During her six-month stay in the country, she stirred the interest of a Jamaican baker named Thaddius Hodgeson.

MORE HELPED INTO THE TRUTH

Though communication was very difficult at the time, James and Thaddius maintained contact as they carried on the preaching work in their respective regions. As early as 1934, Thaddius wrote to the world headquarters in Brooklyn requesting a transcription machine and recorded Bible talks.

On Saturday nights Thaddius played recorded talks in front of the Supreme Court building, in a small park that had been used as an exercise ground for the army garrison. Known as “the Battlefield,” the park became just that. Thaddius played recordings of Brother Rutherford’s talks on one side, and the Salvation Army band played on the other side, accompanied by the booming of a large drum played by Beaumont Boman. Soon, though, Beaumont responded to the Kingdom message and joined Thaddius on his side of the battlefield. “I give thanks to my God, Jehovah,” said Beaumont, “for making me put down that drum!”

Another good place for public preaching was a small area in front of the open market known as Mule Park, where there was a hitching post for mule carts used to transport goods into and around town. Thaddius​—who was tall, brown-skinned, and good-looking and was known as a very dynamic speaker, could often be heard there. Despite the strong hold of Christendom’s churches on the Bible-loving people of Belize, many honesthearted ones, such as James Hyatt and Arthur Randall, both from Jamaica, responded to the good news.

On the north side of Belize City, Thaddius began conducting meetings in his bakery. To do so, he had to push aside the serving counter and place boards on chairs to create crude benches.