Worldwide Report

Building to Accommodate a Great Crowd

In 1935, Jehovah’s Witnesses learned from the Scriptures about God’s purpose to gather a great crowd now, during the present system of things, with a view to their serving Jehovah forever on a paradise earth. (Rev. 7:9, 10) In that same year, for the first time, one of their meeting places in Hawaii was called Kingdom Hall. Now thousands of such Kingdom Halls are overflowing with people who have embraced the Bible’s heartwarming promises and who recognize its righteous standards.

Regular attendance at Kingdom Hall meetings numbers in the millions. With hundreds of thousands of people getting baptized each year, there is a pressing need for more Kingdom Halls. A survey in 1998 indicated that some 8,000 more Kingdom Halls were urgently needed in 40 developing countries. What was accomplished during the past year with a view to filling that need?

Regional Kingdom Hall Offices were established in such key locations as South Africa, Australia, and Germany. From these bases of operation, project overseers are beginning to help in organizing Kingdom Hall building programs in East and West Africa, the Asia-Pacific area, and Eastern Europe, respectively. Thus far, 77 international servants are assisting  with this work in 21 countries of Africa, 7 in Eastern Europe, and 4 in the Asia-Pacific area. Two countries in Latin America are also being helped. Where possible, efforts are being made to establish full-time Kingdom Hall Construction Groups. To the extent possible, local building methods and materials are being used, and local brothers are being encouraged to participate in the building process. Initially, however, one or two international servants may take the lead in these groups to provide necessary training. Where meeting places are urgently needed but the economy makes it virtually impossible for the local brothers to purchase building materials, the international brotherhood endeavors to assist in this too.

After the brothers in Ghana were given help to streamline their Kingdom Hall construction program, they were able to build 13 Kingdom Halls this past year instead of 4, which had been the average in recent years. In Burundi, with international help, 11 Kingdom Halls were built in just a few months. It happened that the Kingdom Hall in Gitega, Burundi, was the first building erected on the hill where it is located. In harmony with local custom, many citizens in that area now refer to that hill as the Mountain of Jehovah.

Liberia experienced a 40-percent increase in publishers in 1998 and a 19-percent increase in 1999. After years of civil war in the country, most of the congregations need Kingdom Halls. Yet, the majority of our brothers there face serious economic problems, including unemployment. How grateful they are for the financial help provided by their brothers in other lands to make it possible for them to build needed Kingdom Halls! They are also grateful for the assistance of five international servants who came to help organize the building work.

In Nigeria more than 1,800 more Kingdom Halls are needed. In Abeokuta, Nigeria, the unity and diligence  among the local Witnesses who were sharing in the construction work moved even a leader of a nearby church to volunteer to assist. She is now serving Jehovah with the congregation whose Kingdom Hall she helped to build. In Togo there was such stiff opposition to the building of a Kingdom Hall in one village that the brothers moved the project to another location. But after the opposers saw what a nice Kingdom Hall was being built, they asked if another hall could be built on the disputed land.

In Sri Lanka congregations have been meeting in private homes, in small temporary buildings made of thatched coconut leaves, and under awnings in backyards. How grateful they are to be getting more suitable, dignified places of worship! Thirteen Kingdom Hall projects are now under way in Sri Lanka, 20 more are in the planning stages, and 50 are proposed for the next five years.

When there is a suitable Kingdom Hall, people more readily gather to benefit from the instruction that Jehovah is providing. Thus, when a large, new Kingdom Hall was built in a suburb of Lima, Peru, attendance increased in each of the three congregations using it, and within a year 75 new publishers began to share in the field service.

In larger cities where there are many congregations, good use is made of property by erecting buildings that contain more than one Kingdom Hall. On the weekend of May 29 and 30, three such Kingdom Hall complexes were dedicated in Romania. One of these in Cluj-Napoca included four Kingdom Halls; another contained two. The following day, in Târgu-Mureş, a complex containing seven Kingdom Halls was dedicated.

Providing Assembly Halls

For larger gatherings, Assembly Halls are being built in many lands. In Estonia two Kingdom Hall/Assembly Hall  complexes were dedicated during the year. Each complex contains three separate Kingdom Halls that join to provide one large Assembly Hall. An outstanding event for Poland during this service year was the dedication of three Assembly Halls on one weekend. Two members of the Governing Body, Theodore Jaracz and Daniel Sydlik, shared in this special occasion and gave encouraging talks in each of the halls. An amphitheater with 6,400 seats was added to the largest of the halls, in the city of Sosnowiec, and the facility was used for five district conventions during the month of July.

