mashriqu'l-Adhkár ,is the designation of a place of worship, or temple, of the Bahá'í Faith...
in Wilmette, Illinois. In 1937 the First Seven Year Plan (1937–44), which was an international plan 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 began to form in 1938 across Latin America.
The permanent Colombian Bahá'í community dates from the arrival of Gerard Sluter in 1940. The next pioneer to arrive was Ruth Shoock who arrived in November–December 1942. followed closely by Winifred Baker in later January 1943. Carlos Nieto is credited with being the first convert - he was from Barranquilla.
Dorothy Beecher Baker, later a Hand of the Cause, had a daughter, Louise Baker, who pioneered to Colombia about 1943. In about later in 1943 Dorothy spent a month in Colombia visiting the Bahá'ís and her daughter. By January 1944 there were six Colombian converts to the religion and they helped elect the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly which was in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
that January. In 1943 during the annual Bahá'í convention of the United States, Shoghi Effendi announced a Northern-and Southern- international convention which would include representatives from each state and province from the United States and Canada and each republic of Latin America. This 1944 centenary of the religion's All-America Convention's Colombian delegate was Josepbina Rodriquez. By September there were 25 Bahá'ís in Bogotá with about an equal number studying the religion actively. By June 1945 a campaign of letter exchanges had raised an assembly in Mogotes
Mogotes
For the geological feature, see Mogote.Mogotes is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia....
and there were converts among people at a leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
at Contratacion
Contratación
Contratación is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia....
and individuals in Cartagena and Medellín and interested responses from several other cities. Around October 1946 Gayle Woolson took an extended trip through several towns of Colombia including Cali, Medellín, Cartagena and Barranquilla as well as some towns in Ecuador.
Growth
As 1947 opened assemblies were added in Cali, Medellín, Cartagena and Contratacion. Gayle Woolson was again touring several cities of Colombia - Medellín, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Mogotes. The members of the Medellín assembly were Francisco Onego R., Bernarda Yepes, Margarita Caicedo, Hernando Jaramillo A., William Gomez M., Dario Echavarria, John Carder, Augusto Mora, Jose Ramos. By July 1947 a regional committee for South America Central American was organizing developments across the continent. 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. The process was well underway by 1950 and was to be enforced about 1953. Meanwhile a regional committee oversaw Colombian activities headed by Dr. Saul Hernández out of Bogotá and Woolson's travels were covered by newspaper and radio press.The second South American Bahá'í Congress was celebrated in Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, in January, 1948 though Colombia had had more new assemblies form - however it was too remote for general logistics. Colombia focused its efforts welcoming Bahá'ís who attended the Pan-American Conference
Pan-American Conference
The Conferences of American States, commonly referred to as the Pan-American Conferences, were meetings of the Pan-American Union, an international organization for cooperation on trade and other issues. They were first introduced by James G. Blaine of Maine in order to establish closer ties...
instead. In October 1949 Colombia hosted a conference for Colombian, Ecuadoran and Venezuelan Bahá'ís on the progress of the religion in their areas however all the participants save two teachers came from the Colombian cities of Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cali and Medellín. Then came the prospect of decision making coming from the Latino communities and North Americans supporting their choices. Assemblies across South America failed to reform on their own but several were able to be "activated" during 1950–1. Pioneers listed for Colombia in 1950 were Gayle Woolson, Elise Shreiber, and Dorothy Campbell. In 1950, the South American Bahá'ís formed a regional Spiritual Assembly for South America whose first members were Edmund Miessler of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Margot Worley of Brazil, Eve Nicklin of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Gayle Woolson of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Esteban Canales of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Mercedes Sanchez of Peru, Dr. Alexander Reid of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Rangvald Taetz of Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and Manuel Vera of Peru. Of the 25 delegates for the 1951 election, 4 were from Colombia.
