Full-Taem Service​—Olketa Blessing wea Mi Kasem

LONG September 7, 1950, mi go waka long Brooklyn Bethel. Long datfala taem, 355 brata and sista from olketa difren kantri nao stap long Bethel. Age bilong olketa hem 19 go kasem 80 year. Staka long olketa hia hem olketa anointed Christian.

HAO MI LANEM TRUTH

Mami bilong mi nao lanem mi for worshipim “hapi God” bilong iumi. (1 Tim. 1:11) Mami bilong mi start for worshipim Jehovah taem mi smol boy yet. Long July 1, 1939, taem mi 10 year, mi baptaes long wanfala zone assembly (wea distaem olketa kolem circuit assembly) long Columbus, Nebraska, U.S.A. Samting olsem wan handred brata and sista hipap long wanfala building wea mifala rentim for lisin long recording bilong tok wea brata Joseph Rutherford givim wea garem title “Fascism or Freedom.” Taem mifala gohed lisin long tok, samfala pipol start for hipap aotsaed long datfala building. Olketa kam insaed, stopem meeting bilong mifala, and raosem mifala from datfala taon. Mifala go hipap moa long haos bilong wanfala brata wea stap klosap long datfala taon and mifala gohed herem datfala tok. Dastawe, mi hard for forgetim day wea mi baptaes!

Mami bilong mi traem best bilong hem for helpem mi worshipim Jehovah taem mi growap. Nomata dadi hem wanfala kaen and gudfala man, hem no interest tumas long religion or for helpem mi fren witim God. Mami bilong mi and olketa nara brata and sista long Omaha Kongregeson nao barava encouragem mi.

MI DISAED FOR PIONEER

Taem mi klosap finisim hae skul, mi mas disaed wanem nao mi laek duim long laef bilong mi. Evritaem long skul holiday, mi savve auxiliary pioneer witim samfala narawan wea mifala sem age.

Tufala young singol brata, John Chimiklis and Ted Jaracz, wea just graduate long mek-seven class bilong Gilead Skul kasem assignment for duim traveling waka long ples bilong mifala. Mi sapraes for savve age bilong tufala hem samting olsem 20 year nomoa. Long datfala taem mi 18 year and mi klosap finisim skul. Mi tingim yet taem Brata Chimiklis askem mi wanem nao mi laek duim long laef bilong mi. Taem mi talem hem, hem sei: “Ia, iu duim full-taem service. Iu traem and bae iu kasem staka blessing.” Mi barava tinghae long datfala advaes and example bilong tufala brata hia. So mi start pioneer long 1948 bihaen mi finis skul.

MI GO LONG BETHEL

Long July 1950, mi witim dadi and mami bilong mi go long New York City for attendim wanfala international convention long Yankee Stadium. Taem mifala long convention, mi attendim meeting for olketa wea interest for waka long Bethel. Mi raetem wanfala leta go long Bethel and sei mi laek for waka long there.

Nomata dadi bilong mi letem mi for stap long haos and no stopem mi for pioneer, hem laekem mi for givim lelebet selen for helpem famili peim kaikai and olketa nara samting. So wanfala day long August, mi go faendem waka. Bat taem mi redi for go, mi kasem wanfala leta wea olketa long Brooklyn Bethel sendem kam for mi. Datfala leta hem from Nathan Knorr. Hem sei: “Mifala kasem nao application wea iu raetem for kam waka long Bethel. Mi savve iu agree for stap long Bethel for full laef bilong iu. Mi laekem iu for kam long Bethel wea stap long 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York, and start waka long September 7, 1950.”

Taem dadi bilong mi kam bak from waka long datfala day, mi talem hem mi faendem waka nao. Dadi sei: “Gud tumas, wea nao bae iu waka?” Mi sei: “Long Brooklyn Bethel, and bae mi kasem $10.00 evri month.” Dadi lelebet seke long datwan, bat hem sei sapos hem nao wanem mi laek for duim, mi mas traem best for duim gud datfala waka. No longtaem bihaen, dadi hem baptaes long wanfala convention long Yankee Stadium long 1953!

