A few months later, with the fighting between troops and so-called jungle commandos (mostly Bush Negroes) centered around Albina, a village on the Maroni River, the Bush Negro brothers living in southeast Suriname had to decide if they would go to the convention in Paramaribo. “They knew that going meant traveling through the thick of fighting,” explains Cecyl, “but they did not want to miss the convention and decided to go.” Ten days before the convention, 60 brothers, sisters, and children canoed downstream toward the battle area. On Friday they reached Albina, tied their hammocks in the Kingdom Hall, and slept there.

Before dawn, the streets of Albina echoed with the rattle of gunfire. Jungle commandos swept through the village, troops struck back, and bullets ricocheted off the roof of the hall. The Witnesses scrambled for cover and lay flat the rest of the day.

That night, one of them managed to call the branch office. “Come and pick us up,” he pleaded. Sunday afternoon, three elders were on their way. About 11 o’clock at night, they reached the stranded brothers.

The elders wanted to return the next day, but the Bush Negro brothers urged, “Let’s leave now. The shooting may start again.” The elders prayed for Jehovah’s direction and after midnight, three overloaded cars slowly headed for the capital.

“The road was deserted,” remembers Paul Naarendorp, one of the drivers. “As we approached a military checkpoint, my heart beat faster. Imagine, the army was fighting the jungle commandos, and now a convoy carrying 60 Bush Negroes, many of them young, strong men, popped up in front of them.” Would they be mistaken for jungle commandos?

From behind a pillar, a soldier signaled the convoy to stop. “We looked right into the barrel of a tank,” Paul goes on, “and were surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. One unexpected move could trigger gunfire. However, after we explained we were Witnesses, the soldiers checked the cars and let us go.”

When the brothers reached Paramaribo, they heard that fighting had flared up in Albina again. They had left in time.

But Now Going Back

After the convention the brothers learned that the army had closed the only road to Albina. So the Bush Negro brothers were stuck again. They waited for two weeks but by then were so homesick for the rain forest that they entreated, “Take us to the river. From there we’ll get home.”

A plan was made, and Jehovah’s direction was asked. First the ten helmsmen and some elders from Paramaribo would try to reach Albina. “I can’t explain why, but although the military saw us,” relates an elder, “they did not turn us back.” When the Bush Negro brothers finally saw the Maroni River, they danced with joy.

The next day, the sisters and children left and were also allowed to pass the checkpoint, while others were stopped. At the river, the helmsmen were waiting with the boats. What a reunion!

One more trip was planned. Two trucks were loaded with 96 bags of rice, 16 barrels of gasoline, 7 barrels of kerosene, and foodstuffs, and again the brothers drove to the checkpoint. Though these supplies were trucked into territory held by jungle commandos, and no goods were allowed to go there, the guards let the trucks pass. “A miracle,” says one brother. “Jehovah’s hand was evident.”

One week later, the 60 brothers and all supplies reached home. They had spent five weeks to attend a three-day convention. Some weeks later, the army cut off all supplies for the interior, and grave food shortages occurred. But the brothers who attended the convention had food for months to come and gasoline for preaching trips. “Looking back,” says Cecyl, “I see how Jehovah directed us to make the right decision at the right time.”

Running for Their Lives

The following year, fighting shifted to Moengo, a mining town east of Paramaribo. Troops moved in but ran into fierce resistance. Bullets ripped through town, houses went up in flames, and people ran for their lives.

Most of the brothers there slipped into the rain forest and ran for safety. Some reached Paramaribo, while others paddled toward the Maroni River, the border with French Guiana. They crossed the three-mile-wide [5 km] river and entered French Guiana. Some 50 Witnesses crossed that border and saved their lives.

Then, in the mid-1980’s, he and other pioneers moved to the Maroni River. Response was overwhelming, but the Bush Negroes there were so scattered that it was impossible to reach all of them. However, in 1985 the problem was solved. How?

That year the Governing Body approved an increase in the gasoline allowance for special pioneers in the rain forest. With extra fuel for the outboard motors, the pioneers now steered their canoes from one settlement to the next and found waves of interest. In 1985 a new congregation of some 30 publishers was formed in the village of Gakaba. Some months later, that number increased to 50, and some 20 of these publishers began to pioneer. Before long, Do Amedon was hauling bags of cement through the rapids again. A second Kingdom Hall appeared in the rain forest!

A Tenfold Increase

“A group of young brothers completed a 200-seat hall on a scenic island in the Maroni,” reports Branch Committee coordinator Wim van Seijl, who recently visited the area.