Faith

The last couple of posts were very personal and close to my heart. It's interesting how things in life turn out. Because many have suffered in the name of religion let's look at a few examples of those who suffered or found information that directed them toward the truth. Take, for example, Alexandre Tetiarahi, who became delinquent in his youth and spent seven years in confinement. He escaped at least six times and was dubbed Butterfly, after the main character in a famous novel about a fugitive prisoner.

At a place where he was hiding on Raïatéa, Alexandre found a Bible and a copy of the book “Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie.” He read the Bible from cover to cover and the book several times. Convinced that he had found the truth, he began to experience a troubled conscience. What did he do?

Even though he had made no personal contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses, the publishers of the book, Alexandre turned himself in to the police, who sent him back to prison in Tahiti. There, Colson Deane worked as a warder. Soon after Alexandre arrived, he overheard Colson witnessing to a colleague and immediately recognized the teachings. So he approached Colson privately and asked to learn more.

Brother Deane obtained permission from the prison director to study with Alexandre in his cell. Soon several other inmates also wanted to study. The director allowed Colson to study with these inmates as well, during his noon break. Later it was decided that it would be better for two other elders to take over. For several years, from 30 to 50 prisoners enjoyed a weekly Bible discourse followed by a personal study for those who wanted one.

In the meantime, Alexandre made rapid progress, which prison officials observed. As a result, they gave this former escape artist special permission to attend his first district convention, under the charge of Brother Deane. There, Alexandre was baptized. Since then, he was released, and he continues to serve Jehovah.

Another example A youth named Benjamin grew up in a Christian home in Belgium. However, in his early adolescence, Benjamin began to lead a double life. While pretending to live by Bible principles, he joined a group of youths who drank heavily, took drugs, and used tobacco. Benjamin also listened to debasing music. Before long, he began to suffer demon harassment and alcoholic comas—yet, he continued taking hard drugs. He lost all notion of personal hygiene and became seriously ill. At this low point in his life, he discovered that his so-called friends did not care for him in the slightest! Only then did Benjamin take a good, hard look at his life and where he was headed. Wisely, he decided to return to those who would show true love to him, namely, his family and Jehovah.

From the outset, however, Benjamin’s resolve was tested. He experienced intense demon attacks, and his girlfriend begged him not to associate with the Witnesses. She even had Catholic priests and apostates try to dissuade him. But with the loving, patient help of his parents and congregation elders, Benjamin began to build a living faith in Jehovah, recognizing that God’s law truly “is perfect, bringing back the soul.” (Ps. 19:7) As a result, he finally turned his back on his past life. Benjamin’s health has improved, and he has found true happiness.

Another example is Bill McLuckie, who had married Denise, a South African, was still living in Blantyre. There he ran a small business to care for his family responsibilities. The McLuckies’ home became the new meeting place for the Blantyre English Congregation. Of course, these meetings had to be held in a more casual way in order not to attract attention. So there was no singing or clapping of hands.

It was during this time that Guido Otto, who was serving at the Rhodesia branch, began to take literature into Malawi secretly. Guido’s father was running a small hotel on the shore of Lake Malawi, so Guido’s visits did not seem at all odd to the officials. Little did they know just how much Bible literature Guido brought through each time! The literature was stored in a secret underground cellar at the McLuckies’ home. When it was being dug, passersby had sometimes asked what it was for. “It’s just a toilet,” they would be told.

One night, in the middle of a meeting, a vehicle drove up in front of the house. Who could it be? The police? The brothers did not know what to do with their study books. The door opened, and Guido Otto walked in cheerfully. What a relief!

After that, as Denise explains, “Bill told the brothers that the first thing they must do if anyone tried to come in was to put all the literature into a basket that we had on hand. Then I was to drop the basket into a hole in our bedroom floor. This led into the cellar. A tea trolley was also set out each time. If anyone came in, it would appear as if we were just visiting and having tea!”

As conditions got increasingly difficult, however, the meetings could no longer be held in just one place. Various homes were used. Sometimes the group met in a forest, dressed as if they were on a picnic.In spite of these difficulties, the brothers still managed to reach genuine truth-seekers by witnessing informally to English-speaking people. A few came into the truth. Among these were Victor Lulker, Daniel Marne, and Mike Sharma, who serve in the Blantyre Congregation down to this day.

When the police did raid the McLuckies’ home in 1971, they found some of the Society’s publications. Brother McLuckie was charged and required to appear before the magistrate in Limbe, Blantyre. The local Witnesses heard about it and, risking their own freedom, turned out in large numbers to support the McLuckies. When the magistrate’s verdict of “not guilty” was announced, the brothers burst into loud applause! But the prosecution appealed. The case now went to the high court. This time Bill McLuckie was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. However, they did not really want to put him in jail, so he was ordered to leave the country instead.

Thus, in October 1972, Bill McLuckie’s 37 years of loyal service in Malawi came to an end. Before leaving, he organized brothers to come and quietly take all the literature that was in his secret cellar. Brothers carried off books by the carload! Some were later stopped at roadblocks, but the police did not notice even one of the cartons. Before the McLuckies left the country, the entrance to the secret cellar was sealed with concrete. Long will the faithful, self-sacrificing service of Bill McLuckie be remembered in the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Malawi!

Just as the brothers were settling into a new routine, trouble flared up once more. In 1972 during the annual convention of the Malawi Congress Party, some very disturbing resolutions were adopted. One of these resolutions called for all of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be dismissed from their places of employment. Ruthlessly, without exemption, this was carried out. Firms that wanted to retain trusted Witness employees were not permitted to do so. Businesses operated by Witnesses were seized and their assets confiscated. But worse was to follow.

Another one of the resolutions adopted at the convention stated that “all [Jehovah’s Witnesses] who live in the villages should be chased away from there.” This effectively called for Jehovah’s Witnesses to be cast out of human society! Thousands of their homes were burned or pulled down. Their crops and animals were destroyed. They were forbidden to draw water from the village wells. They lost literally everything they owned in looting sprees all over the country.

Members of the youth movements again took the lead in this wave of persecution, the most intense and brutal to date. Organizing themselves into bands, ranging from a dozen or so up to as many as a hundred, they went from village to village, searching out Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Countrywide our brothers were hunted down. In Blantyre a group of brothers were rounded up and taken to the local party headquarters, which had been the Society’s branch office before it was confiscated in 1967. Among them was Greyson Kapininga, who had served in the branch as a translator before the ban. After the brothers steadfastly refused to buy party membership cards, the persecutors rubbed a mixture of salt and hot pepper into their eyes. Then they beat the brothers with planks that had large spikes in them. Whenever a brother cried out in pain, the thugs would beat even harder, saying: “Let your God come and save you.”

The vicious attacks claimed many lives. In Cape Maclear, at the southern end of Lake Malawi, bundles of grass were tied around Zelphat Mbaiko. Petrol was poured on the grass and set alight. He was literally burned to death!

Sisters also suffered terribly. Following their refusal to buy party cards, many were repeatedly raped by party officials. In Lilongwe, Sister Magola, along with many others, tried to flee the trouble. However, she was pregnant and could not run very fast. A mob, acting like a pack of wild dogs, caught up with her and beat her to death.

At the campus of Bunda College of Agriculture, just outside of Lilongwe, six brothers and one sister were murdered and their bodies were horribly mutilated. The principal, Theodore Pinney, protested the atrocities in person to Dr. Banda. The result? He was deported! Check this true video of Witnesses who suffered only because of what they believed in.