| date |
event |
locations |
tags |
see also |
| 1961 Jan - Feb |
Hand of the Cause of God Dr Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir traveled to India and demonstrated the principle of mass teaching. [DM172–84; SBBH2:165–7]
Mass teaching began in the rural area of Madhya Pradesh among the Hindu population. In 1961 there were 850 Bahá’ís; in 1963 87,000; by 1973 nearly 400,000; and by 1987 about two million. In 1983 45 per cent of all local spiritual assemblies were in India. [BBRSM195; BW13:299] |
Madhya Pradesh; India |
Hands of the Cause; Hands of the Cause, Activities; Rahmatullah Muhajir; Mass conversion; Mass teaching; Teaching; LSA; Statistics; Growth |
|
| 1961 8 Jul |
The Custodians announced that mass conversion had begun in Ceylon, Central and East Africa, and Bolivia, while in Canada native peoples had begun to enter the Faith. [MoC293] |
Sri Lanka; Africa; Bolivia; Canada |
Custodians; Mass conversion; Native Americans; First Nations |
|
| 1962 (In the year) |
Thirty thousand new Bahá’ís enrolled in India in six months. [VV9] |
India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1968 (In the year) |
Over a thousand new believers enrolled in Ethiopia. [BW15:186] |
Ethiopia |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1970 - early 1971 |
Over 20,000 Afro-Americans from the rural areas of the south-eastern United States became Bahá’ís. [BBRSM187] |
United States |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1970 Apr - Aug |
More than 6,000 people became Bahá’ís in Bolivia. [BW15:232] |
Bolivia |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1970 May |
One thousand Guajiro Indians became Bahá’ís in Venezuela. [BW15:241] |
Venezuela |
Native Americans; Mass conversion |
|
| 1971 (In the year) |
Over 500 people became Bahá’ís in Bangladesh. [BINS86] |
Bangladesh |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1971 27 – 30 Aug |
The first Bahá’í Youth Conference for Western Asia took place in New Delhi. [BW15:335]
Two thousand people enrolled during the conference and the week following. [BW15:335] |
New Delhi; India; Asia |
Conferences, Bahai; Conferences, Youth; Youth; First conferences; Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Jun |
Over 100,000 people, including large numbers of women, youth and families, became Bahá’ís in Uttar Pradesh, India. [BINS179:4] |
Uttar Pradesh; India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Jul |
In 18 days of teaching, 876 adults, youth and children became Bahá’ís in Haiti. [BINS181:7]
Reports from the National Spiritual Assembly in September indicated that 2,371 people enrolled in the first phase of the teaching campaign. |
Haiti |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Sep |
A teaching project in Maddhya Pradesh, India, enrolled 20,000 new Bahá’ís in Morena District. [BINS185:4] |
Madhya Pradesh; India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Oct |
In the State of Orissa, India, 2,600 people became Bahá’ís and 16 new local spiritual assemblies were formed in 15 days. |
Orissa; India |
Mass conversion; LSA |
|
| 1988 Oct |
One hundred and twenty people in Hong Kong and 280 in Macau become Bahá’ís as a result of teaching institutes. [BINS189:8]
A later report stated that more than 600 people in Macau had become Bahá’ís. [BINS194:3] |
Hong Kong; Macau |
Teaching Institutes; Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Nov |
More than 2,500 people enrolled in Bangladesh. [BINS190:5]
A later report indicated that over 5,000 people had become Bahá’ís and 108 new local spiritual assemblies formed. [BINS192:1]
|
Bangladesh |
Mass conversion; LSA |
|
| 1988 Nov - Dec |
One thousand one hundred people became Bahá’ís in the State of Gujarat, India. [BINS190:5] |
Gujarat; India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Nov - Dec |
Six hundred people became Bahá’ís in West Bengal and 5,150 in Orissa, India. [BINS189:4–5] |
West Bengal; Orissa; India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 26 Nov - 4 Dec |
Over a thousand people became Bahá’ís in Bolivia during a teaching project. [BINS189:2]
A later report indicated that over 2,000 people had become Bahá’ís. [BINS195:1] |
Bolivia |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 Nov - 1989 Feb |
Teaching projects were launched in the Philippines, resulting in 3,847 people becoming Bahá’ís. [BINS195:4] |
Philippines |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1988 4 Dec |
A two-week teaching project was launched, resulting in 414 people becoming Bahá’ís, including ten chiefs. [BINS192:4] |
|
Mass conversion |
|
| 1989 (In the year) |
More than 250 people became Bahá’ís in Zambia in the first three months of the year. [BINS201:6] |
Zambia |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1989 (In the year) |
During a three-week teaching effort on the island of Tobago, 450 people became Bahá’ís. [BINS201:7] |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Teaching; mass conversion |
|
| 1989 May |
Nearly 880 people became Bahá’ís in Guyana. [BINS202:8] |
Guyana |
mass conversion |
|
| 1989 May |
The Olinga Teaching Project was launched in Fiji, resulting in over a thousand people becoming Bahá’ís. [BINS204:3] |
Fiji |
mass conversion |
|
| 1989 Aug |
Forty Bahá’ís from Réunion, Mauritius, Seychelles and France joined a teaching campaign in Madagascar during which 724 people become Bahá’ís. [BINS217:4] |
Madagascar |
mass conversion |
|
| 1989 Oct - Nov |
In India, 4,300 people became Bahá’ís in the State of Orissa. [BINS213:3] |
Orissa; India |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1989 Oct |
The National Spiritual Assembly of Bangladesh reported the enrolment of 7,500 people in the year since November 1988. [BINS210:1] |
Bangladesh |
mass conversion |
|
| 1990 (In the year) |
The Purest Branch Project in Belize resulted in over a thousand people becoming Bahá'ís from the Garifuna population around Dangriga. |
Belize; Dangriga |
Teaching campaigns; mass conversion |
Find ref |
| 1990. Ridván |
Over the last two years, almost one million souls entered the Cause. The increasing instances of entry by troops in different places contributed to that growth, drawing attention to Shoghi Effendi’s vision which shapes our perception of glorious future possibilities in the teaching field. For he has asserted that the process of “entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world … will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”
[Ridván 1990]
Over the last two years, almost one million souls entered the Cause. The increasing instances of entry by troops in different places contributed to that growth, drawing attention to Shoghi Effendi’s vision which shapes our perception of glorious future possibilities in the teaching field. For he has asserted that the process of “entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Bahá’í world … will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct result of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.” We have every encouragement to believe that large-scale enrollments will expand, involving village after village, town after town, from one country to another. However, it is not for us to wait passively for the ultimate fulfillment of Shoghi Effendi’s vision. We few, placing our whole trust in the providence of God and regarding as a divine privilege the challenges which face us, must proceed to victory with the plans in hand.
(Riḍván 1990 – To the Bahá’ís of the World)
www.bahai.org/r/825800151 |
|
Entry by troops; Mass conversion; Statistics |
|
| 1993 (In the year) |
More than 10,000 people became Bahá'ís in Bangladesh. [BINS318:8; BINS319:1] |
Bangladesh |
Mass conversion |
|
| 1995 Aug |
More than 7,000 people became Bahá'ís in Haiti in two weeks. [BINS348:3] |
Haiti |
Mass conversion |
|