In the United States, where there are now 980,419 Kingdom publishers, four more Assembly Halls were dedicated this past year, bringing the total to 40. In Brazil, where there are 528,034 publishers, their 17th Assembly Hall was dedicated. This is a two-auditorium facility that seats 10,000, about an hour’s drive from São Paulo. Two more open-sided Assembly Halls were dedicated in Nigeria during the year—one at Ota and another at Ibadan, with seating capacities of 10,000 and 5,000 respectively.

Other facilities are also being provided to support the global program of Bible education.

Watchtower Educational Center

In 1986 some of the first necessary legal steps were taken with a view to building what is now the 28-building Watchtower Educational Center at Patterson, New York, United States. In 1989 it was finally possible for construction to get under way. By 1994 various offices related to the educational activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses began to make use of the buildings. In 1995, Gilead School was transferred to the facilities. Schools for Branch Committee members and for traveling overseers also operate there. Finally, in 1999 the dedication program was held. (A report regarding this was published in The Watchtower of November 15, 1999.) Tens  of thousands of Witnesses and other interested ones tour the facilities each year, and they rejoice at seeing what has been achieved with their own voluntary contributions, the united efforts of willing brothers and sisters and, above all, Jehovah’s blessing.

Needed Branch Facilities

The increase in the number of praisers of Jehovah in many lands has also made the building of new branch offices necessary. Such branch offices, as well as the world headquarters, are staffed by Bethel family members, who are included in the Order of Special Full-Time Servants.

BOLIVIA: Outstanding theocratic expansion led to the dedication of new branch facilities in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on March 20, 1999. From 714 publishers at the time the former branch was dedicated in 1968, the number of Kingdom proclaimers in Bolivia has grown to an all-time peak of 15,388, and attendance at the Memorial in 1999 totaled 53,312.

The new branch office, located in Bolivia’s tropical lowlands, was built entirely by local labor—a great part of it having been volunteered by the Witnesses—and with a tasteful use of local materials. The result is a design that achieves a tolerably cool environment without air-conditioning and that blends beautifully with the wooded property. During a visit by Gerrit Lösch, of the Governing Body, these facilities, along with the first Assembly Hall in the country, were dedicated to Jehovah. Present for this happy occasion were thousands of Bolivian Witnesses as well as visitors from 11 lands, including ex-missionaries who had served in Bolivia at some point during the 54-year history of missionary service there.

MOZAMBIQUE: “Jehovah is great and much to be praised.” (Ps. 48:1) That is a favorite expression among Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mozambique, and it was heard often on December 19, 1998, when new branch facilities were  dedicated in Maputo, close to the Indian Ocean. A few years ago, this might have seemed impossible. Jehovah’s Witnesses had been under government bans for more than two decades, down till 1991. In that year they numbered just over 6,000. By the end of 1998, a peak of 29,514 publishers reported. New branch facilities were needed.

How was the branch built, since the majority of Mozambican brothers had no experience in this sort of construction work? Help came from many international servants and volunteers, and they trained the local Witnesses while the job was being done. Guests from 15 countries were present for the dedication, and that same weekend, at Matola, 16 miles [26 km] away, the first Assembly Hall in Mozambique was also dedicated. Indeed, Jehovah is great! Without his loving care, his servants in Mozambique would never have witnessed these historic events.

NEW CALEDONIA: On October 24, 1998, a new branch office and an Assembly Hall were dedicated in New Caledonia. The facilities more than tripled the size of the branch. Three translation teams function here to serve the needs of New Caledonia and its dependencies.

The dedication was a happy and colorful occasion. Featured on the program was an audiovisual display that showed highlights of the construction project. It was a special delight to Jehovah’s Witnesses in New Caledonia to have with them on that occasion Lloyd Barry, of the Governing Body, to give the dedication discourse.