From 1951 youth groups were being organized for Bahá'ís in Barranquilla and Cali. In November 1953 pioneers listed for Colombia were Meredith W. Smith and Elton M. Smith. In 1954 Gayle Woolson and Katherine McLaughlin in 1955 was touring Colombia and nearby countries. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Barrett arrived in Bogota, Colombia, in January, 1955. In 1956 Woolson went on pilgrimage
Bahá'í pilgrimage
A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí at the Bahá'í World Centre in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage....
and toured sharing her experience and the national center of Colombia was dedicated.
The next restructuring of the regional assembly came in 1957 when it 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. The convention for northern/eastern Bahá'ís was witnessed by Horace Holley as the representative of Shoghi Effendi. A small book on the Buddha was produced in 1957 by the national assembly. The Colombian Bahá'í community held its first summer school during a national conference in Medelin in January 1958. In 1960 the first assemblies were elected at Manizales, Pereira, and Cartagena. The Bahá'ís of Cali hosted the 4th convention of the regional assembly. In 1960 a three day conference of the World Association of World Federalists was held in Germany and was attended by Colombian delegates and Bahá'ís associated with the Bahá'í International Community
Bahá'í International Community
The Bahá'í International Community, or the BIC, is an international non-governmental organization representing the members of the Bahá'í Faith; it was first chartered in March 1948 with the United Nations, and currently has affiliates in over 180 countries and territories.The BIC seeks to "promote...
. A Colombian delegate responded positively to the suggestion of a relationship between spirituality and the World Federalist Movement
World Federalist Movement
The World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
.
There were 19 delegates to the convention to elect the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Colombia in 1961. The election was witnessed by Hand of the CauseShu'á'u'lláh 'Alá'i who made a public address to at the Museum of Colonial Art before the convention. Its first members were: Charles Hornby, A.K. Kalantar, Luis Montenegro, Ervin L. Thomas, Leonor Porras, Jamshid Meghnot, Marjorie Weddell, Habib Rezvani, and Gloria de Fritzsche. Events and the election were covered by Revista Semana
Revista Semana
Semana or Revista Semana is a Colombian-based weekly magazine. It was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo , but was shut down after a controversial cover depicting Cuban leader Fidel Castro.In 1983, journalist Felipe López Caballero re-founded the magazine...
of the May 15, 1961 issue in a full page article. In short order the national assembly began publishing its Noticias Bahá'is de Colombia as its official publication. The March–April 1961 issue of Cronicos-Israel y America Latina, published in Colombia, carried an article on the religion. It was also in 1961 that the religion was brought to the region of the Guajira department. In 1962 four new assemblies were elected -one of them all-indian and the national assembly was legally incorporated as well.
In 1963 the members of the national assemblies of the world were the delegates to elect the first Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
. The Colombian members of the national assembly that year were: Gloria de Fritzsche, Charles Homby, Louis Montenegro, Leonor Porras, Habib Rezvani, Ellen Sims, Ervin Thomas, Wilma Thomas, Stewart M. Waddell; all of whom were able to attend the international connvention together. In 1963 there were Local Spiritual Assemblies in: Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga
Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
, Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
, Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
, one for the region of Southeast Guajira, Leticia (Amazonas), Manizales
Manizales
Manizales is a city and municipality in central Colombia, capital of Department of Caldas and part of the region of Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano....
, Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Pereira
Pereira, Colombia
Pereira is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It stands in the center of the western region of the country, located in a small valley that descends from a part of the western Andes mountain chain. Its strategic location in the coffee producing area makes the city an urban...
, and Riohacha
Riohacha
Riohacha, Rio Hacha or Rio de la Hacha , is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea, capital city of the La Guajira Department. Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named...
with smaller groups of Bahá'ís in Dibulla
Dibulla, La Guajira
Dibulla is a town and municipality located in the Department of La Guajira, Colombia by the Caribbean sea and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains on the Guajira Peninsula...
and Ibagué
Ibagué
Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...
