00:19 Well, today we have the very great privilege to get acquainted
00:24 with five faithful Christian women who share something unique.
00:27 Each one was married to a member of the Governing Body
00:31 who has now gone on to his heavenly reward.
00:34 There are nine such dear, faithful sisters with us at Bethel.
00:38 Sisters Lucille Henschel, Audrey Hyde, Margareta Klein,
00:43 and Charlotte Schroeder could not be with us today for this interview,
00:46 but we treasure their faithful example as well.
00:49 Now, these sisters
00:51 had a very demanding schedule
00:53 while supporting their husbands in their work.
00:55 But what were some of the blessings that they enjoyed?
00:58 Let’s find out.
00:59 So let’s begin with Sister Sydney Barber.
01:03 Sister Barber, could you tell us how you began in the full-time ministry?
01:07 Well, I was blessed to have parents who were faithful and diligent,
01:11 and they raised me with the idea
01:13 that full-time service was to be my career.
01:16 However, when I got out of school,
01:19 I was offered a pretty good job that I really enjoyed.
01:22 I took it and then thought about
01:26 what reasons could I give to Jehovah
01:29 why I was working full-time and not pioneering.
01:33 Well, of course, I couldn’t come up with any reasons.
01:35 And so I knew I had to quit this job, which I did.
01:39 And five years later, I was invited to Gilead,
01:42 and that’s where I met my husband.
01:45 All right, so we understand it was in 1956
01:48 that you married Brother Carey Barber.
01:50 Can you tell us a little bit about some of his outstanding qualities?
01:55 Well, the first thing that attracted me to him
01:57 was that he already had a long history in the full-time service.
02:01 He had gone to Bethel in 1923,
02:04 some 30 years before that.
02:07 So I knew if I was going to marry,
02:11 I had to marry someone with the same goal of full-time service.
02:15 And, then, he was easygoing;
02:17 he didn’t get easily excited or upset about things.
02:20 He had a marvelous sense of humor.
02:23 And all of this helped me a great deal
02:26 because the very day after we were married,
02:29 we started in the circuit work.
02:31 And then for the next 22 years, I lived out of a suitcase
02:36 —lived in the homes of the brothers and moved every week.
02:39 Wonderful. Wow!
02:40 That sounds like a demanding schedule, Sister Barber.
02:43 But, of course, there were blessings.
02:45 What were some of those?
02:46 Oh, there were many blessings,
02:47 although at times I did feel very sorry for myself.
02:51 But the blessings and the happiness
02:56 —the joys— far outweighed any difficulties.
03:00 One of the joys was to find interested people in the service,
03:05 and then find years later that whole extended families
03:09 had come into the truth from that person that I’d contacted.
03:14 Then when we came to Bethel, we did more international travel.
03:18 Now, often we went to maybe an exotic country,
03:21 but we only saw the road from the airport to the branch and back again.
03:26 And we didn’t see the tourist attractions that most people would go to see.
03:31 But we did see “the desirable things,”
03:34 ‘the precious things of the nations,’ and that is Jehovah’s people.
03:38 It was such a thrill to go to a country like Myanmar
03:43 and there meet, perhaps, sisters from the Chin Hills
03:47 —little sisters that had learned the truth back in their own language,
03:51 way out in the sticks, you might say—
03:54 or to go to the Andes and meet a little Quechua-speaking brother
03:58 and to know that these are part of our family
04:01 and that they’re worshipping Jehovah.
04:03 It’s always been dear to my heart.
04:06 Very nice.
04:08 Well, now, Sister Barber, as you look back,
04:11 what is it that you especially treasure?
04:14 Well, I’m very thankful that I was married
04:17 to one of Christ’s brothers.
04:19 Just to hear his expressions on spiritual matters
04:24 and to hear his appreciation
04:28 for his service to Jehovah.
04:30 He was a humble man,
04:32 and he didn’t speak publicly
04:34 about being one of the anointed;
04:37 but privately he expressed great awe of that calling
04:42 and great appreciation for it.
04:45 So I’m very thankful that I was able
04:48 to have 51 years of marriage with him.
04:52 Thank you so much, Sister Barber.
05:04 Well, next on our program
05:05 is dear Sister Melba Barry.
05:08 Sister Barry, we’d like to know a little bit
05:10 about how you came into the truth
05:12 and how you started full-time service, please.
05:16 Well, I’m an Australian lassie, born and raised in Australia.
05:20 Way down there, in 1935, my mother accepted the truth,
05:24 and the brother was going from door to door when he met her.
