The Bahá'í Faith in Barbados begins with a mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá, then head of the religion, in 1916 as the Caribbean was among the places Bahá'ís should take the religion to. The first Bahá'í to visit came in 1927 while pioneers arrived by 1964 and the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1965. Hand of the Cause `Alí-Muhammad Varqá attended the inaugural election of the Barbados Bahá'ís National Spiritual Assembly in 1981. Since then Bahá'ís have participated in several projects for the benefit of the wider community and in 2001 various sources report up to 1.2% of the island, about 3,500 citizens are Bahá'ís though Bahá'í and government census data report far lower numbers.