They arrived by ship in 1936 and rented a room in the capital, Caracas, which back then had a population of 200,000. Already, over a decade earlier, some Bible Students​—as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known—​had visited Venezuela and had distributed thousands of Bible tracts in the principal cities, but they did not remain in the country. However, Kate Goas and her daughter were not in Venezuela for just a brief visit. Though rather refined and delicate in appearance, Kate carried an enormous bag of literature and a phonograph as she called from door to door. She and her daughter systematically covered all of Caracas. This having been accomplished, they moved into the interior of the country, traveling long distances by bus on dusty, unpaved roads. They preached in such places as Quiriquire, El Tigre, Ciudad Bolívar in the east, and Maracaibo in the west.

However, in July 1944 they had to return to the United States because Marion had contracted malaria. Kate Goas, in a letter to the Society dated August 2, 1944, wrote the following: “We have placed lots of literature . . . After witnessing practically throughout the Republic, we continue to find people that like our literature and read it each time we come round . . . Now, after a two-year constant witness in Caracas, seven persons, six sisters and one brother, have taken their stand for righteousness, having been baptized . . . These brethren are very happy in their Christian knowledge of Jehovah and his Kingdom . . . A good witness has indeed been given over and over again in all Caracas, and the content of the literature is well known . . . Yours for His Theocracy, Kate Goas.” The “one brother” here mentioned was young Rubén Araujo, about whom we will hear more later. (Incidentally, the seven who had been baptized by Sister Goas were rebaptized in 1946 by a brother, in harmony with the Bible pattern that shows baptisms being performed only by males who were in an approved relationship with Jehovah.)

When Pedro received an invitation to go to Caracas (a distance of about 430 miles [700 km]) for the meeting to be held during the visit of Brother Knorr, he and a friend determined to make the trip. But there were problems to be dealt with. Pedro continued: “My pregnant wife started to have birth pains, and my business needed my attention. What to do? I got a midwife to stay with my wife and left the candy business in the care of my three children, aged 14, 12, and 10. Then we left by bus for Caracas, a hard trip, two days on unpaved roads.” What a joy it was for him to meet the Witnesses in Caracas! While there, he received a telegram from Maracaibo: “Wife well. Child better. Myself in the business. Justo Morales.” His own brother had arrived unexpectedly from Colombia and taken charge of things.

On the very first day of those special meetings in Caracas, Brother Franz spoke on “Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Crucible.” Then Brother Knorr continued the theme while Fred Franz interpreted. What an eye-opener this discussion was! It focused attention on what the Bible says Christians must expect at the hands of the world, and it gave details of the intense persecution that Jehovah’s Witnesses had experienced in Europe during World War II.

The next day a baptism took place at Los Chorros, in a water basin at the foot of a waterfall. Ten people got baptized that day, including Winston Blackwood (who had been contacted by Sister Goas in Quiriquire) and his son Eduardo, Horacio Mier y Terán and his younger brother Efraín, Pedro Morales, Gerardo Jessurun from Surinam (Suriname), Israel Francis, and José Mateus.