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"lighten and uplift
them, so that they may soar on the wings of the Divine verses"
-Baha'u'llah
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Light of
the spirit shines in the Congo
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BRAZZAVILLE,
Congo Republic, 9 September 2003 (BWNS) --
Teachings on peace prompted Anselme Nkouka to
become a Baha'i during the earliest years of the
Baha'i community here.
"I
became a Baha'i because Baha'is even then spoke
of peace when no one else did -- Baha'u'llah's
message was addressing this issue," said
Mr. Nkouka.
An
interview with Mr. Nkouka was part of a
documentary film shown to participants as part
of the 50th anniversary celebrations held from
29 to 31 August 2003 to mark the introduction of
the Baha'i Faith to this country.
Like
Marie-Joseph Sommere and Francois M'Bemba, who
were also shown in the film, Mr. Nkouka, now 86,
learned of the Baha'i Faith through the man who
brought the Faith here, Ugandan Max Kanyerezi.
The
Baha'i community, which now has 3800 members and
20 local spiritual assemblies, celebrated its
golden jubilee by honoring the struggles of the
past, looking forward to its future and enjoying
the present.
The
event involved 28 theatrical and musical
performances, including a play by a theater
troupe from Pointe Noire. |
Looking forward to the future... a
participant at the Baha'i community's 50th
jubilee in the Republic of the Congo. (Photo:
Violetta Zein)
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"Everyone
wants peace today, and everyone talks of peace -- it is
quite a common topic -- but in the past, it was not so
common," Mr. Nkouka said.
Peace
remains a vital issue in a country that has suffered
through severe political and social unrest.
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The
national Baha'i center -- the venue of the jubilee
festivities -- was seized by the communist regime
in 1978 and occupied for 14 years.
During
that period, the Baha'i community was forced to
stop its organized activities. Baha'is supported
one another through mutual encouragement and
informal family contacts, but without their
elected administrative bodies.
In
1992, a new democratically elected government gave
legal recognition to the Baha'i community.
The
Baha'is reinstated their administration, regained
use of the national center and energetically
resumed their activities. |
(From left to right): National Spiritual
Assembly members, Ruffin Kinzuku (chairman) and
Mina Rameschfar, guest of honor Mr. Ali Nakhjavani,
and two local Baha'is. |
Although
there has been civil unrest, including two civil wars
since 1992, the country, with its 2.9 million
population, is now healing from its wounds. In
Brazzaville, on the edge of the mighty Congo river,
buildings are being repaired, roads paved. The city, its
stately avenues bordered by flamboyant and mango trees,
is mending slowly.
Today, the
Baha'i community is actively contributing to the
development of the country through conducting children's
education, providing opportunities for artistic
creativity, holding capacity building study circles for
adults, and welcoming the public to spiritual gatherings
for prayer and readings from holy writings.
Celebrating in dance...Congolese Baha'is. |
The
jubilee celebrations, attended by 200 Baha'is,
began with a brief welcome by the chairman of the
National Spiritual Assembly, Ruffin Kinzuku.
Then,
as the message of the Universal House of Justice
was read, the Congolese Baha'is stood up out of
respect.
"That
you are coming together under such auspicious
circumstances," said the message, "is a
testimony to the tenacity, resolve and unflagging
devotion of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh
in the Congo Republic, who have been able to
maintain their integrity as a community while the
society around them erupted in conflict." |
The Baha'i
Faith came to the French Congo (then called the Middle
Congo, now Republic of the Congo) on September 20, 1953
when Mr. Ali Nakhjavani and his wife Violette, driving a
small car through the jungles from Uganda, dropped off
Mr. Kanyerezi in Brazzaville.
Mr.
Nakhjavani, a recently retired member of the Universal
House of Justice, and Mrs. Nakhjavani, an author,
attended the jubilee as guests of honor and received a
heartfelt welcome.
Speaking in
French, Mr. Nakhjavani addressed the crowd on the great
destiny of Africa. He recalled his reaction when only
20-years-old to first reading the description in the
Baha'i writings of black people as like the "pupil
of the eye" through which the "light of the
spirit shineth forth."
Guests of honor (left to right): Mr. Albert
Lincoln, Mrs. Joan Lincoln, Mrs. Violette
Nakhjavani and Mr. Ali Nakhjavani at the opening
ceremony. |
Mr.
Nakhjavani: "And I said to myself, Ali, why
did God make you white? Why didn't God make you
black? Why weren't you born in Africa? Why were
you born here, in Asia? I am telling you the
truth; those were my thoughts when I realized the
high exalted station Baha'u'llah gave the African
people.
"His
words, dear friends, were not compliments but the
truth for the world to see."
Later,
in a two-hour question and answer session, Mr.
Nakhjavani addressed topics ranging from Baha'i
scripture and history, to personal spiritual
growth.
Mr.
Nakhjavani also spoke at the grave of his friend,
Gudratullah Azemikhah, who contributed greatly to
the Baha'i community after arriving, two years
after independence, in 1962. |
Mrs.
Nakhjavani enthralled the audience with an account of
the historic journey she and her husband undertook in
1953. They dropped off Ugandan Baha'is Enoch Olinga,
Samson Mugono, and Max Kanyerezi at their respective
posts in the Belgian Congo, Middle Congo and British
Cameroon, as part of the worldwide project for the
expansion of the Baha'i Faith.
Also
present at the celebration was Dr. Ezzatullah Tai, 73,
originally from Iran and now of France, who played a key
role in assisting the growth of the Congolese Baha'i
community.
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Other
guests of honor included Joan Lincoln, Counsellor
Member of the International Teaching Center, and
her husband Albert Lincoln, Secretary-General of
the Baha'i International Community in Haifa,
Israel.
Mrs.
Lincoln conveyed inspiring news from around the
world, of Baha'i communities actively engaged in
activities similar to those in the Congo:
children's classes, capacity building study
circles for adults, devotional gatherings, and
projects to help rebuild the society.
In
his public address, Mr. Lincoln paid tribute to
the endurance of the Baha'i community.
"To
extract the true and deep meaning of the event we
are gathered here to celebrate, we must place it
in its proper historical and human context, a
scene in which the dominant color is not that of a
rose but of red, the red of blood, of heart and of
sacrifice." |
Guest singers...the Navvab Choir from the
neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
Mr. Lincoln
said we had to accept trials because they were part of a
larger process of "finding a way to live together
like the global human family we are and were created to
be."
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Mr.
Lincoln's speech was applauded by Mr. Roger Packa,
Cabinet Director for the High Commission charged
with Moral and Spiritual Education, a branch of
the Presidency of the Republic of the Congo.
National television news reported the jubilee, and
Mr. Lincoln gave an interview on the radio and on
one of the country's most popular TV shows.
Brazzaville
Baha'i Urbain Niamba said the jubilee gave him a
new vision of the future of the Faith in the
Congo.
"I
am sure that the creativity present in the
celebrations will encourage more use of the arts
and culture among the youth in the Baha'i
community."
[Report and photographs by Violetta Zein in
Brazzaville.]
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A founding member of the Congolese Baha'i
community, Francois M'Bemba (right)and Dr.
Ezzatullah Tai, a guest of honor. |
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| Published in Bahá'í
World News Service |
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