GETTING BETTER ESTABLISHED

For several years our work here had continued without the help of Gilead graduates, the first ones having found it necessary to leave. How beneficial it was, then, to have Brother George Amado arrive in Senegal on September 24, 1963, to be followed shortly thereafter by other specially trained missionaries! Now, for the first time, a missionary home was opened and several special pioneers were invited to come under the missionary arrangement, even though they had not attended Gilead School. This enabled more full-time servants to remain in their assignments.

Up to this point the Kingdom-preaching work in Senegal had been under the direction of the Watch Tower Society’s branch office in Paris, France. But in order to improve the supervision of our activity here, a branch was established in Senegal itself. Thus on August 22, 1965, Emmanuel Paterakis, accompanied by his wife, arrived in this land of contrasts to enjoy the happy privilege of organizing the local branch office. It was to start functioning on September 1, 1965, and also was to care for the Kingdom-proclamation work in The Gambia, Mali and Mauritania. First, a suitable location for the branch-missionary home had to be found​—not an easy task by any means. But with Jehovah’s blessing and through perseverance the local office was set up in Dakar.

EXPANDING OUR FIELD OF ACTIVITY

In view of the urgency of the times, arrangements were made to expand the field of activity further in Senegal. Earlier, when the African tribes settled along the Casamance River, they found the area to be very fertile, a land of forests and water, of rice and millet. Ziguinchor became the capital of the Casamance region. Today it is a thriving city of over 72,700 inhabitants. And just as an abundant supply of literal water had been available to the early settlers, so in 1965 refreshing ‘waters of truth’ were made available by other “pioneers” for the benefit of the people of the Casamance region. Two special pioneers were assigned to Ziguinchor, and they found this predominantly Catholic region to be a productive field for cultivation.

But what about other areas in this land of differing customs and languages? These, too, had to be reached. When a missionary couple were expelled from the land of Mali in September of 1965, they were assigned to open up a missionary home in Saint-Louis. This city of some 88,400 residents is located at the mouth of the Senegal River, the important waterway that attracted early desert tribes to this land of contrasts. Saint-Louis, situated mainly on an island, was founded in 1659, when Louis XIV ruled France, and it once was the capital of the French colony in Senegal. Now mainly Moslem, this city has proved to be one of the more difficult territories to develop. Nevertheless, the first full-time servants to work in Saint-Louis started a number of Bible studies, some of which later bore fruit.

Thiès is a city of some 117,300 inhabitants located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) inland from Dakar. Toward the end of 1965, arrangements were made to cultivate this “field.” Initially, the first two special pioneers had a hard time, as nearly all the streets were of loose, dusty, red sand and even walking was difficult, not to speak of trying to use a bicycle. How refreshing was a cool shower after many hours spent there searching for sheeplike ones among the quaint little shacks and straw huts!

Public talks were arranged, films produced by the Society were shown and Bible studies were started. Two missionaries assigned to Thiès increased the ranks of workers in the “harvest.” But there were difficulties, too​—opposition from the outside and, due to the unwise conduct of some, problems from the inside. Corrective measures were taken and good results were forthcoming. Today, there are 13 Kingdom publishers in Thiès, assisted by the missionaries now assigned there.

In 1949, two full-time Kingdom proclaimers entered The Gambia. That year there was considerable activity, with the two missionaries and one congregation publisher reporting the placement of over 1,000 pieces of literature and the conducting of eight home Bible studies. These early missionaries stayed for nearly four years; after they left, the handful of local publishers served for several years without any pioneer help. However, on December 21, 1958, Gilead School graduate Samuel Akinyemi and his wife were assigned to The Gambia. They left family and friends in Nigeria, anxious to tackle the work before them. During this period, The Gambia was cared for by the Society’s branch in Ghana.

Now that the law branding Jehovah’s Witnesses as prohibited immigrants had been rescinded, would it be possible to have our missionaries come in to give a helping hand? An effort to that end was made in 1967, but without success. The authorities have put out an order limiting to three the number of foreign representatives that Jehovah’s Witnesses can have in The Gambia. Despite consistent efforts by the Society and local brothers to have this order removed, no missionaries or other full-time servants have been able to enter The Gambia to bolster up the small congregation in Banjul.