, and isolated Bahá'ís in Maicao and Palmira and among its were members of the Wayuu
Wayuu
Wayuu is an Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. They are part of the Maipurean language family.- Geography :...
in the La Guajira Department.
Nine Year Plan and the organization of Colombian Bahá'ís
The Bahá'ís of Colombia were given 10 goals for the Nine Year Plan designated by the Universal House of JusticeUniversal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
which started in 1964 and Colombia was singled out as having succeeded in its goals so early that several goals were raised in response. The goals included developing school programs. The 1964 summer school was held in November and covered subjects of newly translated The Dawn-Breakers and The Thief in the Night, a book by Hand of the Cause William Sears
William Sears (Bahá'í)
William Sears was a Hand of the Cause of God, writer and a popular television and radio personality. In 2010, he was honored at the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival for achieving excellence as a professional media personality.-Personal life:Sears was married twice and had two children...
and variousBahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...
and administration
Bahá'í administration
The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith.It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed...
. There was also a separate convention/camp for children. A new organizational unit, the Institute or Training Institute, was another goal and Colombia's first one began to organize and operate in 1965 as part of initiatives focused on the Indian population in the La Guajira region. There was also several series of progressive institute courses used among the Bahá'ís. A regional conference on the progress of the religion in the region was called by the Hands of the Cause
Hands of the Cause
The Hands of the Cause of God, Hands of the Cause, or Hands were a select group of Bahá'ís, appointed for life, whose main function was to propagate and protect the Bahá'í Faith...
in the western hemisphere in the summer of 1965 at the Bogotá national center along with representatives of the national assembly of Ecuador, Colombia and of the communities of Bogota, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cali, Manizalez, Pereira, Ibagué
Ibagué
Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...
,and Ciénaga de Oro
Ciénaga de Oro
Ciénaga de Oro is a town and municipality located in the Córdoba Department, northern Colombia....
. By winter 1965 there were many Baha'is among both the Colombian and Venezuelan Guajiros
Wayuu
Wayuu is an Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. They are part of the Maipurean language family.- Geography :...
, about 1,000 on the Colombian side and 1,500 on the Venezuelan side. Another stated goal was in the realm of international cooperation - the newly developing Indian Institute of Riohacha was shared with the Venezuelans during the first Guajiro Teacher Training Institute held at Riohacha. Among the participants in this first training were: Rosalba Pimienta, Tiana Arpushana, Tomas Pimienta, Juan Artiz Pimienta, Martha Duarte Arpushana, Maria Teresa Duarte Arpushana, Carmen Pimienta Arpushana, and Martha Epiaya all of Colombia and Rogelio Hernández, José Martin Sempron, Cecilia del Carmen Iguaran, and Maria Cecilía González all of Venezuela. The next institute was held in January 1966 at which the dedication of the building was set and the building, called the Villa Rahmat, as an Institute was completed by August. After constructing the Guajiro Teaching Institute the community united in sending financial aid to Kenya, thus fulfilling that goal. Further to supporting international cooperation among Bahá'í communities the three national assemblies of Brazil, Colombia and Peru joined forces in 1965-66 and sent material resources and traveling teachers for the development of the religion in the elevated Amazon area and Colombia in particular sent pioneers beyond its national borders. First contact with the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina for the Bahá'ís came in 1966 when Helen Hornby and her husband pioneered there. By 1967 there was an election of a local assembly in San Andrés, with a community of nearly one hundred members and sixty-four on Providencia and across Colombia the goal of Bahá'ís living in 100 localities was more than doubled and one locality has been established in each of (then) sixteen departments and other civic divisions. By 1967 eight local assemblies were formed among the Motilones
Motilone Barí
The Motilone, or Bari are names of a Native American ethnic group, part of the Chibcha family, remnants of the Tairona Culture concentrated in northeastern Colombia and western Venezuela in the Catatumbo River basin, in the Colombian Department of Northern Santander in the Sierra Nevada de Santa...
