One of those pioneers was Svanhild Neraal, a sister who traveled north to the county of Finnmark in 1946. Svanhild had pioneered there in 1941 with Solveig Løvås and had experienced the bombing of both Kirkenes and Vardø. Svanhild could not forget the interested people she and Solveig had met, so she returned to Kirkenes, now devastated by the war. Local people thought Svanhild was out of her mind, going to that area without even a place to stay.

Nevertheless, Svanhild trusted in Jehovah, and during the first winter, she slept on the kitchen floor of a small house where five other people lived. Postwar conditions were extremely difficult, and she endured many hardships. Often she waited in the snow and icy rain for boats that did not arrive as scheduled, if they came at all.

Svanhild had many interesting experiences preaching to the Sami people. If she was not able to get out to their isolated communities by bus, she went by riverboat or by bicycle. Hospitable Sami often invited her into their tents made from reindeer hides and listened intently as she witnessed with the help of interpreters. At mealtimes they invited her to share their meal of reindeer meat. Some who heard the good news from Svanhild later accepted the truth.

Kjell Husby, who was serving at Bethel at that time, said that the branch always knew where Svanhild was, simply by the addresses of the subscriptions that she submitted. In the three years she was in Finnmark, she obtained 2,000 subscriptions for The Watchtower and placed 2,500 books!

[Picture on page 130]

Svanhild Neraal, 1961