By the early 1930’s the Christian meetings in Dr. Shammas’ clinic in Tripoli were being attended by about 10 persons. Sundays were used for field service in the more distant territories. The brothers went into Syria as far as Damascus, and even to Aleppo in the north, witnessing at many points in between.

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.

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.”

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.

[Picture on page 176]

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