Oua Whole Life We Wen Learn From Oua Bestes Teacha

MY PARENTS EXAMPO

In da late 1950’s, my parents wen move from Italy to Kindersley, Saskatchewan in Canada. Litto while afta dat, dey wen learn da trut an dat wen come da mos importan ting to oua family. I rememba wen I wuz growing up I would spen all day in service wit my family. Sometimes I would joke aroun an say dat I wen “AP” wen I wuz ony eight!

My parents neva have plenny money, but dey wen set one good exampo of goin all out fo Jehovah. Like in 1963 wen we wanted fo go to da Intanational big kine meeting in Pasadena, California, dey wen sell plenny of dea stuff fo get nuff money fo go. Den in 1972 we wen move about 620 miles to Trail, British Columbia, Canada fo preach to da dat guys dat talk Italian ova dea. My faddah wuz one janitor. An he wen turn down betta jobs cuz he neva like anyting get in da way of serving Jehovah.

I so tankful dat my parents wen set one good exampo fo me, my braddah, an my two sistahs. Dat wuz da start of my training in da trut an wen teach me someting I goin rememba my whole life. If I put Jehovah firs, he goin take kea me.​—Mat 6:33, NWT.

DA START OF WORKING FO JEHOVAH FULL TIME

In 1980 I wen marry Debbie, one beautiful sistah dat wen focus on serving Jehovah. We wanted fo work fo Jehovah full time. So three monts afta we wen get married, Debbie wen start fo pionea. Afta we wuz married fo one year, we wen move to one small local hui wea dey needed help an I wen start fo pionea too.

Afta a while we wen come all bum out an wanted fo move. Good ting we wen talk to da circuit ovaseah firs. He wuz nice but he wen strait up tell us, “You paht of da problem. You ony looking at wat making um hahd fo you. Try look fo da good stuff, you goin find um.” Dass wat we needed fo hea. (Songs 141:5) We wen lissen to wat he sed right away an wen see dat get plenny good tings happening. Had some in da hui dat wanted fo do moa fo Jehovah, like da keiki, an some of da sistahs dat had husbans dat no wuz in da trut. We wen learn plenny from dat, like look fo da good in tings an wait fo Jehovah take kea stuff. (Mic 7:7) We wen come happy again an tings wen get betta.

Da guys dat wen teach oua firs pionea skool wen serve in odda countries. Dey wen show us pichas dat wen talk about da good an hahd tings dat dey wen go tru. Dat made us like be missionaries. So we wen make dat oua goal.

Fo help us reach dat goal, in 1984 we wen move to Quebec wea dey talk French. Dass about 2,485 miles away from British Columbia. Ova dea we had fo learn one new language an get use to anodda culture. Anodda hahd ting wuz dat we neva have too much money. One time, all we had fo eat wuz lef ova potatoes from one farm. Debbie wen learn all kine ways fo cook dose potatoes, an wuz ono. Even tho no wuz easy, we wen hang in dea an still wuz happy. An we kno fo shua dat Jehovah wuz taking kea us.​—Songs 64:10.

One day we wuz shock fo get one phone call fo ask us if we wanted fo work at Canada Bethel. We wuz happy but kinda bummed cuz we wen apply fo go Gilead. But we wen jus go Bethel. An wen we had get ova dea, we wen talk to Braddah Kenneth Little of da Branch Committee an we wen ask him, “Wat we goin do if we get invited fo go Gilead?” He wen say, “We go worry about dat layta on if you get invited.”

One week layta dat wen happen, me an Debbie got invited fo go Gilead. We had fo choose wat we wuz goin do. Braddah Little wen tell us, “No matta wat you pick, some days you goin wish you wen pick da odda ting. One ting iz not moa betta den da odda one. Jehovah can bless eidda one.” We wen choose fo go Gilead. Tru da years we wen see dat wat Braddah Little had tell wuz right. Plenny times wen odda peopo had fo choose wat assignment dey wuz goin do, we wen share wit dem wat Braddah Little wen tell us.

MISSIONARY LIFE

We wuz so happy dat we wuz paht of da 24 students dat wuz in da 83rd class of Gilead dat wuz in Brooklyn, New York, an wen start in April 1987. Braddahs Ulysses Glass an Jack Redford wuz da main teachas. Da five monts wen fly by an we wen grad on Septemba 6, 1987. Afta dat we wuz assign to Haiti wit John an Marie Goode.

Eva since 1962 wen da las missionaries wuz kick out of Haiti, no odda missionaries got sent ova dea. Three weeks afta we wen grad, we wuz in Haiti, deep in da mountains, in one small congregation of ony 35 publishas. We wuz young, neva kno too much, an all by ouaself inside da missionary home. Da peopo ova dea wuz supa pooa an plenny of dem no could read. Da time we wuz ova dea wuz nutz. Had hurricanes, peopo wuz getting violent cuz da political problems, had protests, an dey wuz even trying fo take ova da govament.

Da braddahs an sistahs in Haiti wuz tough an we wen learn plenny from dem. Dey had one hahd life but dey wen love Jehovah an love fo preach. One olda sistah ova dea no could read but she wen rememba about 150 scripchas. Seeing all da problems ova dea wen make us like go preach cuz we wen realize dat God’s govament wuz da ony ting dat wuz goin fix all dis. We wuz supa happy fo see some of oua firs Bible studies come regula pioneas, spesho pioneas, an eldas.

Wen I wuz in Haiti, I wen meet Trevor, one young Mormon missionary, an we wen talk about da Bible a few times. Years layta I wuz shock fo get one letta from him. He sed, “I getting baptize at da nex big kine meeting! An I like go back Haiti fo be one spesho pionea in da same place I wen do my Mormon mission.” An dass wat he wen do fo long time wit his wife.

