Clergymen Who Recognized the Truth
● In 1961 one of Jehovah’s witnesses gave a public Bible discourse in one of the villages situated in a bush area of the Solomon Islands. Among those who heard the talk was the local clergyman. That night the Witness and the clergyman talked about the Bible for many hours. After further study the next day, this clergyman stood up before his people in church and said that he was going to become one of Jehovah’s witnesses. Although he pleaded with his people to join him in studying the Bible, the whole village turned against him.
At that time he had to travel for about four or five hours over mountains and through rivers to get to the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. Later he moved a short distance from his village and built a house off by himself. He progressed well and finally became a baptized witness of Jehovah. As the years went by, two men went to live near this former clergyman and agreed to study the Bible with him. But they often missed their studies and so did not make much progress. All this started to discourage the former clergyman.
In 1968 the Witness who had originally contacted the former clergyman suggested that it might be better for him to move into the village where Jehovah’s witnesses held their meetings so that he could share more fully in their work. Happy with this suggestion, the former clergyman returned to his village and announced that he was leaving. How this shocked the inhabitants! He had always been a very fine help to them and they did not want to see him leave. They pleaded with him to stay.
His fleshly brother, previously indecisive, left the church and soon began sharing the Bible’s message with others. Taking advantage of the situation, the former clergyman invited the villagers to the next district assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses. Many attended. Impressed with what they saw and heard, quite a number wanted to have a Bible study. A married couple serving as full-time special pioneers were sent to this area to help the former clergyman care for the thirty people who wanted Bible studies. A short time later a Kingdom Hall was built. Twelve persons have already joined the former clergyman in teaching Bible truth to others.
Thus it can be seen that even men who teach religious error may actually want to do what is right. In such cases, once they see the truth, they respond favorably and actively begin to share with others the good things they have learned.