KINGDOM TRUTH RINGS OUT!

Though Brother Rahhal had to return to America, he visited Lebanon once again in 1937. He brought back with him sound equipment, phonograph records and a couple of phonographs. But Lebanon and Syria were so large and Jehovah’s Witnesses were few in number! So Brother Rahhal purchased a 1931 Ford car and mounted sound equipment on it. With this the brothers made many trips throughout Lebanon and Syria, carrying the Kingdom message to remote areas.

The brothers would drive to a village and park the car on a hill. After a brief introduction, a recorded Bible talk was presented. The sound would carry for several miles over the hilltops in those quite areas. The people were astounded. In fact, some were frightened, believing that God was speaking to them from out of the heavens when they heard the booming voice on the recording.

The people would gather around the sound car after the initial broadcast. Then the sound could be turned down a bit and a Bible lecture was given to the assembled group. After the talk, there was a question-and-answer session and distribution of literature to those assembled. In this way much seed was sown in areas that could not often be reached with the Kingdom message.

Frequently, of course, the clergy were incensed at the Witnesses for coming around to preach to their flocks. They tried to stop the brothers and frighten them away. Najib Salem recalls this experience in the Syrian village of Baid:

“The priest was having lunch in front of his house when we set up our sound equipment at the edge of the village. When he heard the sound of the loudspeaker, he left his dinner on the table, grabbed his big walking stick and ran through the crowds that were collecting around the sound car, waving the stick angrily at them and threatening them like someone who had lost his mind. When he reached the microphone where the talk was being given he shouted, ‘Stop! I command you to stop!’ But we observed that many of the villagers were taking sides with us and were not willing to do the priest’s bidding. So, we continued to broadcast. The priest became so violent that some people picked him up and carried him back to his house, where they deposited him again at the dinner table. Many were glad to hear the message, but many others were just happy to see such an unusual thing as a sound car that could make such loud noises. In any case, they received the message of God’s kingdom.”

SOME PROBLEMS ALONG THE WAY

When using the sound car, the brothers worked as a team, with one operating the equipment and two others distributing the literature throughout the crowds that gathered around the car in the villages. On one such trip Brothers Rahhal, Najib Salem and Jiryis Awijan were working together. Roads were not very good in those days, and when it came to crossing streams and rivers, rarely was there a bridge. The brothers just had to ford the stream the best they could.

On one occasion, the three brothers entered a stream in their car and, about halfway across, the water proved to be deeper than they had anticipated. So, the motor stopped. It was a remote and wild section and all three of them were in the car stranded in the middle of the river. Now what was to be done?

The brothers decided to make themselves look as much like farmers as possible, since they were in an agricultural area. Hence, they removed rings, ties and other apparel that gave them a prosperous foreign appearance. Then Brother Awijan climbed out of the car and waded through the stream, making his way to a village on a hill some distance away. Water-soaked and mud-spattered, he spoke to the villagers, telling them that the car was stalled in the middle of the river. Could they help them get it out? Gladly. Taking ropes and other equipment, they set off with the brother and soon had the car pulled out of the water. Before departing, the brothers were able to do some witnessing to the kind villagers who had rescued them.

Such experiences were very common. The brothers continued to use the old car, even traveling as far as Aleppo in Syria to spread the Kingdom message. On the return trip, however, the car became so dilapidated that they were stranded in a small town and decided to sell the vehicle and continue their trip by other means. So, that ended the service of the 1931 Ford that Brother Rahhal had bought.

Other cars were obtained later and were used to carry the Kingdom message throughout the territory. Often brothers would leave their homes in Tripoli at three or four o’clock in the morning on Sunday and would return late at night. But what joy they had! They spent many happy hours preaching the good news to people who had never before heard it.

[Picture on page 176]

Kingdom truth was brought to remote areas by means of this sound car