http://www.watchtower.org/e/20050901/article_01.htm
“We cannot do as you ask,” replied one of the family heads. “Those people came to teach us the Bible.” How did the elders react? They expelled them for studying the Bible! This was a cruel blow indeed. The cart belonging to the colony cheese factory passed by the home of one family without collecting their milk, denying them their only source of income. One family head was dismissed from his job. Another was turned away from buying supplies at the colony store, and his ten-year-old daughter was expelled from school. Neighbors surrounded one home to take away the wife of one of the young men, asserting that she could not live with her expelled husband. Despite all of this, the families who studied the Bible did not give up their search for the truth.
The missionaries continued to make the long weekly drive to conduct the Bible study. How strengthening the families found those studies to be! Some family members traveled two hours by horse and buggy to be present. It was a moving occasion when the families first invited one of the missionaries to pray. In these colonies Mennonites never pray aloud, so they had never before heard anyone pray in their behalf. The men had tears in their eyes. And can you imagine their curiosity when the missionaries brought along a tape recorder? Music had never been allowed in their colony. They were so delighted with the beautiful Kingdom Melodies that they decided to sing Kingdom songs after each study! Nevertheless, the question remained, How could they survive in their new circumstances?
Finding a Loving Brotherhood
Cut off from their community, the families began making their own cheese. The missionaries helped them to find buyers. A longtime Witness in North America who grew up in a South American Mennonite colony heard about the families’ plight. He had a special desire to help. Within a week, he flew down to Bolivia to visit them. In addition to providing much spiritual encouragement, he helped the families to buy their own pickup truck so that they could get to meetings at the Kingdom Hall and also get their farm products to market.
“It was difficult after we were expelled from the community. We would travel to the Kingdom Hall with sad faces,” recalls one family member, “but we returned joyful.” Indeed, local Witnesses rose to the occasion and offered support. Some learned German, and several German-speaking Witnesses came from Europe to Bolivia to help conduct Christian meetings in German. Soon, 14 from the Mennonite community were preaching the good news of the Kingdom to others.
On October 12, 2001, less than a year after that first visit to the missionary home, 11 of these former Anabaptists were baptized again, this time in symbol of their dedication to Jehovah. Since then, more have taken this step. One later commented: “Since we have learned the truth from the Bible, we feel like slaves who have been set free.” Another said: “Many Mennonites complain about a lack of love in their community. But Jehovah’s Witnesses take an interest in one another. I feel safe among them.” If you are searching for a better understanding of the truth from the Bible, you too may face difficulties. But if you seek Jehovah’s help and show faith and courage as these families did, you too will be successful and find happiness.