Bahá'í Faith in Mongolia
Encyclopedia
The Bahá'í Faith in Mongolia dates back only to the 1980s and 1990s, as prior to that point Mongolia's Communist anti-religious stance impeded the spread of the religion to that country. The first Bahá'í arrived in Mongolia in 1988, and the religion established a foothold there, later establishing a Local Spiritual Assembly in that nation. In 1994, the Bahá’ís elected their first National Spiritual Assembly. Though the Association of Religion Data Archives
estimated only some 50 Bahá'ís in 2005 more than 1,700 Mongolian Bahá'ís turned out for a regional conference in 2009.
. The first Mongolian, Ms. Oyundelger at age 22 joined the religion later in 1989. Hinton was trained in Baroque
Flute and Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
in London, he pursued a masters degree in Ethnomusicology
at Cambridge University - the research the brought him to Mongolia. In recognition of his six years of services to the country, he was appointed Honorary Consul-General of Mongolia - the sole representative in Australia for the Mongolian government.
In the late summer of 1992, members of the Marion Jack Teaching Project who were working mostly within Russia at the time, came to Mongolia to participate in a concerted effort to share the Baha'i Faith with a wider range of Mongolians. After a concerted two month effort, there were new Baha'i communities in Darhkan and Erdennet, effectively tripling the size and location of the community at the time, which had been based solely out of Ulanbaatar. Members of the project stayed in the country until the following summer to help with consolidation efforts which resulted in the beginnings of a new community in Sainshand and eventually the first Mongolian Baha'i Summer School in 1993.
In June 1995 the first national youth school held in Mongolia.
courses begun in 1996 are credited by Bahá'í sources as resulting in 228 enrollments in one year, which raised the Bahá’í national population to some 500. A further program was initiated in June 2004 and in about a month in 200 new declarations, including 60 junior youth resulted. Within a few weeks about 30 of these individuals had completed the first three books of the sequence and 137 children were participating in children’s classes.
Regional conferences were called for by the Universal House of Justice
20 October 2008 to celebrate recent achievements in grassroots community-building and to plan their next steps in organizing in their home areas. Ulaanbaatar
was the gathering place for more than 1,800 Bahá'ís from Mongolia and Russia. More people than expected came from various regions of the country, including 408 individuals from Khövsgöl
, 143 from Khentii Province, 160 from Uliastai
, 120 from Sainshand, and 450 from the capital itself. More than 50 Bahá'ís arrived from Russia. Continental Counselors
Khursheda Porsayeva, Bijan Farid, and Delafruz Nassimova attended and Counselors Uransaikhan Baatar, herself Mongolian, and Joan Lincoln, represented the Universal House of Justice. Mr. Tsedendambaa, Adviser to the President of Mongolia for Religious Affairs addressed the conference with a message of encouragement to the Bahá'ís. Dr. Batsereedene, a former Minister of Health also spoke at the conference.
David Lambert (OBE), a British Bahá'í living in Mongolia, was honored for his services to the development of English language studies in Mongolia. In 2003 he was chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mongolia. He and his wife, Lois, are the longest serving volunteers in the British Voluntary Service Overseas
organization. He is a member of the first Arts Council of Mongolia and developed the Ulaanbaatar's University of Humanities English language library that is the most extensive in the country. He arranged for British publishers to donate many books and for the United Kingdom government to transport them to Mongolia. In 2008 Lois Lambert was awarded a medal as a State Honoured Citizen in recognition of her "invaluable intellectual contributions to the health sector of Mongolia through the training of medical professionals utilizing a positive participatory approach, excellent communication skills and demonstrating a high professional knowledge and exemplary ethics." (See below).
Since 2001 efforts of the Bahá'ís have been informed by the FUNDAEC
initiative in Colombia
and there has been work translation the Hidden Words
into Mongolian.
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'í teachings
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. World-wide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
methods for growing vegetables (see below) and a Community Banking Program, aimed at increasing the financial resources available in a community and building local capacity to manage these resources by combining spiritual principles with practical considerations. In 2007, there were six community banks with some 100 members operating in two different locations in Mongolia. It is coordinating funding and resources in the UK between Bahá'í sources and others still in 2010.
