Emmanuel Johnson, a Togolese resident of Upper Volta, was working as a medical assistant for a large company in Ouagadougou. One day in 1963 a friend visited him, throwing down two books and saying, “They’re yours, you book-worshiper. They’re not expensive.” He went on to explain that he had bought them from some people who had recently come to town. “They have other nice ones too,” he added.

One of the books was From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. Right away Emmanuel began reading it. The more he read, the more he wanted to meet the people who were distributing these books. Then one day they were visiting his house! Brother and Sister Dinga showed him how to study the book, and started a regular Bible study.

“I tried always to be ready for the study,” explains Emmanuel. “I really drank in the truth. Why, they even said that they had never studied with anyone who showed such interest. They came to see me many times, apart from the regular Bible study we had.”

Before Brother Dinga left by train, Emmanuel was able to contact him. It was arranged to continue their study by correspondence. So as soon as Brother Dinga arrived in Abidjan, he sent the first list of questions, which Emmanuel answered and returned. Brother Dinga corrected it and sent more questions. And so it went for the next five years.

THE SEED BEARS FRUIT

“After the expulsion of the brothers,” Emmanuel wrote, “I came to realize the role that the Catholic Church had played in the matter. So I collected together all my Catholic books, booklets, magazines and even some Gramophone records of hymn-singing. I made a pile out of them and doused them with plenty of paraffin and burned them. I prayed to Jehovah that he help me to serve him. Two days later, I received through the mail my first copy of The Watchtower in French. I felt that was really an answer to my prayer.”

For a few months during 1968 a brother from France came to live in Ouagadougou. He was a real help to Emmanuel, but soon he had to leave. So Emmanuel carried on alone preaching the Kingdom message. He was strengthened by letters from brothers and sisters in several countries who had seen in the Yearbook that there was just one publisher in Upper Volta, and had written to encourage him. In December 1969 Emmanuel traveled to Abidjan for the “Peace on Earth” assembly, where he was baptized.