NSA:South Pacific Islands

South Pacific Islands
National Spiritual Assembly
National Spiritual Assembly of NSA:South Pacific Islands Seven of the nine members of the first RSA of the South Pacific Islands, 1959.
Membership
History:
-	Established	1959
-	Preceded	South Pacific Ocean (1964)
-	Preceded	South West Pacific Ocean (1964)
Sister Projects		Media

The National Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific Islands was a regional body responsible for administrating Bahá’í communities in the South Pacific including:

• Cook Islands
• Figi
• Gilbert Islands (now part of Kiribati)
• Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu)
• Marshall Islands
• New Caledonia
• New Herbrides (now Vanuatu)
• Loyalty Islands (now part of New Caledonia)
• Samoa (both the independent state of Samoa and American Samoa)
• Tonga

History

At the beginning of the Ten Year Crusade only Fiji and New Caledonia were open. In 1959, the National Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific Islands was established. It was first elected at the first National Convention of the South Pacific held in Suva, Fiji, by delegates from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga. Delegates from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands were supposed to attend the first Convention, but transportation difficulties prevented them from taking part.

By 1963 at the end of the Crusade, 9 island groups were open to the Faith including the Fiji, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the New Hebrides, the Loyalty Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga. From 1 Assembly and 1 group in 1953, there were 43 Assemblies and 94 groups and 71 isolated centers in 1963. The number of believers grew from a handful to over 1,700. The Universal House of Justice announced that the Assembly was to be dissolved and succeeded by a National Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific Ocean, and a National Spiritual Assembly of the South West Pacific Ocean in 1964. with the new Assemblies being formed the following year.

Past members

Name	Served
Dulcie Dive	1959 - 1962
Gertrude Blum	1959 - 1960
Irene Jackson	1959 - 1964
Stephen Percival	1959 - 1960 1962 - ????
Lisiate Maka	1959 - 1960 1962 - 1964
Alvin Blum	1959 - 1964
Walli Khan	1959 - 1962
Mabel Sneider	1959 - ????
Suhayl ‘Alá'í	1959 - ????
Joe Russell	1960 - 1961
Elsa Blakely	1960 - ????
Margaret Rowling	1960 - ????
Latu Tu'akihekolo	1961 - 1962

Notes

References

• Baha'i News (1959). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 341, Pg(s) 4. View as PDF. 1959-1960 NSA reported
• Baha'i News (1960). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 353, Pg(s) 6. View as PDF. 1960-1961 NSA reported
• Baha'i News (July 1961). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 364, Pg(s) 8. View as PDF. 1961-1962 NSA reported
• Baha'i News (1962). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 378, Pg(s) 13. View as PDF. 1962-1963 NSA reported