Mi Lukim Truth Long Bible Barava Helpem Pipol

Story bilong Vito Fraese

MAET no enitaem iu herem disfala nem Trentinara. Hem smol taon south long Naples, Italy. Dadi and mami bilong mi witim big brata bilong mi Angelo, olketa born long there. Bihaen Angelo born, Dadi and Mami muv go long America and olketa stap long Rochester, New York. Hem nao ples wea mi born long 1926. Firstaem wea Dadi meetim Olketa Bible Student, wea hem nao nem bilong Olketa Jehovah’s Witness long datfala taem, hem long 1922. No longtaem bihaen, Dadi and Mami kamap olketa Witness.

Dadi hem wanfala kwaet man, and hem serious tu. Bat taem hem lukim pipol duim samting wea no stret hem savve feel kros. Hem evritaem storyim olketa tru samting long Bible long pipol bikos hem no hapi long wei wea olketa bigman long church no teachim datwan. Taem hem retire from waka, hem start for pioneer. Bat from hem sik and ples wea hem stap hem cold tumas, hem stop for pioneer taem hem 74 year. Nomata olsem, hem gohed for duim 40 go kasem 60 hour evri month long preaching waka nomata hem winim 90 year. Example wea Dadi showimaot barava helpem mi. Nomata hem savve mekfani, hem wanfala serious man. Staka taem hem savve sei, “Iumi mas ting long truth olsem serious samting.”

Dadi and Mami waka hard for teachim Bible long mifala faevfala pikinini. Mi baptaes long August 23, 1943, and mi start pioneer long June 1944. Big sista bilong mi Carmela hem pioneer witim fren bilong hem Fern long Geneva, New York. No longtaem bihaen mi luksavve Fern hem gele wea mi laek maritim. So long August 1946, mitufala marit.

Missionary Waka

Mitufala spesol pioneer long Geneva and Norwich, tufala taon long New York. Long August 1948, mifala kasem privilege for go long mek-12 class bilong Gilead. Mifala kasem assignment for go long Naples, Italy, witim nara tufala missionary, Carl and Joanne Ridgeway. Long datfala taem, staka samting long Naples hem no mas gud bikos long war. From hem hard for faendem haos, mifala stap for tu-thri month long wanfala ples wea garem tufala smol rum nomoa.

Taem mi smol yet Dadi and Mami savve story long languis bilong olketa, so mi savve lelebet long Italian languis. Hem no isi for Fern lanem datfala languis. Nomata olsem, hem lanem datfala languis and gogo hem savve story long datwan winim mi.

Firstaem, wanfala famili long Naples nomoa interest and fofala nao long datfala famili. Olketa salem olketa cigarette wea law tambuim. Evri morning, Teresa savve haedem olketa cigarette insaed long olketa poket long skirt bilong hem, wea datwan mekem hem luk fat. Taem hem kam bak long evening hem savve luk thin. Truth long Bible barava helpem datfala famili for changem wei bilong olketa. Gogo 16 long datfala famili kamap olketa Witness. Klosap 3,700 Witness nao stap long Naples distaem.

Pipol Againstim Preaching Waka

Mifala stap long Naples for naenfala month, bat then olketa police forcem mitufala witim nara tufala missionary for lusim datfala ples. Mifala go long Switzerland for wanfala month, then mifala tekem tourist visa for kam bak moa long Italy. Mitufala Fern kasem assignment long Turin. Firstaem mitufala rentim rum long haos bilong wanfala woman, and mitufala iusim bathrum and kitchen bilong hem. Taem Carl and Joanne Ridgeway arrive long Turin, mifala rentim wanfala ples tugeta. Gogo tenfala missionary stap long sem haos.

Long 1955, olketa police mekem mifala for lusim Turin, nomata olsem, fofala niu kongregeson hem stap finis and olketa brata long there fit for lukaftarem olketa kongregeson hia. Police sei long mifala, “Taem iufala from America go, evri samting wea iufala duim long hia bae finis nomoa.” Bat samting wea happen bihaen showimaot God nao mekem waka gohed. Distaem winim 4,600 Witness and 56 kongregeson stap long Turin.

