Yearbook—1990

Title Page/​Publishers’ Page

1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Containing Report for the Service Year of 1989

“Be of good courage and say: ‘Jehovah is my helper.’” Those words penned by the apostle Paul are the 1990 theme text of Jehovah’s Witnesses. May they fortify us today as they did Christians of long ago.​—Heb. 13:6.

Index

Page

3 Highlights of reports from around the world

34 1989 Service Year Report, 212 Countries or Territories

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times in:

66 Colombia

138 Finland

192 Suriname

253 Bearing Fruit With Endurance (Letter from the Governing Body)

1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

The proof is everywhere. You see it in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and far-flung islands of the sea. ‘Proof of what?’ you may ask. That increasing multitudes are glorifying God and proving themselves genuine disciples of Jesus Christ.

How are they doing this? By bearing much fine fruit. This is what we should expect, for Jesus himself said: “My Father is glorified in this, that you keep bearing much fruit and prove yourselves my disciples.” (John 15:8) When someone selects literal fruit for the table, he looks for fine quality. Should we look for anything less in the life and works of those who claim to be Christ’s disciples? Since quality is important, it should be conspicuous in the activity and way of life of everyone who is serving God.

In glorifying God, Christians also serve the vital interests of their fellowman. Hence, their work is in striking contrast to the usual tasks of humans. What specifically is their big work? At Matthew 13:18-23, Jesus illustrated the point for us. In Mt 13 verse 23 of that passage, he identified those persons getting the sense of the word of the Kingdom as the ones who really do bear fruit, producing 100- or 60- or 30-fold. Therefore, the work of true Christians is to bear fruit​—to proclaim that the Kingdom is God’s instrument for ushering in blessings of endless life for earth’s inhabitants. That is what Jehovah’s Witnesses have been doing throughout this century. In 1989 they produced fruit in even greater quantity than ever before by preaching the good news of the Kingdom to people in 212 lands.

What makes Jehovah’s Witnesses so different? It is our Bible-based message and the godlike qualities associated with our vital work. Jesus stressed certain essential qualities that his followers would cultivate and display. At John 13:35 he told them: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” No matter where they would serve in the worldwide field, this Christlike, self-sacrificing love would identify them.

They would also have the joy their master had. (John 15:11) Not only would they have joyful prospects but their witnessing would bring them joy. Furthermore, though living in a troubled world, they would have peace. (John 14:27; 16:33) This unique peace they would retain even though the majority of people would reject their message.​—Matt. 10:12, 13.

Love, joy, peace​—these qualities are first among those listed at Galatians 5:22, 23 as fruits of the spirit. Producing these and other godlike qualities while engaging in the Christian ministry and in all aspects of our daily life glorifies God and wins his approval. (Matt. 7:17-20) By bearing much fine fruit, we, the worldwide association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, are giving overwhelming evidence that we are walking worthily of the glorious name we bear and that we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.​—Col. 1:10.

Exulting in Our Spiritual Paradise

Long ago Jehovah foretold the flourishing spiritual condition that his nation of people now enjoy. (Isa. 51:3) With the extension of our spiritual paradise comes an increase in the number of people inhabiting it. (Isa. 26:15; 60:22) Thus, what a joy to see so many peaks in the number of publishers during the last service year! While the average number of Witnesses each month was 3,624,773, there was a peak of 3,787,188 who shared in bearing fruit. It was the greatest year ever for the amount of time spent in Kingdom preaching, a total of 835,426,538 hours being devoted to the great work that glorifies Jehovah.

To prove that they truly are Christ’s disciples, Jehovah’s Witnesses make it a point to teach others all the things that Christ Jesus has commanded them. That is why they conducted 3,419,745 home Bible studies each month on the average, resulting in the baptism of 263,855 new disciples during the year. The potential for multitudes of others to become actively associated with Jehovah’s people can also be seen in the fact that 9,479,064 attended the Memorial. Consider now some of the absorbing and fascinating experiences and reports for the past service year.

Sowing and Reaping Bountifully

Despite great internal political unrest in Panama, the branch reports another fruitful year for Jehovah’s Witnesses. The total of 731 baptized this past service year was more than three times the number of persons that were baptized the previous service year and was about 13 percent of all the publishers in the country. The number of publishers enrolled as regular pioneers continues to increase, and there are now about three times as many as there were in the 1984 service year.

Our brothers on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe have had seven peaks in publishers. The latest one in May, with 5,980 reporting, makes for a ratio of 1 publisher to 55 inhabitants. Are the brothers discouraged because of calling repeatedly on people in the territory? The branch answers: “No, not at all!” As a result of their frequent visits, the number of home Bible studies reached a peak of 8,438.

In Jamaica love displayed by the brothers has resulted in a fine witness. When Hurricane Gilbert struck the island, 35 Kingdom Halls were damaged. Also, 11 other Kingdom Halls along with 238 homes belonging to the brothers were destroyed. This triggered a great outpouring of love by the international brotherhood. Volunteers from the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands Antilles along with the local brothers repaired and rebuilt the damaged structures. The branch writes: “A lady who has been studying and attending the meetings had her house repaired by the brothers. This had a marvelous effect on her, and since then she has become a publisher. Her sister, noticing the love shown, asked for a Bible study. One month later, she submitted a letter of resignation to her church and has been attending congregation meetings in spite of ridicule and opposition.”

Increase continues in Costa Rica. “What a joy it was for us to reach a peak of 12,001 publishers this service year!” reports the branch. “Also, in January 1989 we were overjoyed with the number of auxiliary pioneers, 2,007 as compared with the 785 of our previous peak.” And Malaysia writes: “The 1989 service year has proved to be a very joyful one.” Last February the brothers passed the 1,000 mark in publishers. Subsequent new peaks brought the total to 1,102. The Memorial attendance was a new peak, 2,790.

Fine conduct on the part of our brothers includes being “peaceable with all men.” (Rom. 12:18) This attracts honesthearted ones. In Kenya a woman was antagonistic toward the truth and forbade her children to play with Witness children. However, after some time, she approached her Witness neighbor to ask what made Witnesses so different. “You never fight. Your family is so peaceful,” she said. A Bible study was started with her, and today this woman is in the truth.

In New Zealand a Church of England newsletter alarmingly referred to “a crisis of faith.” It mentioned that some country churches are closing down and that it was no longer possible to sustain a paid ministry in all country areas. In contrast, the branch report from that country comments: “In evidence of a living faith, a peak of 11,007 Kingdom proclaimers​—a 9.6-percent increase over the previous year’s average—​shared in making ‘public declaration for salvation.’”​—Rom. 10:10.

In war-torn Lebanon, as in other restless spots on earth, it takes great faith to attend meetings and share in preaching the good news. While the brothers were attending a meeting at their Kingdom Hall, bombs began to explode nearby. As the heavy bombardment continued and got closer to the building, many of the friends attending the Watchtower Study became increasingly distressed and worried. Sensing this, the overseers warmly and calmly encouraged everyone to put his confidence and trust in Jehovah, who guards the souls of his loyal ones. (Ps. 97:10) After surviving that ordeal, they thanked Jehovah for their safety.

A bountiful harvest is being reaped in Portugal. Five years ago the branch cared for a total of 34,091 publishers in six territories. Now there are 48,044 publishers. This is a 41-percent increase. The peak number of home Bible studies reported in all territories was 61,657, a splendid 64-percent increase during the five years. Some months, several congregations in one country had more reporting as pioneers than as publishers. For example, one congregation reported 10 regular pioneers, 83 auxiliary pioneers, and 58 publishers. They still consider their territory productive, as they report 99 home Bible studies, and this in a city where the publisher to population ratio is 1 to 160.

An act of kindness can be a stepping-stone in helping others learn the truth. While walking home from field service, two Portuguese publishers noticed an elderly woman who appeared to be ill as she got off the bus. They stopped and asked the lady if she needed help. She was so surprised that two complete strangers would show interest in her that she insisted on knowing what it was that sparked such a kind gesture. This opened the door for a brief witness. The lady readily gave the sisters her address and warmly invited them to visit her. The return visit was made, and a home Bible study was started. Soon the lady destroyed her idols, started attending meetings, and is now sharing Bible truths with friends and family alike.

Informal Witnessing Bears Fruit

Jesus counseled his disciples to let their light shine. By doing this at every opportunity today, Jehovah’s Witnesses reach many people with the good news. A brother in Brazil reports: “I always keep my Bible and literature in my locker at work so I can witness during the lunch hour. I placed the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth with a male nurse in the factory. At about the same time, another brother placed a copy of the same book with a female nurse, who merely put the book away in a drawer. A third nurse found that book and read it through in seven hours, enjoying it immensely. She talked about the book to the male nurse with whom I had placed a book, and he introduced her to me. I invited her to a meeting, and she came with her three children. A Bible study was started with the family. One of the daughters is now preparing for baptism. The mother and the other daughter share in the field service, and the husband is studying and attending meetings with them.”

In a Central American country where our work is restricted, a brother waiting at a bus stop offered two tracts to a young man who was also waiting there. A fine conversation about God’s Kingdom ensued. Finally both had to leave. Several months later a visiting speaker came to the brother’s congregation accompanied by a young man. When this young man saw the brother, he approached him and said: “Do you remember me? I am the man you talked to at the bus stop some months back. A few weeks after you gave me the two tracts, I accepted a Bible study. Today I am a publisher and plan to be baptized soon.”

Building More Kingdom Halls

As the ingathering continues during this harvest season, there is a need for more Kingdom Halls. Despite some opposition from religious circles in Italy, the branch there writes that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “emerging from makeshift halls, such as garages, warehouses, basements, and shops, and are now gathering together in fine Kingdom Halls or Assembly Halls in full view of the public eye.” There are now 12 Assembly Halls in Italy. One was inaugurated this past summer, and another three are under construction.

In Chile more than 50,000 home Bible studies are being conducted, and the Memorial attendance was three times the number of publishers. The branch says: “It has become quite urgent to build more Kingdom Halls that dignify Jehovah’s worship, and this has been an outstanding development during the service year.” With the construction of 12 large new Kingdom Halls in Bolivia, the prospects for future growth there look much brighter.

Ireland reports that even congregations with fewer than 30 publishers have been able to construct fine Kingdom Halls. Much work has also been done in Taiwan. Of the 22 congregations now in operation on the island, 12 have either built or purchased their own Kingdom Halls or are in the process of doing so.

Kingdom Hall construction continues apace in Australia. More than 170 new Kingdom Halls were constructed during the past five years. Five projects were completed this past year in Trinidad. Two other congregations rebuilt halls in order to accommodate the increase. In Jamaica the “quickly built” method of constructing new Kingdom Halls was used for the first time. At one site the town mayor turned up to see the finished building. He had misgivings about the project at first, and he felt that anyone who said it could be completed in two days was crazy. But after seeing it with his own eyes, he marveled at the brothers’ ability.

Legal Matters

On April 1, a change in the status and organizational procedure of Jehovah’s Witnesses took place in Mexico. Prayer may now be freely offered at all congregation meetings, and the Bible may be used in field service. A woman, active in a Catholic Bible study program, said about the Witnesses’ new religious freedom: “If they left us speechless before, now that they are opening the Bible at the doors, we are lost!”

In recent years the door opened in Eastern Europe for dedicated Christians to bear fruit to a greater extent. In Poland, extended discussions had been held between responsible brothers and government officials concerning the granting of legal status to our brothers. On May 18, the application for the religious association of Jehovah’s Witnesses was accepted and officially registered​—just in time for the large conventions that were planned for Chorzów (near Katowice), Poznan, and Warsaw.

Just over a month later, on June 27, the brothers in Hungary rejoiced when legal status was granted to Jehovah’s Witnesses in that country. For the first time, the authorities allowed them to use public auditoriums for their district conventions in various cities.

Jehovah’s Witnesses everywhere rejoice with their fellow workers in Mexico, Hungary, and Poland. May Jehovah richly bless their activity as they bear Christian fruitage and fully carry out his will.​—1 Thess. 4:1, 9, 10.

Facing the Blood Question

The rapid spread of AIDS worries the world, including the small South Pacific island of Tonga. In early November last year, a one-day conference was held on the causes and prevention of AIDS in Tonga. A representative from WHO (World Health Organization) was also present. Among the questions asked was whether nonblood volume expanders were available in that country. Those present were made aware of the stand that Jehovah’s Witnesses take regarding the use of blood. And the booklet Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Question of Blood was distributed along with the October 8, 1988, issue of Awake! dealing with the subject of AIDS. With the exception of one person, all readily accepted the publications.

On the nearby islands of Western Samoa, a doctor on the medical board for the national hospital pointed out that doctors should treat patients in accord with their wishes and not undermine the patient’s conscience. He explained that Jehovah’s Witnesses are willing to undergo alternative forms of medical treatment, so even from a medical viewpoint, surgeons have good reason to respect their wishes.

Conventions Where Throngs Bless God

The psalmist David found great delight in being among the congregated throngs that bless Jehovah. (Ps. 26:12) And indeed that has been the feeling of Jehovah’s people worldwide during the past service year. There were 6,273,804 that attended the “Divine Justice” District Conventions during the latter part of 1988 and early 1989.

For some brothers it required exceptional effort to be in attendance. For example, in Myanmar (formerly Burma) because of dangerous conditions in some places, it was unsafe to travel. Despite the risks, some publishers walked for days and rode overcrowded trains so as not to miss out on their spiritual feast. And in Kenya the publishers either rode bicycles or walked for miles in order to attend.

Regarding the nonracial atmosphere evident at our conventions, a brother from Zambia who went to South Africa wrote: “It was marvelous to be present here at the convention in Johannesburg. I really enjoyed the association with brothers of different races​—all together as one family.” A young Muslim man in Senegal who had never attended any of our meetings was greatly impressed by the loving spirit of the conventioners and the clear stand taken by Jehovah’s Witnesses against wrong practices. After the program on Saturday, he no longer felt right about keeping the amulets and good-luck charms that he had tied around his waist for protection. “I see no more need to put confidence in them,” he admitted. “I know it is Jehovah’s Witnesses that have the truth, and none of them wear amulets for protection. It is Jehovah who protects them.”

The cleanness and good order that are characteristic of our conventions give a favorable witness. An administrator at one stadium in Brazil said: “It was a pleasure to have you here, since it means that the stadium will be cleaner and left in order. You are to be congratulated for your cleanness. Come back again!”

The 1989 district conventions carried the theme “Godly Devotion.” From many parts of the earth, there were reports of excellent attendance and of myriads being baptized. For instance, attendance for the United States branch territory reached 1,366,700, and 18,011 persons were baptized. This series of conventions will continue into the early part of the 1990 service year in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, during the month of August 1989, the focus was on Poland. What Jehovah’s people experienced there was unforgettable.

Historic Poland Conventions

In October 1987, at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Corporation of the Society, it was announced that in 1989 international conventions would be held in Poland. At that time few people realized how significant these gatherings would prove to be. Both Chorzów and Poznan hosted the conventions simultaneously on August 4-6; then Warsaw did so on August 11-13.

It was estimated that 140,000 persons from 22 countries would be attracted to these spiritual feasts. However, the total attendance came to 166,518, and the number of countries exceeded the original estimate.

For two weeks straight, starting on July 28, the airport in Warsaw was just buzzing as day after day Polish brothers welcomed delegates arriving from all parts of Europe as well as from Japan and North America. Some delegates traveled as much as 7,000 miles [11,000 km], mostly by rail, for six days and six nights. Visitors came from Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, and the Baltic States, as well as from the Ukrainian Republic. Despite the delays experienced due to the vacation season and other problems, the brothers were not deterred. They were just delighted to come together for this spiritual festivity.

As to the delegations from Western Europe, Japan, and North America, the Orbis Congress Bureau, the official Polish travel agency, acknowledged that this was the largest single movement of international visitors ever to tour Poland and attend conventions. These officials were greatly impressed by the fine conduct of the brothers as well as the efficient organization.

The cooperation of the authorities was greatly appreciated. At air, bus, and train terminals, Polish convention workers received kind assistance from officials and their staff.

While some 12,000 were accommodated at hotels in the various convention cities, there were upwards of 60,000 delegates that our local brothers housed in private homes and apartments, Kingdom Halls, school dormitories, and tents. One congregation of 86 publishers accommodated over 500 visitors. Another congregation of 146 publishers in the western suburb of Warsaw hosted 1,276 delegates.

On Friday morning at each convention, traffic flow on all the main thoroughfares leading to the stadium was clogged with delegates. Streetcars arrived loaded with chattering, happy Witnesses. Chartered buses filled with our brothers from surrounding cities and towns parked in preassigned places. Other Witnesses came on special trains. Convention lapel cards were everywhere.

At the three conventions, specially designated sections were set aside for foreign delegates. Large groups came from various countries, especially Czechoslovakia. Many from the Soviet Union who were visiting friends and relatives were also present.

Special Features of Program

Since the conventions were international in scope, reports were heard from some 25 different countries. Portions of the program were translated simultaneously into as many as 16 different languages, and each language group could hear the program clearly without interference from other language sections in the stadium. A man in the audio profession who was consulted on how to carry out this arrangement said: “It is impossible to amplify the sound of the stadium in such a way that the participants can simultaneously listen to the program in 16 languages.” Nevertheless, our brothers did just that, and all were able to listen attentively to members of the Country Committee of Poland and to Governing Body members.

The release of two tracts in the Polish language on Saturday afternoon came as a big surprise. It was the first time that the brothers in Poland had a convention release. The release on Sunday morning of the brochure Should You Believe in the Trinity? was an even greater surprise. For Poland, this publication will be a most effective instrument in exposing this false doctrine and helping honesthearted people to know the truth about the one true and living God and his Son, Christ Jesus.

The baptism on Saturday was a moving sight. At each convention city when the candidates rose to answer the two questions put to them by the speaker, tremendous applause rocked the stadium. Never before had so many been baptized at conventions in Poland. Tears of joy welled up in the eyes of all!

The atmosphere at these three conventions was unforgettably impressive for several reasons. First, it was such a joy and privilege to be in these large stadiums sharing fine spiritual food from Jehovah’s table as arranged by “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24:45-47) And how heart-stirring it was to sit next to brothers from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and other places, who in the past had not had opportunity to meet with large groups of fellow believers!

One Soviet visitor said: “For many years we have been waiting for this day, and now we are here at this international convention. We find it difficult to grasp all of this and take it all in. It is like a dream. It is impossible to express in words everything we have seen and heard. When we saw the gigantic, bowl-shaped stadium full of people and heard the music, our eyes filled with tears. And the prayer​—while all of us were motionlessly united—​it sent cold shivers down our backs. It was so solemn and unanimous. This convention in Warsaw is such a splendid and grand event that only the new world will be better. We will always remember these wonderful days. It is something one cannot forget. Special thanks and glory be to our Creator, Jehovah God!”

The August 16, 1989, edition of the Polish newspaper Życie Warszawy said concerning the convention held in the Dziesieciolecia Stadium in Warsaw: “Those who worship Jehovah God​—as they themselves say—​greatly value their gatherings, which are certainly a manifestation of unity among them. . . . And something else​—as regards orderliness, peacefulness, and cleanliness, convention participants are examples to imitate.”

Truly the sense of brotherhood, love, and joy in being together is difficult to describe. It is understandable, then, why at each convention city the brothers lingered after the concluding talk​—not wanting to leave, not wanting to forget the moment. Their confidence and faith is that in the not-too-distant future, the whole earth will be filled with those who love and serve our Grand Creator Jehovah unitedly.

For those who had the privilege of being in attendance at the Poland conventions in the summer of 1989, the words of Psalm 70:4 are truly appropriate: “May those exult and rejoice in you, all of whom are seeking you, and may they say constantly: ‘God be magnified!’​—those loving your salvation.”

Ministerial Training School Bears Fruit

During the 1989 service year, two additional classes of this school were held in the United States. Assembly Halls in St. Louis, Missouri, and Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, were used for the third and fourth classes respectively. A fifth class was taught in Vienna, Austria, during the spring of 1989.

Of the 25 students in the third class, 6 were given foreign assignments. The rest were assigned to serve in the United States and Canada, with some of them going into circuit work. In the fourth class, 16 of the 24 students were assigned to foreign fields. For the present, the others continue in their full-time service in the United States and Canada.

In the latter part of April 1989, the Ministerial Training School took on more of an international aspect. Two experienced instructors who serve as traveling overseers in the United States were sent to Vienna. The 23 students making up the first European class came from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. Also, eight prospective instructors for future classes in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain attended the course. A fine classroom was available as well as library facilities and a school office. Accommodations were provided in the Bethel Home.

The instructors were highly pleased with the fine progress of the students. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them, something they will never forget or regret. Four graduates have been assigned to lands outside of Europe, while at present the others are caring for assignments right there on the European continent.

Following the conclusion of their schooling, a letter from the Vienna class said in part: “Before we came, most of us were already serving in a shepherding capacity. But now we understand much better what the standard for shepherds for God’s people really is. We are confident that we have been well trained and equipped to serve Jehovah, our brothers, and our fellowman much better than we ever could have done without this fine education.”

Thus far, graduates of the Ministerial Training School have been assigned to serve in 25 lands outside of their countries of origin. During the 1990 service year, it is hoped that the benefits of this school will be extended even further.

Branch Dedications That Glorify God

The highlight of a person’s life is the day he dedicates himself to the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. Similarly, a highlight of the theocratic life of a country’s branch office is the dedication of its facilities to that same Sovereign Lord, who is “the One who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them.” (Acts 4:24) During this past service year, five branches were dedicated, including the one in Mexico.

Peru

November 6, 1988, dawned with a chilly, gray overcast. But soon, as if encouraged by the happy faces moving toward a special place in Monterrico Chico, Lima, the sky broke out in radiant sunlight. Jehovah’s people were looking forward to a special event​—a joyful conclusion to the project “Expansion—​Bethel Peru.” With hearts full of appreciation, 694 persons gathered in the new Kingdom Hall at the branch, and united by telephone, an audience of 48,150 at an assembly site in Campoy, on the outskirts of Lima, paid careful attention to the dedication program. A surprising attendance, since only 31,000 Witnesses reside in the entire country! Theodore Jaracz of the Governing Body gave the dedication talk.

When plans were made in 1980 for the construction of the original part of the branch, the extent of the increase in publishers was hardly anticipated. Hence, by the time that project was completed in December 1984, it was clear that the branch would soon need to expand again.

The project “Expansion​—Bethel Peru” was a plan to duplicate the existing complex with an antiseismic design and type of construction. The tilt-up system aroused much curiosity. Spectators abounded on the days when a 60-ton crane lifted the heavy panels of prefabricated concrete, weighing several tons each, into place. In all, 120 panels were used. These panels were made complete with embedded tubes for the electrical system, as well as window and door frames set in place. While this fabrication was going on, the brothers in the carpenter shop also worked like busy bees converting beautiful mahogany from the Peruvian jungle into all the needed woodwork.

Lovingly contributing their time and travel expenses, 55 IVCWs (International Volunteer Construction Workers) came from other countries to assist. Being vulnerable to certain health problems, as visitors from other countries usually are, they expressed their gratitude to the two doctors, both Witnesses, who untiringly attended their medical needs. Other essential services were rendered during the entire construction period. For example, two barbers, our brothers, who took turns weekly “opening shop” on site, cheerfully gave haircuts to everyone.

The 60 Bethel family members can attest that the project “Expansion​—Bethel Peru” was born of an urgent need and has been completed with praise for Jehovah.

El Salvador

“Hail the Theocracy, ever increasing! Wondrous expansion is now taking place.” On Saturday, November 12, 1988, 22,091 voices joined together to sing those stirring words in celebration of the dedication of the new branch office and Bethel Home in the Central American country of El Salvador.

The office and residence complex, from its hilly, suburban vantage point, overlooks the capital city, San Salvador, and has a view of several of the volcanoes for which the country is famous.

Brother John Barr, a member of the Governing Body, spoke warmly on the theme: “The Song of Theocracy’s Increase.” The program also featured colorful folk dances presented by a hundred local brothers and sisters.

Over 300 visiting brothers, representing nine different countries in North and Central America as well as Europe, were able to share in the joy of the dedication program. This included several of the 326 IVCWs who had had a large share in the construction.

The first strains of the song of theocratic increase were heard in 1945, when the first two missionaries, Roscoe and Hilda Stone, faced the monumental task of bringing the truth to the one-and-a-half million inhabitants living there at that time. Since then, this song has been sung with ever-increasing volume. This year saw a peak of 17,647 publishers, representing a ratio of 1 publisher to every 322 inhabitants. During the period when the branch was under construction​—from the purchase of the first lots in April 1983 through the two-and-a-half years of construction until the branch was completed in July 1988—​the country experienced a phenomenal 50-percent increase, even though many regular and special pioneers were absent from their field assignments while assisting on the construction. The potential for even greater increase can be seen from the vast number of newly interested ones who came to the 1989 Memorial, which had an attendance of 58,503.

The antiseismic feature of the new construction was also put to an early test on October 10, 1986, when the city of San Salvador was rocked by a severe earthquake. Although the majority of buildings in the city center were destroyed​—with hundreds of people losing their lives and thousands being left homeless—​none of the brothers working on the new branch were injured, and the buildings remained undamaged. With the completion of these modern facilities, Jehovah’s spirit continues to be upon the brothers in El Salvador as they join with their brothers around the world in singing the unceasing song of theocracy’s increase.

Mauritius

Like a jewel surrounded by turquoise-blue sea, coral reefs, and white beaches, this tropical island-nation in the Indian Ocean is the home of over a million descendants of the immigrants of yesteryear. Sugarcane farming brought most of them to Mauritius, where they found an emerald-green landscape speckled with toothlike volcanic peaks. Today, the majority of the population are Hindu Indians, who share the island with Catholic Creoles, Muslim Indians, Europeans, and Chinese. Although English is the official language, most inhabitants speak Creole, a French dialect.

In 1933 the branch in South Africa sent two pioneers, Bert McLuckie and Robert Nisbet, to the island. They planted the first Kingdom seeds. However, it was not until 18 years later, when Robert Nisbet was joined by his brother George that the seeds took root and began sprouting.

In the meantime, the Kingdom news reached the neighboring islands of Réunion and Rodrigues. Today, the Kingdom preaching activity on the islands of Réunion, Rodrigues, and Mayotte as well as the Comoros is also organized under the direction of the Mauritius branch. Actually, there are more of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Réunion than in Mauritius.

After decades of using rented accommodations, a new branch office with Bethel Home and Kingdom Hall was constructed in the inland town of Vacoas. On December 10, 1988, the dedication of this complex took place. How delighted were the 701 persons who heard the dedication discourse delivered by Carey Barber, a member of the Governing Body!

The project aroused the interest of many friendly neighbors. They often remarked on the fine conduct of the young brothers who lived and worked there. One of the neighbors, Amrita, lives with her mother and grandmother in a small corrugated-iron home bordering one side of the property. When she was contacted in the door-to-door ministry in the early stages of the project, she accepted a Bible study. So moved by what she learned, Amrita volunteered her labors every day and helped to cook for the hungry workers. As a result of such wholesome association, she made fine spiritual progress and today is a dedicated, baptized Witness in the full-time preaching work.

What joy the growth of Jehovah’s people in this part of the world has brought to old-timers! In 1951 the first congregation was established, with eight Kingdom publishers. Now there are 2,564 publishers who associate in the 30 congregations on these Indian Ocean islands. The feelings of four foreign full-time workers, who have served here in total for 132 years, were well summed up by Sister Eunice Price when she said: “We planted, we sowed seed, and Jehovah has given growth. What a privilege we’ve had to observe it with our own eyes!”

Japan

Following five years of work by more than 500 brothers, the dedication program for the Japan branch at Ebina was held on May 13, 1989, with Carey Barber, John Barr, and Lloyd Barry from the Governing Body as featured speakers.a The crowd of 3,213 who attended this very happy, special occasion included all the missionaries and traveling overseers in Japan, publishers who had participated in the construction work along with their families, and many faithful long-time publishers. Also included were about 60 guests from overseas, representing 13 branches.

On the day following the dedication, Sunday, May 14, a special meeting was arranged, with 46 places connected by telephone tie line. Thus, 233,780 were able to listen to talks by the delegates from various countries and from the Governing Body. Certainly the events that took place on these two days have become a milestone in the theocratic history of Japan.

Currently, approximately 38 branches are involved in planning or are actually engaged in new construction or expansion of their existing facilities. And the IVCW program has sent out workers to 30 branch locations to assist the local building crews. Truly, in various ways, Jehovah has granted his people great power to ‘give forth a witness’ to his glory and that of his Son.​—Acts 4:33.

Africa

God’s will is that “all sorts of men should be saved.” And the 1989 service year has been one of steady progress toward that end on the African continent.​—1 Tim. 2:4.

In Senegal a high school professor has been a regular subscriber to our magazines for years. He often uses articles from Awake! to teach pupils in his classes. To help his students follow their lessons better, he would lend them his personal copies. However, since he has had some difficulty in getting the students to return the magazines, he now gets the bound volumes at the end of the year and uses these in the classroom!

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses are few in number in the Republic of Guinea, the preaching and disciple-making work is carried on with great zeal. The brothers have been busy constructing a small Assembly Hall, which is located some distance off the road and up a hill. The brothers were wondering how they were going to transport several loads of sand to the site. They went to a road-building company to rent a truck for hauling sand. The manager of the company arranged for a truck and a front-end loader to be put at the disposal of the brothers. Six trips had to be made to get the sand moved. When the brothers went to pay for the truck and loader, the manager told them the job was done free of charge. He said: “The only thing you can do is pray for us to Jehovah so that we too may develop interest in his worship.”

A circuit overseer assigned to Côte d’Ivoire was seeking a hall large enough for the special slide presentation in the city of Bondoukou. He contacted the director of the local cultural center. At first the director was opposed to the Witnesses’ using it, since, in the past, other religious groups had caused too much of a disturbance. However, he suggested to the circuit overseer that a letter be written explaining the reason for the request. On that same day, the circuit overseer met a policeman, a man he had previously studied the Bible with when in Abidjan. It just so happened that the policeman was a personal friend of the director. He approached the director and explained that the Witnesses could be trusted. The director then agreed to the use of the hall, giving the key to the policeman. The small congregation of 21 publishers was pleased to have an attendance of 124, including both the director and his policeman friend. The director was so impressed with the cleanness of the hall and the wholesome spiritual program that he offered the use of the hall at any future time. In addition he has since agreed to a Bible study.

Mary, an 11-year-old girl who lives in Sierra Leone, suffers from a painful disease called sickle-cell anemia. Because of the disease, she has spent the past two years of her life in and out of the hospital in connection with operations to remove infected bone from her leg. Mary has remained determined not to break God’s law clearly stated at Acts 15:29, namely, ‘keep abstaining from blood,’ even though it has resulted in a constant battle with the doctors regarding blood transfusions. Although her mother backs up her decision, Mary speaks for herself when it comes to refusing blood. Two years ago, when Mary was nine, she spent three months in the hospital while doctors, nurses, and other patients pressured her to agree to an operation with blood. Surgeons told her that the operation could not be done without blood transfusions, warning that unless she had the operation, she would never walk again. Possibly she would die. Yet Mary would answer: “I would prefer to die than to take blood. Blood transfusions are not things that Jehovah approves. . . . If I take blood, I will feel dirty before Jehovah.”

The doctors pressured Mary’s mother, charging that she wanted Mary to die and that she would be responsible for her daughter’s death. They claimed that she brainwashed Mary.

Mary and her mother stood fast in their decision to obey God’s law. Eventually two surgeons agreed to perform the operation by working in tandem. In that way it could be done quickly and without blood. However, they did not give much hope for success. When Mary regained consciousness after the surgery, her first words were: “O Jehovah, save your servant!” Mary recovered faster than two other patients who had undergone the same operation that day but with blood.

Sad to say, sickle-cell anemia is incurable, and for Mary there will continue to be pain and more surgery. She cannot get to many meetings anymore, since she has difficulty walking. The brothers do not have cars, and no public transportation is available. With great effort she managed to attend the Memorial this past year but fell several times going home.

While Mary is small and looks frail and walks with a wooden crutch, there is nothing weak about her faith. One indication of this is the name she gave to the dog her mother gave her as a pet when she was about to have her first operation. She named it Holdfast. When her uncle visited her, he asked her: “Did you give him that name because you have to hold him fast so he doesn’t bite anybody?”

“No, Uncle,” replied Mary, “I called him that because the Bible tells us we have to hold fast to our integrity. If we hold fast to our integrity, we’ll be all right.”

In Burkina Faso a missionary conducted a Bible study with a woman whose husband had been very opposed. Since his job requires him to travel often, the missionary encouraged the woman to put some of the magazines in her husband’s suitcase when he traveled. Little by little the man began to read the magazines. Soon his opposition ceased. He was invited to the Memorial in 1988, and to the surprise of many, he came. Since then a Bible study has been started, and the man has made so many changes in his life that his family and friends say that Jehovah’s Witnesses must have the true religion because they were able to make this man a better person.

In another African country, our brothers were attending a meeting when suddenly the police burst in. A special pioneer was arrested, hauled away to prison, searched, and interrogated. The police seized a paper upon which the pioneer had been noting Bible texts during the meeting. The police saw written the names John, Peter, and Jeremiah, followed by figures and concluded it was a list of men who owed the pioneer quite a large sum of money. The police asked the pioneer: “How will these people reimburse you when you are in prison?” Even in a difficult circumstance such as that, the pioneer had to smile.

Asia

Our brothers in Asia are enthusiastically offering subscriptions for The Watchtower and Awake! By diligently seeking out interest in the Bible’s message, they are helping people to “listen” to God’s Word so that their souls “will keep alive.”​—Isa. 55:3.

In India a regular pioneer, following the suggestions given in Our Kingdom Ministry, carefully prepared a list of his acquaintances, relatives, and Bible students with a view to offering them subscriptions to our magazines during the subscription campaign. His sincere efforts brought excellent results. He obtained 30 subscriptions during that month.

Another brother working in a large bus transport corporation entered his ten suggestions for safe driving in a competition open to its 36,000 employees. He based his entry on the January 8, 1988, Awake! His were the best ten suggestions. He was given a certificate, and the leading dailies in the state also gave publicity to this. However, the brother humbly acknowledges: “I know that I am not the person to receive the credit for this. It belongs to Jehovah and to his organization, which provided this valuable information.”

A circuit overseer in Japan encouraged each congregation he visited during the subscription campaign to make special efforts to obtain subscriptions. He reports that as a result, the first congregation was able to obtain 181 subscriptions during the week, the second 153, and the third 145. Although there was only one day left of the campaign for the congregation he visited beginning May 30, he encouraged the brothers to try hard the next day. In one day, they obtained 84 subscriptions, 56 of which were obtained going from house to house.

A sister there set a goal of obtaining 30 subscriptions in each month of the subscription campaign, April and May. She says that she followed the suggestions given in the 1983 Our Kingdom Ministry insert and Jehovah blessed her efforts. When someone came to her house, such as money collectors, salesmen, and deliverymen, she recommended the magazines to them. She also offered subscriptions to acquaintances by either visiting or telephoning them, and when shopping, she offered subscriptions to shop assistants who seemed to be idle at the time. She obtained 40 subscriptions in April and 32 in May. Forty-six of these were obtained through informal witnessing.

A brother in Pusan, Republic of Korea, observed that the business buildings were not worked very often in the ministry. As a lawyer, he could easily get into offices and speak with presidents or managers of the companies. His method? Give a brief, simple witness. Only when an encouraging response was forthcoming would he continue further. In this way he was able to obtain 26 subscriptions during the month of the subscription campaign. He was determined to reach his goal and would not be deterred, even though he had to climb more stairs than usual in this type of territory. This was difficult for him, as he is the victim of a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body.

Taiwan is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, with a population now of more than 20,000,000. Ninety-five percent of the inhabitants are Chinese, with the majority believing in Buddhism and Taoism. Would these people respond to the Kingdom message? Yes. Now Buddhists and Taoists alike, along with many nominal Christians, are responding to the good news and are learning of their Creator. What really attracts people with traditional Chinese thinking to take up a study of the Bible?

A former Buddhist, now our brother, tells us what attracted him: “I was raised in an active Buddhist home next door to a Buddhist temple. This meant my early life was greatly influenced by Buddhism. During my school years, our family moved to a larger city, and it was there that I was introduced to the Bible and the Presbyterian Church. Actually, I never understood the Bible but became a member of the church, as their pursuits were similar to my goal in life at that time. I desired to become wealthy and independent. The church stressed finances and material support from their parishioners, or a materialistic attitude. So the church was acceptable.

