LIFE STORY/AS TOLD BY MARCEL GILLET - SPIRITUAL GROWTH

 After the war, we managed to have regular contact with a congregation in Liege, some 90 kilometers (56 mi) north of us. In time, we were able to establish a small study group in Bastogne. I started to work in the tax administration and had the opportunity to study law. Later, I worked as a notary's clerk. In 1951 we organized a small circuit assembly in Bastogne. About a hundred people were present, including a very zealous pioneer sister, Ely Reuter.  She had cycled 50 kilometers (31 mi) to attend. Soon we fell in love and got engaged. Elly had received an invitation to attend Gilead School in the United States. She wrote to world headquarters to explain that she had to decline the invitation. Brother Knorr, who was then taking the lead among Jehovah's people, kindly replied that perhaps one day she might attend Gilead School with her husband. We got married in February 1953.

That same year, Elly and I attended the New World Society Assembly that was held at Yankee Stadium, New York. While there, I met a brother who offered me a good job and invited me to immigrate to the United States. After taking the matter to Jehovah in prayer, Elly and I decided to decline the offer and return to Belgium to support the small group of some ten publishers in Bastogne. The following year we were blessed with a little boy Serge. Sadly, seven months later, Serge fell sick and died. We shared out grief with Jehovah in prayer, and we were strengthened by the sure hope of the resurrection.

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