Great Things Happening in a Small Land!
CAN you find the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on your map? This tiny country is nestled right at the junction of the boundaries of Belgium, France, and Germany. Though small, it is far from insignificant. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is one of the seats of the European Communities. It is also a recognized financial center, with 125 banks currently represented. Yet, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is only 999 square miles [2,586 sq km] in area and has a population of just 372,000!
Understandably, then, the contribution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Luxembourg to the worldwide Kingdom-preaching work is relatively small when compared to that of the Witnesses in the larger nations around us. Still, the development of the Kingdom-preaching work here brings to mind Zechariah 4:10: “For who has despised the day of small things?” As an angel told that Hebrew prophet, it is “‘not by a military force, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ Jehovah of armies has said.” (Zechariah 4:6) So our work, however modest, is certainly not to be despised. Guided by God’s spirit, it brings praise to him.
‘Days of Small Things’
The Kingdom-witness work started in Luxembourg when, between 1922 and 1925, a handful of Christians from Strasbourg, France, came here to distribute tracts. Though few in number, their printed messages were powerful. Consider the tract titles: A Challenge to World Leaders, A Warning to All Christians, and Ecclesiastics Indicted. Much courage was needed to spread those messages, as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was over 96 percent Roman Catholic and tightly bound by their religion and traditions.
During 1930 and 1931, the Photo-Drama of Creation was shown in Luxembourg. In a way, the showings and their results remind one of Jesus’ ministry. Great crowds of people thronged around Jesus to hear him speak and to see or experience healings by him, but only a few became his disciples. (Matthew 4:23-25; 23:37) At the showings of the Photo-Drama in Luxembourg City, the hall that had been rented was packed out every evening by capacity crowds of 300 persons. But few returned for the follow-up discourse and question-and-answer sessions the weeks after. At the outset, there were 20 or 30 persons, later 10, and finally 4. Only those few had a lasting appreciation for the spiritual food being offered to them.
Perseverance Reaps Rewards
In 1931 the first native-born Luxembourgers took up the preaching work. That was no simple thing. The Roman Catholic Church had launched a campaign of hateful propaganda against God’s people, and it influenced the police to interfere as much as possible with our door-to-door ministry. The police confiscated our literature, gave warnings, or made arrests nearly every time the brothers went out into the field service. Would the expansion of true worship in the Grand Duchy now come to a standstill? Quite the contrary! Just after the expulsion of August Riedmueller, the first full-time minister to work in the country, ten Luxembourgers were baptized on September 25, 1932. They engaged in the preaching work regularly, despite the difficulties with the police.
In the prewar year of 1934, the 15 publishers here distributed 3,164 pieces of Bible literature. Often they would travel from 50 to 60 miles [80 to 100 km] a day on bicycles! One sister reported: “My bicycle was my steady ‘companion.’ Working one village after the other came to be my favorite activity, especially on Sundays.”
The German armies invaded the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1940, plunging our brothers into a five-year period of underground work. A number of them were arrested. After months in prison, they were released with the stern injunction to discontinue all further public preaching as Jehovah’s Witnesses. (See Acts 4:17, 18.) Two brothers were taken to concentration camps. Nonetheless, the remaining brothers did what they could, and the number of home Bible studies being conducted with interested persons climbed from 6 in 1942 to 20 in 1944. And whereas 23 persons reported field service in the year 1939, the year 1946 brought a new peak of 30.
Jehovah’s Blessing Seen
In the decades since then, Jehovah God has richly blessed the Kingdom-preaching work in Luxembourg with increase. The number of Witnesses grew to a peak of 1,336 in 1988. Now there is 1 witness of Jehovah, on the average, for every 327 inhabitants of our branch territory. Over 2,900 persons attended the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal on April 1, 1988, amounting to 1 person for every 148 inhabitants! Much interest is being shown in the full-time ministry too. As late as 1955, there were only 5 full-time workers, or pioneers, but May 1988 saw a total of 190 pioneers in the field!
This growth has made an enlargement of our branch facilities necessary. A branch office of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was first established here in September 1955 and consisted of two rooms in a private home. On September 12, 1987, a beautiful new 20-room branch office and Bethel Home complex was inaugurated. At the same time, a fine new missionary home with three apartments and two Kingdom Halls was also dedicated.
