The Secretary of the Interior and Police, J. Antonio Hungría, asked Brother Brandt to submit a letter stating the position of the Witnesses on military service, flag salute, and the paying of taxes. He wrote a letter using information from the book “Let God Be True.” Nevertheless, on June 21, 1950, Secretary Hungría issued a decree that banned the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Dominican Republic. Brother Brandt was summoned to Hungría’s office to hear the decree personally. Brother Brandt asked if the missionaries had to leave the country. Hungría assured him that they could stay as long as they obeyed the law and did not talk to others about their religion.a

Missionaries Carry On the Work Underground

The ban on the work was the beginning of a very difficult time for the brothers. ‘Our Kingdom Halls were closed, and the work was prohibited,’ explained missionary Alma Parson. ‘Many were the trials and sufferings of the dear ones there.’ There was also loss of employment and imprisonment. However, she fondly remembered: ‘Jehovah’s guiding hand and protection were clearly manifest so many, many times.’ Trusting in ‘Jehovah’s guiding hand,’ the brothers continued the work underground.

We were not permitted to have congregation meetings. Lennart Johnson recalled: ‘The brothers began meeting quietly in small groups in private homes. There we studied Watchtower articles that were copied by mimeograph. All the loyal ones greatly cherished the spiritual strength that Jehovah kept giving us in these small study groups.’

In the meantime, government surveillance and harassment intensified. But the brothers and sisters were not intimidated. On September 15, 1950, in a communication to the President of the Republic, Secretary Hungría wrote: “Mr. Lee Roy Brandt and other directors from the group Jehovah’s Witnesses have been repeatedly called into this office and admonished to cease all propaganda regarding this society, which was legally dissolved in this Republic​—an order which they apparently are not following. Daily, we receive reports from different parts of the country that they are continuing secretly with their propaganda, mocking government dispositions.” The letter concluded by recommending the deportation of the “principal foreign directors” of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“A Source of Strength”

At the end of 1950, Brothers Knorr and Henschel visited the country. Thereafter, some of the missionaries were reassigned to Argentina, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico. Others obtained secular work so that they could stay in the country. For example, Brother Brandt worked for the electric company, and others worked as English teachers. A report in the 1951 Yearbook says of those missionaries: “Their very presence in the land, not running away, is a source of strength to the faithful followers of the Lord who have learned the truth from them. All are glad to see their courage manifest by sticking to their work.”

Dorothy Lawrence was one of the missionaries who taught English classes. In addition to teaching English, she was also giving Bible studies to interested ones. As a result, she helped several into the truth.