1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

WE KNEW
IT WAS
OUR eighty-year-old mother, Clara King,
is active in the ministry. So are her
ten children, twenty-four grandchildren
and the mates of these who are married,
accompanied by her five great-grandchildren.
Along with twelve of the in-laws,
that makes fifty-two members of the family
either sharing in preaching the good
news of God's kingdom or training to do so.
How did it come about? Let me tell you.
One afternoon in 1939 two zealous witnesses
of Jehovah visited our farm home
in Western Australia. Mother and one
daughter were the only ones at home when
they called. My sister, in her late teens,
was most impressed by the Scriptural answers
they gave to her many questions
during several hours of discussion. But
mother, a devout member of the Church
of England, was very much opposed to the
Witnesses because of what the local minister
had said about them.
That evening when I came home my
older sister enthusiastically shared with
DECEMBER 22, 1964
me what she had learned, and together we
started to read the Bible booklets the Witnesses
had left. Right through until 3 a.m.
we studied and all next day and for several
days to follow; we eagerly devoured
the precious truths of God's Word. Then
we declared to the rest of the family at
home that we were going to be witneSSeS
of Jehovah God. This met with severe opposition
from our mother and eldest brother,
although the second-eldest brother
showed interest and wished to talk personally
with the Witnesses.
Progressively Learning the Truth
Eagerly we waited for the Witnesses to
return, and when they did we besieged
them with questions and requests to play
for us all the recorded sermons of J. F.
Rutherford, then president of the Watch
Tower Bible and Tract Society. When they
finally left several hours later, we had
each obtained a Bible and a whole set of
volumes for Bible study, but mother firmly
refused permission for the Witnesses to
come back and help us study. This did not
discourage us, however, and we kept on
studying by ourselves and telling neighbors
and visitors what we learned. Mother
threatened and she pleaded with us to stop,
our eldest brother ordered us out of the
house, but we knew we had found the true
religion and-we could not let it go. Happily
two of our other brothers were now taking
a stand for the truth along with us, and
a family of cousins next door chose the
side of the truth.
The months went by and still no further
contact with the Witnesses. World War II
began and the opposition against preaching
God's kingdom was getting keener in
our entire district. About this time our
sister who worked in the city came home
for vacation. She was a nurse and a very
regular churchgoer, so it was arranged
that she cOlp.e home and knock "this non-
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