It was winter (January 1939) when Brother Andreas Kvinge, as zone servant for zone 4, started his first trip northward, he and his wife traveling on bicycles. Once they were to visit two places in the isolated woods near the border of Sweden. The roads were not yet cleared of snow. So people had to travel on horseback, and the horses had to wear snowshoes to make their way over the high mountain plateau. Brother and Sister Kvinge sent their literature ahead of them and later came on foot with their bicycles. To reach some places, Brother Kvinge borrowed skis, and he would spend all day just to get to two or three houses. One evening no one wanted to house the Kvinges for the night. So they crossed the border into Sweden, where someone offered them a place to sleep. But Sister Kvinge was so tired that her husband had to carry both her and their book bags during the last part of the trek. At another time they had to walk around all night in sub-freezing temperature because no one would offer them a place to sleep.

But the Kvinges also had many joyful experiences. At one place they met a small group of Kingdom publishers who had been preaching for several years without reporting their field service. Several new congregations and groups of publishers were established. Isolated brothers were encouraged. Surely, the zone work had Jehovah’s blessing.

Germany’s invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, was sudden.

When the fighting was over, Brother Kvinge, the zone servant, traveled around to encourage the brothers in the whole zone.