After expressing appreciation for the truth he had found, Lundborg concluded: “If you so desire, I shall be very glad to go into the colporteur work here in Sweden.” Without hesitation, Brother Russell mailed 55 sets of the first three volumes of Millennial Dawn to Lundborg, urging him to send copies to his former “Army” colleagues.

How disappointed Lundborg was when the shipment arrived! There were not enough books! In a short time, he had placed all of them with his colleagues and others. Quickly he wrote Russell for more. He waited and waited. It seemed that they would never come. Undaunted by the lack of literature, he began his colporteur activity, preaching full-time from house to house, in Stockholm in May 1899. Eagerly he obtained orders for books that he would deliver later. Thus the sowing of Kingdom seed continued.

First Congregation Takes Form

Brother Russell also sent Lundborg the address of a certain S. Winter in Denmark, who had begun to spread seeds of truth there, as well as in southernmost Sweden. Immediately Lundborg invited him to Stockholm and arranged for a Bible meeting​—the very first one in Sweden. A few interested persons squeezed tightly into the cramped kitchen of a family who had obtained some literature from Lundborg. The room was just buzzing with excitement as these spiritually hungry people devoured the words of truth.

By the end of 1899, this energetic small group began to meet regularly on Sundays. A small woodworking shop was rented on Apelbergsgatan for two kronor (33 cents) per evening. On Thursday, April 12, 1900, eight persons gathered in a rented room on Grev Magnigatan to celebrate the first Memorial in Sweden. They prayed for God’s spirit to speed up the growth.

A few months later, they rented a bigger place, an apartment at Trångsund 8. Their first “homemade” convention was held there on June 20-27, 1901. Some Bible Students from Denmark attended also. Wanting to test for interest outside Stockholm, the Swedes arranged for a meeting in the university town of Uppsala, north of Stockholm. They were overwhelmed when 150 interested ones attended.

Now the truth began to expand further. A small rented room at Kungsgatan 20 in Stockholm served as an office and literature depot. Lundborg strenuously kept on “sowing” in all directions by foot, carriage, train, and ship. (Matt. 13:3-23) In 1902 he reported that he had worked almost all the cities and towns in central and southern Sweden.

More Seeds Sprout

As more seeds of truth reached other parts of the country, they began to germinate in the hearts of many energetic people, who quickly joined in the work. One day in 1902 in the city of Malmö, a young man by the name of P. J. Johansson was walking through a park, and he paused before a bench. He noticed a tract lying there entitled Do You Know? He read it, realized that this was the truth, and wasting no time, soon began to serve as a colporteur.

In Segmon in the western part of central Sweden lived a blacksmith, Axel Gustaf Rud. For 35 years he had been a member of the Free Church as well as a popular preacher. He got a copy of Millennial Dawn by mail from relatives in North America. They just wanted to know his opinion of it. He became so convinced that this was the truth that he declared in his chapel: “Until now I’ve been speaking lies. Now I’ll speak the truth.”

When he, and some 30 other members, left his church, a local daily newspaper reported that it regretted the loss of “such a matchless preacher.” One of his former fellow believers lamented: “What can we now believe in, as Rud has taken hell away from us?” Soon a congregation of Bible Students was formed in Grums, a nearby town.

The “Watch Tower” Early in Swedish

Pushing on with the work during 1902, Brother Lundborg pleaded with Brother Russell for a magazine to be printed in Swedish. Brother Russell answered: “I still hold to the belief that colporteuring, together with the spreading of tracts, is far more important than the release of any magazine in any language, and I recommend you to spend your time accordingly.”

Nevertheless, strong-willed Lundborg went ahead with his plans. By the end of that year, he had printed and distributed the first issue of a monthly magazine, I Morgonväkten (In the Morning Watch). It contained excerpts from Zion’s Watch Tower, Pastor Russell’s sermons, poetry, and letters from readers. When Brother Russell visited Stockholm while touring Europe in May 1903, he decided that the magazine should be named Zion’s Watch Tower, with C. T. Russell as the editor. This was done in January 1904.

Delighted, Matilda Lindros, the first female colporteur in Sweden, wrote to the branch: “Those days now seem to me like a beautiful dream, but may God help me not only to remember them but also willingly to put into practice the things learned, . . . and may the Lord help his willing and obedient servants to remain in such a position until the end!” She remained faithful, serving Jehovah right up to her death in 1945 at the age of 91.

Brother Russell later wrote, summing up his satisfaction with the tour: “I shall never forget my visit to Scandinavia, and shall ever pray and seek for the Lord’s blessing upon his work there.”

Full-Time Service​—Backbone of the Work

Brother Russell’s faith and go-ahead spirit moved some of those who first learned the truth to engage enthusiastically in the full-time preaching work. Since then, the full-time ministry has been the backbone of the Kingdom work in Sweden.

These early colporteurs began their work unhesitatingly, without any special training, often without a permanent home, with only part-time work for sustenance, and with their own feet as their only means of transportation. They realized the scope and urgency of their work, seeming to run from house to house rather than walk, quickly covering large areas. Lundborg reported to Brother Russell:

“I always try to be as practical as possible by following the same method as I see from your letter that you apply in America, that is, to visit all the houses in every place. I go from door to door, block by block (from early in the morning to late in the evening), until I am ready for the next town. But if a place is not bigger than the one that I am visiting now (Mariefred, with about 1,100 inhabitants), not many hours are needed.”

When it was too far to walk, colporteurs used other transportation, often of low price and slow. But time was spent wisely. The same report also says: “I travel cheaply. I have a strong body that can endure being treated a little roughly now and then. Wherever possible, I travel by water, sometimes on freighters. Sometimes I buy the cheapest accommodation on a passenger steamer (where the only berth​—night and day—​is the open deck). The time spent on this I also carefully devote to talking with people and studying the Bible.”