A NEW AVENUE OF SACRED SERVICE

In 1974, to our surprise, Ted was invited to become a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.  In time, we were called to serve at Brooklyn Bethel.  While Ted cared for his responsibilities on the Governing Body, I worked as a housekeeper or in the hair salon. 

As part of Ted's responsibilities, he was assigned to visit various branches. He was particularly interested in the preaching work in countries behind the Iron Curtain.  Once, during a much needed vacation  in Sweden, Ted said:  "Melita, the preaching work is banned in Poland, and I would love to help the brothers there."  So we obtained visas and went to Poland.  Ted met with some of the brothers who cared for our work, and then went for a long walk so that no one could overhear their conversation.  The brothers had four days of very intense meetings, but i was happy to see how satisfied Ted was to help his spiritual family.

The next time we visited Poland was in November 1977.   F.W. Franz, Daniel, Sydlik, and Ted made the first official visit by members of the Governing Body.  Our work was still banned, yet the the three Governing Body members were able to speak to overseers, pioneers, and longtime Witnesses in various cities. 

The next year, when Milton Henschel and Ted visited Poland, they met with officials who were becoming more tolerant of us and our activities.  In 1982 the Polish government permitted our brothers to hold a one-day assemblies.  The following year, larger conventions were held, mostly in rented halls. While the ban was still on  in 1985, we were allowed to hold  four conventions in large stadiums. Then, in May 1989, while plans were under way for even larger conventions, the Polish government granted Jehovah's Witnesses legal recognition. Few events brought Ted more joy than that. 

Next time: Same subject matter - COPING WITH HEALTH SETBACKS

From the jw. org publications