“In time I became materially secure and was married with a family, but still in my heart I did not feel satisfied. One day one of Jehovah’s Witnesses called on my wife and asked her if she knew God’s name. She didn’t and so was shown that God’s name is Jehovah. (Ps. 83:18) When I came home from work, my wife asked me the same question, and I really felt disillusioned to think that up to that time I had been a member of the Presbyterian Church and never even knew that God’s name is Jehovah! A Bible study was started with us by the pioneer sister.

“After about three months of studying, I could see what was required and therefore started to make adjustments in our family life and attitude. I came to realize that Jehovah is real and that the Bible is truly his inspired written Word. Over the past six years, our family has moved ahead spiritually. I am privileged now to serve as an elder in the local congregation. My wife and I set aside time each year to engage in the auxiliary pioneer ministry. Our two boys are publishers, and our goal is for our family to become regular pioneers. We thank Jehovah that through the instruction of his organization, we now have a united family with a real goal, something that was impossible through Buddhism or so-called Christian religions.”

When new missionaries arrive in Taiwan, for the first three months they concentrate on learning the Chinese language. This consists of several hours of classroom study a day. Then they spend four hours in the house-to-house work, applying what they have learned, followed by more hours doing homework. How much do they understand when they start out in the house-to-house ministry? Well, not too much initially. One new missionary was able to explain briefly to the householder why he was calling but forgot how to conclude and offer The Watchtower and Awake! subscriptions. The householder very kindly contacted the branch office by telephone to find out what the conclusion of the presentation was and then subscribed for The Watchtower and Awake!

Europe

“You young men and also you virgins, you old men together with boys. Let them praise the name of Jehovah,” states Psalm 148:12, 13. Our brothers in Europe are doing just that.

Nine-year-old Frankie lives in Luxembourg. When he was hospitalized for some time, he brought his cassette player and his Listening to the Great Teacher cassettes along. A Roman Catholic priest visits the hospital rooms every evening to say good night. When he entered Frankie’s room, he saw the cassettes but did not say a word. The next day at noon, he came again, but Frankie was sleeping. He took a cassette, put it into the cassette player, sat down on Frankie’s bed, and listened to both sides. When Frankie woke up, the priest started to ask him some questions. He told Frankie that it was fine that he believed in God.

“Then,” says Frankie, “he asked me if he could get the book that went with the cassettes. So I placed a Great Teacher book with him and also the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth.”

In the Paris region of France, two teenagers from Laos learned the Bible truth from Jehovah’s Witnesses but became victims of their father’s violence because they no longer would take part in ancestor worship. After learning that they were continuing to study the Bible in secret, in a fit of rage the father tried to cut one son’s throat. He did not hesitate to write in large letters on his car and on the walls of his apartment building: “Death to Jehovah’s Witnesses”!

It was in these dramatic circumstances that the two boys made their decision to begin field service. In spite of their father’s adverse publicity, they were surprised at the fine welcome received from the people in the territory. Today both are baptized, and one has been in full-time service for several years. As for their father, he has now accepted the fact that his sons are Witnesses.

The deaf are also learning to praise the name of Jehovah. A deaf person in Italy lived a life dedicated to sports, target shooting in particular. He attended deaf associations where sporting activities were organized. His ambition was to participate in the deaf Olympics.

In his spare time, he would read the Gospels, and he was struck by the idea that the end of the world was coming. One day Jehovah’s Witnesses called at his house and spoke with his wife, who, at that time, did not show much interest. However, she took the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth for her husband and made an appointment for the Witnesses to return. How would the husband react to the book?

“I read the book in one night, and I enjoyed it,” he says. “I now understood that the religion I belonged to was not the one Jesus had taught.” He thus accepted their offer of a Bible study. “After a month,” he continues, “I quit my sporting activities, handed in my target-shooting arms, and gave up my hope of participating in the deaf Olympics. I began attending all the meetings. But I had a problem. Because of being deaf, I could not understand anything! Several brothers lovingly wrote down the material considered, and this impressed me. But after a month, I was feeling discouraged​—it was as if I had to depend completely on them, and I thought: ‘What’s the use?’ But a Bible talk given during that period made me reflect.

“The speaker said that accurate knowledge is necessary to change one’s personality. But where was I to find such knowledge if I stopped coming to meetings? The solution to my problem was for someone in the congregation to learn sign language. I decided to put Jehovah to the test according to his own invitation in Malachi 3:10. Jehovah granted my request. His organization invited some members in my congregation to attend a school to learn sign language. Such expressions of love on the part of Jehovah and the brothers were decisive for me, and I dedicated myself to him and was baptized. Twice I have served as an auxiliary pioneer. I managed to do so thanks to the help of the brothers and sisters who translated my gestures to the householders. I also have the joy of conducting a study with my son, who is not deaf but with whom I can communicate perfectly.”

The blessings in Italy are even more evident when one considers that the Catholic hierarchy has shown considerable hostility toward the Witnesses by attempting to hamper their activity. For example, the parish priest of a town in the central region of Abruzzi organized a series of 12 mornings of prayer. Why? So that the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses would no longer gain a hold on the Catholic flock. But his prayers backfired, as did Balaam’s curses in King Balak’s time, when God changed curses into blessings. (Num., chap. 23) The successive peaks of publishers in Italy, reaching 172,382 in August, are proof of this.

In Spain one Saturday, Charo had just finished witnessing. As she and her husband were on their way to do some shopping, she was moved to approach one additional person, a teenager named Susana. When Susana saw the tract What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe? she expressed immediate interest, for the same tract had come into her possession a month previous, and since then she had been trying to contact the Witnesses. She gave Charo her address, and arrangements were made to start a Bible study. How surprised Charo was when the address turned out to be a convent! Susana was raised by nuns after the divorce of her parents. The first study was conducted in the convent’s courtyard, but the Bible and book had to be hidden each time some suspicious nuns passed by. The following day Susana attended a circuit assembly, and regular meeting attendance came next. After having studied just three chapters of the Live Forever book, Susana was expelled from the convent, and now she continues to make unimpaired progress in the truth.

Also in Spain, more than 1,500 books and 1,500 magazines have been placed in a year’s time in Brother Félix’s taxi! How does he do it? He tries to be especially courteous to all his passengers and is honest in only charging the exact fare corresponding to the distance traveled. Thus, his customers are more inclined to listen when he witnesses to them about God’s Word.

From the Netherlands, a 13-year-old girl writes: “It was suggested that we engage in field service during the hour before the book study. At the first door, I met a young girl of 13. She listened intently and took literature. The next day at school I saw this same girl in my class. From the start we became friends. Within two weeks I offered her the Live Forever book and offered to study it with her. She said yes, and the study is progressing very well.”

Latin America

Concerning the early days of Christianity, the disciple Luke recorded: “Believers in the Lord kept on being added, multitudes both of men and of women.” Today, Latin America has also seen a steady stream of honesthearted ones flowing into God’s modern-day organization.​—Acts 5:14.

In Guatemala the slide presentation “Multitudes Being Taught by Jehovah,” presented by the circuit overseers, has helped many to appreciate Jehovah’s organization. This includes those living in the mountainous part of the country where the effects of guerrilla activity have been strongly felt and where our brothers’ Christian neutrality has been tested many times. In one area where small groups of brothers live​—65 publishers in all—​1,426 attended the slide presentations.

One circuit overseer relates: “While working close by a military encampment, we asked to be allowed to show the slides to the soldiers. Permission was granted by the commanding officer. That evening we arrived in a pickup truck with the equipment. After we set up the projector and cassette player in the mess hall, the commanding officer ordered all the soldiers in. About 90 of them rushed in carrying their rifles and proceeded to stand quietly at attention as they watched and listened to the presentation from start to finish. After expressing our appreciation for their attention and offering some concluding comments, we converted the back of the pickup into a magazine and literature department where a sister distributed magazines, booklets, and books to a good many of the soldiers, who were eager to learn more.”

On February 21, 1989, 35 families of Jehovah’s Witnesses returned from a refugee camp in Mexico where they had lived for more than six years. They had been forced to flee from Guatemala in 1983 because of the many massacres occurring at that time. Quite a few people who were studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other interested ones who had attended meetings in the camp, returned with the brothers. A total of six buses from the United Nations brought the repatriates back to Guatemala. A Witness welcoming committee greeted the refugee families when they arrived at Huehuetenango in Guatemala. CEAR, an organization established by the government to facilitate the repatriation of refugees, had prepared fried chicken, rice, and tortillas. Since they had not had anything to eat on the nine-hour bus ride from Mexico, the brothers had a good appetite and appreciated the meal.

The brothers returned in good spiritual health. The Branch Committee saw the need to form an emergency committee, which arranged to construct houses for 17 families and helped 9 other families finish their homes. Foodstuffs, also, have been sent to our brothers. The Governing Body has lovingly provided the needed funds.

Most of Venezuela’s population live in the north of the country close to the Caribbean. In the southern regions, vast areas of rain forest are inhabited by a number of Indian tribes. A special pioneer couple have been living in the town of Santa Elena de Uairén, close to the Brazilian border, since 1987. They had interesting new experiences in this Indian territory. Already the different tribes know about the Revelation Climax book, and the Maricures (chiefs) are asking for them for their communities. Three boxes of this book were shipped, but the supply was far from sufficient. Two days after a carton of the Revelation Climax book arrives, it is empty. One Indian schoolteacher of the Sampai community, which is a two-hour drive from Santa Elena, has been asking the special pioneer couple for a carton of Youth books to distribute among the schoolchildren. She wants to use this book in her classes to replace the normal religious instruction.

While working from door to door in Argentina, Susana, a special pioneer, met a woman who had recently moved into the area. The woman’s husband is a bank manager and, before he was transferred, had received a gift subscription to the Awake! magazine from a fellow employee. The woman stated that one of the magazines had saved a life. How was that?

She explained that without knowing she was pregnant, she had had a series of X rays taken. Because X rays may cause deformities, 20 different doctors advised her to have an abortion. Her baby had a 95-percent chance of being deformed, they said. The doctors and family pressured her to abort the fetus. But before making a final decision, she wanted to consult the family priest. She spoke to two priests, both of whom told her that God would not punish her for aborting the baby. Extremely upset by that answer, she prayed to God for guidance. Just then Awake! came in the mail with the cover title: “A Birth? Or an Abortion?” She exclaimed, “This is God’s answer to my prayer!” She did not have an abortion. What was the result? “Thanks to Awake! today I have a beautiful, healthy girl,” she said. “The Awake! saved my little girl’s life.”

North America and Caribbean Islands

The psalmist wrote: “You have crowned the year with your goodness.” (Ps. 65:11) Indeed, we have had a happy and blessed year of activity, as the following experiences show.

From Canada comes an experience that demonstrates the importance of parents’ educating their children in Bible principles, not just rules, as well as in the intelligent application of such principles. When Terra was only 11 years of age and not yet baptized, she was unexpectedly put to the test by a teacher. At the time, Terra was the only Witness student in the entire school.

One morning during class, Terra noticed that the teacher took a fellow student out of the classroom for a few moments. Shortly thereafter the teacher quietly asked Terra to accompany him to the principal’s office. No reason was given at the time. However, upon arriving in the principal’s office, Terra noticed that the Canadian flag was draped across the principal’s desk. There were just the three of them in the office: Terra, her teacher, and her principal.

The teacher then instructed Terra to spit on the Canadian flag. He suggested that since Terra did not sing the national anthem or salute the flag, there was no reason why she should not spit on the flag when ordered to do so. While greatly surprised by this order, Terra refused to desecrate this symbol of the country. She explained that Jehovah’s Witnesses respect the flag, although they do not worship it. When the teacher saw that Terra was firm in her position, the two of them returned to the classroom.

Back in the classroom, the teacher announced that he had just conducted an experiment. He had taken two students one at a time to the principal’s office, instructing them to spit on the flag. Although the first student did participate in patriotic ceremonies, she spit on the flag when ordered to do so. In contrast, as the teacher explained, Terra had very high principles. Even though she does not sing the anthem or salute the flag, she refused to dishonor the flag in this way. The teacher said that Terra was the one who showed proper respect. What honor Terra’s respectful conduct brought to Jehovah and his organization!

In the Dominican Republic the wife of one traveling overseer placed a magazine subscription with a young woman who also accepted the offer of a Bible study. The study was started during the week of the visit, and the study was left to the care of a reliable sister in the local congregation. At the next circuit assembly, the publisher brought the Bible student to greet the circuit overseer’s wife. By this time, the student was already a publisher of the good news. When they met again six months later, the young woman had already made her dedication and had been baptized for several months. She invited the circuit overseer and his wife to her home for a meal and to meet her husband, a surgeon, who had begun studying. Not long after that, when they all met again at a district convention, the circuit overseer and his wife were happy to learn that the husband too was baptized. All of this took place in just a year and a half because of the effort of the circuit overseer’s wife, the follow-through of the congregation publisher who took seriously the need to continue nurturing regularly the spiritual interest of this sheeplike one, and the blessing of Jehovah.

In the United States this has been an outstanding year of theocratic accomplishments among the hearing-impaired and the non-English-speaking population, where the good news is being proclaimed in 20 languages, including sign language. The Spanish-speaking field has experienced good expansion. During this past service year, 90 new Spanish-speaking congregations were formed. Over 101,000 publishers in this country are associated with more than 1,150 Spanish congregations.

Another outstanding feature was the production of books and Bibles, which reached the figure of 35,811,861. This doubled the production of Bibles and books of the previous year and is the first time production has been double that of a preceding year since 1938! The cassettes have been under heavy demand. During 1989, 3,500,000 cassettes were produced, which is a 71-percent increase over the previous year. That brings the overall total to 36,715,613 cassettes that have been made since production began in April 1978. Among those produced was The Watchtower on cassette. The service year began with 29,559 subscriptions for the cassette edition, but the year ended with 38,896​—a 31-percent increase.

To support the simultaneous printing of our magazines in many languages, the verbal, graphic, and art information is put on computer diskettes and film. Thus, it is necessary for the branch to ship some 50 diskettes and between 3,000 and 3,500 pieces of film each week for the magazines only. In this way it is possible for the presses to be printing The Watchtower simultaneously in 45 languages in branches around the world.

Islands of the Pacific

The apostle Paul preached to kings, and today avenues are also open for those of the superior authorities to know the “Way” of true Christianity.​—Acts 24:22; Rom. 13:1.

A special pioneer in Fiji studies the Bible with a high-ranking chief, whose father is the minister of information for the island and whose brother is the governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji. This chief was a delegate at a recent provincial council, a meeting of high chiefs chaired by the president of Fiji. On the agenda was the issue of a Sabbath decree that, among other things, restricts public movement on Sunday and has become a serious issue for the Methodists.

In the course of the meeting, one delegate wished to discuss a proposal to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses. The chief who is studying intervened, saying that a Witness regularly comes to his house to teach him the Bible. “Now I am beginning to know who Jehovah’s Witnesses are and why their teaching moves them to visit our homes,” the chief said. “I have also noticed that the Witnesses carry their Bibles from Monday to Sunday, which is very much in contrast with us Methodists, who carry ours on Sundays only. Jehovah’s Witnesses are clear and specific in explaining Bible prophecies.” Then he asked the delegate who made the motion to ban the Witnesses: “Have you ever opened your door to listen to the Witnesses?”

“No,” answered the delegate. “Then it is foolish thinking to ban a religion you have never listened to,” replied the chief. Next, he proposed a counter motion: “Those of you who have heard the teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses and wish them to continue preaching in this province, raise your hands.” Twenty of the 30 delegates raised their hands.

Papua New Guinea is a land of extremes in both living standards and customs. Though witnessing in the main towns is similar to witnessing in most Western countries, it is quite different in villages where old customs still reign. While working unassigned territory in a predominantly Roman Catholic area, the brothers were advised to obtain permission to go from door to door from the village chieftain, since he has total authority in the village. What happened when the Witnesses approached one village chief?

The brother in charge of the group relates: “We parked our cars outside the village perimeter, and then three of us entered the village looking for the chief’s house. Villagers led us to a house near the center of the village, where we were introduced to the chief and his family. He was an impressive man, with a great mass of white hair and a strong bearing, becoming a chief. He was well educated and spoke fluent English. He told us to bring all the brothers and sisters of our group into the village. He then had all of us sit down while he sent young men to all the houses to tell the villagers to listen to us. So by twos our group spent the next two-and-a-half hours visiting each house. Most of the villagers invited us in, and many accepted literature. When we finished visiting the houses, the chief again invited us to sit before him. He explained that he no longer believed in the Catholic teachings, feeling that the churches of Christendom had ‘brainwashed’ the village people. He graciously invited us to visit the village again, saying that he would probably get told off by the local Catholic priest, but that this would not concern him at all.”

Mastermind is a television quiz program broadcast nationally in New Zealand. On the program four contestants are each questioned on a specialized subject of their choice and then on matters of general knowledge. Because one contestant, a solicitor, selected “The History and Doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses” to be his special topic, the television station requested that the branch office prepare and submit 30 questions for the program.

The program was advertised for a week prior to the broadcast, and of course, every time the program was advertised, the name Jehovah would appear on the TV screen, visible to tens of thousands of viewers. When the program was aired, viewers heard answers to questions such as:

Give the color and description of the mark used to identify Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi concentration camps.

In August 1985, 94,000 Witnesses attended conventions in which communist country?

Other questions related to the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, the Society’s presidents, the stake versus the cross, Armageddon, and the Scriptural grounds for divorce.

The branch writes: “We are glad to report that a witness has been given not only to the television audience but also to the television personnel called on to research the questions and to the production people involved.”

Countries Under Ban

“If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also,” said the Lord Jesus. In our day, this persecution includes the banning of his disciples in 36 countries.​—John 15:20.

A number of moves against theocratic activity were made this past year in several countries in Africa. The branch in one of these countries writes: “A group of soldiers, armed with machine guns, scaled the fence at our construction site, overpowered the watchman, opened the gates, and moved in. They have been there ever since, the property now being used as training quarters for new recruits. Despite multiple letters to authorities and intervention through diplomatic channels, all effort to recover the property and the publications stocked there has so far been in vain. Then four months after the takeover, the President of the Judicial Council and Minister of Justice encouraged the closing down of any centers of activity as well as the prosecution of any persons caught preaching this illegal religion. Five months later, the same President of the Judicial Council convoked a meeting of representatives of all the religious denominations. At that meeting he particularly condemned Jehovah’s Witnesses, saying we are veritable demons.”

Yet the brothers there continue to give a courageous witness. For example, an official communiqué was sent to all the authorities in the territory of one circuit overseer, complaining of the increased activity of the Witnesses and reminding officials of the ban. In spite of this, the circuit overseer decided that, accompanied by a local brother, he would visit the mayor of one zone. Before going, they prayed fervently to Jehovah. Not finding the mayor at his house, they went to his office, where they explained who they were. To their surprise, he closed his office and invited them to his house. Knowing that his wife had died recently, the brothers gave him comfort from the Scriptures. The mayor then asked them why they were continuing their preaching when they knew they were banned. They reasoned with him from the Scriptures, and he accepted a book and five booklets.

One country in Asia has been under ban for 13 years. During the past service year, the brothers have been experiencing increased opposition. Yet, they have had a 10-percent increase in publishers and a new peak of home Bible studies.

In this country a Bible study was started with the wife of a military officer. She and her five children soon started attending meetings. Strong opposition from her husband began; he even beat her with his army belt. As the harsh opposition continued, the woman endeavored to practice the Christian principles she had learned. Eventually, the consistency of her good Christian conduct made a deep impression on her husband. He has since retired and is now studying the Bible with one of our brothers.

Despite bans in a number of countries and the restrictions they entail, Jehovah has richly blessed the efforts of his people. Through all of this, Jehovah has proved that his hand is not short. The sheep are being fed, and many new ones are coming to recognize the source of true hope.​—Ps. 18:2.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on page 18]

Poland District Conventions of 1989

CITY DATE ATTENDANCE BAPTISM

Poznan August 4-6 40,442 1,525

Katowice August 4-6 65,710 2,663

Warsaw August 11-13 60,366 1,905

TOTALS 166,518 6,093

[Chart on page 34-41]

1989 SERVICE YEAR REPORT OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES WORLDWIDE

(See publication)

[Map on page 18]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

POLAND

Poznan

Warsaw

Katowice

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Last service year, 263,855 new disciples were baptized

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In Italy at the “Godly Devotion” conventions, the new book “Questions Young People Ask​—Answers That Work” is released, and youths proudly display their new books

At a convention in the United States, the book “The Bible​—God’s Word or Man’s?” is released

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Slaski Stadium in Chorzów, near Katowice, was jammed with conventioners; and multitudes were baptized

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Delegates from Eastern Europe were thrilled to be among the vast throngs who attended the Poznan convention, where the new brochure “Should You Believe in the Trinity?” was released in the Polish language

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The stadium in Warsaw was packed with delegates from 28 countries. Here portions of the program were translated simultaneously into 16 languages. Standing is the French translator along with the Polish speakers

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The first European class of the Ministerial Training School graduated on June 18, 1989, Vienna, Austria

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In the United States the third class of the Ministerial Training School graduated on November 13, 1988, and the fourth class on June 11, 1989

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The Mauritius branch contains offices and residential quarters. There is a Kingdom Hall on one side of the property

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Four separate buildings surrounded by lush tropical gardens make up the 96,000-square-foot [8,900 sq m] Bethel complex in El Salvador. The complex has a new lobby and a dining room seating 200, as well as rooming for 72 Bethel volunteers

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The branch complex in Peru has a new warehouse and Kingdom Hall, as well as 36 additional rooms, making a total of 58 rooms. The lobby is seen at right

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In Japan the new eight-story branch residence building has 96,700 square feet [8,980 sq m] of floor space and includes 128 rooms for Bethel volunteers. The lobby is seen at right. The new factory has floor space of 243,000 square feet [22,600 sq m]

Acts of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Modern Times

Colombia’s Real Gold 66

Colombia gold: Is it the precious yellow metal or the pernicious white drug cocaine? Neither. The real gold of this South American country is found among her people​—the thousands that are making a good name with God.

Finland’s Satisfying Standard 138

Finland, with its silvery lakes and its forests robed in green, has one of the highest living standards in the world. However, thousands of her hearty inhabitants searched for a more satisfying standard and have found it, even at the threat of death by firing squad.

Suriname’s Intrepid Witnesses 192

Snakes and jaguars lurk in the mountainous rain forest that blankets most of Suriname​—the smallest country in South America, both in area and in population. And when it comes to the courage of the worshipers of Jehovah God, the country is second to none.

Colombia

Colombia gold: Is it the precious yellow metal or the pernicious white drug cocaine? Neither. The real gold of this South American country is found among her people​—the thousands that are making a good name with God.

MENTION Colombia, South America, and what comes to mind? For many people it evokes visions of rich Colombian coffee, exquisite emeralds, beautiful chrysanthemums, and regal orchids​—just a few of the good things for which the country is renowned. For others, though, the very hint of Colombia summons dark images of cocaine smuggling and grim drug wars. This is unfortunate. Drugs and murder are not representative of the real Colombia nor, by far, of the vast majority of her citizens.

Come and see for yourself what Colombia is like. You may be surprised, and pleased too, to learn that it is not as primitive or dangerous as you may have imagined. And we are sure you will appreciate why Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colombia are so happy proclaiming the good news of God’s Kingdom in this traditionally Roman Catholic land.

Spanish Crown​—Roman Catholic Cross

A look at the map will refresh your memory respecting the geography of the area. As you see, the Isthmus of Panama runs into Colombia in the northwest corner of South America. This gives Colombia, named after the European discoverer of the New World, the advantage of having Pacific and Atlantic coastlines.

After Christopher Columbus’ memorable voyages, the whole Caribbean area quickly became the object of exploration and conquest. Spain’s energies focused on one activity: gaining control of the vast riches of the New World, its gold and silver, which was soon to spur her on in an attempt at world domination. Few will deny that the 16th century belonged to Spain.

But the 16th century, too, was the century of the Protestant Reformation, when nations of northern Europe broke free from the shackles of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire. Bible translation and publication were soon to flourish and the Holy Scriptures would become a household book. Not so, though, for Spain’s American colonies. Here, as the conquistadores waded ashore to take possession in the name of the crown, they also planted the cross of Roman Catholicism. There it would remain a symbol of a religious monopoly during the next 400 years.

Therefore, to understand Colombia and her people, you must grasp some of her history. And to understand Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colombia, you must also know how secular history intertwined with their theocratic history.

Major Points of Interest

Most of Colombia’s population is concentrated in the western third of the country, in the rich river valleys and on the fertile slopes of three Andean ranges that spread northward from the Ecuadoran border like fingers. Our interest concentrates on six of her cities: the capital, Bogotá, on a plateau in the Cordillera Oriental; three tropical ports on the Caribbean Coast​—Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Cartagena; world-renowned Medellín in the west, with its climate of perennial springtime; and subtropical Cali in the southwest, down Ecuador way, basking in year-round summer weather.

Until the advent of commercial air travel early in the 1920’s, the Magdalena River was the main route to the interior. Half way up river, to the west, stands the snow-covered volcano Nevado del Ruiz​—visible from the air on a clear day. Below on the valley floor, the prosperous agricultural town of Armero once stood, before that fateful night in November 1985 when a killer avalanche of mud, ice, and lava wiped the city of 28,000 inhabitants off the map. Some 40 of Jehovah’s Witnesses and interested persons lost their lives in that tragedy.a

On to Bogotá

Leaving the broad Magdalena River valley behind, incoming flights glide over the rich green savanna high in the mountains where Bogotá, the 450-year-old capital and largest city of Colombia, lies. Alert passengers on the right side of the plane might briefly catch sight of reddish-brown roofs on the new Watch Tower branch construction site just west of the capital. Some of the workers may glance up too, wondering whether the passing plane brings more IVCWs (International Volunteer Construction Workers) to speed the job along. As the big jet continues its long glide toward Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport, straight ahead on the far edge of the plateau the tall buildings of Bogotá reach for the sun and stand outlined against the steep ranges of the Cordillera Oriental.

On exiting the airport, travelers are often surprised at the brisk, cool air. A topcoat or a heavy sweater can take the chill away at this 8,600-foot [2,600 m] elevation.

Colombia Enjoys Freedom of Worship

A shrine tops the mountain range overlooking the capital. It stands as a silent reminder that Colombia is a Catholic country; she is dedicated to “The Sacred Heart of Jesus” and has a concordat signed with the Holy See of the Catholic Church, in force since 1887. This originally stated that Catholicism was the State religion, upholding the belief of the Spanish king, Philip II, that political unity could not exist without unity in religion.

Happily, since 1958 Colombia has enjoyed freedom of worship. Jehovah’s Witnesses appreciate this enlightened attitude of the government.

Witnessing in Bogotá

Meet Agustín Primo, a member of the Colombia Branch Committee. He learned the truth in 1972, from a North American Witness who was serving in Bogotá when the need for Kingdom preachers was very great. Sixty years old and now retired from secular employment, Agustín works full-time at the branch. He tells us that the present branch office and factory are too small to care adequately for the country’s more than 40,000 publishers and 600 congregations, even though the buildings were dedicated just ten years ago.

From where is the increase in publishers coming? Looking at the evangelizing work done in this sprawling city of some five million inhabitants can give us some clues.

Witnessing in wealthier parts of the city is difficult because of guarded apartment buildings and condominiums, where dwellers enter and leave mostly by car. And when calling on the private homes in these sections, publishers face the challenge of getting past the housemaids to reach family members. But it is in the growing middle-class sections where stimulating Bible conversations are often possible.

In the less pretentious, working-class neighborhoods, you will find many people who are well informed about world events. Thus home Bible studies are easier to start with them, and they progress in the truth quite rapidly.

And finally, there is the bane of so many overcrowded cities in developing countries​—the shantytowns and squatter settlements that seem to spring up overnight on unoccupied flatlands and denuded hillsides. These are the last camping grounds for the endless streams of people who abandon rural areas for the strange life of the city. Among the scores of thousands living there, many listen to the comforting message of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some respond by embracing the Kingdom hope.

Colombia’s First Two Kingdom Publishers

“There has been excellent growth since the arrival of the first Gilead missionaries in mid-1945. But there were active Witnesses in Colombia 20 years before that,” Euclides González of the branch office Service Department tells us.

About the same time that Charles Taze Russell and his little group of Bible students began their study classes in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Heliodoro Hernández was born in the hill country, some 200 miles [300 km] north of Bogotá. That was in 1871. Fifty-one years later, he was to become Colombia’s first active Witness.

In his youth Heliodoro was an avid reader who had a consuming desire to possess a Bible. But Bibles were scarce in those days. Finally, at age 25, he acquired one all his own, and for the next quarter of a century, he read it with great fondness.

In 1922 he borrowed from an acquaintance several copies of the Watch Tower magazine as well as the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Overjoyed with what he read in these publications, Heliodoro began sharing this good news with everyone he met. Two years later, Heliodoro found a hearing ear in young Juan Bautista Estupiñán, just back from military service in Bogotá. Heliodoro was then 53 and Juan, 25. Juan later married Heliodoro’s niece. These two Christian men sowed seeds of Kingdom truth throughout villages and towns of northwestern Colombia.

Out of the Reach of Flying Stones

In the 1930’s the Society sent Heliodoro and Juan a battery-powered transcription machine to help them spread the good news more effectively. They walked to neighboring towns lugging that heavy machine as well as their literature supplies. Imagine the effect of playing subjects such as “Trinity Unveiled” and “End of the World” in the main squares of those Catholic towns. Is it any wonder that upon entering each town, they would search for an indoor spot to plant their machine before operating it? In this way the amplifier would not only be out of sight but also out of the reach of flying stones hurled by opposers.

Heliodoro died in 1962 at 91 years of age. And his preaching companion, Juan Bautista Estupiñán, died faithful in 1976.

Who Would Answer the Call?

In 1930, after 43 years of church-dominated rule, a change in government opened the way for greater religious freedom. Various Protestant groups began to expand their activities in Colombia, and so did Jehovah’s Witnesses.

At the convention in Washington, D.C., in 1935, Joseph F. Rutherford, second president of the Watch Tower Society, urged the Lord’s people to consider volunteering to preach in South America. However, Hilma Sjoberg and Kathe Palm, two spunky pioneer sisters, were already preaching in Colombia. Sister Sjoberg, born in Sweden, was the widow of a Texas cotton farmer. Kathe Palm, who had learned the truth in her native Germany, had pioneered in the United States prior to entering the South American field.

Sister Palm remembers: “Hilma Sjoberg sent money to the Watch Tower Society in November 1934 to pay for a trip from the United States to Colombia by ship. The Society asked me if I wanted to help Sister Sjoberg in South America. . . . So by December I arrived in Buenaventura, Colombia.” With only a testimony card in Spanish and limited knowledge of the language, she set out alone and preached in that seaport town.

Then she took the train over the Cordillera Occidental and down into the rich agricultural Cauca River valley to Cali. Here, while awaiting Hilma’s arrival by land from Ecuador, she witnessed in Cali and then Palmira on the other side of the valley. When Sister Sjoberg arrived, the two newly acquainted sisters traveled over the Central Cordillera and up to the plateau where Bogotá lies. Sister Palm says that they worked the capital city for more than a year, placing cartons of books.

“White Gloves” for Business Territory

Spanning the years 1939, 1941, and 1942, the mother-and-daughter team of Marian and Kate Goas from Mexico witnessed in Bogotá and several other cities, even in the gold-mining town of Condoto, in the Pacific lowlands of swamps and dense forests. They also visited the seaports of Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta on the Caribbean Coast. Kathe Palm says that these pioneer sisters “dressed elegantly​—wearing white gloves—​while they worked mostly business territory.”

The response they met in each city was a foregleam of how the Kingdom work would progress. For example, regarding religious Medellín, they reported that hardly a day passed without attacks from priest-incited mobs of schoolchildren. About Barranquilla they wrote: “There are many kind, well-meaning people in Barranquilla, and I believe a really good group of people could be gathered together for studies were there some publisher here who could devote his entire time to this work.”

Previous to this, in Barranquilla a Witness from another country contacted a young businessman of Palestinian descent. Farah Morán was his name. Farah had a Bible and loved to read it. One hot Saturday afternoon in the mid-1930’s, a foreigner called at his haberdashery to “talk about government.” Farah stated that he never discussed politics. “But this was about God’s government.” Ah, that was different. Farah accepted the Society’s book Government.

He began reading it immediately and became so absorbed that he closed his business for the day to continue reading at home. By four in the morning, he was halfway through the book; by six, Farah was up and bathed and off to the hotel to find the man who had given him the book. Farah obtained more literature from that Witness. In order to grasp Bible truth, he read and reread those books during the next 14 years.

Thus, before the arrival of graduates of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, self-sacrificing foreign pioneers did an admirable work in Colombia, enduring hardships and opposition as they sowed Kingdom seed throughout the land.

No Thatched Huts in Sight

The month World War II ended, August 1945, the plane carrying the first three graduates of Gilead to come to Colombia touched down at the old Bogotá airport. Their initial task was to find a suitable place for a missionary home, since more graduates would be arriving shortly.

Prior to arriving in Colombia, some of those missionaries had dreamed of a country with Caribbean-washed shores, swaying palm trees, quaint thatched huts, and friendly people just waiting to come into the truth.

On arrival in Bogotá, however, the graduates woke up to a city of half a million inhabitants just starting to emerge from a colonial past. Here the people dressed mostly in black and gray, the weather was oftentimes cloudy and damp, and the nights at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet [2,700 m] were chilly. Yes, they were pioneering again but now with a new language, a difficult territory to cover, no thatched huts in sight, and no sign yet of those “friendly people just waiting to come into the truth.”

Grandmothers Now​—Still Missionaries at Heart

Most missionaries, though, grew to love the assignment. “It was fun walking in the rain with raincoats and umbrellas,” reminisces one former missionary. “And there were many days that were absolutely gorgeous, all sunny and bright. With the flowers in profusion, the colonial-style houses, the new customs to learn, and the challenge of the language, we thought our missionary assignment was wonderful!”

The missionaries began witnessing first in the middle-class neighborhood around their home, and they found the inhabitants friendly and hospitable​—typical of the Colombian people. But when the missionaries turned to the Bible to explain the purpose of their visit, deep-rooted religious fears surfaced, ending the conversation. Prospects for return visits were few, and Bible studies were hard to come by.

Adjusting to group life in the missionary home was not always easy. Several missionaries left because they were unhappy. Some later returned home because of sickness. And Satan succeeded in breaking down the moral integrity of a few.

Nevertheless, three of the young sisters in that first group never lost the missionary spirit: Marian Brown, Jewel Harper, and Helen Langford. Although they discontinued their missionary service later when they got married, they remained in their assignment​—now grandmothers all—​still missionaries at heart.

“It Had the Ring of Truth”

But there were friendly people just waiting to come into the truth in Bogotá. One was 23-year-old David Guerrero. He came from a devout Catholic family. At the age of ten, however, his father’s death triggered doubts about religion. That personal tragedy convinced him, contrary to Catholic teachings, that the dead are nonexistent. Thus, years later, when he was working in a small sweater factory owned by his brother, he was primed for hearing the truth from two missionaries who entered the Guerrero shop.

David continues the story: “One morning my brother called me up front to talk with some foreigners who were having trouble explaining the purpose of their visit. I came, with the little English I knew, and found to my surprise two nicely dressed North American girls. They wanted to talk to us about the Bible. ‘Takes a lot of courage to do a work like that in a neighborhood like this,’ I thought. Well, the visit ended, and I found myself with two books with interesting titles, one named ‘The Truth Shall Make You Free’ and the other called Children. The girls promised to return.”

David began reading large portions here and there in the books. “I liked what I read,” he said. “It had the ring of truth. And those people were doing the right thing, taking this message directly to the people.”

The Witnesses returned a few days later with a missionary couple and arranged for a Bible study, and soon David was attending the meetings. “And before I knew it, I had become a Kingdom publisher,” he said.

The First Two Baptisms

The first baptism occurred in 1932 when a visiting Society representative baptized Colombia’s first two Kingdom publishers, Brothers Hernández and Estupiñán, along with two women, in a swimming pool in Bogotá. One of the two women baptized was Alejandrina Moreno. She died faithful in 1950, and her funeral was the first in Colombia conducted by the Witnesses.

On the last Sunday in January 1946, the second Witness baptism on record in Colombia took place with 30 people present. Seven of the new publishers symbolized their dedication by baptism, David Guerrero included. The missionaries were delighted with the subtropical setting for the baptism, located 4,000 feet [1,200 m] down from the savanna. A profusion of colorful birds and flowers, coffee plants, and a clear mountain stream in the midst of bamboo and banana trees graced the site​—just what many had imagined an assignment in the tropics would be like.

Later, David Guerrero married missionary Helen Langford. After living in the United States for a time, they returned to Colombia to pioneer and later to enjoy privileges of the traveling overseer work.