Preaching at All Opportunities
Luxembourg is truly international. The Luxembourgers themselves are trilingual. Yet, since 1 out of every 4 inhabitants comes from some foreign country, many languages are commonly spoken.
The foreigners come to work for the European Communities, for the many banks, or in manual trades. So we have French, Italian, and Portuguese congregations to serve these foreign-language groups.
One of our Portuguese sisters tells what happened on a recent plane flight: “I took a small supply of magazines along for possible informal witnessing. At our plane’s first stop, it needed repair. No one was allowed to get off the plane. At first I simply did not have the courage to do what my heart told me I should do. I prayed to Jehovah again and again to give me strength to take advantage of this opportunity.
“After I had thought things over for a time, I went to the hostesses and asked them whether it would be permissible for me to offer some encouraging and beneficial magazines to the people on board. They allowed me to, and I was delighted to be able to approach the passengers freely, going from one row of seats to the next, just as if I were working from house to house. I was able to place 12 magazines and a booklet with various persons and had some fine conversations.
“The last person that I approached replied condescendingly that he had no need of help, for he was an Evangelical clergyman. Also, he did not think that it was right for me to approach the passengers in the way that I did. Tactfully, I continued the conversation on the common footing of faith in God and appreciation for all the blessings that he would bestow upon those believing in him. After the discussion, the pastor commended me for having faith and also for my boldness in speaking to all the passengers.
“Now the person next to me began to ask questions, and we talked for close to three hours!”
Our brothers have also shown exceptional zeal in their service from house to house. A circuit overseer reports about the turnout in one congregation: “The grand climax came when we assembled for field service Sunday morning. Of the 109 publishers associated with the congregation, 102 were present for a share in the preaching work! They put forth excellent effort to invite interested persons to the public discourse in the afternoon, and the result was a hall packed with 198 persons! Many were attending a meeting for the first time, even though there is 1 Witness for every 50 inhabitants in that congregation’s territory!”
Youths too are showing a fine attitude toward their opportunities to proclaim the Kingdom message. Upon learning in The Watchtower of April 1, 1985, about the imprisonment of some of our brothers in Turkey, two teenagers decided to call on the Turkish ambassador. They report:
“Our first step was getting an appointment. Initially, his secretary did not take us seriously. To convince her of our earnest intentions, we showed her copies, in several languages, of the magazine that contained the report. Impressed, she took the magazines and went into the ambassador’s office. After ten minutes, she returned and told us that we could call again in two weeks but that the ambassador would keep the magazines to check out the strong accusations made there. We took this as a good sign.
“When we returned to the embassy for our appointment, we found the ambassador to be very kind and friendly. He showed us a telex message that he had sent to the Turkish government to check on several details in our magazine report. They had been verified and gave our complaint a great deal of weight.
“He was impressed that the article had been written so objectively, without exaggerations or unjustified criticism of the political leaders. We were able to talk to him for one and a half hours regarding God’s sovereignty, Christian neutrality, and the inability of man to rule successfully over man. He expressed understanding of our position and asked what he could do to help. We suggested that he inform his government about our meeting with him and that he tell them what he thought of the whole matter. He agreed to do so, and he requested a number of copies of the magazine to send to various representatives of the government. He said he would make a file of the pertinent information and try to help in whatever way he could.”
A few months later, The Watchtower reported that the Witnesses in Turkey had been released from prison by decree of the Turkish Supreme Court. Upon learning that, the young men made a return call and were warmly received by the ambassador.
From the history of the Kingdom-proclamation work here in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, we see the wisdom in not despising “the day of small things” but in trusting in Jehovah’s spirit to give each of us the strength we need to perform his will to its grand completion. With Jehovah God’s help, great things have been happening here in our small Luxembourg branch territory. We call out with a loud voice to you who are not already doing so to “magnify Jehovah” with us and thus to “taste and see that Jehovah is good.”—Psalm 34:3, 8.
[Maps on page 25]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
North Sea
Netherlands
Federal Republic of Germany
Belgium
France
Luxembourg
150 km
100 mi
Belgium
Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Federal Republic of Germany
Trier
France
Metz
[Picture on page 27]
Though over 80, Victor Bruch, who during World War II was in a concentration camp, serves as a Christian elder