.
In late 1967 into 1968 Vicente Montezuma, a Panamanian Guaymí
Guaymí
The Guaymí or Ngäbe are an indigenous group living mainly within the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro, as well as in the indigenous town of Conte, Costa Rica near the extreme southern tip of the country...
who had previously served in the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Panama, pioneered to the rural areas of Colombia and promulgated the religion especially among the Choco speaking
Choco languages
The Choco languages are a small family of Native American languages spread across Colombia and Panama.-Family division:Choco consists of perhaps ten languages, half of them extinct....
indians. Almost overlapping his trip Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
traveled through Venezuela and Colombia from February 1968. On the evening of February 29 she arrived at the Villa Rahmat, the Guajiro Indian Institute. The next evening she showed slides of her trips to Panama, Bolivia, and Argentina Indian to about thirty Riohacha adult and children Bahá'ís. Soon she traveled with local Bahá'ís to the sea salt harvest sands at Manaure
Manaure, La Guajira
Manaure or Salinas de Manaure is a town and municipality located in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Manaure's main economic activity is the exploitation of the vast amounts of salt in the area.-Geography:...
. From there the group went to the homeland of the Yukpa
Yukpa
Yukpa is an Amerindian ethnic group that inhabits the northeastern part of the Cesar Department in northern Colombia by the Serrania del Perija bordering Venezuela. Their territory covers the eastern areas of the municipalities of Robles La Paz, Codazzi and Becerril in Resguardos named Socorpa,...
(Yuko) in the Cesar Department
Cesar Department
Cesar Department or simply Cesar is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with the Department of Magdalena and Department of Bolivar, to the south with Department of Santander, to...
where she camped in a Plaintain grove. There she promulgated the religion indirectly, by being known as a Bahá'í who was interested in their craft work even among avowed Bahá'ís. From there she and her group ascended into a more remote region and a machete wounded foot of a Bahá'í was tended. Later she offered that though she was raised largely in "city life" she had served an example of travel in the remote regions. From there she visited the Bahá'ís in Barranquilla and Bogotá where she also gave talks. Upon reaching Bogotá several newspapers covered her work - El Espectador, carried a featured story "El Bahá'í Busca la Unidad Humana" by Margarita Vidal Garcia. While in the area she met Leonora Armstrong
Leonora Armstrong
Leonora Holsapple Armstrong was the first Bahá'í to live in Brazil and she is regarded as a 'Spiritual Mother of the Bahá'ís of Latin America'...
. Meanwhile in May one of the first Bahá'ís in San Andrés insisted on a Bahá'í funeral which in turn was covered by local radio and attended by some 500 people including civic and religious leaders and resulted in a large venue for the observance of the Bahá'í Holy Day, the Declaration of the Báb.
Cross border activity in La Guajira continued in 1969 with Venezuelan Guajiro Bahá'ís traveling in Colombia and Colombian Guajiro Bahá'ís attending activities in Venezuela. At the 1969 national convention a number of Yukon/Yukpa delegates attended. The October summer school was held in Cali. And a training institute was established in the Chocó region.
In May 1970 an all-Guajiro Bahá'í conference brought together some 200 Bahá'ís from the region for talks and lessons offered in Spanish and Guajira languages including a history of the religion in the region including noting 110 local assemblies being elected that year: 57 in Colombia: 53 in Venezuela, as well as the dedication of a local Bahá'í House of Worship. In April Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga was born to an Anglican family of the Iteso ethnic group in Uganda. He became a Bahá'í, earned the title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh and was appointed as the youngest Hand of the Cause, the highest appointed position in the religion. He served the interests of the religion widely and...
took a trip through Colombia and in July a continental conference of Bahá'ís was held in Bolivia at which several delegates from Colombia attended while others from Colombia worked in Brazil. In September new pioneer Bahá'ís reached Santa Lucía, Atlántico
Santa Lucía, Atlántico
Santa Lucía is a municipality and town in the Colombian department of Atlántico.-External links:...
