Andrés Jachakollo

Andrés Jachakollo
Born	November 10, 1921 Villakolo, Oruro, Bolivia
Died	November 16, 1994
NSA member	Bolivia 1961 - 1970
ABM	Americas 1970 - ????
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Andrés Jachakollo Ticona (November 10, 1921 - November 16, 1994) was the first indigenous Bolivian to become a Bahá’í. He served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia and as an Auxiliary Board member.

Biography

Jachakollo was born in 1921 in the village Villakolo in the Andes mountains in Bolivia. As of 1956 he was a member of an indigenous spiritual movement but that year he saw a poster about the Bahá’í Faith while visiting La Paz and visited the cities Bahá’í Center where he spent three days learning about the religion from Elton Smith and Angel Garcia and declared. He invited Smith and Garcia to visit Villakolo to teach the Faith and went on to become a successful travel teacher himself opening many indigenous communities in Oruro and Potosi.

In 1957 Jachakollo attended the first Regional Convention for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as an observer. In 1960 Bolivia began to receive Bahá'í pioneers from Argentina and Jachakollo accompanied them to visit indigenous communities to teach. When the National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia was established in 1961 he was elected as an inaugural member and he was able to attend the First International Convention in the Holy Land in 1963 as a member to participate in the first election of the Universal House of Justice. He also attended the Bahá'í World Congress in London in 1963 and wore his indigenous clothing.

In 1970 Jachakollo was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Bolivia, and in 1983 he was a member of the Trail of Light team which was a teaching team of Native American Bahá’ís which traveled across North America. He continued to serve as an Auxiliary Board member into his old age.

In 1994 Jachakollo passed away and the Universal House of Justice cabled the following message after his passing:

DEEPLY SADDENED LOSS OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH ANDRES JACHAKOLLO FIRST BOLIVIAN INDIGENOUS BELIEVER AND FIRST CHAMPION CAUSE GOD AMONGST HIS COUNTRYMEN. HIS UNIQUE RECORD HISTORIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO GROWTH AND SPREAD BAHA'U'LLAH'S TEACHINGS IN BOLIVIA AS WELL AS MEMORY HIS PARTICIPATION FIRST WORLD CONGRESS LONDON ARE IMPERISHABLE. MAY PRESENT GENERATION BELIEVERS INSPIRED BY EXAMPLE HIS LONG YEARS OF SACRIFICE ARISE ACHIEVE FRESH TRIUMPHS FOR FAITH. ASSURE FERVENT PRAYERS HOLY SHRINES FOR PROGRESS HIS SOUL KINGDOM ON HIGH. URGE HOLDING MEMORIAL GATHERINGS IN HIS HONOR VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS. KINDLY CONVEY OUR LOVING CONDOLENCES HIS FAMILY AND BEREAVED FRIENDS.