05:29 Being the oldest of three girls,
05:31 I happened to be the only one
05:33 that showed any interest and accepted the truth,
05:36 and I was baptized in 1939.
05:39 But in the small local congregation where I served,
05:43 I was appointed as the company servant,
05:46 since no qualified brothers were available.
05:52 Brothers were assigned from Bethel
05:54 to give talks in the congregation.
05:57 And so one brother came
05:59 to the congregation for such an assignment,
06:02 and when he returned to Bethel,
06:05 he told his buddy Lloyd Barry to come out
06:08 to the congregation to give a talk and to look me over.
06:15 Eventually, he came.
06:17 Meanwhile, I applied to be a pioneer
06:20 but was accepted to Bethel in Sydney in September 1939.
06:24 So I began my 72 years of full-time service.
06:28 Beautiful.
06:31 Well, then in 1942, you married that brother who came to check you out.
06:35 What were some of his outstanding qualities, Sister Barry?
06:38 Well, he truly loved Jehovah and the brothers.
06:42 He was serious.
06:44 He had a kind and courageous spiritual manner.
06:46 I thought a spiritual giant,
06:48 since I was such an immature person at that time.
06:52 And I thought I needed someone to help me get through Armageddon.
06:56 It was so close at that time.
06:59 And Lloyd was a very decisive person,
07:02 and when he learned the truth in his teenage years,
07:06 he came to appreciate that serving Jehovah
07:08 is a course to lifelong success.
07:12 And so he began full-time service to Jehovah in January 1939.
07:16 He made it the center of his life.
07:19 I liked that about him and, of course,
07:21 he was handsome; he was the best!
07:25 Now, Sister Barry, of course,
07:27 you had this same very demanding schedule,
07:30 but what were some of the blessings?
07:34 A Christian wife must be in submission to her husband.
07:37 And when he’s busy in theocratic activities,
07:40 she also has to be flexible.
07:43 For example, we were called to the 11th class of Gilead in 1948
07:48 and were assigned to Japan.
07:51 During our very first month in Japan,
07:54 Lloyd and I were assigned to separate congregations
07:58 in opposite parts of the city of Kobe.
08:01 We had so few publishers that we all spread out,
08:04 each going our separate ways to get the territory worked.
08:08 When we arrived, there were just three Japanese Witnesses
08:11 in the whole country,
08:13 our language was very limited, and hardly anyone understood English.
08:18 But Jehovah blessed our efforts.
08:20 In fact, one woman I met on my first day preaching,
08:23 she accepted the truth and served Jehovah faithfully
08:26 for 50 years as a pioneer.
08:28 But in time, more missionaries came to help,
08:31 and in about nine years, we had 1,000 publishers or so.
08:35 In 1975, we were up to 33,000 publishers,
08:40 but in 1995, over 200,000.
08:44 That was a rich blessing.
08:46 A wonderful blessing.
08:48 Well, Sister Barry, as you look back,
08:50 is there a memory that you especially treasure?
08:54 Yes, there is one that touched me very much.
08:57 For the last 24 years of his life,
09:00 Lloyd was used extensively for conventions and zone work.
09:04 And in that time, we traveled together to some 80 countries.
09:08 One highlight that I especially treasure
09:10 is that of the district convention in Cuba in 1998.
09:15 After each talk, the dear brothers and sisters actually all stood up
09:20 and gave each speaker a standing ovation
09:24 —clapping their hands vigorously over their heads.
09:28 Such happiness and gratitude and joy for Jehovah’s provisions
09:33 left a very lasting impression on me, and I’ll never forget it.
09:37 So over the years, we could see how Jehovah blessed us in full-time service
09:43 and we found much joy in that.
09:45 So it has been a treasure and a great privilege
09:47 to have lived a life of nearly 60 years
09:51 with such a devoted brother and a faithful servant of Jehovah
09:55 and another treasure and privilege
09:57 to continue serving Jehovah in my advanced age.
10:01 I keep trying with Jehovah’s help.
10:03 I think you’re succeeding, Sister Barry.
10:05 Thank you so much.
10:19 Next, we have the privilege
10:21 to interview Sister Melita Jaracz.
10:24 Sister Jaracz, we understand that you’re from Canada.
10:27 So please tell us about your early days in the truth there.
10:31 Well, I was six years old when my parents learned the truth
10:34 after they read the booklet Where Are the Dead?
