• Norway
    2012 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • THE SAMI RESPOND TO THE GOOD NEWS

      For several decades, many pioneers and others have preached the good news to the Sami people, including reindeer herders deep in the mountain plateau of Finnmarksvidda. Although most Sami speak Norwegian, publishers at times have had to use interpreters. One of the first Witnesses who preached extensively in the Sami language was Aksel Falsnes, who was partly of Sami origin and spoke Sami, Norwegian, and Finnish. His sister, who lived in southern Norway, had come into the truth and had sent him one of our publications, which he read with great interest. There were no Witnesses in the part of Troms where he lived, but in 1968 some pioneers and a circuit overseer visited Aksel and helped him make spiritual progress.

      Aksel proved to be a zealous publisher. He often put his bicycle in his rowboat early in the morning, rowed across the fjord, and then used his bicycle to get from one community to another. With his knowledge of the Sami language, Aksel was able to give a good witness to Sami people in the far reaches of Finnmark.

      Aksel was a hardy person, and he traveled long distances on skis to reach isolated homes. For example, late one winter he skied from Karasjok across a mountain plateau to Kautokeino and then on to Alta. All he could take with him was a simple backpack with a few personal items and some literature. After a few weeks, he arrived at the home of friends in Alta, having covered the entire distance of about 250 miles [400 km] on skis!

      In the early 1970’s, several Sami came into the truth. In Hammerfest, a Sami woman and her husband began studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Soon, some of her relatives in Alta became interested. Arne and Marie Ann Milde, special pioneers in Alta, started a Bible study with these sincere people and often had 10 or 12 in attendance at the study. Eventually, about half of them became Witnesses.

      “It is a challenge to preach in the Sami territory,” says Hartvig Mienna, a Sami pioneer in Alta who uses his snowmobile to reach isolated people. “The distances are great, and many of the people are bound by their tradition. But they are hospitable, and we have been able to start several Bible studies with them.”