• Suriname
    1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • More Help From Gilead

      Shortly thereafter, in 1968, Gilead graduates Roger and Gloria Verbrugge from Canada and Rolf and Margret Wiekhorst from Germany arrived, doubling the missionary family, from four to eight. The new missionaries’ warm personalities, combined with their sincere interest in the welfare of others, quickly endeared them to the local brothers.

      Earlier, another Gilead graduate, Albert Suhr, had also arrived in Paramaribo. After graduating from Gilead’s 20th class in 1953, Albert worked for 13 years as a missionary in Curaçao until epilepsy forced him to leave and move in with relatives in Suriname. Disregarding his illness, he resumed pioneering until failing health required his moving into a home for the elderly. But Albert was not about to give up Kingdom preaching. Let us pay him a visit there.

      In the morning he displays a supply of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines in the recreation room. Then he writes out the daily text in big print for an 80-year-old neighbor with poor eyesight. Next, he delivers magazines to residents and nurses. At the end of the day, Albert settles down for personal study. “My failing health prevents me from doing more,” says Albert, now 68, “but serving Jehovah is still my heart’s desire.” Modestly he omits to mention, though, that in one recent month, he spent 126 hours in preaching. “Inconspicuous toilers like Albert,” says one missionary, “remind us of what faith is all about.”

      The “Water Assembly”

      For some years the number of publishers had fluctuated around the total of 500. But then the number grew to over 550. Why the increase? A branch report notes: “The ‘Peace on Earth’ International Assembly has had a telling effect on the work.”

      That convention in 1970 is remembered as the “Water Assembly.” During the night of January 16, the rain fell as it had not since 1902, flooding Paramaribo and its stadium, the assembly site. “That morning, some publishers woke up and found their houses in knee-deep water,” recalls Gré van Seijl. “Yet they headed straight for the assembly.” Says one of the assembly’s organizers: “We were amazed to see over 1,200 persons wade through the muddy water into the stadium. We never had a crowd such as that before.”

      Oh, Those Buses!

      Floods occurred only occasionally, but bus breakdowns were a regular feature before and after assemblies. One Sunday in the late 1960’s, 48 persons were waiting for a 30-seat bus to take them back to Paramaribo, but the bus did not come. “We looked for the driver,” recalls Rolf Wiekhorst, “and found him in the midst of hundreds of parts of the bus’ engine scattered around him. ‘Trouble with the gearbox,’ said the driver, ‘but I’ll fix it.’”

      Four hours later the journey began. A smell of burning soon filled the bus. “Only the fourth gear works,” explained the driver. Past midnight the bus rolled downhill to a tiny ferry, but how to get the bus uphill in fourth gear? “What a sight,” continues Rolf, “young, old, even mothers carrying babies, pushed the bus to the beat of a Kingdom song and a roaring engine. The bus inched uphill. We made it. At three o’clock that morning, we were home.”

      Once, the Nickerie Congregation also rented a bus to travel to an assembly. At seven o’clock in the morning, the group left, but by ten o’clock the bus had broken down on a lonely dirt road. “I’ll be back,” promised the driver as he walked away. “We never saw him again,” says Max Rijts, one of the passengers. When food and water ran out, two brothers set out walking alongside a canal looking for help. Fifteen hours later they were back with a boat, and the trip continued. At noon they arrived at the assembly, a 150-mile [240 km] trip in 30 hours. “Oh, yes,” adds Max with a laugh, “the name written on the bus was ‘Welcome’!”

      Determined to Stay

      Since Natalie Stegenga was expecting a baby, the Stegengas left the missionary home in September 1970. Dirk Stegenga had been a diligent branch overseer for 16 years. Now the country’s oversight passed to missionary Wim van Seijl.