By Gary Ogden
For three weeks in June 1991, brethren Harry (“Buddy”) Payne, Gary Ogden, Joe Rose, Lonnie Fritz and David Teel went on another scouting trip into the recently opened door of Eastern Europe. Many of you, no doubt, have heard of the effort last year which led to a work being established in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Since the interest is strong for establishing works in that region of the world, brother Payne was desirous of “testing the soil” in some of the countries that he did not visit last year.
The objectives of the trip were: (1) To distribute Bibles and correspondence courses in English and various languages; (2) To have Bible studies with as many who were interested; (3) To let brethren Rose, Fritz and Teel get a first hand look at places to which they might move; (4) To make contacts for brethren who were ready to move to Budapest, Hungary. Each of these objectives were met and it was a most rewarding experience.
We went to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. We had studies with about sixty people, some of them more than once. We distributed 1200 Bibles and several hundred correspondence courses. We placed ads in newspapers offering free Bibles and lessons. The response to the ads has been great.
From all we can gather, it does seem that Eastern Europe is indeed ripe for the preaching of the gospel. The opportunities for teaching the truth to people who can speak English well are many. There is plenty of work to do. Let us rise up and be about our Father’s business. If you would like to know what you can do to help spread the word in Europe, just give us a call. (Buddy Payne 813-988-9426; Gary Ogden 813-752-2227).
Guardian of Truth XXXV: 18, p. 557
September 19, 1991