For many years, the only contact the inhabitants of San Pedro had with the truth was when Witnesses from the mainland went over for brief visits. The Witnesses left Bible literature with interested people, but they could not follow up the interest because they had to return to the mainland. Later, a family of four came to Belize to serve where the need was greater. They volunteered to move to the island even though they had to live in a recreational vehicle until they could build a house. But the “fishing” was good. They started many Bible studies, and today there are over 20 “fishers of men” on the island. In September 1986, with the help of Witnesses from all over the country, they built their own Kingdom Hall in just one weekend.

The branch territory also includes several isolated Maya villages in the southern Toledo District, where the Ketchi and Maya Mopan languages are spoken. Once a year, during the dry season when the rivers and mountains can be crossed, a group of Witnesses used to visit these villages. Carrying everything they needed on their backs, they walked to the villages, gave the inhabitants a witness, and returned to call on those who showed interest.

On one such annual ‘bush trip’ in 1968, the brothers visited the village of Crique Sarco. A young girl found a copy of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, which a brother had inadvertently dropped. She recounts what followed.

“That book was precious to me, but I would only look at the few pictures, and I never read it. The annual visits the brothers paid my father impressed the name Jehovah on my mind, and I came to know that He has an organization. When I started high school in the town of Punta Gorda, the question came up in class one day: What is God’s name? When I answered, ‘Jehovah,’ I was given an ‘automatic jug’ (five demerits plus a disciplinary work assignment, such as toilet cleaning). Then the priest called me in and told me that I must not use that name again or I could be expelled from school. At that I left the school voluntarily and never returned.

“My next contact with the truth was many years later when I was married and living in Corozal Town in the north. I saw a piece of paper blowing in the breeze, picked it up, and found that it was the cover of the booklet Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Question of Blood. I commented to a friend that this was one belief of the Witnesses I could not agree with. She said that perhaps some day I would agree with them. The next day, a brother called and said he had heard that I was interested in studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even though I told him I really wasn’t, he explained that it would not take much time, so I accepted. At last, that Truth book that I had cherished for eight years was put to use!

“Soon, my in-laws were urging my husband to stop my study. Then we moved to an isolated village, and I lost touch with the Witnesses. Finally, a sister called on me in the house-to-house ministry, and I renewed my study. My husband did all he could to disrupt the study. He would get drunk, make a lot of noise, chase me out of the house, or threaten to have another woman. But I stood firm and relied heavily on Jehovah in prayer. Two years ago Jehovah answered my prayers far beyond my expectations.

“One day my husband came home with his face all bruised, and he went straight to bed. Later that day he said, ‘I want to study the Bible too!’ That change brought me great joy but also the wrath of his family. ‘Changing religion is like changing parents,’ they told him, ‘so you are no longer our son!’ Now that my husband and I were united, we made rapid progress. On December 5, 1987, we were baptized at our first Special Assembly Day.”

So it is that “fish” are being caught even in the remote areas of Belize. The brochure Enjoy Life on Earth Forever! has been translated into Ketchi in the hope that many more in these villages may be helped to accept the good news.

Then, there is the challenge of reaching all parts of the country with the good news on a regular basis. Many areas can be reached by roads, but because of the lack of public transportation, it is hard for Witnesses to cultivate the interest found or for interested people to get to the meetings regularly. Walking or using a dugout canoe is still the only practical way to reach some isolated areas.