Gathering the Sheep in Far-off Burma
JESUS CHRIST referred to himself as the Right Shepherd and likened his followers to sheep. He said that his sheep would recognize his voice and come to him. Many sheeplike persons today are indeed recognizing his voice. A striking example of this is seen in the following report from Burma:
“A Burmese villager came to live in the capital, the city of Rangoon. After a few years he came in touch with Jehovah’s witnesses, with the result that he himself became a dedicated witness. Appreciating his privileges, he began writing letters to his relatives living in his native village telling them all about what he had learned. Then one day one of these came to visit him in Rangoon to learn more, after which he returned to tell others about these things. Some of the villagers believed and soon five of them began talking to still others about Jehovah and his kingdom.
“Recently a special representative of the Society happened to visit this village on his way to his assignment and was surprised at the interest in Jehovah that he found. He wrote the Society’s Branch office at Burma telling of twenty persons of good will and requesting that help be sent. Within a week two of us were on our way to this village. Although it was only 102 miles away, the trip took twenty-one hours by launch. When night fell we had to disembark and find a place to stay for the night. Early next morning, after having washed in the Irrawaddy River, we started off on bicycle, one with a sidecar attached. With it we covered the last nine miles in two hours.
“The village we were heading for was not easily accessible, there being no roads, no electric lights nor even a market in that area. We were glad to arrive safely and to find that the brothers had prepared well for us.
“After lunch we took our Bibles and sat in the cool shade, and within half an hour thirty villagers had gathered round for a Bible discussion. The rest of the day we spent in discussing the Bible in the various homes. The next morning we engaged in the house-to-house ministry, being joined by eight of the villagers, and the afternoon we again spent in Bible discussions in the homes of interested ones. Even the local clergyman came, he wanting to know who may and who may not partake of the bread and wine at the Lord’s supper or evening meal. It seems that since this ‘new doctrine’ had come to his village half of his congregation refused to partake of the emblems!
“The evenings we spent around kerosene lamps with twenty to thirty persons of good will, all with open Bibles in their hands. Even children of eight and nine years were taking part, looking up texts. The familiarity of all with their Bibles was most remarkable, since they first began to use their Bibles upon hearing about Jehovah and his kingdom.
“Sunday morning eighteen joined us in the field ministry and in the afternoon fifty-five attended the public lecture, forty-eight of them remaining for the Watchtower study. We continued with Bible discussions until 11 p.m., as we had to leave the next day. A regular meeting place was arranged for and we gave them instructions on how to conduct congregational meetings, how to keep records and how to make reports of their ministerial activities, etc. They asked that a pioneer minister be sent to help them and this request has been complied with; in fact, two special representatives of the Watch Tower society are now teaching them God’s righteous requirements.
“The next day we departed for Rangoon on a launch filled with cows, chickens and people. We were a weary pair that disembarked the next morning! Weary, yes, but very happy for having had the privilege of helping to water the seed that had been planted in that far-off jungle village.”