• Guadeloupe
    1995 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Brother Knorr assured them that more missionaries would be sent just as soon as possible to help them.

      His promise was fulfilled not long after that. On March 17, 1954, two passengers got off a plane that landed at the Pointe-à-Pitre airport. But no one was on hand to meet them because the flight was considerably behind schedule. However, the gendarmes offered to take the two over to Brother Laaland’s dry-cleaning shop. These travelers, brothers who had recently graduated from Gilead School, were from France. There was Pierre Jahnke, a tall brother, and Paul Touveron.

      A few days after the two missionaries landed, Brother Henschel arrived. Meanwhile, the Society’s missionary boat Faith was in the harbor, and the crew were busy making arrangements for a convention to be held in a local school beginning on March 26.

      As the program started, the atmosphere was joyful, though the brothers were a bit tense, anxious that everything should go smoothly. After a few talks and demonstrations, a makeshift screen was hung up. Then they saw for the first time the Society’s film The New World Society in Action. Right before their eyes, they could see clear evidence that strengthened their conviction that this is God’s organization. All in attendance were deeply moved as they saw how the organization operates in peace and unity. The sisters also took note of the fact that in other countries their Christian sisters wore jewelry, though not in a lavish way. Further, those attending the convention were encouraged by the knowledge that two missionaries were in their midst, brothers who had been sent by the organization and whose example in Jehovah’s service would strengthen the congregation. Great was the excitement that evening—too great for the presiding overseer of the Pointe-à-Pitre Congregation, Clotaire Missoudan. He went home and that same night died in his sleep, without his wife being aware of it until morning.

      On the second day of the assembly, Brother Henschel announced the establishment of a branch office of the Watch Tower Society in Guadeloupe. It was to care for the preaching of the good news in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Pierre Jahnke was appointed to be the branch servant. The closer organizational direction that was greatly needed in these islands was being provided.

      Following the assembly, the two missionaries got to work. They rented a small wooden house to provide a location for the branch office. Later, the Society bought a modest pavilion at the Raizet city garden, where the office operated until December 1966. In addition to caring for work at the branch, Brother Jahnke shared in the field service in Pointe-à-Pitre, spending as much time as possible with the brothers. Meanwhile, Brother Touveron visited congregations and isolated publishers as circuit overseer until he found it necessary to return to France, after about a year.

      Help From a Floating Missionary Home

      Appreciation for Jehovah’s organization was stimulated by the periodic visits of missionaries who traveled from island to island by boat. For about a decade, the Society had boats that served as floating missionary homes in the West Indies. At first it was a 59-foot [18 m] schooner called Sibia, and later this was replaced by a larger boat, the Light. A 72-foot [22 m] twin-screw boat named Faith was also used. Even though the missionaries aboard the boats spoke English (and most of the publishers in Guadeloupe did not), their visits were very much appreciated. The publishers here still remember the zeal of those missionaries as they worked along with local publishers, devoting full days to the field service.

      On their last visit, aboard the Light in 1956, the missionaries spent July 26 to August 7 preaching on the islands of Marie-Galante and La Désirade. On Marie-Galante, they showed the film The New World Society in Action. Said one person in the audience: “If you had given me ten thousand francs, you could not have made my heart as glad as it is tonight!”