Arrival of More Missionaries

During the 1960’s, the organization took advantage of the opportunity to send missionaries to Congo. A small missionary home was established in Kinshasa. In March 1964, missionaries Julian and Madeleine Kissel arrived from Canada. Forty years later they are still serving faithfully as members of the Bethel family in Kinshasa.

Some missionaries who came in the late 1960’s are now residing in other countries. In 1965, Stanley and Bertha Boggus were assigned to Congo after having served in Haiti. Brother Boggus, a traveling overseer, returned to the United States in 1971 because of health problems. Toward the end of 1965, Michael and Barbara Pottage joined the missionaries in Congo. They are currently at Britain Bethel. William and Ann Smith were assigned to Congo in 1966; they worked mostly in Katanga. Because of a ban, they were reassigned to Kenya in 1986. Manfred Tonak from Germany, who graduated in the 44th class of Gilead, served as a traveling overseer in Congo. When the ban came, he was assigned to Kenya. Now he is Branch Committee coordinator in Ethiopia. In 1969, Dayrell and Susanne Sharp came to Congo after graduating in the 47th class of Gilead. After being expelled from Congo, they were assigned to Zambia and have been in Lusaka Bethel ever since. Other missionaries were reassigned to countries in West Africa. Among them were Reinhardt and Heidi Sperlich, who died in a plane crash. This tragedy was a source of great sadness to all who knew them.

In 1966 the first missionary home outside Kinshasa was opened in Lubumbashi, in the southeast of the country. Later, others were established in Kolwezi, northwest of Lubumbashi, and in Kananga (then Luluabourg), Kasai. The presence of the missionaries was a strong stabilizing influence that helped the brothers to live the truth. In Kasai, for example, tribal rivalries still existed among the brothers. Since the missionaries were not from the tribes, they were in a good position to mediate problems and to act with impartiality in judicial cases.

From 1968 to 1986, over 60 missionaries served in different parts of the country. Some had attended the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in the United States, and others, the Gilead Extension School in Germany. In addition, French-speaking pioneers came directly to Congo as missionaries. Many learned the local languages, and all worked hard to comfort people with the Kingdom good news.

Consider a missionary’s description of meeting places during the late 1960’s.

“To reach a Kingdom Hall in Léopoldville, we must walk down a passageway between houses made of rough concrete. A crowd of children follows us. We enter a courtyard that is encircled by a concrete wall. The open-sided Kingdom Hall is behind a house that is occupied by brothers. The brothers are practicing Kingdom songs. What a thrill it is to hear them! They sing with all their hearts. We are happy that trees overshadow the hall, giving protection from the sun. There is seating for about 200 people. The platform is made of concrete and has a corrugated sheet-iron roof. If the speaker happens to be tall, he may have to stoop a little. There is an information board for letters from the branch office and for congregation assignments. There is a table for literature. The brothers have placed plants at the side of the platform. Kerosene lamps are used for lighting so that the brothers can hold their meetings in the evenings. When we leave, the children are still outside to escort us back to the main road.

“We now journey deep into the interior of Congo. As we enter a village of grass huts, the Kingdom Hall catches our attention. This is a structure supported by nine poles, with a thick roof made of leaves. There are small trenches dug in the ground from one side of the hall to the other. Surprisingly, when we sit on the ground and place our feet in the trenches, we are not uncomfortable. Above the brother who conducts the meeting hangs a handwritten sign that says ‘Kingdom Hall’ in the local dialect. There are about 30 people attending. Perhaps only half are publishers. They know a few Kingdom songs. What they lack in musical technique, they make up for in enthusiasm, and we sing with all our hearts.

“Now we travel to the northern part of the country. We stop the Land Rover and look toward the village. We see a cluster of grass huts, beyond which is a structure that stands out from the rest. This structure is made of thick bamboo poles firmly joined together. Windows and a door have been cut into the bamboo wall. The roof is made of grass. In front of the building is a neat lawn with a narrow path, and on the lawn is a small sign that reads: ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ Walking up the path, we reach the Kingdom Hall and are joyfully welcomed by our brothers. As we enter, we observe that the benches consist of bamboo poles placed across upright bamboo stakes. It is good that the Kingdom Hall has a watertight roof! Otherwise, problems would result: If water reaches the bamboo stakes, they take root and grow rapidly. Instead of being 12 inches [30 cm] from the ground, your bench would be much higher. An information board displays meeting schedules and letters from the branch office. The brothers get literature from a table made of split bamboo lashed together with reeds.

“We travel south to Katanga, where the sun is just setting. Here the weather is much cooler, and we need to wear warmer clothes. We reach a village, and as we approach the Kingdom Hall, we hear the brothers singing. The brothers in villages generally do not possess watches, so they estimate from the sun when it is time for the meetings. The first ones to arrive at the hall usually start singing until the majority are present and the meeting can begin. We squeeze onto a seat made of a tree trunk sawed in half and placed on two supports. The literature is kept in an old cupboard, but it cannot be stored there for long because of invasions by cockroaches and termites that ruin the paper. When the meeting is over, the brothers invite us to look at their hall. The walls are made of small branches tied with reeds and then covered with clay. The watertight roof is made of woven grass.”

