Concurrent with these events, Claude Goodman and Ron Tippin had returned to India from an assignment in Burma. They docked at the inland port of Calcutta during the monsoon season. On seeing masses upon masses of people, they wondered how this teeming city could ever receive the good news. As far as they knew, not one person in Calcutta belonged to the “Way.” (Acts 9:1, 2) Securing a bare room near Free School Street, they used cartons for chairs, cartons for tables and the floor for a bed. A large percentage of the people knew only the Bengali language. So the pioneers could only concentrate upon the small number who read English. In this way the work got started in Calcutta.

BY HOUSE CAR ACROSS CENTRAL INDIA

The house-car witnessing work was developing too. Now there were two of these vehicles plying the Indian highways and byways. In August 1932, Claude Goodman and Ron Tippin were sent clear up to Jhansi, a historical capital of Mahratta warriors but now an agricultural trading center, there to take over one of the house cars. Quickly learning how to drive, Goodman and Tippin loaded up with essential supplies, including cartons of English literature plus Urdu and Hindi booklets.

These courageous pioneers blazed a trail right across central India. They became experts at fording rivers, stopping at practically nothing to get God’s Word to the people. The routine when fording was to deflate the tires partially, disconnect the exhaust system at the manifold, remove the fan belt, grease the ignition wires and plug the crankcase and any vents. Invariably, the roar of the engine would bring inquisitive natives, popping up from nowhere, it seemed. While fording the river Mahanadi close to the town of Sambalpur, they sustained a broken mainspring, which they patched up the best that they could and decided to push through to Cuttack without stopping to witness in the towns en route.

After passing through Rampur, they parked the house car about ten miles (16 kilometers) beyond it in the jungle and prepared to spend he night at this spot. Later, they heard a car pass along the road, which was a rare event, and later heard it again. Soon the sleeping brothers were awakened by loud shouting. It was a posse of policemen with the superintendent. The local rajah had passed by earlier and had seen the light in the house car. He required that they, return to Rampur and stay there or have an armed guard watch the “car” all night, as this was dangerous elephant and tiger country. Reluctantly, the brothers “limped” back under escort The next day, they decided to work the place. Everybody had heard the rajah’s story. and the brothers were almost celebrities. They distributed practically everything they had in the way of literature. It made the pioneers think of Jonah’s being ‘given a lift’ part way to his territory at Nineveh.​—Jonah 1:17; 2:10; 3:1-3.

AND NOW, SOUTHWARD

Cuttack is situated in the delta of the Mahanadi River and is the nodal point of the Orissa canal irrigation system. It was into this city that our travelers “hobbled” and eased their crippled van to a stop. After spending some days repairing the house car, getting literature supplies from Bombay and filling up with life’s physical necessities, Goodman and Tippin swung the wheel south, to follow the road along India’s eastern seaboard in the direction of Cape Comorin.

Sleeping in the jungles, washing in the rivers and witnessing along the way, the two pioneers slowly worked their way south. Since they informed the branch office at Bombay where they would be by a particular date, literature would be sent to renew their supplies. In this way, thousands of books and booklets were left behind, providing many families the opportunity to turn to the Bible for hope.

At Puri the brothers saw a huge religious vehicle, weighing perhaps twenty tons (18,144 kilos) and surmounted by the Hindu idol Juggernaut. This is a cult-title of the pagan gods Vishnu and Krishna, and the idol is dragged around the city every year. Before it hundreds of devotees prostrate themselves, as many others pull on the thick ropes.