Two other missionaries, Ray and Alice Knoch, were assigned to bring the Kingdom message to villages on the Pacific Coast. To reach Manta, a fishing village with a population of about 10,000, they traveled by bus for 16 hours from Guayaquil. En route they had to ford streams where there were no bridges. At times the road was so slippery with overgrown vegetation that the passengers had to get out and push in order to get the bus up the steep grades.

Preaching from house to house was unlike anything they had experienced. Dozens of curious children, never having seen a foreigner before, followed them from house to house. Because the people were receptive to the Bible’s message, a congregation was established in short order.

Next, Ray and Alice moved to La Libertad, another fishing village down the coast. Travel to this village was by cattle boat. By the time they arrived, clothing, furniture, and everything else had the odor of a barnyard. But here in La Libertad they met Francisco Angus, a man of Jamaican origin who listened intently to the message. He accepted a Bible study. In about six months he and his wife, Olga, were ready to share in field service. Alice says: “What impressed me about Francisco was that after working all night long, he would come home in the morning, wash up, and be ready for service.” Later he went into the pioneer work with his wife, then became a circuit overseer, and now is serving as a member of the Branch Committee.

[Picture on page 223]

Ray and Alice Knoch, missionaries assigned to Pacific Coast villages