One of the active publishers in the Bergen area was Torkel Ringereide. In 1918 he found a brochure published by the Bible Students. He sought out Brother Dahl, the only brother in the Bergen Congregation at that time. Brother Dahl held meetings in his home with the rest of the congregation​—seven sisters. Among them was Helga Hess, mentioned earlier, who was back in Bergen. Torkel joined the small congregation, and in 1919 he and Helga were married.

Torkel was a fearless man with a powerful voice. For years he was the only public speaker in the congregation. Normally, he gave talks every Sunday, forthrightly exposing the hypocrisy of the clergy and their false religious teachings. The talks were often announced in the newspapers, and the number of interested ones attending meetings far exceeded the number of Bible Students in the area.

Torkel encouraged the audience to share the truth with others. In 1932, Nils Raae was one of those listeners. Nils had known the truth for a year, but he was reluctant to begin preaching. The congregation was about to start an extensive campaign with the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World, and Torkel gave a talk about the need to take part in the ministry. “It was a superb talk,” said Nils, “and it made my feet tingle.” In the conclusion of the talk, Torkel quoted Jehovah’s words recorded at Isaiah 6:8: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Torkel then said: “May we all answer as Isaiah did: ‘Here I am! Send me’!” This was just the motivation Nils and his wife needed. With no further hesitation, they started out in the ministry.

The brothers and sisters used to frequent Torkel and Helga’s home. They were always discussing the truth, and this gave new and young publishers much encouragement.

[Picture on page 108]

Torkel Ringereide