I Wanted a Life Fully Devoted to Jehovah

From an early age, I loved the truth. I wanted to dedicate myself to Jehovah and get baptized. When I was 13 years old, I was thrilled to reach this goal. When I was 14, Brother Helge Lincka asked me if I had considered serving as a pioneer. I remember that moment clearly. Although my dad and mom had served as temporary pioneers (now known as auxiliary pioneers), I had no idea what it meant to be a regular pioneer. Brother Linck’s question planted a seed in my heart—the desire to do more in Jehovah’s service.

Prepared for Persecution

In 1974, political unrest in Ethiopia led to arrests, killings, and turmoil. In time, we could not preach from door to door and we could meet only in small groups. My parents began preparing us children for additional opposition. Bible principles helped us to understand the meaning of Christian neutrality. We learned that Jehovah would help us know what to say if we were questioned and that at times we might need to remain silent.—Matthew 10:19; 27:12, 14.

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After finishing my schooling, I started working for Ethiopian Airlines. One morning when I came to work, my colleagues congratulated me because I had been selected to lead a parade commemorating the anniversary of the government. I promptly informed my supervisor that because of my Christian neutrality, I would not be participating in the celebration.

The next day, I was working at the airport when, in the distance, I saw men with rifles strapped over their shoulders walking toward the ticket counter. I assumed that they were coming to arrest someone who was trying to escape the country. But instead, they pointed their fingers at me! What did they want with me? What started out as a normal workday quickly changed.

Help in Prison

The soldiers took me to an office where I was interrogated for several hours. “Who pays Jehovah’s Witnesses?” they demanded to know. “Do you work for the Eritrean Liberation Front? Do you or your father work for the United States government?” Although this could have been very stressful, I felt calm, thanks to Jehovah’s help.—Philippians 4:6, 7.

After the interrogation, the soldiers drove me to a house that had been converted into a prison and placed me in a 28-square-meter (300-sq-ft) room that was crowded with about 15 young women who were political prisoners.

That night, as I lay on the hard floor still wearing my airline uniform, I worried about the distress my parents and siblings were feeling. They knew I had been arrested, but they had no idea where I was. I asked Jehovah to help my family find out where I was being held.

The next morning when I woke up, I recognized a young guard. He looked at me in disbelief and said, “Aster, what are you doing here?” I begged him to go to my parents’ home and tell them where I was. Later that day, I received a delivery of food and clothes from my parents. The guard had told them where I was. Jehovah had answered my prayer! That experience reassured me that I was not alone.

I was not allowed to have a Bible or any other publications, and my family and friends were not allowed to visit me. Still, Jehovah provided encouragement by means of my fellow prisoners. I preached to them every day, and they were impressed with the truth about God’s Kingdom. They often told me: “Here we are fighting for a human government, but you are fighting for God’s government. Don’t compromise, even if they threaten to kill you!”

Sometimes the guards interrogated and beat the prisoners. One night, at about 11:00 p.m., they came for me. When we arrived at the interrogation room, they made many accusations. They said that I did not support the government. And when I refused to voice a political slogan, two male guards beat me. The guards took me to interrogation sessions like this on several occasions. Each time, I prayed fervently to Jehovah, and I felt him sustaining me.

After three months, one of the guards came and told me that I was free to go. Although I was surprised and excited, I was also a little disappointed because I had enjoyed sharing the Kingdom hope with the young women in the prison.

A few months after my release, while I was out of the house, soldiers came to arrest all the teenagers in our family! They arrested two of my sisters and one of my brothers. At that point, I decided that it was best for me to flee the country. Although I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving my family again, my mother encouraged me to be strong and to trust in Jehovah. Shortly thereafter, I boarded a flight to the United States. That same evening, soldiers came to my home to arrest me a second time. Not finding me at home, they rushed to the airport. But by the time they got there, my flight was already in the air.

I arrived in Maryland and was welcomed by Haywood and Joan Ward, the missionaries who studied with my parents. Five months later, I reached my goal of becoming a pioneer. The Wards’ daughter, Cyndi, became my pioneer partner, and we shared many enjoyable times in the ministry.

Immersed in God’s Service at Bethel

In the summer of 1979, I visited Bethel in New York and met Wesley Parker. I appreciated his fine qualities and spiritual goals. In 1981, we married, and I moved to Wallkill, New York, to serve at Bethel with Wesley. I worked in the Housekeeping and Dry Cleaning departments and later with the MEPS team in the Computer Department. Serving at Bethel gave me the opportunity to be fully immersed in Jehovah’s service while getting to know brothers and sisters who became lifelong friends.

But back home in Ethiopia, my family was going through intense persecution, and this distressed me. My three siblings who were arrested were still in prison.b Every day my mother had to prepare and deliver meals for them because the prison did not provide food.

