LVIV, Ukraine—Despite the war in eastern Ukraine, Jehovah’s Witnesses gathered in Lviv from July 4-6, 2014, for their “Keep Seeking First God’s Kingdom!” Regional Convention. The revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, rendered in modern Ukrainian, was released by Anthony Morris, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The local branch office of the Witnesses arranged for key portions of the convention to be transmitted by video to 8 cities and an additional 62 locations in the Donetsk area, where fighting has been concentrated. The attendance, including the satellite locations, reached 82,832, with a peak of 18,336 at the stadium in Lviv. A total of 1,068 were baptized.

On the first day of the convention, the program was interrupted by a bomb threat, resulting in the immediate evacuation of the stadium. The entire stadium of more than 16,000 people emptied within 11 minutes, but the program quickly resumed once the authorities confirmed that the threat was a false alarm.

Vasyl Kobel, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ukraine, states: “We were delighted to host so many visitors at our convention. The highlight was receiving the revised New World Translation in Ukrainian, which was first released in English in October 2013. We are excited to share with our neighbors the Bible’s promise of a peaceful future, especially during this turbulent time in our country’s history.”

Media Contact(s):

International: J. R. Brown, Office of Public Information, tel. +1 718 560 5000

Ukraine: Vasyl Kobel, tel. +38 032 240 9323