Organized as a Branch​—May 1, 1946

A month after that second baptism, excitement ran high in anticipation of the visit of the Society’s third president, Nathan H. Knorr, and the then vice-president, Frederick W. Franz, announced for April 12-17, 1946. On Christendom’s Palm Sunday, 87 persons assembled in the missionary home to hear Brother Knorr’s talk, “Be Glad, Ye Nations.” For the Lord’s Evening Meal two days later, 29 were present, with Brother Franz speaking in Spanish extemporaneously.

The Colombia branch office was organized during their visit, to begin operating on May 1, 1946. A few months later, five of the missionaries were transferred to Barranquilla to open a missionary home and begin Kingdom preaching in that coastal city.

John Green, the first branch overseer, served until November of that year, when Robert Tracy arrived. Green had to return to the United States because of his wife’s failing health.

Robert Tracy was a graduate of the sixth class of Gilead. After serving a few months in circuit work, he received training in Brooklyn Bethel before moving to Colombia. Friendly and energetic, Brother Tracy was to play a key role in developing the organization in Colombia.

La Violencia

The year 1946 was noteworthy for another reason too. Just as the Witnesses were making good headway in the disciple-making work, along came a political tidal wave that would sweep Colombia into totalitarianism and back into the Middle Ages, religiously speaking. This chain of events plunged Colombia into one of the bloodiest periods of its history​—La Violencia.

After the 1946 presidential elections, defeated party candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán protested loudly and eloquently in favor of the oppressed. His popularity was immense. On April 9, 1948, at midday, an assassin gunned down this champion of the people. The fury of the citizenry at the death of their idol erupted into rioting and a frenzy of killing, looting, and destruction. Angry mobs, in a violent display of anticlericalism, destroyed or damaged almost all the churches in the capital. Even the residence of the papal nuncio was left in ruins.

Colombia’s infamous La Violencia had begun. Senseless killings and vicious brutality would spill the blood of some 200,000 Colombians during the next decade. Century-old political rivalries fanned the flames of unsettled hatreds and spread the shooting and machete swinging throughout the rurals and the mountain regions. Village priests took sides in the conflict too. With what result? More and more men were heard to say, “I’m Catholic. I believe in God, but I don’t like the priests.”

Mob action moved against the Witnesses, and clergy-instigated harassment by police was used in an attempt to curtail their worship. Seeking to avoid arrest while in the preaching work, the brothers would move frequently from one territory to another, at times posting sentinels to warn of approaching interference. Jehovah’s Witnesses were politically neutral, yet in various parts of the country many were arrested and some were sentenced to short jail terms. However, there is no record that any Witness was killed, as were some Protestants who took sides in the dispute.

Strangely, though, in the larger cities, life continued on as usual. Foreigners visiting the capital for short periods were not aware of the civil war raging in the hinterlands.

Language Limits No Barrier

In early 1948 Robert Tracy was witnessing near the business district in Bogotá when he called on the Rojas family. The father was a radio repairman. He and his wife and four children all lived in one room, the same room where he did his secular work. “Despite my limited use of Spanish,” recounts Brother Tracy, “the family progressed and gradually all became Kingdom publishers, Luis, the oldest, taking up special pioneer work, followed by Gladys and Marlene.”

Gladys married a missionary and served with her husband in Bolivia and Ecuador. And Luis is now one of the three district overseers in Colombia.

Branch Transferred to Barranquilla

In December 1949 three new Gilead graduates, Dewey Fountain and wife Winnie, along with daughter Elizabeth, arrived in Bogotá, bringing the total count of missionaries in the country to nine. By then the majority of the Kingdom publishers were on the northern Caribbean Coast, and the work was beginning to bloom there.

In view of this, in December 1951 the Society transferred the branch office from Bogotá to Barranquilla. Robert Tracy continued as branch overseer there until April 1952, when he returned to Bogotá to marry “Libby” (Elizabeth) Fountain. James Webster, a missionary in Barranquilla, replaced Tracy as branch overseer, serving as such for the next 13 years. We will hear more about these men later.

Non-Catholic Activity Banned

In 1953 the totalitarian president had readied for adoption a new constitution embodying the principles of a corporate-Fascist state. His plans were stopped cold when the army marched in and toppled his government. The general of the army, Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, became the new dictator-president. This portended no good for the Witnesses.

Gabriel Piñeros, now an elder in one of the congregations in Cali, personally knew General Rojas. Gabriel at one time was a colonel in the Colombian Air Force and was assigned as the general’s pilot. Brother Piñeros remembers the general as a kindly man, who wanted to end the violence and stabilize the country. “The general started out well, but power and ambition went to his head,” says Brother Piñeros. “Although he was not a particularly religious man, he let himself be influenced by the church.”

Desiring to strengthen his position as president, General Rojas courted the backing of the Catholic Church. Hence, he announced that his rule would be strictly Roman Catholic. Three months after taking over, he banned all non-Catholic religious activity in 18 Catholic mission territories. Then, in June 1954, another decree. This one prohibited non-Catholic religious activities anywhere in public. Only private meetings in the homes of recognized non-Catholic groups or in established religious temples would be permitted.

Covers Ripped off Bibles

In May 1953 members of the Bogotá Congregation planned an outing, but this one was not a pleasure trip for recreation. They descended some 4,000 feet [1,200 m] from their high, mountain city to the subtropical pueblo of Tocaima for an open-air baptismal ceremony and more. After the baptism, the publishers spread out to witness in the town.

It was not long before the police arrested one of the sisters and locked her in jail. Brother Tracy and others tried to secure her release, but they were locked up too. Soon eight Witnesses were in custody. The angry police sergeant shouted that they were Communists and had no right to preach in that Catholic village. The mayor had the Witnesses’ literature thrown into a large water vat in the center patio of the police station after the police had ripped the covers off the books and Bibles. Finally, an hour later, the officials calmed down and released the Witnesses.

The four-hour trip back home up the side of the mountain was a happy one for the congregation, as all ‘rejoiced because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of Jesus’ name.’​—Acts 5:41.

Bogotá Congregation on Their Own

In 1954 Bogotá was a city of over 600,000 inhabitants and was growing rapidly. Yet, after more than eight years of missionary activity, the Bogotá Congregation still averaged only 30 publishers. With so little to show after so much effort, the Bogotá missionary home was closed and the missionaries sent elsewhere. But where? To Cali, where Sister Kathe Palm had witnessed 18 years before. Cali was now an expanding, industrial city, a logical place in which to open a new missionary home.

To look after the Kingdom work in the Bogotá Congregation, a local brother, Porfirio Caicedo, was appointed congregation overseer. He was a skilled carpenter who made molds for metal castings. On learning the truth in 1950, he had applied his enterprising spirit to bringing up his large and growing family “in the discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah.”​—Ephesians 6:4.

Porfirio’s second son, Raúl, began pioneering right out of high school in the early 1960’s. He took his ministry seriously and served in the circuit and district work and then attended Gilead School. Back in Colombia, now as a missionary, he received his final appointment, to be a member of the Branch Committee. It was a sad day for all when Raúl Caicedo died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 38. His father, Porfirio, died two years later.

The faithful record of Porfirio Caicedo and his large family continues today.b All 17 of the surviving children are dedicated, active Witnesses. And among the some 50 grandchildren, 20 are baptized, and the remaining younger ones are growing up in the truth.

On the Coast, Everyone Knows Jehovah’s Witnesses

Now let us look at the Kingdom work on the Caribbean Coast. Recall Sister Kate Goas’ report after she preached in Barranquilla back in 1942? She believed there were “many kind, well-meaning people” there who would respond favorably to the truth. Well, four years later, five missionaries arrived from Bogotá ready to begin preaching in that coastal city.

Tropical Barranquilla has a charm all its own: the easygoing way of life, the extroverted people, the special ring in their voice. Truly, the Costeños are outgoing and quite often happily boisterous. You would like them immediately.

The five missionaries who moved from Bogotá to Barranquilla in 1946 received additional help in November of that year. A lanky, 28-year-old former farm boy from the United States, James Webster, arrived. “What a sudden change!” said Webster. He was a Gilead classmate of Robert Tracy and, like Tracy, had served as a circuit overseer before coming to Colombia.

Six months later, in May 1947, Olaf Olson moved from Bogotá to reinforce the missionary group. Because he was a North American of Norwegian descent, he spoke Spanish with a colorful Scandinavian lilt. Barranquilla, then a city of some 160,000 inhabitants, had only a handful of local people meeting regularly with the seven foreigners. Olson predicted that one day Barranquilla would have 500 publishers. It seemed impossible then, but that mark was reached by January 1959.

Most of the newly associated ones came from the poorer class, el pueblo, as Colombians call them. During Colombia’s terrible La Violencia, it was Witnesses from el pueblo who courageously pioneered the truth to other coastal cities and into the interior.

“There are 62 congregations in Barranquilla today, more than in any other city in the country except Bogotá,” says Rogelio Jones, the city overseer and a builder who has helped the Society in construction projects since the 1950’s. “And the preaching done along the coast has been effective. Almost everyone in town has a relative, friend, or workmate who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Caribbean coastal region is perhaps the only place in Colombia where people consistently differentiate between Jehovah’s Witnesses and other non-Catholic groups.”

Lottery Ticket Salesman, Now Regular Pioneer

Strangers visiting Colombia quickly note the ubiquitous lottery ticket salesmen​—models of initiative and persistence. José Villadiego, one of these street entrepreneurs, obtained some of our literature from a missionary engaged in street witnessing and liked what it said. A few days later, José chanced upon a Kingdom publisher who was witnessing from door to door. Since he was an old hand at that kind of work, only with a much different product, he began accompanying the publisher. First he listened to how the preaching was done. Then he himself would chime in to emphasize the importance of the message.

The following Sunday morning, José was at the Kingdom Hall ready for field service. (Back then the requirements for new publishers were not as clearly defined as today.) Soon, though, José left his lottery-ticket peddling to qualify for dedication and baptism. Six months after his baptism, he became Barranquilla’s first regular pioneer, in April 1949. Today, José Villadiego is an elder in a congregation in Barranquilla and is still an example of initiative and enthusiasm as a regular pioneer.

‘The Man’s Kindness Impressed Me’

There were friendly people of the wealthier class also waiting to come into the truth. For example, in the El Prado district lived a disconsolate widow, Inez Wiese. Jamaican-born of English parents, she spent her childhood in Colombia. Later she married and moved to Germany where, during World War II, her German husband and two adopted sons died. After the war she returned to Colombia. One day in 1947, Olaf Olson called at her door, offering the Watchtower subscription. She later commented: “I had heard nothing about Jehovah’s witnesses and knew very little about the Bible. However, I decided to subscribe on account of his kind, considerate attitude.” Two years later Inez began to pioneer, at the age of 59.

She made generous contributions to the Kingdom work, including a refrigerator and a washing machine, much needed for the missionary home, and a large new 1953 model station wagon for the branch. Down through the years, she was also an effective Spanish teacher for the newly arriving missionaries. Until she died in 1977, Inez was a fine example. Her sense of humor and her appreciation for the truth were an encouragement to missionaries and local brothers alike.c

“Things Were Really Starting to Move!”

Farah Morán, the previously mentioned owner of a haberdashery store, who for some 14 years had been reading books written by Brother Rutherford, was convinced that he had found the truth. One day in September 1949, when one of the missionaries called at Farah’s store, introduced himself as a minister, and tried to proceed with his presentation, Farah interrupted, saying: “I’m not interested in hearing about any religion except the one that Judge Rutherford explains!” When shown that this was the same message, Farah eagerly accepted the book “Let God Be True.” For Farah, meeting attendance began that very week.

Brother Webster relates: “Farah’s wife and some of her family came into the truth. Farah’s old hunting companion, César Roca, along with his wife and large family as well as several other friends, accepted the message. Farah’s Protestant brothers and their families and some of their in-laws also came in. Things were really starting to move!”

Growth was rapid in Barranquilla, and soon a second congregation was formed, with Farah Morán’s home as the Kingdom Hall. Olaf Olson was the presiding overseer. Fifty-two were present at the first meeting. Brother Olson trained Farah so that he could oversee the group. A third congregation was formed in September 1953. Two years later, a fourth congregation began.

The Priest’s Microphone Was Left On

Brother Webster tells of a big boost to the evangelizing work:

“In March 1953 we received the new station wagon that Sister Wiese had donated to the branch. We began regular group witnessing in the surrounding suburbs and nearby pueblos. Soon we had witnessed in ten towns previously untouched in the Atlántico Department. On trips of more than one day, only brothers would go. Expenses were shared. We would find lodging for the night with hospitable families, sleeping in hammocks, on the floor, or in ‘La Teocratica,’ as the station wagon came to be called. More than once, village priests appealed to the secular mayors and had police interfere with the work.”

One Sunday morning a service group arrived in the public square of the town of Tubará, when the priest’s voice bellowed from loudspeakers on the church tower: “Our friends, Jehovah’s Witnesses, greetings! I invite you to come over and talk, and we’ll see who is right.” Several of the brothers marched over to the church, and the priest asked them to show him the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism.

James Webster began with the history of first-century Christianity and described the apostasy that developed in the second and third centuries. After a brief review of the history of the Catholic Church down to the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s, he emphasized that both Catholicism and Protestantism have the same fundamental teachings of pagan origin​—the Trinity, the immortal soul, and hellfire. Then he went on to explain what the Bible really teaches about Jehovah God, Christ Jesus, the Kingdom, and a paradise earth.

The discussion was carried on for 15 minutes right beside the priest’s microphone, which had been left on. Since the loudspeakers booming from the church could be heard throughout the town, the count showed a visible audience of 169 in the town square, plus many more people listening in their houses.

The priest then remembered the live microphone and suddenly said that he had an appointment for a wedding and abruptly ended the discussion. When the brothers returned to the rest of the group, a recorded song blared over the loudspeakers, entitled “¡Palo con esa gente!” (Take a club to those people!) But no mob formed. The Witnesses went peacefully about their house-to-house preaching, much to the consternation of the priest.

Arrested and Ordered to Leave Town

Antonio Carvajalino, a tailor, once advocated the cause of the Communist party when he lived in the small town of Aracataca. Later, when witnessing, Brothers Webster and Olson found him living in Barranquilla. Lively Bible discussions followed for a number of visits while Antonio’s four single sisters strained to hear each word from an adjacent room. Finally, he gave in and acknowledged that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for the poor people of Colombia and the rest of the world. Antonio was later baptized. His four sisters also responded to the truth with appreciation and soon entered the pioneer service along with their brother.

Later the whole Carvajalino family, together with nephew Tomás Dangond, was assigned as a special pioneer group to the petroleum-refining center of Barrancabermeja, up the Magdalena River. Barranca was Catholic mission territory, off limits for non-Catholic proselytizing, according to the decree of the general and dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The Evangelicals in town were meeting behind closed doors in their own church building. On learning that Jehovah’s Witnesses were now preaching in town, the Evangelicals stormed over to the Catholic bishop with The Watchtower and Awake! in hand to report that the Witnesses were the ones who distributed these magazines, not the Evangelical organization.

Police were ordered to pick up the Witnesses. First they arrested the four sisters. Then detectives went to the pioneers’ place of lodging and arrested the two brothers, confiscating their briefcases and their 20-carton literature supply. The police judge ordered the pioneers to pay fines and sign statements that they would desist from preaching in the city. They all refused, so all six were sentenced to 90 days in jail.

The following day the two brothers convinced the mayor that “it was a terrible disgrace on the part of his administration to have four Christian women locked up like criminals under such deplorable conditions.” They requested that the sentences of the sisters be added to their own so that the four women could be set free. The mayor agreed, and Antonio and nephew Tomás were sentenced to nine months in jail.

The branch overseer, James Webster, flew to Barrancabermeja and sought a lawyer to defend the Witnesses. But none had the courage to do so. Then he flew to Bogotá to present the case in person before the secretary of the president. Having heard the facts, the secretary phoned the mayor of Barranca and ordered him to release the brothers and return their literature on the condition that the group leave town within 48 hours.

They Helped Over 300 Learn the Truth

Within the stipulated time, the Carvajalinos, while under police surveillance, boarded a bus for nearby Bucaramanga, capital of Santander Department, or province. The banditry caused by La Violencia was still rampant in the surrounding countryside, leaving people fearful and suspicious of strangers. Notwithstanding, the pioneers preached with tact and won the confidence of the locals. In one year’s time, they established a congregation of 13 publishers. And a surprising number of 65 people attended the public talk during the circuit overseer’s visit.

Where is the Carvajalino family now? Antonio Carvajalino died in 1958, his sister Inés in 1987. Nephew Tomás Dangond is an elder. He, his wife, and his daughter are serving as special pioneers in neighboring Venezuela. The Carvajalino sisters never married, in order ‘to serve the Lord without distraction.’ (1 Cor. 7:35) All told, they have helped over 300 persons to a knowledge of the truth.d

Other special pioneers were also incarcerated during those years. In the Magdalena River port of Magangué, Miguel Manga and his wife, Leonor, spent 11 days in jail in 1956 at the instigation of the town priest. And in the then fanatical town of Sahagún, Córdoba, a misguided mayor arrested special pioneer Carlos Alvarino and sentenced him to two weeks’ hard labor.

“Like Living in Another World”

Paul wrote to Timothy: “The things you heard from me . . . , these things commit to faithful men, who, in turn, will be adequately qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2) Two of such prospective faithful men were Benjamín Angulo and Armando Gómez.

Benjamín Angulo, a 27-year-old factory worker in Santa Marta, had lost faith in the church, and politics did not interest him. He used to think: ‘Injustice and suffering are everywhere. It is so unfair! How can there be a God?’

Then one day in 1955, a workmate spoke to him about Jehovah God and His Kingdom and offered him a weekly Bible study in the book “Let God Be True.” Benjamín accepted, insisting that the study be held every lunch hour, six days a week.

A month passed. The Witness then decided it was time to invite his new student to the meetings. Of course, he would like to attend! Benjamín was delighted with that first meeting but upset too. He asked why the Witness hadn’t told him about these wonderful meetings before. He had lost “a whole month of valuable instruction.”

There were few brothers in the Santa Marta Congregation, and although extremely shy, Benjamín was put right to work with assignments in the Theocratic Ministry School and soon in other meetings. The Theocratic Ministry School textbook became his instruction manual as he conscientiously read and applied all its counsel. Rejoicing in his newfound purpose in life, Benjamín exclaimed: “It is like living in another world​—the truth, the meetings, the love of the brothers, the privileges I am enjoying!”

‘The Disciple Becomes as His Teacher’

As a special pioneer, assigned in 1958 to Montería on the river Sinú, Benjamín soon found another of those prospective faithful men, the 20-year-old son of a new publisher in the congregation, Sister Gómez. The lad’s name was Armando.

Benjamín left Montería to accept an assignment in the circuit work, while Armando continued in the congregation at home. Armando kept his eye set on the example of the older Hermano (Brother) Benjamín. Did not Jesus say, “It is enough for the disciple to become as his teacher”? (Matt. 10:25) Armando too became a special pioneer and then a circuit overseer. Armando Gómez now serves in Bogotá Bethel as one of the five members of the Colombia Branch Committee, along with Benjamín Angulo, who took him in the field service in Montería more than 30 years ago.

The Rough-and-Ready Respond to the Truth

The Kingdom good news spread quickly from Montería into the countryside and then into the remote regions of Córdoba. Back in the 16th century, European gold-seekers combed this region in search of Indian caves and tombs, where golden objects in abundance had been buried. These fortune hunters found immense booty, which they sent down the Sinú River to the sea, then up the coast to Cartagena for shipping to Spain.

Other Spaniards later moved in, these settling down to stay. And Córdoba came to be known as a land of rough-and-ready ranchers and farmers, men who took the law into their own hands and settled their differences with machetes and revolvers. Interestingly, many of these men and their families responded readily to the Kingdom message and set about sharing it with neighboring ranchers and farmers. Thus, as the number of newly interested ones increased, congregations were formed, and circuit visits began. Many of Colombia’s traveling overseers were broken in on the Córdoba circuit, some jokingly describing this experience as training for surviving “the great tribulation.”​—Rev. 7:14.

Benjamín Angulo, looking back on those early days, states: “I had so many experiences on that circuit in Córdoba​—riding all day on horseback and donkeys, wading through snake-infested streams, threatened by guerrilla groups, bouts with high fever—​it would fill a book if I tried to relate them all.”

It is interesting to note that the isolated regions of Córdoba are the only rural territories in Colombia that have so far been thoroughly covered with the Kingdom message.

“Disband the Assembly”

The first district convention in Colombia was held in the branch, the Barranquilla missionary home, in December 1952. Brothers came from six departments, or provinces, some traveling four days by boat down the Magdalena to attend. Peak attendance was 452, with 58 immersed. The final session was scarcely over when excited talk began about the next assembly.

In 1955 for the “Triumphant Kingdom” national convention, the brothers contracted for a dance hall, used also for other social functions. But the mayor and the governor intervened to cancel the contract​—on orders from the Catholic bishop. On one day’s notice, the Witnesses had to change plans and again hold a convention at the branch.

The first evening session was just beginning, with 600 present, when a police captain and a dozen armed officers appeared. Storming in, the captain ordered, ‘Disband the assembly!’ Next morning, an appeal to the mayor established the right of the Witnesses to hold religious meetings on their own premises. The secretary to the mayor apologized for the unauthorized interruption of the convention. The second night the attendance rose to 700, and nearly 1,000 squeezed onto the branch property the fourth and final day.

End of Totalitarian Rule

In May 1957, Colombia’s military dictatorship was overthrown. The new regime swallowed up the flood of totalitarianism that was unleashed in the late 1940’s, legally guaranteed fundamental freedoms, and swept in relative political peace and stability. Now more missionaries could be assigned to Colombia to help expand the Kingdom work more swiftly throughout the country.

With their new religious freedom, 1,200 happy and excited persons jammed into the Kingdom Hall and onto the patio and driveway of the branch property in Barranquilla during the 1958 visit from Brooklyn of Milton G. Henschel, now a member of the Governing Body. The next annual gathering would surely be held in a larger, more suitable hall!

“Trouble With the Bishop”

True, nearly ten years of martial law and dictatorship that granted special privileges to the Catholic religion had ended, yet the church was more determined than ever to perpetuate her stranglehold on the Colombian people. Evidence of this surfaced at the time of the “Awake Ministers” District Assembly in 1959.

The air-conditioned Teatro Metro, which had a capacity of 2,000 and was one of the finest meeting places in Barranquilla at the time, was chosen for the last three days of the scheduled four-day convention. Everything was in order, or at least so it seemed. The Witnesses had in their hands a signed and notarized contract, a deposit receipt, and a written statement from the mayor’s office certifying that the Witnesses could hold their assembly “wherever they saw fit.”

On Monday morning, just three days before the convention was to begin, the Metro manager phoned the branch and said excitedly that the Catholic bishop was pressuring him to cancel the contract. What could be done? Delegates were already arriving from different parts of the country. A quick visit to the mayor’s office made it clear that he was in a state of agitation too. The last thing the mayor wanted was “to have trouble with the bishop.” He wanted us to cancel the convention.

On Tuesday morning, the Witnesses returned to the mayor and pointed out that the Constitution of Colombia, Article 53, clearly states: “Freedom is guaranteed for all religions that are not contrary to Christian morals or in violation of the law.” All to no avail. The mayor would not budge.

The next step was to appeal to the Minister of Government in Bogotá. The government officials were sympathetic. “It is clear that you are within your rights,” they assured the brothers. Still, the officials were unwilling to put anything in writing, fearing that it “would cause problems with the church.” The governor of Atlántico Department was advised of their decision. He in turn spoke with the mayor.

Thursday morning the convention opened according to schedule on the branch premises. Finally, at day’s end, the brothers emerged from the mayor’s office triumphant​—written approval in hand. Jehovah had granted the victory! The Witnesses enjoyed the last three days of the assembly in air-conditioned comfort in the Teatro Metro. The final attendance peaked at 2,200.

Afterward, the theater manager was a changed man. The smoothly functioning organization, the orderly conduct of the Witnesses, the dignity of the program​—all of this left him visibly impressed. He said he would be happy to rent the premises to the Witnesses for their next convention, and he did.

Where Are They Now?

James Webster served as branch overseer from April 1952 until he and his wife, Phyllis, returned to the United States in January 1965. They were expecting a baby. To this day, the old-timers on the Colombian coast still have fond memories of their Hermano Jaime. “He was always kind and loving, ready to lend a sympathetic ear to all,” they recall. The Websters are special pioneers in one of the many Spanish-speaking congregations in the United States. Their son, Jaime junior, and his wife are serving in Brooklyn Bethel.

James’ former partner, Olaf Olson, has served in all the major cities of Colombia. He is the oldest missionary in the country and now lives in Neiva on the upper Magadalena River.e

And with that, we leave the work in Barranquilla. Next, the historic seaport of Cartagena on the coast, southwest toward Panama.

Cartagena de Indias

A 16-minute flight from Barranquilla brings Cartagena into view, with its excellent natural harbor and series of waterways. Spanish colonizer Pedro de Heredia is to be commended for his choice when founding Cartagena de Indias here in 1533. And each year more vacationers discover Cartagena too, as they come to sun and bathe on the beaches of Boca Grande Peninsula and visit the ancient sites that retell the city’s colonial past.

From the vantage point of Fort San Felipe de Barajas overlooking the bay, historically minded tourists can imagine the harbor below full of Spanish sailing vessels, such as the famous Tierra Firme galleon fleets, that took on gold from the mainland and, with favorable winds, set sail with their precious cargo to Spain.

But Cartagena once dreaded foreigners because of forays by pirates. Fleets of French, British, and Dutch corsairs plundered Spanish ports and galleons. Cartagena was sacked by the privateer John Hawkins and then by his audacious nephew, Sir Francis Drake; both were sailing for England and both were Protestants. Drake’s father, in fact, was a Protestant preacher. Sir Francis Drake’s seizure and holding of Cartagena for ransom in 1586 was one of the grievances that provoked Philip II to launch the great Spanish Armada against Protestant England in 1588​—a turning point in European and world history.

Free From Superstitious Fears

The story of Colombian gold is incomplete without mentioning the slaves. African blacks became the principal mine workers, and Cartagena “was transformed into the most important slave market in the Caribbean​—perhaps in the entire New World.” Here the African was converted to the white man’s religion. And to replace his fetishes, he was given crucifixes and medallions. Instead of animism, he was taught to pray to statues and paintings of “saints.” To his previously held beliefs respecting the dead were added further pagan ideas of purgatory, hellfire, and Limbo. Emancipation from slavery came for him in 1851, but freedom from superstition and fears regarding the dead would have to wait another century.

Gregorio de la Rosa, a Cartagenero, is an example to note. Born into a strongly religious household, replete with images and a family altar, he recalls how hellfire and purgatory teachings filled his childhood with dread. Even when grown and married, anxieties about death continued to torment his mind.

Then special pioneer Leonor Manga started a Bible study with Lilia, Gregorio’s wife. At first he just sat listening, unobserved in the other room. He liked what he heard and along with the couple’s five daughters soon joined the study. It was not long before Gregorio took the lead in Kingdom service. Next came circuit work and later a call to work on the branch construction project in Facatativá.

Cartagena Prospers

Increase in the number of Witnesses in Cartagena was slow after the 1950’s. During the 1980’s, however, the city has experienced a 100-percent increase in the number of Kingdom publishers, here too principally from among el pueblo. The more than 1,000 publishers in 17 congregations are conducting nearly 3,000 Bible studies each month.

From 1983 till 1987, a missionary home in the resort area of Boca Grande housed missionaries from Mexico, Denmark, Finland, Canada, and the United States. The missionaries took the Kingdom message to many, including businessmen. “Working the Cartagena business district is a joy,” commented one of the missionaries. “Many businessmen take time to listen and talk. Some have come into the truth.”

Antioqueños, a Staunchly Roman Catholic People

Now, on to internationally renowned Medellín in the province of Antioquia, 45 minutes by air and inland from Cartagena. Spanish Basques and Asturians settled this region during the second half of the 16th century. Their descendants today are a proud and energetic people, staunchly Roman Catholic, with a reputation for being shrewd and thrifty but friendly and, above all, loquacious. Antioqueño farmers over a century ago turned to coffee growing and helped develop Colombia into the second-largest coffee-producing country in the world, after Brazil.

Medellín, second-largest city in Colombia, lies in a valley bordered by 1,600-foot [500 m] ranges on east and west. Signs of prosperity are everywhere: industrial and commercial activity, an elevated rapid-transit metro system near completion (the first in Colombia), freeways with interchanges, attractive shopping centers, and in the southeast, luxury high-rise apartment buildings. There is poverty too, squatter settlements climbing high on barren hillsides, the dwellers often heedless of the danger of seasonal mudslides and avalanches.

Eugene Iwanycky is the city overseer. Although Austrian born, he learned the truth in Canada and moved to Colombia in 1969 with his family. He reports that there are now 33 congregations in the city​—more if suburban areas are counted—​and they are growing rapidly.

Religious Capital

It was Wednesday, October 1, 1958, when the first Gilead graduates arrived in Medellín to spearhead the evangelizing work. Although the dictatorship had ended and Jehovah’s Witnesses were already established in the other major cities of the country, Medellín was different. At the time, it was renowned as the religious capital of Colombia. Nevertheless, the missionary couples welcomed their new assignment. After a year in hot, tropical Barranquilla, they were delighted with the mild, springtime climate of Medellín and were pleased to find a clean city with an abundance of colorful flowers, including many orchids.

Richard and Virginia Brown were one of those missionary couples. Richard, now coordinator of the Colombia Branch Committee, describes how the missionaries felt: “The accounts we had heard about the city’s being notoriously religious were eloquently confirmed. Black-robed priests and nuns seemed to be everywhere​—along the streets, in the stores, on the buses. The city was full of churches, chapels, and religious schools. In our limited Spanish, we made attempts at informal witnessing, only to be rebuffed by disapproving looks.

“Though we were just four missionaries in the city, notices began appearing in the newspapers about our activity: ‘A warning to Catholics. Intense campaign started by Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . Reject and destroy any of such literature that gets into your hands.’ Still, interest was found, and by June 1959, with 23 publishers, including 5 who had come to serve where the need was greater, Medellín’s first congregation began to function.”

‘Throw Stones at the Witnesses’

In March 1960 a new missionary, George Koivisto, arrived in Medellín from Canada. He was single, blond, and of Finnish descent. After a month of concentrated Spanish classes in the missionary home, his time arrived for field service. George will never forget his first morning in magazine service.

“I was working with a small group of pioneers and local publishers,” George relates, “and I was still very limited in speaking and understanding Spanish. The publisher I was with understood no English. It was midmorning, when a howling mob of schoolchildren targeted us, hurling stones and clumps of clay.

“The householder hustled us inside her home and quickly slammed closed the wooden shutters, just in time. Rocks and stones began to rain against the front of the house, onto the clay tile roof, and down into the center patio.

“Shortly a patrol wagon drove up. The police wanted to know what was behind the uproar. Someone shouted that it was the schoolteacher; he had let some 300 children out of school long before lunchtime. Another voice cried out: ‘Not so! It was the priest! He announced over the loudspeakers to let the students out to “throw stones at the Protestantes.”’”

After that incident, attitudes changed throughout the neighborhood, and soon the Witnesses were finding interest and starting Bible studies.

In 1961 George married a local pioneer, and before long two sons were born. The Koivistos remained in Colombia another 18 years. In 1980 George moved back to Canada with his family. The Koivistos​—George, Leonilde, and their two sons—​have been serving in the Canadian Bethel since 1983.

Schoolboys Left Confused

On another occasion, a missionary sister was witnessing alone in Medellín when a group of teenagers began screaming to the householder that she should not listen to that missionary. This frightened the woman. So the missionary ended her conversation and began to leave the neighborhood quietly, but the boys surrounded her, not letting her take another step.

They asked her if she had Protestant literature in her bag. She replied that she had the Bible and asked them if the Bible was a Protestant book. They did not know how to answer, so they charged that the Witnesses do not believe in the Virgin. The missionary calmly took out her Bible and asked them to find where it talked about the Virgin. But none of them could.

Thereupon, the sister said: “I know where to find it. Would you like me to find it for you?” Then she opened the Bible to Luke 1:26-38 and had them read the account of the angel Gabriel’s visit to the virgin Mary. She then assured them that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe what the Bible says. The boys retorted that they had been told that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Virgin. Now they were confused and again did not know what to say. The sister put her Bible back into her literature bag and quietly walked away, leaving the schoolboys perplexed and pensive.

There, in the 1960’s, we leave the history of the work in Medellín. Next, the city of Cali, founded in 1536, the year that Bible translator William Tyndale was burned at the stake.

Southward to Cali

Traveling 280 miles [450 km] southward along the Pan-American Highway to Cali is a scenic all-day motor trip, up and down mountains, as well as through green coffee-producing country and a valley of sugarcane plantations. Today you will find Jehovah’s Witnesses in all the major towns and cities throughout this region.

Cali lies against foothills and ranges that rise, each one higher than the next, up to 13,000 feet [4,000 m]. Then, on the other side of the peaks, the ranges drop to Pacific shores, which are less than three hours from the city by car. Pleasant breezes off the slopes of the cordillera bring relief from the heat of the day. Three crosses on one hilltop and a large statue of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) on another overlook the city.

Friendly People, Receptive to the Truth

When Kathe Palm preached here during 1936, Cali was a small town. Then, early in 1949, the branch overseer, Robert Tracy, after a brief visit, wrote to the Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn: “Cali is one of the most progressive cities in Colombia.”

Tracy had tucked into his field service bag 15 books and the names of several interested persons. He found the people friendly and receptive, and within just two hours, his supply of literature ran out. “As soon as possible, missionaries should be sent there,” he wrote when concluding his report.

During the second world war, industrialization began in Cali, and soon foreign, multinational, and locally owned factories and businesses sprang up throughout the area. Now there are 3,657 Witnesses, making up 37 congregations in this city with a population of some two million.

A Work Contract in Just Half a Day

In 1954 the Tracys and the Fountains left Bogotá to establish the Cali missionary home. A few months later, in December, two new missionaries arrived, Jesse and Lynn Cantwell. Jesse, the youngest in a family of eight pioneers in the United States, had begun his preaching career as a 12-year-old schoolboy, in 1934, during the years of the Great Depression.

The Cantwells entered Colombia as tourists, since dictatorial decrees were still in force in 1954. With limited schooling and an elementary knowledge of Spanish, Jesse set out looking for work that would qualify him and his wife for a resident visa. In just half a day, he had a contract with the University of the Valley, as an English teacher in the Medical Department. “This could only have been accomplished with Jehovah’s help,” Jesse confessed. With six missionaries now in town, the Kingdom work in Cali took root and began to grow.

When the political situation changed and religious restrictions ended, Cantwell resigned from the university to travel on one of the two circuits then in Colombia. Next came district work, then a stint in the branch office in Barranquilla. In 1970 the Cantwells were transferred to the Dominican Republic, where Brother Cantwell served as branch overseer. Presently, Jesse and Lynn Cantwell are enjoying the circuit work in the United States.

Arrogant Priest​—Sympathetic Police

In a middle-class neighborhood of Cali, a priest named Arango waged a relentless battle against Jehovah’s Witnesses. One day Sister Fountain and a new publisher, Ana Valencia, were making a return visit when priest Arango burst into the house and barked to the housewife: “Get those Indians out of here!” Furious, he phoned the police himself. Meanwhile, the sisters asked the woman to call them a taxi. The patrol wagon and the taxi arrived at the same time. Quickly Sister Valencia stepped up to the patrol wagon and convincingly said to the driver: “Look, Sir, the priest called for the paddy wagon for himself. We phoned for the taxi, so we’ll go in it.” The officer agreed, and the sisters jumped into the cab to ride to the police station, leaving the paddy wagon for the priest.

At the police station, the irate priest charged: “These women were going around my parish causing a disturbance, corrupting the people and teaching customs that are different.”

“Since you have offended the padre,” the judge said to the sisters, “I will have to detain you.” The sisters were held incommunicado for some six hours, until Brothers Fountain and Cantwell finally found them and obtained their release. The judge apologized: “I know that your religion is good, but if I hadn’t kept you here, I’d lose my job tomorrow.”

Never Again Doubted the Wisdom of His Move

Not only did the year 1957 mark the end of dictatorship in Colombia but it also marked the beginning of the program of “serving where the need is greater.” Those who came to Colombia arrived in two different waves: first in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s; then a second immigration​—almost like a flood—​ten years later.

