Helen Hope
Helen Hope | |
|---|---|
| NSA member | South Central Africa 1964 - 1970 Zimbabwe 1970 - ???? |
Helen Hope was an American Bahá’í who pioneered to Africa and assisted with the early development of the Bahá’í Faith in south central Africa.
Background[edit]
Hope pioneered to Angola with her Husband, Melvin, arriving in Luanda in December 1953 on a six month visa. After arriving they found it difficult to find employment as Angolan laws made it difficult for people who were not Portuguese or Angolan to secure jobs and in March 1954 they consulted with the British Africa Teaching Committee about the possibility of moving to a different pioneer post.[1]
In April 1954 the Hope's visa expired and they sailed to Leopoldville in Belgian Congo where they successfully secured an additional three month visa for Angola however in July 1954 they were not granted a visa extension. As of August 1954 Hope was pregnant and with the approval of the Africa Pioneering Committee they pioneered to Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia by rail.[1]
In 1964 the National Spiritual Assembly of South Central Africa was formed which had jurisdiction over Southern Rhodesia and Hope was elected to the body.[2] In 1970 the independent National Spiritual Assembly for Rhodesia was formed and Hope was elected to the body as secretary,[3] and in May 1970 she represented the now disbanded National Spiritual Assembly of South Central Africa at the first National Convention of Malawi at which the independent National Assembly for Malawi was formed.[4]
Hope remained in Rhodesia, which became Zimbabwe, until 1984 when she moved back to the United States of America,[5] and as of 1990 she was serving as secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Wilmington, North Carolina,[6] and the District Teaching Committee of DelMarVa.[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa (2003) , compiled by Edith Johnson and Lowell Johnson, p 17
- ↑ Baha'i News (1964). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 405, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 473, Pg(s) 21. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1970). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 476, Pg(s) 16. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1985). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 16, Issue 7, pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1990). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 21, Issue 12, pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ The American Bahá’í (1991). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Volume 22, Issue 1, pg(s) 11. View as PDF.
