Notes Under the Washing Machine

After her baptism as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Zarina returned from Russia to her homeland in Central Asia, determined to raise her two daughters in her faith. Because of her financial situation, she shared a one-room apartment with her parents and her brother and his wife. Her parents ordered her not to teach her children Bible truth. They also told her daughters not to speak with their mother about the Bible.

Zarina thought deeply about how to help her girls learn about Jehovah. (Proverbs 1:8) So she prayed fervently to him, asking for guidance and wisdom. Zarina then followed up on her prayers by taking walks with her daughters and talking with them about the wonders of creation. These short walks helped the girls to develop an interest in the Creator.

Next, Zarina devised a method to further that interest using the book What Does the Bible Really Teach?a She wrote paragraphs and questions word-for-word from the book onto pieces of paper. She also added a few additional sentences to help her daughters get a better understanding of the material. She then hid the pieces of paper, along with a pencil, under the washing machine in the bathroom. When the daughters were in the room, they read the paragraphs and wrote down their answers.

Using that method, Zarina was able to study two chapters of the Bible Teach book with her daughters before the three of them found another place to live. There, she was free to raise her daughters without interference. In October 2016, both girls were baptized, happy that their mother had used wisdom and discretion in order to feed them spiritually.