The movement of pioneers: a way that learning is being disseminated throughout the world

At the end of February, during the festival of Ayyám-i-Há and right before the Bahá’í Fast, three Bahá’í pioneers landed in Dominica, an island country located in the East Caribbean Sea and one of Canada’s international pioneer goals for the Nine Year Plan.

One of the chief objectives of this Plan, now entering its third year, is for every country or region to have at least one cluster that has reached the third milestone of development, where “intense activity” is “occurring in specific neighbourhoods or villages” and there is “a rising spirit of universal participation in the work of community building” which “entails families and individual believers working together and making a conscious decision to see themselves as belonging to an expanding nucleus.”[1] A new element in this Plan is the degree to which clusters in a country sending pioneers are to remain connected to those receiving pioneers, helping to advance the community-building process.

A lush landscape that is part of the territory the pioneers live in.

Pioneering is a means of disseminating learning about the educational process globally, so that experience gained in more advanced clusters can be shared with those at an earlier stage of development. It is most effective when those who arise to pioneer are equipped with the necessary experience and accompanied in their efforts. When Lua Boschman and Farbod Behshad—a young married couple—heard about the call for pioneers, they felt immediately drawn toward this area of service. They consulted and decided to take steps to realize their aspirations.

They attended a nine-day orientation in Vancouver, B.C., in June 2022, and started the journey of preparing themselves to pioneer, a process that was closely guided by institutions of the Faith. Their preparation involved serving in several third milestone clusters in British Columbia. “We had never had experience serving in a centre of intense activity,” Ms. Boschman shared, “so we did six months serving in the Guildford neighbourhood in Surrey, B.C. There we served in a daily pattern working alongside a team. We were able to experience animating [junior youth groups] and teaching children’s classes, holding camps and intensive outreach campaigns…it was really beautiful how they accompanied us and supported us in that learning.” In May 2023, the couple moved to North Port Coquitlam, B.C. where they learned about working with entire families and holding community gatherings.

Wendy Rosen, a member of the British Columbia Pioneer Task Force, cites the guidance from the House of Justice that “the deployment of teams of international and homefront pioneers who are familiar with the framework for action”[2] is proving to be especially fruitful. A team of pioneers soon came together, including Ms. Boschman, Mr. Behshad and Anissa Jahromi, a recent university graduate with a decade of experience in the Harewood neighbourhood of Nanaimo, B.C., (Mid-Island cluster), which has also reached the third milestone. Ms. Jahromi was particularly drawn to the call to pioneer internationally after attending a subsequent orientation. “It was so galvanizing,” Ms. Jahromi says of the pioneering orientation, “We had past pioneers come and share their experiences and stories and it was really encouraging.” She soon began consultations with the relevant institutions to pioneer herself.

Ms. Rosen describes how a high level of institutional collaboration regionally and between nations has allowed for an in-depth understanding of the needs of a destination cluster. Consultations that occur with the pioneers and the receiving countries help match those with relevant experience to clusters that have favorable conditions for growth. The prospective pioneer’s own circumstances and experience are taken into consideration by the relevant institutions and a goal best suited is suggested.

The house where the pioneers live.

In the case of this team, after a period of consultation, Dominica was chosen as their pioneering destination. It is an English-speaking country and the cluster in which the pioneer team works is the territory of the Kalinago people, an Indigenous population. The Kalinago people are the only Caribbean community directly descended from the Indigenous peoples who populated the entire region before colonization over 200 years ago. Ms. Jahromi’s experience serving in the Harewood neighbourhood in Nanaimo, B.C. alongside Indigenous friends was relevant in this regard.

The pioneers continue to receive love and support from the clusters that accompanied them, and they reciprocate by sharing their own experience and challenges. “There’s a connection with the nation of Canada aside from just individual friendships that were formed,” Ms. Boschman says. They are also in touch with a resource person in Canada on a weekly basis and through WhatsApp groups communicate with friends, on one occasion even studying the Ridván message together. These constant interactions help them feel supported.

Mr. Behshad explains how in one instance, “I had some challenges with engaging the youth and I reached out to my friend in the Edmonds neighbourhood…she led me to some guidance from the House of Justice that helped me.”

The pioneers’ love for their new country is palpable as they discuss the resilience of its natural landscape and people, demonstrated through the recovery from a devastating hurricane that occurred in 2017. The friends they converse with are eager to discuss spiritual concepts and to pray. “We pray with everyone we visit,” Mr. Behshad comments.

Ms. Rosen emphasizes that the House of Justice’s pioneer call is “not only to those who are able to physically rise up and pioneer…it’s for all of us.” She asks, “What does it mean to rise up and support this?”

More international pioneers are required, many of whom will serve full-time or will be deployed in areas where it is less feasible that they would be able to take up employment. This requires a strong commitment to the Deputization Fund, which is another means through which we may participate in these goals. Other friends have assisted with these goals by arising to serve in the neighbourhoods that the pioneers left, ensuring that growth is not stalled.

Morgan Suhm, another member of the Pioneer Task Force, continues, “It’s really all of us who are fulfilling these goals together…we need to see this as a collective effort.”

To express interest in pioneering, please contact the Pioneer Task Force in British Columbia if you live west of Ontario at pioneering@bc.bahai.ca, or the Pioneer Task Force in Ontario, at pioneering@ontariobahai.org, if you are in Ontario, Quebec, or the Atlantic Provinces.

[1] From the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 30 December 2021.

[2] Ibid.