Wanted! Fishers of Men
IN THE autumn of the year 36 C.E. the Christian “fishing net” was first let down into international waters under direction of the now resurrected Jesus Christ. With what purpose in view? To net a great multitude of humans, Gentiles now as well as Jews, for the service of God’s kingdom. Peter, Paul, Timothy, Barnabas, Silas and others left home and obeyed the urgent call to move into distant “fishing” areas where tremendous catches of men awaited them.
Today again an urgent call goes out. Jesus still tells his followers: “I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt. 4:19) There are still marvelous opportunities for those who will take up his offer and engage in the most exciting, challenging and yet satisfying vocation available. Have you thrilled to the reading of the Acts of the Apostles? Have you followed their trials and their gladsome experiences as they moved about among the nations? You, too, can personally rejoice as they did in the privilege of “fishing” in all waters. The need for those who can go to productive areas of the sea of humankind is still great!
If you are a family head, why not seriously contemplate moving to where there is greater need for the devoted service of yourself and your family? It is reported that Central America abounds with towns and cities of 10,000 population and more, places where the help of men who can take on responsibilities in congregational activity is needed. There may even be secular work in your own line of work to be had in some of those lands. And what a boon to be able to have your children schooled in the language of another people and equipped to preach the good news of the Kingdom among that people! If you are married and without a family, it should be still easier for you to make such a move.
As to single young men and women, those already dedicated to God, how fine it would be to break away from this world’s unsatisfying occupations, enter the full-time preaching service, and ready yourselves for an invitation to be trained at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for missionary service! As you begin to plan for such enlarged privileges of Kingdom service, Jehovah will bless you. You will feel a closer kinship to all those devoted men and women of the first century and of our own century who left home and friends with the firm resolve to find and make new friends in another land, doing so for the sake of the Kingdom.
GUATEMALA, A FISHERMAN’S PARADISE
There is Guatemala. Over twenty years ago about twenty missionaries arrived there after graduating from Gilead. What happened? Let them tell the story: “As we witnessed from door to door in this tropical highland city (Guatemala City), we marveled as day after day we were bathed in sunshine that was neither hot nor cold. We learned the names of the volcanic peaks lining the horizon. We visited the colorful markets where we bought and learned to enjoy strange tropical fruits and vegetables. We could buy orchids for a few cents a dozen. We found out how to cook on wood-burning stoves. We discovered that plumbing standards are by no means uniform the world over. Like everyone else, we ran out into the patio when the earth trembled. We learned to greet everyone local fashion with a handshake and a friendly pat on the shoulder.”
But did their “fishing” operations succeed? In Guatemala City alone the number of active Witnesses has grown in twenty years from 10 to over 700. The city has thirteen congregations now. And some of the missionaries moved out into other towns where the missionary homes became the nucleus of new congregations in ever so many places. But does Guatemala still need more fishers? According to the 1968 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses there is still only one Witness for every 3,024 of population. Would you be useful there? Here is how the missionaries already there reply:
“Could you have endured with the Israelites in the Arabian desert? Could you have trekked through the wilderness from Babylon to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel? Could you have walked all around Galilee and Judea with Jesus? Do you put faith in the inspired words: ‘It is a means of great gain, this godly devotion along with self-sufficiency. For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things’? (1 Tim. 6:6-8) If your answers are in the affirmative, you have the real missionary spirit and can certainly help in Guatemala.”
HONDURAS PROMISES A GOOD “CATCH”
Honduras looks quite small on the map, but with less than a thousand Witnesses, there is but one to every 2,152 of population. So there are good “fishing” opportunities there. In fact, the report from Honduras has this to say: “If more missionaries were available, the territory here would blossom forth in full bloom before our very eyes.” And what a variety of places to choose from! Puerto Cortés, the principal port, right on the Atlantic, with a hot climate continually tempered by cool breezes; San Pedro Sula, second-largest town, where one local full-time preacher brought five new persons into association with the congregation in five months; Tela, another port town, with a beautiful beach, nice warm climate and plenty of interest; Choluteca, seventh-largest town, where the work is carried on mostly by female Witnesses.
Here is what the missionaries say about the capital, Tegucigalpa: “Here you have almost perfect climate the year round, and what a field of interest there is! The work is well received here, and one could immediately start many Bible studies in the homes of eager inquirers.” And an invitation so much like the Macedonian call (Acts 16:9) is this appeal for more missionaries in Honduras: “What a stimulant they would be to the local brothers, and how they could train the local Witnesses to be mature ministers, rounded out in their ministry!”
COME, WITH YOUR “NETS,” TO EL SALVADOR
El Salvador is another area where “fishers of men” are urgently needed. Though it has 1,105 active Witnesses, this is not enough; for it amounts to but one Witness for every 3,000 of the population. Says the local representative of the Watch Tower Society: “In spite of the good work of 48 special full-time preachers, there are still many places where the need is great. The population has doubled in the last twenty years, so there is really more to do now than when the Witnesses started here about twenty-three years ago.”
