• Samoa
    2009 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • PROGRESS IN APIA

      Richard Jenkins, a newly baptized, enthusiastic 23-year-old Australian, arrived in Apia in May 1954. He relates: “Before leaving Australia, I was advised not to associate with the local brothers until I made my work situation secure. However, after several months, I became very lonely and started to feel spiritually vulnerable. So I decided to make discreet contact with Pele Fuaiupolu.” The two met late at night under cover of darkness.

      “Pele told me that he would not use my real name for fear the authorities would connect me with the congregation and deport me,” recalls Richard. “So he gave me the name of his newborn son, Uitinese, which is the word ‘witness’ pronounced the Samoan way. To this day the Samoan brothers and sisters still call me by this name.”

      Using his newfound pseudonym, Richard maintained discreet contact with the brothers. He also witnessed informally and started several Bible studies. One Bible student, Mufaulu Galuvao, a young man who worked as a health inspector, later became a member of the Samoa Branch Committee. Eventually, another Bible student, Falema‘a Tuipoloa, also became a Witness, as did several members of his family.

      One of Richard’s Bible students, young Siemu Taase, used to lead a gang of thieves that stole goods from the public works department. Before he could make spiritual progress, however, Siemu’s past caught up with him and he was jailed for his crimes. Undeterred, Richard obtained permission from the warden to continue Siemu’s study under a shady mango tree about 100 yards [100 m] outside the jail walls. In time, several other inmates joined the study.

      “Although we were unguarded,” recalls Richard, “none of the prisoners ever tried to escape, and some accepted the truth.” After his release from prison, Siemu eventually served as an elder.

      In 1955, Richard married an Australian pioneer, Gloria Green. Together they spent 15 years in Samoa, and before returning to Australia, they helped 35 people learn the truth. They now live in Brisbane, Australia, where Richard serves as an elder in the local Samoan-language congregation.