Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe
Location of Guadeloupe
National Assembly		Guadeloupe
Statistics:
Total Population
-	UN 2021	396,051
Bahá'í pop.
-	Bahá'í source
-	Non-Bahá'í source	1,603
History: Firsts
-	Local Bahá'í	Franklin Bozor Pierre Defoe
-	Pioneers	The Désert family
Official Website		http://www.bahai.gp/
Related media
Categories: Guadeloupe • People

Guadeloupe is a French overseas territory in the Caribbean.

History

In 1964 opening Guadeloupe to the Bahá’í Faith was a goal assigned to the National Spiritual Assemblies of the United States and Haiti for the Nine Year Plan. The goal was achieved when Jean and Ivanie Désert moved to the country from Haiti with their three children in February 1965, and they remained in Guadeloupe until returning to Haiti in 1968. They were joined by Sydney Friday, a Bahá’í from British Guiana, who stayed in Guadeloupe for six months. Franklin Bozor and Pierre Defoe became the first locals to become Bahá’ís in early April, 1965.

By 1966 the Bahá’ís of Guadeloupe were meeting in a Center in Lauricisque however that year a hurricane blew the roof off the Center. They continued to meet, and were able to distribute food donated by Bahá’ís from St. Thomas amongst themselves and to the wider community. In early 1967 Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery visited Guadeloupe as part of a tour of the Leeward, Windward, and Virgin Islands, to prepare the communities for the formation of a Regional Spiritual Assembly at Ridvan that year. As of the formation of the Regional Assembly Guadeloupe had two Bahá’í groups close to Assembly status and Jean Désert was elected to the Regional Assembly.

In 1971 Hand of the Cause Rúḥíyyih Khánum visited Guadeloupe for three days during a tour of the Caribbean. She was unable to organize a meeting with the local Bahá’ís but was able to meet with and encourage a Haitian pioneer. In late 1972 to early 1973 a teaching team visited Guadeloupe holding Institutes on various Bahá’í topics which resulted in 346 declarations and two Local Spiritual Assemblies being formed. In July 1975 the Bahá’í Centre of Guadeloupe was purchased.

In 1977 a National Spiritual Assembly for the French Antilles was formed with its jurisdiction encompassing Guadeloupe, and its first National Convention was held in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Hand of the Cause ‘Alí-Muhammad Varqá represented the Universal House of Justice at the Convention. Also in 1977 Aurelien Andre of Guadeloupe was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member.

In 1979 both the National Assembly of the French Antilles and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Point-a-Pitre were legally incorporated. In 1984 Guadeloupe formed an independent National Spiritual Assembly.