Pioneer

A pioneer is a volunteer Bahá’í who leaves his or her home to journey to another place (often another country) for the purpose of teaching the Bahá’í Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering.

During the Ten Year Crusade which ran from 1953 to 1963, hundreds of pioneers settled in countries and territories throughout the world, which eventually led to the establishment of 44 new National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies and the increase in the Bahá’í population.

Teaching work

The teaching work done by pioneers was done in many different ways including, but not limited to

• Conversation with people who are receptive to the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith.
• Firesides: meetings held in one's home to which those interested in the Bahá’í Faith are invited.
• Public talks: Lectures given about the Bahá’í Faith.

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, has written:

"An effort, moreover, can and should be made, not only by representative Bahá’í bodies, but also by prospective teachers, as well as by other individual believers, deprived of the privilege of visiting those shores or of settling on that continent, to seize every opportunity that presents itself to make the acquaintance, and awaken the genuine interest, of such people who are either citizens of these countries, or are in any way connected with them, whatever be their interests or profession. Through the kindness shown them, or any literature which may be given them, or any connection which they may establish with them, the American believers can thereby sow such seeds in their hearts as might, in future circumstances, germinate and yield the most unexpected results.

Teaching versus proselytization

For Bahá’ís, pioneering refers to something similar to missionary work. However, Bahá’ís do not consider pioneering to be proselytism, a word which often has negative associations with coercive Christian missionaries.

"Care, however, should, at all times, be exercised, lest in their eagerness to further the international interests of the Faith they frustrate their purpose, and turn away, through any act that might be misconstrued as an attempt to proselytize and bring undue pressure upon them, those whom they wish to win over to their Cause."

"It is true that Bahá’u’lláh lays on every Bahá’í the duty to teach His Faith. At the same time, however, we are forbidden to proselytize, so it is important for all the believers to understand the difference between teaching and proselytizing. It is a significant difference and, in some countries where teaching a religion is permitted, but proselytizing is forbidden, the distinction is made in the law of the land. Proselytizing implies bringing undue pressure to bear upon someone to change his Faith. It is also usually understood to imply the making of threats or the offering of material benefits as an inducement to conversion. In some countries mission schools or hospitals, for all the good they do, are regarded with suspicion and even aversion by the local authorities because they are considered to be material inducements to conversion and hence instruments of proselytization."

The following is a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual:

"He sees no objection to the word Missionary appearing on your passport as long as it is clearly understood what kind of a ‘missionary’ a Bahá’í pioneer is. In the best and highest sense of the term it certainly could be applied to our teachers. Unfortunately this word has often been associated with a narrow-minded, bigoted type of proselytizing quite alien to the Bahá’í method of spreading our teachings."

Pioneering in the time of Bahá'u'lláh

Even during the time of Bahá'u'lláh, certain individuals were moving to other countries, sometimes at the express suggestion of Bahá'u'lláh Himself. For example, one or more believers went to live in Bombay (Mumbai), and were able to have Bahá'í Scripture printed there, for subsequent circulation.

Pioneering in the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

During the years of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ministry, the Faith expanded into a number of new countries, often through deliberate pioneering moves. For example, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked Ibrahim Khayrullah to settle in America to teach the Faith. In 1916, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a collection of letters known as the Tablets of the Divine Plan, urging pioneers to arise and go to the various countries and territories of the world. These Tablets were not immediately distributed among the believers because of the communication difficulties during the First World War. By the end of the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, there were Bahá'ís in 21 different countries.

Pioneering in the time of Shoghi Effendi

During the first years of the Guardianship, Shoghi Effendi concentrated on establishing the pattern of the Administrative Order, but when a country had reached a certain level of organisation, he began giving the National Spiritual Assemblies plans for growth and expansion. Typically, these would involve internal pioneering, but then external pioneering became a feature, for example during the campaign to establish the Faith throughout Central and South America (American Seven Year Plan of 1937-1944). These various national plans were replaced, in 1953, by the Ten Year Crusade, which aimed to plant the Faith in every country, territory and significant island group in the world. Shoghi Effendi died, of course, before the completion of this plan, but lived to see its many early successes. The title Knight of Bahá’u’lláh was given by Shoghi Effendi to Bahá’ís who arose to open new territories to the Faith during this crusade.

Pioneering since the time of the Guardian

The Universal House of Justice, in each plan, allocated internal goals to many National Spiritual Assemblies, usually the formation of Local Spiritual Assemblies. Such goals would normally be won by pioneers making the goal town their home, and then increasing the numbers by teaching. In other words, there would be a combination of pioneering and declarations of local people. In addition, external pioneering goals were given to many National Spiritual Assemblies. Increasingly, information was given out as to what types of employment might be called for in the goal country, or to what regions of the goal country needed to receive the pioneers. Further, the pioneering goals were sometimes related to the skills of any potential pioneers, e.g. administrative experience, financial expertise, a dedication to deepening, knowledge of a specific language, etc.

Although the vast majority of the world's countries and territories were opened during the Ten Year Crusade, it was with the collapse of most of the Communist régimes from 1989 onwards that the last few independent countries, including Mongolia and Albania, were opened. In addition, pioneers were encouraged to settle in former Communist countries in eastern Europe and in the various republics of the former Soviet Union.

By the 2010s, the emphasis in most countries was on internal pioneers. Believers who had gained experience in tutoring study circles, in teaching children's classes or animating Junior Youth Groups were voluntarily moving from the more advanced clusters to the less advanced ones. The first milestone in the growth process in a cluster is worded in such a way that a single pioneer or pioneer family can institute just one activity, with help from one or more local person, and the first milestone has arguably been reached.

See also

• Ten Year Crusade
• Knights of Bahá’u’lláh

References

• The Universal House of Justice. The Bahá’í World - An Internationl Record 2003-2004. Baha'i World Centre, Haifa: World Centre Publications. ISBN 0-85398-972-9.

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Pioneering (Bahá'í).