My Lifetime of Changes for Jehovah

As told by Smith Bell

“THE path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.”​—Proverbs 4:18.

This scripture indicates change and advancement, and as I reflect on the hundred years of my life, I can see how Jehovah has indeed continually brightened the pathway of truth. This has required a willingness to accept such change and advancement on the part of those endeavoring to serve him.

Bible Study Aid Banned

The first major change in the course of my life came during World War I. I can still see the words printed in the local newspapers of rural Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1918: “BANNED: THE FINISHED MYSTERY, BY C. T. RUSSELL.” I probably would not have been so impressed except for the fact that this was the same author whose Bible sermons my father used to read when I was growing up near White Water, Manitoba. I particularly remembered how he agreed with Mr. Russell’s sermons that pointed out from the Bible that there was no hellfire.

Now everyone seemed to be talking about this book, and my curiosity was greatly aroused. Why should a commentary on the Bible, of all things, be withheld from the general public? On the other hand, had not the article said it was alleged to contain seditious and antiwar statements? At any rate, I had to have that book! But try as I did, none was to be found. Instead, I was given another in the same series entitled The Divine Plan of the Ages. When I had finished reading it and comparing it with my Bible, I was ecstatic. This was the truth!

Prior to this time my interest in religion was quite casual, though I had managed to read the Bible once. In fact it had been tucked into my belongings by my mother when I left Manitoba to come west to Saskatchewan to begin farming my own homestead at the age of 22. In 1905 as my reading material diminished during that first winter, I began to look seriously at the Bible and the truth that it contained. My conclusion was that nothing in the world was going to improve until Satan was bound and abyssed as stated in Revelation 20:1-3.

I Knew I Must Preach

The next few years went by quickly as I married and began raising a family. But now, after having read the Divine Plan, I found I could not sit by idly and wait for these things to happen and hope to reap all the benefits myself. I must tell others about the wonderful things Jehovah had promised.

My neighbors would be the logical place to start, I thought, and they would surely be as happy as I had been to hear the good news. I began to arrange for a Bible study in my home and invited my friends from the neighboring farms to join me. However, instead of the expected response, it became quite evident they thought I had taken leave of my senses! They suggested I could better serve the community if I would accept the position of superintendent of the local interdenominational Sunday school. I agreed to go the next Sunday and then make my decision.

Upon arrival I was informed the discussion for the day would be on the subject “Who Are More Religious​—Men or Women?” Without waiting for the sermon, I made my way to the door, never to return. How could I be satisfied with such nonsense when my eyes had been opened to really meaningful truths that freed me from the fear of eternal torment and explained the sleeplike condition of the dead, not to mention the grand hope of living forever? The Bible’s teaching of a resurrection was of great comfort to my wife and me, as two of our young daughters had died. Our bitterness disappeared when we realized that God did not take them to populate heaven with more angels.​—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Isaiah 25:8; John 5:29; Revelation 21:3-5.

About this time, I contacted other interested Bible Students in the Wilkie area, which was the nearest town, and a congregation of a dozen or so was formed. Almost immediately I was assigned to conduct our weekly discussion of The Watch Tower on Sundays. This responsibility was given to me before I was even baptized!

Changes in My Point of View

In 1922 I was baptized. This was followed by my wife’s baptism a short time later and so another change was in order. I resigned from the municipal council. I saw that my loyalties could not be divided. I could not go out to the people of the surrounding area and talk about how God’s Kingdom was going to relieve us of the injustices in the world while continuing to try to aid in human efforts. Especially when the Bible clearly states they are doomed to failure.​—Revelation 19:11-18.

With much slower transportation in those days, our preaching activity was carried out somewhat differently from today. We would pick a certain school district and call at the homes of everyone belonging to it. We would spend the day inviting them to come to the schoolhouse on Sunday to hear a Bible talk. I remember one Sunday when a brother and I were going from farm to farm inviting people to the school that evening and also showing them six Bible aids for $3. We knocked at one door where a lady appeared and made it quite clear that she could never read all those books. The brother responded, “Lady, not only are you going to have to read these books but you’ll have to learn everything in them if you want to live!” We now have a more tactful approach to people, but at least our sincerity was clearly visible through our unpolished exterior.

During the next few years several in our congregation became uneasy as to our proper place in Jehovah’s arrangement. How happy we were when, in 1935, the light brightened so as to show us who make up the “great crowd” mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17. They were not a secondary heavenly class and so would not partake of the emblematic wine and unleavened bread at the annual Memorial of Christ’s death. It was such a relief to be able to look forward with confidence to living on a paradise earth forever, as part of “the meek” ones that Jesus said would inherit the earth, his “other sheep.”​—Matthew 5:5, King James Version; John 10:16; Isaiah 65:17-25.