Mi hapi pioneer partner bilong mi, Alfred Nussrallah kasem invitation for go waka long Bethel long semtaem tu, so mitufala go tugeta. Gogo hem marit, then hem and waef bilong hem Joan go long Gilead Skul and kasem assignment for duim missionary waka long Lebanon. Then tufala kasem assignment for kam bak long United States for duim traveling waka.

OLKETA ASSIGNMENT WEA MI KASEM LONG BETHEL

Firstfala assignment bilong mi long Bethel, hem long department for printim olketa buk. Firstfala pablikeson wea mi waka long hem, hem datfala buk What Has Religion Done for Mankind? Bihaen eitfala month, mi kasem assignment for waka long Service Department. Brata Thomas Sullivan nao hem overseer bilong mi. Mi barava hapi for waka witim hem. From hem waka staka year insaed organization bilong Jehovah, hem wise and garem wei for luksavve, and mi lanem staka samting from hem.

Mi waka long Service Department for klosap thrifala year. Then wanfala day Max Larson, wea hem factory overseer talem mi Brata Knorr laek for lukim mi. Mi wari nogud mi duim wanfala rong samting. Bat mi shud no wari. Brata Knorr laek for savve sapos mi ting for lusim Bethel enitaem. Hem laekem samwan for waka witim hem for lelebet taem and hem laek for savve sapos mi savve duim datfala assignment. Mi talem hem, mi no ting for lusim Bethel enitaem. So mi duim datfala waka, and mi garem privilege for gohed waka witim hem for 20 year.

Mi evritaem tinghae long staka samting wea mi lanem from mi waka witim Brata Sullivan and Brata Knorr, and olketa narawan long Bethel olsem Milton Henschel, Klaus Jensen, Max Larson, Hugo Riemer, and Grant Suiter.a

Olketa brata wea mi waka witim olketa barava duim gud waka wea olketa duim for organization bilong Jehovah. Brata Knorr barava waka hard and hem laekem Kingdom waka for gohed gud. Olketa wea waka witim hem no fraet for story long hem. Nomata sapos mifala garem difren tingting from hem abaotem wanfala samting, mifala savve storyim tingting bilong mifala and hem respectim mifala.

Wanfala taem Brata Knorr story long mi abaotem wei for duim gud eni waka, nomata waka wea luk olsem hem no important tu. Olsem example, Brata Knorr talem mi taem hem factory overseer, Brata Rutherford savve ringim hem and sei: “Brata Knorr, taem iu kam for lunch tekem kam samfala pencil rubber for mi. Mi needim for waka bilong mi.” Brata Knorr sei hem stretawe go tekem samfala pencil rubber, and putim long poket bilong hem. Then taem hem go for lunch hem tekem olketa pencil rubber hia long office bilong Brata Rutherford. Hem no big samting, bat hem samting wea Brata Rutherford iusim for waka bilong hem. Then Brata Knorr talem mi: “Mi laekem iu for sharpenem olketa pencil bilong mi and putim long office bilong mi evri morning.” For staka year, mi mek sure mi sharpenem olketa pencil bilong hem.

Staka taem Brata Knorr savve story abaotem wei wea hem important for lisin gud taem hem askem mifala for duim wanfala waka. Wantaem, hem barava explainim gud long mi hao for duim wanfala samting, bat mi no lisin gud long wanem hem talem. So samting wea kamaot from datwan hem mekem Brata Knorr barava shame. Mi feel nogud long wanem mi duim, so mi raetem leta for sei sorre and mi sei ating hem gud mi go duim nara waka. Bihaen, Brata Knorr kam lukim mi. Hem sei: “Robert, mi lukim leta bilong iu. Wanem iu duim hem wanfala mistek. Mi story long iu finis abaotem diswan, and mi savve bae iu traem best for no duim moa. Iumi tufala gohed waka nao.” Hem kaen tumas long mi and mi barava tinghae long datwan.