Consider Elbert Moore and Stephania Payne Moore, graduates of the third class of Gilead in 1944, who had served as missionaries in Paraguay and Chile respectively. Married and living back in the United States, with a daughter and a small son, they were among the first to answer the call to serve where the need was greater in Colombia. Elbert came down alone to Barranquilla in January 1958. On the way into town from the airport, the car passed through a poor section of the city. Doubts grew, and he asked himself: “What in the world are you doing in a place like this?” Some 15 minutes later, a warm welcome by enthusiastic missionaries in the branch office changed his outlook completely. “I have never again questioned the wisdom of my move to Colombia,” he said.

His being hired as an English teacher the following day solved the problem of a work contract. Thus, he sent for his family to join him. After a year on the coast in Barranquilla, the Moores packed their belongings into an old Studebaker pickup and bounced 780 dusty miles [1,300 km] through scenic highlands and lowlands, including areas harboring guerrillas and bandits, to take up an assignment where the need was even greater​—Cali. Moore was put right to work in the Cali Congregation, as well as right to work in the Language Department of the University of the Valley, where he continued till retirement 20 years later.

The Moores’ children, both married now, still live in Colombia. The son and the son-in-law are Christian elders. After retirement, Brother Moore served for several years in the circuit work and district work. Now he is in Bethel service, one of the five members of the Colombia Branch Committee​—more convinced than ever of the wisdom of his move to Colombia more than 30 years ago. His wife, Stephania, died in November 1988.

“The Golden Years”

To pull up stakes and move to a foreign country is a big step, especially if you have four small children and only $100 laid away for the trip. That was the situation in early 1959 with the Zimmerman family of the United States. Harold and Anne, graduates of the 18th class of Gilead in 1952, had spent three years as missionaries in Ethiopia. Now Colombia was their goal, but their funds were inadequate. They pondered carefully the counsel offered to prospective pioneers at a circuit assembly. The speaker said: “Don’t wait until you have a car and trailer and money in the bank. Set the date and then go!” But how would transportation costs be met?

The following week, just as wife Anne finished making airplane reservations for Harold’s flight from Los Angeles to Colombia, an envelope arrived in the mail. Inside was a check for $265, an income-tax reimbursement. Following on the heels of that financial windfall, the next day several Witness families presented the Zimmermans with a gift of $350. The budget for phase one of the project was now completed.

On arrival in Cali, Harold received a jolt: He saw newspaper reports of warfare and banditry, with photographs of mutilated bodies lying in rows on the ground​—the infamous La Violencia. ‘Why hadn’t I heard about this before?’ he asked himself. ‘Do I really know what I am doing, bringing a wife and four little ones down to live here?’

‘Right decisions,’ he reminded himself, ‘are made by looking for Bible principles that apply in each case.’ He remembered the Israelites who listened to the ten fearful scouts, back from spying out the Promised Land. They feared that ‘their wives and little ones would become prey’ and wanted to return to Egypt. Jehovah’s answer: They themselves would die during 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Their little ones would survive to enter the Promised Land. (Num. 14:3, 31, 32) There was the answer. Harold forged ahead with the plan.

How does Harold sum up 30 years of life and service in Colombia? He answers: “We came to this land to serve a ‘few years till Armageddon.’ Years came and went. True, many more than we had counted on, but years filled with privileges and blessings for all in the family as we kept ‘close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah.’”​—2 Pet. 3:12.

“All our children are married and walking in the truth, and we have never become prey to violence. My wife and I live now in a little bungalow near the new branch construction project in Facatativá, enjoying our ‘golden years’ as volunteer workers in Bethel service.”f

Vatican II​—Helped the Witnesses Start Studies

The Catholic Church in Rome had come to recognize that her centuries-old medieval policy of religious intolerance was no longer tenable in the 20th-century world. She had to modernize if she was to retain credibility. This led to the ecumenical council Vatican II (1962-65). But liberalization was not to the liking of some of the higher clergy in the Colombian church. Catholics now listened to the Mass in Spanish, instead of Latin. Images began disappearing from the churches. Protestants now enjoyed the status of “separated brothers,” no longer to be labeled “enemies of the Church.”

Moreover, church members were now encouraged to read the Bible. Schoolchildren began buying their personal copies for use in their religion classes. Prayer groups for Bible reading sprang up in homes around the neighborhood. Gradually, fear of the Bible began to disappear. Catholics frequently inquired of the Witnesses, “What is the difference between your Bible and the Catholic Bible?” thus paving the way for more home Bible studies.

“The Fever Hasn’t Cooled off Yet”

In the Pacific seaport of Buenaventura lived a young Catholic lad named Óscar, an honor student in his last year of high school. He counted the bishop among his personal friends. Óscar’s mother began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, so he agreed to a Bible study too, intending to confuse the young pioneer minister who was teaching his mother. The sessions turned into heated discussions on various doctrines​—the Trinity, the soul, hellfire, infallibility of the pope.

Óscar sought the bishop for reasoning to defend his Catholic belief in the Trinity. What a disappointment, no help from that source! Next he asked the priest in his religion class in school. The priest replied, “I know that the Trinity does not appear in the Bible, Óscar, but I have burned the midnight oil studying for over 13 years, and I have to reap the benefit from what they taught me.” No help there either.

Finally, convinced that Jehovah’s Witnesses had the truth, Óscar began to study in earnest. Baptized in six months, he abandoned plans for a university education in biology. The critical times in which we live and Bible chronology convinced him of the urgency of pioneering instead. His old high school chums said he just had a fever that would soon cool off and that in five or six years, when they were all enjoying success in their professional careers, Óscar would come to them begging for work.

Óscar pioneered in the oil-refining city of Barrancabermeja, served in the challenging Córdoba circuit for four years, then went on to other circuit assignments, 12 years in all. Now a member of the Bethel family in Bogotá, along with his wife, Otilia, Óscar Rivas thinks back on how his old school buddies scoffed at him. “Twenty-one years have passed, and the fever hasn’t cooled off yet,” he says. “In fact, the warmth I feel in my heart for Jehovah’s truth goes on increasing all the time.”

Nothing Could Stop the Progress Now

With constitutional freedom of worship honored, the 1960’s saw congregations sprouting in all the major cities and even in smaller communities. Southward from Cali, local pioneers and missionaries carried the good news to the religious strongholds of Popayán and Pasto toward the Ecuadoran border and over to Tumaco on the Pacific Coast. Local Witnesses took on a more active role in the organization too. Nothing could stop theocratic progress now. Soon all parts of this country would blossom with Jehovah’s praise.

Our chronological review of the Kingdom work in Colombia left the Bogotá Congregation back in the mid-1950’s, struggling with no missionary help. We will pick up the account there again, this time to cover the next three decades to the present.

Brother Knorr Launched a Migration

From 1960 onward the Kingdom work progressed in the capital, Bogotá. New Gilead graduates arrived to open a missionary home in the northern part of the city and then a second home in the southern part. As the number of congregations increased, foreign families moved in to help. Before the 1960’s ended, another important factor contributed to organizational growth in Colombia.

In 1966 the Society arranged for tours through Latin America in connection with the “God’s Sons of Liberty” conventions. The Society’s then president, Nathan H. Knorr, encouraged the visiting delegates to broadcast to fellow Witnesses in their home country that Central and South America is a large and satisfying field for those with the missionary spirit.

Brother Knorr’s recommendation launched a migration of foreign brothers to these Latin-American lands, an influx that would continue into the 1970’s. Thus, hundreds of Witnesses moved to Colombia.

“By 1970 a large number of Witnesses from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, and as far away as Australia were settled in Medellín, many with families,” says Eugene Iwanycky. “Most of these foreign brothers settled down in middle-class sections of the city, where they began to visit the homes of businessmen and professionals. This soon produced Kingdom fruitage. Many local elders today are fruits of the labors of these ‘temporary residents.’”

The current Branch Committee coordinator, Richard Brown, adds another important detail about those foreign brothers who moved to cities throughout Colombia. He says: “In the matter of Kingdom Hall construction alone, the initiative and experience of these foreign brothers, of whom some were architects, engineers, and builders, resulted in roomy, attractive meeting places, which proved a real stimulus to the work.”

Purpose in Life Found

Jehovah’s Witnesses are looking for people who are willing to stop and think on the subject of religion. For the most part, the Catholic Church has not taught her members to do this.

For example, in the mid-1960’s a young girl from a Colombian family romanticized about serving God and finding satisfaction in life as a cloistered nun. Hence, she later went to live in a convent in Costa Rica, where she dedicated much of her time to studying philosophy. But instead of being edified spiritually, she lost her faith, even doubting the existence of God. Convent life became meaningless, then unbearable. She decided to leave and return to Colombia.

Once in her home country, she traveled to the Pacific coastal area of Chocó to live with and be a help to an Indian tribe in the dense forest. A year in that primitive environment convinced her of the futility of that course. Back in civilization, she began investigating a revolutionary political movement​—but again disillusionment.

Frustrated on three counts, she decided to try carving out a niche for herself in a capitalistic society. But before she could emigrate to the United States, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses called on her. Favorably impressed with the Kingdom message, and especially with the description of how Jehovah’s organization operates, the ex-nun set travel plans aside in order to investigate further. She learned that God has a valid reason for permitting injustices and that life does have a purpose, with a real hope for the future. Now she serves as a full-time minister, not only experiencing the satisfying life she sought for so long but also willingly offering the same to others.

Even His Own Buddies Were Afraid of Him

In August 1968 Pope Paul VI made a landmark visit to Colombia, the first papal visit ever to Latin America. Then followed the Second Latin-American Episcopal Conference in Medellín, Colombia, August/​September 1968. At the conference, Roman Catholic bishops of Latin America decried the poverty in which large groups of humanity in these countries live, thus giving a strong boost to the controversial liberation theology. After hearing this, more of the poor turned to violence as a means to grab for themselves a greater share of the national wealth.

One of the embittered ones​—we will call him Gonzalo—​joined a guerrilla group hiding in the mountains in 1971. He became so ferocious that even his own buddies were afraid of him. He was surprised at first to find priests and nuns within the guerrilla ranks. They claimed to be “fighting against social injustices that could not be combated in any other way​—only with violence.” A certain day one of the priests went out to battle and never returned. That was the death stroke to any belief in God that might have remained in Gonzalo’s heart.

Gonzalo was eventually captured and sentenced to six years in prison. “That poisoned my heart even more!” he recounts. Before joining the guerrillas, he had lived with a woman named Susana. In prison he heard a rumor that she was living with another man. He vowed that he was going to kill her when he got out.

Upon his release, though, he found Susana eagerly waiting for him. While he was in prison, a neighbor, a Witness, began to tell Susana about the blessings of Jehovah’s Kingdom, and she liked what she heard. Now, she was adamant and insisted that she and Gonzalo had to get married.

“I am too old to think about getting married,” he protested. “If you do not agree to marry me,” Susana insisted, “I will have to separate from you and this time for good.”

Gonzalo figured he had better examine Susana’s new belief. He agreed to attend a meeting at the Kingdom Hall, with the intent of proving that this religion was a sham like all the rest. And he took two pistols along with him “just in case,” he said.

Favorably impressed by what he saw and heard, Gonzalo agreed to the offer of a home Bible study. He commented finally: “It is a miracle that I am alive at all. Now I’m going to serve Jehovah.” He and Susana got married and became Kingdom publishers. “Gonzalo is now mild-tempered like a lamb, thanks to the power of Jehovah’s truth,” said one circuit overseer who served his congregation.

“Why All the Gringos?”

Next consider the experience of Carlos, a psychologist. Born into a strict Catholic household where the family tradition was that among the sons, there must always be a doctor and a priest, Carlos was picked to become the priest.

In university Carlos became enthralled with science and technology. He discarded his early Catholic training as unreasonable, adopted revolutionary philosophies, and joined in rallies against Yankee imperialism.

Years passed, and Carlos still felt strongly about “foreign imperialism,” when a Witness, who was a chemical engineer and the husband of Carlos’ cousin, began reasoning with him about the only remedy for all the injustices in the world, God’s Kingdom. Carlos could see the point. Both he and his pediatrician wife agreed to a Bible study.

On their first visit to the Kingdom Hall a month later, what Carlos saw almost froze him in his tracks. North Americans sitting in the audience. ‘Why all the gringos here?’ he muttered to himself.

After the meeting, the presiding overseer, who just happened to be a North American, approached the bearded visitor and asked what he thought of the meeting. “Very good,” was Carlos’ curt reply. “But tell me, why all the gringos? And why does all of this have to originate in the United States of America?”

The elder explained that the North American Witnesses were in Colombia as evangelizers and that the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses is in the United States. He also told Carlos that Jehovah’s Witnesses are politically neutral in all countries of the world and that in former years they have suffered severe persecution in the United States, requiring them to fight many court battles to establish their constitutional rights.

Today Carlos is an elder in the local congregation, and he works secularly as a practicing psychologist. He does not hesitate to speak to his patients about God and the Bible, and when he discerns evidence of a sincere desire for righteousness, he will share some of the information contained in the Society’s publications with them. A number of them have come into the truth in this way.

The Professor and the Trinity

A university professor who had been a Baptist for five years became skeptical about all religions. One Saturday morning his wife accepted The Watchtower and Awake! from a Witness couple who called at their door. She invited them to return and talk with her husband, “because he likes to investigate all kinds of religion,” she said.

The professor welcomed the discussions. But before an organized study could be started, the Witnesses had to spend many hours explaining the doctrinal differences between Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Protestants. The professor’s sister, a born-again fundamentalist, gave him literature containing every conceivable argument against the Witnesses. One by one these false accusations had to be Biblically refuted.

On arriving for one of their weekly Bible study sessions, the Witnesses were surprised to see a Protestant missionary awaiting the visit. In the hour-and-a-half discussion that ensued, the Protestant could not successfully defend his Trinity doctrine. The professor reasoned, “How foolish to think that Satan would try to tempt Almighty God to bow down before him in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world!”

From that night on, the professor progressed rapidly. It was not long before a fine new family group was added to the local congregation.

Move Back to Bogotá

By the mid-1970’s branch operations in Barranquilla had outgrown the premises. As the search for available property got under way, no one imagined that it would lead them back to where the branch was first established in 1946, Bogotá, or that Colombia would soon have a new Bethel Home and a factory that would be printing magazines for four neighboring countries as well as for Colombia.

In Bogotá, land was acquired and plans were drawn up for comfortable living quarters to accommodate 60 branch workers and factory space sufficient for two offset presses. These were to be installations adequate for years to come.

Brother Frederick W. Franz, president of the Society, came for the dedication program in September 1979. The following service year, the organization began to increase again. The new branch had been built at an opportune time.

In 1982​—after spending 36 years as a missionary in Colombia and overseeing the branch during 22 years—​Robert Tracy received an assignment as Branch Committee coordinator in another Latin-American country. Colombian Witnesses remember Bob and Libby Tracy with warm affection, even as the Tracys hold a large warm spot in their hearts for the brothers in Colombia.

“Impossible! Don’t Even Try It”

Down through the years, Colombia received the Society’s magazines from Brooklyn, first by surface mail and then by bulk ocean freight shipments. Because of the time involved in transportation, Colombia was always months behind other countries in the dates for the distribution of the magazines as well as for the weekly Watchtower study dates. How fine it would be if someday they could print their own magazines there in Colombia!

Well, now they do. William (Bill) Lensink, factory overseer, will tell us how this came about. Bill has been in Colombia since 1969, when as a small boy he moved there with his family from Canada to serve where the need was greater.

“In June 1982 Brooklyn wrote that they would be sending an offset printing press to Colombia in January 1983,” Bill begins. “Delighted, we began making plans. Then early in November, we learned that customs duty on printing equipment would be upped to 15 percent on January 1, 1983. Would Brooklyn agree to early shipment of the press? And could they accomplish this before the year’s end? Professional importers and customs brokers told us: ‘In less than two months and during the year-end holidays, impossible! Don’t even try it.’

“‘But if it is Jehovah’s will,’ we reasoned, ‘we can do it.’ The Colombia branch previously had proposed to Brooklyn a plan and a budget to have the press trucked to the U.S. city of Miami and flown into Bogotá by 747 jumbo jet​—less trouble, more economical, much faster, and less rough handling. We asked the Society for a decision, and the Publishing Committee of the Governing Body approved!

“The brothers would oversee this big job themselves. On November 16 we submitted the license to the Importation Board for approval​—one month minimum, if approved. That would cut things pretty close. Next, our task force outlined customhouse procedures, working out emergency plans for every step of the way. I thought I had better keep a diary of events.”

Diary of Events

“MONDAY, DECEMBER 20: News from Miami​—the trucks had arrived from New York; press towers and parts ready for loading on the jumbos. Still no word about the import license.

“TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21: Bethelite José Granados along with a customs broker went to the customs office to request permission to nationalize the importation right at the airport. The executive secretary wouldn’t hear of such an unorthodox proposal. Then Granados spoke up and explained the purpose of our nonprofit society. ‘The Society will take care of all the handling,’ he added. ‘The first shipment arrives from Miami Thursday.’ Permission was granted​—authorization typed up, signed, and sealed.

“WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22: Bethelite Bill Neufeld and I left early in the morning for the Importation Board. ‘What if the license is rejected?’ We didn’t allow ourselves to think about that. When we arrived at the office, the secretary greeted us with a warm smile. ‘The Board approved your license yesterday,’ she said. ‘Go downstairs and pick it up.’

“THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 23: Our Witness team was at El Dorado Airport early​—crane and low-bed trucks standing by—​the big 747 arrived with the first of three heavy shipments. Customs officials, inspectors, tax liquidators, and auditors, all in turn expressed their objections. But photocopies of the official authorization removed all resistance.

“FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24: Second jumbo load received and nationalized. No problem in spite of Christendom’s holiday eve.

“WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29: The last shipment landed as scheduled, cleared customs, and was trucked off to the branch without a hitch, just in time to beat the year-end slowdown and halt in official activities.

“The ‘impossible’ had been accomplished! In the Bethel Home, the rejoicing at that year’s end had nothing to do with the world’s New Year. It was jubilation for Jehovah’s having crowned with success the efforts to get Colombia’s offset printing press into the factory before the December 31, 1982, deadline!”

In Step at Last

“Our first Watchtowers,” Bill Lensink continues, “began rolling off the press three and a half months later​—the issue of April 15, 1983. The Kingdom publishers were jubilant. Shortly La Atalaya and ¡Despertad! were appearing on magazine counters in Kingdom Halls throughout the country before the date of issue. No more confusion as to ‘which Atalaya to study this week.’ By year’s end our press was turning out 200,000 magazines each month for Colombia alone. In 1984 we began printing for the neighboring republics of Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru.

“And in May of that year​—with simultaneous printing of the magazines in English and Spanish—​we were in spiritual step with the vanguard of the theocratic organization at last.”

The Real “Salt of the Earth”

During a second papal visit to Colombia in July 1986​—this time in the person of John Paul II—​the head of Roman Catholicism made a special appeal to Colombian youths when he said: “You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world!” However, he did not clarify what that enlightening message was that Catholic youths were to communicate to all Colombia, Latin America, and the rest of the world.

There is no doubt, though, about the message young Witnesses of Jehovah are to bear, nor the way they are to take this to the people. Trained in the Theocratic Ministry School at their local Kingdom Halls, and using introductions and presentations suggested in the book Reasoning From the Scriptures, they have become skilled at preaching the good news from house to house, revisiting the interested ones, and conducting Bible studies in their homes. More and more Witness youths, too, are responding to the call to full-time ministry as pioneers, Bethelites, and volunteer workers on the new branch construction project. Indeed, here are young people who, along with their older brothers and sisters worldwide, are the real “salt of the earth,” “the light of the world.”​—Matt. 5:13, 14.

The Drug Trafficker and the Witness

About the end of the last decade, when Colombian drug lords began amassing huge fortunes in the narcotics trade, two isolated houses stood side by side on the edge of a small town. In one lived a young man, a link in international drug traffic​—in the other, a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

While the young drug trafficker and his friends reveled during one of the many lavish parties he threw, our sister next door told her husband that she was concerned about the neighbor because no one had witnessed at that house. Her husband said that the man was dangerous and that he thought it would be better to leave well enough alone for now. Our sister, though, just could not put this matter out of her mind.

Months later, when the drug trafficker was home from one of his out-of-town trips, the sister decided it was time to make the witnessing visit. With her field service bag in hand and a prayer in her heart, she knocked on the door.

“And what do you want?” was the man’s brusque greeting.

The sister does not remember exactly what she said, but it was something about the Kingdom and its blessings. The young man listened attentively and then said simply, “I believe in God.” Heartened, the sister gave a thorough witness. The young man responded favorably and accepted the offer of a Bible study.

Happy with the Bible truths he was learning, the neighbor began talking to his “business associates,” who believed he had gone crazy from reading the Bible. To start life anew in a respectable business, he bought a taxi. Field service, dedication, and baptism followed.

One day he drove a Witness friend to work in his cab. Through the office window, fellow employees watched their workmate step out of the taxi and bid the driver a friendly farewell. They warned their fellow worker that he was keeping bad company. “That man is a known mafioso!” they told him. Our brother then responded with satisfaction, “He was a mafioso before. Now he is my spiritual brother, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses!”

Heartening News From Brooklyn

During a visit of Brother Lyman Swingle of the Governing Body in January 1987, the Branch Committee explained to him how the lack of suitable Kingdom Halls was holding back spiritual advancement. It was explained that few congregations could raise enough money to build and that many meeting places were crowded rooms or covered-over patios in out-of-the-way parts of town. Circuits too were finding it difficult to rent suitable assembly halls.

Soon after his visit, heartening news came from Brooklyn: Funds were to be made available for Kingdom Hall and Assembly Hall loans. In addition, Christian meeting places must be ample and attractive and located in sections of town where the public will not hesitate to attend.

A Flood of Local Witnesses

How could people living in isolated areas hear the good news? Edwin Muller, a graduate of the first Gilead Extension class in Mexico, 1980-81, now working in the Service Department at the branch in Bogotá, explains:

“We studied the map of Colombia and tabulated more than a hundred towns of 10,000 inhabitants that had not been touched by organized witnessing, most of these in the Andean mountain region. Then, with Governing Body approval, we made arrangements to send 150 publishers as temporary special pioneers to 30 of these towns for three months, beginning in either September or October 1988.

“Results were impressive: 1,200 new Bible studies; in most cases the pioneers held all the regular meetings; new publishers started in field service; in one town many came asking for Bible studies, but the six pioneers, with 20 studies each, just couldn’t handle them.

“Newly associated ones began to worry about what would happen when the 90 days ended. In one town 18 persons signed a letter and sent it to the branch, expressing appreciation for the Kingdom message the pioneers had brought them. But now what would they do when the special mission was over? ‘Would others be sent to help?’ In other towns the people pleaded with the pioneers, ‘Please don’t leave us alone. We will help you find work, if only you will stay.’”

Brother Muller concludes: “Now we have sent out a call for more who can serve where the need is greater. Brothers are writing in or coming personally to the branch office to inquire about moving to isolated territories to help preach the good news. This time, it is not a flood of foreigners immigrating to Colombia to help preach but local Witnesses themselves rising to the occasion to fill the need in an admirable way.”

No More Space

Activities in the Bethel Home and factory had increased beyond expectations. The number in the Bethel family was now climbing toward 90, well past the 60-member mark originally planned for the home in 1975. Additional offices had long since taken over the Kingdom Hall, easing out several Bogotá congregations that had been meeting there. Printing and shipping magazines for over 130,000 publishers in five countries now occupied all factory space. Literature storage, shipping operations, and job press​—the printing of the Kingdom Ministry and small items like forms and tracts—​were being squeezed out. Obviously, more space was needed. What could be done?

The Society’s headquarters in Brooklyn approved the construction of a new branch for Colombia. A large chicken farm was purchased on the edge of Facatativá, a small town on the savanna just 45 minutes west of the capital. Initial contacts with the government authorities met with favorable response. An illustrated compendium detailed the project, emphasizing the printing of the Awake! for export. Photographs of the present branch, along with brochures of the Germany branch and of Watchtower Farms in the United States, with its cultivated fields, impressed the officials. To top off the presentation, Awake! articles on conservation and ecology were shown.

The project began early in 1987. Many IVCWs (International Volunteer Construction Workers) flew to Bogotá and were soon adjusting to life on La Granja in Faca (The Farm in Facatativá). During 1989 there were some 75 of them on the job. Also, Colombian volunteers swelled the size of the family. Nearby in Faca, townspeople looked on with curiosity and admiration as a large dilapidated rooming house that the Society bought was remodeled and spruced up, transforming it into Las Torres (The Towers) to provide comfortable lodging for 80 additional workers.

With the drone of earth-moving equipment and the rhythmic clanging of the concrete-pile driver, the project began to take shape. On weekends and holidays, enthusiastic volunteers from the 100 congregations in the Bogotá area went out to La Granja to work shoveling sand and concrete or shaping and tying steel for concrete piles and thick wall panels, to be tilted up by cranes and fastened in place. In the kitchen, volunteers assisted in preparing noon and evening meals for these hungry workers.

Hundreds of temporary IVCWs, scheduled by the Society, pay their own way to Colombia and spend two weeks or a month or two on the project. One foreign worker, when back home, wrote to the branch: “I was able to spend the most enjoyable two weeks of my life as a worker at the construction site in Facatativá, Colombia. I had the opportunity to see that something very special and unusual was happening there.”

Local visitors too, during tours of Bethel and the Faca work site, have been impressed, surprised at the organization and the magnitude of the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colombia. They cannot conceive that all those people are volunteers and pay their own way to go there to work. One company executive said that his family “just had to see this.” The mayor of the town and city council members, after lunch and a tour of the site, said that they would like to have their city employees “come out here and really learn how to work.”

No doubt about it, the new branch construction in Facatativá betokens great things for the future of the Kingdom work in that part of the world.

More Work to Be Done

There is still a vast amount of Kingdom work to be done in Colombia. During the late 1960’s and the 1970’s, isolated cities and towns were worked periodically until congregations were formed. The same procedure, as we have seen, is now being applied to smaller communities and rural areas throughout the hills and valleys of the Andean mountain region.

Still, westward along the Pacific Coast, in many of the dense rain forests there, and eastward down through expansive plains that end in the Amazon rain forest bordering on Brazil, there are hundreds of scattered villages and settlements that are entirely untouched. There remains, too, the challenge of those ever-increasing “walled cities,” the exclusive apartment buildings, condominiums, and closed residential units. How are all these people ever going to be reached? We are encouraged by the Bible statement that “the hand of Jehovah has not become too short that it cannot save, nor has his ear become too heavy that it cannot hear.” (Isa. 59:1) There can be no doubt that Jehovah has means at his disposal to make his name and Kingdom known far and wide in a very short time.​—Luke 19:40.

Nearly Seven Decades of Christian Evangelizing

Throngs who went out to hail the bishop of Rome during his 1986 visit heard him refer repeatedly to “450 years of evangelization in Latin America.” What he meant was that the conquest of these lands by the cross of Catholicism was viewed by Rome as a fulfillment of the commission that Christ gave his disciples before his departure. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) But the “evangel” that Spanish missionaries brought to these shores never explained God’s Kingdom or Christ’s Millennial Reign or everlasting life on a paradise earth.

This true evangel, or good news, reached Colombian shores first during the 1920’s, when God’s spirit moved two Christian men to start out alone proclaiming “this good news” in the villages of northwestern Colombia. Next, in the 1930’s, courageous Christian women​—motivated by that same spirit—​announced these truths in major cities throughout the land. Following that, came dozens of missionaries and scores of Witnesses from other countries, making their contribution to the progress of the disciple-making work.

Back in 1940, there were just the two original Jehovah’s Witnesses regularly reporting Kingdom preaching in Colombia, Heliodoro Hernández and Juan Bautista Estupiñán.

Forty years passed, 1980, and 16,000 Colombian disciples were then unitedly proclaiming that Kingdom hope. Just nine years more, 1989, the Kingdom publisher count had jumped by 150 percent, to over 40,000. From all over the country, reports come in: Kingdom Halls overflowing, new congregations ready to be formed, packed attendance at Memorial celebration. Nearly seven decades of true Christian evangelization is blossoming with Kingdom fruitage in all parts of that land.

On that note, we conclude our visit to Colombia, a country rich in scenic beauty and natural resources, with a people friendly and hospitable. And a land where, for nearly 70 years now, Jehovah’s Witnesses have taught true Christianity, building a spiritual paradise and extending it to the nation’s borders.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on page 134]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Colombia

Peak Publishers

50,000

41,956

16,044

7,083

1,640

162

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

Av. Pioneers

6,000

5,884

1,014

667

175

 16

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

[Box/​Map on page 66]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Caribbean Sea

PANAMA

Pacific Ocean

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

Santa Marta

Barranquilla

Cartagena

Montería

Sinú River

Cauca River

Magdalena River

Bucaramanga

Barrancabermeja

Medellín

Armero

Facatativá

Bogotá

Buenaventura

Palmira

Cali

Neiva

Popayán

Tumaco

Pasto

ECUADOR

PERU

BRAZL

Amazon River

[Box]

Capital: Bogotá

Official Language: Spanish

Major Religion: Roman Catholic

Population: 31,677,000

Branch Office: Bogotá

[Picture on page 70]

Agustín Primo, Branch Committee member

[Pictures on page 71]

Witnessing in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, and in subtropical Cali, left

[Pictures on page 73]

Heliodoro Hernández and Juan Bautista Estupiñán from the mid-1920’s sowed seeds of Kingdom truth

[Pictures on page 82]

Gabriel Piñeros, former Air Force colonel, now an elder in one of the congregations in Cali

[Pictures on page 84]

Porfirio Caicedo, father of 18 dedicated children; son Raúl, a Gilead graduate and a Branch Committee member until his death in 1981

[Picture on page 87]

Missionaries Olaf Olson and James Webster

[Picture on page 88]

Rogelio Jones, José Villadiego, and Farah Morán​—a building contractor, a former lottery ticket salesman, and a former owner of a haberdashery store—​early publishers still active in Barranquilla

[Picture on page 95]

The Carvajalino sisters, an exemplary pioneer group, who helped more than 300 persons to learn the truth

[Picture on page 96]

Benjamín Angulo and Armando Gómez, members of the Branch Committee

[Pictures on page 101]

Cartagena, an important Caribbean seaport in Spanish colonial history, hears the good news

[Picture on page 102]

Gregorio de la Rosa with wife, Lilia, broke free from superstitious fears

[Picture on page 105]

Richard and Virginia Brown opened the first missionary home in Medellín in 1958. Richard is Branch Committee coordinator

[Picture on page 110]

Elbert S. Moore was one of the first who, with his family, answered the call to serve in Colombia. He is now a member of the Branch Committee

[Picture on page 113]

Harold and Anne Zimmerman, who raised four children in Cali, are now assigned to the new branch project in Facatativá

[Picture on page 116]

Óscar Rivas chose a career in full-time service, now in Bethel

[Picture on page 123]

Bob and Libby Tracy, who served in Colombia 36 years and 32 years respectively, were transferred to another branch in 1982

[Pictures on page 124]

Though experts said, “Impossible! Don’t even try it,” Colombia’s rotary printing press was flown in by jumbo jet at a considerable saving. Colombia prints “The Watchtower” and “Awake!” for five Latin-American countries

[Pictures on page 131]

Kingdom Hall in Ibagué, constructed with help of the Watch Tower Society

[Pictures on page 132, 133]

New branch construction project; structural steel being mounted for new factory building; model of new branch

Finland

Finland, with its silvery lakes and its forests robed in green, has one of the highest living standards in the world. However, thousands of her hearty inhabitants searched for a more satisfying standard and have found it, even at the threat of death by firing squad.

GLIDING eastward, the navy of the king of Sweden is nearing its destination. Passing through a breathtaking archipelago, the sailors sight a land of endless forests, dotted with crystal-clear lakes, its shores rimmed by thousands of islands​—Finland. The land is still a pagan corner of Europe during this 12th century, but the crusaders on board the fleet intend to change that. The pope of Rome craves to expand the influence of his church and therefore has urged the king of Sweden to invade Finland and, by whatever means, convert to Roman Catholicism the inhabitants of this northern territory that reaches beyond the Arctic Circle. The power of the pope is threatened by the Eastern Orthodox Church (Greek Catholicism), which, by means of Russia, has been pushing its control into this land of the midnight sun.

According to tradition, crusaders did not give the local people much of a choice​—either be baptized as a Catholic or be beheaded! Thus, with the exception of some eastern parts that remained under the Eastern Orthodox Church, after several crusades Finland became Roman Catholic. Catholicism ruled until the 16th century, when Gustav I Vasa, the king of Sweden, changed the religion of his realm to Lutheranism. In 1809 Finland became an autonomous grand duchy under the rule of the Russian czar. Almost a hundred years later, the bright light of Bible truth began to penetrate into this land of lovely lakes and thick forests.

Finland is one of the most northerly of populated countries. To the east and southeast, it is bordered by the Soviet Union, to the west by Sweden, and to the north by Norway.

Although Finland lies as far north as Alaska, the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream to the southwest makes the summers quite pleasant. However, the summer is short. Snow blankets the ground and ice tops the lakes for many months of the year. While it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit [20° C.] in the summer and daylight is almost 24 hours long, during the winter the temperature may drop to 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit [-40° C.], and for a few months, the sun can hardly be seen. Icebreakers with reinforced hulls must plow through frozen water to keep sea traffic moving year-round. Since forests of pine, spruce, and birch cover most of the land, the paper industry flourishes from the raw materials provided by these trees. The country is quite flat, and even the highest peaks of the mountains in Lapland reach only some 4,300 feet [1,300 m].

The majority of Finland’s five million inhabitants speak Finnish. Many of those along the coast also speak Swedish. In the north live a small group of Laplanders, who speak Lapp, which is a language related to Finnish. The literacy rate of the population is among the highest in the world.

The Good News Reaches Finland

The first recorded preaching of Bible truth in Finland took place in 1906, when the wife of August Lundborg, the director of the Bible Students’ work in Sweden, visited Finland. Brother Lundborg reported: “God willing, she will soon go to Finland again to pursue the work there.”

Ebba Lundborg and other colporteurs (full-time preachers) from Sweden placed Swedish literature in the coastal areas of southwest Finland, where the population was mostly Swedish-speaking in those days. Eventually some books written by the first president of the Watch Tower Society, Charles T. Russell, came into the hands of Emil Österman’s mother.

Businessman Finds Purpose in Life

Emil Österman, a bearded and energetic 41-year-old businessman from Turku, planned to take a trip around the world in search of a purpose in life. When he read the books his mother had given him, his quest began to change. In the last part of 1909, he made his first stop in Sweden. There he obtained more Bible literature from August Lundborg. However, it was not until he sailed to London that his world journey was cut short, when he finally read the literature he had received in Sweden. He at once knew that he had found what he had been searching for. With his dream of world travel suddenly gone, he returned home. Near the end of that same year, 1909, he went back to Sweden and was baptized. Later, he arranged for August Lundborg to come to Finland and preach.

The report from the branch office in Sweden spoke of Emil as a dear brother when it said: “About ten regular Colporteurs have been at work during the year . . . Six or seven new ones have come into the work​—one of these is a dear brother in Finland who, no doubt, is a chosen instrument in the Lord’s hand to serve his people in that country. . . . Another brother also in that land seems now to intend to sell his farm and go out as a colporteur.”

Who Was the Other Brother?

The other brother, who wanted to sell his farm, was Kaarlo Harteva, born in 1882. His mother, the daughter of a Lutheran minister, gave him a strict religious upbringing. Kaarlo was intense, sincere, and well versed in languages. He studied engineering, but soon after graduation his religious interest drew him to the Young Men’s Christian Association, where he became secretary, as well as the manager for their Hospitz Hotel in Helsinki.

In the summer of 1909, when on business in Helsinki, Österman met Kaarlo Harteva and gave him a copy of The Divine Plan of the Ages in Swedish. Harteva read it eagerly. He reckoned that he too should preach “this good news of the kingdom.” (Matt. 24:14) So in April 1910, Harteva traveled with Österman to the convention in Örebro, Sweden, where he was baptized. Since there was a need for speakers, both of these new brothers gave talks at that convention. They wasted no time in making themselves useful to God’s organization!

‘Join Us. That Will Make Three’

About that time Harteva met one of his former schoolmates, Lauri Kristian Relander, on a train and witnessed to him zealously about the newfound truths. “And how many are there of you people?” his friend asked. “At the moment there are two of us, a certain Österman and I,” Harteva replied. “But if you join us, that will make three.” However, Relander did not come along. Instead, he pursued politics and became the president of Finland from 1925 to 1931.

What a vast field lay before Brothers Harteva and Österman: three million people spread out in a sparsely populated country. Their first goal was to get the Society’s literature translated into the Finnish language. Diligently, Harteva labored to translate The Divine Plan of the Ages and a variety of tracts from Swedish into Finnish, and Österman in turn financed their printing in the fall of 1910. How elated they were to have more effective instruments for the Kingdom work! Trusting in the help of Jehovah’s spirit, these men courageously started out in the work with their newly translated Finnish literature.