Bible Literature Banned Again!

In 1940, during World War II, religious opposers, working through political channels, once again saw their opportunity to have our activities banned. This was all done with no warning. At the time it happened, my family and I were visiting in Manitoba. When we returned home and proceeded to feed the horses, more than oats flowed from the bin! It seems the brothers had had enough time to remove the congregation’s literature from our meeting place and hide it in our feed bin so that it would not be confiscated. The authorities locked up that building and seized our bank account. Thus we had to make secret arrangements to hold meetings in a different home each week.

In 1941 my wife, my daughter and I came to British Columbia, leaving our son on the farm. We had planned to spend the winter on the coast. Since our work was still under ban, we carefully packed as much literature as possible into our pickup truck. When we got to White Rock, I immediately obtained work as a carpenter and, since there was no congregation, I set about making casual inquiries to find others of like faith in the area. Conversations would go something like this: I would say, “What do you think of this ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses?” Their reply might be, “I don’t know much about it, but I think so-and-so who lives over there is in sympathy with them.” I would then contact that person and soon a group of six or seven of us began holding a weekly Watchtower Study.

Since White Rock is situated on the American border and the ban did not extend into the United States, different ones used to walk across the border and come back with the latest copies of The Watchtower. There was less likelihood of being searched without a car, and we were thus able to keep up with the latest spiritual food. While our activities and literature were banned, those really responsible, namely the clergy, could not also ban the Bible. So we went to people’s homes using only God’s Word.

At one point we planned a blitz on White Rock, a town of about 1,500 people at that time. We gathered up all the booklets that brothers had hidden and buried and added them to what I had brought from Saskatchewan. We wrapped about three in cellophane with a rubber band around them, and one evening after midnight we deposited them on people’s doorsteps.

The next morning I went to work as usual, and conversations seemed to center on our previous night’s activity. Everyone seemed convinced that there must be a great many of those “Witnesses” around since they had all received booklets no matter what part of town they lived in.

Religious Pride and Prejudice

Shortly after the ban was lifted in 1943 a congregation was officially established in White Rock and my family and I decided to remain there. We rented a building to use as a meeting place, but opposers invariably made so much noise that it was impossible to concentrate. We heard drums, tin pans and auto horns from the street, as well as crashing and pounding from next door. All of this made us feel rather unwelcome.

We moved to another rented building outside of town where quietness prevailed, and by this time our congregation had grown to about 50 publishers. A short time later we were able to build a new Kingdom Hall in town, but after about seven years we began needing more room. Happily, we were able to sell the hall for a reasonable sum of money and with it we were able to purchase property in the center of town. Thus we built our new Kingdom Hall without having to borrow any funds.

Big Personal Changes

The 1950’s brought another major change in my life that, with Jehovah’s help, I was at last able to make. This was giving up the tobacco habit. For many years I had been sort of a “part-time” smoker, never allowing it to interfere with my service to Jehovah but never completely quitting either. This bothered my conscience from time to time, but since the past information on the seriousness of this unhealthy practice was somewhat tactfully stated, I continued.

It was not until the Watchtower publications stated that ‘no one would be allowed on the speaker’s platform if he smoked,’ that I reread the scriptures in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Romans 12:1, 2 and Proverbs 3:5. I knew my smoking habit must be abandoned. When I finally approached Jehovah in prayer with the proper attitude, he provided “help at the right time,” and I was able to quit once and for all. What is more, my desire for another cigarette has never returned.​—Hebrews 4:16.

Jehovah continued to bless the efforts of our group of disciple makers, and by 1967 our congregation in White Rock had grown to some hundred publishers. At this time it became apparent that my eyesight was not going to permit me to drive a car any longer so our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren encouraged us to move to Whidbey Island, Washington, to be near them. We found it sad leaving all our friends, but everyone in our new congregation made us feel so welcome, and we quickly made more friends. My wife has been gone since 1973; we enjoyed a wonderful marriage of almost 67 years, and I look forward to the day when she will again be full of life and in good health.

Meanwhile, I have so much to thank Jehovah for, part of which is the privilege he has granted me of seeing ‘the little one become a thousand and the small one a mighty nation.’ Also, despite my advanced years I find much joy in serving my brothers as an elder in the local congregation. And I still join my family in going from door to door to find even more people who are interested in something better than what this ailing system of things has to offer. Jehovah has surely speeded up his work “in its own time,” just as he promised, and he has indeed blessed me for following his loving lead.​—Isaiah 60:22.