The people’s knowledge of Japanese helped in the preaching of the good news of God’s kingdom by Jehovah’s witnesses. Prior to World War II, two full-time preachers from Japan visited the village of an Amis woman named Lin. She accepted the Bible truths taught, and was baptized in 1939. She explains:

“I was one of the few women in the village who had some Japanese education, so I was able to read the Japanese Bible and difficult Bible publications. Though my understanding was rather faulty, I realized that Jehovah is the true God. I knew that to gain life I must be faithful to Him. When I refused to worship at the Shinto shrine and to say that the Japanese emperor was superior to Jehovah, I was stripped naked and beaten.”

A sharpened bamboo stick was jabbed into her genitals. But even through this ordeal and other sufferings in prison, this Amis Witness maintained integrity. Such faith has been characteristic of many of the Amis and other tribal Witnesses.

The preaching work of Jehovah’s witnesses has also gone ahead since World War II. For example, Mr. Wang, a post-war arrival from the Chinese mainland, explains how he became a Witness:

“Two missionaries called when I was at work. My wife tried to turn them away, but my daughter said they should return on the weekend when I would be home, for she thought I might be interested. They started a Bible study with me that changed my whole life. Our family life improved, and my wife was also moved to accept the Bible truths. We have seen the Taipei congregation grow from the five or six attending meetings, to the hundred or more that assemble each week now at the Kingdom Hall.”

Just ten years ago there was such an international gathering in Taipei. A Chinese woman by the name of Yen was then working as an accounting clerk at a hotel. She explains the effect that the assembly delegates had upon her:

“I soon perceived that their manners were no formalistic veneer. The hotel staff was polite for business reasons. But these people were politer and kinder than we were! What an impression they made! I was moved to talk to some of them, and one of them gave me the Kingdom Hall address. This resulted in a Bible study being started with me.

“My family are all Buddhist, and breaking away from the customs and superstitions presented many problems. It took a lot of patience on the part of the Witnesses to help me do this. But the refreshment of serving with many Christians who have the same deep love as those touring Witnesses I first met has made the effort more than worth while.”