- by 1971 there were over 400 Bahá'ís including the mayor, three classes begun, a regional convention on the progress of the religion, and an institute were operating. In 1970 about fifteen people accounted as the active core of the community in Cali. They began what would turn into - in about two decades - the Ruhi Institute
Ruhi Institute
The Ruhi Institute is an educational institution, operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith in Colombia. The general idea of an institute in Bahá'í terms originates with the beginning of the Nine Year Plan designated by the Universal House of Justice...
(see below.)
An informal summary of the community in 1971 showed about 1000 Bahá'ís and expectations of doubling the number of assemblies among the Guajiro Bahá'ís. In 1972 Guajiro Bahá'ís attended the dedication of the Panamanian Bahá'í House of Worship and the Bahá'í population of Santa Lucía was reported at 1200 and had reached neighboring villages during a followup conference in at Manaure. In 1973 Luis Montenegro, former long term member of the National Assembly of Colombia died while climbing the mountains of the Yukpa(Yuko), or Motilon, Indians. At the close of the Nine Year Plan changes had indeed been wrought in Colombia.
Projects and developments, wider growth
In 1974 a conference was held in Cali with Bahá'ís from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia attending and now appointed Continental CounselorInstitution of the Counsellors
The Counsellors are part of the administrative order of the Bahá'í Faith, and are part of a greater administrative branch called the Institution of the Counsellors, established by the Universal House of Justice in 1968....
Leonora Armstrong attended. A national training institute was dedicated. The first of the Paez people
Paez people
The Paez, also known as the Nasa, are a Native American people who live in the Andes Mountains of Colombia.-Religion:In the early 1900s, Lazarists built missions among the Paez and began the work to convert them to Christianity. Jesuits had originally tried to convert the Paez, but failed. However,...
joined the religion in 1974 due to the service of a Panamanian Bahá'í traveling in Colombia. In 1975 Ruhiyyih Khanum
Rúhíyyih Khanum
Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum , born Mary Sutherland Maxwell was the wife of Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921–1957. She was appointed by him as a Hand of the Cause, and served an important role in the transfer of authority from 1957–1963...
returned to Colombia but this time it was on the side of the tropical forest during the Green Light Expedition recording her travel up the Amazon river and through other rivers and adjoining lands. She entered Leticia. where she was interviewed by reporters and met with a Ticuna
Ticuna language
Tïcuna, or Tïkuna, is a language spoken by approximately 40,000 people in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. It is the native language of the Tïcuna people. Tïcuna is generally classified as a language isolate, but may be related to the extinct Yuri language...
speaking chief and then citizens of the village. By 1978 a Bahá'í center was raised in Leticia. In 1976 the first citizen of Archipiélago de San Bernardo joined the religion in 1976. Print materials were being produced in Colombia and circulated there and in Ecuador. The religion was introduced to Sogamoso
Sogamoso
Sogamoso is a city in the Boyacá department of Colombia.The origin of Sogamoso goes back in the cosmogony, Chibcha, to the creation of the Sun. In the valley of Iraca the Sun was born...
. The fifth All-Guajira Conference was held in July in Venezuela. In 1977 the Brazil, Colombia and Peru Bahá'í communities formed a committee to coordinate efforts in the border regions deep in the Amazon. A 1978 institute covered the relationship between the elected and appointed aspects of Bahá'í administration
Bahá'í administration
The Bahá'í administration or Bahá'í administrative order refers to the administrative system of the Bahá'í Faith.It is split into two parts, the elected and the appointed...
for some 30 Bahá'ís in Riohacha
Riohacha
Riohacha, Rio Hacha or Rio de la Hacha , is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea, capital city of the La Guajira Department. Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named...
