Arrested and Ordered to Leave Town

Antonio Carvajalino, a tailor, once advocated the cause of the Communist party when he lived in the small town of Aracataca. Later, when witnessing, Brothers Webster and Olson found him living in Barranquilla. Lively Bible discussions followed for a number of visits while Antonio’s four single sisters strained to hear each word from an adjacent room. Finally, he gave in and acknowledged that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for the poor people of Colombia and the rest of the world. Antonio was later baptized. His four sisters also responded to the truth with appreciation and soon entered the pioneer service along with their brother.

Later the whole Carvajalino family, together with nephew Tomás Dangond, was assigned as a special pioneer group to the petroleum-refining center of Barrancabermeja, up the Magdalena River. Barranca was Catholic mission territory, off limits for non-Catholic proselytizing, according to the decree of the general and dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The Evangelicals in town were meeting behind closed doors in their own church building. On learning that Jehovah’s Witnesses were now preaching in town, the Evangelicals stormed over to the Catholic bishop with The Watchtower and Awake! in hand to report that the Witnesses were the ones who distributed these magazines, not the Evangelical organization.

Police were ordered to pick up the Witnesses. First they arrested the four sisters. Then detectives went to the pioneers’ place of lodging and arrested the two brothers, confiscating their briefcases and their 20-carton literature supply. The police judge ordered the pioneers to pay fines and sign statements that they would desist from preaching in the city. They all refused, so all six were sentenced to 90 days in jail.

The following day the two brothers convinced the mayor that “it was a terrible disgrace on the part of his administration to have four Christian women locked up like criminals under such deplorable conditions.” They requested that the sentences of the sisters be added to their own so that the four women could be set free. The mayor agreed, and Antonio and nephew Tomás were sentenced to nine months in jail.

The branch overseer, James Webster, flew to Barrancabermeja and sought a lawyer to defend the Witnesses. But none had the courage to do so. Then he flew to Bogotá to present the case in person before the secretary of the president. Having heard the facts, the secretary phoned the mayor of Barranca and ordered him to release the brothers and return their literature on the condition that the group leave town within 48 hours.

They Helped Over 300 Learn the Truth

Within the stipulated time, the Carvajalinos, while under police surveillance, boarded a bus for nearby Bucaramanga, capital of Santander Department, or province. The banditry caused by La Violencia was still rampant in the surrounding countryside, leaving people fearful and suspicious of strangers. Notwithstanding, the pioneers preached with tact and won the confidence of the locals. In one year’s time, they established a congregation of 13 publishers. And a surprising number of 65 people attended the public talk during the circuit overseer’s visit.

Where is the Carvajalino family now? Antonio Carvajalino died in 1958, his sister Inés in 1987. Nephew Tomás Dangond is an elder. He, his wife, and his daughter are serving as special pioneers in neighboring Venezuela. The Carvajalino sisters never married, in order ‘to serve the Lord without distraction.’ (1 Cor. 7:35) All told, they have helped over 300 persons to a knowledge of the truth.d

[Picture on page 95]

The Carvajalino sisters, an exemplary pioneer group, who helped more than 300 persons to learn the truth