Field Experience

From the Watch Tower Society’s Nigerian Branch

Sunday morning we all gathered to advertise the public meeting. Every house in the village would be called on with a personal invitation. The people soon realized that something important was on!

I went straight to the village head and told him my mission. He was very pleased and assured me of his co-operation. The time arrived, we fixed our microphones and made everything ready. The people, having never seen sound equipment before, had already gathered in a crowd of over 700.

The local religionists were not pleased that Jehovah’s witnesses should assemble the largest crowd the village had ever seen. Nor were they pleased about the subject, “Christian Conduct in an Ungodly World,” for they feared there was something in store for them in view of the bad seeds they had sown in the village. They could get no co-operation from the village head, who told them, ‘You often ring your bell to call people to come and hear you. Why should I stop Jehovah’s witnesses? I never try to stop you.’

The lecture begun, these religionists started their nuisance tactics, but the audience was solidly for us. The religionists formed themselves into a group and began dancing and shouting, but the sound equipment was too powerful and drowned them out. Frustrated, they rushed over to the church and began clanging the bell. No success. Then they rushed to their homes and gathered up all their native drums and paraphernalia and started making a tremendous din. That was enough! Angrily, members of the audience demanded silence. No result. Infuriated, they rushed at the religionists, ripped their drums away from them and dragged them to an empty house nearby and locked them in, setting a guard.

The lecture over, the 854 people present showed their warm appreciation but warned us to remove our sound equipment before the rowdies were let out, otherwise they would try to destroy it. Then the door was opened. Instead of pouring out fighting mad, as everyone expected, there was silence. Like Satan in the abyss, they were lying around the floor fast asleep.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?—Ps. 8:3, 4, AS.