[Box/Picture on page 200-202]

An Interview With Michael Pottage

Born: 1939

Baptized: 1956

Profile: Michael and his wife, Barbara, served in Congo for 29 years. Now at Britain Bethel, Michael is an elder in a Lingala-speaking congregation in London.

Our primary challenge was learning to communicate. We first had to become fluent in French, the official language of Congo. That was only the beginning. In Katanga, we learned Swahili; in Kananga, we had to master Tshiluba; and when we were assigned to Kinshasa, we learned Lingala.

All of this proved very beneficial. First, our brothers more readily warmed up to us as we struggled to communicate with them. They saw our efforts to speak their languages as proof of our genuine love and our interest in them. A second benefit was that the ministry became more meaningful. The first reaction of a householder upon hearing us speak his language was often astonishment followed by delight and then respect, along with a desire to hear what we had to say.

When we traveled in the district work, our knowledge of local languages saved us from potentially dangerous situations. Military and political party roadblocks were common in times of crisis and served as a convenient place to extort money. Especially were foreigners seen as easy and lucrative targets. When we were stopped at a roadblock, we would greet the soldiers in the local language. This made them draw back in surprise. They would then ask who we were. When we could go beyond a mere learned greeting and explain in their language exactly what we were doing, they usually responded favorably, requested our publications, and wished us a safe journey with God’s blessing.

We were often deeply touched by the genuine self-sacrificing love displayed by our African brothers. For many years Congo was a one-party political state that actively and sometimes violently opposed neutrals, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses. In this climate, we traveled by jeep in the district work, serving the brothers at assemblies.

I well remember one assembly. During the evening session of the final day, the local head of the political party came behind the platform. He was drunk and abusive, insisting that we allow him on the stage to tell everyone that they must buy a party card. When we refused, he became enraged and screamed abuse at us, saying that Jehovah’s Witnesses were against the government and should be imprisoned. Some brothers managed to persuade him to leave. He left, shouting that he was going to report us to the administrator and return to burn our jeep and set fire to the grass house where we were staying. We knew that this was no idle threat.

The brothers were wonderful. Instead of running away in fear, they gathered around us, encouraging us to trust in Jehovah and leave matters in his hands. They then took turns guarding our grass house and jeep all night. It was a most touching experience. Not only were the brothers ready to lay down their own lives to protect us but they were willing to risk whatever brutality might follow our departure because of the refusal to support the political party. We have never forgotten this demonstration of self-sacrificing Christian love, along with so many other heartwarming expressions of love that we experienced during our years in Congo.

[Box/Picture on page 211-213]

Interview With Terence Latham

Born: 1945

Baptized: 1964

Profile: Spent 12 years as a missionary. Learned French, Lingala, and Swahili. Presently serves in Spain with his wife and two children.

It was in 1969 that Raymond Knowles and I flew into Kisangani. The city then had about 230,000 inhabitants and was the capital of the northeastern province of Congo.

What a warm welcome we received from the handful of publishers and the many interested people in the area! They showered us with gifts​—papayas, pineapples, and bananas, along with tropical fruits that we had never seen before. Some brought live chickens and tortoises. Samuel Tshikaka kindly put us up in his house. Soon, though, we found a bungalow to rent. We were then joined by Nicholas and Mary Fone as well as Paul and Marilyn Evans. How happy we were! Together we refurbished and painted the first missionary home in Kisangani. It was overgrown with forest vines and tall grass, and during the cleanup we dislodged two civet cats from the attic. Later, Peter and Ann Barnes joined us in that missionary home, along with Ann Harkness, who had become my wife.

It was during the first four years of preaching in Kisangani that we learned to speak Lingala and Swahili and drew close to the hospitable and friendly people there. We had so many studies that we had to work from early morning to late evening to care for them all. During our years in Kisangani, we saw the group of fewer than ten publishers grow to eight congregations.

Once while driving along the Ituri road, a group of us noticed a Pygmy village. We were eager to preach to the inhabitants. The Pygmies, some scholars say, refer to the forest as their mother or father because it is the source of their food, clothing, and shelter. Consequently, the Pygmies view the forest as sacred and believe that they can commune with it through a ceremony called molimo. This ceremony involves dancing and singing around a fire. Accompanying the dancing is the molimo trumpet, a long wooden tube that the men blow to produce music and animal sounds.

We were impressed by the fascinating settlement of these nomadic people, who usually stay in one place only for a month or so. The camp was composed of beehive-shaped sleeping shelters constructed from saplings and leaves. These shelters had only one opening and could be constructed in two hours or less. Each was big enough for a few individuals to curl up inside. Some children approached us to touch our skin and hair; they had never seen white people before. What a privilege it was to meet and preach to those friendly people of the forest! They told us that they had previously met Witnesses who came to them from villages located near their encampments.