Then, unexpectedly, in March 1986, the president of the country signed a decree to ban the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Construction came to a halt, and before long, most of the missionaries had left the country.

We were able to stay for a while. We did what we could to continue preaching, though we knew we were under constant observation. Despite our caution, I was arrested while conducting a Bible study. I was put into a large dungeonlike room that was crowded with other detainees. It was hot, smelly, dark, and stuffy; the only light and ventilation came from a small opening high on one wall. Some prisoners grabbed me and brought me to their self-appointed boss. “Sing our national anthem!” he demanded. “I don’t know it,” I replied. “Sing your own country’s national anthem!” they said. “I don’t know that one either,” I said. He then made me stand against a wall for about 45 minutes. Eventually, local brothers negotiated my release.

We could see that things were not going to improve in the country, and it was not long afterward that we were reassigned to Zambia.

In 1993, the Supreme Court annulled the 1986 ban. There are now more than 240,000 Kingdom publishers in Congo.