In 1928 there was a peak in publishers of 447 in France, including seven colporteurs, as pioneers were then called.

FOREIGN COLPORTEURS

In 1929 two English colporteurs (now called pioneers) crossed the Channel and worked in the Dunkirk area, and many more soon followed. Brother Harbeck, the manager of the Berne office, wrote:

“We prayed that the Lord might send colporteurs into France and our prayer was answered. Most of the colporteurs came from England and from other countries, and without knowing the language, they are using the [testimony] cards and are having wonderful success. In 1930, eight times as much literature was placed in France by the classes as in 1928.”

In 1930 the number of colporteurs jumped to 27. The work of these full-time preachers consisted mainly in covering large sections of territory and placing literature. Thus areas that had never heard the Kingdom message began to hear it.

A CALL FOR COLPORTEURS

A call for more colporteurs was issued at the Paris convention. This, along with the obvious manifestation of God’s spirit, moved many to get into the full-time work. John Cooke, only a teenager at the time but who later served as a missionary in Spain and who is presently serving in South Africa, writes:

“What an assembly that was! I shall never forget it. It was thrilling for a young brother used to a small congregation to travel with hundreds of brothers from London to Paris. And it was more thrilling still to meet the larger contingent from Germany and brothers from several other countries. How exuberant and enthusiastic these continental brothers seemed to us staid English folks! . . . Everything seemed so well organized, so dynamic, and everybody seemed so happy.

“It was then I made the big decision that changed my life. I had already thought much about being a pioneer and had a desire to be one, but my father’s opposition held me back. However, right at the first session, a sister to whom I was conversing said: ‘A young brother like you should be a colporteur, why aren’t you?’ Several times various ones made remarks like that. Brother Rutherford said in his emphatic way: ‘Nothing under the sun should stop you young folks from going into the colporteur work.’”

Another English brother, Eric Wilkinson, notes that ‘anyone from any country was invited to come to France to share in the work.’ Eric and a friend in his congregation in Lancaster, England, responded and soon were preaching the good news full time in France. Thus the pioneers in France rose from 27 in 1930 to 104 in 1931.

COLPORTEURING IN FRANCE

Brother Wilkinson tells about the colporteur work in France:

“We were assigned to work in the slum district of Paris. The janitors [concierges] were as determined that we would not work their buildings as we were determined that we would. Often the police were brought and we were taken to the Commissaire, who usually was sympathetic and let us go. In the end, we made a kind of back apron of five pockets with straps that went over our shoulders. This was worn under our jackets, and would hold quite enough literature for one building. With this we could walk past the janitors (in their glass-walled rooms), keeping the rest of our literature in a case on our bikes. We were, of course, working with a testimony card, but my friend (who spoke French) was greatly surprised to find that, contrary to his expectations, I was placing more literature than he. He told them too much, there was no curiosity left by the time he had finished.

“Working in Paris was a great strain, especially to one bred in the country. To make it worse, in the district where we were working, we often found there was one toilet for from four to six apartments. These [toilets] were constructed in a corner of the stairs and would not have a water trap, just a straight pipe. You can understand the smell in the heat of the summer! We longed for the green fields, and as there was more of a need for pioneers in the provinces, we volunteered to go.”

EXEMPLARY ZEAL AND ENDURANCE

Those early pioneers were exemplary in their zeal and endurance. They gave up physical comforts, but they realized many rich spiritual blessings. Mona Brzoska, an English sister, wrote concerning her pioneering experiences in France in 1931 and the following years:

“Our accommodation was generally of a very primitive nature and one of the big problems was the heating in the wintertime. We were often obliged to make do with a freezing cold room where we had to break the ice on the water in the jug in the morning before we could wash. A little oil stove served to do our simple cooking. The camping equipment available today did not exist at that time. Our equipment was therefore rather primitive and our way of life was quite Spartan.

“We never saw other Bible Students; we were completely isolated. This was the biggest change in comparison with our own country where we had always been in contact with the brothers. We had to fight this isolation by regularly studying together the Society’s publications. Since back in those days we did no back-calling or home Bible studies, in the evening we had time to write to our family and especially to other pioneers, to share our experiences and encourage one another. Some years we even had to take the Memorial together, just the two of us.

“We put in long days’ work. We traveled 50 or 60 kilometers [31-37 mi.] on our bicycles each day. We had to start early in the morning, particularly in winter, so as to take advantage of the daylight hours.”

Although the majority of the early pioneers were English, other nationalities, including Germans, Swiss, Polish and French, were also represented. These pioneers often subsisted on meager provisions. A French brother told of visiting some foreign pioneers in Lyons who gave him the following recipe:

“In the evening, put a measure of wheat in a vacuum flask and cover it with boiling water. Pour it out the following morning and sweeten with sugar. The result was something that was eatable, no doubt nourishing, but not very appetizing.” At least, not for a Frenchman!