Rewarding Preaching Campaigns

Preaching in these island groups is difficult and demanding. It requires great effort and self-sacrifice. Some islands are far apart. Transportation by sea or air is random to some of them and nonexistent to others, especially during winter time the sea can be rough, particularly when the meltemia-seasonal strong northern winds-blow. Moreover, the villages on many of the islands are isolated and hard to reach because the dusty unpaved roads are often barely passable.  Some villages can be reached only by small boats.

Take, for example, the island of Icaria. The 11 publishers of the Kingdom good news in the small congregation there cannot cover all the villages on that island and the nearby islets. Thus, Christian brothers and sisters from Samos come to help preach to the people of Icaria, as well as to those on the islands of Phournoi, Patmos, and Lipsos. Recently, during one such two-day campaign, the Witnesses were able to place  650 magazines, 99 brochures and 25 books on Bible topics! They were surprised to meet people who had no idea who Jehovah is, people who begged them to stay and teach them more from the Bible.  A lady told one Witness: "Well, now you leave.  But i still have many questions on the Bible. Who is going to help me?"  The Christian sister promised to follow up the interest by using the telephone and she did start a Bible study in that way. 

When a traveling overseer visited Icaria, he arranged to cover the entire island in one week-end. He enlisted the help of about 30 Kingdom publishers from Samos. The visiting brothers had to pay for staying two nights at a hotel and for renting cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles. There had been two days of heavy rain, and the weather forecast for the weekend was bleak. But the brothers  did not let this hinder them, recalling the words of Ecclesiastes 11:4:  "He that is watching the wind  will not sow seed; and he that is looking at the clouds  will not reap."  Eventually, the weather did improve slightly, and after having covered the whole island with their important message, the brothers returned home happy and satisfied.

Next time: Conclusion of Rewarding Preaching Campaigns

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000