• Romania
    2006 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Help for Traveling Overseers

      Brothers Roberto Franceschetti and Andrea Fabbi were assigned from the Italy branch to Romania in 1990. Their objective was to help reorganize the work. “At the time, I was 57 years old,” explains Brother Franceschetti. “Because of the economic conditions in Romania at the time, the new assignment was not easy for my wife, Imelda, and me.

      “When we arrived in Bucharest on December 7, 1990, at 7:00 p.m., the temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit [−12°C], and the city was blanketed in snow. We met some brothers in the city center and inquired about a bed for the night. ‘We don’t know yet,’ they said. However, a young lady whose mother and grandmother were Witnesses overheard our conversation and immediately invited us to her home. We stayed there for a few weeks until we found a suitable apartment in the city. The local brothers also gave us emotional support and encouragement, which helped us to adjust to our assignment.”

      A graduate of the 43rd class of Gilead in 1967, Roberto, along with his wife, spent nearly nine years in Romania, generously helping the brothers to benefit from their decades of experience in Jehovah’s service. “In January 1991,” continues Roberto, “the Country Committee arranged a meeting with all the traveling overseers​—42 brothers. Most served small circuits of six or seven congregations each. Their routine had been to serve each congregation over two consecutive weekends, usually without their wives. In those days, circuit overseers had to hold down a normal job to support their families and to avoid arousing the suspicion of the authorities. But now these brothers could follow the same schedule as their counterparts in other lands by serving congregations from Tuesday through Sunday.

      “After explaining this arrangement, I said to all 42 brothers, ‘If you are willing to continue to serve as traveling overseers, please raise your hand.’ Not one hand went up! Thus, in a matter of minutes, we lost all the traveling overseers in the country! After giving the matter further prayerful thought, however, some changed their mind. Additional help arrived in the form of Ministerial Training School graduates from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.”