As for Matagalpa, in the 2002 service year, it had two thriving congregations with a total of 153 Kingdom publishers.

Nine different congregations in various parts of the country were either formed or strengthened by this trio.

Previously, tobacco farming was a main source of income for many of the new publishers in Los Hatillos, but now their Bible-trained consciences would not allow them to do that work. So most relied on fishing, even though it meant less income. What joy it gave the Solís family to see such faith, in addition to the many other evidences of Jehovah’s rich blessing on their ministry! In fact, the number of publishers in the area soon grew to 32, which raised the need for a Kingdom Hall. One of the new publishers, Alfonso Alemán, grew watermelons and kindly offered to donate a parcel of land for the hall. But how would the publishers at Los Hatillos obtain the funds to build?

Gilberto Solís organized volunteers to plant watermelon seeds, provided by Brother Alemán, on the piece of donated land. Gilberto encouraged the group to care for these “watermelons for Jehovah,” setting the example by working hard himself. María Elsa, a small but energetic woman, describes how the little group of publishers took care of the crop. She says: “We would get up early, while it was still dark, to irrigate the field. We had three good crops. Using his own boat, Brother Alemán took the melons across Lake Nicaragua to Granada, where he sold them and bought construction materials. That’s how the Kingdom Hall in Los Hatillos was built, and that’s why my brother called it the little hall made from watermelons.” From those humble beginnings, Ometepe Island now has three thriving congregations.