, pointed to nutritional issues being a serious widespread concern pointing to a lack of fruits and vegetables being a key issue. Governmental and non-governmental organizations are keenly aware of the problems posed by the limited diet. The national government proclaimed 1993 as "food year". In May 1995, the Bahá'í community of Erdenbulgan
began to talk about undertaking some sort of local social and economic development project, coming up with a list of possibilities that included establishing a bread bakery, erecting a cultural center, sponsoring English classes and starting a vegetable garden. After further consultation, the Bahá'ís decided in 1996 that the vegetable garden was perhaps the easiest to undertake immediately - and perhaps the most needed. They got permission in 1997 from the municipality to fence off a quarter hectare of land near the Eg River. And knowing it needed help, the community reached outside itself, asking the national Bahá'í office in Ulaanbaatar for advice and assistance. Officials at the national office knew about the presence in the region of Mr. Megit, a Canadian agricultural specialist who is also a Bahá'í and who had been working in nearby Ulan Ude, Russia. They invited him to travel to Erdenbulgan and consult with them, which he did in April 1996. Partly because of what he saw, Mr. Megit decided to relocate to Mongolia in late 1996, where he joined the staff of the Mongolian Development Center (MDC), a national-level non-governmental organization established by a group of Bahá'ís to provide various forms of technical assistance to local communities. Maitar Tsend, the director of the Mongolian Horticultural Society, an independent NGO which has also launched its own campaign to encourage small-scale vegetable gardening, drew attention to the project in Erdenbulgan as a model for all of Mongolia because of the way it has educated and empowered local people. "Before, during the Communist period, it was prohibited even to have a garden, because it was regarded as private initiative. So people don't think they can grow vegetables themselves or they think that growing cabbage is more difficult than raising sheep. But now things are changing very quickly, and the Erdenbulgan community has demonstrated this."
course since 2007. In 2009, with a team of 14 Bahá'í facilitators, 400 students are following the course at the request of Dr. Batsereedene.
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...
estimated only some 50 Bahá'ís in 2005 more than 1,700 Mongolian Bahá'ís turned out for a regional conference in 2009.
Early phase
In July 1989 Sean Hinton, first Bahá'í to reside in Mongolia, was named a Knight of Bahá'u'lláh, and the last name to be entered on the Roll of Honor at the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláhShrine of Bahá'u'lláh
The Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, located in Bahjí near Acre, Israel, is the most holy place for Bahá'ís and represents their Qiblih, or direction of prayer...
. The first Mongolian, Ms. Oyundelger at age 22 joined the religion later in 1989. Hinton was trained in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
Flute and Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London, he pursued a masters degree in Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
at Cambridge University - the research the brought him to Mongolia. In recognition of his six years of services to the country, he was appointed Honorary Consul-General of Mongolia - the sole representative in Australia for the Mongolian government.
In the late summer of 1992, members of the Marion Jack Teaching Project who were working mostly within Russia at the time, came to Mongolia to participate in a concerted effort to share the Baha'i Faith with a wider range of Mongolians. After a concerted two month effort, there were new Baha'i communities in Darhkan and Erdennet, effectively tripling the size and location of the community at the time, which had been based solely out of Ulanbaatar. Members of the project stayed in the country until the following summer to help with consolidation efforts which resulted in the beginnings of a new community in Sainshand and eventually the first Mongolian Baha'i Summer School in 1993.
In June 1995 the first national youth school held in Mongolia.
A national community
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...
courses begun in 1996 are credited by Bahá'í sources as resulting in 228 enrollments in one year, which raised the Bahá’í national population to some 500. A further program was initiated in June 2004 and in about a month in 200 new declarations, including 60 junior youth resulted. Within a few weeks about 30 of these individuals had completed the first three books of the sequence and 137 children were participating in children’s classes.
Regional conferences were called for by 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...
20 October 2008 to celebrate recent achievements in grassroots community-building and to plan their next steps in organizing in their home areas. Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar
Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. An independent municipality, the city is not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 is over one million....
was the gathering place for more than 1,800 Bahá'ís from Mongolia and Russia. More people than expected came from various regions of the country, including 408 individuals from Khövsgöl
Khövsgöl
Khövsgöl may refer to:*Lake Khövsgöl*Khövsgöl Province*Khövsgöl sum, in Dornogovi Province...
, 143 from Khentii Province, 160 from Uliastai
Uliastai
Uliastai is a city in Mongolia. It is located in the western part of the country, 1,115 kilometers from the capital Ulaanbaatar. Uliastai is the capital of Zavkhan Province and was the 10th most populous city in the country with a population of 24,276 , now this city has 16,240 population and is...
, 120 from Sainshand, and 450 from the capital itself. More than 50 Bahá'ís arrived from Russia. Continental Counselors
Institution 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....
Khursheda Porsayeva, Bijan Farid, and Delafruz Nassimova attended and Counselors Uransaikhan Baatar, herself Mongolian, and Joan Lincoln, represented the Universal House of Justice. Mr. Tsedendambaa, Adviser to the President of Mongolia for Religious Affairs addressed the conference with a message of encouragement to the Bahá'ís. Dr. Batsereedene, a former Minister of Health also spoke at the conference.
David Lambert (OBE), a British Bahá'í living in Mongolia, was honored for his services to the development of English language studies in Mongolia. In 2003 he was chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mongolia. He and his wife, Lois, are the longest serving volunteers in the British Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas is an international development charity that works through experienced volunteers living and working as equals alongside local partners. It is the largest independent volunteer-sending organization in the world...
organization. He is a member of the first Arts Council of Mongolia and developed the Ulaanbaatar's University of Humanities English language library that is the most extensive in the country. He arranged for British publishers to donate many books and for the United Kingdom government to transport them to Mongolia. In 2008 Lois Lambert was awarded a medal as a State Honoured Citizen in recognition of her "invaluable intellectual contributions to the health sector of Mongolia through the training of medical professionals utilizing a positive participatory approach, excellent communication skills and demonstrating a high professional knowledge and exemplary ethics." (See below).