During that stressful period, Jehovah was my refuge and the Bethel family gave me comfort and support. (Mark 10:29, 30) One day, Brother John Booth told me: “We are so glad you are here serving at Bethel. It wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t have Jehovah’s blessing.”c Those kind words reassured me that Jehovah had blessed my decision to leave Ethiopia and that he would take care of my family.

Serving Jehovah as a Family

In January 1989, we received the news that I was pregnant. At first, we were stunned! After a few days, however, our apprehension turned into joy. Still, we wondered what kind of parents we would be, where we would live, and how we could support ourselves after leaving Bethel.

On April 15, 1989, we packed our car and began our drive to Oregon, where we planned to continue in full-time service as pioneers. However, shortly after arriving, some well-meaning friends told us that it was unreasonable for us to pioneer. It was true that we had little materially and a baby was on the way. What would we do? Just then, we received a visit from our circuit overseer, Guy Pierce, and his wife, Penny.d They encouraged us to stick to our goal. So we started serving as pioneers and trusted that Jehovah would help us. (Malachi 3:10) We continued serving as pioneers after the birth of our first son, Lemuel, and after the birth of our second son, Jadon.

Pioneering with our boys was an experience that we deeply treasure. Pioneer service gave us many opportunities to explain spiritual truths not only to our neighbors but also to our sons. (Deuteronomy 11:19) However, after the birth of our third son, Japheth, we needed to stop our pioneer service for a time.—Micah 6:8.

We Taught Our Sons to Serve Jehovah

We realized that the most important responsibility we had as parents was to make Jehovah very real to each of our boys and to help them develop their own personal relationship with him. To do this, we tried to make family worship something they would look forward to. When they were very young, we would read together from the publications Listening to the Great Teacher and My Book of Bible Stories. We would even act out some of the stories. I was the only woman in the house, so when we acted out the story about Jezebel, I played the role of Jezebel. The boys loved pretending to push me off the couch and then pretending to be the dogs! In addition to our family worship, Wesley would have one-on-one Bible studies with each of the boys.

We loved and nurtured our sons, and we prayed for a close-knit family. As they grew older, we taught them practical skills. They washed the dishes, cleaned their rooms, and washed their clothes. They also learned how to cook.

Not only did our children learn lessons but we parents also learned. There were times when we overreacted and said unkind words to our sons or to each other. On those occasions, we showed humility and apologized.

We regularly invited brothers and sisters from the congregation to our home for hospitality, as well as visiting Bethelites, missionaries, traveling overseers, and those who were serving where the need was great. (Romans 12:13) When we entertained guests, we did not send the children to another room to play. They stayed with us and enjoyed the conversations and experiences. Often our children remembered more details about the conversations than Wesley and I did.

Wesley and I worked hard to make our life in Jehovah’s service enjoyable. For example, we planned ahead and saved both money and vacation time so that we could travel to different countries. On every trip, we visited the branch office, attended meetings, and took part in the ministry. We came to appreciate Jehovah’s worldwide organization, and we grew closer as a family.

Staying Fully Devoted in Our Service

We noticed that there were many people in our area who spoke Spanish, but they were not being preached to regularly. So while the boys were still very young, we asked Brother Pierce what he thought about moving our family to the Spanish-language congregation. He replied with a big grin, “If you are a fisherman, you go where the fish are.” With that encouragement, we moved to the Spanish congregation in Woodburn, Oregon. We had the joy of starting several progressive Bible studies, helping some to baptism, and seeing a small Spanish group become a congregation.

At one point, Wesley lost his job and we had to move to California for his new job. Two years later, Lemuel, Jadon, and I decided to start pioneering. In 2007, I had the joy of attending Pioneer Service School with them. Shortly after pioneer school, we noticed that there were many Arabic-speaking people in our territory. So after spending 13 years in the Spanish field, our family decided to join the Arabic-language congregation. We have enjoyed sharing the truth locally among the many Arabic-speaking immigrants as well as abroad on special preaching campaigns. We continue to serve as pioneers in the Arabic field in San Diego, California.

Wesley is an excellent husband and family head. He has deep respect for Jehovah’s organization. He has never said anything negative about Bethel or congregation arrangements. Rather, he always finds something positive to say. He prays with me and for me, and when we have faced stressful situations, his prayers have comforted me and helped me to stay calm.

Looking back, we have enjoyed full-time service, raising a family, and serving in congregations where there is a greater need. We have seen that Jehovah blesses those who put him first, and we have never lacked anything. (Psalm 37:25) I am convinced that choosing a life fully devoted to Jehovah is the best decision I could ever have made.—Psalm 84:10.