Kingdom Proclaimers Report
Kingdom Good News From Down Under
AS IN 211 other lands, the good news of the Kingdom is being proclaimed zealously by Jehovah’s Witnesses down under in Australia. The more than 49,000 Witnesses there are enjoying rich blessings. Many people of different nationalities have migrated there over the years, so that now 58 ethnic congregations report field service. Encouraging experiences are related by the Watch Tower Society’s branch office.
Vietnamese Refugee
A Vietnamese refugee, now living in Australia, grew up with ancestor worship, Confucianism, and Buddhism, along with Eastern and Western philosophy. Until 1975 he was a soldier in the South Vietnamese army. In 1979 he had to have his left arm amputated because of a tumor in his wrist. Longing for freedom, he fled Vietnam in 1983, together with 24 other people, on a small boat. After a frightening encounter with pirates, their boat drifted aimlessly in the South China Sea for six torrid days, until they finally reached Malaysia. After spending five months in a refugee camp, he was permitted to enter Australia. Three months later he came in contact with the truth. The words of Jesus at John 8:32 answered his deep longing for freedom: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The brothers showed him much love. Today he is a Witness of Jehovah and instrumental in helping many other Vietnamese-speaking people learn the truth that sets one free.
An Aboriginal Responds to the Truth
In northwestern Australia a young pioneer brother and his partner called on an Aboriginal woman in a tribal area called the woolshed. After hearing why they had called, the woman took a key from around her neck and unlocked a large steel chest. Much to their surprise, they saw inside among her few belongings two Watch Tower brochures and an old copy of the Bible. Sitting on the ground, they were able to start a study using one of the brochures. Although the woman neither reads nor writes, she truly valued the brochures she had previously obtained. A regular study is now being conducted, to her delight.
Accidental Telephone Dialing
In the city of Sydney, with a population of three million, a little three-year-old girl was playing with the telephone and dialed a number at random. The number happened to be that of a Witness. A sister answered, and at first she thought the caller was her grandchild. Then she heard an adult’s voice. It was the little girl’s mother, who apologized for her daughter. A conversation ensued, during which our sister gave a witness. The lady exclaimed: “I was hoping the Witnesses would come to my door again. I want to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses!” She went on to say that just two months previously, she had visited Peru and was impressed by her aunt and family who are now Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said: “My relatives’ children were little devils, but now they are little angels!” Arrangements were made for a Bible study, and the interested lady continues to make good progress—all because of an accidental telephone call by her little girl.