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Costa Rica1988 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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The brothers did not have to wait long because on December 23, 1943, Theodore Siebenlist and his wife, Hermena, from the first class of Gilead, arrived. Costa Rica was one of the first four countries in the world to receive Gilead graduates.
Brother Siebenlist had a solid background with the organization. His father was baptized in 1913, two days after Theodore was born. His parents’ home was used for meetings, and he participated with them in tract distribution. He was baptized at the Washington, D.C., convention in 1935. At a convention in 1937, he met Hermena Deines and they married the following year.
The effects of World War II, which was still raging in Europe, were felt in Costa Rica. So when the Siebenlists arrived in San José, signs of austerity were seen everywhere. They searched for a month before they found suitable living quarters in a second-floor apartment with an adjoining room that could serve as the Kingdom Hall. It was conveniently located half a block off the main street and thus became a familiar address.
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Costa Rica1988 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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UNITY IN SAN JOSÉ
Besides the former divided group in Puerto Limón, another one existed in San José. What happened to that group in San José? Brother Siebenlist encouraged unity. His motto was, “Do it right, or don’t do it at all.”
Brother Siebenlist’s 1944 annual report to the Society glowed with progress. He wrote: “The Spanish brethren in Costa Rica, now numbering about 75, were divided when we arrived here in December and up until the preceding month had maintained two Kingdom Halls in San José. Immediately upon our arrival, the two groups were invited to unite and meet regularly in the same hall. At the first meeting both groups were present, numbering about 30 in all. Now, by the Lord’s grace, the local organization is working quite smoothly, and the group has grown to about 60.”
By the following April, there was a new peak in publishers—223! What growth, considering that when the Siebenlists had arrived less than two years earlier, about 120 publishers made up the four English-speaking and the two Spanish-speaking congregations!
SERVANT TO THE BRETHREN
During his first year in Costa Rica, Brother Siebenlist served as a servant to the brethren (circuit overseer). He visited the six congregations and the isolated interested persons, even though the distances were far and travel was difficult. With the arrival of additional missionaries, more visits to congregations could be made.
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Costa Rica1988 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses
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[Picture on page 213]
First group of missionaries. Front row, left to right: Charles Palmer; Lora Lea Palmer; Hermena Siebenlist; Theodore Siebenlist, branch servant from 1944 to 1952.
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