In January 1981 when Mairambubu was in a bus on her way to a local market, she overheard the conversation mentioned earlier. My wife wanted to hear more, so she asked the woman for her name and address. She gave her name, Apun, but she was cautious because even in the 1980’s, the activities of the Witnesses were banned. Instead of giving my wife her address, Apun took note of our address. My wife arrived home excited.

“I heard wonderful things,” said Mairambubu. “A woman told me that soon people will no longer die. Even wild beasts will be tamed.” To me, it sounded like a fairy tale. “Let’s wait until she visits to tell us the details,” I replied.

Apun visited us three months later. Further visits followed, whereby we met some of the first Witnesses belonging to the Kyrgyz people. These sisters introduced us to the amazing truths about Jehovah and his purpose for mankind. They read to us the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.a And since there was just one copy of this book in Tokmok, we copied it by hand for ourselves.

One of the first things we learned was the prophecy at Genesis 3:15. This prophecy will be fulfilled through Jesus as God’s Messianic King. That is an important message that everyone must hear! All the more reason for us to join in the proclamation. (Matt. 24:14) Soon, Bible truth began to transform our lives.

MEETINGS AND BAPTISM UNDER BAN

A Christian brother in Tokmok invited us to a wedding. My wife and I soon noticed that the Witnesses behaved differently. There was no alcohol at the wedding, and the festivities were orderly. This was a big contrast to other weddings we had attended, where guests often got drunk, behaved badly, and used foul language.

We also attended some Christian meetings of the congregation in Tokmok. These were held in the woods, weather permitting. The brothers and sisters knew that the police kept a close watch on us, so the brothers posted a lookout. In winter, we gathered for meetings in a house. A couple of times, the police came to the house and demanded to know what we were doing. When Mairambubu and I got baptized in July 1982 in the Chüy River, we had to be cautious. (Matt. 10:16) Brothers arrived in small numbers and assembled in the forest. We sang a Kingdom song and listened to the baptism talk.

In our home congregation of Tokmok, new avenues of service opened up. We had numerous Bible studies with young Kyrgyz students at educational institutes. One of these young people with whom we studied now serves on the Branch Committee, and two others are special pioneers. We also reached out to help others at our meetings. In the early 1990’s, our publications as well as the meetings were in the Russian language. But an increasing number in the congregation spoke Kyrgyz as their mother tongue. So I interpreted, which helped them grasp the truth more readily.