10:37 Reading that booklet was all that it took my mother and dad
10:41 to learn the truth about what happened to their first son,
10:44 who had died in the hospital.
10:47 And my relatives were fiercely opposed
10:51 to my parents becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses.
10:54 However, they did not waver.
10:57 We left Saskatchewan to go to British Columbia.
11:01 And that was when us children,
11:03 we had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the meetings in English
11:08 and also go out in service
11:11 and comment at the meetings —making comments at the meetings.
11:15 But all of a sudden, no meetings
11:18 and no service —house-to-house work.
11:22 The ban came on, and we were still young.
11:26 So immediately, announcements were made,
11:29 “We’re going to go from door to door,”
11:32 and they paused, and they said,
11:34 “but only with the Bible.”
11:37 With us children, that was good for us.
11:40 Us young people learned to use the Bible from door to door.
11:43 And that was when I really was convinced
11:46 that I wanted to become a pioneer.
11:48 Fascinating.
11:50 Well, then in 1956, you married Brother Theodore Jaracz.
11:55 What were some of his outstanding qualities, Sister Jaracz?
11:57 Well, he was 13 when he started to study the Bible with the family,
12:01 but the family didn’t want to continue, so he did.
12:04 And none of them ever came into the truth —of his family.
12:08 However, he started pioneering when he was 17;
12:12 at 20, he became a special pioneer;
12:15 at 20, he went to Gilead —was invited to go to Gilead;
12:20 and he was in the traveling work when he was 21.
12:23 I was hearing a lot about this Ted Jaracz.
12:26 So he had a fine reputation.
12:30 It didn’t take me long to appreciate that his goals
12:33 involved serving Jehovah whole-souled,
12:36 and that was my goal.
12:38 As we got to know each other,
12:40 I learned that Brother Jaracz was very dedicated and serious
12:43 in his devotion to serve Jehovah.
12:46 And I appreciated these things,
12:49 and I found out that he was very serious
12:53 in his devotion, very kind, friendly.
12:56 Brothers seemed to be very friendly with him and he with them,
13:00 and he became friendly with me.
13:05 I rather appreciated that.
13:07 Well, Sister Jaracz . . .
13:09 I was very glad to become his wife.
13:11 Very good.
13:13 Well, now, you had this very, very busy schedule too,
13:16 but what were the blessings?
13:19 Well, eight weeks after we were married,
13:21 Brother Knorr assigned us to the traveling work,
13:24 starting in Missouri and Arkansas.
13:26 It was a good thing I was a country girl.
13:29 I knew what an outhouse was, and we had quite a few of those.
13:33 However, for the next 19 years,
13:37 we lived with friends in different homes each week, of course.
13:41 And it was sometimes a little rough,
13:45 but the discomforts weren’t that bad.
13:50 But we had such wonderful experiences in the ministry
13:53 that it made up for everything.
13:57 And my husband, in 1974, was invited to become
14:02 a member of the Governing Body,
14:05 and so we were going to live in Bethel.
14:08 That was my first home after 19 years, and I love it.
14:12 Of course, my husband had many demanding schedules,
14:15 but we were always together for morning worship, lunch, and dinner.
14:20 And since he often had to work overtime,
14:23 I had much to do as far as my spirituality at home
14:28 and as well as duties that I had to perform.
14:31 I kept busy with my spiritual things.
14:34 But we always had time together, and I appreciated that.
14:37 In fact, 54 and a half years —I’m very grateful for.
14:41 Beautiful.
14:42 So, Sister Jaracz, now as you look back through all those years,
14:45 what is it that you especially treasure?
14:48 Well, I treasure those 54 and a half years
14:51 for the reason that we spent it together serving our living God.
14:54 It was a blessing to take care of
14:56 one of Jehovah’s sons by being a wife to him.
14:59 And, of course, it took a “power beyond what is normal”
15:02 to see that I met his needs and fulfilled them.
15:05 I also treasure that I had the privilege
15:08 of going with my husband on many zone visits
15:12 and to see the joy that it brought him
15:15 to serve our brothers in many lands,
15:17 especially in the lands under ban
15:20 —like, for instance, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.
15:25 Each of these countries was like home to us;
15:28 we were always in a family.
15:30 We just went from the airport to the the branch or wherever,
15:35 and we enjoyed having that association together.
15:39 So these memories bring me much happiness and contentment now.
15:43 And I’m grateful to Jehovah for them and thank him
15:46 that he still gives me “the power beyond what is normal”
15:49 to continue to serve here in Bethel
15:51 and do what I can that I’m assigned to.
