Born into privilege in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ola Pawlowska’s life was upended by war and widowhood, driving her from Nazi-occupied France to Canada. There, as a secretary at the Polish Legation, she discovered the Bahá’í Faith and answered the call to pioneer as a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh to the remote islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. Her early service foreshadowed a lifetime of courageous devotion.

In the 1960s, Ola fulfilled a lifelong dream by relocating to the Congo, where she spent three transformative decades nurturing a burgeoning Bahá’í community across vast distances and cultural divides. Even in her eighties, she embarked on a final pioneering journey to Poland, witnessing the establishment of that nation’s first National Spiritual Assembly.

Told with vivid warmth by her daughter Suzanne Schuurman, this narrative captures the adventurous spirit and unwavering faith that propelled Ola to the farthest corners of the globe. Her story stands as an inspiring testament to resilience, unity and the enduring power of service.