. In 1980 the Bahá'í International Community
Bahá'í International Community
The Bahá'í International Community, or the BIC, is an international non-governmental organization representing the members of the Bahá'í Faith; it was first chartered in March 1948 with the United Nations, and currently has affiliates in over 180 countries and territories.The BIC seeks to "promote...
reported on projects Bahá'ís communities had carried out for the International Year of the Child
International Year of the Child
* Maureen Millicent Bomford founded International Year of The Child and it was endorsed by the United Nations. Maureen was born in Canterbury Punchbowl in 1930 and had four brothers. Her father was a Mayor and she always learned to appreciate the value of leadership. As the wife of a prominent...
- the national assembly of Colombia published a compilation Educacion Espiritual de los Niños and the Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum International Institute of the Amazon Region was dedicated February in Leticia. In April on the west side of Colombia and the Bahá'ís of Pasto
Pasto
Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto, is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwest Colombia. The city is located in the "Atriz Valley", on the Andes cordillera, at the foot of the Galeras volcano, at an altitude of 8,290 feet above sea level...
hosted the first Colombian-Ecuadorian Bahá'í Frontier Conference on the promulgation of the religion in the area with about 120 participants. Under the cooperation of the two national assemblies a commission was appointed to coordinate efforts in the area. Among the initiatives reviewed was the Ecuadorian Bahá'í Radio station who's broadcast covers some of Ecuador and Colombia. In addition to more Bahá'ís the goal's included the responsibility for children's classes, women's activities, and assembly development programs and was centered from the Puerta Tejada Ruhi Institute and graduation was the act of explaining each completed course satisfactorily to at least five other Bahá'ís. Attendees at the conference also reviewed the events surrounding the death of Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga
Enoch Olinga was born to an Anglican family of the Iteso ethnic group in Uganda. He became a Bahá'í, earned the title Knight of Bahá'u'lláh and was appointed as the youngest Hand of the Cause, the highest appointed position in the religion. He served the interests of the religion widely and...
, his wife, and three of their children, as well as the life of service of Rahmatu'lláh Muhájir
Rahmátu'llah Muhájir
Raḥmatu'lláh Muhájir was a prominent fourth generation Bahá'í, born on 4 April 1923 in the town of 'Abdu'l-'Azím, Iran. In 1954, Dr Muhájir married Írán Furútan, the daughter of `Alí-Akbar Furútan, and together they pioneered to the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia...
who had died in Ecuador the year before.
In 1982 some 1,300 Baha'is from 42 countries gathered August in Quito, 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
Bahiyyih Khánum
Bahíyyih Khánum the only daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and Ásíyih Khánum. She was born in 1846 with the given name Fatimih Sultan, and was entitled "Varaqiy-i-'Ulyá" or "Greatest Holy Leaf"...
.
The idea for a Trail of Light occurred during preparations for the first Bahá'í Native Council (see Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans
Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans
The Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans has a history reaching back to the lifetime of `Abdu'l-Bahá and has multiplied its relationships across the Americas...
) in 1978. Another inspiration for the Trail of Light was the concept of promulgating the religion among the indigenous peoples in the Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
that was described by the Hand of the Cause Rahmátu'llah Muhájir
Rahmátu'llah Muhájir
Raḥmatu'lláh Muhájir was a prominent fourth generation Bahá'í, born on 4 April 1923 in the town of 'Abdu'l-'Azím, Iran. In 1954, Dr Muhájir married Írán Furútan, the daughter of `Alí-Akbar Furútan, and together they pioneered to the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia...
in 1978. The Trail of Light, also known as Camino del Sol, was 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. The first Trail of Light traveling trip by 22 members of the religion occurred spontaneously immediately after the council. In 1985 the Trail of Light project began its work in Colombia. Among the participants were two youth from the Guaymi tribe in Panama; six members from the Guajiros, the Colombo-Venezuelan tribe, and two youth from the Paez, a tribe in southern Colombia. They first traveled to the Guajira region and re-affirmed the religion among the Bahá'ís there and the group performed dances which inspired the Guajiros to offer their own dance, the Chichamaya, which had been illegal. The group was invited to the local high school where the Guaymis shared the story of the impact of the religion among their people (see Bahá'í Faith in Panama
Bahá'í Faith in Panama
The history of the Bahá'í Faith in Panama begins with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the Bahá'í Faith, in the book Tablets of the Divine Plan, published in 1919; the same year, Martha Root made a trip around South America and included Panama on the return leg of the trip up the west coast....