Here is a list of likely places for those who have the faith to move to where the “fishing” is better: Metapán, a warm valley city about thirty-five miles north of Santa Ana, with no Witnesses, but many people interested in Bible knowledge; Santa Rosa de Lima, located on a fine military highway, eight miles from the Honduran border, has a population of some 15,000 and no Witnesses; Ilobasco, a typical little town near the Lempa River, with white adobe houses and a fine view of a volcanic peak, has nobody to care for the known interest there; Port Libertad, on the Pacific Coast, has 10,000 people, and has to be considered as isolated territory; and the entire State of Chalatenango, on the border with Honduras, has no Witnesses as yet.
One Gilead graduate, who has now been serving in El Salvador for seventeen years, expresses satisfaction and joy in the work she continues to accomplish: “The people are in need of so much spiritual help, in order that they may learn what it means to live. When they embrace the truthful message of the Bible and begin to arrange their lives in accord with God’s will, their progress is amazing. Their original background did not emphasize spiritual values. But to see the change in their lives, when their eyes of spiritual understanding are opened, is worth all the inconveniences and troubles one may have to encounter. I used to think I would live here until Armageddon. But now it seems the most natural thing in the world to live here forever and ever.”
A FINE PLACE TO “LET DOWN YOUR NET”
Nicaragua, land of lakes and volcanoes, sounds like a place where “fishing for men” would be rewarding. And it is. There is but one Witness there for every 2,000 inhabitants. About one-half of the whole country can be classed as “unassigned territory” for Kingdom witnessing, and the entire eastern half has only thirty-five Witnesses. The grip of superstitious, religious fear is largely broken, and people receive and listen to the Kingdom message in a kindly, respectful manner.
In this land the newcomer has to adjust to the slower pace of living. At times the heat of the tropics has to be endured, as well as the downpours of rain that manufacture thick, gooey muck in abundance. Measures have to be taken to protect against malaria, jaundice and parasites. But listen to what one missionary of many years has to say about this: “It seems all my friends and relatives in the north (Canada) have as many sicknesses as I have had, and I never felt any better pioneering in the north than I do here. Besides, we live in an age of improved drugs and treatments. The early Christians never had what we have for curing and treating their sicknesses; still, they learned to work with their problems and overcame them.”
There is the other side of the coin. A clean and comfortable place to return to at the end of each day of rewarding “fishing”; good, wholesome meals with plenty of fresh fruit; but, best of all, a real paradise to work in, where everyone takes time to listen to what you say, where the majority eagerly accept Bible literature, and where you can start more Bible studies in the homes than you can possibly care for. All of this along with the satisfaction of knowing that you are engaged in the grand “fishing” work initiated by Christ Jesus!
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
How can you help to fill this urgent need for fishers to ‘catch men alive’ in many parts of the world? (Luke 5:10) If you can personally respond, do so. But it may be that, due to age, infirmity or other restrictive circumstances, you cannot do that, even though you would like to. However, if you are a parent or one who has influence with younger people, there is something you can do. What is it? Just listen to this report from one of those countries in need of “fishers of men”:
“About half of the missionaries here declare that they were encouraged by their parents from youth on. As one of them said, ‘My parents told me that the best inheritance that they could give me would be the full-time ministry.’ Others were encouraged by other full-time ministers and missionaries, who talked to them and encouraged them to take up the missionary career.”
Truly, then, many can share in the service of channeling more “fishers of men” to fruitful areas of the sea of humankind. From youth on, children can be encouraged to make missionary service their goal, to do what Paul and Timothy and so many others have done—left home and friends for the sake of the Kingdom. There is no limit to the “catch” that they will be blessed with as the Lord Jesus Christ directs the whole operation from his glorious heavenly throne.
The missionary life is a life of self-denial, in some respects, but a life that brings its own precious rewards. Note how missionaries now serving in Central America feel about it: “You are used to the fullest extent possible and Jehovah has put you there and you have the satisfaction that you are giving your all in his service.” “I never had so many thrills and blessings in all my life until I reached my missionary assignment.” “We have found that God’s people are the same all over the world. We feel right at home here among the local brothers, just as though we were in the same family but living in another locality. We look forward to many happy years here.”
Will you give this matter of serving where the need is greater some serious consideration? The developing circumstances in some of those lands to the south are themselves a sign loudly proclaiming, “Wanted! Fishers of Men.”
(Those who can respond to the call for service where the need is greater may write the Office of the President, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, for a Memorandum on Serving Where the Need Is Great. Also, they can write the branch office of the Society in the country to which they wish to move for other particulars.)
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CENTRAL AMERICA