In San Agustín Oapan, Jehovah’s Witnesses were not permitted to preach from house to house. There was fear that it would make the people stop giving money to support the celebrations. When Florencio and a small group of local Nahuatl Witnesses were preaching, three of them were arrested. Within 20 minutes, a crowd gathered to decide what to do with them.

“They wanted to do away with us right then and there,” Florencio recalls. “Some suggested that we be tied up and thrown into the river to drown! We spent the night in jail. The next day, a fellow Witness who was a lawyer and two other brothers came to help. They too were thrown in jail. Finally, the authorities let all of us go on the condition that we leave town.” In spite of that experience, a congregation was established a year later, with 17 baptized Witnesses and about 50 people attending the meetings.

In the Nahuatl community of Coapala, Alberto, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was invited to participate in the local festival. He declined and was imprisoned. A general assembly was called, and some clamored for him to be hanged in order to frighten any who may have wished to join his religion and give up the local customs. Some other Witnesses tried to get him released, but they too were arrested. After the week-long festival ended, all were set free. As opposition continued, it was necessary to seek the help of higher officials, and an order was obtained that put an end to the persecution. Interestingly, the main opposer accepted Bible truth a short time later and was baptized. There is now a congregation in that town.

Sonia, a full-time minister, explains what moved her to take on the challenge. “Within two hours of my home, there are some 6,000 Nahuatl migrant workers living in shelters shut in with guards. The people are vulnerable and humiliated,” said Sonia. “Their condition made me very sad because the Nahuatl were once a proud people, the roots of our culture. We had been preaching to them for 20 years in Spanish, but they did not fully understand, and they showed little interest. However, when I learned a few words of their language, the doors opened up. They surrounded me to listen. I offered to teach one of the women to read and write if she would teach me Nahuatl. Now they know me in all the shelters as ‘the woman of the language.’ I feel like a missionary in my own country.” Today, there is a Nahuatl-speaking congregation in that area.

Maricela, another full-time minister, is making every effort to learn Nahuatl. At first, she conducted a Bible study in Spanish with 70-year-old Félix. As she learned more Nahuatl, Maricela began to explain things to him in his language. This had a fine effect. How touched she was when Félix asked, “Does Jehovah listen when I talk to him in Nahuatl?” Félix was happy to learn that Jehovah understands all languages. Félix regularly attends the meetings even though he has to walk for an hour and a half to do so, and he is now baptized. Maricela says, “How happy I am to cooperate with the angel who has good news to declare to all peoples!”​—Revelation 14:6, 7.