Florence Hem Naesfala Taon

Next assignment bilong mitufala hem long Florence. Mifala herem story finis abaotem disfala taon, bikos hem nao missionary assignment bilong sista bilong mi Carmela and hasband bilong hem, Merlin Hartzler. Datfala taon hem naes tumas bikos hem garem olketa naes ples for lukluk long hem olsem Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, and Palazzo Pitti! Hem naes tu for lukim pipol long Florence acceptim gud nius.

Mifala study witim wanfala famili and gogo hasband and waef baptaes. Bat datfala hasband hem savve smoke. Long 1973, The Watchtower storyim wei for smoke hem no klin and hem encouragem olketa wea readim for lusim smoke. Big gele and big boy bilong datfala brata askem hem for stop smoke. Hem promisim hem bae stop, bat hem no duim. Long wanfala evening waef talem tufala twin boy wea 9 year for go sleep bat hem no prea witim tufala. Bihaen, from hem feel nogud hem go long rum bilong tufala. Bat tufala twin talem finis prea bilong tufala. So mami askem tufala, “Wanem nao iutufala prea abaotem?” Tufala sei, “Plis Jehovah, helpem Dadi for no smoke.” Then nomoa waef sei long hasband, “Iu kam herem prea bilong pikinini bilong iu.” Taem hem herem, hem krae nao and sei, “Bae mi no smoke moa!” Hem duim wanem hem promisim, and distaem winim 15 long datfala famili kamap Witness.

Long Africa

Long 1959, mitufala kasem assignment for go long Mogadishu, Somalia, witim tufala nara missionary, Arturo Leveris and brata bilong mi Angelo. Taem mifala arrive long datfala ples, raoa hem gohed long gavman. United Nations talem gavman long Italy for helpem Somalia for kamap independent, bat raoa saed long gavman kamap worse. Samfala from Italy wea mifala study witim lusim datfala kantri, and hem hard for mifala startim kongregeson long there.

Long datfala taem, zone overseer askem mi for waka witim hem. So mifala visitim olketa kantri wea stap klosap. Samfala wea mifala study witim wea gohed gud olketa mas lusim kantri bilong olketa bikos pipol againstim olketa. Olketa narawan stap nomata pipol spoelem olketa.a Taem mifala tingim love wea olketa garem for Jehovah and wei wea olketa gohed faithful, datwan barava encouragem mifala.

Staka taem hem hot fogud long Somalia and Eritrea. Olketa kaikai long there tu garem staka spice wea hot tumas. Firstaem wea mifala kaikaim kaikai olsem long haos bilong wanfala Bible study, waef bilong mi mekfani and sei datfala kaikai mekem ear bilong hem red fogud!

Taem Angelo and Arturo kasem nara assignment, mitufala seleva nomoa stap. Hem lelebet hard bikos no eniwan stap for encouragem mitufala. Nomata olsem, mitufala fren gud go moa witim Jehovah and barava trustim hem. Taem mitufala visitim olketa brata and sista long olketa kantri wea gavman tambuim waka bilong iumi, olketa brata and sista hia barava encouragem mitufala.

Hem no isi taem mitufala stap long Somalia. Mifala no garem fridge for keepim kaikai, so evriday mifala baem kaikai wea fitim datfala day nomoa. Mifala savve baem olketa smol pis long shark or olketa frut olsem mango, pawpaw, grapefruit, kokonat, or banana. Staka insect tu stap long there. Samfala taem olketa insect flae kam long nek bilong mifala taem mifala conductim olketa Bible study. Gud samting nao, mifala garem motorbike so mifala no need for wakabaot long hot sun.

Go Bak Long Italy

Mifala hapi taem olketa fren givim selen for helpem mifala go long boat for go long Italy for international convention long Turin long 1961. Mifala herem bae mifala kasem nara assignment. Long September 1962, mitufala go bak long Italy and start for duim circuit waka. Mifala baem wanfala smol car wea mifala iusim for 5-fala year for gogo raon long tufala circuit.

