Jehovah has helped me in a special way since January 1957. That month I married Evelyn, a graduate of the 14th class of Gilead School. Before we got married, she had been serving in the French-speaking province of Quebec. In those days Quebec was largely controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. So Evelyn had a very difficult assignment, but she loyally stuck to it and to Jehovah.

More changes were in store for Evelyn and me. While we were serving in district work in late 1960, I received an invitation to attend the 36th class of Gilead School, a ten-month course to commence early in February 1961 in Brooklyn, New York. Of course, I was thrilled, but my delight was tempered by the fact that Evelyn was not included in the invitation. Instead, like other wives in a similar position, Evelyn was asked to write a letter stating that she was willing for us to be separated for at least ten months. Evelyn shed tears, but we agreed that I should attend the school, and she was happy that I would enjoy valuable training at Gilead.

In the interim, Evelyn served at the Canada branch. She had the special privilege of sharing a room with a dear anointed sister, Margaret Lovell. Of course, Evelyn and I missed each other very much. With Jehovah’s help, though, we settled into our temporary assignments. Her willingness to sacrifice our time together so that we could be more useful to Jehovah and his organization touched me deeply.

After I had been at Gilead for about three months, Brother Nathan Knorr, who was then taking the lead in the worldwide work, presented me with an extraordinary invitation. He asked me if I would leave Gilead School at that point and return to Canada to serve temporarily as Kingdom Ministry School instructor at the branch. Brother Knorr told me that I did not have to accept the invitation. I could complete the Gilead School course if I wished and then perhaps be assigned to missionary work. He also stated that if I did decide to return to Canada, I might never be invited to Gilead again and that in time, I would probably be assigned back to the field in Canada. He left it up to me to decide after I talked to my wife about it.

Since Evelyn had already told me how she viewed theocratic assignments, I immediately told Brother Knorr, “Whatever Jehovah’s organization wants us to do, we are happy to do.” We have always felt that regardless of our preferences, we should go wherever Jehovah’s organization assigned us to go.

Thus, in April 1961, I left Brooklyn and returned to Canada to teach Kingdom Ministry School. Later, we began serving as members of the Bethel family. Then, to my surprise, I received an invitation to attend the 40th class of Gilead, which would start in 1965. Once again, Evelyn had to write a letter agreeing to our separation. But a few weeks later, to our mutual delight, she received her own invitation to attend the school with me.

After we arrived at Gilead School, Brother Knorr told us that students enrolled in French-language classes, as we were, would be sent to Africa. At our graduation program, however, we were reassigned to Canada! I was appointed as the new branch overseer (now Branch Committee coordinator). Only 34 years of age, I reminded Brother Knorr, “I’m pretty young.” But he reassured me. And right from the beginning, I tried to consult older, more experienced brothers at Bethel before making weighty decisions.