May 8. On this date in 1976, Amelia Bowman died. An American who pioneered to Scandinavia, during a pilgrimage to Haifa she "asked about Pakistan and the Guardian explained that though Moslem - this is no doubt temporary and will be absorbed later by the Republic of India."
The following is a machine translation of Amelia Bowman's obituary posted on the webpage of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Norway (Nasjonalt Åndelig Råd for Bahá'íer i Norge)....
Amelia Bowman died on Saturday, May 8, 1976 at Stokka Nursing Home in Stavanger. She was 78 years old. Few American pioneers can look back on such a long and continuous pioneer time that Amelia can. She spent 29 years as a pioneer in Europe, of which 25 years for the Bahá'í Faith spread in Norway. But she also had a long and versatile experience in the service of Faith before she left as a pioneer. She was born in Montana, but as an active Bahá'í, from 1933, she came to live many other places in the United States. For a short time she lived in Boston, and in 1935 she was a member of the Eliot, Maine Education Committee. From there she traveled to New Hampshire along with Martha L. Root and her husband, Harold Bowman. In the years that followed, she supported the teaching of the Green Acre summer school in the United States.
When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, Shoghi Effendi initiated his first seven-year curriculum. It would last until 1946, because then the war in Europe would be over. The curriculum included no less than the entire American continent, and was, of course, a major challenge, first and foremost for all Bahá'ís in the United States. For six years, Amelia was a member of the National Teaching Committee, and worked full day as assistant to the committee's secretary, Miss Charlotte Linfoot.
The World War finally ended in Europe, and Shoghi Effendi was able to advance the Divine Plan of Abdu'l-Bahá with his second seven-year plan: "Baha'u'llah's battalion occupied" on this hard-tested continent , and "landed on the shores of Europe". A total of 10 countries were covered by this plan, and Amelia chose Sweden. She came to Stockholm in October 1947 as the 35th American pioneer in Europe. Already in the spring of 1948, she was assisted by, among others, Dorothy Baker, whom Shoghi Effendi years later designated as one of the Cause's first hands. After the first local spiritual council was formed in Stockholm, Amelia traveled to Gothenburg where she allowed the conditions for the formation of Local Spiritual Council also.
However, some of the pioneers had found it difficult to continue their work in post-war Europe and had traveled back to the United States. In order to achieve the goals of the second seven-year plan, it was necessary to move the remaining pioneers to places where they were most needed, and Norway's first pioneers: Millie and George Clark were asked to travel to Amsterdam. Amelia Bowman was asked to travel to Oslo. It was late autumn 1949, and she stayed here for three years. From the first day she had contact with Johanna Schubarth. No matter how different they were to these two older bahamas, one felt strongly that they had something in common; it was this great devotion to faith; This burning desire to do the best they could to earn Bahá'u'llah. One understood as a newcomer that one had a long way to go before one came where the two had come in spiritual growth. In these three years in Oslo, Amelia showed what kind of fire she was. She understood immediately that she had come to a war-torn country in Europe to teach the Faith, and her care and helpfulness were outstanding. Many, many were those who got their mouths saturated at her table, and many were those who left her hospitable home with something under her arm or in her pocket. But besides the great consideration she showed all those she met, she realized that the message she had to give to humans was much more important than the material help she gave them.
Her curriculum was ready, she formed permanent groups and classes, often two a day if it looked the same for those interested. In addition to this, she received many assignments from the National Spiritual Council for the United States. At the annual conferences or summer schools in Europe at that time she was always found either as a speaker or as a reporter. When Dr. Ralph Bunch was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his work on ceasefire agreements in the Middle East, on that occasion, she represented both the National Spiritual of the Bahá'í in the United States and the International Bahá'í recognized by the United Nations. She personally handed him the thank-you addresses, which Dr. Burch appreciated. Despite his many assignments, Amelia also had time to do outreach activities. She visited housewives, the Esperanto League and the International Friendly.
From the latter institution, we got three contacts stitching all declared themselves as Baha'is.
