• Zimbabwe
    1985 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • “JEHOVAH KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER”

      How true these words have proved to be! (2 Pet. 2:9) One who can certainly testify to this is Jeremiah Mupondi. He is a young special pioneer with one ear. How did this come about? He relates:

      “We had just parted company with the circuit overseer and a group of publishers when we arrived back home [in the rurals] to find a group of soldiers waiting for us. They had seen us with the circuit overseer and thought we were sell-outs. They said they were sent to get us.

      “In the course of the conversation, efforts were made to try to get us to shout slogans, such as ‘On with the war!’ ‘Down with Jesus!’ We steadfastly refused. Next, they tied the brothers’ hands behind their backs with wire. They also took our literature and burned it.

      “With us was one young sister. They demanded that she admit she was forced to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When she refused, they beat her until she went unconscious. When she awoke, she heard them saying that she had confessed to being forced to become such. From the ground she yelled out: ‘That is a lie. I did not say that!’ Again she was beaten to unconsciousness.

      “Another brother and myself were forced to lie on the ground. This brother was beaten until he nearly went blind. As for myself, they grabbed me by the ear and brandished a knife, saying that if I did not repeat the slogans they would cut off my ear. I remained silent. True to their threat, off came my ear. It was then that I began to draw heavily on the power of the resurrection hope.

      “Next, our persecutors turned to Sister Muchini and threatened to cut her five-month-old baby into pieces if she refused to say the slogans, ‘On with the war!’ and ‘Down with Jesus!’ In the face of this threat, and knowing what they had already done, this loyal sister refused to repeat the slogans. They must have been impressed, because the baby was not killed.

      “Finally, we were let go. However, ten days later another gang accosted us with the same threats and beatings. All five of us continued to remain faithful.”

      On this last occasion Brother Mupondi said to the men who were so cruelly mistreating them: “We are not going to leave our preaching work and our gathering together, whether this is a cause of death or not. We are determined even to die for the name of Jehovah.” It was then that some of the persecutors were heard to say, as they walked away, “Jehovah is the true God.”

      Just after this experience both Brother Mupondi and his older brother began pioneering. Since then he and his partner, Arnold Chamburuka, have had many thrilling experiences in the special pioneer work.