‘Millions Now Living Will Never Have a Life’ – that should have been the proclamation in the 1920s. It certainly turned out to be the case for those who listened. Often you get a real insight into this by considering the Wasted-Life Stories that appear in the magazines. These articles are there to encourage the weary and hopefully get the R+F to follow the examples of the past. The stories however, are more like real life tragedies. Take the example of this young girl caught up in the WT frenzy of 1920s, appearing in the August 1 2001 WT……..
I remember the excitement in 1922 when the call came to ‘advertise the King and his kingdom.’ …..The Bible lecture ‘Millions Now Living Will Never Die” proved to be a timely witness in our extensive territory. On May 14,1922 Stanley Rogers, a relative of Pryce Hughes, came from Liverpool to deliver this talk in Chirk, a village just north of our town, and later that evening at The Picture Playhouse in Oswestry. I still have one of the handbills specially printed for that event. ……..In 1929, 1 made my decision to be baptized. I was 19 years old.
As a baptized JW - life was now to be one of exertion, with ‘vigorous’ spreading of what would be more falsehoods. It would also involve making a public spectacle of yourself.
In 1931 we received our new name, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in that year, we had a vigorous campaign using the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World…..At a convention in Birmingham the following year, a call went out for 24 volunteers. Eagerly, 24 of us turned in our names for a new feature of service, not knowing what it was to be. Imagine our surprise when we were assigned in pairs to offer the same booklet, The Kingdom, the Hope of the World, while wearing heavy sandwich boards advertising the Kingdom. Working the precincts of the cathedral, I felt very self-conscious, but consoled my-self that nobody in that city knew me. .
She now falls for an older man, old enough to be her father. Does life improve? Well hardly, he is not in any real position to provide for her. It seems they have no real place to live and take their belongings with them.
In 1933, 1 married Zanoah, a widower 25 years my senior. His first wife had been a zealous Bible Student, and Zanoah had faithfully remained in his assignment after her death. We soon moved from England to our new territory in North Wales, about 90 miles away. Cartons, suitcases, and other precious belongings were perched precariously on our bicycle handlebars, wedged between the crossbars, and packed into panniers.
Ah….but now things really start to take off. The handy husband puts together a caravan! It is called ‘Elizabeth’ which has a truly ironic meaning in these circumstances! Of course if you are ‘spiritual’ you are not likely complain over anything. Perfect for the JW husband, who doesn’t have to do much.
Up to this time,we used whatever accommodations we could find as we moved from place to place, but Zanoah decided that the time had come for us to have a home of our own, one that could be towed from site to site. My husband was a skilled carpenter of Gypsy extraction and he built a Gypsy caravan for us. We called it Elizabeth, Bible name meaning “God of Plenty”……..In the cold weather, the bed clothes often froze to the caravan walls, and condensation was a constant problem. Water also had to be carried, sometimes quite a distance, but we overcame these difficulties together.
And if you get ill and have no food….Jehovah will always provide miraculously. Amazing how the faithless manage to get food and stuff. Guess they just work.
One winter I was ill, and we had little food and no money. Zanoah sat on the bed, took my hand in his, and read Psalm 37:25 to me: “A young man 1 used to he, I have also grown old, and vet I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.” Gazing at me he said: “If something doesn’t happen soon, we will he begging~ and I can’t see God letting that take place! He then went out to witness to our neighbors.
When Zanoah returned at midday to make me something to drink, an envelope awaited him. It contained £50 from his father. Some years earlier Zanoah had been falsely accused of embezzlement, hut his innocence had just been established. This gift was to make amends. How timely!
When kids come along, time to get a house…….well eventually!
Our daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1938, and to meet the needs of the family, Zanoah enlarged our caravan. When our second daughter, Eunice, came along in 1942, it seemed wise to look for a more permanent home. for this reason Zanoah ceased pioneering for a few years, and we moved to a small house near Wrexham. Later, we settled in Middlewich in the adjoining county of Cheshire. There my dear husband died in 1956.
Well looking back on it, what can you say? You suffered poverty, an extreme lifestyle, spent countless hours preaching falsehoods…because virtually everything has been reworked…making a mockery of it all and lived a life of self denial for what? The WTS have no idea -where they are - with anything.
I am still able to preach from door to door and to conduct Bible studies in my home. When friends come to visit me, it is always a pleasure to recount some of my earlier experiences. I am so grateful for me precious memories of the blessings 1 have received while associating with Jehovah’s people for close to 90 years.
ISP