Baháʼí teaching plans

A cable to American Baháʼís was sent by Shoghi Effendi on 19 May 1936 calling for permanent pioneers to be established in all the countries of Latin America. The Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada was appointed the Inter-America Committee to take charge of the preparations. During the 1937 Baháʼí North American Convention, Shoghi Effendi cabled advising the convention to prolong their deliberations to permit the delegates and the National Assembly to consult on a plan that would enable Baháʼís to go to Latin America.[6] In 1937 the First Seven Year Plan (1937-44), which was an international plan designed by Shoghi Effendi, gave the American Baháʼís the goal of establishing the Baháʼí Faith in every country in Latin America. With the spread of American Baháʼís in Latin American, Baháʼí communities and Local Spiritual Assemblies began to form in 1938 across the region. The first pioneer to Chile arrived in 1940 when her ship docked at Arica.[7] After arriving in Panama in 1940,[8] the first Guaymí Baháʼí converted in the 1960s.[9] In 1985-6 the "Camino del Sol" project included indigenous Guaymí Baháʼís of Panama traveling with the Venezuelan indigenous Carib speaking and Guajira Baháʼís through the Venezuelan states of Bolívar, Amazonas and Zulia sharing their religion.[10]

In 1944, a pioneering movement began with sixty per cent of the British Baháʼí community eventually relocating.[11] Internationally this effort would take the Baháʼí Faith to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland and raising the numbers of Local Assemblies in the British Isles.

In 1950-1 the Baha'is of the British Isles pioneered to Tanganyika, Uganda, and Kenya. On August 3, 1951 pioneers arrived in Kampala[12] from which pioneers went to French Equatorial Africa, and Cameroon and so on.

In 1953, Shoghi Effendi launched the first worldwide, coordinated effort to expand the Baháʼí Faith, termed the Ten Year Crusade. The four primary goals of the Ten Year Crusade were outlined as follows by Shoghi Effendi:[13]

• The development of institutions at the Baháʼí World Centre;
• Consolidation of the twelve countries where the Faith was well established;
• Consolidation of all other territories already open; and
• The opening of the remaining "chief virgin territories" around the globe.

This effort was launched in order to form Local Spiritual Assemblies and National Spiritual Assemblies all over the world so that the Universal House of Justice could be elected that would be representative of a worldwide Baháʼí membership. From 1953 to 1963, some 250 Americans and Persians moved to many locations around the world as part of the Ten Year Crusade.[14] Almost every country in the world which had no Baháʼís was at least visited by a travelling teacher.

Following Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957, the Hands of the Cause continued the Ten Year Crusade following his instructions until the formation of the Universal House of Justice, which remains the highest elected body of the Baháʼí Faith, in 1963. After its election, the Universal House of Justice wrote:

"The rightness of the time was further confirmed by references in Shoghi Effendi's letters to the Ten Year Crusade's being followed by other plans under the direction of the Universal House of Justice. ..."

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986, p. 50)

The efforts of the Ten Year Crusade were followed by large enrollments to the Baháʼí Faith in some parts of the world. For example, wide-scale growth in the religion was observed across Sub-Saharan Africa.[15]

The title Knight of Baháʼu'lláh was given by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith in the period, to Baháʼís who arose to open new territories to the Faith starting in the Ten Year Crusade.[16]

Shoghi Effendi kept a Roll of Honour of all the Knights of Baháʼu'lláh. While inaugurated during the Ten Year Crusade, local restrictions caused some of the goals to remain unfilled. The final Knight of Baháʼu'lláh arrived at Sakhalin Island in December 1990. There were 254 total Knights of Baháʼu'lláh that settled in 121 localities, they had been sent to open 131 nations and territories of which 10 had already been opened. On 28 May 1992, during the commemoration of the centenary of the ascension of Baháʼu'lláh, the Roll of Honour was deposited by Rúhíyyih Khanum at the entrance door of the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh.[17] See a list here.

In 2000, the Universal House of Justice published Century of Light, which reviewed the accomplishments and setbacks of the previous century. A major conclusion of the book was the need to focus on long-term teaching goals. For example, a 1975 letter from the Universal House of Justice said the following:

"Teaching the Faith embraces many diverse activities, all of which are vital to success, and each of which reinforce the other. Time and again the beloved Guardian emphasized that expansion and consolidation are twin and inseparable aspects to teaching that must proceed simultaneously yet one still hears believers discussing the virtues of one as against the other. The purpose of teaching is not complete when a person declares that he has accepted Baháʼu'lláh as the Manifestation of God for this age; the purpose of teaching is to attract human beings to the Divine Message and so imbue them with its spirit that they will dedicate themselves to its service, and this world will become another world and its people another people. Viewed in this light a declaration of Faith is merely a milestone along the way—albeit a very important one."

(To all National Spiritual Assemblies, May 25, 1975, Lights of Guidance, p. 594)

The Universal House of Justice has announced consecutive multi-year plans. From 1996 to 2000, the Four Year Plan focused on strengthening "communities, institutions, and believers." From 2000 to 2001, the Twelve Month Plan focused on creating activities and further building an administrative structure. In this time the Regional Baháʼí Council (RBC) was created in very large countries, where an intermediary was necessary between the National and Local to help National Assemblies communicate and interact with local communities. From 2001 to 2006, the Five Year Plan has focused on three so-called core activities, which comprise devotional gatherings, children's classes, and study circles. An additional aspect newly created was the categorizing of areas into "clusters" that comprise groupings of communities, such as a metropolitan area or county. From 2006 to 2011 the Five Year Plan introduced Junior Youth Activities recognizing the pre-adolescent years as crucial in a person's spiritual growth.

The practice of study circles has helped introduce large numbers of individuals to the teachings of Baha'u'llah by training tutors to lead discussions using books containing excerpts from the Writings. In India, a single cluster had two thousand individuals become Baháʼís within a six-month period. Within the following year, one thousand of them had finished Ruhi book 2. Similar trends have been observed in Mongolia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh among others (all in relatively large numbers); and in Eastern Europe and even Britain (all in somewhat smaller numbers). Many other communities around the world have experienced increased growth and activity since 2000.