Max Kenyerezi
Max Kenyerezi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1918 |
| Died | June 16, 1991 |
| NSA member | Central & East Africa, 1956 - 1963 |
| ABM | Africa ???? - ???? |
Max Kenyerezi (1918 - June 16, 1991) was a Ugandan Bahá'í who was named a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for opening French Equatorial Africa to the Faith.
Background[edit]
Kenyerezi's was born in 1918 and his father was a Christian minister. He attended Kings College in Budo, Uganda, in his youth and in 1934 he had a spiritual dream which prompted him to attempt to become a Christian minister like his father. He studied to become a minister briefly then enrolled in the Farmers Institute in Namutamba, Uganda, and established himself as a farmer.[1]
Kenyerezi found farming difficult and moved to Kampala where he became a clerk for the Uganda Company. He first heard of the Faith in Kampala in 1952 from a coworker and he was introduced to Alí Nakhjavání by a relative who had become a Bahá'í. Alí taught him about the Faith at a meeting which lasted an entire day and he accepted the Faith. He was concerned about what his fathers reaction would be but his father had a positive reaction to the Faith.[1]
At the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade Shoghi Effendi called for pioneers to establish the Faith in unopened regions of Africa. Kenyerezi and his wife attended the Intercontinental Conference held in Kampala in February, 1953, and volunteered to pioneer to French Equatorial Africa. He was driven to his pioneer post, Brazzaville, by Alí and Violette Nakhjavání,[2] arriving on October 6, 1953.[3] He returned to Uganda in 1955, by which time a Local Spiritual Assembly had been established in French Equatorial Africa, and began travel teaching across East Africa.[4]
In 1956 Kenyerezi was elected to the inaugural National Spiritual Assembly of Central and East Africa.[5] He was also appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Africa serving as of 1960 in addition to serving on the Assembly.[6] In 1962 he accompanied Enoch Olinga on a teaching trip to Congo,[7] and he continued serving as Board member up until at least 1967.[8]
Kenyerezi passed away in 1991.[9]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 1014. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 280, Pg(s) 18. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1954). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 277, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 1015. View as PDF.
- ↑ Baha'i News (1956). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 305, Pg(s) 9. View as PDF.
- ↑ Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ",". (). Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ",".. No 351, June, Pg(s) 11. June.pdf&page=Expression error: Missing operand for +. View as PDF.
- ↑ Ministry of the Custodians: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause 1957-1963, p 372.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 246. View as PDF.
- ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 1015. View as PDF.
Bibliography[edit]
- Redman, E. The Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, George Ronald Press, London. pp 68-69.
