Marijke van Lith
Marijke van Lith | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 16, 1924 Bandung, Indonesia |
| Died | January 16, 2006 Leiderdorp, Netherlands |
| NSA member | Surinam & French Guiana 1977 - ???? |
| ABM | Americas ???? - ???? |
| Spouse(s) | Jacobus Eduard 'Bob' van Lith (d. 1983) m. 1950 |
Marijke van Lith (January 16, 1924 - January 16, 2006) was a Dutch Bahá’í who pioneered to South America where she served as a National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary Board member for Suriname.
Biogrpahy[edit]
Lith was born in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1924 but her family moved to the Netherlands when she was a child. She married Bob van Lith in 1950 and they went on to have seven children. They settled in Amsterdam after marrying where they were introduced to the Bahá’í Faith in 1951 and they declared in 1952 becoming active members of the Netherlands Bahá’í community. Lith was involved in translating and publishing Bahá’í material in Dutch.[1]
In 1976 the Lith's pioneered to Paramaribo in Suriname and they were both elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Suriname when it was formed in 1977. Lith was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member after serving on the Assembly for a short time, serving as of 1981,[2] and her jurisdiction was Suriname and French Guiana. In 1982 she visited Colombia where she received training at the Ruhi Institute and she promoted the Ruhi materials in her jurisdiction afterwards.[1]
In 1994 Lith returned to the Netherlands and was elected to the Local Spiritual Assembly of Leiderdorp. She began representing the Bahá’í International Community at United Nations events and other conferences in the 1990's notably attending Beijing Women's Conference in 1995, a Habitat Conference in Istanbul in 1996, and the Parliament of World Religions in South Africa in 1999. She was notably able to proclaim the Faith to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at an event.[1]
Lith passed away in 2006 and the Universal House of Justice issued a message upon her passing which included the following:
". . . longstanding dedication to the promotion of the Cause is recalled with gratitude and admiration."[3]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2007). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 34 (2005-2006), Pg(s) 242. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1981). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 602, Pg(s) 15. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2007). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 34 (2005-2006), Pg(s) 243. View as PDF.
