BROTHER COOKE FORCED TO LEAVE

The two congregations in Portugal were now growing in size and maturity. In January Eliseu Garrido moved to Oporto, opening the door to Kingdom service in Portugal’s second-largest city. An unexpected event, however, was in store. The authorities refused to renew Brother Cooke’s visa. His missionary service in Portugal was over. Good-bye Portugal​—Off to Angola! He now serves faithfully in the South Africa branch.

“In the summer of 1954 my cousin’s son and I decided to spread the good news in isolated territory for six months. We witnessed in dozens of villages in the remote districts of Bragança and Guarda, being arrested in Sandim village due to a complaint made by a priest. We were taken to the city of Guarda and thrown into a dungeon where we spent the night. After a lengthy interrogation they took our fingerprints and released us.

STORM CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

In November 1954 Gilead missionary Eric Britten, along with his wife, Christine, arrived from Brazil to look after the branch. It became the custom to hold regular “picnics” in a wooded area near the beach. Later, these wooded areas became known as O Salão do Reino Verde (The Green Kingdom Hall). These occasions proved to be times of great spiritual refreshment. In May 1955 a special one-day “picnic” was arranged for the Cova de Vapor area. The brothers rented a ferryboat to take them across the Tagus River to the beach area. They soon discovered they had uninvited visitors. Two plainclothes policemen accompanied them all day long. A record 230 attended this “picnic.”

The following morning secret police agents visited the homes of some of the brothers. They were asked questions like these: What kind of organization do you belong to? Who are the speakers? Are not some of them foreigners? Is it true that you had a meeting yesterday at the beach? How often do you have these picnics? This was one of the first incidents that showed that the police were closely observing the Witnesses.

In 1956 the secret police, known as P.I.D.E. (Polícia Internacional e Defesa do Estado), appeared with greater frequency at the meetings. In July a friendly neighbor told missionary Mervyn Passlow that the police had him and his wife under surveillance. Shortly after this the couple were expelled from Portugal, even though the wife was a native-born citizen. Police interference also resulted in closing down two meeting places in Lisbon.