A Segregated Field Opens Up

It took effort to overcome the segregation left over from colonial days. Stories held that it was unsafe to enter the African parts of town, even in daylight. But the new missionaries and the brothers serving where the need was greater were anxious to expand their activities. A location of railway workers was chosen as the first territory.

It was the rainy season, and big lumps of mud stuck to the shoes of the zealous preachers. These were their first attempts to use their carefully prepared Swahili Bible presentations. The response? Many women listened with a blank look on their face, gesturing to the effect that they did not understand English. What a relief to find out, when their English-speaking husbands came home from work, that their wives did not know much Swahili either!

Learning Swahili was quite an experience for the foreign brothers, since few words resemble those in any European language. But there is a logical grammar, and soon things fall into place. The pronunciation is easy, and the vocabulary is larger than that of most African languages.

Of course, during the learning period, things did not go without mishap. One sister wanted to speak about “serikali ya Mungu” (God’s Government) but instead spoke of “suruali ya Mungu” (God’s trousers). For one brother it was hard going when he mixed up the common greeting “Habari gani?” (What news?) with “Hatari gani?” (What danger?).

For the many children, of course, these foreigners were a novelty. Some would touch the brothers’ hands to see whether the white would come off. Dozens of children would follow the publishers around from house to house. The stories of ill feelings toward foreigners proved to be mistaken. On the contrary, many people showed a sincere hunger for Bible truth. In most cases visitors would be invited in and offered seats, sometimes even tea or food. It was a completely new experience!

Our foreign publishers also had to learn to be selective in offering Bible studies​—so many were eager to accept, and it was impossible to study with everyone. Before the end of the year, a second congregation was formed in Nairobi, in the productive Eastlands territory. The Witnesses felt right at home when their territory included such estates as “Jerusalem” and “Jericho,” and soon the brothers had all the studies they could handle.

Expansion Into Kenya’s Towns

In Mombasa, the MacDonalds found a small congregation composed of foreign Witnesses who had come to serve where the need was greater, as well as a small group of African Witnesses who had come from Tanzania to Mombasa for work. Now that the preaching activity was free, these brothers lost no time in organizing their first meeting. They were 30 strong. However, most of the African brothers were not legally married. So one Sunday one of the Society’s marriage officers married 14 couples. The following Sunday all were rebaptized.

The territory in Mombasa presented quite a challenge to the brothers, since so many religions were represented. The Zoroastrians were fire worshipers who claimed that their religion began in Nimrod’s days. Different sects of the Hindu religion included not only the turbaned Sikhs but also the Jains, who would not step on an ant or kill a fly. Then there were a large number of Muslims and nominal Christians. Mombasa was blanketed with temples, mosques, and large churches. Presenting the everlasting good news required good flexibility and skill.