'Abdu'l-Baha's visits to Egypt, North America, London, Paris, Austria, Germany, Hungary and Scotland profoundly changed the Bahá'í Faith. Before the visit, the Faith had already spread to North America and Europe, but those communities were small in number. His journey proclaimed the Bahá'í teachings far and wide, and also consolidated and revitalized the communities already formed.
He stressed the need for understanding between cultures, for interfaith understanding, and world peace. He was also comfortable discussing the dangers of racism, the relationship between capital and labor, impending war, and federalism. He addressed thousands of people from all parts of society and met with and attended to the needs of the poor. Dr. T. K. Cheyne of Oxford called 'Abdu'l-Baha the "Ambassador to Humanity".
He brought the Faith out of obscurity and by the end of His life large numbers of people in Europe, North America, Asia, the Pacific, Australia, South Africa and South America knew of the Faith and thought positively about it.
Dr. Moojan Momen said "His travels were certainly a major religious event of the 20th century. They had much the same sort of effect as St. Paul's journeys which had a sizable impact on the spread of Christianity." The American Bahá'í community was profoundly changed by the visit. Kenneth E. Bowers said "Through His life and words, He was the personification of Baha'u'llah's teachings. He inspired the first handful of Bahá'ís not only to spread their Faith but, just as importantly, withstand all sorts of tests. In a very tactful, loving and wise way, He set the example to be followed." Firuz Kazemzadeh also said "This is where the real impact of His visits lies - in the capacity of the community He raised to continue what He taught them after all these years".
Read the rest of the article which was the source of this information here: "100 years ago, historic journeys transformed a fledgling faith" from Bahá'í World News Service
What do you think the impact of 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit has been? How has the Bahá'í community changed as a result? How are you personally affected by the fact that 'Abdu'l-Baha' has visited our shores? Discuss in the comments!
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