• Iceland
    2005 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • The Good News Reaches Iceland

      By the dawn of the 20th century, many Icelanders had emigrated to Canada, partly to escape the hardship resulting from volcanic eruptions and severe cold. It was there that some first heard the good news of God’s Kingdom. One of these people was Georg Fjölnir Lindal. Shortly after dedicating his life to Jehovah God, he became a pioneer. Brother Lindal spoke the Icelandic language, so in 1929, when he was 40 years old, he decided to move to Iceland. Arriving in Reykjavík on June 1 of that year, he was the first one to preach the good news in Iceland.

      Brother Lindal waited three months before his first shipment of literature arrived, but as soon as it did, he set out to witness to everyone in the country. By the end of October 1929, he had distributed 800 copies of The Harp of God in Icelandic. At that time, he wrote: “Since my arrival here, I have canvassed a number of towns with a population of about 11,000 people. The total population of Iceland is about 100,000 or a little more, so there are some 90,000 more to be reached. It will take considerable time for one person to canvass all the territory here, as traveling is very difficult. Iceland is a mountainous country with a broken coastline, no railways, and few automobile roads, so I have been traveling by boat most of the time.”

      There is no hint of complaint in the few handwritten letters on file in an old manila folder that bears the stenciled label “Iceland.” In that same 1929 letter, Lindal wrote: “It gives me great joy to relate an encouraging experience that I had lately. I had occasion to call back at a certain place where I had previously canvassed. I met several people who had bought books the first time I was there. One man said: ‘I have read the Harp twice and am reading it the third time. It is a good book. Thank you for calling.’ Another remarked: ‘So you are back. That book is very good. Why don’t you get all of Judge Rutherford’s books in Icelandic?’ I told him that many of them could be had in Danish. He said: ‘Send me everything you have, yes, Pastor Russell’s volumes too, and I will have enough to study this winter.’ Others expressed their appreciation of the books. I am thankful to God for permitting me to bring the message of truth to those who have a hearing ear.”

      It was a tremendous task for one person to reach everyone on this island, which is more than half the size of England. Iceland extends about 200 miles [300 km] from north to south and some 300 miles [500 km] from east to west. The coastline, including fjords and inlets, is nearly 4,000 miles [6,400 km] long. Yet, within ten years Brother Lindal covered the whole island, preaching the good news and distributing literature. He traveled along the coast by boat, and when he visited the farms inland, he used two ponies, one to carry him and the other to carry his literature and belongings. According to the brothers who were privileged to work with him some years before he left Iceland, Brother Lindal was a devoted and serious-minded brother, shy and reserved, a man of few words. He was a man of imposing stature​—tall—​almost too big for the small Icelandic ponies that he used for his travels. At times when there was no pony, he was strong enough to carry his books and possessions by himself.

      Little did Brother Lindal realize, when he started his mission in Iceland in 1929, how difficult it would be and how much patience and perseverance it would take to break the ice, so to speak. For almost 18 years, Brother Lindal was the only Witness in Iceland. Despite his hard work, he did not see anyone take a stand for the Kingdom. In 1936 he wrote: “During the time that I have been here, I have placed in the hands of the people between 26,000 and 27,000 books. Many people have read them. Some seem to have taken their stand against the truth, but the majority remain entirely indifferent.”

      Some, though, appreciated the message he brought them. For example, an elderly man accepted a copy of The Harp of God. When Brother Lindal called back several months later, he met the old man’s daughter, who told him that her father had liked the book and had studied it thoroughly before he died. In keeping with a pagan custom, he had even requested that at his death, the book be put in his coffin with him, which had been done.

      Brother Lindal’s long, lonely stay in Iceland ended on March 25, 1947, when graduates of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead arrived. He continued his service there until he returned to Canada in 1953. Sixteen years later, Páll Heine Pedersen, who was then serving as a special pioneer in Iceland, decided to travel to Winnipeg, Canada, to meet Brother Lindal and to get some firsthand information about his work in Iceland because, by then, the missionaries who had worked with Brother Lindal in Iceland had left the country. While on vacation in the United States, Brother Pedersen traveled by bus to Winnipeg. On arriving, he learned that Brother Lindal had finished his earthly course that morning. He had served Jehovah faithfully until his death.