Nomata Mi Savve Shame, Mi Kamap Wanfala Missionary

Mi born lo 1951 lo Vienna, Austria, parents blo mi olketa Catholic. Mi gele for shame, bat mi biliv lo God and prea evritaem. Taem mi naen years old, dadi blo mi start for studyim Bible witim Olketa Jehovah’s Witness, and bihaen mami blo mi tu start for study.

Mifala joinim Döbling Kongregeson lo Vienna. Mifala famili savve duim staka samting tugeta. Mifala readim and studyim Bible tugeta, attendim olketa meeting, and volunteer lo olketa assembly. Taem mi smol yet, dadi blo mi helpem mi for barava lovem Jehovah. Dadi blo mi savve prea evritaem for mi and sista blo mi for kamap olketa pioneer. Bat lo datfala taem, mi no garem datfala goal.

STARTIM FULL-TAEM SERVICE

Mi baptaes lo 1965, taem mi 14 years old. Bat hem no isi for mi go preach lo pipol wea mi no savve lo olketa. And tu, mi feel olsem olketa nara young wan olketa gud winim mi and mi barava laekem olketa for acceptim mi. So no longtaem bihaen mi baptaes, mi start for associate witim olketa wea no servem Jehovah. Mi laek associate witim olketa, bat konsens blo mi gohed pokem mi bikos mi spendem staka taem tumas witim olketa. Bat hem no isi for mi stop for associate witim olketa. Wat nao helpem mi?

Lo datfala taem, wanfala 16-year old gele wea nem blo hem Dorothée, hem joinim kongregeson blo mifala. Dorothée hem laek tumas for preach and datwan barava encouragem mi. Mi older than hem, bat mi no savve go preach evritaem. Datwan mekem mi ting: ‘Parents blo mi olketa Witness, bat famili blo Dorothée no insaed truth. Hem stap tu witim mami blo hem wea sik, nomata olsem, hem evritaem go lo ministry!’ Gud example blo hem motivatim mi for duim moa samting for Jehovah. No longtaem bihaen, mi and Dorothée kamap pioneer partner. First, mitufala auxiliary pioneer, wea bifor olketa kolem lo vacation pioneer. Then bihaen, mitufala regular pioneer tugeta. Dorothée laekem tumas for duim ministry, and datwan mekem mi tu for barava interest for duim ministry. Dorothée helpem mi for startim first Bible study blo mi. Gogo, mi faendem hem isi lelebet for mi go preach lo pipol lo haos blo olketa, lo street, and lo olketa nara ples.

During lo first year wea mi kamap regular pioneer, wanfala brata from Austria, wea nem blo hem Heinz kam lo kongregeson blo mifala. Hem lanem truth lo Canada taem hem visitim brata blo hem, wea hem wanfala Witness. Heinz kasem assignment olsem spesol pioneer lo kongregeson blo mifala, lo Vienna. Taem mi start for savve lo hem, mi laekem wei blo hem. Bat hem laek for kamap missionary, and datwan hem no goal blo mi. Dastawe, mi hol bak for showim dat mi laekem hem. Bat gogo, mi and Heinz start for fren, mitufala marit, and start pioneer tugeta lo Austria.

GOAL FOR KAMAP MISSIONARY

Staka taem Heinz savve story lo mi abaotem hao hem laek for kamap missionary. Nomata olsem, no enitaem hem mekem mi for feel dat mi mas kamap missionary, bat hem savve encouragem mi taem hem askem olketa kwestin olsem, “From iumi tufala no garem pikinini, hao sapos iumi tufala duim moa samting for Jehovah?” From mi savve shame, mi hol bak for kamap missionary. Hem tru, mi pioneer, bat taem mi ting abaotem missionary waka, hem tumas for mi. Nomata olsem, Heinz hem patient for helpem mi for gohed tingim datfala goal. Hem encouragem mi tu for focus lo wei for helpem pipol, and for no wari tumas abaotem miseleva. Advaes wea hem givim barava helpem mi.

