With Trust in Jehovah, They Pioneer

There are more than 11,000 pioneers in Venezuela at present. Many of these got started as a result of loving encouragement from others in full-time service.

Pedro Barreto got such encouragement. In 1954 the branch overseer invited him to enter the special pioneer work along with three other boys. Pedro was the oldest, being 18. What should he do? “I was young and inexperienced, and I didn’t know how to wash or iron clothes. In fact, I hardly knew how to bathe myself!” laughs Pedro. He had been baptized just the preceding year. After chatting with the branch overseer for an hour or so, Pedro made up his mind. The four boys were assigned to Trujillo, the capital of the state with the same name. Its people, especially then, were tradition-bound and very religious. Those four pioneers did much of the foundation work there. Among those to whom they preached were some of the more prominent citizens, including the head of the post office and the judge of the court of Trujillo.

One day in the main plaza, the four pioneers came face-to-face with a Catholic priest who was well known in Venezuela for his scathing, defamatory, and inaccurate articles in the national press concerning Jehovah’s Witnesses. As a crowd gathered, the priest told the people not to listen to what the boys had to say because, he claimed, they were disturbing the peace of the town and upsetting everybody. He urged the crowd to remember that the faith of the people belonged to the Catholic Church. “In the confusion and hubbub,” recalls Pedro, “the priest would say threatening things to me in a low voice and use foul language. So I would say out loud to the people, ‘Did you hear what he just said? . . . and he’s a priest!’ and I would repeat some of the things he was saying to me. He then said between clenched teeth: ‘Clear off or I’ll kick you out of here.’ So I said that there would be no need for him to use his feet. We would leave.”

This incident reached the ears of the judge previously mentioned. He commended the pioneers, saying that he admired very much the work they were doing. The message of truth preached by those four brave youths took root in Trujillo, and by 1995 there were two congregations in the city besides congregations and groups in most of the surrounding towns and villages.

Arminda López, Pedro’s sister, remembers that in the late 1950’s, while she was pioneering in San Fernando de Apure with three other sisters, Jehovah always provided them with the necessities of life, as he promises to do for those who seek the Kingdom first. (Matt. 6:33) One month their special-pioneer allowance did not arrive when they expected it, and their money had run out. The cupboard was literally bare. In order to forget their rumbling tummies, they decided to go to bed early. At 10:00 p.m., they heard someone knocking on the front door. Looking out the window, they saw a man with whom they conducted a Bible study. He apologized for the late hour but said that he had just returned from a trip and had brought some things he thought they could use​—a boxful of fruits, vegetables, and other groceries! All thoughts of bed were forgotten, and the kitchen suddenly became a hive of activity. “It must have been Jehovah who moved the man to come that night,” says Arminda, “as he was due to have his study the next day and could so easily have waited until then.” Arminda still serves as a regular pioneer, now in Cabimas.

Among the zealous pioneers, almost no problem seems too great. Age, poor health, or an opposed family member need not necessarily be an insurmountable obstacle. Although young ones are certainly represented in the pioneer ranks​—early in 1995 there were 55 regular pioneers between the ages of 12 and 15—​by no means do they have the monopoly on this branch of service. Many a sister whose husband is not a Witness rises early each morning in order to prepare meals and care for her children and household chores, so that she can meet with the group for field service each day and conduct Bible studies without neglecting her wifely responsibilities.

Also married brothers with families streamline their activities and successfully handle a pioneer schedule. David González started his pioneer career as a young, single man in 1968. Later, he served as a special pioneer with his wife, Blanca, until children came along. Now he and his wife as well as one daughter are regular pioneers. Along with shouldering responsibility for his three children, he is an elder and regularly serves as a substitute circuit overseer. How is it possible? He says that he has been able to do it by sacrificing unnecessary material extras and having a good schedule. He also has the full cooperation of his wife.

Then there are those in their twilight years whose circumstances have changed and who can now think of undertaking the pioneer service. These include folk whose children have grown up and others who have retired from secular work. There are also some like Elisabeth Fassbender. Elisabeth, born in 1914, was baptized in postwar Germany before immigrating to Venezuela in 1953 with her unbelieving husband. For 32 years she endured bitter opposition until his death in 1982. At 72 years of age, with the way now clear to serve Jehovah more fully, Elisabeth realized her longtime ambition by enrolling as a regular pioneer.

One thing that undoubtedly contributes to the successful pioneer spirit in Venezuela is the general absence of a materialistic way of life among a majority of the brothers. Most of them are not caught up in the constant struggle to get luxuries for their homes or to earn money for costly vacations. Without these extra financial commitments, a larger number of Jehovah’s people find that pioneer privileges are within their reach.

[Pictures on page 244]

A few of those with long records of pioneer service: (1) Dilia de Gonzáles, (2) Emilio and Esther Germanos, (3) Rita Payne, (4) Ángel Maria Granadillo, (5) Nayibe de Linares, (6) Irma Fernández, (7) José Ramon Gomez