In the south two things interfered with regular visits of the circuit overseers to the congregations: Guerrilla warfare or fuel shortages, which could disrupt transportation at any time, and problems with the mode of travel. It could involve squeezing into the back of a crowded truck and being bounced up and down for an entire day or creeping along at six miles [ten km] per hour in a packed train, with two passengers per seat and squatters on the roof of the cars. Air travel was no picnic either. It could mean being on standby for an entire week, waiting for an airplane to arrive, and then have less than an hour advance notice of departure. But how the congregations appreciated circuit overseers’ visits! Their joy and hospitality defied description.

Most of the growth, however, has come from the southerners, tall dark-skinned people of athletic build who are often marked with abundant incisions and decorations on their face or body.

As many fled hunger and war, Juba, the main town of the south, swelled in population to over a quarter million people. Guerrillas, though, tightened their grip on Juba. So for long periods of time, the town was completely cut off from the outside world. Relief supplies for our brothers have repeatedly reached them in the nick of time, just before their stock had been depleted.

Yet, training for the increasing number of pioneers continued, as did regular spiritual association. The spiritual food supply did not run out. As the truth spread farther and farther in the south, new groups and congregations kept springing up in town after town.

Amid all these pressures, some surprising things happened in 1990. First, one southern province gave legal recognition to Jehovah’s Witnesses.