• Two New Members of the Governing Body
    The Watchtower (Study)—2025 | October

    • Jacob Rumph and his wife, Inga

      Brother Rumph was born in California, U.S.A. During his childhood, his mother was inactive but she made efforts to teach him Bible truths. Also, each year he would visit his grandmother, a faithful Witness. She helped to awaken his interest in the truth, and at 13 years of age, he asked for a Bible study. On September 27, 1992, while in his teens, he got baptized. Happily, his mother was reactivated and all his immediate family began making progress and got baptized.

      In his youth, Brother Rumph saw how happy the pioneers were. So after completing high school, he began pioneering in September 1995. In 2000, he moved to Ecuador to serve where the need was greater. There he met Inga, a pioneer sister from Canada, and eventually they got married. They began their married life in a town in Ecuador that had a small group of publishers. Today it has a thriving congregation.

      In time, Brother and Sister Rumph were appointed as special pioneers and later to the circuit work. In 2011 they were invited to the 132nd class of Gilead. After graduating, they served in various places around the world and enjoyed different forms of service, such as Bethel service, missionary work, and circuit work. Brother Rumph also had the privilege of instructing the School for Kingdom Evangelizers.

      Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brother and Sister Rumph returned to the United States. They were invited to Wallkill Bethel, where Brother Rumph received training in the Service Department. Eventually, they were assigned back to the Ecuador branch, where Brother Rumph served on the Branch Committee. In 2023 they transferred to Warwick. In January 2024, Brother Rumph was appointed to serve as a helper to the Service Committee. Reflecting on where he has served, he says, “What makes an assignment special is never the place but the people with whom you serve.”