MI LAEK FOR MARIT

Bihaen eitfala year wea mi waka long Bethel, mi plan for gohed waka long there. Bat gogo plan bilong mi hem change taem mi lukim Lorraine Brookes long taem wea international convention hem kamap long Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds long 1958. Lorraine hem wanfala sista wea mi meetim long 1955 taem hem pioneer long Montreal, Canada. Mi tinghae long wei wea hem ting long full-taem service and hem willing for go long eni ples wea organization bilong Jehovah maet sendem hem. Taem Lorraine young hem garem goal for attendim Gilead Skul. Taem hem 22 year, hem kasem invitation for attendim mek-27 class bilong Gilead Skul long 1956. Bihaen hem graduate hem kasem assignment for duim missionary waka long Brazil. Taem mi lukim Lorraine moa long 1958 mi askem hem for maritim mi, and hem agree. Mitufala plan for marit long 1959, and laek for duim missionary waka tugeta.

Taem mi talem Brata Knorr mi laek for marit, hem sei hem bae gud sapos mitufala savve weit for thrifala year bifor mitufala marit, and then mitufala savve waka long Brooklyn Bethel. Long datfala taem, sapos tufala wea laek marit laek gohed stap long Bethel, wanfala long tufala mas waka long Bethel for winim tenfala year, and narawan for winim thrifala year. So Lorraine agree for waka long Brazil Bethel for tufala year and then waka for wanfala year long Brooklyn Bethel bifor mitufala marit.

Long first tufala year wea mitufala engage, mitufala raet leta nomoa long each other. Hem expensive tumas for ringim narawan, and long datfala taem no eni e-mail tu! Taem mitufala marit long September 16, 1961 Brata Knorr hem givim wedding tok bilong mitufala. Hem tru, tu-thri year wea mitufala mas weit for marit hem olsem longtaem tumas. Bat taem mitufala ting go bak long staka gud samting wea mitufala enjoyim long 50 year wea mitufala marit, mitufala no sorre for weit.

SAMFALA PRIVILEGE WEA MI KASEM

Long 1964 mi kasem privilege for waka olsem zone overseer for visitim samfala kantri. Long datfala taem waef no go witim hasband long olketa visit olsem. Bat long 1977 datwan hem change, and waef savve go witim hasband bilong hem. Long datfala year mi and Lorraine go witim Grant and Edith Suiter for visit long olketa branch office long Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Israel. Mi visitim samting olsem 70 kantri long world taem mi waka olsem zone overseer.

Long 1980 taem mi visitim Brazil, mifala kasem Belém, wanfala taon klosap long equator wea Lorraine duim missionary waka bifor. Mifala visitim tu olketa brata long Manaus. Taem mi givim tok long wanfala stadium, mifala lukim wanfala grup wea sidaon tugeta no followim kastom bilong olketa long Brazil for olketa woman kissim cheek bilong narawan and for olketa brata sekhand. Why nao olketa no duim datwan?

Datfala grup hem samfala Witness wea garem leprosy, wea stap witim olketa narawan wea garem leprosy long midol long Amazon rain forest. Hem no sef for olketa tasim olketa narawan wea kam long datfala meeting. Bat, mifala hapi tumas for lukim olketa, and mifala bae no forgetim hapi wea olketa showimaot! Samting wea Jehovah talem barava tru: “Olketa wakaman bilong mi bae hapi and singaot from heart bilong olketa hem fulap witim gudfala samting.”​—Isa. 65:14.

MI SATISFAE AND GAREM GUDFALA LAEF

Mi and Lorraine evritaem tingim olketa samting wea mitufala duim insaed winim sixti year wea mitufala duim full-taem service. Mitufala kasem staka blessing from Jehovah from wei wea mitufala followim wanem organization bilong hem talem. Nomata distaem mi no strong nao for visitim olketa difren kantri olsem bifor, mi gohed for duim waka for helpem Governing Body. Mi duim waka for helpem Coordinators’ Komiti and Service Komiti. Mi tinghae long privilege wea mi garem for duim disfala waka for sapotim olketa brata evriwea long world. Mifala hapi for lukim staka young brata and sista duim full-taem service and garem sem tingting olsem Isaiah wei sei: “Mi long hia! Sendem mi!” (Isa. 6:8) Olketa young wan hia mekem mi for tingim toktok wea datfala circuit overseer talem mi longtaem bifor: “Duim full-taem service. Iu traem and bae iu kasem staka blessing.”