SENEGAL: Since the first Witness of Jehovah arrived in Senegal in 1951, much effort has been put forth to reach the millions of people living in this branch territory. There have been 194 missionaries from 18 lands who have served here. Hundreds have been assisted by them to join in serving Jehovah  in this territory, where over 90 percent of the population is non-Christian.

Construction of the new branch at Cape Almadies, on the outskirts of Dakar, involved methods new to most people in that area. As a crane lifted into place each large prefabricated panel, observers applauded and cheered. Everything was square, straight, and just so. At the conclusion of the dedication program there on the westernmost tip of the African continent, on June 19, 1999, all in attendance joined heartily in singing “We Thank You, Jehovah”!

 Africa

The modern-day history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Africa dates back to the early 1880’s. By the 1920’s intensive public preaching got under way on that continent. This past year a peak of more than 830,000 Witnesses throughout Africa shared in telling their neighbors and others about “the magnificent things of God.”—Acts 2:11.

It has been a great encouragement to see many youths making school their territory for witnessing. Dorcas, a young sister in Mozambique, has made it her personal goal to witness to the principal and all the teachers at her school, as well as her classmates. She presently conducts eight Bible studies, and six of her Bible students regularly attend meetings. Three others progressed to baptism and then qualified to become regular pioneers. Four of Dorcas’ teachers have at various times accepted her invitation to attend congregation meetings. Dorcas’ father is now studying with one of them. Another teacher, to whom Dorcas began to witness five years ago when she was going to another school, finally responded to her perseverance and agreed to study the Bible with her with a view to sharing in true worship.

Since 1995 added attention has been given to the estimated five million hearing-impaired persons in Nigeria. After  seeing that talks were interpreted into sign language at a district convention, many hearing publishers wanted to learn how to communicate in this language. In a little over a year, 216 publishers and pioneers from 61 congregations learned enough sign language to conduct Bible studies and interpret meetings. Over 80 congregations now have meetings interpreted for the benefit of the deaf.

As a young woman in Côte d’Ivoire, Florence decided to become a nun. But she was discouraged by teachings said to be a mystery for which no explanation was given, and she was shocked by repeated immoral advances by a priest. She left the convent. Later, in Burkina Faso, Jehovah’s Witnesses met her in their house-to-house ministry. Study of the Require brochure and the Knowledge book quickly led to her becoming a happy servant of Jehovah.

Twice during the year, Kingdom Halls and private homes in Bangui, Central African Republic, were opened to Witnesses who found it necessary to flee across the river from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. In July over 200 brothers, sisters, and their families, as well as other people, had to cross over to Bangui. While most of the refugees were crowded together out in the open at the port, our brothers were cared for both physically and spiritually. Meetings in Lingala were arranged for them at two Kingdom Halls, and all five weekly meetings were conducted. A local authority who observed all of this said: “It is marvelous what you have done, opening your hall to house these poor people. You have to be commended for this.” Another man who passed the hall stopped a missionary and stated: “You people live up to what you are preaching. My best wishes. God will bless you for this.”

While hospitalized some years ago, an unbaptized publisher in Ghana, though quite sick, witnessed from hospital bed to hospital bed. Some appreciated what she told them;  others spurned it; one woman listened but apparently without reaction. Years later, while attending one of the “God’s Way of Life” District Conventions in Ghana, that publisher, now a special pioneer, met a woman whom she recognized. “What brings you here?” the pioneer asked. “Jehovah is great,” the lady said. “I have always wondered if I would ever see you again to thank you for the Kingdom truth you planted in my heart at the hospital. I was too sick to react then, but I could not help thinking and meditating on what you said about life in Paradise under God’s Kingdom, where ‘no resident will say: “I am sick.”’ As soon as I left the hospital, I looked for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and they started to teach me more. Shortly thereafter, I relocated. At my new station, I looked for Jehovah’s Witnesses and continued my Bible study. The result is that tomorrow I am getting baptized at this convention.” The two women hugged each other and shed tears of joy. That hospital witnessing had, indeed, borne good fruit!

In Mali a woman physically disabled for 13 years because of witchcraft came in touch with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She was able to get around only by crawling on her hands and knees. A Bible study was started. She was told about our congregation meetings, but in view of the extent of the woman’s disability, our sister held little hope that she would get to the Kingdom Hall. However, the truth had touched the woman’s heart. Imagine how surprised the brothers and sisters were to see the woman in front of the Kingdom Hall, waiting for the meeting to start. A brother who owns a car arranged to take her home afterward. As her study progressed and her faith in Jehovah grew, she was freed from bondage to the wicked spirits. Slowly, she began to regain the use of her legs, and after six months she was able to walk again! She is now a baptized servant of Jehovah.