“A Ticket to Hell”

Besides keeping a supply of literature in the shoe shop he owned in Turku, Brother Österman displayed books in the store window as well. He also had his own bookstall in a marketplace. By shouting out slogans, he would immediately catch people’s attention.

He would offer the Hell booklet for two markkaa (the Finnish mark), crying out: “A ticket to hell​—one markka in, and another one out!”

Public Talks Gather Crowds

Next, these two faithful friends decided to start a tour to give public talks. So they traveled to Finland’s industrial center, Tampere, and rented the best hall available. They then ordered handbills for the talk, which was entitled “The Great Reward,” and advertised it in the daily paper. Brother Harteva gave the talk, while Österman served as his assistant. In one of his letters, Brother Österman tells about the results:

“One Finnish sister consecrated herself fully and symbolized it in Lake Pyhäjärvi. Thereafter she went to Vyborg, where she now spreads the good news as a colporteur. A Bible class was organized in Tampere with five or six very interested persons, after which we left it in God’s care. Now we are in Turku, and here our first public meeting in Finnish was held in the auditorium of the Fire Department building, which can seat 1,800 persons. As in other places, here too, just as many had to remain outside.”

Encouraged by such good results, these two colporteurs traveled to Helsinki, the capital, and arranged for a public talk in the auditorium of the People’s House (now Workers’ House) for November 22, 1910. Brother Harteva was well-known in the religious circles of Helsinki, and many ministers and members of various religious organizations out of curiosity came to hear him speak. In his talk Harteva challenged his audience by saying that if anyone knew of a scripture stating that the soul is immortal, he should show it publicly. All eyes turned to the ministers in the front rows of the hall. Total silence prevailed. Then he read Ezekiel 18:4, banged his fist on the speaker’s stand, and exclaimed: “The soul thus dies!” Clearly, the battle lines were shaping up between Finland’s religious leaders and the champions of Bible truth. Thus, the truth was sown in the three largest cities of the country, including the capital.

Office Opens in Helsinki

When Brother Russell visited Stockholm, Sweden, at the end of March 1911, a group of Finns went there to meet him. They continued their trip to the convention held in Örebro, where Kaarlo Harteva rejoiced to see his mother and aunt get baptized. Also baptized was a young man by the name of Johannes Hollmerus, who later became a valuable theocratic asset.

Brother Harteva returned to Helsinki and opened an office for handling theocratic activities. He writes: ‘I managed to rent five rooms at Mikonkatu 27. I obtained a few boards and sawbucks to serve as seats. From the rural site of Mäntyharju, they sent me camp beds and bedding. In the main room, there was a typewriter, a desk, and some chairs and benches. There were three camp beds in one room and one in another room. Two rooms were empty.’ Thus the office started operations, June 1911.

Near the office in the center of Helsinki lay Kaisaniemi Park. Here, on a little hill, Brother Harteva gave a public talk every Sunday that summer. With a sparkle in his eyes, he would humorously call these talks “Sermons on the Mount.” At the end of the talks, he invited to the office nearby anyone who wanted to discuss Bible topics further. Some started to come every week. Thus, a small group of Bible Students developed in Helsinki.

First Tracts and Convention

Right from the start, Brother Harteva realized the value of the printed word. Saarnoja kansalle (People’s Pulpit) was the name of the first tract edited. The next year its name was changed to Puheita kansalle (Talks to the People). Those tracts contained articles from the English Watch Tower, as well as transcripts of talks by Brother Russell translated into Finnish. Advertisements for meetings and for the publications that were available were also included.

In January 1912 Puheita kansalle reported: “When The Divine Plan of the Ages was published in Finnish, it first reached a very great distribution through the colporteurs, through newspaper articles, and by booksellers. But soon after Christmas 1910, a great change took place, as the initial enthusiasm was followed by opposition so strong that it almost choked everything. Fortunately this situation did not last more than some six months. When the help by the press and booksellers seemed to cease completely, God started to invite more workers to the harvest.” The report continued, relating that in Helsinki about 30 Finnish-speaking and 10 Swedish-speaking brothers regularly met together two or three times a week to study the Word of God.

When the first convention was arranged to be held in an auditorium in Helsinki from March 29 to April 1, 1912, about 60 persons attended. Some of them came from Turku, Tampere, Pori, Vaasa, Iisalmi, Kuopio, and Parikkala, which shows that the truth had already reached widely scattered areas in southern Finland.

Brother Russell Visits Finland

When hearing about Brother Russell’s plan to make a trip around the world, Kaarlo Harteva wrote and asked him, please, to include a visit to Finland as well. Brother Russell accepted the invitation and informed Harteva that he would be coming at the end of August 1912.

Brother Russell’s visit was an exciting occasion for this small band of brothers. Tremendous preparation went into advertising the public talk, which was held in the finest hall in Helsinki, the auditorium of the Fire Department House. Elis Salminen, then a ten-year-old boy, who served Jehovah faithfully up to his death in 1981, related how the brothers displayed pictures of Brother Russell that were over one story high. “After that I heard my schoolmates saying that it was that American advertising religion,” reported Salminen.

Brother Russell himself recounted his visit in the October 1, 1912, issue of The Watch Tower: “Two Finnish brothers have been specially active for two years to serve the truth to all the truth-hungry. They have translated three volumes of the Scripture Studies and Everybody’s Paper for free circulation, at their own expense. Now about fifteen colporteurs are carrying the truth to every nook and corner of the land. The public meeting was crowded to the capacity of the hall​—1000—​many standing; some almost in tears because they could not gain admission. . . . The evidence is that God has some true children in Finland to whom his harvest message is now due.”

During his visit, Brother Russell authorized Brother Harteva to publish The Watch Tower in Finnish, starting with the November 1912 issue. The new magazine was recommended to be given as a Christmas gift to relatives and acquaintances.

The Testimony Spreads Out

Brothers Österman and Harteva had the problem of reaching the sparse population in that vast territory, over 600 miles [1,000 km] long and some 300 miles [500 km] wide. How were they to give an efficient witness? In hopes of a solution, at his own expense, Brother Österman published advertisements for the Society’s literature in various newspapers. Harteva, on the other hand, decided to concentrate his attention on giving public talks, which proved to be very successful. But how would he organize the public talks? Let him speak for himself:

“When I had chosen a town as my objective, I wrote to the editor of the best-known newspaper and asked what would be the best hall in the area for a public talk and whom I should contact if I wanted to rent it. When that was clear, I wrote an application, and having received a favorable answer, I made up an advertisement and sent it to the newspaper, asking them to print similar handbills and to put them between the pages of the newspaper so that people would get to know about the public talk. Then I went on my trip with some books. The meeting places were usually filled to capacity. . . . Once when I tried to get in, I was told that it was in vain. Only when I explained that I was the speaker could I make my way through. Another time, so many tried to get in that the hall was filled three times that same night, and the listeners waited patiently for their turn.”

This success tells about the hunger for truth in Finland at that time. After the Memorial celebration in 1913, the report showed 235 had been present throughout Finland.

Brother Rutherford’s Visit

A stir of activity filled the summer of 1913. Joseph F. Rutherford, who became the second president of the Society, and A. N. Pierson, both of the world headquarters staff, visited Finland. Brother Rutherford spoke on the subject “Where Are the Dead?​—From a Lawyer’s Viewpoint.” Some thought the lawyer meant Rutherford himself, as he was a judge, but he actually meant the apostle Paul. The public talk was a success: The estimated attendance was over 2,500, and 33 new ones were baptized.

This was followed by another public talk in Kaisaniemi Park, which Brother Harteva had used earlier. Brother Rutherford said that it was his first talk given outdoors, and he thought it was an interesting experience.

Melody of Truth Found

The long-awaited year 1914 began. Excitement filled the air, since for five years attention had been focused on that year. The effectiveness of the testimony was significantly enhanced at that time, as six newspapers regularly published Brother Russell’s sermons.

During 1914 a convention was held. The brothers wondered, ‘Could this possibly be the last convention?’ Joyfully, 39 were baptized. Among them was Eero Nironen, a young student of music. This gifted young pianist, poet, and linguist came to the branch office two years later as a translator and served there faithfully until his death on May 7, 1982.

The Photo-Drama of Creation

In the first part of 1914, Kaarlo Harteva traveled to London to a convention where Brother Russell was the main speaker. He could hardly wait to request information about the Photo-Drama of Creation, which was prepared by the Society and included picture slides as well as moving pictures synchronized with phonograph records. A copy of it was ordered for Finland. Then he eagerly traveled to Berlin, Germany, to produce the Photo-Drama on phonograph records in the Finnish language.

The brothers waited in great suspense. Finally the Photo-Drama arrived with the very last merchant ship from Germany before all ship traffic was halted by the beginning of World War I. The hearts of this small group leaped for joy at the first showing, which took place on August 9, 1914, at the Apollo Theater in Helsinki. Before the end of the year, some 80,500 spectators had seen the Photo-Drama in Finland. What a tremendous boost that was for Bible truth!

The Ararat Magazine

After 1914 economic problems developed. The prospect of attaining immediate heavenly glory seemed to grow dimmer, and ignorance as to how to continue in the faith had a depressing effect on the enthusiastic spirit of the brothers. Thus, Brother Harteva wrote Brother Russell and asked what work the congregation was to accomplish after the harvest was over. He was advised to wait and to be alert to God’s direction.

At that time Harteva, together with other brothers, founded a cooperative association called Ararat and endeavored to apply the principles of the Thousand Year Reign in commercial business, thus freeing them from secular work in worldly firms. The readers of the Finnish edition of The Watch Tower were encouraged to join this association, as Harteva felt that The Watch Tower would soon no longer be published because of the prevailing economic problems and that then the Ararat magazine would take its place.

At that time Brother Harteva had contacts with Brother Lindkvist in Norway, where similar projects were under way. Although the brothers were sincere, it soon was clear that publishing Ararat was not at God’s direction.

However, since Brother Harteva was concentrating on the Ararat association, Martti Liesi became the Society’s representative in Finland. The Watch Tower continued to be published, thanks to the financial contributions of many brothers.

Reproof Given by Brother Russell

In the April issue of the Finnish edition of The Watch Tower, a two-page pastoral letter was published, stating:

“BROTHER RUSSELL’S LETTER TO THE BRETHREN IN SCANDINAVIA. Brothers Lindkvist and Harteva. I have just heard about the apostasy of these two dear brethren and their connections with a new movement called ‘Ararat’. . . . How sad I am when I see them, as I believe, turn their backs on the whole program of the Gospel! And yet I notice that they have not done this on purpose. It seems to me that once again that has happened which so often happened during the Gospel era, namely, that good men without knowing it have been deceived by the great Adversary and led away from the important work of the Gospel.”

Then he appealed to the brothers: “Dear brothers, we believe that these thoughts are Biblical, and we present them to you, as they show that your present thoughts and present program are completely wrong​—unbiblical. Your ‘Ararat’ association does not have anything to do with the little flock and the work of the Gospel era for choosing the little flock, but instead it claims to be a restoration work. You will come to see that that time has not yet come. . . . We encourage all of you, dear brothers in the faith, to return to the truth and the work that belongs to this era.”

After receiving Brother Russell’s letter, Kaarlo Harteva at first defended himself in his magazine and stated that he had just wanted to promote the work of the Gospel. But his following words reflect his humility: “Perhaps I have in my eagerness and imperfectness caused suffering to those dearly beloved by our Lord. If I may correct the matter, I want to do what I can. I think that all these difficulties have had a very good effect on me.” The Ararat association soon dissolved, and Harteva started to assist in the editing of The Watch Tower and giving public talks again.

Revolution and Civil War

Finland was still a part of Russia, subject to the czarist government, when a revolution in Russia overthrew the czar in 1917. Finland now jumped at the opportunity to declare its independence on December 6, 1917. In the winter of 1918, a bloody civil war broke out in Finland between the “Reds” and the “Whites,” the socialists and the nonsocialists.

Eero Nironen was doing translation work at the branch office at that time, and he tells us: ‘The situation in Finland became critical. The Finished Mystery had to be translated very quickly, and for that reason I was sent to a more peaceful place, my home in Mäntyharju. Soon after I arrived there, a nearby railway bridge was blown up. . . . The “Whites” arranged conscription for military service, from which I was exempted because of my nearsightedness. I gave public talks and continued my translation work. . . . When the connections southward were cut off, I wondered whether all my brothers had gone to the glory above and I was the only one left.’

Soon Brother Nironen was again faced with the military issue. He relates: “General conscription was carried out, and the qualifications were not as high. Therefore my weak eyes did not help me. I was sent to the Marines, to the barracks at Katajanokka Harbor in Helsinki, on September 25, 1918. I planned my strategy in harmony with what I had learned from the Bible and the sixth volume of Studies in the Scriptures. For a year I really was at ‘war’ because of my conviction. With permission from the battalion commander, I could speak publicly to the battalion on four Sundays.” In due time he was released and could again take up his translating work.

New Hope Arises

At the beginning of 1919, the spiritual outlook of the brothers was optimistic. Some desired to serve as colporteurs. One of them was Mikael Aura, a wealthy farmer, who had given considerable financial assistance to the branch office some time earlier. “If the Lord reckons me worthy of his work, I am willing to do whatever I can,” said Brother Aura. “With my strength I can carry many books.” He served loyally for many years at the branch office.

Thankfully, Kaarlo Harteva, who had regained his spiritual health, accepted greater responsibilities once again. When a convention was held in Tampere in August, he delivered the main talks. He was again appointed to take the lead in the work. So, early in the following year, he replaced Martti Liesi, who withdrew from God’s organization. Within one year’s time, the number of subscribers for The Watch Tower had risen to 2,763, and over 61,000 pieces of literature had been sent out. Needless to say, the joyful spirit among the congregations was high.

‘Millions Will Never Die’

When Alexander H. Macmillan from world headquarters visited in November 1920, he gave the talk “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” in eight localities. That unforgettable theme was the topic of many talks back then.

Eero Nironen related: “Sometimes I gave four talks on the same day about this theme. At first we felt the message was somewhat daring, but since Jehovah’s organization had assigned it, we published it with great confidence, and now we can see how it is being fulfilled with increasing speed.” The subject generated so much interest that when the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die was translated that same year, optimistically 50,000 copies were printed.

Meanwhile, a well-known businessman in Pori, Kaarlo Vesanto, became interested in the truth. Later, when he had a house built for himself, he hired painters to print in big letters the theme ‘Millions Will Never Die’ on one of the outside walls of his house. Antti Salonen, one of the painters who did the work, recalls: “It was the most peculiar painting job I had ever done. I wondered what the statement might mean.” After finding out, he was baptized and then served for years in the circuit work. Now he is a special pioneer in Pori, with as radiant a disposition as ever.

Schism Threatens From the Inside

Early in the 1920’s, a restless spirit developed. Questions about which channel for dispensing Bible truth Jehovah uses started to pop up. In the Helsinki Congregation, some brothers founded a “Brothers’ Circle,” where only men were allowed to be members. Its objective was to study the truth very deeply. But soon the noble purpose changed to that of suspiciously seeking errors in the Society’s teachings. Fault was found with the Society’s suggestions to engage in field service, since it was thought that the preaching work was completed. Some leading pilgrim brothers even gave talks endorsing the idea that the channel of Bible truth ended with Brother Russell’s death.

The problem was most critical in Helsinki, where a group cut themselves off from the Society, published their own magazine, and held their own meetings. But as time went on, this group withered away. Quite clearly they did not have Jehovah’s support.

The reports indicate that 164 left the truth in Helsinki alone. In the April 1922 issue of The Watch Tower, a gesture of reconciliation was made: “To those dear friends who have left us and because of that have become troubled, we hold out our hand of brotherhood. Please, join us again!” Many of those disassociated ones were confused, but when they finally understood the need of a progressive organization, the majority of them returned.

The Runner Changes Racecourses

In 1919 a youngster in Finland named Otto Mäkelä set a national record in the 3,000-meter race. Later that same year in his hometown, he heard a talk given by the pilgrim Viljo Taavitsainen. How the truth appealed to this small, but tough, runner! Otto decided to change his racecourse. After his baptism, he took up the pilgrim work, in March 1921. Later he served as circuit overseer for decades and was known as an excellent teacher right up to the time when he finished his earthly course in 1985.a

The experiences of Otto Mäkelä would fill many books. Let us go along with him on a trip of about 60 miles [100 km] from Iisalmi to Kärsämäki: “I started in the morning about seven in order to reach my destination in time for the public talk at 7:00 p.m. Although I was traveling all the time, I did not make it until 9:00 p.m. There were several inns along the way, and every coachman drove me only to the next inn. When I asked for an immediate lift to the next place, they took their time catching a horse in the woods. Then it had to be fed and watered, and also the coachman had to eat. They did not hurry, as I did not look like a very high-ranking or important traveler.”

Hell’s Fire Extinguished in Lapland

Jalmari Niemelä, another pilgrim, tells about his work north of the Arctic Circle: “When I left Rovaniemi, it was raining hard. I started my trip by bicycle and traveled that day only 40 miles [70 km]. I stayed in an inn overnight and biked the following day for about ten miles [20 km]. As there was a village, I decided to stop and preach the good news of the Kingdom. I worked the village that day and gave a public talk in the evening. . . . I took several Hell booklets with me and decided to explain at each meeting what hell is.”

On his way from Sodankylä to Ivalo, he was able to speak with Laplanders. “When I placed the Hell and Distress booklets, an old man asked: ‘Have the people in the south already become so wise that they have extinguished hellfire?’”

In those early days of increasing activity, the Golden Age magazine provided much refreshment for the brothers. However, since it was not available in the Finnish language, a kind brother donated funds to get the magazine printed. Starting in 1922, it was released. Its popularity was reflected by the fact that by the end of the year, the magazine had 6,233 subscribers. At the same time, The Watch Tower had 2,244 subscribers.

Witnessing in the Esperanto Language

Right from the beginning of the preaching work in Finland, Brother Harteva’s versatile knowledge of languages was a benefit. He learned Esperanto, which was a language developed toward the end of the 19th century to advance international communication and was spoken by over a million people in various parts of the earth. Brother Harteva got permission from Brother Rutherford to translate the Millions book into Esperanto. It was released in 1922 in Helsinki just before the conference held by Esperantists. At that conference he gave a talk in Esperanto with the “Millions” theme. Now the truth could be offered to people speaking this language, some of whom had come from the United States, China, Japan, Algeria, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and other countries.

Harteva gave discourses in Esperanto in 12 cities throughout Europe. In Budapest he gave a Biblical discourse that, by permission of the police commander, was translated into Hungarian. Brother Rutherford then sent a brother from world headquarters along with Brother Harteva to Moscow to find out whether it was possible to preach the good news of the Kingdom there. The response from the residents of Moscow was poor. But after contacting the local Esperantists, Brother Harteva left a supply of theocratic literature with them.

Their Own Branch Office

For over ten years, the branch office had been located in cramped facilities. The May 1923 issue of The Watch Tower contained this good news: “The Lord has blessed the zeal of some brothers as they have placed their all on the altar of the Lord so that at this time when rooms are scarce, it has been possible to get a new apartment for the office. The former one was so crowded that almost all the office workers had to live scattered throughout the city.” The new address was Temppelikatu 14. On the ground floor, there was a bookshop, where meetings could be held, and upstairs were the living quarters. A fund was set up, and so they were able to purchase the premises.

When Brother Rutherford visited the Örebro convention in Sweden in May 1925, he announced that in Copenhagen, Denmark, an office would be opened for Northern Europe. It would oversee the work in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland, although the branch office in Finland would continue as before. The Watch Tower reported: “Brother Dey, of London, was requested to accept the post as the Society’s representative and general manager for the Northern European Office. . . . Brother Dey gives up an important government position in London to enter the service of the King of kings.” Brother Dey’s regular visits strengthened the activity in Finland in the same way that the visits of the zone overseers have in recent years.

The Northern European Office generated more communication internationally among the Witnesses. Thus, in June 1927, the convention in Helsinki proved to be a milestone​—the first Nordic general convention! All directors from the seven countries looked after by the Northern European Office were present. The talks were given in English, Swedish, and Finnish.

Truth Broadcast in Estonia

At the 1927 Helsinki convention, Brother Dey spoke of the need for missionaries from Finland to go to Estonia. Since the Estonian language is closely related to Finnish, the Finns learned the language quickly and could in that way help interested people in Estonia. Young colporteur sisters Irja Mäkelä and Jenny Felt answered the call and traveled to Tallinn. Soon they were joined by several other Finns, Kerttu Ahokas for one. Baptized in 1919, she later worked faithfully in the branch until her death in 1989.

At that time, Brother Rutherford’s public talks were being transmitted worldwide by radio. Could the Society have its own radio station in Finland? Permission was denied. However, when a convention was held in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1929, Brother Dey’s public talk was broadcast via the radio station in Tallinn all the way to Finland.

That was the opening. The radio station in Tallinn thereafter agreed to broadcast discourses every Sunday in Finnish, and sometimes in English, Estonian, Russian, and Swedish. From the fall of 1930 onward, a telephone connection from the radio station in Tallinn to the Finnish branch office made it possible for talks to be given right from there. This continued until September 1934, when the following news was read: “Because of the intolerance of the clergymen and the violent, slanderous attack they made in the Tallinn newspapers, the Estonian government has now taken the Tallinn radio station away from the private firm that ran it and has prohibited further broadcasting of Judge Rutherford’s lectures.”

Despite some problems in obtaining permanent visas in Estonia in the early part of the ’30’s, some Witnesses were able to remain there until the second world war. One of these was Miina Holopainen, who went to Estonia in 1931 and served there for 13 years. When the battle lines between the Soviet Union and Germany were being drawn, she was put on a train for Siberia. However, a bomb hit the coach, and the explosion hurled her a great distance away from the tracks. Those still alive were put right back on the train. Miina, though, lay unnoticed behind a woodpile until after the train’s departure. She was then taken to the hospital in Tartu, Estonia, since her legs were badly hurt. There she prayed for Jehovah to help her to recover enough so that she could go in field service again. She did recover, returned to Finland, and continued as a pioneer for many years.

New Name, New Press, and New Branch

For years we had erroneously been dubbed “Hartevites” and “Russellites.” Yet, we were not just “Bible Students.” What should we be called? Mikael Ollus found out in a surprising way: “A thrilling event occurred in 1931 when I, together with Eero Nironen, sat studying The Messenger magazine with the latest news of the convention in Columbus, Ohio. We could not help but react with surprise when our eyes caught sight of an article listing the reasons for the new name ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ adopted by our brothers. I will never forget that moment.” Finally we had a name that clearly identified us. In Finland the new name was accepted eagerly.

That same year, Finland also received their first printing press, which was installed in the basement of the branch office. Brother Harteva wrote the following about it: “The sound of the printing machines, which is in our ears as pleasant music, has terribly touched the ears of the adversary, and he would willingly have pushed out our machinery and us also from the house.” Buzzing with activity, that small printing plant produced 700,000 printed items in 1932, which was approximately 1,000 for every publisher.

Now a larger facility was needed. The brothers found a suitable piece of land next to a lovely park and started building a new branch office there in the spring of 1933. The first floor included the printery, composition room, Kingdom Hall, and storage space for literature stock. The offices, the kitchen, and the dining room were located on the second floor, with the living quarters on the third floor. The address of this new branch office, Väinämöisenkatu 27, became well-known to the brothers during the next three decades.

“The Stones Cry Out”

Toward the end of the ’30’s, Brother Harteva recorded Rutherford’s sermons in Finnish on phonograph records. Why records? Because of a spanking new invention, the portable phonograph. Phonographs were to be used in the return-visit and house-to-house activity. And at the branch office, their mechanical parts were installed in portable cases manufactured by the brothers. “The Stones Cry Out” was the slogan used when the Witnesses went out in field service toting their “talking” machines.

A supply of new loudspeakers was received that were so powerful that the brothers called them “audio unit artillery.” Leo Kallio relates: “I had planned to go with my wife and my little son to the beach. That day the postman delivered a card reminding me of the plans to use the large loudspeakers for playing recordings on the beach, where over 200 persons were expected to watch the midsummer bonfire, a heritage from heathendom. It was not easy to make this decision, as my flesh fought strongly against it. I presented the matter to Jehovah, praying that if the seemingly impossible endeavor to get the loudspeakers into the crammed bus succeeded, that would serve as evidence that my efforts would be blessed. The attempt succeeded, although some of the passengers complained.

“At the crossroads, there was a big pile of boards, and we hid the loudspeakers behind it as people started to arrive. There was a dance hall nearby, and when the bonfire was lit, everyone stopped dancing and came to the beach. At the moment when everybody was by the fire, I put on a music record. It took them all so much by surprise that the bonfire was forgotten, and they all turned to look at the pile of boards for the source of the sound. A policeman, who had arrived to supervise the dancing, came up to me. I explained to him what I was trying to do. He nodded, and I was able to play the recordings of the lecture. They contained very hard blows against false religion, and it caused quite a hubbub in the audience.

“When the name Jehovah rang out, a group of young men gathered around me and mumbled: ‘Let’s pitch those loudspeakers into the lake.’ But the policeman threw them a stern look. By now someone had called the rural police chief to the spot. Quickly I put a music record on. The police chief wondered who had disturbed him in the middle of the midsummer festivals, and after he saw the smiling policeman, he angrily left. With the assistance of the policeman, we managed to get the loudspeakers into the bus undamaged.”

The phonograph work peaked in 1938, when 309 machines were in use, and according to reports, 72,626 discourses were played for an audience of 151,879. ‘The stones did cry out!’

The Society Dissolved

On November 30, 1939, the “Winter War” ignited when Soviet Union troops marched into Finland. The battles lasted for more than three months. Then, in June 1941, Finland was drawn into the “War of Continuation” as an unofficial ally of Germany. The warfare ushered in problems with the producing and distributing of spiritual food. Contact with headquarters was cut off. However, it was possible to get some spiritual food, through neutral Sweden, during the five years of war. But what effect did the war have on the attitude of the authorities toward our peaceful work?

Under the cover of war hysteria and the increasing nationalistic spirit, clergy-inspired opposers of the Kingdom pressured the government to crush the activity of the Witnesses. On January 18, 1940, the Ministry of Justice declared that the booklets Government and Peace and Freedom for the Peoples were to be confiscated. Four months later, on May 28, 1940, and after a dragged-out legal battle, the court ruled to dissolve the local Watch Tower Society.

Publishers of the Theocracy

Anticipating that negative court decision, on April 13, 1940, the brothers wisely sold all the Society’s possessions to a newly established publishing company that was named Kustannusosakeyhtiö Vartiotorni (Watchtower Publishing Company). So when the authorities moved to confiscate the property of the Society, they found, to their dismay, that there was no property.

Previous to this expected attack against the Society, the brothers also established, on February 15, 1940, an unregistered association called Publishers of the Theocracy. After the court broke up the local Watch Tower Society, all activities were cared for by this association.

The brothers, though, were certainly not fainthearted. They forged ahead and rented Helsinki Olympic Stadium and scheduled Brother Harteva to give a talk there on August 23, 1940, on the subject “The Kingdom Which Cannot Be Moved.” Some 78,000 handbills inviting the public to the talk were distributed! However, this activity awakened the opposers, and the authorities forbade the lecture just before it was to begin. But the manuscript was delivered to the largest daily newspapers in the country, and thus more than a million people​—slightly less than a third of the population of the country—​were able to read it in print!

Although most of the authorities in Finland did not actively oppose us, it must be remembered that Finland was cooperating with Germany, and some of the officials had adopted a Nazi-inspired attitude. Extremist elements repeatedly flung false charges against the organization, so that, as a result, the association Publishers of the Theocracy was also dissolved by a court decision on April 17, 1941.

Literature Is Used Despite Ban

When it became clear that the police would confiscate the literature at the branch, most of it was dispatched to various brothers’ homes. Since the police did not try to seize the literature in the possession of the brothers, we had quite a cache that could be used in the field.

Otto Mäkelä tells about an incident involving Sister Hilma Sinkkonen in Kotka: “This elderly sister placed Rutherford’s books although they were under ban. While doing so, she happened to come to the door of the captain of the Home Guard, whose job was to make sure that the ban was complied with. The captain became aggressive, as he felt that this was the height of impudence. He grabbed a rifle and pointed it at the sister, to which this old sister calmly said: ‘Wait a moment while I move in front of the stove so that you won’t make a hole in the wall.’ The captain’s rifle dropped, and he said in amazement: ‘There is no man among my soldiers as brave as you are, Madam. Come and sit down and tell me about your beliefs.’ The witness he received about the truth made such a deep impression on him that the publishers were not disturbed there anymore.”

Harteva Arrested

Since Kaarlo Harteva had an especially active part in the work, the authorities targeted their charges directly at him. Therefore he felt it wise to withdraw into the background. Thus, Toivo Nervo became the editor of Jumalan Valtakunta (God’s Kingdom), successor to The Watchtower then under ban. He was followed by Pentti Reikko in 1941, while Mikael Ollus became the editor of Consolation.

The authorities, however, still regarded Kaarlo Harteva as the Witnesses’ keyman. On June 12, 1942, just as he was getting ready to go and give the funeral talk for his aunt, Aunes Salmela, he was arrested and taken into custody for three weeks, to be followed by house arrest.

“Solid Food” Still Delivered

When the printing of the magazines had to be stopped at the end of 1942, the brothers started to mimeograph the main articles from The Watchtower. These copies were called “solid food,” and they could not be sent through the mail. Therefore several couriers transported them throughout the country to be delivered to the congregations. This arrangement functioned well during the remainder of the war.

Many sisters did a notable part of this work. Meri Weckström, who served as a pioneer until her death in 1981, related about her assignment: “During the war, I was living in the Swedish High School of Economics, and we hid a truckload of the Society’s literature there. When The Watchtower was also banned, the brothers suggested that I start mimeographing it. I did the work in my apartment during evenings and at night.”

Because of air raids, no light at all was allowed to be seen through the windows of buildings. Meri continued: “One night the floor of the living room was filled with piles of mimeographed paper. I was using the machine in the kitchen when the doorbell rang a little after 3:00 a.m. I carefully closed the door to the living room before I went to open the door. To my surprise, I was greeted by a policeman. At first I thought that my work had been found out, so I prayed to Jehovah for help and wisdom in this situation. But the policeman only said that there was a small crack in the blind through which light could be seen. With a sigh of relief, I promised to repair it immediately, and the policeman left.”

Meri next related about the value of the mimeographed material: “I have noticed that Jehovah always gives guidance to his people at the right time. The article on neutrality, which I mimeographed during the war, is a good example of this. This article helped the brothers to see more clearly Jehovah’s instructions and the right attitude for a Christian.”

A Lieutenant Becomes a Soldier for Christ

In 1942, as a young lieutenant, 23-year-old Kalle Salavaara was wounded by an exploding grenade and was sent to a hospital for an operation. “After the operation,” he reports, “I was lying in the military hospital set up in the same school where I had been a pupil. At my bedside was Brother Sakari Kanerva, who had talked to me about the truth many times before. Now my decision was made, and there were only some practical matters to agree upon. I said to myself: ‘Tomorrow at Möysänjärvi Lake will be the terminal point of my military career.’

“The following day Brother Kanerva baptized me. As I was still in my full-length cast, it, of course, got wet and softened during the ceremony. The following morning, the medical colonel Heinonen looked reproachfully at the cast and asked: ‘Where have you been messing around? The cast has completely lost its shape!’

“‘I got baptized, sir,’ was my answer. He stood stone-silent. I felt that he was holding a moment’s silence in commemoration of my death. ‘What did you say?’ the colonel finally asked. Then I was able to give my first public testimony.”

Once Kalle Salavaara recuperated, he used his freedom, as well as his military passport, to move about delivering “solid food” to the congregations. As he set out with mimeographed material for the congregations in southwest Finland, Väinö Pallari, who was working in Bethel, warned him about the police in Matku. Several times they had taken him to the police station for interrogation and seemed to know just when a courier was about to come. Kalle relates:

“When I arrived at Matku by train from Urjala, a sturdy policeman walked up to me immediately and in an official tone of voice asked for my identification certificate. I showed him my military passport. That surprised him. In quite a different voice, he then asked for my certificate of work. For just that reason, I had formally enrolled at Helsinki University. Therefore I could hand the policeman a certificate signed by the president of the university, specifying an assignment of work there, although not indicating what kind of work I was doing. The resistance of the policeman was broken. When I started to drag my suitcases to the waiting bus, he politely offered to carry them. I could not resist the temptation to give him the large, heavy case that contained the banned mimeographed material. Somehow it seemed so safe with the policeman carrying it.”

Many times, the brothers and sisters came by toboggan, by horse sleigh, or by foot to the railway stations late at night in order to get a few banned articles. At times, the winter temperature was -22° F. [-30° C.] “No one complained,” recalls Brother Salavaara. “I saw only happy, appreciative receivers, who brought to my mind the bright words from the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need.’ To them it was like manna from heaven.”

Neutrality Put to the Test

The state of war put the neutrality of the Witnesses fully to the test. As for Kosti Huhtakivi, Vieno Linte, and Yrjö Laine, their Bible-trained consciences would not allow them to serve in the army. Thus, they were confined to prison. But would the quality of their faith be strong enough for the ordeal that they were about to suffer as a consequence?

Brother Huhtakivi recalls: “We were ordered to assemble at Humppila School and were assigned sleeping quarters under the rifle rack. One day the corporal ordered us into the yard and over to the flagpole. He was polishing his bayonet, boasting over its sharpness, when he snorted the order: ‘Let’s go!’ We were taken through the side gate of the school, which had served as our barracks. We walked a short distance to the edge of a forest, to a ridge, where we were ordered to halt. Now we spotted a group of soldiers marching toward us with rifles in hand.”

The armed soldiers took their stand in front of the brothers, confirmed the brothers’ identity, and informed them that they had been sentenced to death by firing squad. The sentence was to be carried out immediately.

Brother Linte cannot hold back his tears as he continues relating about their experience: “The order was given: ‘Action!’ after which the stretcher-bearer blindfolded us. Then followed the command: ‘Load!’ and we could hear the click of the rifles. Next came the order: ‘Aim!’ ‘How good to have the resurrection hope’ was the thought that rushed through my mind. Suddenly, we heard a shout: ‘Sergeant! Telephone message.’ This was followed by the command: ‘Halt!’ after which the telephone message was read aloud: ‘Sentence suspended for the time being,’ signed by the colonel. Our blindfolds were removed, and we were escorted back to our quarters.”

The drama had been well staged. The same diabolic strategy was used on other brothers. Erkki Kankaanpää, who now serves as Branch Committee coordinator, experienced it also. He explains: “To begin with, we were told that we would get a death sentence. The treatment was so stern that we did not at all doubt that it would be carried out. It was later found that this was a means of intimidation. A mock trial and, a couple of hours later, we were once again brought before the judge and received three and a half years in a penitentiary.”

A Cooperative for Spiritual Health

In 1932 a cooperative firm named Al Sano had been established. It not only imported and sold health food but also published a magazine by the same name as well as other literature dealing with matters of health. Some of the brothers were in this business, and it became very closely associated with the Society.

Just before Brother Rutherford’s death in 1942, he granted permission for the cooperative to print the truth in the form of other literature if the Society’s literature was banned. Thus health books by Al Sano were published, and in their magazine Terveyttä Kaikille (Health for All), they published some Watchtower articles.

The field service was carried out in an unusual way while under ban. Kalle Salavaara explains: “Our objective was the same then as it is now: We wanted to show people that God’s Kingdom is the only real solution for all their problems. That required theocratic strategy and patience. People would ask: ‘Are you from the drugstore of that religious group?’ and then they would describe their ailments at great length. After making some recommendations and offering brochures on the subject of health, we would shift the conversation to the Kingdom message. ‘Of course, the health products cannot stop aging and death,’ we would say, ‘but would it not be wonderful to be able to live healthy and young forever?’ It sometimes turned out to be a very fruitful discussion.”

Conventions During the Ban

By exercising extreme caution and inventiveness, it was possible to continue having meetings and conventions during the war. For example, a “Hunting and Fishing Festival” was arranged on a farm in Haarajoki, and of course, the subject of the talks was, not hunting for animals, but fishing for men.

In the summer of 1943, a great meeting, called “Pentti Reikko’s Family Festival,” was held in the middle of Helsinki at a students’ club. Invitations were given only to those who were recommended by two trustworthy Witnesses. We had over 500 present.

