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Lesotho

From Bahaipedia
 Lesotho
Rúḥíyyih Khánum planting a tree at Lesotho Bahá’í Temple site, 1972.
Location of Lesotho
National AssemblyLesotho
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 2,281,454
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 19,009
History:
Firsts
 -  Pioneers 1953, Elizabeth Laws
1953, Frederick Laws 
 -  Local Assembly 1955, Seqonoka 
 -  National Assembly 1971 
How to contact:
 -  Phone 266-22312346 
 -  Email bahailesotho@leo.co.ls
 -  Address P.O. Box 508
Maseru 100 
Official Website https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/lesotho
Related media
Categories: Lesotho • People

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a nation in Southern Africa which is an enclave of South Africa. Sesotho and English are the official languages and Christianity is the predominant religion.

The region was united as the Kingdom of Basutoland by King Moshoeshoe I in 1824. The King voluntarily had his country become a British Protectorate in 1868 due to Dutch settlers attempting to establish themselves in the region. It became independent again in 1966 and was renamed Lesotho.

The Bahá’í community of Lesotho was established in 1953 growing quickly in the 1950's. It struggled to consolidate its initial growth with administrative development but the community still experienced moderate growth throughout the 1960's and 1970's. In the 1990's the Faith began to emerge from obscurity in Lesotho reaching out to prominent figures in the country and the community remains active to the present day.

History[edit]

In 1953 Shoghi Effendi launched the Ten Year Crusade, an international teaching plan to establish Bahá’í communities across the world. Basutoland was listed as a goal for establishing a community and in October, 1953, Frederick and Elizabeth Laws opened the country to the Faith.[2] For the first nine months in the country they lived in hotels and were unable to make progress in teaching but in 1954 they met Chadwich and Mary Mohapi who jokingly invited them to live on their property in a small hut, and the Laws accepted their offer becoming friends with them. The Mohapi's accepted the Faith through the Laws and their home became a centre for teaching activity with the country having seventy Bahá’ís by 1955.[3]

In 1955 the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Basutoland was established in Seqonoka,[4] and in 1956 Assemblies for Sephapo’s Nek, Maseru,[5] and the combined communities of Mohale's Hoek and Maphohloane were established.[6] In 1956 the Laws departed the country and the local Bahá’ís continued efforts to teach with pioneers from South Africa occasionally visiting to assist them.[6]

In 1962 Michael Sears, son of William Sears, pioneered to Maseru.[7] As of 1963 there were 203 Bahá’ís in Lesotho and six Local Spiritual Assemblies, with more having been formed in the late 1950's but lapsed by the end of the Crusade.[6] In 1967 the joint National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland, Mozambique, and Basutoland was established,[8] and by 1968 there were six Local Spiritual Assemblies and three hundred Bahá’ís in Lesotho.[9]

In 1971 the independent National Spiritual Assembly of Lesotho was established and the community began to experience accelerated growth which resulted in thirty-three Local Spiritual Assemblies being established in 1973. The community had also secured a National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and a local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Liphaleng in the early 1970's and also held several conferences and training courses to deepen the community.[10] In 1974 an International Bahá’í Youth School was held in Maseru during which youth formed teaching teams which visited nearby villages. By 1976 the country had thirty-eight Local Spiritual Assemblies with Bahá’ís residing in one hundred and thirteen localities.[11]

In the early 1980's the Lesotho Bahá’í's began to undertake efforts to contribute to social and economic development and by 1983 three Bahá’í tutorial schools had been established.[12] Teaching efforts struggled to gain traction early in the decade however in the mid 1980's they began to find some success.[13]

In April, 1991, a Bahá’í delegation had an audience with the King of Lesotho who expressed admiration of Bahá’í principles and approval of teaching efforts,[14] and in October, 1993, a delegation presented Bahá’í literature to the countries Prime Minister.[15] In December, 1996, the King, Queen, and Queen Mother of Lesotho attended a banquet hosted by the Bahá’ís of Lesotho in Maseru during a gathering of the Continental Board for Africa held in the city.[16] In 1997 the institute process began to gain traction in Lesotho with forty youth from across the country completing an institute course facilitated by fellow youth in December that year.[17] In 1998 Counselors Garth Pollock and Daniel Ramoroesi held a conference in Lesotho which gathered Assembly members, Auxiliary Board members, and members of the Lesotho Institute Board at which methods for inspiring growth, action, and reflection in Bahá’í communities in the country were consulted on.[18]

As of 2003 there were twenty-six Local Spiritual Assemblies across Lesotho,[19] and in October that year the 50th Anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in Lesotho was celebrated.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, p 114
  3. ↑ Earl Redman, The Knights of Baha'u'llah, George Ronald: Oxford, 2017, 115
  4. ↑ Edith & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 27-28
  5. ↑ Edith & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 32
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Edith & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 24
  7. ↑ Edith & Lowell Johnson, Heroes and Heroines of the Ten Year Crusade in Southern Africa, NSA of South Africa: Johannesburg, 2003, p 36
  8. ↑ Baha'i News (1967). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 440, Pg(s) 10. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 201. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1976). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 15 (1968-1973), Pg(s) 202. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1978). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 16 (1973-1976), Pg(s) 152. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 118. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 19 (1983-1986), Pg(s) 149. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 248. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 22 (1993-1994), Pg(s) 114. View as PDF.
  16. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 96. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 93. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 108. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2005). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 32 (2003-2004), Pg(s) 50. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2005). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 32 (2003-2004), Pg(s) 49. View as PDF.
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