JW missionary experiences from Zimbabwe

we were blessed to have another visit from Brother Smith, a relative of a sister in our hall and a missionary in Zimbabwe. he shared a slideshow with us and so many wonderful experiences! here’s a few I remember. I canb’t do them justice with my paraphrasing but I just had to share!1

this experience happened in a cotton factory in Zimbabwe. men from the government were coming around and told everyone that they had to choose a political party and recite the slogan. when they got to one man, he was afraid because he didn’t know what party they were from. if he said the wrong slogan, they would beat him. so instead he said “forward with cotton, forward with money!” they said, “that is good, but you still did not choose a party.” so the man remembered that a jehovah’s witness who worked there had remained neutral and they left him alone. so the man said, “I am one of jehovah’s witnesses!” the men left. the brother who was working in the factory happened to hear this exchange. he had previously witnessed to the man without success, but now he went to the man and said, “you said you were one of Jehovah’s witnesses! it’s time for you to step up and prove it!” the man started studying and is progressing well.2

there were two missionaries serving as traveling overseers. they often traveled by bus to their assignments, and it could take a long time to get from one to another. on one such trip, the route they were taking had policemen who were stopping people and demanding they choose a political party after one such stop, the brothers were called upon, and they identified themselves as witnesses and that they wouldn’t choose a party. they were kicked off the bus, and started walking to their destination. as they were walking, they caught up to the bus which was parked on the side of the road, and heard screaming. apparently the people on the bus had come to a checkpoint and recited the slogan of the wrong political party, and were being beaten. those brothers were truly blessed for their neutral stand!3

there was a 4 year old girl in preschool. the class started singing religious songs, and she refused to participate. the teacher asked he why, and she replied, “we don’t sing any of those songs at our kingdom hall.” so the teacher said, “well why don’t you sing a song from your church?” so the girl started singing “God’s promise of paradise”. soon the entire class was singing with her, including the teacher. it turns out that the teacher was an inactive sister. the faith of this little girl moved her to once again become active in jehovah’s service.4

Brother Smith expressed that the field in Zimbabwe is truly ripe for harvesting. when you go in service, if you talk to someone you can almost always start a study with them. since he and his wife had arrived on 2002, they’ve helped some 70 people come into the truth. on such person was a 13 year old boy (I forgot his name, so for the sake of efficiency I’ll call him Bob.) One day they met Bob in the ministry. Bob started following them around and started a study with Brother Smith. Brother Smith at first though Bob was only interested because they had a car, which is a rare sight in their area. but still Bob would study and come to the meetings. one day Brother Smith was running late and didn’t pick up Bob. later during the meeting he felt a tap on his shoulder, and it was Bob. Bob greeted them and smiled. Over the years Bob progressed to joining the school and going in the ministry. recently he dedicated himself and was baptized. shortly before his baptism, Bob’s father died of aids. his mother died just a day or two before he was baptized. Bob had to quit school to get a job and support himself, but the brothers and sisters are helping him out and he continues to make fine progress. 5

there were so many other experiences but I cant remember them all! brother smith had a slideshow that we watched as he narrated and told us experiences. it was truly amazing. it really motivates you to do all you can in jehovah’s service while “the season is favorable”. those brothers and sisters has so much to go through with economic hardships and political strife and disease, but they truly have a contagious love for Jehovah. may we all be so zealous!