Gaining a Faithful Companion

In 1956, I left Bethel to marry Etty, a pioneer I had become acquainted with when she came from the Netherlands to visit her sister who then lived in London. Toward the end of the war, Etty taught typing and shorthand at a  commercial college in Tilburg, southern Netherlands.  One day another teacher offered to cycle home with her to make sure she arrived safely. He was  a Roman Catholic. When they arrived, a discussion followed with Etty's Protestant parents. A friendship developed, and the teacher became a frequent visitor to their home. Soon after the end of the war, this teacher came to Etty's home, shouting, 'I've found the truth!' "I thought you said you had the truth when you were a Roman Catholic!" Etty's father responded.   "No!" he replied excitedly.."Its Jehovah's Witnesses who have the truth!" 

That evening and many following ones were spent in intense Bible discussion.  Soon afterward Ettty became a pioneer. In her ministry she also encountered bitter opposition, which in the Netherlands came from the Roman Catholic Church. Children, egged on by the priests, would disrupt her conversations when she was going from house to house, and on one occasion they wrecked her bicycle.  She took her bike to a repairman who had previously accepted a booklet from her.  "Look what the children have done, she said tearfully. 

"Now don't you give up," the man kindly replied."  You're doing a fine work.  I'll repair your bike for nothing." And he did. 
Etty found that the priests took little interest in their flocks until she started to study the Bible with them.  Then the priests and nuns would come around to undermine the people's faith in both the Bible and Jehovah. Despite this, she enjoyed  many fruitful Bible studies. 

Next time: Grateful for Our Life Together

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997