The other couple is John and Val Miles. These folks, an American couple, were transferred here from Zambia in June 1960, because of the need of a district overseer. They could no doubt write a book about their experiences. But here is one. They were visiting a small congregation close to the main road. Brother Miles relates:

“For the week we decided to camp at a lovely secluded wayside on the main road close to the congregation. However, the local brothers felt we should camp at another place even closer. Although we would have preferred the place we chose, for the sake of convenience we decided to move to the closer spot.

“During the week, while we were having our evening meal, we heard something like gunfire, but dismissed it as the sound of a truck backfiring. Next day, while eating lunch we heard on the radio that there had been a gun battle between the police and ‘freedom fighters’ right at the lay-by where we had planned to camp. During the battle three ‘freedom fighters’ were killed, and some police were wounded. You can imagine how we felt when, later, we saw the bullet holes in the camp table and benches and the surrounding trees. How thankful we were to Jehovah that we were moved to change our camping grounds!” Brother and Sister Miles are now serving faithfully in Lesotho.

[Picture on page 143]

John Miles (shown with his wife, Val) served in the district work and in the branch office from 1960 until 1979, when they were assigned as missionaries in Lesotho