Brother Reikko tells us what happened after an official letter was sent to the authorities from that same meeting:

“Some time afterward I received an order from the State Police to report for questioning. The interrogator had our letter in his hand, and he demanded information as to where meetings like this were held. ‘How is it possible that you can hold a meeting like that in the center of Helsinki without our knowing about it, when we even know almost everything two people say to each other in the street?’ he asked. The meeting had actually been held just a couple of blocks away from the police office!

“We arranged several big conventions in the same manner, and Jehovah’s protection was very clear, as our meetings were never disrupted. In December 1943 a convention was held at which the attendance reached 1,260.”

New President Gives Direction

As the end of the war was approaching, Nathan H. Knorr, who by then was the third president of the Watch Tower Society, eventually received information about the ban in Finland. In his letter to Brothers Harteva and Taavitsainen, he thanked them because, despite the ban, they had stayed active, and they had made it possible to hold on to the Society’s property for future use.

What, though, would happen with those health publications that also contained articles about the Kingdom? Since the Society’s literature was still under ban, Brother Knorr allowed the Finnish brothers to continue placing them with the public. But at the same time, he warned: “You ought not to mix the message of the Kingdom with anything else. Encourage the brothers to do the following: The apostles in their time went from community to community without Bibles or books. If the Lord sees fit that we should not have anything other than God’s Word in our mind and our mouth, let us use it to the glory and honor of Jehovah’s name. The truth does not need any attraction other than the truth itself.”

End of the War

The war with the Soviet Union came to its end in September 1944. Finland maintained her independence, but she lost large chunks of her territory. About 300,000 persons who were evacuated from the ceded areas had to be relocated in other parts of Finland. Brother Harteva was released from custody on September 27, and on the basis of a general amnesty, all the brothers were soon released from prison, thus laying a foundation for a period of growth never before experienced in Finland.

It seemed very difficult, almost impossible, to get the prohibition against the Society reversed. The next Minister of Justice, Urho Kekkonen, took a favorable stand toward the Witnesses. He suggested that we form a new religious association, as we would then have almost the same rights as the Lutheran Church. The brothers followed his advice, and on May 31, 1945, the Council of State approved the Religious Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

This solution made it possible to perform marriages, to exempt children from religious instruction at school, and to enjoy the legal protection granted to registered religious associations. The reregistration of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society finally succeeded much later, on February 2, 1949.

Information March

The year 1945 started with vigorous public activity. On January 6, Brother Harteva gave a talk on the theme “Toward the Light” in the Exhibition Hall in Helsinki. Nevertheless, larger premises were needed. And so the Olympic Stadium was rented for the public talk, which was widely advertised not only in the newspapers but also on the streets.

Under Brother Salavaara’s direction, a procession of Witnesses carrying placards was organized that was more than a quarter of a mile long [0.5 km]. Picture this: Through the streets of Helsinki march the Witnesses shouting slogans into hand-held cardboard megaphones, followed by a cavalcade of sound cars announcing the Kingdom message. And first in line is Elis Salminen riding a big brown horse, waving a banner with the words: “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” What a sight! What a witness!

The horse was afraid of the slogan signs and was about to bolt when, as Salminen remembers, “one of the many photographers came and took a picture of me and said: ‘It ought to be an ass. That’s what Jesus rode.’” The procession wended its way along the main thoroughfares of the capital city for a few miles and finally stopped at the railway station, where the Witnesses formed a united front and shouted in unison the invitation to the public talk. Altogether 12,000 arrived at the stadium to listen!

Witnessing Over the Airwaves

Those thousands who gathered at the stadium were not the only ones listening to the talk. Although the Finnish Broadcasting Company, supervised by the State, had strictly refused to broadcast our programs in the past, the brothers still courageously approached the company and requested that the talk, “The Meek Inherit the Earth,” be broadcast over the radio. Hella Wuolijoki, a famous author born in Estonia, was the director-general in the broadcasting company, and she granted us permission. She had been in prison herself during the war and thus felt sympathy for us. Therefore, a great witness was given to a vast audience as far as Sweden, where the branch office sent a telegram stating: “Broadcast heard excellently!”

The Watchtower Is Published Again

Both Jumalan Valtakunta and Consolation magazines started to be published again at the beginning of 1945. And from the July 1 issue onward, the name of the magazine Jumalan Valtakunta was again The Watchtower. Did people want the magazines? There were not many periodicals offered on a subscription basis right after the war, so the publishers received a record number of new subscriptions: 40,038! That was almost 30 subscriptions per publisher. It was the best campaign they ever had. The printing-press bearings did not cool down that year!

The Watch Tower Society’s president had deep concern for the welfare of the brothers in war-ravaged Europe. He desired to visit them and arrange for needed assistance as soon as traveling was possible. Thus, on December 18, 1945, during the darkest and coldest time of the year, Brother Knorr together with his secretary, Milton G. Henschel, and a Northern European Office representative, William Dey, arrived by boat from Sweden. This is how their diary of travel reads: “About seventeen hours from the time it left Stockholm the Bore V entered the waters of the Finnish bay near Turku and seemed almost glad it had weathered the trip and could be in its home waters, there to push about the six-inch [15 cm] slabs of ice that filled the harbor.” A group of smiling brothers from the Helsinki Bethel family welcomed them.

Brother Knorr looked into the problems resulting from the war. The Society had sent Finland donated clothing from Sweden, which was distributed to pioneers and others in need. Although Finland was a notable producer of paper at that time, the government wanted to export all the paper in order to get foreign currency into Finland. Would the printing of our magazines grind to a halt because of the difficulty in obtaining paper? To economize, Brother Knorr decided to discontinue the printing of the Consolation magazine for the time being. The paper for The Watchtower would be bought by headquarters with U.S. dollars, which Finland readily accepted. Thus, the printing of the main channel for spiritual food, The Watchtower, continued.

During his visit, Brother Knorr related the exciting news about the recent opening of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for missionary training. His diary shows the reaction of the Finnish brothers: “No greater enthusiasm for the Watchtower College had been displayed anywhere else on the journey. . . . Twenty-two full-time workers filed their names.”

The First Ones to Gilead

It was just a few months later, in 1946, that the first invitations to Gilead received by brothers in Finland arrived. Four brothers, Eero Nironen, Kalle Salavaara, Elai Taavitsainen, and Veikko Torvinen, attended the eighth class. “When the four of us returned to Finland at the beginning of 1947,” recalled Brother Nironen, “we were like new people. It was first in Gilead that I began to realize the true meaning of theocracy. We learned to improve our field service, and what was most important, we were taught how the everyday life of a Christian has to be filled with God’s spirit so that he does not perform just a robot’s work.”

In 1950 Eero Muurainen attended Gilead. He served for years as a district overseer up to his death in 1966. Throughout the years, the missionary spirit has inspired at least 59 Finns, so far, to attend Gilead School.

Circuit Work After the War

The outbreak of the war in 1939 saw 865 publishers in Finland. At the end of the second world war, in 1945, the number of publishers had almost doubled, with a total of 1,632 publishers reporting in over 200 congregations.

The number of congregations in 1945 was about the same as it is now, more than 40 years later. Why did the number of congregations not grow? Most of the congregations in the 1940’s were small in size and widely scattered. On the average, there were only 5 publishers per congregation then; now the average number is over 60.

Four decades ago, after the end of the war, the brothers’ only vehicles were bicycles, although in the rural areas, the wealthy had horse-drawn wagons or sleighs. For the most part, though, the brothers’ livelihood was meager, and the working hours long and hard. Therefore, traveling long distances to attend meetings was difficult. So in many localities just one family made up the congregation, and they witnessed only in territories close to their home.

The work of the circuit overseer under those circumstances was not easy. “The journeys between the congregations, which could be ten miles [20 km] or more, were often made on foot carrying heavy luggage,” Erkki Kankaanpää says. “I remember how once during the bitter cold of February, my wife and I slept in a room with no heating. We went to bed with all our clothes on. Sometimes we had to sleep in the same room with a big family.” As the living conditions improved, the work of the circuit overseers became more effective.

Postwar Growth

The year 1947 found Brothers Knorr and Henschel back in Finland. Although only a year and a half had passed since their previous visit, they noticed the remarkable progress that had been made in the meantime. Within two years the peak of publishers had climbed from 1,632 to 2,696. Finland was certainly experiencing a time of good growth. A convention was held in the Exhibition Hall in Helsinki on June 13-15, 1947, with 5,300 in attendance and 184 baptized.

True, the number of congregations did not increase, but the growth in publishers after the war was astonishing. By 1950 the number of publishers exceeded 4,000. The Theocratic Ministry School gave a boost to the brothers’ public speaking abilities and to their effectiveness in evangelizing. Hence, instead of phonographs doing the preaching, the brothers gave sermons by word of mouth.

In February 1950 two Gilead graduates, Wallace Endres and John Bruton from the United States, arrived in the country. Brother Endres replaced aging Brother Harteva as branch overseer. Brother Harteva continued faithfully in the full-time service up to his death in 1957.

Printing Activity Increases

After the war, paper eventually became available once more. From the start of 1951, Finland again published another magazine in addition to The Watchtower; now its name was Awake! By 1955 the number of magazines printed had increased to more than 1,000,000 per year.

During the postwar period, Finland began to print all the Society’s books on their own presses. It was troublesome to get cover material and to prepare hard covers for the books, though, so in the early 1950’s, they used plain cardboard covers, which proved to be too weak. As a result, when Brother Knorr visited in 1951 and in 1955, he advised them as to how they could improve the quality of their books. During the years from 1945 to 1955, Finland, in a very cramped branch facility, printed an average of 54,000 books a year.

In 1955 Erkki Kankaanpää was invited to the branch office, where he had served earlier as a printer, to oversee the factory. He and his wife had attended Gilead School in 1952 and afterward served in the circuit and district work. And when Brother Endres returned to his home country in 1957 because of family obligations, Brother Kankaanpää was appointed as branch overseer.

Kingdom Halls Built as More Help Arrives

The branch office building that was acquired in 1923 had a small meeting place connected to it that was named Helsinki Tabernacle. The branch office in Väinämöisenkatu also had a meeting hall of its own. But it was not until 1956 that the first Kingdom Hall was built. Where? In Käpylä, then a suburb of Helsinki. The next hall was built two years later in Lahti. During the last 30 years, more than 180 Kingdom Halls have been constructed in Finland, and now there are very few congregations that do not meet in their own Kingdom Halls.

Vivian and Ann Mouritz arrived in Finland from Gilead School in November 1959 and were greeted by a cold winter and were ushered into an intense study of the language. A short time later, they served in the circuit and district work, until they were called to the branch office, where they served until 1981. Then they were transferred to their native country, Australia, where Brother Mouritz now serves as Branch Committee coordinator.

Arne and Gudrun Nielsen were assigned to Finland in 1959, and they worked in the branch until 1965, when they were transferred back to Denmark, where they still serve in that branch.

Branch Office Moves

By the middle of the 1950’s, the branch premises in Helsinki had become very cramped. Since it was not possible to enlarge the facilities, a suitable location was sought elsewhere. A site was found about ten miles [20 km] from the center of Helsinki at Vantaa. It had potential for future expansion, too, and was bought in 1957.

Toward the end of 1960, construction began on the new branch office that would have floor space of 29,000 square feet [2,700 sq m]. At the beginning of 1962, the Bethel family moved into its new premises, where the four-week courses of the Kingdom Ministry School for special pioneers and congregation overseers were held starting that same year. There seemed to be so much space in the branch that it was thought it would be sufficient till the end of this system of things. But that was not so.

Off to Copenhagen!

When the largest convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in history was held in New York, U.S., in 1958, only 263 Witnesses from Finland could attend. The stories told by those returning delegates and the showing of the Society’s movie about that convention aroused the Finnish brothers’ enthusiasm to meet foreign brothers. So their spirits were high when it was announced that an assembly would be held in the summer of 1961 in nearby Copenhagen, Denmark, for all publishers in Scandinavia. Until then, only a few brothers had ever crossed the borders of Finland. The branch office organized a travel department to take care of all the arrangements for the 4,000 travelers.

At the Copenhagen Sports Grounds, the program rang out in English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish. The convention was an unforgettable experience and helped the Finns to see and feel what it really means to be part of an international association of brothers.

The Special Work Camp at Karvia

Like the first-century Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses obey their Bible-trained consciences. After World War II, this neutral stand by male Witnesses caused quite a problem for the authorities. Starting in 1947, brothers were incarcerated for 240 days on an island in the Finnish Gulf close to Hanko, which served as a bastion for the army. In addition they were sentenced to a jail term of from three to six months.

In 1959 a law was passed that considerably lengthened the “period of service” for those objectors. The former temporary jail at Karvia was transformed into an infamous “special work camp.”

One objector, Jukka Ropponen, describes Karvia: “When I approached that place in the middle of the swamps in a police car, I could see behind a high barbed-wire fence wooden barracks that were built during the war. They had barred windows. It was a prison camp designed Nazi-style and was not an uplifting sight, particularly when you knew you would spend at least the next two years there. But inside we had cheerful brothers, eight to ten persons in a room. The toilet was a tub in a closet in one corner of the room.

“The daily program included spending one hour outdoors under the watchful eye of a guard. The rest of the time we spent behind bars. We had plenty of time on our hands, but a fine spiritual program that we had made up filled our days. We studied the Bible carefully verse by verse. Gradually, a good library was built up to help us in our study. We gave discourses on many Bible subjects. And under those conditions, the association with our brothers rounded off the sharp personality edges of each one of us.

“Field service was no big problem. We could not talk to anyone outside, but we wrote letters to people living in unassigned territory after we found their addresses in the telephone directory. Often we served as vacation [auxiliary] pioneers. Some in our group had not yet dedicated themselves to Jehovah, but when they progressed spiritually, they wanted to be baptized. But where could we find enough water to baptize them? That was a difficult problem.

“We asked the warden for permission to perform the baptism in a swamp pool nearby, but the answer was a stern no! Perhaps it was a good decision, since during winter the pool is frozen solid; hence the baptism would have been impossible anyway. One day a cupboard in the corner of the room caught my eye: There it was, a baptismal pool! Within a few days, a large plastic sheet was smuggled into our barracks. And without the guards noticing, our new baptismal pool lined with plastic was tugged to the washroom, where the baptism took place. During those prison years, quite a number of new ones were baptized in that pool.”

The Country’s President Visits the Work Camp

Although the first public reaction to the Witnesses’ refusal of military service was negative, feelings began to change by the middle of the 1960’s. People began to believe that long sentences under concentration camp conditions were inhuman. So in August 1968, Urho Kekkonen, then president of Finland, decided to pay a personal visit to the penal institution.

“It was a complete surprise,” recalls Reima Laine, who now serves as district overseer. “President Kekkonen spent many hours at the camp and wanted to interview us without anyone else present. He promised to do everything he could to get the law changed for the better.” This soon happened, and in 1969 the institution was done away with.

Exempt From Military Service

During the years following 1969, the young brothers were sentenced to jail for nine months, and while serving out their sentence, they built up a reputation for good conduct. Many citizens noticed and thought that to sentence peaceable young men, who were harmless to the community, to prison was a black spot on the reputation of their neutral and peace-loving Finland. Therefore, some notable and influential humanists presented ideas about the exemption of the Witnesses from military service.

In 1985 the government deemed it wise to adopt a new law. Hence, since 1987 all baptized and active Jehovah’s Witnesses are granted deferment​—three years at a time—​until they reach the age of 28 years. Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been exempt from military service in Finland during times of peace.

Freedom to Preach Put to the Test

Although the constitution of Finland assures freedom of religion, there have been efforts now and then to promulgate laws to hinder the door-to-door ministry. The courts, so far, have decided all cases in favor of the right to preach.

One city, Oulu, changed its ordinance to read: “Prohibition concerning the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been removed.” The reasons given were mentioned: “The work of ideological and religious organizations from house to house does not disturb domestic peace. On the contrary, from the standpoint of the population, it is a matter of beneficial and necessary communication that cannot be accomplished in any other way.”

National Borders Do Not Block Unity

Swedish brothers have helped to spread the truth in Finland. In recent years, Finns have, in turn, helped the evangelizing work in Sweden, where many Finns have moved. So Finnish-speaking congregations began to be formed in Sweden from 1972 onward. The growth among the Finnish population in Sweden has been vigorous, and today there are some 1,800 Finnish-speaking publishers in Sweden.

Since Scandinavian travelers are allowed to cross the borders between these countries without a passport, such freedom has proved beneficial when arranging for conventions. Because of the great distances that separate Finland from the other Scandinavian countries, large international conventions were not arranged in Finland until 1965, when a convention for Sweden and Finland together was held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. This was repeated in 1973. And in the years 1978 and 1983, the Exhibition Center of Helsinki was used for two international conventions. Those conventions widened the outlook of the Finnish brothers in a fine way and proved that national borders form no obstacle to Christian unity.

As for circuit assemblies, they used to be held in various school auditoriums. Contracting for school facilities became more difficult in the 1970’s. So in 1975 a decision was made to build an Assembly Hall of our own in the town of Hämeenlinna in southern Finland. A half-completed industrial building was bought and made into a convenient Assembly Hall with 1,200 seats. Assemblies started there in March 1978. Ten years later, in 1988, another hall was acquired, this one in northern Finland, and its first assembly was scheduled for November 1989.

The New World Translation and the Divine Name

The Finnish language first became a written language in the 16th century, and the “New Testament” was among the first books to be printed in Finnish, in 1542. Since then it has become a tradition among Finnish people to have the Bible in the home. In 1975, after great effort, the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was published in Finnish.

However, the New World Translation was not the first Finnish edition of the Bible to use Jehovah’s name. The very first Bible in Finnish had it in the marginal notes. Also, the index of the Old Church Bible of 1776 contained the divine name. Nonetheless, some priests had shown a strong prejudice against it by falsely asserting that the form “Jehovah” has been invented by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Therefore, imagine the shock to parishioners and priests alike when the word Jehova was discovered above the altar in a church at Kuhmoinen after paint was removed during renovations in 1985. Seeing the divine name was too much for the parish council. They decided to cover over the name again.

The name Jehovah was minted on Finnish coins in the first part of the 17th century. Some famous Finnish authors have also used Jehovah’s name in their writings. Quite interesting is the fact that God’s name in Hebrew letters is displayed in many of Finland’s most prominent churches. The most remarkable defenders of Jehovah’s name have, however, been his Witnesses.

Expansion of the Branch Facilities

The steady increase in the number of Kingdom proclaimers has made it necessary to expand the facilities of the branch office many times. For example, when ten years had passed after building the branch in 1962, additional space was sorely needed. The printing of magazines rose from 2.3 million annually to 3.7 million. The publishing of books increased from 40,000 yearly to over 200,000. Altogether, Finland has printed 562,000 copies of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life alone​—about one book for every third Finnish home. So in 1973 more space was added, 24,000 square feet [2,200 sq m], for the Shipping Department and for storage.

The Bethel family has grown from year to year, too, and so in 1977, 20 rooms were added to the living quarters. And then in the years 1984 through 1986, large extensions were again made to the factory and to the living quarters. A separate Kingdom Hall with 300 seats was also built.

New Technology Put to Use

In addition to the expansion of the branch facilities, a transformation has occurred in printing technology as well. “We took quite a step forward when we changed over from two-color letterpress printing to four-color offset printing,” recalls factory overseer Heikki Kankaanpää. “Friends in Finland are thankful to the Governing Body for granting us permission to buy the five-unit offset sheetfed press. Since the beginning of 1981, we have been able to print the magazines in four colors​—one of the first branches to do so. It has greatly increased the distribution of the magazines.”

“In the spring of 1985, we received the Watchtower-designed MEPS computer and phototypesetting system. The second five-unit sheetfed offset press, a German-made Miller-Johannisberg, was installed in 1988. It doubled our printing capacity.”

Expectations in This Land of Thousands of Lakes

Throughout the years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been busy preaching the good news of the Kingdom in Finland. Thus, the light of Bible truth has been shining brilliantly in this land of thousands of lakes. The ratio of publishers to population is one of the most favorable in all Europe. During recent years, the increase has not been the greatest, yet the number of publishers has grown steadily.

The standard of living in Finland has changed considerably for the better. Spiritually, however, the situation among the population has become worse in many ways. Interest in materialistic pursuits has crowded out many people’s love for neighbor and their interest in spiritual matters. Moral standards have dropped. Busy city life and the easy availability of worldly entertainment have generally undermined people’s reading habits.

Although the great majority of the people in Finland still belong to the Lutheran Church, it has been shaken recently by many crises. After a long battle within the church, women were accepted as priests in 1986. Many priests have publicly shown that they do not have genuine faith in the Bible, its doctrines, and its moral principles. Sincere people are shocked at these developments. On the other hand, Jehovah’s people have firmly upheld Christian principles, which causes them to stand out from other religions. Many people can see the difference. By studying the Word of God with Jehovah’s Witnesses, they will be helped to see the real light of truth.

Eight centuries ago, when the crusaders of old were sweeping through Finland, they certainly did not bring the good news of God’s Kingdom and the light of the Bible truth with them. In this 20th century, however, Jehovah has triumphed in having his prophecies fulfilled and his good news declared by his busy and energetic Witnesses. By more than 17,000 peaceful Kingdom publishers, the truth now radiates all over this land rimmed by thousands of islands and dotted with crystal-clear lakes and lush green forests.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on page 191]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Finland

Peak Publishers

20,000

17,303

13,426

10,620

8,290

4,354

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

Av. Pioneers

3,000

2,037

952

671

285

207

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

[Box/​Map on page 139]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

NORWAY

SWEDEN

Arctic Circle

Gulf of Bothnia

Ivalo

Sodankylä

Rovaniemi

Oulu

Iisalmi

Vaasa

Kuopio

Pori

Kuhmoinen

Tampere

Mäntyharju

Hämeenlinna

Lahti

Turku

Kotka

Vantaa

Helsinki

Hanko

SOVIET UNION

[Box]

Capital: Helsinki

Official Languages: Finnish and Swedish

Major Religion: Evangelical Lutheran

Population: 4,954,000

Branch Office: Vantaa

[Picture on page 141]

Emil Österman was the first Witness in Finland

[Picture on page 143]

Kaarlo Harteva, who gave the work a vigorous start

[Pictures on page 147]

The first branch office, Helsinki. “Saarnoja kansalle,” one of the first publications in Finnish

[Picture on page 150]

Joseph F. Rutherford in Kaisaniemi Park, where he gave his first outdoor public talk, in 1913

[Picture on page 154]

Eero Nironen, who served as a translator for some 60 years

[Picture on page 157]

Otto Mäkelä, who served in traveling work and in the branch office for many decades

[Picture on page 161]

William Dey, overseer of the Northern European Office

[Picture on page 164]

Brothers in field service with gramophones and megaphones

[Picture on page 170]

Kalle Salavaara learned the truth in a military hospital

[Picture on page 176]

An information march in Helsinki advertising a public talk, April 1945

[Picture on page 181]

N. H. Knorr and M. G. Henschel in 1955, one of many visits to encourage the brothers

[Pictures on page 185]

Finland branch office and view of Bethel lobby

[Picture on page 186]

Present Branch Committee, clockwise, H. Kankaanpää, V. Leinonen, E. Kankaanpää, K. Kangas, J. Ropponen

Suriname

Snakes and jaguars lurk in the mountainous rain forest that blankets most of Suriname​—the smallest country in South America, both in area and in population. And when it comes to the courage of the worshipers of Jehovah God, the country is second to none.

ON July 31, 1667, the ever-competing British and Dutch empires signed a peace agreement and swapped possessions: The Dutch handed New Amsterdam to the British, while the British ceded Suriname to the Dutch. Probably you are familiar with the British share of the exchange​—New Amsterdam, which they renamed New York. Still, what about Suriname?

Formerly named Dutch Guiana and later Surinam, it lies on South America’s northeastern coast, wedged between Guyana, Brazil, and French Guiana. Its tropical climate would remind you of Florida (U.S.A.), although it is somewhat smaller than that peninsula. But wait, if you love to swim in blue seas or relax on white beaches, Suriname may not be the place for you. In fact, the country’s muddy shore looks so unfriendly that early settlers called it the Wild Coast. If you are the adventurous type, however, pack your insect repellent, malaria pills, and mosquito net and come, explore the most luxuriant and mysterious of all natural worlds: the mighty rain forest.

Seen from an aircraft, the rain forest’s canopy forms a monotonous green carpet torn only by numerous rivers snaking northward to the Atlantic Ocean. Yet if you peek under that carpet, you find a habitat more diverse than anywhere else: the world of the elusive jaguar, splashy macaw, howling monkey, and king-size anaconda.

Diversity is also the earmark of Suriname’s human population. The original inhabitants were the Amerindians. Then came the black slaves from West Africa, brought in to work the coffee plantations. Later, runaway slaves, or Bush Negroes, formed tribes thinly spread throughout the thick rain forest, which covers 80 percent of Suriname. After that, East Indians and Indonesians arrived. Add to those the Chinese, Lebanese, Jews, and descendants of Dutch settlers, and you see why Suriname’s population of 400,000 people is sometimes called “the world in pocket-size.”

The equally diverse beliefs of the country’s Hindus, Muslims, Moravians (Protestants), Roman Catholics, animists, fetishists, and others have resulted in a religious patchwork. Add to this the variety of some ten languages, ranging from Dutch (the official language) to Sranan Tongo (the local tongue), and you can appreciate why the book Suriname​—Land of Seven Peoples notes that national unity still has “a long way to go.”

But shortly after the birth of this century, one more language​—the “pure language” of Bible truth—​entered Suriname and caused unity wherever it was learned. (Zeph. 3:9) However, spreading Bible truth into the towns, the rurals, and the rain forest required courage, endurance, sacrifices, and, most of all, Jehovah God’s backing. How did Jehovah’s servants succeed? We invite you to relive with us the highlights of nine decades of Kingdom preaching. So let us move back in time to the year 1903. The location, northwest Suriname.

The Truth Ferries In

The launch worked its way laboriously across the mouth of the Courantyne River, ferrying passengers from Guyana to the small town of Nieuw Nickerie in Suriname. One passenger, Mr. Herbonnet, a merchant in his mid-20’s, could hardly wait to go ashore and show his friends the books he had brought along.

His friends​—baker Marie Donk, grocer Alfred Buitenman, and shoemaker Julian Dikmoet—​were quickly fascinated by the simple explanations of Scriptural truths contained in the books. Before long, the four friends formed a Bible study group in the home of the baker, Marie Donk. There, they studied more publications by the author of the books, Charles T. Russell, the first president of the Watch Tower Society, from the United States.

Marie Donk, an eloquent Jewish man, took the lead and urged his customers to join the study group. Customer response was slow until the baker used the slogan that old Nickerians remember till this day: “Nyan brede sondro frede!” (Eat bread without fear!) “That meant,” explains 83-year-old Lien Buitenman, Alfred Buitenman’s daughter, “that people were handed bread for free after the meetings.”

It worked. Meeting attendance rose like freshly kneaded dough, that is, until baker Donk urged his audience to share with him in preaching in the rurals on Sundays. Then most meeting attenders quit.

Nevertheless, from 1910 till 1914, some faithful ones followed Brother Donk into a polder outside Nickerie, waded into the drainage canal of a cacao plantation, and were baptized. “Those baptisms drew hundreds of onlookers,” says James Brown, now 86 years old. He remembers watching spellbound as Brother Donk dipped a fully clothed new disciple under and cried out: “In the name of the Father.” Then he immersed the same person a second time and called, “In the name of the Son,” and again, a third time, “In the name of the Holy Ghost.” That done, the baptizer turned to the onlookers and cried out: “Come! Be baptized and stay alive!” Some came but mostly out of fear that the world would end in 1914. When 1914 came and went, a goodly number of them drifted away.

“God’s Kingdom Has Come”

However, about 1920, the Bible Students who pressed on received a boost when a brother from the United States arrived by boat and showed the Photo-Drama of Creation.

“It was the talk of the town,” relates James Brown. “I went early to the shed at the cacao plantation and sat in the front row. The place was packed with 500 people. The showing began. I’d never seen anything like it​—the slides, the movie, the music! One man stood up and said, ‘Tonight God’s Kingdom has come to Nickerie!’”

Now growth set in again, and during the early 1930’s, the brothers built a small place for meetings in Brother Donk’s yard. However, problems would test the Nickerie Congregation again.

A Modest Brother Steps Forward

In the mid-1930’s, it became known that Marie Donk was leading a life contrary to Scriptural morals. Yet he kept conducting the meetings. Who would correct the situation?

Alfred Buitenman, small in stature and soft-spoken, had discreetly supported the congregation financially since his baptism in 1903. “But during one meeting,” recalls Lien, “I was startled to see my father step forward, raise his voice, and announce that from now on the meeting place would be in the living room of our house.” Fortunately, most of the brothers supported this move, but some remained with baker Donk, and that group gradually dissolved.

Brother Buitenman then made contact with the Society’s headquarters in New York, received literature, and, from 1936 on, faithfully shepherded the congregation entrusted to him.

But, for the moment, let us shift our attention 150 miles [240 km] to the east and 25 years into the past. We have arrived in the capital, Paramaribo, in the year 1911.

A Poor Painter Sets an Example

During a call in Paramaribo’s harbor, pilgrims (as circuit overseers were then called) Blake and Powell from the United States met Frederic Braighwaight, a meek Barbados-born painter in his late 30’s. Frederic recognized the truth and interested his wife, Cleopatra, as well as one of his friends. He began conducting meetings in his tiny, wooden house.

Like the pilgrims, Frederic looked for ways to share Bible truths. Thus, on his job, he witnessed to carpenter Willem Telgt. The carpenter liked what he heard and, together with a friend of his, began attending the meetings of the “Earnest Bible Students,” increasing the number of students from three to five.

Brother Braighwaight appreciated those meetings. “Although he was poor,” Willem Telgt related some years ago, “Brother Braighwaight always wore a freshly pressed white suit for the meetings. Some days, when he could not afford to have a meal, you could hear his empty stomach rumbling, but nonetheless he conducted every meeting with the same enthusiasm.”

Spurred on by Brother Braighwaight’s example, Willem Telgt was baptized on February 19, 1919, and later played a prominent role in expanding Kingdom interests.

Going Public

During the 1920’s, the Bible Students were little known in the capital. That changed, however, in the mid-1930’s, when one of them, a Brother Graham, put a bench in front of a store opposite the bustling market. He would open his battered suitcase and display the Society’s colorfully bound books. Every weekday, this old English-speaking brother took up his post.

Shoppers often grouped around the suitcase, eager for a debate. “Brother Graham, though, kept his remarks brief, very brief,” related Leo Muijden, who died recently at 78 years of age. “One day, I saw a booklet in his suitcase with a picture of a young man running. I asked Brother Graham, ‘Where is he running to?’ The old brother looked up and said: ‘If you read it, you’ll find out.’ That was it. So I read Escape to the Kingdom and found out!”

The Kingdom Message Amplified

Besides learning of the Kingdom message through books, people in Paramaribo also heard it by means of records. How? On Sunday nights Cornelus Voigt, a store owner sympathetic toward the Witnesses, positioned his record player and powerful loudspeaker on the second floor of his house. “Then,” related Brother Telgt, “he played a recording of a Roman Catholic Mass, followed by religious music. After that, when enough people had gathered, he changed the record and turned the volume all the way up. Suddenly the voice of Joseph F. Rutherford, the Society’s second president, boomed into the audience and far beyond.”

On weekday evenings, though, Voigt never had to attract an audience but simply waited till his son, Louis, a well-known medical doctor, began his consultations in a clinic next to his house. As soon as the waiting room was full of patients, Voigt played his records. Recalls Helen Voigt, the doctor’s wife: “The patients had to listen to Brother Rutherford, whether they liked it or not.” Yes, through books and records, the Witnesses had now entered the public eye and ear.

One Becomes Three​—But No Increase

Since World War II was fought far beyond Suriname’s horizons, the brothers there did not suffer from the deadly winds of war. Nevertheless, the Paramaribo Congregation encountered some turbulence. What kind? Strife among the brothers.

“Around 1945,” says Leo Liefde, age 80 and a meeting attender since 1938, “the congregation had split into three different groups and met in three different locations, while all three called themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Moreover, when it was announced in 1946 that the Society’s third president, Nathan H. Knorr, would visit Suriname, “three groups were looking forward to receiving ‘their’ president,” fills in Brother Muijden. How would Brother Knorr react?

On Monday, April 1, 1946, Brother Knorr together with Frederick W. Franz, then the Society’s vice-president, arrived in Paramaribo. That same night, 39 brothers from all factions gathered on neutral ground, a schoolyard, to hear Brothers Franz and Knorr speak. Then, during question time, the brothers voiced their differing opinions. For a while the president listened, but then he had heard enough.

“Brother Knorr made it brief,” recalls Brother Muijden. “He said: ‘Who of you wants a missionary to come here?’ All of us raised our hands. ‘Fine,’ said Brother Knorr. ‘This month he will be here.’” True to his promise, on April 27, 1946, Gilead graduate Alvin Lindau did come.

A New Era Begins: Missionary Arrives

American Alvin Lindau, 26, moved in with Brother Baptista and began weaving the different factions into one group. One month later, Brother Lindau gladly reported: ‘The number of publishers reporting rose from 2 to 18.’ Brother Knorr, in turn, had good news for Suriname. He wrote that starting June 1, 1946, a branch office would be established. “I am sure,” added Brother Knorr, “that this is the time to push ahead with the work in Paramaribo.”

Appointed as branch overseer, Lindau set to work. First he moved the branch from Brother Baptista’s home to the second floor of a spacious two-story building at 50 Zwartenhovenbrug Street and converted the first floor into a Kingdom Hall. Then he started a weekly book study, Service Meeting, and Watchtower Study. After that, he taught the brothers how to conduct home Bible studies.

Next, Brother Lindau announced, “We go over to the offensive!” Recalls an old-timer: “He invited us to share in distributing the book Children from house to house. At first I was hesitant, but Brother Lindau told me: ‘You sink or swim.’ So I stuffed my bag with books and offered the new publication to people living around the hall. To my delight, my bag was empty in a short time.”

However, a few brothers who preferred giving talks above distributing books muttered, ‘We have nothing to do with the Watchtower Society. We believe in Pastor Russell.’ So they “sank.” Most of the brothers, though, supported the book campaign. But they felt the need of training. The following months would provide just that.

A Year of Progressive Education

In September 1946 the Theocratic Ministry School was introduced in the Paramaribo Congregation. That same month a public-speaking campaign began in the Kingdom Hall. Handbills caught the attention of the public​—including the police.

On the Wednesday before the first talk, the speaker was summoned to the police station. ‘Is this the first country in which the Watch Tower Society is active?’ the officers asked. When they learned that Suriname was actually one of the last places reached by the Society, they waived their objections. Public Meetings have been held ever since.

During the next month, October, the congregation welcomed Gilead graduates Max and Althea Garey as well as Phyllis and Vivian Goslin. By working side by side with the local brothers, the “five Americans from the Watchtower,” as the missionaries became known throughout the city, made sure that the publishers progressed.

By the end of 1946, the missionaries’ hard work and loving care had accomplished much: Preaching had increased, and divisions had given way to unity. But more progress was in store.

December brought the “Glad Nations Theocratic Assembly”​—a first. Fired up by the release of the book “Let God Be True,” 20 publishers needed only one hour to distribute 8,000 handbills advertising the public talk. Two hundred and thirteen attended​—an all-time peak!

During that same month, the brothers marched into the business streets holding The Watchtower and Awake! in front of them. Curious passersby grouped around the publishers. One man, riding a donkey cart, spotted a sister with the magazines and headed his cart right over to her corner. He wanted the magazines. That morning, 101 magazines were placed. Street witnessing was on its way!

Back to Square One

In 1948 the number of publishers rose to over a hundred. But then, as swiftly as darkness in the tropics overtakes daylight, decrease replaced increase. By March 1949 only 88 publishers were still active. Strife sprang up again. What was wrong?

One missionary revealed grave irregularities in the missionary home. Brothers N. H. Knorr and M. G. Henschel, from the headquarters staff, looked into the matter while they visited Suriname in April 1949. Later, John Hemmaway, then a missionary in Guyana, was sent to investigate the matter. His findings led to the departure of three missionaries, leaving the Gareys with a congregation of 59 publishers. The brothers were back to square one. The problem was how to get them moving again.

Max Garey was appointed as temporary branch overseer and proved to be a caring shepherd during a gloomy time. Pioneer Nellie van Maalsen, now 76 years of age, remembers: “Like many in the congregation, I was sad and confused those days, but,” she says warmly, “Max was a loving brother. He put you at ease. Even now, when I think of Brother and Sister Garey, I just get tears in my eyes.”

For three months Max Garey dressed the wounds, so to speak, of the reduced group. Then, in November 1949, J. Francis Coleman and S. “Burt” Simmonite, new Gilead graduates from Canada, arrived to assist the brothers to get back on their feet again.

