The Good News Reaches Chiapas State

Even before that registration, the good news reached Chiapas State, in the southern part of the country, and it was taken there by someone who was not a Bible Student, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called. From that area, a well-to-do man named Del Pino went to Europe to study medicine. While there, he also learned much from the Bible Students. On his return to Mexico, he prepared a hall to which he would invite his workers on the Montserrat Hacienda as well as local Evangelist ministers. He knew how to find things in the Bible, and he got considerable enjoyment out of explaining doctrinal truths to those who had gathered.

One who listened to these discussions with a receptive mind and heart was young José Maldonado, who, in 1924, was working on the hacienda. There is no evidence that his employer, Doctor Del Pino, ever actively associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses, though he did receive the Watch Tower publications. However, the Bible truths that young José heard stirred up in him the desire to have a share in preaching Bible truth. In 1927, José became established in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, and from there he spread the good news and distributed Bible literature throughout the State of Chiapas—this without any training from the organization. In another city, Tapachula, near the Guatemala border, Josefina Rodríguez also began to preach the Bible’s message at that time.

After a few years, a brother by the name of Carreón visited both José Maldonado and Josefina Rodríguez. He used the home of Brother Maldonado as his center of operations, returning there for literature supplies every four or five days as he worked all the region along the Pacific Coast between Arriaga and Tapachula. The scenery there was beautiful, but the mountain roads were not good, so most travel was on foot. In the evenings, Brother Carreón would give talks and afterward offer the Society’s publications. Much literature was placed in this way. However, he combined his preaching activity with the selling of merchandise.

At a convention in Mexico City in 1931, the colporteurs were instructed to concentrate on distributing Bible literature instead of on selling other products. Brother Carreón took offense at this and left the organization. Then he threw in his lot with a man named Pérez, in Veracruz. In time, they formed a group called Estudiantes Nacionales de la Biblia (National Bible Students).

As for José Maldonado, right from the start he had been impressed with the fact that Jehovah’s organization is international. He was deeply moved by what he heard at that convention in Mexico City. The program highlighted the name Jehovah’s Witnesses and the responsibility that goes with bearing that name. Before the convention concluded, Brother Maldonado had decided to devote his full time to preaching as a colporteur. Truly, there was a great need for preachers of the good news. At that time, there were only 82 Witnesses in the entire country.

afterward, the State of Chiapas again,