• Africa’s “Men of Goodwill” Stand Firm for Truth
    The Watchtower—1971 | March 1

    • NAIROBI, KENYA

      At the assembly in Nairobi delegates came from Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania with reports of the increases of the work in those countries. The first group of over 120 visitors from North America arrived in Nairobi, Embakasi Airport, soon after dawn. Knowing the fine reputation of the Witnesses for honesty, the customs officer let them through without checking even one piece of baggage. The second group arrived close to midnight. A friendly African airline official explained to a different group of customs officers that the group was composed of Witnesses. “You can be sure of these Christian people,” he said. The officer in charge permitted one or two local Witnesses into the customs hall so they could help carry out the baggage without so much as a customs’ chalk mark.

      Though God’s Word of truth is growing rapidly in Kenya now, the preaching of it had, at first, a slow start. In 1931, two of Jehovah’s witnesses spent a short time there and placed 2,000 pieces of Bible literature. It was in 1949 that a Witness moved there and opened her home as a meeting place for Bible study. In 1955 Watch Tower President N. H. Knorr and M. G. Henschel, a director, visited and began organizing of the work. The number of one hundred Witnesses was reached in 1960. A branch office was established in 1962. Now there are 966 of these Christian teachers of God’s Word.

      One of the problems in Kenya, as in many African lands, is polygamy. To date, in the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses, there have been 306 marriages adjusted to conform to the Scriptural standard of monogamy. The insistence of Jehovah’s witnesses that they will receive in baptism only those meeting this high moral standard has impressed the government officials.

      During the Nairobi assembly a lady asked a Witness who called at her home: “Does your religion really make any difference in people?”

      “Why not come down to the City Stadium and see for yourself?” was the pleasant reply.

      What a change she saw! Why so? Because the African man often eats his food alone, not caring if there is enough for the other members of the family, who wait for him to finish before they can eat. He will let his wife do all the heavy work and also care for the children. But Witnesses assembled in Nairobi no longer conform to that way of life. Men were not separated from women as they often are in the churches in Africa. Families were seated together! Husband and wife shared the responsibility for the care of their children. Father, mother and children had their meals together. These families reflect the new homelife and family unity that the Bible truth has brought them.

      Those baptized at the assembly were from four different countries and totaled 101. The public talk, given by the Society’s president, was translated into Swahili and heard by 2,503​—the highest attendance ever in Kenya.

      In his closing remarks on the last day of the Nairobi assembly, President Knorr encouraged all to continue in their educational work, training yet others to conform their lives to the Bible’s high principles.