During the lunch break on the second day at his new work place, a regular pioneer in Uganda started a conversation with  a workmate in this way: “Hello, I am finding it quite challenging to know the names of all my workmates.” “Oh, don’t worry,” his colleague said, “you will soon be all right. I am called William.” “Thank you for this introduction,” replied the pioneer. “That was kind. But I know that knowing other people’s names is a worldwide problem.” “What do you mean?” asked William. The pioneer continued: “For example, if you were asked for the name of the Creator of the universe and all living things, could you easily give it?” The discussion on God’s name led to a Bible study the next day. William invited the pioneer to his home to talk with his family. Now five members of that family are baptized Witnesses. Before the Memorial the pioneer went from office to office inviting colleagues to this important event. What a joy to see 40 attend!

Many people in Africa have suffered because of wars being fought in their countries. Oftentimes they have had to flee from their homes. But if the refugees are Jehovah’s Witnesses, they keep on preaching the good news. Many brothers and sisters in the capital of Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa, fled 144 miles [240 km] to the town of Buba. A brother and his wife live there, but there was no congregation. Soon after the Witnesses from the capital arrived, however, meetings were organized, and the work of witnessing moved ahead. Before long, 40 persons were attending the meetings and 70 Bible studies were being conducted.

Thirty publishers in the Giteranyi Congregation in Burundi walked about 100 miles [160 km] to attend their circuit assembly at Kayanza. The trip took three days. Those who had bicycles would give others a ride for a distance, return to get those who were walking behind, transport them to a point some distance ahead, and so forth. The entire family of Nzeyimana Jean—wife, mother-in-law, and seven children, including one who has polio and uses a cane—made the journey. With great joy, all arrived at the assembly site.

 The Americas

By the 18th century, the complete Bible was available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, which became the most widely used languages in the Americas. In the latter part of the 19th century, Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they later came to be known, undertook a program of Bible education that by 1935 had penetrated almost every country in the Americas. Now there are 2,769,625 zealous Witnesses in these lands.

In some places the weather gets very cold, but the preaching of the good news continues. An elder from the North Pole Congregation in Alaska informs us that door-to-door work continues even in temperatures of -35 degrees Fahrenheit [-37°C], and meetings are held even when temperatures reach -55 degrees Fahrenheit [-48°C]. Serving under these conditions requires endurance.

In some big-city territories, there are many buildings where, because of the fear of crime, householders seldom give publishers the opportunity to speak to them face-to-face. In Argentina when witnessing in such a building, a publisher spoke through the intercom to a lady who listened attentively. Arrangements were made to continue the conversation on another occasion. Many return visits were made without face-to-face contact. Nevertheless, interesting conversations  were held, and scriptures were read through the intercom. Finally after four months, the lady invited the publisher into her apartment and a Bible study was started. The publisher’s patient perseverance was rewarded.

There are over 17,000 nursing homes in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of senior citizens are housed. How can this elderly population be reached with the good news? Some congregations have had good success by approaching the activities director of such a facility and volunteering their help in meeting the spiritual needs of the residents. In one case it was explained that volunteers from the congregation would be pleased to conduct a free weekly Bible study with anyone who wished to attend. The offer was gladly accepted. Oftentimes, the staff, family members, and other visitors and volunteers would join in the study. The activities director wrote: “This study group provides spiritual support and continues to enhance the well-being of our residents. They absolutely love the Bible study.” She appreciated how mentally stimulating it was to the older ones. To the delight of the staff, one elderly woman who had not spoken since arriving at the nursing home began to comment in the study. An older man who had never attended any of the other group activities in the home was eager to attend the Bible study.

A sister in Chile, while witnessing in a cemetery, spoke to a woman who had lost her 12-year-old son in an accident. This grieving mother visited her son’s tomb twice a day. The Witness shared with her the resurrection hope, and a Bible study was started. The woman spoke to her neighbor who had also lost a young son in death and who made daily trips to her son’s tomb. She too began to study. This woman’s mother, while visiting the cemetery, asked her priest to  conduct a service for her deceased grandson. Because of the priest’s unpleasant reply, she stopped attending church and began studying the Bible. Now these three women share their newfound hope with others in the cemetery.

Would you allow Jehovah to use you to help someone learn the truth even though your personal abilities were limited? A missionary in Costa Rica did that. She could not yet communicate well in Spanish. Nevertheless, she started a Bible study with Ana, a devout Catholic. The brochure What Does God Require of Us? was used along with the Bible. Ana’s eyesight is not good, so she simply listened as the paragraphs and the scriptures were read; then she commented on them. One week Ana made the following encouraging comment to the missionary sister: “It does not bother me that we cannot communicate perfectly. Many of the things we have discussed are different from what the Catholic Church teaches. If I had received lengthy explanations, perfectly phrased, I wouldn’t have believed them, but you are showing me these things straight from the Bible without a lot of extra words, so I can see that it is really what the Bible teaches.”

In Nicaragua, Witnesses have put forth a special effort to take certain issues of Awake! to schoolteachers. The subject “What Hope for Today’s Youths?” is an example of the type featured. The value of such information is obvious. In one city, although one teacher objected, the director of a school asked the Witnesses to give a presentation to the whole body of students. A one-and-a-half-hour symposium was presented, and many of the students requested literature. Afterward, the teacher who had previously objected now wanted the Witnesses to repeat the presentation at the school where she was the director. This was done. A Bible study was started with her, and she now wants the Witnesses to give talks to the students each month.

 Eurasia

The name Eurasia refers to Europe and Asia as one continent. There Jehovah first declared the good news to Abraham. (Gal. 3:8) There, too, Jesus Christ laid the foundation for a work of evangelizing that has extended down to our day. (Matt. 28:19, 20) Jehovah’s Witnesses endeavor to share the good news with people in all the approximately 80 countries in Eurasia. In addition to the hundreds of languages in which the Watch Tower Society was already printing Bible literature, since 1995 it has added another 36 languages meant to reach a further 170,000,000 people in this part of the earth. Among these languages are Punjabi (Nastaliq), Uzbek, Kazakh, Tajiki, Azerbaijani, and Mongolian.

During 1999, serious problems intensified in Kosovo. Close to 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo became refugees in neighboring countries. Nearly 500,000 of these fled into Albania. Among the refugees were 14 of Jehovah’s Witnesses along with their 8 children. The Albanian Witnesses opened their homes and helped these brothers through a very difficult time. As the ethnic conflict grew worse, the priorities of the Kosovar brothers became clearer. They wanted to be sure that their Serbian brothers were safe. In turn, the Serbian Witnesses were making special efforts to contact their  ethnic Albanian brothers to be sure of their safety. What love, in contrast with ethnic hatred manifest around them! After four months the Kosovar brothers were eager to return home. They were not concerned about taking a lot of material goods with them. Rather, they requested boxes of literature to use in bringing to others the comforting message of God’s Kingdom.

When a Witness in Belgium spoke to a woman through an intercom, the woman frankly told her that for the moment she was in no mood to talk about such things. Our sister offered to call her back later by phone. The woman was surprised when she actually did receive the phone call a few days later. She explained that she had to move and that she had asked the Public Welfare Office to assist her in finding another apartment. After another phone conversation, they lost contact, so the Witness decided to write her a letter and send it to the Public Welfare Office. The letter was placed in the woman’s file, and contact was reestablished when she finally received the letter a few weeks later. It was just at that time that Our Kingdom Ministry stated: “If we all make a united effort to start studies and if we pray for Jehovah’s blessing upon our endeavor, we will surely find new studies!” After offering a fervent prayer to Jehovah, our sister phoned the woman to tell her that she was eager to study the Bible with her. The woman agreed. Now she and her husband attend the congregation meetings, and she is sharing with family and friends the good things she is learning.

On a rainy day, a temporary special pioneer and her partner were talking with shopkeepers in a town in Malaysia where little witnessing had been done. A secondary-school student, who had paused nearby while waiting for the heavy rain to stop, approached them and asked for the literature that they were offering. The provision for free home Bible  studies was explained to her, and the pioneers pointed out where they were staying. About one week later, she phoned. She had read all the literature and wanted more. A Bible study was started. This girl is an avid reader and asked for more publications after almost every visit. At times she called up late at night to request literature referred to in the publications. As the pioneers were in that town only temporarily, the study was conducted partly in person and partly through correspondence. Within two months the girl finished the Knowledge book. She was preaching to her friends and on the bus too. She has made good progress and is now an unbaptized publisher, eager to qualify for baptism.

A Witness in Italy made friends with a new neighbor. The neighbor had returned to Italy from Germany because her husband had been promised a job. However, the job did not materialize. So leaving his family in Italy, her husband went abroad again to find work. While he was away, the Witness couple helped his wife with shopping, took her son to school, invited her and her children for some meals, and gave her the moral support she so much needed. The woman asked why they were doing all of this. The reply? “Because as Jehovah’s Witnesses, we love our neighbors.” The woman said that she had never had the time to listen to the Witnesses, but now she was curious to know what they believed. A regular Bible study was conducted with her; she also began to attend congregation meetings. In the meantime her husband returned home. The Witnesses offered him a Bible study too, but he refused because he did not have peace of mind. He was again having difficulty finding a job. When the family moved to another part of Italy, the Witnesses obtained the address of the Kingdom Hall there and encouraged the woman to go to the hall. However, she was very timid, so she did not go. Nevertheless, our sister called her every week and kept  her interest in Jehovah alive. In time, when the woman saw two Witnesses doing street witnessing, she asked them for a Bible study. She also began to attend meetings. In the meantime her husband had found work. He too asked for a study. Both are now dedicated and baptized Christians. Their two oldest children are also baptized, and the third child is an unbaptized publisher.

A pioneer in Luxembourg was keenly interested in reaching everyone in her territory. At one house the blinds were always shut, and no one was at home. However, one day when the pioneer was on her way to pick her daughter up from school, she noticed a car in front of that perpetual not-at-home. Obviously, she had not intended to go out in the field service just then, but she did not want to let the opportunity slip by. She rang the bell. The man who answered said that he was not really interested in the Bible, but he did want to know more about Jesus Christ. She left with him the book The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived. After she and her husband had made several return calls, a study was started. But at first, the man agreed to study only once every three weeks because he had a full schedule. Slowly, however, he began to get a new outlook on life. He realized that he needed to invest more time in learning and doing God’s will. He gave up his avid pursuit of table tennis, to which he had devoted four nights a week. When he came to understand clearly the matter of Christian neutrality, he quit his job and accepted work that paid less than half as much. How did he feel about making such a change? He said: “I was glad to do it. After all, I dearly wanted to get my life into line with Bible principles. I continued to progress in the truth, so that nothing more stood in the way of my becoming an unbaptized publisher and, five months later, symbolizing my dedication to Jehovah by water baptism.” How grateful he is to that pioneer sister for so thoroughly performing her ministry!

 Islands of the Earth

Jehovah invites all the earth, including those who inhabit the islands, to rejoice in his kingship. (Ps. 97:1) Already at Pentecost 33 C.E., natives of the island of Crete were among those who received this invitation. In the 20th century, tens of thousands who live on the islands of the earth have responded to it. In the Philippines, 132,496 tell others about the glories of Jehovah’s kingship. On the islands that make up Japan, 222,857 share in that happy service. Even islands where there are just a few inhabitants are having opportunity to rejoice in the good news of God’s Kingdom.

Kindness shown by a young pioneer brother in Samoa helped to overcome prejudice toward Jehovah’s Witnesses. He went to the outpatient clinic at the local hospital, was given a number, and was told to wait for his turn to see the doctor. However, when his number was called, he was sitting next to an elderly woman who seemed sicker than most of the others present, so the brother kindly asked the nurse if he could give up his turn to this woman and then take hers. The nurse was surprised but agreed. By the time the brother was again called, one of the chiefs (matai) from his village had come and was sitting next to him. Since the man was sicker than our brother, the brother again forfeited his turn in order to allow this  man to see the doctor without delay. Later on, our brother met the elderly woman again, this time in the market. She was very happy to see him and asked if he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On receiving an affirmative answer, she said that she had been unreceptive when the Witnesses had called on her in the past, but now she knows that they truly love their neighbors. Her address was obtained, and a regular Bible study was started. What about the village chief? He explained to the pioneer’s father that while he previously had no respect for the Witnesses, he now welcomes them to his home. He came to the Memorial and said: “What you start off disliking, you can end up liking.”

Is it practical to try to start Bible studies in business territory? Sometimes it is. A special pioneer in Cyprus was regularly delivering the magazines to a businessman. When the man expressed appreciation for what he was reading, the pioneer demonstrated the Bible study arrangement, using the Require brochure. The study is held right there at the man’s place of work, but taking into account the circumstances, the pioneer limits it to 10 or 15 minutes each time.

In Guadeloupe special emphasis has been given to street witnessing. With a publisher-to-population ratio of 1 to 55, is street witnessing really needed? More and more, when at home, people are engrossed in watching satellite and cable television. It is easier to get them to stop and listen to the good news when they are away from home. A circuit overseer reported that a group of 15 publishers doing street witnessing in St. Martin distributed 250 magazines, as well as tracts, in about two hours. Of course, some who gladly accept literature may say they are too busy to talk. But when circumstances in life stimulate a person’s spiritual appetite, priorities may change. Thus, in the city of Les Abymes, such a person was full of questions after her father died. Now she wanted to study almost every day—first using the Require brochure,  then the Knowledge book. She also does research in the Reasoning book and writes out cited scriptures on a sheet of paper. She says she feels “like the king in Israel who made his own copy of the Scriptures.” She has come to the conclusion that perhaps “all so-called Christian religions have the Bible, but only one puts it into practice—Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Hatsuko is a single parent in Japan who is bringing up two children. To support her family financially, she holds two jobs. What time does she have to witness to others about Jehovah and his loving purpose for mankind? It takes her about 20 minutes to go to each of her places of work by bicycle. She decided to use that time every day to witness. She speaks to people she meets—passersby, customers at vending machines, delivery people, construction workers, and so on. At first it took great effort because she is shy. She decided that rather than talk at length herself, it would be better for her to let the magazines talk. Also, by praying before going out, she gradually found it easier to talk to people. She has continued to witness in this way for the past two years and now places 200 to 300 magazines each month, including those she places on her magazine route on the streets.

The video Jehovah’s Witnesses—The Organization Behind the Name has been a powerful instrument in developing people’s appreciation for the organization that Jehovah is using. A woman in Australia had received the Society’s magazines and other literature for a period of five years. Then one week the Witnesses left the video for her to watch. On the next visit, she invited the publishers into the house. The woman had watched the video and been moved to tears. She had trusted the Witnesses that visited her, but now she felt that she could trust the organization too. That day a formal study of the Knowledge book was started with her, and the next week she attended meetings at the Kingdom Hall.

 Whom do people ask for advice? Sometimes it is a newspaper or magazine columnist. A pioneer in New Caledonia realized that one such query to a secular magazine had been nicely answered in an issue of Awake! She wrote to the inquirer and sent her letter to the publisher of the magazine, with the request that it be forwarded. She said that she had valuable information on the subject, cited the theme, listed some of the subheadings, included a few choice quotations, and offered to share the material. Soon an answer came, the magazine was sent, and this opened the way to provide further spiritual help.

Publishers in Ireland are meeting people in their territory who have come from Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Orient. A Belfast congregation arranged for a public talk and Watchtower Study to be held in Mandarin Chinese. There were 22 interested persons present. This came about as a result of the good work being done by a missionary couple among Chinese people who are either working or going to college in Belfast. Since 1993 the missionaries have conducted Bible studies with 75 persons from 17 provinces in China and from various cities in Taiwan. Contact has been maintained with many interested ones after they have returned to China. On one occasion a couple were enjoying a Bible study; then the wife had to return to China, saddened because she thought that she would not be able to continue her Bible study there. However, some weeks later the husband excitedly related that he had received a message from his wife saying that Witnesses had called one day while she was at work and had left a note saying: “Your friends in Ireland asked us to call. We will call again.” And they did! Another couple wrote from China: “We miss you very much. There have been so many things worth remembering, but we must say that the most valuable thing has been to study the Bible with you. It seems that the Bible is now the cornerstone in our life.”

[Pictures on page 49]

(1) Mozambique, (2) Senegal, (3) New Caledonia, (4) Bolivia