‘Build a Kingdom Hall that can double as an Assembly Hall platform.’ How? ‘Well, raise the floor of the Kingdom Hall about three feet [1 m] from the ground. Then, put two giant sliding doors in one of the sidewalls of the hall. Open these doors during assemblies, and the hall becomes a platform. Then, add a huge roof in front of this platform to protect people against sun and rain, and you have an Assembly Hall suitable for the tropics.’

First Kingdom Hall in the Rain Forest

In September 1976 the new Godo Olo Congregation got another lift when four young Witnesses, professional teachers, settled along the Tapanahoni. “Although we went there to teach school,” explains Hartwich Tjon A San, one of the teachers, “chiefly we moved there to work with that new congregation.” And work they did! Patiently they taught their illiterate brothers to read and write, and after that they offered a willing hand with the congregation’s next plan of action: building a Kingdom Hall in Godo Olo.

Earlier, village chief Alufaisi had offered the brothers a plot on which to build a hall. The brothers had no money, so how would they go about it? They reasoned: “The forest gives wood. The river gives sand and gravel. And Jehovah gives us the strength to gather it.” All they lacked was cement. With this the canoe Noah helped out.

Because of Noah’s reputation for safe and convenient travel, government workers paid some 4,000 guilders ($2,200, U.S.) a year to rent the boat to take them to the coast. Those earnings bought the cement in the capital. But how to get the cement in Godo Olo? Again, Noah.

In Albina, Do Amedon, a tall, muscular Bush Negro and reputable helmsman, and other brothers loaded 40 110-pound [50 kg] bags of cement in the korjaal. Then they steered the deep-draft Noah up the Maroni and headed south for the sulas (rapids), which have names like Manbari (Men Scream [while passing through the rapid]) and Pulugudu (Lost Possessions [the rapids sank many a boat, and people lost their possessions]). Would they make it through?

The crew heard the roar of the first cataract! Ahead of them the river tumbled down a mass of rocks resembling a giant staircase, collided with huge stones blocking its path, squeezed through treacherous channels, and slammed against Noah. The brother standing at the bow scanned the wild river for openings. Then, he plunged his long stick into the churning water, arched his back, and punted Noah into a channel. He gestured. The engine stopped, and Noah was moored at the foot of the sula.

Do Amedon swung a bag of cement on his head. Jumping from one slippery rock to the next, he clambered across the rapids and lowered the bag to a dry spot. The other brothers followed. One by one, all the bags were carried across. Now the brothers carefully pulled Noah through the white water and then loaded the bags again. The journey resumed until the following sula, where the hoisting, jumping, pulling, and reloading activity was repeated. Finally, seven rapids and 11 days later, the cement reached Godo Olo.

Meanwhile, other brothers had cut trees, and the sisters and children had hauled 250 barrels of sand and gravel to the building site. Construction began, and one year later, April 15, 1979, the first Kingdom Hall in the rain forest was dedicated.