Bahá'í Faith in Guyana

The Bahá'í Faith in Guyana was first mentioned in Bahá'í sources as early as 1916, the first Bahá'ís visited as early as 1927 but the community was founded in Guyana in 1953 with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated pioneers and from Guyanese converts. The community elected the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in 1955 and an independent National Spiritual Assembly in 1977. The country has experienced large migrations and the size of the Bahá'í community has also dramatically changed. In the most recent cycle the 2002 national census showed about 0.1%, or 500, Bahá'ís mostly in three of its Regions though Bahá'ís were noted in every Region. However, by 2005 the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated there were some 13,000 Bahá'ís. Bahá'ís are now widely distributed across Guyana and are represented in all major racial groups and regions. The Bahá'í community, while relatively small, is well known for its emphasis on unity, non-involvement in politics and its work in issues such as literacy and youth issues.

`Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, wrote a series of letters, or tablets, to the followers of the religion in the United States in 1916–1917; these letters were compiled together in the book titled Tablets of the Divine Plan. The sixth of the tablets was the first to mention Latin American regions and was written on April 8, 1916, but was delayed in being presented in the United States until 1919 — after the end of World War I and the Spanish flu. The first actions on the part of Bahá'í community towards Latin America were that of a few individuals who made trips to Mexico and South America near or before this unavailing in 1919, including Mr. and Mrs. Frankland, and Roy C. Wilhelm, and Martha Root. Root's travels to Latin America began in the summer of 1919. The sixth tablet was translated and presented by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab on April 4, 1919, and published in Star of the West magazine on December 12, 1919.

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