Amelia had a background as a journalist and is remembered from the earlier time as a reference at the teaching conferences of the time. She learned with great diligence a language, which may be called "Scandinavian", when she had lived in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
In 1951, Shoghi Effendi announced that the time had come to initiate extended education. Until now, the teaching work had been dropped to the capitals of the different countries, but hereafter the teaching went over to the regional level. In the summer of 1952, Amelia traveled to Bergen to form a local spiritual council there. There were eventually many and great changes to her, and she was happy the day she received a pilgrimage to Haifa. The conversations she had there with Shoghi Effendi and Ruhyyih Khanum became part of her and she often reprimanded them for us. She had laid both the first and the second seven-year curriculum behind her, and inspired by her stay in Haifa in the spring of 1953 she could embark on the goals of the 10-year chorus. She continued her work in Bergen, where she formed the Local Spiritual Council in 1955. The following year, the first regional spiritual council for Scandinavia-Finland was formed, and she was elected as a member of this council. But even though it required a lot from her to be a member of committees and councils, Amelia never forgot her work as a pioneer. From Bergen, she therefore traveled to Stavanger to form the Local Spiritual Council there.
Large dark clouds were, however, in the uprising of the Bahá'í ?? in the sky of the era, clouds that would prove to be swept away only by the most burning souls. Amelia was one of those souls. The cruel persecutions that, on the part of the opponents, were directed at Baha'i in Persia finally took place, but not without their deep traces. These persecutions, along with attacks by the pacts, shortened the life of Shoghi Effendi and the following year, Bahá ?? i-Faith and friends all over the world without the protector they loved so deeply. In the critical time following Shoghi Effendi's death, it became necessary to send the most experienced pioneers to the countries most severely affected by his demise. Again, the election fell on Amelia, and she was asked to travel to France, where she worked for two years for the implementation of the national curriculum. When the National Spiritual Council of France was formed in 1958, she became a member of the National Education Committee there. It was not only this willing by Amelia that made her send from place to place; It was also this that she always completed her assignments, wherever she was sent.
Amelia's help to Denmark was among other things. of an administrative nature. When Denmark in its time was to acquire a Bahá'í center, it was Amelia, which helped out of currency difficulties. As a US citizen, she could sign for the $ 1,000 from the American Education Committee, which at that time was a lot of money, and even came from Norway to do so. She stayed in Denmark for 6 weeks and helped with the house purchase. She was therefore proud and happy when a moving party was held in the Bahá'í center on August 1, 1955. Inger Hjelme says: "We owned the house, a painted wooden bench, a gas appliance for cooking, a water boiler and some gray cups, that was it We rented some timber tables, which were covered with white machine paper, candles (the power was not yet connected) and lots of roses, and then we made tea in the big beautiful pottery jug that Amelia had given to the center on the occasion of the day. was typical of Amelia, who always made sure to give us the most necessary, both spiritual and material. "
In 1959, she was asked to return to Stavanger, where she with assistance, among other things. by Modesta Hvide, Norway's first helper council member, was able to form Local Spiritual Council the following year. With the help of pioneers, both from Norway, Persia and the United States, in 1962 she had the pleasure of seeing the 4th local spiritual council formed in Norway, namely in Hetland, a neighboring municipality to Stavanger. At the first national convention that year, Amelia was elected as a member of the first National Spiritual Council for Norway. She was a member of the National Spiritual Council and various committees for a number of years, but she continued her pioneering business without delay. When it needed a bahá ?? in Svolvær she traveled there to fill an empty space, although the climate up there certainly did not fit for her dentistry. For physically strong, Amelia was never, and long journeys were always strenuous for her. By Reid 1963, she again traveled to Haifa, this time as a member of the National Spiritual Council of Norway, and to participate in the election of the First Universal Justice House. She had so often told about her stay there 10 years earlier, and even though Shoghi Effendi had passed away, this visit by the holy tombs also meant very much to her. The World Congress in London immediately afterwards, marking the 100th anniversary of Baha'ah's prophetic mission, also became an event she was delighted to have experienced.
It turned out that the climate in Stavanger was good for her, and she settled there. She often visited Kristiansand and other cities in Sørlandet to teach the faith, she always returned to Stavanger. Her home was open, and everyone, to the resident as to her visiting friends, as well as the Baha'is as others. It was touching to see her concern for other people, her compassion for those who were hurting. Wherever she came, wherever she settled, she was always so, just, yet gentle in her judgment, cautious in her speech, always giving a helping hand to those who needed it.
Source:
Winnie Ringstad, 1976 and Inger Hjelme
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