Gogo, mi laek duim missionary waka, so mitufala apply for Gilead Skul. Then wanfala branch servant talem dat hem bae gud for mi impruvim English blo mi firstaem. Afta mi traem best for lanem English for thrifala year, mitufala sapraes for kasem assignment for serve lo wanfala Yugoslavian kongregeson lo Salzburg, Austria. Mitufala stap lo datfala kongregeson for seven years, includim wan year lo circuit waka. Datfala languis, Serbo-Croatian hem no isi for lanem, bat mitufala garem staka Bible study.

Then lo 1979, Branch office askem mitufala for go lo Bulgaria olsem tourist wea go for holiday, bikos gavman banim preaching waka lo there. So lo datfala trip, mitufala no duim eni preaching waka. Bat mitufala tekem haed samfala pablikeson blo iumi wea olketa wakem wea hem barava smol, mekem mitufala savve tekem go for faevfala sista wea stap lo Sofia, wea hem kapitol city blo Bulgaria. Mi barava fraet, bat Jehovah helpem mi lo datfala interesting assignment. Taem mi lukim faevfala sista hia no fraet and hapi nomata maet enitaem nomoa bae police arrestim olketa, datwan givim mi confidence for duim best blo mi lo eni assignment wea organization blo Jehovah laekem mi for duim.

Gogo, mitufala apply moa for Gilead, and distaem olketa acceptim. Mitufala tingse bae mitufala attendim skul lo English lo United States. Bat lo November 1981, organization garem Gilead class lo branch lo Wiesbaden, Germany. So mitufala attendim datfala course lo German languis, wea hem isi lelebet for mi understandim. Bihaen datwan, wea moa bae next assignment blo mitufala?

MISSIONARY LO KANTRI WEA WAR HEM GOHED

Mitufala kasem assignment for go lo Kenya! Bat then branch office lo Kenya ask if mitufala bae willing for serve lo Uganda, wea hem wanfala kantri wea border witim Kenya. Winim ten years bifor, General Idi Amin iusim army for tekovarem gavman blo Uganda. Lo olketa year bihaen datwan, rul blo hem kosim staka thousand pipol for dae and staka million pipol safa. Then lo 1979, nara grup moa tekovarem gavman blo Uganda. For tok stret, mi fraet lelebet for go stap lo kantri wea war hem gohed. Bat Gilead trainim mitufala for trustim Jehovah, so mitufala willing for go.

Situation lo Uganda hem barava hard. Lo 2010 Yearbook, Heinz describem laef lo Uganda and hem sei: “Staka samting brek daon, . . . olsem wata supply and saed lo communication. . . . Pipol sutsut lo gun and stealing hem big, especially lo naet. . . . Evriwan mas stap lo haos, and each naet olketa hope and prea dat no eniting bae happen lo olketa.” Nomata laef hem no isi, olketa brata and sista gohed strong for servem Jehovah!

Lo 1982, mi and Heinz arrive lo Kampala, kapitol blo Uganda. Lo first faevfala month, mitufala stap lo haos blo Sam and Christina Waiswa witim faevfala pikinini blo tufala and nara fofala relative. Staka taem famili blo Brata and Sista Waiswa kaikai wantaem nomoa lo day, dastawe mitufala tinghae tumas lo wei wea olketa welkamim mitufala for stap witim olketa. During lo taem wea mitufala stap witim famili blo Waiswa, mi and Heinz lanem staka samting wea helpem mitufala lo missionary waka. For example, mitufala lane hao for iusim gud wata, lo wei for iusim tu-thri liter wata nomoa for swim, and bihaen mifala waswas, mifala savve iusim rinse wata for flushim toilet. Then lo 1983, mi and Heinz faendem wanfala haos for mitufala stap lo wanfala area wea hem sef lelebet lo Kampala.

Mitufala enjoyim ministry. Mi remember, wantaem mitufala givimaot winim 4,000 magasin lo wanfala month! Bat samting mitufala barava enjoyim, hem nao for story witim pipol. Pipol respectim God and laek for story abaotem Bible. Each wan lo mitufala savve garem samting olsem 10 tu 15 Bible study. And mitufala lanem staka samting from olketa Bible study blo mitufala. For example, mitufala tinghae lo wei wea olketa hapi for wakabaot go and kam for olketa meeting each week, olketa no komplen and evritaem smile nomoa.