EUROPE, AN DEN AFRICA

We wen get assigned fo go to one paht of Europe wea da preaching work wen start fo open up. In 1992 we wen go to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Dass wea my parents wen grow up befoa dey wen move Italy. Da war wuz still raging in da place dat use to be Yugoslavia. Da branches in Austria, Croatia, an Serbia wen take kea da preaching work ova dea. Now each country in dat whole area wuz goin get its own Bethel.

So we had fo learn anodda language an get use to anodda culture. Even da local guys wen say dat dis language wuz hahd fo learn. An it wuz! Wuz so awesome how da braddahs an sistahs ova dea wen stick to Jehovah’s hui no matta wat kine changes had an Jehovah wen bless dem fo dat. Again we wen see how Jehovah always correck tings an he do um at da right time. All da lessons dat we wen learn tru da years in odda places wen help us in Slovenia an we wen learn new ones ova dea too.

But moa changes wen come up. In 2000 we got assign to Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. But cuz of one civil war, we had fo dig out in Novemba 2002 to Sierra Leone. Ova dea dey jus wen pau one civil war dat wen las 11 years. Wuz hahd fo leave Côte d’Ivoire so fas. But all da lessons we wen learn tru all dat wen help us fo stay happy.

We wen focus on all da peopo who wanted fo learn da trut an da braddahs an sistahs who wen go tru all dose years of da war. Dey wuz pooa but dey wanted fo share wat dey wen have. One sistah wen try give Debbie some clothes. But wen she neva like take um, da sistah wen tell her, “All dose years in da war da braddahs in odda places wen help us. Now iz oua turn fo help.” We wanted fo copy dea exampo.

We wen go back Côte d’Ivoire, but cuz of da political problems, tings wuz getting violent again. So in Novemba 2004 we had fo dig out in one helicopter an we ony could take one 22-lb bag each wit us. We ended up sleeping on da floor at one French army base ova nite. An den da nex day dey wen fly us to Switzerland. We wen get to da branch aroun midnight an da Branch Committee an da Ministerial Training Skool teachas wit dea wifes wuz dea waiting fo us. Dey wen hug us, feed us, an give us plenny Swiss chocolate. Dat wen touch oua heart.

Fo litto while we wen get sent to Ghana. Den afta tings wen calm down, we wen go back to Côte d’Ivoire. Da love an aloha of da braddahs wen help us get tru all dose hahd times we wen go tru an da short assignments. Me an Debbie wen kno dat in Jehovah’s hui da braddahs always take kea each odda. But now dat we wen see um fo ouaselfs, we neva goin take um fo granted. All dose crazy times we wen go tru wuz all paht of da training fo us.

TO DA MIDDO EAST

In 2006 we wen get one letta from world headqwatahs telling us about oua new assignment in da Middo East. One moa time, dat wen mean goin tru new adventures, challenges, languages, an cultures. We had plenny fo learn cuz of da religious an political kine problems ova dea. Even tho da publishas wen talk diffren languages, wuz nice fo see dem all stick togedda an follow da direcktion from Jehovah’s hui. We had plenny respeck fo da braddahs cuz dey wen hang in dea even tho dea ohana, classmates, workmates, an neighbas wuz giving dem hahd time.

In 2012 we wen go to one spesho big kine meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel. Dis wuz da firs time since Pentecos 33 C.E dat so much of Jehovah’s peopo wen hui up togedda. No can eva foget dat!

Dat time we wen get sent fo visit one country wea da govaments wen put limits on oua work. We wen bring some publications, go field service, an even wen go some of da smalla big kine meetings ova dea. Had roadblocks an soldiers wit guns erywea. But we wuz keaful an we wen feel safe wit da braddahs.

GOIN BACK AFRICA

In 2013 we wen get one assignment dat wuz supa diffren, fo work at da branch in Kinshasa, Congo. Dat country wuz real pretty but had plenny wars an peopo wuz supa pooa. We wuz tinking, “Ah, we kno wat Africa stay like. We got dis.” But we wen see wuz way moa hahd den we thought, speshly wen we had fo travel cuz neva have roads an bridges an odda stuff fo get aroun. But we had plenny good tings fo focus on. Like how da braddahs ova dea wen love fo preach, go meetings an big kine meetings, an dey wen keep goin an wuz happy no matta wat kine problems dey wen face. We wen see fo ouaself how peopo wuz still yet coming into da trut cuz Jehovah wuz blessing da work. We had learn plenny in Congo an oua frenz ova dea iz like family to us.

At da end of 2017, we wen get anodda assignment, South Africa. Dis iz da bigges branch we eva wen work at. Even wat we wen do ova dea wuz diffren. All da tings we wen go tru befoa wen help us plenny. But we still had plenny fo learn. We love da braddahs an sistahs dat wuz hanging in dea long time. Iz unreal dat even tho dey diffren races an cultures, dey all work togedda real good. Iz easy fo see Jehovah stay blessing dem wit peace cuz dey trying real hahd fo change who dey stay on da inside by following da Bible.

Tru da years me an Debbie wen get all kine assignments, an had fo learn diffren cultures an languages. Sometimes wuz hahd but tru da hui an da braddahs we wen always feel Jehovah’s love. (Songs 144:2) We believe all da stuff we wen learn in full time service wen help us serve Jehovah moa betta.

I supa tankful fo all da tings my parents wen teach me, my wife Debbie, an da good exampos from my spiritual ohana all ova da world. We donno wat goin happen nex fo us but we goin make shua fo keep learning from oua Bestes Teacha, Jehovah.