Mifala stap long Africa wea hot tumas, bat distaem mifala muv long ples wea barava cold. Long taem bilong cold season, mifala visitim wanfala kongregeson wea stap long botom bilong olketa maunten. Mitufala sleep long wanfala rum antap long ples for keepim kaikai bilong animal, bat datfala rum no garem eni samting for keepim rum warm. From hem barava cold tumas, mitufala mas werem coat taem mitufala sleep. Long naet, fofala kokorako and tufala dog nao dae from hem cold!

Gogo mi kamap distrik overseer. Long datfala taem, mifala kasem evri ples long Italy. Mifala visitim samfala ples olsem Calabria and Sicily staka taem. Mifala encouragem olketa young wan for fren gud witim Jehovah and mekem goal for kamap ministerial servant, elder, traveling overseer, or Bethelite.

Mitufala lanem staka samting from olketa gud fren wea worshipim Jehovah long full heart. Mitufala barava tinghae long olketa gudfala wei bilong olketa. Olketa barava faithful long Jehovah, kaen, lovem olketa brata and sista, and willing nomoa for duim eni samting. Mitufala attendim olketa wedding long Kingdom Hall wea olketa brata nao duim, wea bifor law long kantri no letem. Bifor long Turin, olketa brata and sista garem meeting insaed kitchen or olketa sidaon long olketa pis timba, bat distaem olketa no duim olsem. Olketa garem olketa naesfala Kingdom Hall wea mekem pipol praisem Jehovah. Distaem olketa no duim assembly long olketa ples wea smol, bat olketa garem olketa Assembly Hall wea garem staka spes. And mifala barava hapi for lukim namba bilong olketa pablisa hem winim 243,000. Taem mifala first kam long Italy, 490 pablisa nomoa stap.

Mifala Hapi Long Wanem Mifala Duim

Mifala kasem olketa hard taem. Hem no isi for stap farawe from hom and mifala savve sik tu. Evritaem Fern lukim sea, datwan mekem hem for tingim tumas hom bilong hem. Hem kasem thrifala big operation tu. Long wanfala taem wea hem go for duim Bible study, wanfala man killim hem witim big fork for iusim long garden. Datwan mekem hem for go moa long hospital.

Nomata samfala taem mifala feel wikdaon, mifala ‘weit long Jehovah’ olsem Lamentations 3:​24 talem. Hem nao God wea comfortim iumi. Long wanfala taem wea mitufala feel wikdaon, Fern kasem wanfala naes leta from Brata Nathan Knorr. From hem born klosap long Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, long ples wea Fern start pioneer, hem savve olketa woman from datfala ples barava olsem Fern. Olketa savve waka hard and evritaem strong for disaedem samting. Brata Nathan Knorr barava tok tru. Long olketa year wea go pas, staka pipol encouragem mifala long olketa difren wei.

Nomata mifala kasem olketa hard taem, mifala trae hard for gohed strong long ministry. Staka taem Fern savve sei, ‘Iumi mas no lusim strong wea iumi garem.’ Bihaen mitufala duim circuit and distrik waka for winim 40 year, mitufala garem privilege for visitim and organizem olketa grup and kongregeson wea iusim olketa difren languis. Olketa grup hia preach long pipol from Bangladesh, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and olketa nara ples. Mitufala lukim truth long Bible barava helpem staka pipol for changem laef bilong olketa and kasem mercy from Jehovah.​—⁠Mic. 7:​18, 19.

Mifala prea long Jehovah evriday for hem strongim mifala for gohed duim ministry. From mifala savve Lord hem hapi, datwan strongim mifala. Hem mekem mifala hapi long wanem mifala duim long laef taem mifala teachim pipol abaotem olketa tru samting long Bible.​—⁠Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:​29.

[Footnote]

[Chart/Piksa long page 27]

Dadi and mami long Rochester, New York

1948

Long mek-12 class bilong Gilead long South Lansing

1949

Mitufala Fern bifor mitufala go long Italy

Capri, Italy

1952

Long Turin and Naples witim olketa nara missionary

1963

Fern witim samfala Bible study

‘Iumi mas no lusim strong wea iumi garem’