SEEDS OF DISSENSION SOWN

While the organization was in its infancy, Satan began to sow discord among the brothers with seeds of envy, pride, jealousy, and selfish ambition. The spirit of contention became manifest when different ones vied for positions of prominence in the congregations. Since these were controlled democratically, elections were held periodically, and elders were voted into their positions by the raising of hands by the majority. Ambitious brothers who thought they had a better understanding of the truth than the ones voted into these positions tried to undermine the congregations’ confidence in the brothers in charge. How did they do this? By raising questions and counterquestions during the meetings. The brothers took sides, and as a result, two different groups of congregation members began to meet in separate places in Puerto Limón.

NEFARIOUS INFLUENCE

More trouble was due to rain down on this small but divided group of Christians when the first president of the Watch Tower Society, Charles T. Russell, died in 1916. At world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, there was a diabolical plot by selfish brothers to wrest supervision of the Society from the next president, Joseph F. Rutherford, and other appointed ones. But Jehovah did not allow his organization to fall into the hands of such unfaithful ones.

One ringleader of the opposition was Paul Johnson who believed, contrary to the Society’s explanation, that Jesus’ ransom would also be applied on behalf of Adam and Eve. He wrote letters and sent his written material to brothers in Costa Rica, telling them not to support Brother Rutherford. A few individuals favored Johnson’s teachings above the teachings of the Bible and divorced themselves from the organization.

SOME WERE SIDETRACKED

Satan got busy again in his efforts to stamp out the truth and tried to distract the brothers from their main purpose of upholding Jehovah’s name. A new organization known as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) appeared on the scene among the black people in the Atlantic zone.

What was its purpose? As the name suggests, it aimed to improve conditions for black people. One of its campaigns was called the Back to Africa movement and was looked upon by the black population as something similar to the return of the Jews to Palestine.

Brothers not only showed interest in this organization but went so far as to misapply certain Bible texts to support its aims. The outcome? Some brothers became sidetracked from their work of preaching the good news of the Kingdom as the solution to man’s problems. Even the pilgrim Victor Samuels was swayed. He was appointed chaplain of the UNIA and would preach at their meetings instead of at the congregation. There is no doubt about the detrimental effect this had on the brothers.

After Victor Samuels left Costa Rica, Henry Adamson, from the original congregation in Guácimo, was appointed by the Society in 1924 as a pilgrim and was put in charge of the work. Some brothers in Puerto Limón did not like the way Brother Adamson handled matters, so they rebelled. About two years later, the Society sent another representative from Brooklyn, George Young. His assignment: Unite the brothers in Puerto Limón and establish the preaching work on a proper footing again. First, under the light of a lantern, he gave a Bible lecture with slides in the Arrasty Theater in Puerto Limón. Afterward, he visited the brothers in San José to get the work going among the Spanish-speaking people in the capital.

Brother Young’s effort to unite the two groups in Puerto Limón proved unsuccessful, so he returned to the United States. Brother Adamson was transferred from Costa Rica to Panama in the early part of 1927. After their departure, the Society did not appoint another pilgrim to oversee the work until ten years later, in 1937. But the local brothers remained undaunted. They continued to preach in the four or five places where groups met, and they sent their field service reports directly to the Society in Brooklyn.

In 1931 the prayers of the faithful ones for unity were answered when the Society sent letters to all congregations and urged those who were in accord with the Society to adopt a new name​—Jehovah’s Witnesses. The resolution sounded the death knell for the rebellious, nameless group. They died out, bringing an end to the divisions in the congregation of Puerto Limón. The theocratic appointment of servants in 1938 further unified the brothers.