May 9. On this day in 1909, ‘Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to Charles Mason Remey, who, with Howard C. Struven, was the first Bahá'í to circumnavigate the world and introduce the Bahá'í Faith to Japan, saying "Rest thou assured that the confirmations of the Blessed Perfection shall encircle thee from all sides."
Charles Mason Remey and Howard C. Struven were the first Bahá'ís to make a complete circuit of the world. Mason Remey would later become a Hand of the Cause of God, the president of the International Bahá'í Council, and after Shoghi Effendi's death, a claimant to the office of Guardian.
As documented in Agnes Baldwin Alexander's book History of the Bahá'í Faith in Japan 1914-1938...
The Bahá'í Message of the coming of Bahá'u'lláh and the dawn of a New Day was first heralded in Japan by Bahá'í travelers who passed through the country. Mr. Charles M. Remey of Washington, D.C. and Howard C. Struven of Baltimore, Maryland, the first Bahá'ís to make the complete circuit of the world, sojourned on their way in Japan. In a Tablet to Mr. Remey, dated May 9, 1909 ‘Abdu'l-Bahá wrote:
Rest thou assured that the confirmations of the Blessed Perfection shall encircle thee from all sides. Travel thou with Mr. Howard Struven to Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, and from there depart toward Japan and meet Prof. Barakatullah. Convey to him my yearning greeting and say:
'Endeavor so that thou mayest become a heavenly blessing, infuse the fragrance of life into the hearts of the people of Japan, become thou the first conqueror of that country; hoist the Divine Ensign in that region; become a sign of the Kingdom; build the foundation of the Edifice of God, and like unto the Heavenly Luminary, shine and gleam from the horizon of that region. This is the Most Great Guidance! This is the Effulgence of the Realm on High! This is the Eternal Outpouring! I hope that thou mayest become assisted thereby.'
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