Since 2001 efforts of the Bahá'ís have been informed by the 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...
initiative in 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...
and there has been work translation the Hidden Words
Hidden Words
Kalimát-i-Maknúnih or The Hidden Words is a book written in Baghdad around 1857 by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith...
into Mongolian.
Community development
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. The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of 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...
dated 20 October 1983 was released. Bahá'ís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Bahá'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...
, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. World-wide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Bahá'í socio-economic development projects. By 1987, the number of officially recognized development projects had increased to 1482.
Mongolian Development Centre
The Mongolian Development Centre (MDC) was established in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as a Bahá'í-inspired non-governmental organization established in April 1993 with the objective of translating the spiritual principles found in the Bahá'í Writings into practice for the betterment of Mongolian society. Working with local communities through programs centered on development and education, MDC contributes to a learning process aimed at the sustainable social, economic, and spiritual advancement of the country. One of the organization’s areas of focus has been an early childhood development program with a character development curriculum to nurture moral reasoning in children between 3 and 6 years of age with training assistance for teachers of kindergarten classes. MDC also administers a junior youth program to foster the empowerment of 12 to 14 year olds by assisting them to develop intellectual and moral capabilities that enable them to transform themselves and contribute to the upliftment of their communities. MDC began conducting the program in a few schools in 2005, and by 2007 the program had been adopted by 11 schools in Baganuur, Muron, Sainshand, and Ulaanbaatar, involving over 1,300 junior youth. The MDC also initiated a Community Capacity Development program that focuses on two initiatives: a gardening project offers courses in biointensiveBiointensive
The biointensive method is an organic agricultural system which focuses on maximum yields from the minimum area of land, while simultaneously improving the soil. The goal of the method is long term sustainability on a closed system basis...
methods for growing vegetables (see below) and a Community Banking Program, aimed at increasing the financial resources available in a community and building local capacity to manage these resources by combining spiritual principles with practical considerations. In 2007, there were six community banks with some 100 members operating in two different locations in Mongolia. It is coordinating funding and resources in the UK between Bahá'í sources and others still in 2010.
Erdenbulgan gardening
The 1997 Human Development Report for Mongolia, published by the United Nations Development ProgrammeUnited Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to...
, pointed to nutritional issues being a serious widespread concern pointing to a lack of fruits and vegetables being a key issue. Governmental and non-governmental organizations are keenly aware of the problems posed by the limited diet. The national government proclaimed 1993 as "food year". In May 1995, the Bahá'í community of Erdenbulgan
Erdenebulgan, Khövsgöl
Erdenebulgan is a sum of Khövsgöl aimag. The area is about 4,960 km². In 2000, the sum had 2739 inhabitants. The center, officially named Eg-Üür , is situated on the banks of the Egiin gol.- History :...
began to talk about undertaking some sort of local social and economic development project, coming up with a list of possibilities that included establishing a bread bakery, erecting a cultural center, sponsoring English classes and starting a vegetable garden. After further consultation, the Bahá'ís decided in 1996 that the vegetable garden was perhaps the easiest to undertake immediately - and perhaps the most needed. They got permission in 1997 from the municipality to fence off a quarter hectare of land near the Eg River. And knowing it needed help, the community reached outside itself, asking the national Bahá'í office in Ulaanbaatar for advice and assistance. Officials at the national office knew about the presence in the region of Mr. Megit, a Canadian agricultural specialist who is also a Bahá'í and who had been working in nearby Ulan Ude, Russia. They invited him to travel to Erdenbulgan and consult with them, which he did in April 1996. Partly because of what he saw, Mr. Megit decided to relocate to Mongolia in late 1996, where he joined the staff of the Mongolian Development Center (MDC), a national-level non-governmental organization established by a group of Bahá'ís to provide various forms of technical assistance to local communities. Maitar Tsend, the director of the Mongolian Horticultural Society, an independent NGO which has also launched its own campaign to encourage small-scale vegetable gardening, drew attention to the project in Erdenbulgan as a model for all of Mongolia because of the way it has educated and empowered local people. "Before, during the Communist period, it was prohibited even to have a garden, because it was regarded as private initiative. So people don't think they can grow vegetables themselves or they think that growing cabbage is more difficult than raising sheep. But now things are changing very quickly, and the Erdenbulgan community has demonstrated this."
Teaching morals in Medical College
Dr. Byambaagiin Batsereedene, a former Minister of Health and the owner and director of the Etugen Institute, a medical college in Ulaanbaatar where Bahá'ís have been conducting classes in moral education through a 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...
course since 2007. In 2009, with a team of 14 Bahá'í facilitators, 400 students are following the course at the request of Dr. Batsereedene.