A NINE-MEMBER delegation from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Guyana will be among more than 1,000 delegates from 150 countries of the world attending the 11th International Bahá’í Convention in Haifa, Israel from April 29 to May 2, 2013. The local delegation, which left Guyana over the weekend, comprises Bernice Brisport, Christine Brisport, Dawn Collins, Jennifer Dewar, Evelyn Hamilton, Surendra Oodit, Brian O’Toole, Pamela O’Toole and Kala Seegopaul.  

Other delegates participating in the convention are expected from the southern tip of Africa, Siberia, the Americas and the remote Pacific Islands. The convention, held every five years, runs for four days beginning April 29 and is held at the Haifa International Convention Centre.
Next Monday, they will gather to elect the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, a task that delegates view as both a sacred duty and a supreme privilege.
In addition to the election, it will include consultation on issues and concerns facing the worldwide Bahá’í community. Pre-convention activities will include a brief pilgrimage to the Bahá’í Holy Shrines in Haifa and ‘Akká from April 25th to 28th, 2013.
The delegates, who are all members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of their respective countries, annually elect councils that oversee Bahá’í activity in their national jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, the Bahá’í community will today celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the day when Bahá’u’lláh first publicly announced his mission in a garden in Baghdad, thus beginning the Bahá’í community that today comprises virtually all the races of humankind in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.