page_title: Baháʼí Faith in Chad
section_title: Growth
hierarchical_section_title: Baháʼí Faith in Chad / Growth
caption_attribution_description: Chad map from CIA World Factbook, converted from original GIF format (July 2011 version showing South Sudan)
context_page_description: Though the Baháʼí Faith in Chad began after its independence in 1960 members of the religion were present in associated territories since 1953. The Baháʼís of Chad elected their first National Spiritual Assembly in 1971. Through succeeding decades Baháʼís have been active in a number of ways and by some counts have become the third largest international religion in Chad with over 80,300 members by 2000 and 96,800 in 2005.
context_section_description: Following the death of Shoghi Effendi, the elected Universal House of Justice was head of the religion and began to re-organized the Baháʼí communities of Africa by splitting off regional national communities to form their own National Assemblies from 1967 though the 1990s. The Baháʼí community was much stimulated by the arrival of the first Hand of the Cause to visit Chad, Rúhíyyih Khanum who had been crossing Africa from east to west visiting many country's communities including Chad. She arrived by way of Bangui in February 1970, on the tenth anniversary of Chad's independence, to Fort Lamy and visited there and in the villages of Gassi and Djari. During the two weeks visit she met with mostly individuals and institutions of the religion. In Gassi she helped dedicate the Baháʼí center being built. From Chad Khanum traveled into Cameroon. Two developments following her trip were the participation of Chad Baháʼís in the first regional national convention of central Africa held in Bangui (Uganda splitting off its own national assembly in 1970) and second, the Baháʼís of Chad attempted to be registered with the federal government but it turned out the government had no procedure to register a new religion organizing in the country. Chad delegates to the regional convention arrived in time for pre-convention classes and saw Hand of the Cause Abu'l-Qásim Faizi who represented the Universal House of Justice. Consultation at the convention noted the fast growth of the religion in Chad and Faizi appointed Adrienne Morgan as an Auxiliary Board Member. Back in Chad and the pursuit of official recognition from the government, Dr. Aziz Navidi, a lawyer and pioneer, representing the Universal House of Justice, assisted by sharing information about the worldwide character of the religion to the authorities while appeals were processed by the community and government which was finally brought to the attention of then President, François Tombalbaye. Following this success in February the community gather in convention for the election of its first National Spiritual Assembly in April 1971 which was attended by Enoch Olinga who was himself then appointed as a Hand of the Cause. The convention was held in Gassi outside of Fort Lamy in part because a village chief had joined the religion and provided a large meeting space for the convention. An anecdote told by Olinga at the convention captured the need for the fast-growing community's need to study their new religion and understand it personally. He compared the need for daily prayer with the need for daily food. We don't wait for someone else to eat for us, nor should be wait for someone else to pray for us. The community of the religion in Fort Lamy was then counted at over one thousand while the community across Chad was characterized as being ninety-six local spiritual assemblies among the 300 localities with Baháʼís who had swollen to more than 8000. The second national convention held two days of classes for the delegates to understand the process and purpose of convention, of the national assembly, and their role as delegates and those of officers of the convention (which they too elect.) The Baháʼís of Gassi had already formed a children's Baháʼí school while land for nine Baháʼí centers was donated at the convention and the consultation of the delegates focused on the need to French-speaking pioneers who understood the religion especially in outlying areas. In December 1971 bus loads and cars of youth came from Chad and the Central African Republic to Cameroon who hosted the first regional African youth conference.
  In 1972 (and again in 1974) the Baháʼís of Chad celebrated the first United Nations Day of Chad. The public meeting held at the national Baháʼí center with the cooperation of United Nations Development Program Resident Representative featured an assistant of the UN Representative who spoke and offered literature while a Baháʼí spoke of the Baháʼí teachings - the event was covered by print and radio media in Chad and 50 people attended the meeting. The third national 
caption: Map of Chad
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