They Set an Example for Us

AS TOLD BY CRAIG ZANKER

For eight years my wife, Gayle, and I have been pioneers, full-time ministers of Jehovah’s Witnesses. For the last six, we have been serving among the Aboriginal population in Australia’s outback. We are simply following the fine example set for us by my parents and grandparents.

When I was just a young lad, I asked Opa what encouraged them to keep on going under such difficult conditions. He explained that in their isolation there was a closeness to Jehovah. What was at times a physical hardship, he said, became a spiritual blessing.

Without any hint of superiority or self-righteousness, Opa expressed amazement that so many people seem overly concerned with accumulating material possessions. “Life,” he reminded me, “is far better traversed with as little baggage as possible. If Jesus was willing to sleep under the stars when necessary, then we should be happy to do the same if our assignment requires it.” (Matthew 8:19, 20) And, indeed, he and his companions did.

Marriage, a Ban, and War

In December 1938, Opa married a young Indonesian woman named Wilhelmina, who became my grandmother. Oma, or grandma, was kind, gentle, industrious, and soft-spoken. I know, for during my childhood she was my closest friend.