The brothers then gained permission from the police to hold public meetings, and 975 people heard Bible lectures in Riga, Liepaja, and Jelgava. The talks were delivered in German, the second language of many Latvians. A number asked that further meetings be held.

Earlier, in 1927, a young man named Ferdinand Fruck and his mother, Emilie, were baptized. Four years later, Ferdinand found his future pioneer partner while witnessing at a bakery in his hometown, Liepaja. The baker dashed next door to his brother’s barber shop. “Heinrich! Come quickly!” he said. “A man in my store is saying things that are hard to believe.” The barber, Heinrich Zech, did not find Bible truth hard to believe and was soon baptized. He teamed up with Ferdinand, and the two bicycled to many towns to spread the Kingdom message.

In Liepaja, the clergy issued pamphlets accusing the brothers of not believing in Jesus Christ and telling the people not to obtain their literature. They also used the leading church newspaper to malign the Bible Students.

[Picture on page 180]

Heinrich Zech and his wife, Elsa, in front of their shop in Liepaja