Preaching to the Falkland Islanders

IT WAS a hot, sweltering summer afternoon in the middle of January in Uruguay as two missionaries of the Watch Tower Society waved good-by to about a dozen of their missionary companions, after having climbed down into a launch that was to take them aboard a Dutch freighter headed for the Falkland Islands, a thousand miles away in the South Atlantic.

During the journey a good witness was given to all the crew members and the passengers, among the latter being a group of weathermen on their way to their posts in the Antarctic regions, who not only procured literature for themselves but also for their companions stationed in the Antarctic. Finally, after five days of much rolling and tossing the treeless islands of the Falkland group came into view. The brightly painted houses of the capital, Port Stanley, with their painted roofs were indeed a welcome sight for our sea-weary travelers. The grayish rolling land was covered with sagebrush, and, as was afterward learned, there are only eight miles of roads in the entire island group. Soon the 2,280 inhabitants of these islands were to hear about the good news of Jehovah’s kingdom for the first time. How would they respond?

After locating rooming quarters, procuring some food and then getting a good night’s rest the missionaries rose early in the morning to begin their preaching from house to house. Were they surprised to hear at the very first house that the news of their arrival had preceded them, in fact, had spread like wildfire! Everyone knew that two missionaries had arrived the day before and the missionaries found a ready welcome awaiting them. Spiritually starved in spite of the three churches and five clergymen in the village, the people in the first four homes listened to the missionaries for three hours. In five days they had placed more than one hundred Bible study aids and hundreds of booklets and magazines dealing with Bible subjects. Arrangements were made to revisit most of the homes called upon.

This activity, however, upset the tranquillity of the village. It was the topic of almost every conversation. While many persons eagerly listened and asked Bible questions, all this very much disturbed and troubled the clergymen, who suddenly became active in visiting their flocks and denouncing the work of the missionaries. One Protestant clergyman, who had not visited some of his people in more than two years, suddenly found time to visit them twice a month. And just as changeable as the wind proved to be the attitude of the people. Due to clerical propaganda, rumors were sweeping town: the missionaries have a different Bible, are spies, etc.

The missionaries began holding public lectures, both in homes and in a hall that they rented and where the average attendance for the series was about thirty. People were surprised to learn that the name Jehovah was in their Bibles, as well as to learn other doctrinal subjects. Within a month every home in the capital was visited and Bible studies were being conducted in fourteen different homes. Since about half of the population of the islands was scattered in the surrounding islands and at outposts and camps, inaccessible to the missionaries at the time, they arranged to mail Bible literature to each family. Thus, after about two months of work in the Falkland Islands, every single family there received the Kingdom witness, either by a personal visit or through the mail.

Since the missionaries returned to Uruguay they have received letters from persons of good will telling that they are continuing their study of the Bible and now have taken up the preaching work among their fellow countrymen. Clearly the time and effort spent in bringing the good news of the Kingdom to the Falkland Islanders were not in vain. Without doubt, among them will be some who will survive the battle of Armageddon to enjoy Jehovah’s blessings in the new world of righteousness.