15:54 Thank you so much, Sister Jaracz.
16:07 Well, next on our program,
16:08 we have Sister Edith Suiter.
16:11 And, Sister Suiter, we’d like to know
16:13 how you got started in the full-time ministry, please.
16:16 Well, I was raised in the truth, and my parents always took us
16:19 to all the meetings and the conventions.
16:22 And my father always talked to us about the truth at the supper table,
16:26 and we had to be there.
16:28 And as we grew older, we were out in service every Saturday and Sunday,
16:32 but service was not easy then
16:34 because the war was on and mobs would form.
16:38 And they would run us out of town, but they never hurt us.
16:43 I think they were more afraid than we were.
16:45 And at the convention in 1946, pioneering was stressed,
16:50 and that’s when I decided, “That’s what I want to do.”
16:53 So I started pioneering October 1946.
16:57 Now, Sister Suiter, we understand that it was 1956
17:00 when you married Brother Grant Suiter.
17:02 Can you tell us about some of his outstanding qualities?
17:05 Well, he was a very kind, caring person.
17:08 And he was very generous —always wanting to help someone in need.
17:12 And he began full-time service in 1928.
17:16 He was a very hard worker;
17:18 he was very loyal to Jehovah and His organization.
17:21 And he really loved Bethel, as I do.
17:25 And he never complained, and he, too, he had a good sense of humor also.
17:30 He was very serious about his assignments at Bethel.
17:36 Well, now you had this demanding schedule as well as the other sisters.
17:39 What were the blessings that you enjoyed?
17:43 Well, we had many blessings; I had many blessings, of course.
17:45 And I especially enjoyed traveling
17:48 with my husband to different branches
17:51 and to work in the branches with the sisters there
17:54 and see how they did the work differently in other countries.
17:58 And then in the ministry,
18:03 it was a great joy to me to go out
18:05 in the ministry with the missionaries
18:08 and see how they did the work.
18:11 And I really appreciated the work my husband was doing;
18:16 it was for Jehovah.
18:18 And when he was very busy,
18:20 I would find things to do that I never had time to do
18:25 because of the busy schedule that he had and I had.
18:29 And that kept me very busy too.
18:31 So also, we found—
18:33 But he did find time for me too, and I really appreciated that.
18:40 That’s very touching.
18:41 Sister Suiter, is there a memory that you particularly treasure?
18:45 Oh, yes! I really enjoyed this one:
18:48 Grant was scheduled to give a talk
18:51 at the Cadiz Prison in Spain,
18:55 where 100 brothers were incarcerated for their neutrality,
18:59 but the officials said no.
19:01 But we got there two days early,
19:04 and the brothers said, “Well, let’s try it.”
19:07 So we went into the prison as visitors,
19:11 and the brothers had discovered in their workshop
19:14 an unused door that led into their dormitory.
19:18 It was hidden behind wallpaper.
19:21 So the brothers decided to camouflage the door completely
19:25 by covering it with a backless cupboard.
19:30 Thus, you could step into this cupboard door,
19:33 open the door behind, and enter the dormitory.
19:38 And once we were in the prison,
19:40 we were invited to visit the workshop.
19:43 And in this workshop, we stepped into the cupboard and through the door.
19:48 And here, there were 100 brothers waiting to see him.
19:52 So he was able to give the talk to them.
19:55 They were so excited to have a member of the Governing Body
19:58 visit them in prison.
20:00 It was so heartwarming, so exciting.
20:03 Well, you know, my life in full-time service
20:07 has been a very happy one,
20:09 even though there were hardships
20:12 and there were also challenges.
20:14 And I appreciate so much the privilege
20:17 of having served at Bethel with my husband.
20:20 And I still love and I’m happy
20:22 to be at Bethel serving Jehovah.
20:25 Thank you so much, Sister Suiter.
20:38 So now we have the pleasure to get acquainted with Sister Marina Sydlik.
20:41 And, Sister Sydlik, would you tell us about how you got started
20:43 in the full-time service?
20:45 Well, my parents started studying the Bible in the mid-’50’s,
20:49 and my mom gave my sister and me our first few studies
20:53 in the “Let God Be True” book in the kitchen/dining room of our home.
20:58 My first day in field service was when I was ten years old,
21:05 on the face of the anointed brother that was taking us out.
21:08 He was a special pioneer,
21:10 and it soon became evident to me that the happiest people
21:14 are those in the full-time work.
21:16 In time, my dad, my sister, and I were all baptized.