Lo 1985 and 1986, olketa army faet moa lo Uganda. Staka taem mifala lukim olketa pikinini wea joinim army, olketa karem olketa big gun and standap lo olketa checkpoint. During olketa taem hia, mifala prea for garem wei for luksavve and for no fraet taem mifala go lo ministry for faendem pipol wea interest. And Jehovah ansarem prea blo mifala. Staka taem, feeling for fraet hem lus nao taem mifala meetim samwan wea interest lo Kingdom message.

Mifala savve preach tu lo olketa foreigner. For example, mitufala meetim and study witim Murat and Dilbar Ibatullin, wanfala couple from Tatarstan (Central Russia). Murat hem wanfala doctor. Bihaen, hem and waef kam insaed truth and gohed faithful kam kasem distaem. Mi meetim tu Tatjana Vileyska, wanfala woman from Ukraine wea tingting for suisaed. Afta Tatjana baptaes, hem go bak lo Ukraine and gogo hem kamap wanfala transleita for olketa pablikeson blo iumi.a

OLKETA NIU CHALLENGE

Lo 1991, taem mi and Heinz go holiday lo Austria, branch office lo there contactim mitufala and talem dat mitufala kasem niu assignment, wea hem nao for go lo Bulgaria. Bihaen rul blo olketa communist gavman lo Eastern Europe hem finis, waka blo Olketa Jehovah’s Witness lo Bulgaria hem kamap legal. Olsem mi storyim finis, mi and Heinz bin tekem go haed samfala literature go lo datfala kantri taem gavman banim waka blo iumi. Bat distaem olketa sendem mitufala go lo there for preach.

Mitufala kasem direction for no go bak lo Uganda. So mitufala no go bak nao lo missionary hom for pakim ap tings blo mitufala or for sei gudbae lo olketa frens, bat mitufala go lo Bethel lo Germany, tekem wanfala car, and travel go lo Bulgaria. Mitufala kasem assignment for joinim wanfala grup lo Sofia wea garem 20-fala pablisa.

Mitufala feisim samfala niu challenge lo Bulgaria. First samting, mitufala no savve lo datfala languis. And tu, only tufala pablikeson nomoa stap lo languis blo Bulgaria, datfala Truth Where Bringim Man Long Life All-the-Way and Bible Story Buk Bilong Mi. And mitufala faendem hem hard for startim olketa Bible study. Nomata olsem, smol grup blo mifala gohed strong for preach. Olketa lo Orthodox Church no laekem mifala for preach, so olketa start for persecutim mifala.

Lo 1994, gavman lo Bulgaria cancelim registration blo Olketa Jehovah’s Witness, and treatim iumi olsem wanfala dangerous grup. Olketa arrestim samfala brata. Media spredim staka nogud laea abaotem iumi and sei, Olketa Jehovah’s Witness savve killim dae pikinini blo olketa and convincim tu olketa nara Witness for suisaed. Mitufala Heinz faendem hard tumas for preach. Staka taem mifala meetim pipol wea kros and shoutim mifala, kolem police for arrestim mifala, and even sutim mifala. Hem hard for eni literature kam insaed lo kantri, and hem kamap moa hard for faendem olketa hall for rentim for olketa meeting. Wantaem, olketa police even kam in and stopem wanfala convention blo mifala. Mitufala Heinz barava no getius lo wei wea pipol heitim iumi olsem. Hem barava difren from pipol lo Uganda, wea willing for studyim Bible! Wat nao helpem mitufala for deal witim disfala change?

Wei for associate witim olketa brata and sista lo there nao mekem mitufala for hapi. Olketa hapi dat olketa lanem truth and tinghae lo sapot wea mitufala givim. Evriwan fren klos tugeta and sapotim each other. Mitufala lanem dat for hapi lo eni assignment, mitufala mas gohed interest lo olketa narawan.

