• Malaysia
    1993 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Now attention could be focused on Malaya. Six missionaries were assigned to the area. Two of them, James Rowe and Neil Crockett, were able to preach for one year in Kuala Lumpur, but the other four unfortunately were only allowed to stay one month, and they served in Penang. Why their stay was so short is a story in itself.

      Missionaries in Kuala Lumpur

      Early in 1951 the ship Steel King chugged into the port of Penang from New York with six missionaries aboard. At Penang the immigration officials inspected the passports of Brothers Crockett and Rowe and stamped them for a one-year stay in Malaya. However, when they checked the passports of the other four missionaries, it suddenly dawned on them how many missionaries of Jehovah’s Witnesses were entering the country. They told the missionaries that newly passed regulations would not allow foreign Witnesses to stay in the country. However, since the passports of Brothers Crockett and Rowe had already been stamped for a one-year stay, they were permitted to remain, but the other four were granted only a one-month stay in Penang, after which they were to leave the country and were reassigned to Thailand.

      The branch assigned Brothers Crockett and Rowe to Kuala Lumpur. A missionary home was soon established at 25-A Klang Road, about two miles [3 km] from the city center. The city had only one active publisher, Sister Mackenzie, an elderly woman of Eurasian background. Imagine her joy when two missionaries joined her in service!

      Although the truth had been preached to some extent in the 1930’s and early 1940’s, working the territory in 1951 seemed like preaching in virgin territory. The two missionary brothers were anxious to cover the territory as quickly as possible. With a keen desire to search for prospective sheep, they spent whole days as well as evenings preaching and calling back on interested ones. So it was not unusual for them to place a hundred books in a month. Thus, in a short time, each missionary was conducting 15 to 16 Bible studies per month. And after approximately six months, the first congregation was established, with as many as 14 attending the meetings.

      Since Communist insurgents were active in Malaya about this time, it was deemed foolhardy for any Westerner to venture outside the city limits for fear of being ambushed and killed as a suspected plantation owner or colonial government official. However, Sister Mackenzie had a son George, who lived in a distant province, and he wanted to study the Bible. How could the missionaries visit him in view of the dangerous traveling conditions? Brother Crockett had an idea​—blend in with the local people. So he would board an old interprovince bus and seat himself among the other passengers, who had their clucking hens and squealing pigs with them. Many were the tense moments. Every time the bus would round a turn in the road, the passengers never knew what to expect. Perhaps they would run into an ambush and a hail of bullets. Thankfully, during the many months of traveling to study with George, no life-threatening incident occurred. Incidentally, George was eventually baptized and became a well-respected elder until his death in 1986.

      All too soon for the two missionaries, their permit to stay in Malaya neared its expiration date. Would their request for an extension be granted? All hopes were dashed when the answer was no.

      Thus, Brothers Crockett and Rowe sadly said good-bye to their Malayan family and boarded a boat for further missionary service in Thailand.