In 1966, I received an invitation to attend the 43rd class of Gilead, a school in the United States designed to train ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses for missionary work. Then, after graduation, Günther Reschke and I were assigned to Gabon, West Africa, in April 1967. When we arrived in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, we stayed in the tiny room described at the outset, hanging our clothes in the dining room. Six months later we moved to another missionary home.

In Gabon my biggest struggle was learning French. Finally, after intense effort I achieved a measure of mastery over it. Then, in 1970, our preaching work in Gabon was banned suddenly, and we missionaries were given two weeks’ notice to leave the country.

[Picture on page 20]

Serving as a missionary in Gabon