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Kingdom Proclaimers Report

A Reward for Faithfulness

IT WAS in Italy that, 15 years ago, Mrs. B​——, then 15 years old, got to know the truth. However, she did not progress, and so she married an unbeliever. The seeds of truth remained in her heart, though, and about a year ago she accepted a Bible study with one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and began to attend meetings. Her husband was violently opposed and threatened to make her leave home. He would hit her so severely that she needed medical attention. One evening he burst into the Kingdom Hall during a meeting, hit a brother, broke the glass in the door, and shouted with rage.

When she returned home, she found that her husband had locked her out of the house. Without losing her courage, she went to the carabinieri (police) station to inform them of what had happened and then went to sleep at an aunt’s house. After two days her husband allowed her to come home.

The husband is very well known in the town. He began denouncing Jehovah’s Witnesses publicly, saying that they had ruined his family. In this anti-Witness campaign, he was backed up by the clergy. A priest had adhesive stickers stamped with the following words: “JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES: Do not disturb the peace of this family. THANK YOU!” He had these stickers put on doors in the town. Everyone was talking about Jehovah’s Witnesses and making them the butt of their mockery and scorn. In spite of this, the brothers took courage and went forth in their ministry with more zeal than before. Most families had not wanted the stickers on their doors. Some boys, sent by the priest, were given 100 lire for sticking them on the doors, it was reported.

In the meantime, Mr. B​——​ informed his wife that she would have to leave home, as he had already taken steps for a legal separation. But things were beginning to change in this town. A local radio station presented a program, and the reporter described the case as “a maneuver of doubtful taste, of base manners.” During the program, our brothers explained that many families had the stickers imposed on them. This was proved by the fact that they were placed during the night even on some doors of Jehovah’s Witnesses and families that were welcoming their visits. The radio reporter praised Jehovah’s Witnesses and said that they are people “with an exquisite politeness, and they behave with the utmost kindness.”

Finally, the time came for the couple to appear before the judge to begin the legal separation that the husband had requested. The judge praised Mrs. B​——​ for her desire not to separate, and while she was waiting for the lawsuit, he granted her custody of the children. They could continue living in their home, and her husband would have to give her 250,000 lire per month. The husband objected, saying: “The house is my mother’s property, and my wife cannot stay there.” The judge answered: “You want to be husband and boss. Your wife must always say yes, and for once she said no. So you send the whole town into chaos. If your wife had been unfaithful to you, I could understand, but the fact that she follows one faith instead of another is none of your business.”

Mrs. B​——​ is now happily serving Jehovah. (Matthew 5:10) The people of the town have changed their attitude, and wonderful Bible discussions are taking place. They agree that it is not Jehovah’s Witnesses that disturb family peace. If there are still stickers on the doors, they no longer have any meaning.