Earlier, the branch and missionary home had been moved to cramped quarters at 80 Gemeenelands Road. So to accommodate the new arrivals, a second home was rented on Prinsen Street. Burt Simmonite, at age 27, was appointed as the new branch overseer.

On January 22, 1950, the brothers felt in a truly personal way the empathy of Jehovah’s organization. That day, Brother Knorr made a special trip to Suriname to encourage them. ‘Even though the people gossip and say bad things about Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ Brother Knorr told 75 brothers, ‘do not be disturbed by that. By the lives you lead and the message that you preach, you will be able to comfort those seeking truth. This we must do regardless of what other people have done or will do in the future.’

After three days of upbuilding association, Brother Knorr said good-bye to the brothers. Fortified, they pressed on.

On the Right Track Again

With the Paramaribo Congregation back on the right track, the missionaries now looked westward to Nickerie, where Brother Buitenman and five more publishers​—unswayed by the comings and goings in Paramaribo—​had been preaching the Kingdom message without letup since 1936. To assist Brother Buitenman, by then 71 years old, the Gareys moved to Nickerie. Later, the meeting place was changed from Brother Buitenman’s home to the missionary home on Gouverneur Street.

John and James Brown, dependable brothers then in their late 40’s, assisted Brother Garey and received thorough training in return. In time, on Wednesday nights under the light of a kerosene lamp, John and James were delivering open-air public talks in Nickerie and surrounding villages.

Then, their brother, Anton Brown, also accepted the truth, and the “Browns’ Church,” as the townspeople called the congregation, further stepped up its activities. By the time of the first circuit assembly held in Nickerie, February 1953, the number of publishers had tripled to 21. Obviously, the congregation was benefiting from the missionaries’ presence. But how were the other missionaries, Burt Simmonite and Francis Coleman, faring in Paramaribo?

Field Service Versus Medicine

Burt and Francis did their best to reactivate some of the old-time publishers but to no avail. Often these publishers dodged appointments made to go in field service by giving the standard answer: “Brother, I couldn’t come. I took medicine.”

Yes, because of all the intestinal parasites in the tropics, from time to time such an answer would be true. “But,” said Burt, “whether right or wrong, I came to the conclusion that there was a tremendous amount of medicine being swallowed in that small congregation.” But what to do about it?

Sister van Maalsen helped out. One day, after she did not come for field service, she said: “Brother, I must tell you the truth. I was just too tired.” Moved by her honesty, tall Burt bent down, gave her a little hug, and said: “Nellie, as far as I know, I think you are the first one to tell me the truth about this.” Burt figured that this remark would make the rounds among the publishers. “It must have done so,” he says, “for the amount of medicine taken seemed to decrease markedly.”

“My Boys”

Many in the congregation appreciated the hardworking missionaries. So it was not long before Burt and Francis had found a place in the publishers’ homes and hearts. Even today, if you mention Burt and Francis to old-timers, dim eyes twinkle, lined faces smile, and memories come back.

“Burt and Francis were like relatives. They were my boys,” says Oma (Grannie) de Vries, now 91 years old. From her rocking chair, she points to the second floor of the house next door. “There they lived. They were cheerful neighbors.”

“Whenever we heard Burt whistling, we knew he was going out in service,” begins Oma’s daughter Loes.

“And when Francis was playing his violin and somehow making music with two spoons, we knew he was relaxing,” adds daughter Hille. “But when we heard Burt belting out Kingdom Song 81, ‘Wake the Song of Kingdom Cheer!’ we knew he was taking a shower.”

“And,” chimes in Dette, another daughter, “when we smelled their food burning, we knew the boys were studying.” So Oma began providing take-out food for them. She laughs heartily and rounds the story off by adding: “I tied a pan of food to a broom and stuck it out of my second-floor window. Then Burt’s long arms reached out from next door and grabbed the pan, and dinner was ready!”

How sad the brothers were when Francis contracted the dread tropical disease filaria! Despite cases of fever and increasing swelling in his leg, Francis continued his missionary service for over two more years. Nevertheless the sickness finally forced him to return to Canada. Brother Coleman had been a strong support in the congregation. With his help the congregation’s spirit had improved notably, and the number of publishers rose to 83.

Memories of Cherished Workers

Because the number of publishers climbed, Burt Simmonite wrote to Brooklyn: “Would it not be great if we could pass the hundred mark this year!” And sure enough, April 1952 brought an increase of 30 percent​—109 publishers.

Meet two cherished workers of those days: Hendrik Kerk and William Jack. Hendrik, a big man with an appealing smile and friendly eyes, had been a gang leader who was better known to the police than to polite society. “Hendrik was a rough diamond,” remembers Burt. He accepted the truth, supported the congregation wholeheartedly, and later became the first local special pioneer.

Then there was William, a cheerful and tireless worker in his 70’s. He lived in a miserable hut, wore much-mended but clean clothes. He would spend hours in his dugout canoe witnessing to people living scattered along the riverbank. When he found interested people, his weak heart condition did not stop him from traveling long distances to visit them.

“One early morning,” reminisces Burt, “we paddled for hours upstream to visit an interested family. Finally we arrived, rested a bit, and began studying around six in the evening. First, Brother Jack studied the book, ‘The Truth Shall Make You Free.’ Then he switched to The Watchtower, and after that, while my head was nodding from drowsiness, he discussed a third publication. Because of the distance, he could only visit this family every second week, but he made the time count! Next day we paddled back. It was a happy time.”

The Branch Overseer’s Special Strategy

In December 1951 good news was announced: Four more missionaries, Shedrick and Wilma Poyner, Muriel Simmonite, and Connie McConnell, were assigned to Suriname. Soon, however, bad news arrived: The attorney general, influenced by Christendom’s colonial clergy, refused to give entrance permits to any of them.

The branch overseer, nevertheless, kept visiting him. The attorney general finally said: ‘Two missionaries may enter. You decide which two you want.’ Since the congregation needed another brother, Simmonite picked the Poyners. ‘Request granted.’ But the branch overseer was not about to drop the subject.

“I then mentioned that Muriel Simmonite was my sister,” relates Burt, “and that I hoped that he would not separate us by forbidding her entry.” The attorney general could not very well refuse that. Again, ‘Request granted.’ But there was no way to get permission for Connie McConnell. The score remained three out of four. Burt, though, did not lose heart yet. He just shifted strategies.

He explains: “Through my sister’s letters, sent to me while she served with Sister McConnell in Quebec, Canada, I had got to know quite a bit about that young woman. So later, when I met her at the 1953 assembly in New York, we became engaged, and she got permission to enter Suriname as my fiancée. There we married, and the final tally was four out of four, something that gave me no little satisfaction and all of us some good laughs.”

First Step Into the Rurals

Thus far, the brothers had concentrated on the towns of Paramaribo and Nickerie. In 1953, however, the truth entered the village of Meerzorg when Leo Tuart moved there.

Leo, then 40 years old, had been in contact with the truth since 1944. Short, lively, and topped with a perpetual brown felt hat, Leo worked as a stevedore in the harbor of Paramaribo and had an excellent reputation for honesty. Though well-thought-of in his village, Leo could still not make headway among the villagers as far as making disciples was concerned, that is, until the branch sent in the “shock troops”​—in the form of Hendrik Kerk.

In a short time, Hendrik and Leo contacted three men who accepted a Bible study. Moved by Jehovah’s spirit and guided by Hendrik’s thorough oversight, the three progressed to baptism. Together with Leo, they were welded into a harmonious team.

Teamwork was also the key to their next project: building a Kingdom Hall. None of them had money, but the three new brothers set aside portions of their fields, planted them with rice, and donated the proceeds of the harvest to the building project.

Brother Tuart, however, had no ground on which to plant rice. To contribute to the project, he borrowed 200 guilders from the bank, which he would pay back little by little from his meager earnings. Those four poor brothers reached their goal and built a fine Kingdom Hall.

Incidentally, halfway through their building project, these brothers stopped work to attend a special assembly in Paramaribo. On Monday evening, January 18, 1954, they were among the 159 present to listen to talks given by Brothers Knorr and Henschel.

“At the assembly Brother Knorr and Brother Henschel said they wanted to visit our new hall,” relives Brother Leo Tuart, now 77 years of age. “I was a bit nervous,” he says while adjusting his felt hat, “but that proved unnecessary. The two brothers commended us for our work. ‘Only,’ said Brother Knorr, ‘don’t cut that beautiful mango tree in front of the hall. It will give you shade and coolness.’ We took Brother Knorr’s advice, and that tree is still there, giving shade, coolness, and mangoes.”

Further Into the Rurals

To keep pace with the increase, the branch office was moved to a four-story house at Zwartenhovenbrug Street. A shoe shop, called Fathma, occupied the first floor. On the second floor were the Kingdom Hall and kitchen, the third floor served as the branch office and missionary home, and the top floor was used as the literature depot.

From this location, Muriel Simmonite, then 28 years old, made regular preaching trips to Onverdacht and Paranam, villages about 20 miles [30 km] south of Paramaribo. “Early in the morning, we got a free ride on a bus that brought laborers to a bauxite mine,” remembers Helen Voigt, who accompanied Muriel once a week. “Then we preached to people living near the mine, ate our sandwich at noon, preached more, and rode back with the workmen. Tired but satisfied, we reached home around six at night.”

In time Muriel contacted calm and slender Rudie Pater, who accepted the truth. But Rudie wanted to spread the truth farther and had the transportation​—a big Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

He recollects: “Muriel went to Paranam early and worked all day. Then, in the evening, I rode the Harley to Paranam and met Muriel, and we conducted more Bible studies. Close to midnight, Muriel jumped on the back of the Harley, and we roared home.”

A Wedding or a Car?

Response in those villages was so promising that later on Rudie thought about buying a car so that more publishers could come along. “I had some savings,” says Rudie, “but I needed that money to pay for the expenses of my upcoming wedding. I talked it over with Mary, my fiancée, who was also studying the Bible, and she agreed that we postpone the wedding. So I bought an English-made Hillman, and from then on five of us preached in the rurals.” The results? In 1954 there were group studies in Paranam, Onverdacht, and three more locations outside the city.

By the way, the wedding did take place. And today Brother and Sister Pater are much-appreciated publishers in Paramaribo.

Change in Oversight

By the end of 1954, several changes had taken place. Shedrick and Wilma Poyner, productive missionaries, had left the country. Max and Althea Garey had moved to Curaçao, where they worked ten more years as missionaries before returning to the United States. The first local special pioneers, Hendrik Kerk and Melie Dikmoet, daughter of shoemaker Julian Dikmoet, had been sent to new territories. And Burt Simmonite’s wife, Connie, was expecting a baby, necessitating the sending of another missionary who could in time relieve Brother Simmonite as branch overseer.

So in November 1954, Burt handed the country’s oversight to Dirk Stegenga, a timid Dutch missionary only 22 years of age. Needless to say, it took Brother Stegenga a while to get his bearings.

Breaking Into Missionary Life

“Two days after my arrival,” recollects Dirk, now 57 years old, “Burt and Connie left for circuit work, and Muriel was abroad. So there I was, jittery and alone in that big home.”

Then, about the time Dirk was dozing off, a piercing sound, eeeh, eeeh, ripped through his bedroom. A whistling steam train was rounding the curve next to the house. When the train picked up speed again, all street noise was drowned out by the engine’s shu, shu, shu. Greasy smoke and fiery sparks filled the street, the house, and his room. “Next,” continues Dirk, “I looked agape as dancing sparks landed on the 100-percent nylon shirts I had brought from New York and then burned right through them, leaving lots of holes in all my shirts. I felt miserable.”

The following days brought more heat, noise, smoke, sparks, and holes in his shirts. “Then, to make things worse,” adds Dirk, “I saw big rats scurrying through the kitchen. By that time I could not handle it anymore.” Fortunately, Helen Voigt took pity on the lonely missionary and made him feel welcome by providing meals for him. “Helen,” says Dirk gratefully, “was like a mother.”

However, after the other missionaries returned, Dirk was soon comfortable, and guided by Burt, he buckled down to work.

Some months later, Dirk and Burt turned their attention to a challenging territory: the untouched rain forest. ‘Could we get a foothold there?’ they wondered. To find out, in September 1955 they packed their bags, boarded the steam train, and rode into the thick forest. An exciting chapter in Kingdom preaching began.

Awake! Correspondents in Hostile Territory

So far, none of the rain forest’s inhabitants, Amerindians and Bush Negroes, had accepted the truth. A few Bush Negroes, though, first heard the Kingdom message in 1947 when talks were given in a soldiers’ barracks, where the Bush Negroes lodged while visiting the capital.

Also, in 1950, two brothers visited Gansé, a village of 1,300 Bush Negroes on the Suriname River. But the Moravian pastor there trumpeted, “Two false prophets selling books!” Then, just after the Witnesses placed four books at the hut of an elderly man, hundreds of incited church members chased the Witnesses back to the river. The brothers scrambled into their canoe and paddled away, barely escaping being lynched.

Now, five years later, that event was on the mind of both Burt and Dirk as the train chugged into Kabel. It was the last station, two hours’ paddling distance from their final destination, Gansé. How would they be treated this time? To prevent hostile reactions, the branch had written the village chief asking permission for two Awake! correspondents to visit Gansé to gather information for an article on Bush Negroes. The chieftain had replied that the correspondents were welcome.

That day, when Burt and Dirk arrived by canoe in Gansé, the chieftain and his assistants were on hand to meet them. “We were received like royals,” recounts Dirk. “They showed us our lodging place, one of the best houses in the village, then escorted us to the river and politely turned their backs toward us until we had finished bathing. After that, we socialized with them while Burt, who spoke Sranan Tongo, did most of the talking.”

The next day, while touring the village, the brothers cautiously witnessed to some villagers. A few days later, early Sunday morning, they departed for Kabel. There, they checked in at the guesthouse to wait for the next day’s train.a

Paddling After the Missionaries

However, some hours after the missionaries had left Gansé, an 18-year-old Bush Negro, Frederik Wachter, arrived there. Friends told him that there had been two tall, white men whom they believed to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. Frederik’s heart dropped. For a year he had looked for Witnesses, and now they had been here and left again! But when he heard that the missionaries would leave on the next day’s train, Frederik said, “I must catch up with them before the train leaves.” Would he make it?

Monday morning, when the missionaries woke up, they noticed a short, shy Bush Negro waiting outside. “Were you in my village to preach?” Frederik asked. “Yes,” answered the surprised missionaries. “Why do you ask?”

“I missed your visit, but I came to find out more about your teachings.” The missionaries sat down with Frederik and answered his questions about the Sabbath, baptism, the Kingdom, and more, but they were curious as to how this intelligent boy had learned about Jehovah in the first place. This was Frederik’s story:

In 1950, just before the two brothers had been driven out of Gansé, they had placed four books with Frederik’s uncle. Four years later Frederik found those books, read them, and learned about the true condition of the dead. From then on, he refused to follow his tribe’s superstitious ceremonies. He also left the Moravian Church and wished to meet Jehovah’s Witnesses one day.

This Monday morning, his wish came true. By now, though, the train was pulling in. The missionaries left after giving him the book “Let God Be True” and an invitation to visit the branch when he visited the capital. This Frederik promised to do.

The First Bush Negro Brother!

The next month, October, a barefoot young man knocked on the door of the missionary home. Dirk Stegenga recalls: “Frederik had read ‘Let God Be True,’ remembered every detail, and understood the truth. Every day for two weeks, he came to the missionary home and studied. Yet, he did not come to the meetings. We were puzzled.”

“One day, after inviting him again,” continues Dirk, “Frederik looked down and mumbled, ‘I have no shoes.’ He was embarrassed to come. Now, we did not want to make him a ‘rice Christian’ and give him shoes. Instead I said, ‘We will show a film, so it will be dark. No one will see you have no shoes.’ How happy we were that night to note Frederik in the audience!” And how pleased he was to learn from the film “The New World Society in Action” that thousands of Africans cheerfully served Jehovah​—without shoes!

After two weeks Frederik returned home with another wish: to attend the “Triumphant Kingdom” Assembly in December that year. He worked day after day to save money for the convention trip. He made it. On December 11 he was baptized. Oh, the joy that day to welcome our first Bush Negro brother! Today, Brother Wachter puts his excellent ability to remember Bible scriptures to good use as he serves as a special pioneer. “Frederik’s experience,” sums up Dirk, “reminded me that we are humble tools in Jehovah’s hand. After all, we did not find Frederik, but he found us.”

Society’s Film Influenced Government Decision

Earlier that year, the same film that helped Brother Wachter had been used in another way. How? Well, after the branch office learned that two new missionaries had been assigned to Suriname, entry permits were requested, but they were denied by the attorney general, a staunch Protestant. When the attorney general went on vacation, however, an interview was quickly arranged with the minister of justice and police, a Muslim. Could he be persuaded? Dirk relates:

“After listening to me, the minister pulled out a folder with underlined Watchtower magazines. He then read from one of the magazines that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not support the five-year plans of this world. ‘Suriname has a five-year plan,’ he said, ‘so we do not want a religion that is against our plan.’”

The branch overseer clarified our view toward obedience to governments, and the minister seemed satisfied. The real obstacle to getting the permits, though, was the clergy of Christendom. “Since the minister was a Muslim,” continues Dirk, “I told him that Christendom disliked us because we do not believe in the Trinity. Like Muslims, we believe in one true God. The minister found that interesting, became more sympathetic, and promised to help.”

Weeks passed but no word. Then Dr. Louis Voigt, who later became a Witness, proposed, “Since the minister and the substitute attorney general are my patients, I will invite them and their wives to my house. And you missionaries come also to show the Society’s film. Perhaps that will break down the prejudice.”

The government officials indeed watched the Society’s film and were impressed. “Two weeks later,” Dirk relates, “we got the permits.” Missionaries Willem “Wim” and Grietje “Gré” van Seijl were on their way.

A Chilly Welcome

On December 7, 1955, the attorney general, who by then was back from vacation and very angry, could hardly wait for the old freighter Cottica to dock. Then, as passengers Wim and Gré van Seijl disembarked, the attorney general summoned them to appear in front of him. “The attorney general looked at us as if we were criminals,” remembers Wim. “He declared, ‘You can work only in Paramaribo. If you evangelize one step outside the city, you’ll be expelled!’ Then he handed us a document stating these restrictions, and we were allowed to go. That was a hearty welcome,” quips Brother van Seijl.

However, the two missionaries proved to be a solid addition to the congregation. Indeed, before coming to Suriname, they had already built a fine record of service. Both learned the truth during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, were baptized in 1945, and later gained experience in circuit work.

With their extra help, the increase came. In February 1956 the branch wrote: “We split the congregation in two.” In April: “We made it! We had a 47-percent increase.” And in June: “We reached 200 publishers!” The branch concluded: “Prospects are bright!”

Meanwhile, Brother Simmonite’s family​—increased by baby Candy—​moved the following year to a coconut plantation in Coronie, to work as special pioneers. But later, in 1957, Burt’s failing health obliged them to return to Canada. During his eight-year stay in Suriname, he had given his heart and soul. With Jehovah’s blessing, Burt successfully shepherded the congregation from the instability of childhood, so to speak, to the dependability of a responsible youth. No small accomplishment! Today, the Simmonite family helps out in caring for the Kingdom interests in Guatemala.

An Act of Faith by a Needy Sister

In 1955, after a meeting in the dilapidated Kingdom Hall above the shoe shop, Stella Daulat walked home deep in thought. By the time she entered her small house surrounded by mango and star-apple trees, her mind was set. ‘I’ll offer my plot of land to the congregation so that it has a place to build a better hall.’ She talked it over with her mother, who also was a Witness, and both decided, ‘We give it for free.’ Since Stella had no place to go, she only asked if her house could be moved to the back of the lot. “No problem,” said the brothers. “We’ll move it.”

Sister Daulat’s property​—inherited from her great-grandmother, who received it in 1863 when emancipated from slavery—​provided her more than housing, however. Because she sold fruit from the trees, it also gave her a small source of income. Thus, giving up the property meant giving up her livelihood. “Stella’s decision,” admires one brother, “was an act of faith.”

The brothers gratefully accepted the gift but lacked the funds to build. Some months later, however, they had no choice but to build. Why? In December 1955, when over a hundred persons were sitting in the old Kingdom Hall, the building began to shake. The structure could no longer support that many people. “We worried,” remembers Wim van Seijl. “It felt as if the floor was about to give way and we would all land among the shoes downstairs!” At the end of the meeting, it was announced that those sitting in the first row could stand up and descend the stairs while all others remained seated. After that, the next row of brothers exited, and so on, until the hall was empty. “That day,” adds Wim, “we cut the knot and said, ‘Money or not, let’s build another hall.’”

A New Hall Heralds a New Era

Willem Telgt, baptized in 1919, supervised the project. “Don’t bother with taking out furniture,” he told Stella. “We move your house as it is.” Passersby gazed as the brothers lifted the fragile house onto tree trunks and rolled it to the back. “Can my window face the street?” asked Stella, “then I have a better view.” No problem. Her house was moved a quarter turn. Later, Stella entered the house, adjusted the pictures on the wall, put her chair in front of her window, and was ready to watch the construction crew at work. What did she see?

First, the brothers uprooted the trees. Next, they laid a foundation and built thick, solid concrete walls. Then the funds ran out. However, the Society helped out with a loan, and construction continued. Six months and 13,000 guilders ($7,000, U.S.) later, a hall with a seating capacity of 200 was completed. The dedication was set for January 13, 1957.

During the construction, many a publisher remarked, “This hall will serve us till Armageddon.” But after the dedication, they were no longer sure, for 899 persons showed up! The audience​—in the hall, on the windowsills, and outside—​enjoyed a program of talks and slides interspersed with an excellent performance by an all-Witness choir. When the happy brothers went home that night, they sensed a new era of expansion in Paramaribo.

A Snake Charmer as Neighbor

In due time the missionary home needed to be moved to better quarters. By now the home hosted not only rats but also snakes. How come? A witch doctor, who practiced demonism with the help of tapijtslangen (boa constrictors), lived with his snakes in the backyard of the missionary home. At times, the six-foot-long [2 m] boas escaped from their basket and slithered into the home’s bicycle shed. “When Gré and Muriel would get their bikes,” recounts Wim van Seijl, “they found themselves face-to-face with the boas dangling from the ceiling.” Adds Gré, “Those snakes even crept up the stairs toward the kitchen.”

No wonder the missionaries had no regrets when the branch and the missionary home moved to Paramaribo’s Weide Street.

A Good-Bye and a Bon Voyage

During 1958, after Muriel Simmonite left, the missionary family was reduced to four members. This dedicated worker had helped many people accept the truth. After she married missionary Walter Klinck, who was then branch overseer in Liberia, she endured much harsh treatment in that country because of the truth. Illness forced her and her husband to return to the United States. Today, Muriel accompanies her husband in the circuit work there.

Also in 1958, bon voyage was said to 25-year-old Max Rijts, the first local pioneer to attend Gilead School. Max, a thoughtful brother who learned the truth from Burt while working as a teacher in Coronie, attended Gilead’s 32nd class and returned to Suriname. Was there work waiting for him!

Rain Forest Dwellers Plead for Help

Fresh from Gilead, Max received a demanding assignment: Find interested persons living along the rivers in the rain forest. Some weeks after Max’s first trip, the branch received a letter from a Bush Negro village. ‘Thank you for making me happy by sending Brother Rijts to reveal to me the gospel,’ wrote a tribesman. ‘I try to preach the good news from house to house. I want to learn more about it and many others with me.’ The message was loud and clear: “We are willing, but we need help!”

The circuit came to the rescue and bought a small boat with a ten-horsepower outboard motor. A three-man crew sailed upstream on the Suriname River. The brothers had a twofold mission: Preach in all villages, and locate a place to station special pioneers.

After progressing some 70 miles [100 km] inland, the brothers were surprised to spot a village that was not shown on the map. They learned that 800 Bush Negroes, from every corner of the rain forest, had temporarily settled there to work on the construction of a hydroelectric plant and dam. The brothers realized that they had made a far-reaching discovery. This village, Suralcokondre, offered the astounding opportunity to preach to members of many different tribes​—Saramaccaners, Aucaners, Matuariers, Alukus, Paramaccaners, and Kwintis—​all in one place! Certainly, this was the place to send the special pioneers.

Two months later, the boat was back. The load of literature, bags of rice, cooking utensils, and hammocks showed that the crew, Max Rijts and Frederik Wachter, were planning to stay. And with no opposing village chief or clergy in sight, 20 Bush Negroes from different tribes soon were studying the Bible with the Gado Wortu sma (People of God’s Word), as the villagers called the brothers. Later, meetings were organized, and the following year Suralcokondre became the first congregation in the tropical rain forest.

Then, with the dam finished by the end of 1963, the Bush Negroes from Suralcokondre returned to their places of origin. However, 21 of them carried something precious with them: the accurate knowledge of Jehovah God. Thus, the truth filtered into several villages throughout the rain forest. “Discovering Suralcokondre,” concludes Brother Rijts, “was Jehovah’s guidance.”

“Jehovah Is Bringing Them In”

Jehovah’s guidance was likewise evident in what had occurred along another river, the Saramacca. One morning in late 1960, a God-fearing Bush Negro named Seedo paddled to church. Years before, he had turned away from animism, was baptized as a Moravian, and moved closer to this church to try to serve God better.

When approaching the church that morning, he heard a tumult. Then, in front of the church, he saw tables loaded with merchandise. He was in the middle of a church bazaar. Remembering the Bible account of Jesus’ driving the merchants from the temple, he wondered, ‘How then can it be that they have a market here?’ Disgusted, he turned around, paddled home, and told his wife, “I’ll never go back to church!”

Yet, his desire to serve God did not grow dim. So when an acquaintance told him about the Witnesses, his interest was immediately aroused. ‘Perhaps these are true Christians,’ he thought, and he decided to find out. In January 1961, Seedo, together with his friend, Baya Misdyan, traveled to the capital and walked into the soccer stadium, the convention site. Many a head turned.

“‘Bush Negroes!’ we blurted out when we saw them,” recalls Natalie Hoyt Stegenga, former missionary in Uruguay and now wife of Dirk. “It was a sensation.” At that time, the only Bush Negro brother was Frederik Wachter, and now, out of the blue, two more had arrived. Adds Sister Stegenga: “We missionaries said to each other, ‘Jehovah is bringing them in. They are coming!’” And indeed, Seedo and Baya were brought in. Upon learning Jehovah’s requirements, they legalized their marriages, were baptized, and became zealous preachers along the Saramacca River.

Meanwhile, other pioneers had also found interest, along the country’s easternmost river, the Maroni. Thus, by the early 1960’s, there was a foothold along three rivers. The groundwork was laid to forge ahead in the rain forest.

First Publication in Sranan Tongo

Many of the Bush Negroes who accepted the truth during those years remember Philie Slagtand. Philie had been a zealous political activist but became a Witness, and although suffering from filaria, which caused one of her legs to swell badly, she patiently translated the booklet “This Good News of the Kingdom” into Sranan Tongo​—the first publication of the Society in the local language. Later, Sister Slagtand translated more publications into Sranan Tongo. Eventually, her sickness led to the amputation of her leg and her moving back to the Netherlands. “Yet, whenever I travel to the Netherlands,” says one elder, “Bush Negro brothers hand me their letters to deliver to her. They have not forgotten the loving labors of their first translator.”

Reaching Thousands in the Rurals

In the early 1960’s, more instruments for Kingdom preaching were added. At the 1961 assembly, Milton G. Henschel released the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained in Dutch. Eight months later, all 3,800 copies had been placed.

During that same convention week, the nationwide radio Apinti interviewed Brother Henschel. After the interview, Brother Henschel asked permission for regular broadcasts. The station’s owner agreed, and ever since, nearly three decades, the weekly 15-minute program “Things People Are Thinking About” has been on the air, spreading Bible truth.

In addition to using the radio to broadcast the good news, the brothers showed the Society’s films widely, though this was quite an undertaking. “Somehow I strapped this Bell & Howell projector, cartons of reels, and a generator on my motorbike,” relates a pioneer, “and rode into the rurals. The films attracted the village folks by the hundreds and the mosquitoes by the thousands.” By 1961, 30,000 persons had heard the Kingdom message through these films. The topsoil of the rurals had been broken and seed sown, so to speak. Now it was time to send workers back to water the seed of truth. But who?

Willing Young Trailblazers

Anticipating the need for pioneers who would be willing to work in the rurals, Dirk Stegenga and Wim van Seijl gathered a dozen youths. Remembers Jusuf Sleman, then 20 years old: “Once a week, Dirk and Wim discussed Bible doctrines, field ministry objections, and problems we would face. After that training, we knew what was expected of us. We had to go out and blaze the trail.” And out they went, walking, busing, cycling, canoeing into their new assignments.

Paul Naarendorp, a capable brother then in his early 20’s, recalls how he traveled by motorbike. “I had a cot clasped between my legs and my suitcase, literature bag, and other belongings at the back. But when I got married in 1963, my freight doubled​—now it was two cots, a bigger suitcase, two witness bags, and, of course, my wife!” Yet, he adds: “Those were happy times.”

Hille de Vries, who was then 23, together with her 19-year-old sister, Loes, was sent to a village in northwest Suriname. “From our 45-guilder ($25, U.S.) monthly allowance, we rented a house for 15 guilders,” recalls Hille. “No running water, no electricity! We used ditchwater for bathing and rainwater for drinking.”

Loes remembers: “We had no money to buy enough kerosene, so we lighted the lamp only during meetings. The other nights we were in the dark. Yet, by trading food for literature, we always made ends meet. Despite the hardships, we were happy.”

“Are There Any Snakes Here?”

Visiting isolated publishers was one of the moving experiences these young pioneers had. Let us follow Paul Naarendorp as he traveled with Richenel Linger, a poor fisherman then in his 60’s, who lived in a hut near the Atlantic Coast.

Though normally alone, Brother Linger made a preaching trip each week. This time, Paul accompanied him. They started at three o’clock in the morning, paddled upstream for three hours to an Amerindian village, and preached for the whole day. By seven o’clock in the evening, they were back home. Two hours later, they had their first warm meal of the day, and how satisfying that was!

But Paul, the city boy, worried. “Are there any snakes here?” he asked. “Well, a few,” replied Brother Linger calmly, “mostly sakasnekis [tropical rattlesnakes].” Paul gasped, “That snake’s bite is deadly.” “Last week there was one,” Brother Linger continued while pointing to the thatched roof just above Paul’s head. “I was eating when I saw him. I said to myself, ‘Stay put, and I’ll teach you a lesson.’ After I finished eating and did the dishes, I killed him with a cutlass. He was that long,” he added, holding his hands four feet apart [1.2 m]. Paul gasped again.

Brother Linger, though, did not intend to scare his visitor. For him it was an ordinary fact of life. “That night,” recalls Paul, “I curled my feet under my body, pulled a blanket over my head, and prayed long to Jehovah before falling asleep.”

Yes, many of those young pioneers of the 1960’s matured through their experiences and are today pillars in the congregations.

An Eager Student Moves In

Another pioneer of that time, 19-year-old Cecyl Pinas, worked tirelessly in Wageningen, a settlement about 120 miles [190 km] west of the capital. There he met Adolf “Jef” Gefferie, a 21-year-old mechanic, who heard the truth and gulped it down.

Bible studies with Jef lasted three or four hours. After one study, Cecyl and his partner said, “Jef, we’re tired. We’re going home.” Jef said, “I’ll accompany you halfway.” The pioneers stopped halfway, but Jef kept asking Bible questions. The pioneers walked on with Jef trailing. At home the pioneers said, “Good night, Jef.” But Jef went on asking questions. “Listen, Jef,” said Cecyl, “you can ask more questions, but I’m going to bed. So if I don’t answer, I’m asleep.” ‘That was a good idea,’ Jef thought. He lay down on the floor, and the discussion continued till Cecyl was silent.

The next day Jef brought his belongings to the pioneers’ home. “Before we knew it,” laughs Cecyl, “he had moved in with us. We studied every free moment. In three months Jef was baptized, and two years later he became a special pioneer.”

From Dragline to New Kingdom Hall

Enthusiastic Jef, one of the three mechanics in Wageningen, pointed to a discarded dragline and proposed: “Let’s buy it, fix it, sell it, and use the funds for a Kingdom Hall.” The owners said, “That thing can’t be fixed. It’s a chunk of rust. Take it.”

After clearing away the man-high weeds, they found the wreck to be in several parts. Then the brothers purchased the missing parts and repaired the dragline bit by bit. After two years, the day arrived to try the engine. “We were anxious,” relates Jef. “One brother started up the engine, and it ran! We cheered. Then the dragline moved. More cheers. What a wonderful moment that was!”

The dragline was sold for 15,000 guilders ($8,300, U.S.). That money, supplemented by a loan, was used to construct a Kingdom Hall and a house for pioneers. So true worship got another base in the rurals.

Throughout the years several pioneers and missionaries have built on this foundation. Today, Gilead graduates Riaan and Martha du Raan from Namibia are appreciated workers in Wageningen.

In 1963 Brother Telgt again had a building project on his elderly hands: the construction of a branch office and missionary home in the capital. To familiarize the brothers with the new location, an assembly was held on the dirt site. Hundreds of human feet leveled the ground in preparation for construction. Later, a hundred volunteers, many of them retired craftsmen, followed and finished the building after a year and a half. It is a two-story building with office space, a Kingdom Hall, and rooms for missionaries. Since August 1964 this new facility on Wichersstraat has been the branch office location.

The Paradise Book Prepares the Way

The branch project done, the brothers concentrated on preaching along three rivers, the Saramacca, the Suriname, and the Tapanahoni. Nel Pinas, brother of Cecyl, and Baya Misdyan traveled to the Aucaner Bush Negroes along the faraway Tapanahoni River​—an area no Witness had visited so far. Yet, the Kingdom message had been heard there. The book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained had prepared the way. How could that be?

In 1959 Nel Pinas discussed the book’s pictures with Edwina Apason, an illiterate Aucaner woman whom he met in Albina, a village in northeast Suriname. Edwina loved what she learned but after seven months returned to the Tapanahoni. Contact was lost.

Eight years later, however, one week before Nel traveled to the Tapanahoni, he met Edwina in the capital. She told him that she had been preaching all that time among her tribe by using the pictures of the Paradise book. When she heard that Nel was leaving for the Tapanahoni, she begged him to look for two interested persons, Yabu, a young man, and Tyoni, a young woman.

A Heartwarming Response

Two days after reaching the Tapanahoni, the brothers found Yabu’s village, Yawsa, but he was out. The following evening, though, Yabu came to the brothers. He told them that he had broken with demonism and wanted to serve God. He took five days off from his job and studied with the brothers for eight hours each day. After those days, he wished to serve the true God, Jehovah.

Now the brothers searched for Tyoni, a 20-year-old Bush Negro girl who was already preaching in her village, Granbori, by showing the pictures in the Paradise book. However, her brother, a witch doctor, had taken the book away from her. Tyoni cried and prayed, “Jehovah, please, give me another Paradise book.” No wonder the two brothers felt impelled to find her!

One day Tyoni heard that Witnesses had arrived in a nearby village. Hurriedly she paddled to the village, but the brothers had left. How disappointing! Later, though, the brothers returned and studied with her for three days. She related that the times when she had nothing to eat, her relatives would offer her unbled wild meat. She always refused. Her father threatened to beat her if she would not quit her beliefs. Yet she said, “Even if they threaten to kill me, I will not give up.” And that from an illiterate girl who learned the truth only from pictures! Touched by her faith, the brothers gave her their last copy of the Paradise book. She hugged the book. Overwhelmed with joy, she thanked Jehovah for answering her prayer.

After two months the brothers returned to Paramaribo, but later Nel and his wife, Gerda, moved to the Tapanahoni to work as special pioneers, building on that foothold in the rain forest.

More Help From Gilead

Shortly thereafter, in 1968, Gilead graduates Roger and Gloria Verbrugge from Canada and Rolf and Margret Wiekhorst from Germany arrived, doubling the missionary family, from four to eight. The new missionaries’ warm personalities, combined with their sincere interest in the welfare of others, quickly endeared them to the local brothers.

Earlier, another Gilead graduate, Albert Suhr, had also arrived in Paramaribo. After graduating from Gilead’s 20th class in 1953, Albert worked for 13 years as a missionary in Curaçao until epilepsy forced him to leave and move in with relatives in Suriname. Disregarding his illness, he resumed pioneering until failing health required his moving into a home for the elderly. But Albert was not about to give up Kingdom preaching. Let us pay him a visit there.