21:21 And about ten years after our first initial contact with the truth,
21:27 Dan Sydlik started visiting our family.
21:30 And it was due to long conversations
21:32 around our dinner table during his visits
21:35 that my mom saw the beauty of the truth and began making it her own.
21:40 I pioneered in later teenage years without a partner,
21:44 which meant that after a good call there was no one to share the joys with
21:48 except Jehovah, of course.
21:50 And so my relationship with Jehovah really blossomed during that time.
21:55 I have some nice memories from London Bethel,
21:58 where I waited through the immigration process to come to the U.S.
22:02 I sat at Brother and Sister Barr’s table,
22:05 and my London Bethel roommate,
22:07 Joey Orram, and I have kept up our friendship to this day.
22:11 We still have a little phone call
22:13 each Saturday morning before I leave for field service.
22:17 That’s wonderful!
22:18 Well, we understand, now, in 1970,
22:20 you married Brother Daniel Sydlik.
22:22 Can you tell us some of his outstanding qualities?
22:26 Well, Dan was known for his genuine love of people,
22:29 his great love of Jehovah and the truth,
22:32 and his innate love of life.
22:35 That combination really gave me
22:38 a wonderful life to live with him,
22:41 and I have many memories, of course, from it.
22:45 But some of the memories that I treasure are
22:47 our conversations after the supper meal.
22:50 Sometimes we’d sit and talk about a Bible topic,
22:54 and it’s those spiritual conversations that I miss to this day.
22:59 It’s understandable.
23:00 Now, of course, you had a demanding schedule,
23:02 but there were blessings.
23:04 What were those, Sister Sydlik?
23:06 Yes, the schedule was demanding,
23:08 and for a rather reticent person like myself,
23:10 I found the crowds and the attention overwhelming.
23:14 But the wonderful friendships we made with some brothers and sisters
23:19 around the world are what I treasure to this day.
23:22 Now when I think of a country like France or Poland or China,
23:27 it’s not the topography of the country that comes to mind
23:30 but the faces of the dear brothers there.
23:34 For example, in Poland,
23:36 we went there when it was still under ban
23:38 and we visited the brothers in their homes.
23:41 But, then, years later to go back and see those same brothers
23:45 in their beautiful new branch and Assembly Halls,
23:48 well, I was just so happy for them.
23:51 Indeed!
23:53 Well, now, as you look back, Sister Sydlik, at this rich life,
23:56 is there a memory that you particularly treasure
23:58 that you’d like to share with us?
24:00 Well, this may be an unusual memory to treasure,
24:04 but recalling it now may help some other sisters.
24:07 It was when Dan was in hospital
24:09 —one of those many days when I was trying to help him with something—
24:13 and he began grumbling, almost fighting me.
24:16 So I just said:
24:17 “Babe, I know this has been terribly hard,
24:21 “and you’ve been so brave, and you’ve endured so much already.
24:25 But just, please, hang in there a bit longer.”
24:28 And immediately he softened.
24:30 He stopped resisting me.
24:31 He never resisted me like that again.
24:33 He just needed that word of commendation
24:37 and, you know,
24:39 just a little bit of kindness like that, approval like that.
24:43 Sisters often give compliments to other sisters and receive compliments.
24:47 And it’s just a little pleasant moment in the day.
24:51 It buoys us up; it’s a little something we share.
24:54 But that’s not the way things work among brothers.
24:58 And it may seem that husbands
25:00 who give talks and travel for the Society
25:03 get enough compliments and praise,
25:06 but that praise is of very limited value to a husband
25:10 compared to a word of approval from his wife
25:14 —a word of commendation from his wife.
25:16 And it’s just as Paul said about a married man,
25:20 how he’s anxious to “gain the approval of his wife.”
25:23 And so without commendation from a wife,
25:27 a husband is missing a little moment of being buoyed up, of being appreciated.
25:32 It’s a simple gift a wife can give her husband.
25:36 And as we know from James’ words:
25:38 ‘Every good gift and every perfect present comes from above,
25:42 from the Father of celestial lights.’
25:45 Yes. Thank you so much, Sister Sydlik, for sharing that with us.
26:15 Well, how heartwarming to learn how each of you
26:20 unselfishly and lovingly supported
26:22 your husbands in Jehovah’s service
26:25 and how richly you were blessed for doing so.
26:29 Your fine example as faithful Christian women
26:32 is a gift to all of us, and we thank you so much
26:37 for sharing your beautiful memories with us today.