.) The group was then invited to the elementary school. From Guajira the group headed to Valledupar
Valledupar
Valledupar is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department and was founded in 1550 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Santana. Its name, Valle de Upar , was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; Cacique Upar...
and then on to the homeland of the Arhuaco tribe in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range apart from the Andes chain that runs through Colombia. Reaching an altitude of 5,700 metres above sea level just 42 km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is the world's highest coastal range...
. There the group met with the leadership, the Mamos, or elders of the community for permission to present the message they had come to give. Various of the group presented to the Mamos including the Guaymi and their interpretation of their own prophecies. An elder shared that the Arhuaco had a similar prophecy. The Trail of Light group was allowed to make their presentations and exchanges of dances and talks followed. From there the group traveled to see the Yukpa
Yukpa
Yukpa is an Amerindian ethnic group that inhabits the northeastern part of the Cesar Department in northern Colombia by the Serrania del Perija bordering Venezuela. Their territory covers the eastern areas of the municipalities of Robles La Paz, Codazzi and Becerril in Resguardos named Socorpa,...
(Yuko) tribe. With the Yuko the group was able to hold a unity feast and shared dances and stayed for three days before heading home.
Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics. Since the 1970s the Colombian Bahá'ís have developed a pair of important institutions - FUNDAEC, and the Ruhi Institute.
FUNDAEC
Against a backdrop of serious social disruption and violence across Colombia Bahá'ís turned to service to the people living in the countryside. In 1974 FUNDAECFUNDAEC
FUNDAEC, the acronym in Spanish for “The Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences”, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on training and development in the rural areas of Colombia and other countries in Latin America...
was founded by group of professors at the University of Valle
University of Valle
The University of Valle , also called Univalle, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based primarily in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It is the largest higher education institution by student population in the southwest of the country, and the third in...
. According to Gustav Correa, director of FUNDAEC, it was originally inspired by a quotation from Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
- "Baha'u'llah talks about man as 'a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.' He says that 'education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom'. In 1983 Gustavo Correa presented on the FUNDAEC project to Association for Bahá'í Studies 8th annual Conference. In 1985 an advisor of a development committee assisting the Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School
Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School
The Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School is a Bahá'í School near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which first began to hold classes in 1980. It reached the point of offering classes K through 10th grade...
visited the FUNDAEC project in Cali to look for insights in development work.
One of the authors was Farzam Arbab and president of FUNDAEC from 1974 to 1988, would also serve in several capacities for the religion including being a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Colombia, a Continental Counsellor, appointed to the International Teaching Centre and eventually elected to the Universal House of Justice
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a legislative institution with the authority to supplement and apply the laws of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and exercises a judicial function as the highest appellate institution in the...
in 1993.
FUNDAEC has instituted a number of development projects: the Centro Universitario de Bienestar Rural, the "Tutorial Learning System" or "SAT" (the Spanish acronym for "Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial") and a micro-finance Project. The SAT was particularly successful with cutting the process of urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
, increases in democratic behavior and aspects of gender equality, extra curricular activities in communities, stopping migratory movement of populations, and established public-private cooperation in Colombia. By 2002 the SAT system was in use in Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia and the first phases of the implementation of the program have started in Zambia. Parallel to SAT, FUNDAEC began a micro-finance initiative as well.
Ruhi Institute
In Colombia the Ruhi InstituteRuhi Institute
The Ruhi Institute is an educational institution, operating under the guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith in Colombia. The general idea of an institute in Bahá'í terms originates with the beginning of the Nine Year Plan designated by the Universal House of Justice...
, a Bahá'í study circle
Bahá'í study circle
The term study circle has become common terminology in the Bahá'í Faith to describe a specific type of gathering for the study of the Bahá'í teachings, with an emphasis on "promoting the well-being of humanity."...
, began as an initiative of the community with a commitment starting in 1970. In 1980 a Ruhi Institute was operating in the border area where Ecuador and Colombia meet. About 1980 one of the Auxiliary Board members in Colombia entered into a process of consultation with several rural communities around the town of Puerto Tejada in order to help them identify steps. they could take to improve their own social conditions. An early aim was to establish nurseries and kindergartens. In 1983 it published its first course Principles and Beliefs, Course 1: Life and Death. The courses developed as a "Core Activities Initiative". In 1983 there was discussion of using the Ruhi Institute process in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico. In 1984 Bahá'í Counsellors and Auxiliary Board members from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela met at the Ruhi Institute in Puerto Tejada and discussed the Ruhi Institute courses and the Ruhi courses were used in the Central African Republic. Counsellors and representatives of 17 National Spiritual Assemblies in the Caribbean basin and Latin America gathered in St. Lucia to introduce and study materials prepared at the Ruhi Institute in Colombia and Honduran Bahá'ís attended the Cali Ruhi Institute with the intention of returning to Honduras as trainers in the Ruhi methods. In 1987 the institute wrote its first course book on the education of children. In 1988 the national assembly decided to seek legal recognition for the Ruhi Institute by incorporating it as an organization with its own Board of Directors appointed by the assembly. It dedicates its efforts to the development of human resources for the spiritual, social, and cultural development of the Colombian people
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
. Although its center is in the town of Puerto Tejada in the department of Cauca
Cauca Department
Cauca is a Department of Colombia. Located in the south-western part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila Department to the east and the Nariño Department to the south, covering a total area of...
, its area of influence extends throughout the entire country. Especially in recent years, its educational programs have been adopted by an increasing number of agencies worldwide.
If individuals developed interests in contributing to society beyond those of the formal Ruhi courses they were introduced to the opportunities provided by FUNDAEC.
Demographics
In 2000 the World Christian EncyclopediaWorld Christian Encyclopedia
World Christian Encyclopedia is a reference work published by Oxford University Press, known for providing membership statistics for major and minor world religions in every country of the world, including historical data and projections of future populations.The first edition, by David B. Barrett,...
estimated some 64,000 Bahá'ís in Colombia ranking it as among the top 20 Bahá'í communities of the world. The Association of Religion Data Archives
Association of religion data archives
The Association of Religion Data Archives is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997, and online since 1998, the archive was initially targeted at researchers interested in American religion...
(relying mostly on the World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 68,000 Bahá'ís (0.2% of the population) in 2005. Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is an answer-engine developed by Wolfram Research. It is an online service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine might...
estimated 0.1531% of Colombians or almost 69000 were Bahá'ís in 2010.
See also
- Bahá'í Faith by countryBahá'í Faith by countryThe 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...
- History of ColombiaHistory of ColombiaThis article deals with the history of Colombia, a country in South America.-Pre-Colombian period:Approximately 10,000 years BC hunter-gatherer societies existed near present-day Bogotá , and they traded with one another and with cultures living in the Magdalena River valley...
- Religion in ColombiaReligion in ColombiaReligion in Colombia is an expression of the different cultural heritages in the Colombian culture including the Spanish colonisation, the Native Amerindian and the Afro-Colombian.-Religious freedom:...
- Bahá'í Faith and Native AmericansBahá'í Faith and Native AmericansThe Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans has a history reaching back to the lifetime of `Abdu'l-Bahá and has multiplied its relationships across the Americas...