In the morning he displays a supply of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in the recreation room. Then he writes out the daily text in big print for an 80-year-old neighbor with poor eyesight. Next, he delivers magazines to residents and nurses. At the end of the day, Albert settles down for personal study. “My failing health prevents me from doing more,” says Albert, now 68, “but serving Jehovah is still my heart’s desire.” Modestly he omits to mention, though, that in one recent month, he spent 126 hours in preaching. “Inconspicuous toilers like Albert,” says one missionary, “remind us of what faith is all about.”

The “Water Assembly”

For some years the number of publishers had fluctuated around the total of 500. But then the number grew to over 550. Why the increase? A branch report notes: “The ‘Peace on Earth’ International Assembly has had a telling effect on the work.”

That convention in 1970 is remembered as the “Water Assembly.” During the night of January 16, the rain fell as it had not since 1902, flooding Paramaribo and its stadium, the assembly site. “That morning, some publishers woke up and found their houses in knee-deep water,” recalls Gré van Seijl. “Yet they headed straight for the assembly.” Says one of the assembly’s organizers: “We were amazed to see over 1,200 persons wade through the muddy water into the stadium. We never had a crowd such as that before.”

Oh, Those Buses!

Floods occurred only occasionally, but bus breakdowns were a regular feature before and after assemblies. One Sunday in the late 1960’s, 48 persons were waiting for a 30-seat bus to take them back to Paramaribo, but the bus did not come. “We looked for the driver,” recalls Rolf Wiekhorst, “and found him in the midst of hundreds of parts of the bus’ engine scattered around him. ‘Trouble with the gearbox,’ said the driver, ‘but I’ll fix it.’”

Four hours later the journey began. A smell of burning soon filled the bus. “Only the fourth gear works,” explained the driver. Past midnight the bus rolled downhill to a tiny ferry, but how to get the bus uphill in fourth gear? “What a sight,” continues Rolf, “young, old, even mothers carrying babies, pushed the bus to the beat of a Kingdom song and a roaring engine. The bus inched uphill. We made it. At three o’clock that morning, we were home.”

Once, the Nickerie Congregation also rented a bus to travel to an assembly. At seven o’clock in the morning, the group left, but by ten o’clock the bus had broken down on a lonely dirt road. “I’ll be back,” promised the driver as he walked away. “We never saw him again,” says Max Rijts, one of the passengers. When food and water ran out, two brothers set out walking alongside a canal looking for help. Fifteen hours later they were back with a boat, and the trip continued. At noon they arrived at the assembly, a 150-mile [240 km] trip in 30 hours. “Oh, yes,” adds Max with a laugh, “the name written on the bus was ‘Welcome’!”

Determined to Stay

Since Natalie Stegenga was expecting a baby, the Stegengas left the missionary home in September 1970. Dirk Stegenga had been a diligent branch overseer for 16 years. Now the country’s oversight passed to missionary Wim van Seijl.

“Though we were determined to stay,” shares Dirk, “it was tough.” Adds Natalie, “We found a place to live but lacked the money to pay the rent. We did not own even a washcloth.” But, later, friends helped out, and Dirk found a job enabling him to care for his wife and daughter, Cheryl. Today, the Stegengas are still in Suriname, all three working as full-time ministers.

Migration Results in a Congregation and a School

In the early 1970’s, thousands of Bush Negroes migrated to the capital in search of employment. “Some of them,” remembers Margret Wiekhorst, “showed their longing for the truth by attending the Dutch meetings in our congregation, though they did not understand the language.” So, to help them, Frederik Wachter presented convention summaries in their tribal languages. Later, more meetings were organized, and in June 1971 the first Bush Negro congregation in the capital was formed.

Two Bush Negro sisters, who had recently learned to read and write, were appointed as special pioneers in this new congregation and helped several families to side with Jehovah. In turn, these new disciples wanted to learn to read. Thus, the congregation set up a reading school.

From 1975 the brochure Learn to Read and Write in Sranan Tongo has been used to teach several classes twice a week. “The students attend classes faithfully,” informs Elvira Pinas, one of the eight teachers, “because they crave to read the Bible personally. They also show endurance. One elderly sister attended classes for seven years, but now she can read.” Today, 20 percent of the population is illiterate, but thanks to our school, that rate has dropped to only 5 percent among baptized Witnesses.

A Collision of Beliefs

The reading school had another advantage. In 1974 Edwina Apason (the illiterate woman who learned the truth from the illustrations in the Paradise book) wrote: ‘To my joy I am assigned as a special pioneer along the Tapanahoni. When I left there, I could not read, but now I can. I feel better equipped to help my tribe.’

But Edwina’s return to her roots required courage. Why? People of her tribe live, eat, work, and sleep in dread of dead ancestors, and they value amulets for protection against evil spirits. They also revere nature, believing that rivers, trees, and stones are imbued with living spirits. “Any change from this way of living,” says Edwina, “causes a stir.”

Bible teachings and tribal beliefs first collided when Edwina was expecting her monthly period. You see, a villager believes that his amulet loses its power when it is near a menstruating woman and that an evil spirit can then strike the whole family with a deadly sickness. To prevent that, all women having their period must move into a hut away from the village. Since this belief is prompted by fear of demons, Edwina refused, and as she had predicted, this caused a stir.

She was threatened and clubbed but did not give in. Later, some of the women with whom she studied the Bible imitated her courageous stand, only to be repudiated and thrown out of their hut. Edwina took them in, and together this fearless band of women bore the tribe’s revenge but did not let up in preaching. In time an unlikely rescuer stepped in. Who was that?

A Cursed Man Gets God’s Approval

Earlier, Sister Apason had preached to Paitu, a witch doctor in his 70’s. He was nicknamed Amaka (Hammock) because the curse of a rival witch doctor had broken his health and confined him to his hammock. Paitu quickly understood the Bible message and one day, to the villagers’ alarm, lifted himself out of his hammock and gathered up his idols, amulets, and potions. Then he stepped into his canoe and dumped his magic paraphernalia into the river. Thereafter his health improved, and he stepped forward to defend the preachers.

First, Paitu built huts for the women who had lost theirs because of persecution. Next, he cleared some soil for farming so that the women had a livelihood. Now the women progressed swiftly and were baptized. Moved by the help she had received, one of them, Sister Dyari, exclaimed: “How to thank Jehovah? The only way is by pioneering!” And that she has done to this day. In 1975 Paitu was baptized, and that same year a congregation of 20 publishers was formed in Edwina’s village, Godo Olo. What a reward for those bearers of true worship!

Other Ethnic Groups Blend In

How far, though, had true worship penetrated into the Muslim and Hindu segments of Suriname’s population? Up until the early 1970’s, only a few had come forward. But in 1974 the branch office could finally report that some Muslims of Indonesian descent had responded. They were brave in doing so. Why?

“Many live in tight traditional families,” explain Jan and Joan Buis, Gilead graduates of Indonesian descent, who taught the truth to several Muslims. “Often they face persecution when they break from these traditions,” adds Jan. “Once I studied the Bible with a young Muslim man. His relatives, though, made me understand that I was not welcome by furiously sweeping the floor. Yet we studied in the dust cloud.” When that failed, relatives started angry arguments. When the man ignored that too, he was thrown out, expelled from the family. He moved outside the capital and continued his Bible study, and he and his wife became Witnesses.

“Years later,” recounts Jan, “this brother’s relatives noticed that he is the only one among them without marriage problems. And after he asked his mother to move in with him, the relatives’ view of the Witnesses changed for the better.” This brother’s courage prompted other Muslims to associate with us.

What About the Hindus?

East Indians today form the country’s largest ethnic group. Though their life is wrapped up in religious ceremonies, the Kingdom message has drawn a growing number of truth-loving Hindus to Jehovah’s organization. Shama Kalloe, a girl born in a Hindu family near the town of Nickerie, is a case in point.

Shama’s father, a hardworking rice farmer who deeply cared for all his 12 children, reminded her from youth to be faithful to Hinduism and to marry only another East Indian Hindu. “Whenever a youth in our area broke those rules,” discloses Shama, “Father tearfully repeated his wishes to me.” Since Shama loved her father, she was determined not to cause him grief.

In 1974, 19-year-old Shama moved to Paramaribo to attend a teacher training college. There, at her brother’s house, she found The Watchtower and Awake! The articles captured her interest but left her with questions too. “Therefore I begged God to bring me in contact with the people of these magazines,” continues Shama, “and the next day a Witness couple visited me.”

Missionaries Roger and Gloria Verbrugge began to study twice a week with her. “Before long,” relates Roger, “she attended the congregation meetings and began sharing in the field ministry. In September 1976 this zealous girl was baptized.”

After graduation, Shama got a teaching job in Nickerie and moved in with her parents. Though her father was worried about his daughter’s new faith, he was also proud of her position as a teacher. Shama, however, desired to preach full-time in her Hindu neighborhood. Yet, she did not want to hurt her father’s feelings. She found a solution.

To please her parents, she continued teaching school but pioneered after working hours. Within months she was conducting 18 Bible studies with Hindus, and her enthusiasm helped many of them to baptism. “At the same time,” adds Gloria, “Shama continued to treat her parents with love and complied with the customs of the family but took a firm stand when necessary.” Not long thereafter her love for Jehovah was put to the test.

‘Marry Only in the Lord’

By now Shama was in her mid-20’s. As most Hindu girls there marry between the ages of 15 and 19, and single women are rare, relatives arranged for suitors to drop by the house, but Shama refused to marry any of them. She begged Jehovah for help to withstand the pressure and to marry “only in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 7:39) To please her parents, though, she would try to marry an East Indian partner, but she vowed, “If there is not such a partner in Jehovah’s organization, I will remain single.”

At age 28, her faithfulness was rewarded. Shama met Alfons Koendjbiharie, a congregation elder of East Indian descent living in the Netherlands. They fell in love and decided to marry. Since her parents had never met Alfons, one day Shama read to her mother from the Bible Jehovah’s requirements for Christian elders. Her mother listened attentively and then said: “You will have a good husband.” Later, after a moving wedding talk in the home of Shama’s parents, her father, deeply touched, walked up to a missionary and said: “Your God has given me a son!”

Since 1984 Shama has served as a pioneer in the Netherlands, but her example in Suriname is still remembered. She helped to turn the tide, and ever since, former Hindus have flowed into the brotherhood.

A Novel Idea

By August 1974 this good response among different sections of the population had resulted in a peak of 831 publishers. Twice that number of people, though, were attending the assemblies. Where to hold assemblies to accommodate this growing group? Some brothers came up with a novel idea:

‘Build a Kingdom Hall that can double as an Assembly Hall platform.’ How? ‘Well, raise the floor of the Kingdom Hall about three feet [1 m] from the ground. Then, put two giant sliding doors in one of the sidewalls of the hall. Open these doors during assemblies, and the hall becomes a platform. Then, add a huge roof in front of this platform to protect people against sun and rain, and you have an Assembly Hall suitable for the tropics.’

A plot, 130 feet [40 m] by 660 feet [200 m] in size, was bought, and construction began. A year later, on November 28, 1976, this modest Assembly Hall was dedicated and has served the brothers well over the years.

Noah​—The Talk of the River

Along the Tapanahoni River, the increase in publishers had also led to a building project: making a korjaal (dugout canoe) big enough to bring the entire congregation to assemblies in the capital. “That project was a challenge,” relates Cecyl Pinas, who oversees the work in the interior. “A korjaal that size had never been made before. But Brother Paitu said: ‘We can do it.’”

Brother Paitu, an expert korjaal builder, selected a huge tree, and four brothers felled it in a day. Then they spent two months hollowing out the tree and fashioning it into a 59-foot [18 m] canoe, the biggest ever made there. Soon, this boat of the Witnesses became the talk of the river. Whenever it passed by, village children ran out shouting, “Noa e psa!” (Noah goes by!)

First Kingdom Hall in the Rain Forest

In September 1976 the new Godo Olo Congregation got another lift when four young Witnesses, professional teachers, settled along the Tapanahoni. “Although we went there to teach school,” explains Hartwich Tjon A San, one of the teachers, “chiefly we moved there to work with that new congregation.” And work they did! Patiently they taught their illiterate brothers to read and write, and after that they offered a willing hand with the congregation’s next plan of action: building a Kingdom Hall in Godo Olo.

Earlier, village chief Alufaisi had offered the brothers a plot on which to build a hall. The brothers had no money, so how would they go about it? They reasoned: “The forest gives wood. The river gives sand and gravel. And Jehovah gives us the strength to gather it.” All they lacked was cement. With this the canoe Noah helped out.

Because of Noah’s reputation for safe and convenient travel, government workers paid some 4,000 guilders ($2,200, U.S.) a year to rent the boat to take them to the coast. Those earnings bought the cement in the capital. But how to get the cement in Godo Olo? Again, Noah.

In Albina, Do Amedon, a tall, muscular Bush Negro and reputable helmsman, and other brothers loaded 40 110-pound [50 kg] bags of cement in the korjaal. Then they steered the deep-draft Noah up the Maroni and headed south for the sulas (rapids), which have names like Manbari (Men Scream [while passing through the rapid]) and Pulugudu (Lost Possessions [the rapids sank many a boat, and people lost their possessions]). Would they make it through?

The crew heard the roar of the first cataract! Ahead of them the river tumbled down a mass of rocks resembling a giant staircase, collided with huge stones blocking its path, squeezed through treacherous channels, and slammed against Noah. The brother standing at the bow scanned the wild river for openings. Then, he plunged his long stick into the churning water, arched his back, and punted Noah into a channel. He gestured. The engine stopped, and Noah was moored at the foot of the sula.

Do Amedon swung a bag of cement on his head. Jumping from one slippery rock to the next, he clambered across the rapids and lowered the bag to a dry spot. The other brothers followed. One by one, all the bags were carried across. Now the brothers carefully pulled Noah through the white water and then loaded the bags again. The journey resumed until the following sula, where the hoisting, jumping, pulling, and reloading activity was repeated. Finally, seven rapids and 11 days later, the cement reached Godo Olo.

Meanwhile, other brothers had cut trees, and the sisters and children had hauled 250 barrels of sand and gravel to the building site. Construction began, and one year later, April 15, 1979, the first Kingdom Hall in the rain forest was dedicated.

And what about Noah? “Usually a canoe lasts for about four years,” says Cecyl Pinas, “but Noah has been in use for some ten years.” Where is it now? “Retired,” smiles Cecyl, “though still used at times. It deserves another name​—Methuselah!”

A Downturn​—Why?

During the late 1970’s, the preaching activity in the country dropped. In 1977 a 1-percent decrease; in 1978 a 4-percent decrease; in 1980 a 7-percent decrease! Why? Mass migration.

When Suriname became an independent nation in November 1975, thousands of Surinamese emigrated to the Netherlands for fear of political disturbances. Other emigrants, notes sociologist J. Moerland in his book Suriname, ‘left in search of employment, education, or social security, or to reunite with family members.’ Those days, adds Moerland, ‘the question asked was not, “Are you leaving?” but, “When are you leaving?”’ By 1981, when the exodus came to a halt, nearly one out of three inhabitants had left. Today, 200,000 Surinamese live in the Netherlands​—among them hundreds of Witnesses, who continue to serve Jehovah in their new environment.

A New Impetus for the Witnesses

One arrangement that helped the work to pick up speed again was the forming of a Branch Committee in 1976. Branch servant Wim van Seijl became the Branch Committee coordinator and shares responsibility with committee members Cecyl and Nel Pinas and Dirk Stegenga. As elsewhere, this new arrangement has resulted in a more balanced direction of spiritual matters.

To maintain momentum, congregations throughout the country received ten more missionaries who arrived between 1974 and 1980. Two of them, Hans and Susie van Vuure, were not novices though. Both brought decades of experience. They were graduates of Gilead’s 21st and 16th classes respectively and had served as missionaries in the Indonesian archipelago.

Two months after arriving in Suriname, they were in the circuit work. “That assignment helped us to get to know the country and the brothers quickly,” explains Hans, age 60. Adds Susie: “I noticed how eagerly people accept our literature.” An example? “Yes, during our two and a half years in circuit work, the two of us placed some 4,000 books and 10,000 magazines. That shows,” says Susie, “there is still plenty of preaching work for us to do.”

Another “Door” in the Rain Forest Opens

Earlier, the government built a 220-mile-long [350 km] road into the remote rain forest of southwest Suriname. That road opened a door of activity into a brand-new territory as well: the Amerindian villages of Apoera and Washabo along the Courantyne River.

In 1977 Pepita Abernathy and Cecilia Keys, Witnesses from the United States, opened that door when they joined their husbands, employees of a construction company, to live in a work camp 30 miles [50 km] from Apoera. Later, two missionaries were sent to assist the sisters in contacting the Arawak Indians living there. Did they succeed?

Pepita relates: “We found scores of Bible studies. Later, Cecilia and I visited them twice a week. At four in the morning we got up, by seven we had our first Bible study, and around five in the afternoon we were home again.” For two years, these sisters zealously taught the English-speaking Amerindians but then had to leave the country. Now who would continue their work?

The Clergy Reacts

In September 1980 missionaries Herman and Kay van Selm steered their old Land-Rover into the jungle, headed for Apoera, and stayed for the next five years. “We inherited 30 Bible studies and found more,” recalls Kay. They were grouped into three book studies. Public talks drew 60 villagers, and the following year 169 attended the Memorial. Soon six persons were ready to go in field service and wrote letters to resign from their churches.

The clergy’s reaction? “How do they dare?” roared the priest, clenching the letters. “They even quote scriptures to me!” He declared war. The Bible students were threatened with losing their jobs and homes and were told to get their own school, clinic, and graveyard. The opposition shrank the number of studies. Meeting attendance dropped. At one meeting one person showed up but just to ask for an empty box. “We felt bad,” Kay recounts. “But we continued encouraging and preaching. To our delight a nucleus stood firm, were baptized, and formed the Apoera Congregation.”

“When Will You Visit Us?”

In 1982 some Amerindians from Orealla, a village in Guyana, paddled some eight hours up the Courantyne and asked the missionaries, “When will you visit us? We want to study the Bible.” By the time the Apoera group could stand on its own, the missionaries were making monthly trips to Orealla and learned that some villagers had been waiting a long time for the Witnesses. “One morning,” relates Herman, “I met an elderly hunter who said that he used to read Consolation but later lost contact with the Society. Then, while pointing to his radio, he said: ‘I heard about your radio station in New York, but, you know, I can’t get it on my radio.’ When I said that WBBR ceased broadcasting in the 1950’s, he shook his head in disbelief. He then laughed and said that it was high time to do some catching up and accepted a Bible study.”

Observing in Orealla how studying the Bible helped heavy drinkers to become caring fathers was rewarding. After a 50-year-old man was shown how to conduct a family study, he gave it a try, though it went a bit jerkily. “Read!” he commanded. Then he asked a question. Silence. “Talk now! Don’t play shy.” By then, his children’s eyes were full of tears. In time, though, the study method improved. Later the children were seen running home. Why the hurry? “Family study!” they smiled.

Some time after that, the brothers received a plot of land in Orealla, and Gilead graduate Jethro Rübenhagen (now serving in Apoera) helped the local brothers to build their own Kingdom Hall​—a sign that yet another national group, the Amerindians, had begun to learn the unifying “pure language.”​—Zeph. 3:9.

Increase Among English-Speaking Population

In the 1970’s, a growing number of English-speaking guest workers from Guyana settled in Nickerie. So two missionaries were sent there to start English meetings. These guest workers responded. Today, there is a congregation of 30 publishers.

Some of these new publishers had longed for the truth for years. Twelve-year-old Indradevi, for instance, received the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained from a neighbor in Guyana. She treasured it. Later she married and moved to Klein Henar, a rice polder near Nickerie. In 1982 Hans van Vuure met her. “Amid her few belongings,” recounts Hans, “I saw a worn-out Paradise book. Indradevi said that ever since she got the book in 1962, she had always carried it with her. She longed to learn more about Jehovah. After 20 years her wish came true!” She studied, removed her pictures of Hindu gods, and was baptized.

Similar response among Guyanese was found in Paramaribo. A small group was formed there in 1980. There were 20 publishers in 1982, and four years later that number increased to 90, and meeting attendance today shows prospects of more increase.

“Over 150 persons attend meetings, though for some that requires sacrifices,” says missionary Paul van de Reep of the English congregation. For example, one family with little income leave home at eight in the morning, walk a good distance, wait for over an hour for a bus, and then attend the meeting. They are home again by two in the afternoon. “Each week,” adds Paul, “they spend one day’s wages for bus fare to attend meetings.”

Today, some 150 English-speaking Witnesses form one of the three language groups unitedly worshiping Jehovah in Paramaribo.

Shocked Into Reality

On February 25, 1980, stunned inhabitants of Paramaribo woke up to the sounds of gunfire. A group of corporals had toppled the government. This first-ever coup d’état shook many a complacent Surinamese. As the country had never been war-stricken, plague-infested, or hurricane-swept, people often said: “Suriname is a God-blessed land.” But since 1980, with economic hardship on the rise, many now admit that the fulfillment of Bible prophecies is taking place right on their doorstep.

Political disturbances in 1982 led to the suspension of foreign aid, crippling the country’s economy. Food prices shot up, and poverty set in. “Since then,” reports an elder in Paramaribo, “many of our Bush Negro brothers have a tough time housing, clothing, and feeding their ten or more children, with wages equivalent to only 200 U.S. dollars a month.”

Still, economic hardships have not slowed down the brothers. On the contrary, in one materially impoverished congregation, 106 of the 171 publishers recently served as auxiliary pioneers! And nation wide the number of publishers rose to over 1,200 in 1986.

Literature placements kept increasing too. Ask Leo Tuart. For 46 years he has transported literature from the harbor to the branch office. “Years ago,” recalls Brother Tuart, “we got a dozen cartons a month. I rented a donkey cart for 75 cents and brought all the cartons to the branch. But now,” he beams, “we get a hundred cartons every two weeks, and I have to rent a truck to deliver them.” Today, during any given month, over 32,000 Watchtower and Awake! magazines are placed in Suriname​—one magazine for every 13 inhabitants!

But others besides Leo Tuart noticed the growing activity. Recently a clergyman called the branch office and told a missionary that he had urged his flock to have zeal like Jehovah’s Witnesses. “But no response,” lamented the clergyman, asking, “What is your secret?” The brother replied: “Holy spirit.”

Through the Thick of Fighting

Halfway into 1986, guerrilla warfare broke out. A few months later, with the fighting between troops and so-called jungle commandos (mostly Bush Negroes) centered around Albina, a village on the Maroni River, the Bush Negro brothers living in southeast Suriname had to decide if they would go to the convention in Paramaribo. “They knew that going meant traveling through the thick of fighting,” explains Cecyl, “but they did not want to miss the convention and decided to go.” Ten days before the convention, 60 brothers, sisters, and children canoed downstream toward the battle area. On Friday they reached Albina, tied their hammocks in the Kingdom Hall, and slept there.

Before dawn, the streets of Albina echoed with the rattle of gunfire. Jungle commandos swept through the village, troops struck back, and bullets ricocheted off the roof of the hall. The Witnesses scrambled for cover and lay flat the rest of the day.

That night, one of them managed to call the branch office. “Come and pick us up,” he pleaded. Sunday afternoon, three elders were on their way. About 11 o’clock at night, they reached the stranded brothers.

The elders wanted to return the next day, but the Bush Negro brothers urged, “Let’s leave now. The shooting may start again.” The elders prayed for Jehovah’s direction and after midnight, three overloaded cars slowly headed for the capital.

“The road was deserted,” remembers Paul Naarendorp, one of the drivers. “As we approached a military checkpoint, my heart beat faster. Imagine, the army was fighting the jungle commandos, and now a convoy carrying 60 Bush Negroes, many of them young, strong men, popped up in front of them.” Would they be mistaken for jungle commandos?

From behind a pillar, a soldier signaled the convoy to stop. “We looked right into the barrel of a tank,” Paul goes on, “and were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. One unexpected move could trigger gunfire. However, after we explained we were Witnesses, the soldiers checked the cars and let us go.”

When the brothers reached Paramaribo, they heard that fighting had flared up in Albina again. They had left in time.

But Now Going Back

After the convention the brothers learned that the army had closed the only road to Albina. So the Bush Negro brothers were stuck again. They waited for two weeks but by then were so homesick for the rain forest that they entreated, “Take us to the river. From there we’ll get home.”

A plan was made, and Jehovah’s direction was asked. First the ten helmsmen and some elders from Paramaribo would try to reach Albina. “I can’t explain why, but although the military saw us,” relates an elder, “they did not turn us back.” When the Bush Negro brothers finally saw the Maroni River, they danced with joy.

The next day, the sisters and children left and were also allowed to pass the checkpoint, while others were stopped. At the river, the helmsmen were waiting with the boats. What a reunion!

One more trip was planned. Two trucks were loaded with 96 bags of rice, 16 barrels of gasoline, 7 barrels of kerosene, and foodstuffs, and again the brothers drove to the checkpoint. Though these supplies were trucked into territory held by jungle commandos, and no goods were allowed to go there, the guards let the trucks pass. “A miracle,” says one brother. “Jehovah’s hand was evident.”

One week later, the 60 brothers and all supplies reached home. They had spent five weeks to attend a three-day convention. Some weeks later, the army cut off all supplies for the interior, and grave food shortages occurred. But the brothers who attended the convention had food for months to come and gasoline for preaching trips. “Looking back,” says Cecyl, “I see how Jehovah directed us to make the right decision at the right time.”

Running for Their Lives

The following year, fighting shifted to Moengo, a mining town east of Paramaribo. Troops moved in but ran into fierce resistance. Bullets ripped through town, houses went up in flames, and people ran for their lives.

Most of the brothers there slipped into the rain forest and ran for safety. Some reached Paramaribo, while others paddled toward the Maroni River, the border with French Guiana. They crossed the three-mile-wide [5 km] river and entered French Guiana. Some 50 Witnesses crossed that border and saved their lives.

Witnesses in French Guiana immediately provided food, clothing, sheets, blankets, and medicine for them. The branch office in Martinique also dispatched help, and a special fund was set up to assist the refugees. “Authorities in the refugee camps were perplexed by how speedily our organization sent relief aid,” says Cecyl Pinas. “They said, ‘You’re not talking but acting.’”

The Helmsman-Shepherd

During these turbulent years, Do Amedon, the helmsman who steered Noah through the rapids, proved to be a capable shepherd. Do, an Aucaner Bush Negro who left Paramaribo in 1974 to work as a special pioneer among his tribe, cares for people, understands their problems, and is a capable organizer. In fact his Bible-based advice is so appreciated that his tribesmen call him “Pappie” (Dad), though he is now only 40 years old.

First, Do helped the brothers along the Tapanahoni River. Then, in the mid-1980’s, he and other pioneers moved to the Maroni River. Response was overwhelming, but the Bush Negroes there were so scattered that it was impossible to reach all of them. However, in 1985 the problem was solved. How?

That year the Governing Body approved an increase in the gasoline allowance for special pioneers in the rain forest. With extra fuel for the outboard motors, the pioneers now steered their canoes from one settlement to the next and found waves of interest. In 1985 a new congregation of some 30 publishers was formed in the village of Gakaba. Some months later, that number increased to 50, and some 20 of these publishers began to pioneer. Before long, Do Amedon was hauling bags of cement through the rapids again. A second Kingdom Hall appeared in the rain forest!

A Tenfold Increase

“A group of young brothers completed a 200-seat hall on a scenic island in the Maroni,” reports Branch Committee coordinator Wim van Seijl, who recently visited the area. “They next volunteered to sail into the Lawa, a river where we had never preached before. There, among the Aluku Bush Negroes, the truth is also spreading.”

Despite the civil war, the Kingdom message has filtered deeper into the rain forest. The 20 Bush Negro brothers who worked along the Tapanahoni River ten years ago have increased to 200 publishers today, organized into four congregations along the rivers in eastern Suriname. A tenfold increase!

Similar increase was evident in other parts of the country too. Many congregations reported meeting attendance of double the number of publishers, making Kingdom Halls too small to handle the crowd. Thus, early in 1987, the Governing Body gave the branch the green light to build a large 110-foot [34 m] by 200-foot [60 m] Assembly Hall and four Kingdom Halls. It was a timely decision.

“Shortly after we bought cement,” recounts Henk Panman, then caretaker of the Assembly Hall, “the country ran out of cement. Construction sites folded, but we worked right through.” Later, the Netherlands branch helped out by sending four containers of building materials. The construction crew and hundreds of volunteers worked for a year and a half and completed four attractive new meeting places.

Talk about building, do you remember Stella Daulat, who donated her property in 1955? After her house was moved, she lived there contentedly. Recently, however, the congregation surprised her by announcing at a meeting, “We are going to build a new house for Sister Daulat.” Next to her old house, the brothers built a roomy brick house and presented it to 78-year-old Stella. Says a teary-eyed Stella, “What a gift from Jehovah!”

Jehovah Will Not Forget Their Work

Like Stella, hundreds in Suriname have experienced Jehovah’s blessings. Regrettably, lack of space prevents mentioning all those faithful ones, but their day-to-day endurance in Jehovah’s service is not overlooked by Jehovah, who will not ‘forget their work and the love shown for his name.’​—Heb. 6:10.

During the last four decades, 41 missionaries have worked shoulder to shoulder with the local brothers, and many are remembered for their zeal. Today, the 18 remaining Gilead graduates are still valued workers in congregations throughout the country.

We thank Jehovah for raising up 1,466 publishers (two thirds of whom speak Dutch, one fourth Sranan Tongo, and the rest English), all of whom have mastered the pure language of truth as well. Yet, the ingathering is not over, for 4,443 persons attended the 1989 Memorial​—more than three times the number of publishers!

This influx of Witnesses requires another building project​—a new branch office. So plans have been made to buy seven and a half acres [3 ha] of land in a suburb of Paramaribo. With these new branch facilities, the branch office will be better equipped to care for all who are responding to the invitation, sounding ever louder: “‘Come!’ And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” May God continue to bless our labors as worldwide we obey the divine command: “Be of good courage and say: ‘Jehovah is my helper.’”​—Rev. 22:17; Heb. 13:6.

[Footnotes]

[Chart on page 252]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Suriname

Peak Publishers

2,000

1,440

810

561

361

67

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

Av. Pioneers

400

235

63

54

41

10

1950 1960 1970 1980 1989

[Box/​Map on page 192]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Caribbean Sea

Courantyne River

GUYANA

SURINAME

Nieuw Nickerie

Paramaribo

Wageningen

Meerzorg

Moengo

Onverdacht

Paranam

Albina

Orealla

Saramacca River

Maroni River

Granbori

Tapanahoni River

BRAZIL

FRENCH GUIANA

[Box]

Capital: Paramaribo

Official Language: Dutch

Major Religion: Hinduism

Population: 400,000

Branch Office: Paramaribo

[Picture on page 194]

Alfred Buitenman faithfully served Jehovah for more than 60 years

[Picture on page 197]

Lien Buitenman and James Brown vividly remember seeing the “Photo-Drama of Creation” around 1920

[Picture on page 199]

Willem Telgt, baptized in 1919, later became the country’s Kingdom Hall builder

[Picture on page 207]

Grannie de Vries took care of her missionary “boys”

[Picture on page 215]

Frederik Wachter was the first Bush Negro to become a Witness

[Picture on page 218]

Stella Daulat donated her land to build the first Kingdom Hall in the capital city

[Picture on page 230]

Albert Suhr, a graduate of Gilead’s 20th class, witnessing in a home for the elderly

[Picture on page 241]

Members of the Branch Committee: C. Pinas, W. van Seijl, N. Pinas, and D. Stegenga

[Picture on page 246]

Leo Tuart has been a Witness for nearly half a century

[Picture on page 251]

Present branch office at 8-10 Wichersstraat

Bearing Fruit With Endurance

This world offers little, if any, good news. Yet Jehovah has purposed that at this time good news concerning events of universal interest must be made known. According to Revelation 14:6, everlasting good news is to go out to “every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” As the one chiefly responsible for the contents of this good news, Jehovah is doing his part. We know that Christ Jesus and the holy angels are doing their part. And as shown in this world report, we here on earth, as members either of the remnant of anointed ones or of the great crowd, are doing our part in spreading this good news, which includes the command emphasized as our yeartext for 1989, “Fear God and give him glory.”​—Rev. 14:7.

It is well documented that on a global scale, we, as Jehovah’s Witnesses, are doing this unitedly, and as a result of God’s blessing, our efforts are bearing fruit. To glorify God by our productive spiritual activity is a unique privilege. We should not take it for granted, since one must be proved by God as fit to be entrusted with the good news. (1 Thess. 2:4) The apostle Paul at 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 also reminds us that we are sent by God in company with Christ to diffuse life-giving knowledge in every place. Maintaining our spiritual fitness for God’s service in order to be adequately qualified for this privilege brings many benefits.

Each year tens of thousands are baptized as all sorts of men come to an accurate knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4) Just this past year, 263,855 were baptized in symbol of their dedication. This put a greater responsibility upon everyone to care for these sheep. Moreover, more congregations, or centers of pure worship, were established. There are now 60,192 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the world. This is 2,522 more than the previous year.

Millions now realize that real benefits are found, not in gaining what the world offers, but in having a close relationship with Jehovah, as a disciple of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 16:26) By obeying and fearing God, we are benefiting ourselves, finding refreshment for our souls. (Isa. 48:17, 18; Matt. 11:28-30) Being fruitful ministers of the good news is a delight. God’s commandments are certainly not burdensome.​—1 John 5:3.

However, the wicked world under the Devil’s influence causes many problems. Jesus warned that this would be so. (John 16:33) Hence, spreading the truth is not always easy. Bible truth is not popular with those who have no godly fear. As foretold, “critical times hard to deal with” are here. (2 Tim. 3:1, 12, 13) This helps to explain why all of us have tests and trials of one kind or another.

This past year outright opposition and extreme persecution flared up in Burundi and Rwanda, as it has previously elsewhere in Africa. In other places, brothers suffered imprisonment and harassment. In 36 lands, despite bans they spread the good news, and it bore fruit. And what about those living in divided households? Many are abused or ridiculed by opposed family members or unbelieving marriage partners. In affluent countries, brothers come under subtle pressures from things in the world and from materialistic influences. (1 John 2:15-17) All of this has called for endurance.

Because Jehovah’s Witnesses endure and serve, even under difficult circumstances, the work moves ahead. Clearly this report proves that we do not give up, no matter what trials befall us! We truly are thankful to be among the ones who, “after hearing the word with a fine and good heart, retain it and bear fruit with endurance”!​—Luke 8:15.

How many brothers can you think of who have endured faithfully in serving God? There are literally thousands of them. They have not missed out on the rewards Jehovah promised. (Heb. 6:10-12) Certainly Jehovah will remember them, for they seek to endure in work that is good. (Rom. 2:6, 7) Their fine example serves as an encouragement to us. May we too keep on enduring trial, knowing that Jehovah has promised the crown of life to those who continue loving him. (Jas. 1:12) But even before gaining that prize, what rich blessings are being poured out for us now! The godly quality of endurance enables us to accomplish our ministry from day to day and year to year. Nothing can compare with our delight in doing God’s will now and having a bright, sure hope for the future. That is how the apostle Paul felt about it, and for this reason he encouraged Christians not to give up in doing what is fine.​—Gal. 6:9.

Our brothers who attended the conventions in Poland in August this past service year experienced a blessing beyond measure. (Mal. 3:10) For years, thousands in Eastern Europe had not had the opportunity to attend conventions in their own lands. Are they disappointed that they have not had advantages like those enjoyed by brothers in more favorable circumstances? Not at all! In fact, Jehovah made up for their not having certain privileges to which others are regularly accustomed. What has been worked out in their case? Paul expressed it well when he wrote: “Let us exult while in tribulations, since we know that tribulation produces endurance; endurance, in turn, an approved condition; the approved condition, in turn, hope, and the hope does not lead to disappointment.” (Rom. 5:3-5) Yes, the outcome of their endurance is divine approval and the fulfillment of their hope as they continue to be active and fruitful ministers.​—2 Pet. 1:5-8.

Truly, we have every reason to rejoice, yes, to exult in what Jehovah has done and is doing for his people. As demonstrated so powerfully at the “Godly Devotion” District Conventions, the oneness and unity of Jehovah’s people shows that they have his spirit. The anointed remnant are in union with Christ Jesus, the true vine. With an increasing great crowd today giving support, all of us can thus bear much fruit under the arrangement of the Great Cultivator, Jehovah. May we ever stay close to Jehovah and his Son, for apart from them we can do nothing at all.​—John 15:1-5.

As we serve together during this new service year, surely Jehovah will help us to keep on bearing fruit with endurance. Let us “be of good courage and say: ‘Jehovah is my helper.’”​—Heb. 13:6.

Your brothers,

GOVERNING BODY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES