WHEN 11-year-old José moved to Santo Domingo, he shined shoes and sold shaved ice and oranges to earn a living. By the time he was a young man, he had earned the reputation of being a serious hard worker. Some years later, his brother, who was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, asked him to look after his house. On the dining-room table, José saw the book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, and he stayed up all night reading it. He realized that he had found something that gave purpose to his life.

The next weekend, José went to the nearest Kingdom Hall and presented himself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He told the brothers that he had learned that he should attend meetings and preach the good news. He also informed them that by reading the Live Forever book, he had learned the things that Christians should not do,  and he assured them that he was not doing any of those things. Fifteen days later, José was approved as a publisher. He was baptized six months after that, when he was 21 years old.

Since José’s work schedule interfered with the meetings, he left his job for one that paid only a quarter of what he had been earning. He now had a schedule that allowed him to attend the meetings and to regular pioneer. Later, though, when he married and became father to two boys, he had to stop pioneering.

José was determined to teach the truth to his sons from infancy. So, when his wife, Josefina, was three months pregnant with their firstborn, Noé, José would read aloud from My Book of Bible Stories, hoping that the baby could hear him in the womb. By the time Noé was born, José had read the entire book to him. He did the same thing with their second son, Neftalí.

Over time, José became the general manager of a business where he had a salary that was ten times that of his previous job. However, in 2008, when his boys were 10 and 13 years old, he left his managerial position and started regular pioneering again—this time with his wife and children. Since his income had decreased considerably, the entire family had to cooperate to keep expenses down. The four of them conduct about 30 Bible studies each month. Jesus assures us that if we put the Kingdom first, Jehovah will bless us. (Matt. 6:33) José and his family have trusted in that promise and have learned firsthand that Jehovah fulfills his word.