Each year, special pioneers are regularly sent to witness in towns where no congregations are located. But 49 percent of the population lives in rural areas. In 1987 the branch equipped a truck with basic commodities necessary to make it suitable as a mobile home for special pioneers. For ten years now, it has been used to reach the rural territories not covered by congregations or by temporary special pioneers. In this way the waters of life are being spread throughout vast areas of the country.

Special effort has also been made to witness to people who live along the rivers. Often, their only physical contact with the rest of the world is by boat. So by 1992 the Society had built a boat with room for a crew of four. They began a systematic campaign to look for sheeplike people along the banks of the rivers. Appropriately the boat is named The Pioneer.

“Traversing the Paraguay River,” writes the brother in charge of the group, “we arrived at Puerto Fonciere, 300 miles [483 km] from Asunción, and began preaching from house to house. In the course of a conversation with an elderly woman, we mentioned that God had said he would destroy all wickedness, and as Jehovah’s Witnesses, we were informing the people that God would do this through his Kingdom. Interrupting the conversation, the woman turned to her granddaughter and told her to call her grandfather and tell him that ‘his people’ had arrived. Shortly the grandfather, a man in his 70’s, came. He was perspiring, since he had been working on his farm. He greeted us warmly, and with tear-filled eyes, he thanked God that we had finally arrived. He said that he had been waiting for our visit for some time. Somewhat puzzled, we asked for an explanation. He replied that a certain military captain from the island Peña Hermosa had given him a Bible and the book ‘Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie.’ The captain had marked several Bible texts, such as Psalm 37:10, 11 and Psalm 83:18, and had told him that some day Jehovah’s Witnesses would arrive at his home to tell him more of Jehovah’s purposes. A Bible study was started immediately.”

To date the boat has covered, at least twice, all the territory along the banks of the Paraguay River from the Bolivian border on the north to the Argentine border on the south, a total distance of some 785 miles [1,260 km].

In order to help give a witness in this land where the ratio of population to Witnesses is still 817 to 1, neighboring branches have assigned some special pioneers to serve here.

Among the local Witnesses are some who have spent many years in the full-time ministry. During her 36 years as a special pioneer, Edulfina de Yinde has helped 78 persons to the point of dedication and baptism. She and her husband rejoice that there are five congregations flourishing where they have served. María Chavez has also helped many during her 39 years of service as a special pioneer.