• Worldwide Report
    2007 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Kazakhstan

      In the city of Rudny, a pioneer met a young man named Nikolay who expressed interest in having a home Bible study. There was, however, a problem. Nikolay and his family lived in a distant village, and he only rarely traveled to Rudny to visit his relatives. The brother asked whether he could visit Nikolay in his home village, but Nikolay explained that the village was 120 miles [200 km] away and extremely difficult to reach.

      Nevertheless, the brother wrote down the address and promised that they would meet again. He arranged to visit the village and invited another brother and two sisters from the local congregation to join him. Two weeks later, they boarded a train. On reaching the closest train station, they discovered that it was another 11 miles [18 km] to Nikolay’s village and that there was no public transportation. Their only option was to walk. This was not easy because it was winter and an icy wind was blowing. After a short while, a tractor transporting a milk tank passed them and stopped. The driver offered them a ride​—inside the tank! The publishers thought that the man was joking, but the tank was empty and dry, so they climbed in. Although it was cold in the tank, at least they would have some protection from the bitter wind. The driver told them that he would drop them off four miles [7 km] from their destination. From there, they would need to continue on foot. It took them another two hours to walk the four miles [7 km] to Nikolay’s village.

      Nikolay and his wife, Valya, were astonished and delighted to see the brothers and sisters at their doorstep. They helped their guests to warm up and offered them food. A Bible discussion followed. Two weeks later, the brothers from Rudny returned there. Recalls the pioneer brother: “Nikolay picked us up at the station. Many people in the village wanted to talk with ‘the ones who had arrived in the milk tank,’ so Nikolay made up a schedule, arranging for the interested ones to meet with us. All of those who were listed came by appointment and agreed to study the Bible.” In time, practically everyone who began to study the Bible in that village made good spiritual progress. Two years later, Nikolay and Valya were baptized. Now their two sons are unbaptized publishers, and Nikolay was recently appointed an elder in this isolated group.