“We Must Obey God as Ruler Rather Than Men”
DIFFERENT WAYS OF INFORMAL WITNESSING
The Russian-speaking brothers were bold and zealous preachers and did not hesitate to talk to people in informal settings. For example, they would start conversations with tourists who were visiting churches in Tallinn and witness to them. Often tourists thought that a person who talked about the Bible was a tour guide, so they paid rapt attention to what the brothers said.
Some sisters preached on trains. They would buy a round-trip train ticket between Tartu and Tallinn. The eight-hour journey gave them plenty of time to start conversations and share the good news with passengers.
“I prayed for a Bible study,” recounts Maria Pasechnick, who had moved to Estonia from Kazakhstan. After some thought, she decided to preach to the people who, with her, waited for hours in long lines to buy food at the local shops.
“One day, while standing in line,” continues Maria, “I began a discussion with a woman and gradually directed the conversation toward the Bible. The woman herself did not happen to be very interested, but she took me to her acquaintances, introduced me to them, and then left me to continue the discussion with them. As a result, I was able to start four Bible studies. One of the women became a baptized Witness and is still serving Jehovah faithfully.”
As is true everywhere, many of Jehovah’s servants stood out as exemplary at their places of employment. For example, the Communist Party organizer at a power station suggested that Leonhard Nilsk was not needed at the company any longer because of being a religious person. However, the head of the electrical laboratory spoke up and said, “Do we need the Communists who drink and don’t fulfill their tasks more than we need a religious person who is known to be trustworthy?” Leonhard’s other workmates also defended him because of his good reputation, and the matter was dropped. Apparently the party organizer was trying to curry favor with superior party officials, and when Communist rule came to an end in Estonia, the party organizer herself lost her job.
GIVING A WITNESS UNDER BAN
“When I was at school,” recalls Lembit Reile, who now serves on the Estonia Branch Committee, “I spoke cautiously to many of my classmates. I used to invite one of the boys to my place, and I would discreetly preach to him. After I finished school, I didn’t see him for about 20 years. Recently, I was delivering a public talk at the congregation in my hometown, and guess who was in the audience? It was my schoolmate! He had been studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses, and shortly after my visit, he was baptized! What a joy that was for me!”
Because our work was banned, the brothers needed to be alert when witnessing. One elder explains how they did it: “We had to take the time to observe what kind of people were around us and with whom we could safely start a conversation. We had to be very discreet when speaking to strangers. After a while, we could often discern when someone was a KGB informant. Also, if someone was very talkative or loud, we would be suspicious. On the other hand, it might be safe to speak to someone who was reserved. We often started conversations with those who did not support the Communist government—the so-called dissidents—who tended to be more open-minded.”