Baháʼí Faith in Mongolia

In July 1989 Sean Hinton became the first Baháʼí to reside in Mongolia. He was named a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh, and his was the last name to be entered on the Roll of Honor placed at the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh.[5] The first Mongolian, Ms. Oyundelger, joined the religion later in 1989.[6]

Hinton was trained in Baroque Flute and Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Having conceived of the possibility of becoming a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh as a university student, he learned that Mongolia was one of the few countries not yet "opened" to the Baháʼí Faith. He won a scholarship from the British Council to study Mongolian flute music, and obtained a Mongolian residence visa. Arriving in December 1988, he remained in Ulaanbaatar one year, at one point guiding Ruhiyyih Khanum during her visit. Oyundelger, then 22, was a private English language student of Hinton's who gradually learned of his religion and embraced it just before his departure. After obtaining a master's degree in ethnomusicology from Cambridge University, Hinton returned to Mongolia—initially to the Mongolian Altai—and ultimately lived there for six years, abandoning an ethnomusicology doctorate. In recognition of his services to the country, he was appointed Honorary Consul-General of Mongolia - the sole representative in Australia for the Mongolian government.[7]

In the late summer of 1992, Semira Manaseki, a British Baháʼí youth, and 2 youth members of the Marion Jack Teaching Project who were working mostly within Russia at the time, came to Mongolia to participate in a concerted effort to share the Baháʼí Faith with a wider range of Mongolians. After a concerted two-month effort, there were new Baháʼí communities in Darhkan and Erdennet, effectively tripling the size and location of the community at the time, which had been based solely out of Ulanbaatar. Members of the project stayed in the country until the following summer to help with consolidation efforts which resulted in the beginnings of a new community in Sainshand and eventually the first Mongolian Baháʼí Summer School in 1993.

In June 1995 the first Baháʼí national youth school was held in Mongolia.[8]

Ruhi Institute courses begun in 1996 are credited by Baháʼí sources as resulting in 228 enrollments in one year, which raised the Baháʼí national population to some 500. A further program was initiated in June 2004 and in about a month resulted in 200 new declarations, including 60 "junior youth" (ages 11–14). Within a few weeks about 30 of these individuals had completed the first three books of the sequence and 137 children were participating in children's classes.[9]

Regional conferences were called for by the Universal House of Justice 20 October 2008 to celebrate recent achievements in grassroots community-building and to plan their next steps in organizing in their home areas.[10] Ulaanbaatar was the gathering place for more than 1,800 Baháʼís from Mongolia and Russia.[11] More people than expected came from various regions of the country, including 408 individuals from Khövsgöl, 143 from Khentii Province, 160 from Uliastai, 120 from Sainshand, and 450 from the capital itself. More than 50 Baháʼís arrived from Russia.[4] Continental Counselors Khursheda Porsayeva, Bijan Farid, and Delafruz Nassimova attended and Counselors Uransaikhan Baatar, herself Mongolian, and Joan Lincoln, represented the Universal House of Justice. Mr. Tsedendambaa, Adviser to the President of Mongolia for Religious Affairs addressed the conference with a message of encouragement to the Baháʼís. Dr. Batsereedene, a former Minister of Health also spoke at the conference.

David Lambert (OBE), a British Baháʼí living in Mongolia, was honored for his services to the development of English language studies in Mongolia.[12] In 2003 he was chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mongolia. He and his wife, Lois, are the longest serving volunteers in the British Voluntary Service Overseas organization. He is a member of the first Arts Council of Mongolia and developed the Ulaanbaatar's University of Humanities English language library that is the most extensive in the country. He arranged for British publishers to donate many books and for the United Kingdom government to transport them to Mongolia. In 2008 Lois Lambert was awarded a medal as a State Honoured Citizen in recognition of her "invaluable intellectual contributions to the health sector of Mongolia through the training of medical professionals utilizing a positive participatory approach, excellent communication skills and demonstrating a high professional knowledge and exemplary ethics." (See below).[13]

Since 2001 efforts of the Baháʼís have been informed by the FUNDAEC initiative in Colombia and there has been work toward translating the Hidden Words into Mongolian.[14]

Since its inception the religion has had involvement in socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women,[15] promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern,[16] and that involvement was given practical expression by creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.[15] The religion entered a new phase of activity when a message of the Universal House of Justice dated 20 October 1983 was released.[17] Baháʼís were urged to seek out ways, compatible with the Baháʼí teachings, in which they could become involved in the social and economic development of the communities in which they lived. Worldwide in 1979 there were 129 officially recognized Baháʼí socio-economic development projects, while by 1987 there were 1482.[17]

• History of modern Mongolia
• Religion in Mongolia

• Hanley, Paul; The Mongolian Development Centre (2005). "Gardens for Mongolia: Growing the Capacity of Mongolia's Families". The Spirit of Agriculture. George Ronald Publisher Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85398-501-3. Archived from the original on 2009-12-25. Retrieved 2010-06-12.

• Mongolian Baháʼí National Community