the response usually took forms very
different from the ones with which the teachers had been familiar, the new
declarants were eagerly welcomed. Tens of thousands of new Baha'is poured
into the Cause throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, often
representing the greater part of whole rural villages. The 1960s and 1970s
were heady days for a Baha'i community most of whose growth outside of
Iran had been slow and measured. To the friends in the Pacific went the
great distinction of attracting into the Cause the first Head of State,
His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa, a distinction for which only
future events will provide an adequate frame.

At the heart of the development, as has been the case in the life of the
Cause from the outset, was the commitment made by the individual believer.
Already, during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, far-sighted persons had
taken the initiative to reach indigenous populations in such countries as
Uganda, Bolivia and Indonesia. During the Nine Year Plan, ever larger
numbers of such teachers were drawn into the work, particularly in India,
several countries in Africa, and most regions of Latin America, as well as
in islands of the Pacific, Alaska and among the native peoples of Canada
and the rural black population of the southern United States. Pioneering
brought vital support to the work, encouraging the emergence of groups of
teachers among the indigenous believers themselves.

Even so, it soon became apparent that individual initiative alone, however
inspired and energetic, could not respond adequately to the opportunities
opening up. The result was to launch Baha'i communities on a wide range of
collective teaching and proclamation projects recalling the heroic days of
the dawn-breakers. Teams of ardent teachers found that it was now possible
to introduce the message of the Faith not merely to a succession of
inquirers, but to entire groups and even whole communities. The tens of
thousands became hundreds of thousands. The Faith's growth meant that
members of Spiritual Assemblies, whose experience had been limited to
confirming the understanding of the Faith of individual applicants raised
in cultures of doubt or religious fanaticism, had to adjust to expressions
of belief on the part of whole groups of people to whom religious
awareness and response were normal features of daily life.

No segment of the community made a more energetic or significant
contribution to thi