Taiwan Bahá'í Chronicle:
An Historical Record of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan
Chapter 19
44
19. 1966
During Ridván in 1966 two more Local Spiritual Assemblies were
formed, in Hualian and Pingtung, making a total of four. By December of that
year, due to diligent teaching there were twenty-seven groups, sixteen isolated
centers, making a total of forty-seven localities. Total number of believers
was four hundred eighty-eight which included both adults and youth.
That year, in October, the Trustee of the Huqúqu'lláh. Hand of
the Cause Mr. Varqá, appointed Mr. Suleimani as the representative of
the Trustee for the Huqúqu'lláh in the Far East and the Pacific.
The Law of Huqúqu'lláh was not generally applied at that time,
but according to Mr. Varqá there were some among the Persians who
observed it.
The Local Spiritual Assemblies of Pingtung and Hualien, elected in 1966,
were the third and fourth Local Assemblies to be elected in Taiwan. Shown here
is the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Pingtung.
Seated: Mrs. Wu Ping-chen, Mr. Chung Ching-tan, Mr. Wu Ping-chen, Mr. Wu
Wen-jen, and Mr. Lee Liang-tung. Standing. Mr. Wang Ching-ian, Mr. Chiu
Chung-shao, Mr. Huang Hai-tan and Mr. Wen Lung-fui.
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There were many visitors that year, among them Hands of the Cause Mr.
Featherstone, Dr. Muhajir and Mr. Samandari. Mr. Featherstone visited Taiwan
for the first time in May 1966, for one week. Each day he went to one or two
different Centers throughout the island, including Taipei, Tainan, Keelung,
Pingtung and Hualien accompanied by Mr. Wang Tseng-min. Mr. Featherstone also
attended a special session of the National Administrative Committee at
Taipei.
He visited Taiwan at other times, also. In 1972 during a visit he presented
Bahá'í literature to Mr. Henry Kao, Mayor of Taipei.
Hand of the Cause Mr. Featherstone, seated far left, visits the
Pingtung Bahá'í community in 1966.
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Hand of the Cause Mr. Featherstone in Taipei in 1966. Seated: in the
middle, Mrs. Suleimani, next to her is Mrs. Abbie Maag, who was pioneering in
Taipei. Standing: second from the left is Dr. Soraya who was an Auxiliary Board
Member from Indonesia, Mr. Suleimani and Auxiliary Board Member Mr. Charles
Duncan. Mr. Featherstone is fourth from the right and Mr. John Huston is second
from the right. Unfortunately we cannot identify the Chinese
friends.
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This picture of Mr. Featherstone, standing far right, and other friends,
was probably taken in 1972 when he visited Hualien.
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