Dear Bahá’í Friends,
Integral to the success and development of the Cause of God is the continual deployment of pioneers and traveling teachers throughout the world. During the course of the Six Year Plan more than 4,000 Bahá’ís left their homes to serve as either short-term or long-term pioneers in other lands. This is an indication of the increased mobility that the modern world provides, and of the believers' eagerness to advance the Cause wherever the need is greatest. It suggests that new methods must be adopted to make the best use of this massive flow of Bahá’ís.
We have therefore decided, in consultation with the International Teaching Center, to adopt a new pattern for the pioneer call for the Three Year Plan.
The essence of this method is that friends may arise from anywhere in the world to pioneer to any other part of the world. There are very few places where long-term and short-term pioneers and traveling teachers are not needed. But the needs vary in nature, intensity and urgency. To help each volunteer to choose his or her goal, a list of four categories has been prepared to indicate the particular needs. These four categories comprise countries and territories where:
1. there are now especially fertile opportunities for the rapid spread of the Faith that must be urgently met;
2. the Faith is established, but pioneers are needed to stimulate the process of growth and to assist in the opening of new centers;
3. the process of expansion and consolidation has a significant momentum, but there is a need for pioneers who can undertake specific tasks, such as arousing the interest of prominent people, strengthening the communities in certain areas, or assisting with projects of social and economic development;
4. pioneers are greatly needed, but entry is difficult because of restrictions on Bahá’í activity, lack of security, or other circumstances. These conditions present a need for believers who will resourcefully seek out opportunities for pioneering.
The list is attached to this letter for the information of every Bahá’í. Additional detailed information about many of the countries is being supplied to National Spiritual Assemblies and also to the Continental Boards of Counselors and Continental Pioneer Committees. Both the list and detailed information will be periodically updated as the outflow of pioneers and traveling teachers begins to meet current needs. Notification of areas of especially urgent concern will also be supplied from time to time.
Many National Assemblies have offered, among their international collaboration goals, to raise up a given number of pioneers and traveling teachers during the Three Year Plan. But, as indicated above, even from those countries which have specified no such goal, the friends should feel free to offer their services.
Any Bahá’í who has the urge to serve as a traveling teacher, or as a pioneer for a short or long term, should immediately contact his (or her) National Spiritual Assembly or appropriate national committee to obtain advice and additional information. He can also consult a Counselor or Auxiliary Board member, and write to a Continental Pioneer Committee. Through prayer and consultation, and after considering his own particular experience, inclinations and possibilities, he can choose his goal area and, confidently relying on the confirming power of Bahá’u’lláh, set out to serve the Cause of his Lord in distant lands.
There are still vast areas of the world where no Bahá’ís have set foot. There are millions desperately thirsting for this Water of Life. There are countries where believers are laboring day and night to foster the growth of the tree of the Cause, and are in urgent need of reinforcements. It is our fervent prayer at the Sacred Threshold that stalwart, self-sacrificing friends will arise and that a wave of pioneers and traveling teachers will surge forth to raise the banner of the Cause and reinforce the cohorts of God in every land.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)