Bat gogo, situation hem impruv. Lo 1998, organization blo iumi register bak lo Bulgaria, and no longtaem bihaen, staka pablikeson blo iumi hem available lo Bulgaria languis. Then lo 2004, olketa dedicatem wanfala niu branch office building. Distaem, 57 kongregeson nao lo Bulgaria and olketa garem 2,953 pablisa. Lo last service year, 6,475 nao attendim Memorial. Lo bifor, only faevfala sista stap lo Sofia, distaem mifala garem naenfala kongregeson! Tru nao, mifala barava lukim dat ‘smol wan hem kamap wan thousand.’—Isa. 60:22.

DEAL WITIM OLKETA PERSONAL HARD TAEM

Mi bin kasem staka health problem lo laef blo mi. Lo olketa year wea go pas, mi garem olketa tumor, includim wanfala wea grow insaed hed blo mi. Mi kasem radiation treatment and mi go lo India for kasem wanfala operation wea gohed for 12-hours and olketa aotem big haf lo datfala tumor from hed blo mi. Bihaen operation, mitufala stap lo India branch, afta mi recover mitufala go bak lo assignment blo mitufala lo Bulgaria.

Lo semtaem, Heinz hem start for garem wanfala sik wea olketa kolem lo Huntington’s disease. Datfala sik mekem hem stragol for wakabaot, toktok, and for kontrolem body blo hem. Taem datfala sik kamap worse, mi mas duim evri samting for hem. Samfala taem mi feel taed and wari tumas abaotem hao nao bae mi lukaftarem hem. Bat wanfala young brata wea nem blo hem Bobi, savve tekem Heinz for go preach witim hem staka taem. Bobi no shame for go witim Heinz nomata hem no savve toktok gud or kontrolem body blo hem. Samfala taem wea mi no fit for helpem Heinz, Bobi evritaem stanbae for help. Nomata mitufala Heinz disaed for no garem eni pikinini lo disfala system, mitufala feel dat Jehovah givim Bobi olsem son for mitufala!—Mark 10:​29, 30.

Heinz hem garem tu cancer. Sorre samting, loving hasband blo mi hem pas away lo 2015. Mi barava misstim tumas Heinz bihaen hem dae; mi hard for bilivim dat hem dae nao. Lo mind blo mi, hem laef nomoa! (Luke 20:38) Staka taem lo day, mi savve tingim olketa kaenfala toktok wea hem savve talem and olketa gud advaes wea hem givim. Mi hapi tumas dat mitufala servem Jehovah tugeta for staka year.

MI THANKIU LO JEHOVAH FOR SAPOT BLO HEM

Jehovah barava strongim mi lo evri hard taem wea kasem mi. Hem helpem mi tu for winim wei for shame and kamap wanfala missionary wea interest lo pipol. (2 Tim. 1:7) Mi thankiu lo Jehovah, bikos mi and younger sista blo mi insaed lo full-taem service. Distaem, hem and hasband blo hem duim circuit waka for olketa blo Serbia lo Europe. Prea blo dadi blo mi wea hem talem taem mifala smol yet hem kasem ansa nao!

Taem mi studyim Bible datwan givim mi peace lo mind. Taem mi kasem hard taem, mi lane for “barava prea strong go moa” olsem Jesus. (Luke 22:44) Wanfala wei wea olketa prea blo mi kasem ansa, hem nao thru lo love and kaeness blo olketa frens insaed kongregeson blo mi lo Nadezhda, Sofia. Olketa invaetem mi for associate witim olketa and olketa savve talem dat olketa lovem mi, datwan mekem mi for barava hapi.

Staka taem mi savve ting abaotem resurrection. Mi imaginim dat mi lukim parents blo mi standap front lo haos blo mifala, and tufala luk beautiful olsem taem tufala just marit. Mi lukim tu sista blo mi gohed preparem kaikai. Mi lukim Heinz standap saed lo horse blo hem. Taem mi imaginim olketa samting olsem, datwan helpem mi for no garem negative feeling and hem mekem mi for barava thankiu lo Jehovah.

Taem mi ting abaotem laef blo mi and luk go lo future, witim full heart blo mi, mi agree lo toktok blo David lo Psalm 27:​13, 14: “Laef blo mi bae hao sapos mi no garem faith dat bae mi lukim gudfala fasin blo Jehovah lo taem wea mi laef? Hope lo Jehovah. Mas no fraet and heart blo iu mas strong. Yes, hope lo Jehovah.”