In 1951, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of India, Pakistan and Burma adopted the goal of sending pioneers to a number of cities throughout Africa and Southeast Asia, including Saigon, in response to the summons of Shoghi Effendi, then head of the Baháʼí Faith.[11] In a letter to an individual in September of that year, Shoghi Effendi reported that there were Baháʼís in Indochina at that time,[12] although their settlement seems to have been short-lived; a March 1952 report stated that Indochina remained unopened to the Baha'i Faith.[13]