A pioneer is a volunteer Baháʼí who leaves his or her home to journey to another place for the purpose of teaching the Baháʼí Faith. The act of so moving is termed pioneering. Baháʼís refrain from using the term "missionary". The first pioneer to enter a country or region mentioned in ʻAbdu'l-Bahá'sTablets of the Divine Plan is given the title of Knight of Baháʼu'lláh. 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 Baháʼí 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 Baháʼí Faith.
Firesides: meetings held in one's home to which those interested in the Baháʼí Faith are invited.
Public talks: Lectures given about the Baháʼí Faith.
For Baháʼís, pioneering refers to something similar to missionary work. However, Baháʼís do not consider pioneering to be proselytism, a word which often implies the use of coercion to convert someone to a different religion. The following is a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual:
Widespread effect
During Baháʼu'lláh's lifetime he encouraged some of his followers to move to India. When the religion began to grow in India, other Baháʼís moved on - for example entering Vietnam and other places in 1950s. During the 1950s and 1960s the Baháʼí Faith spread rapidly in Vietnam, and the nearby countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. From 1957 to 1963 the Baháʼí community in Vietnam had more than tripled. The Tablets of the Divine Plan to the followers of the religion in the North America, especially to the United States, in 1916-1917 by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, head of the religion until 1921 when he died, asking the followers of the religion to travel to other countries; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. Their publication was delayed in the United States until 1919 — after the end of the First World War and the Spanish flu. Following their publication the first Baháʼí permanent resident in South America, Leonora Armstrong, arrived in Brazil in 1921. Shoghi Effendi, who was named ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's successor, wrote a cable on May 1, 1936 to the Baháʼí Annual Convention of the United States and Canada, and asked for the systematic implementation of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's vision to begin. In his cable he wrote:
"Appeal to assembled delegates ponder historic appeal voiced by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in Tablets of the Divine Plan. Urge earnest deliberation with incoming National Assembly to insure its complete fulfillment. First century of Baháʼí Era drawing to a close. Humanity entering outer fringes most perilous stage its existence. Opportunities of present hour unimaginably precious. Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination of this glorious century embrace the light of the Faith of Baháʼu'lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order."
Following the 1 May cable, another cable from Shoghi Effendi came on 19 May 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. In 1937 the First Seven Year Plan , 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 Latin America. The first pioneer to Chile arrived in 1940 when her ship docked at Arica. After arriving in Panama in 1940, the first Guaymí Baháʼí converted in the 1960s. 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. In 1946, a great pioneering movement began with sixty per cent of the British Baháʼí community eventually relocating. 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 from which pioneers went to French Equatorial Africa, and Cameroon and so on. From 1953 to 1963 some 250 Americans and Persians moved to many locations. Wide-scale growth in the religion was observed following this across Sub-Saharan Africa.
