• Finland
    1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Businessman Finds Purpose in Life

      Emil Österman, a bearded and energetic 41-year-old businessman from Turku, planned to take a trip around the world in search of a purpose in life. When he read the books his mother had given him, his quest began to change. In the last part of 1909, he made his first stop in Sweden. There he obtained more Bible literature from August Lundborg. However, it was not until he sailed to London that his world journey was cut short, when he finally read the literature he had received in Sweden. He at once knew that he had found what he had been searching for. With his dream of world travel suddenly gone, he returned home. Near the end of that same year, 1909, he went back to Sweden and was baptized. Later, he arranged for August Lundborg to come to Finland and preach.

      The report from the branch office in Sweden spoke of Emil as a dear brother when it said: “About ten regular Colporteurs have been at work during the year . . . Six or seven new ones have come into the work​—one of these is a dear brother in Finland who, no doubt, is a chosen instrument in the Lord’s hand to serve his people in that country. . . .

  • Finland
    1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • In the summer of 1909, when on business in Helsinki, Österman met Kaarlo Harteva and gave him a copy of The Divine Plan of the Ages in Swedish. Harteva read it eagerly. He reckoned that he too should preach “this good news of the kingdom.” (Matt. 24:14) So in April 1910, Harteva traveled with Österman to the convention in Örebro, Sweden, where he was baptized. Since there was a need for speakers, both of these new brothers gave talks at that convention. They wasted no time in making themselves useful to God’s organization!

      ‘Join Us. That Will Make Three’

      About that time Harteva met one of his former schoolmates, Lauri Kristian Relander, on a train and witnessed to him zealously about the newfound truths. “And how many are there of you people?” his friend asked. “At the moment there are two of us, a certain Österman and I,” Harteva replied. “But if you join us, that will make three.” However, Relander did not come along. Instead, he pursued politics and became the president of Finland from 1925 to 1931.

      What a vast field lay before Brothers Harteva and Österman: three million people spread out in a sparsely populated country. Their first goal was to get the Society’s literature translated into the Finnish language. Diligently, Harteva labored to translate The Divine Plan of the Ages and a variety of tracts from Swedish into Finnish, and Österman in turn financed their printing in the fall of 1910. How elated they were to have more effective instruments for the Kingdom work! Trusting in the help of Jehovah’s spirit, these men courageously started out in the work with their newly translated Finnish literature.

      “A Ticket to Hell”

      Besides keeping a supply of literature in the shoe shop he owned in Turku, Brother Österman displayed books in the store window as well. He also had his own bookstall in a marketplace. By shouting out slogans, he would immediately catch people’s attention.

      He would offer the Hell booklet for two markkaa (the Finnish mark), crying out: “A ticket to hell​—one markka in, and another one out!”

      Public Talks Gather Crowds

      Next, these two faithful friends decided to start a tour to give public talks. So they traveled to Finland’s industrial center, Tampere, and rented the best hall available. They then ordered handbills for the talk, which was entitled “The Great Reward,” and advertised it in the daily paper. Brother Harteva gave the talk, while Österman served as his assistant. In one of his letters, Brother Österman tells about the results:

      “One Finnish sister consecrated herself fully and symbolized it in Lake Pyhäjärvi. Thereafter she went to Vyborg, where she now spreads the good news as a colporteur. A Bible class was organized in Tampere with five or six very interested persons, after which we left it in God’s care. Now we are in Turku, and here our first public meeting in Finnish was held in the auditorium of the Fire Department building, which can seat 1,800 persons. As in other places, here too, just as many had to remain outside.”

      Encouraged by such good results, these two colporteurs traveled to Helsinki, the capital, and arranged for a public talk in the auditorium of the People’s House (now Workers’ House) for November 22, 1910.