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Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 1953-08-25, descending sort earliest first

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1953 (Late August)
195-
Soon after becoming a Bahá'í in Kampala, Enoch Olinga, together with fellow new believers Max Kanyerezi and Samson Mungono, responded to the Guardian's call and left his home in Uganda, to fulfill pioneering goals accompanied by Persian pioneers Ali and Violette Nakhjavání. Leaving in late August 1953 they traveled for almost 3 months, covering a distance of over 5000 kilometers.

The first leg took them to Samson Mungono's post in Kamina, in the Katanga region of the Belgian Congo. They then took a grueling route to Brazzaville, where Max was dropped off and continued through the thick forests of French Congo and Gabon, hoping to pass through French Cameroons and finally reach the British Cameroons. The car broke down in the tropical forest of Gabon leaving the three remaining friends unable to continue. Enoch volunteered to walk to a town 50 miles ahead through the forbidding jungle to get help. Upon arrival Enoch was so ill he was hospitalized for two days and could not travel for a week. He told of a dream he had in which Shoghi Effendi took him in his arms to comfort and reassure him in his desperation. In mid-October they reached the British Cameroons on the very evening of the conclusion of the Holy Year.

Confirmations of the monumental efforts these first African pioneers made soon followed: Enoch, Max and Samson all successfully brought many local people under the banner of the Greatest Name. [A Brief Account of the Progress of the Bahá'í Faith in Africa Since 1953 by Nancy Oloro-Robarts and Selam Ahderom p4]

Pioneering; Max Kanyerezi; Samson Mungono; `Alí Nakhjavání; Violette Nakhjavani; Congo, Democratic Republic of; Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; Cameroon
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